Sunday, January 31, 2021

Each New Day...Pray!!



So maybe you don't have time for this whole video below?
Even the first four or esp. the last four minutes are Wonder-Power-full
and will likely pique your desire to listen to the rest๐Ÿ˜Š

True Prayer, True Power-Charles Spurgeon


We must believe prayer to be what it is
or else it is not what it should be~
Charles Spurgeon


Each new day is like a wagon laden with want, wish and need 
Trundling from the arc of heaven to the bark of word and deed 

Each new day wayfarers waken to a Hand outstretched to pour 
His new mercy not yet taken to we, pounding on Want’s Door 

Each new day demands Full Armour where distraction’s lure is tossed 
Where like modern day Gomorrah and Sodom, virtue seems lost 

Each new day is weighed with reason to bow before Holiness 
Lord, let not vain repetition mock you with rote emptiness 

Each new day groans with important, earnest opportunity 
More of faith and more of love and more of true humility 

Each new day our faith has access to more than compulsion’s curse 
We have access to the greatest power in the universe 

Each new day, prayer is the chariot to the promises of He 
Who, compelled by His own promise breathes through man, divine decree 

Each new day, without exception, we may kneel before the One 
Who ordained sinner’s redemption through the shed blood of His Son 

Each new day, pray righteous pleasure mingles with each earnest plea 
As the treasure of faith’s measure echoes through eternity 

Each new day, though we may not bear witness to His full reply 
Pray, lest we deny the power that no other can supply 

Each new day pray; as hope’s Prancer charges from thought’s courts of clay 
Already God’s perfect answer meets the whisper on its way 

© Janet Martin 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 
15And if we know that he hears us—
whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Friday, January 29, 2021

God Lifts His Voice

 

God lifts His Voice

and darkness drifts...


into the gift of brand, new day...


God lifts his voice and darkness drifts into the gift of brand, new day 
Snow slips and drips into spring’s grinning, winning, thinning hip-hooray 
Flawless vision with precision aligns commission of the stars 
Wonder thunders, whispers, plunders, drives asunder hunger’s wars 

God lifts his Voice; svelte veneers melt beneath the Whisper of the One 
Who ordains and orders cosmic borders dwarfing stars, moon and sun 
Who causes fire to rain and rain to fall and fall to winter days 
Who tires not while we inquire at His higher thoughts and ways 

God lifts His Voice; bittersweet charter metes the mortar of the clock 
Mercy gushes through ambushes of quicksand around Solid Rock 
Mankind rushes, recedes, pushes at brushes beyond our control 
Sensing an immense propensity of Mortality to Soul 

God lifts His voice; and dawn deploys the sorrow-joys of smile and tear 
Until the final crepuscule will frill the hill and disappear 
And stars will fall like ripened figs when the wind wildly shakes the tree 
God lifts His voice; the earth melts into the scroll of eternity 

© Janet Martin 

...he lifts his voice; the earth melts...

Psalm 46:6 



 

The Futility of 'Should'

 

Sore foot (mentioned here) feeling much better today after
reaping the rewards of folly...
And turning 'should' into
'did' put There, a pair of shoes to wear
while splitting wood.

Jim split this pile for me.
(because when I get the axe stuck 
in a stubborn piece of firewood
it's quite a performance to un-stuck it!๐Ÿ˜Ÿ)
Oh! nothing like a picture to make us notice things...
 I should sweep ๐Ÿ˜!!


Good choice or bad 
Well, aren’t you glad 
Each time you choose the good? 
Where oft trouble 
Is the rubble 
Of ignoring ‘Should’ 

Why is it 
That we resist it; 
Wisdom’s greater good 
Learning after 
Reckless laughter 
The shrewdness of Should 

Stumbles, tumbles, 
Fumbles, humble 
This foolhardy brood 
…long the lesson 
of confessin’ 
Disregarded Should 

What good are 
These super-star- 
Sidekicks of Could and Would 
If we never 
Take it further 
Wisdom’s whispered ‘should’ 

Good intention
The invention
Of many a 'should'
Just imagine
What attainment
If we only would

© Janet Martin 

Should on its own has never accomplished a Thing!
What's on your Should-list?
(because we all have one...or should)๐Ÿ˜‰


Battening down the Heart-hatches

 

Wisdom prepares for the storm before the storm.



Before the storm grows harsher still 
And tests the arciform of will 
With what seems anything but love 
Thy very perfect love to prove 

Before the harder heartaches press 
Against temporal palaces 
To try its happiness with rains 
To see if anything remains 

Lord, keen the Creature to your care 
The would-be pride to humble prayer 
Equip, through fellowship, this worm 
Bucking surrender’s cruciform 

So when the storm grows harsher still 
And tests the arciform of will 
Then, though life's ills may still increase
Trust will keep us in perfect peace

© Janet Martin

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 
whose mind is stayed on thee: 
because he trusteth in thee.
Isa.26:3

Who is wise and understanding among you? 
Let them show it by their good life, 
by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
James 3:13

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all
 pure; 
then peace-loving, 
considerate, 
submissive,
 full of mercy 
and good fruit, 
impartial
 and sincere.
James 3:17

Dawn Ditty








...and then, a little later on
the dawn, with a tremendous yawn
could not contain hope's hip-hooray
and chased the brooding clouds away

Janet~




There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:4-7








Thursday, January 28, 2021

Knowing Death is Definite

Due to an act of X-treme Stupity I'm 'smitten with sittin' today
because of a sore foot.
(in case you are wondering why another poem is written๐Ÿ˜)

Inspired, in part by today's post by Ann Voskamp

"For nothing is nothing, darling 
No matter how small it seems"





 
This photos were sent to me yesterday after they left
taken by 'mom' unbeknownst to me๐Ÿ˜„
(Photo credit: B. H. mom of tots)


Knowing Death is definite- 
ly pending, ending time and grace 
Does it make us want to make some- 
-thing of all we touch and trace 
For nothing is nothing, darling 
No matter how small it seems 
And no one knows how much living 
Is left on the loom of dreams 

Does it makes us want to savour 
The full flavor of Today 
Labour with love’s renewed fervor 
Before one is called away 
Does it make the bitter better 
Knowing that 'this too shall pass' 
Knowing death is definite 
-ly Somewhere in life’s hour-glass 

Does it bid us garnish turmoil 
With the goodness of a smile 
And get soft and sweetly smitten 
By this ver’ precarious While 
Does it make us don warm mittens 
And make angels in the snow 
Before our names are written 
In some tear-rimmed afterglow 

Knowing Death is Definite 
-ly pending, ending all of us 
How in the world are we getting 
Ready for our exodus 
Does it draw us (in what sometimes 
Feels like small significance) 
Into the Moment-ous music
Of a Very Sacred Dance 

© Janet Martin


“100 per cent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased. ”
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

How Very Dust We Are, or Circumstantial Happiness



One of my favorite poets is Edgar A. Guest
Rich writing in a layman's terms because what doth it profit 
anyone if a poem is only understood by the poet?

Sharing a few gems for your benefit!





What if love gets so fixated on fringes and forgets 
What matters most where life is full of boast-euphoric bets 
What if the only thing I have when this day-fling is done 
Are accolades that perish with the setting of time’s sun 

What if I get so focused on the fray that I ignore 
The approach of The Judgment Day and Who we are here for 
Too taken up with ‘treasures’ that are volatile at best 
Admitting in an awful end, that I have failed the test 

What if I take goodness for granted without thankful praise 
And never root out the rebel in human-natured ways 
What if trouble would never double its substantial rod 
And I would never truly humble myself before God 

What if, this tenement of hopes and dreams housed nothing more 
Than dust-to-dust sequestered schemes of selfish, greedy gore 
Because I didn’t bother to acquaint myself with He 
Who, when this life is over unveils Immortality 

What if the ‘Glad tidings of great joy’ that the angels brought 
Would never touch the heart; the part that transforms idle thought 
What if I miss the only thing worth anything, That Day 
Because I was too focused on all that will pass away 

What if nothing reminded us How Very Dust We Are
How Circumstantial Happiness is like a shiny car
That soon loses its luster, in a heap of rusted sham
The gates of hell are decorated with dust-glitz and glam 

Pray that I fix my eyes upon a Prize I cannot see
Where nothing in this world can take the place of Calvary
...and the price of salvation wrought to pay sin's deadly toll 
What profit to gain the whole world only to lose The Soul

© Janet Martin

 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matt.16:26

Defying Depths of Despair



Psalm 37:7-8
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.


Often when I am tempted to despair 
(and there seem to be SO many reasons these days )
 I think of Marilla Cuthbert's words to Anne,
"To despair is to turn your back on God"
Marilla Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables



The depths of dark despair are always there, where we might stray 
If we mistrust the care of He to whom we ought to pray 

If we beg for deliverance but do not change our ways 
If we gratify ignorance with flattery’s vain praise 

If we do not obey the law that perfect love decreed 
If we, not overcome with awe, do not find what we need 

If we while knowing better still continue thus to err 
And do not make an effort to be wiser than we were 

If we, severely stubborn in our human-natured bent 
Do not let goodness govern our intimate intent 

We will be monsters, no matter how ‘normal’ the faรงade 
If we do not acknowledge our lack and trust in God 

If we, so broken at our best do not rest and rely 
Without agendas, on the One who so loves you and I
 
If we do not yield heart and soul, to He who will provide 
Our joy will never be made whole; we must be rid of pride 

Or depths of dark despair will try to overtake the Light 
If we do not first trust the Care that fits us for the fight 

© Janet Martin

 

 

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

On Finding Fulfillment



Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, 
as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 
 since you know that you will receive an inheritance 
from the Lord as a reward. 
It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 
Col.3: 23-24

It's not as much what we are doing
as who we are doing it for
that brings contentment/fulfillment
So it begs the question;
What are we doing for Who?

This gal is working at next Christmas's wish-list...
(only 11 mos. less a day to go!!๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜‰)



We all have wish-lists, don't we?!
How far are we willing to go for who?

The ladder to success and happiness 
Is foiled by flaws and failures of the flesh 
Enmeshed in plans and dreams so dearly plied 
Is a force to be reckoned with, called pride 

And no matter how high our hopes might climb 
Or where our dreams may lead if given time 
The chase that we embrace is not enough 
To fill that place God reserved for His Love... 

…to love Him with heart, soul and strength and mind 
So few it seems, life truest success find 
For He does not cater to wish and whim 
The Creator made us to honor Him 

And so, until we do the heart will cry 
And nothing will fulfill or satisfy 
This world will seem a feckless trek to death 
Until we learn to rev’rence ev’ry breath 

And recognize life’s sacred gift from He 
Who lends its lease of brief mortality 
Where we will find fulfillment only when 
We labour for the Lord and not for men

Sooner or later everyone must choose
Who they will serve and thus, who they refuse
If we choose God then all we do will be
An expression of awed humility 

© Janet Martin 





Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Don't Wait for Wonder


Cherishing the word cozy today
while I pray for drivers to be safe!
(Victoria just made it home after being sent home early!
Wow! Was I relieved to see her! And wow, was she relieved too)


The feeding station has been flooded with feather-flurry all morning





Don’t wait for wonder; look and see 
For surely, purely poetry 
Brims from a beauty-giddy fount 
In glints too manifold to count 
Like petals from a blossom-tree 

Don’t wait for wishes to come true 
Let Mercy’s Meanwhile run us through 
With wonder-wild astonishment 
To smile away longing’s lament 
And make us humbly thankful too 

Don’t wait for what already is 
Of giggle, snuggle, hug and kiss 
For if we look beyond today 
To pine for morrow’s might or may 
How much of here and now we miss 

Don’t wait for wonder’s sweet surprise 
While plundering a sea of sighs 
But take the time to look and see 
To touch the hand of Majesty 
And gaze into the Giver’s eyes 

Don't fall for some far-off decoy
But cherish words like 'girl and 'boy'
For far too soon the picture fades
Into floats in phantom parades
That echo with yesterday's joy

© Janet Martin 

Cherish words like girl and boy...and COZY!




Inside Out

 

There is no question as to why our North American nations are in trouble.
Pray, God's people, pray!

2 Chron. 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, 
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face 
and turn from their wicked ways, 
then I will hear from heaven, 
and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

1 Cor.11:27-31

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner 
will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 
 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 
 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ
 eat and drink judgment on themselves. 
 That is why many among you are weak and sick, 
and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Repentance is the only resolution...
to acknowledge sin and confess

I'm looking forward to spring when buds begins to break and bear/bare their bloom!
All fruit and flower comes from the inside out!





What happens on the inside, you can bet without a doubt 
Will soon show on the outside; of what we are all about 
To deal with sickness-symptoms, without getting at the root 
Is like putting a big band aid on an infected foot 
To try to fix the problems that plague us we need to start 
Where good or bad begins within the human-natured heart 

How often we point at the proof of need with loud lament 
But to address the issue is like chipping at cement 
Unless we recognize the place where all true change begins 
And first repent and believe in He who forgives our sins 
A band aid hides the ugly truth but cannot cleanse the bod 
A nation cannot heal until man’s heart is right with God 

Futile to try to fix a foible from the outside in 
For in the heart is where the troubles of this world begin 
For sin, like an aggressive weed soon overtakes the whole 
Lust, conceit, pride, fear, hatred, greed, the seed of sinful soul 
And when its buds bear fruit, no words are needed to explain 
Thus, without starting at the root, best efforts are in vain 

Repentance is the only resolution; to confess 
Then God will forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 
And only then, after we bow before the Lord of all 
Are we prepared to be a vessel fitted for His call 
For Who is on the inside, you can know without a doubt 
Will soon show on the outside; of Who we are all about 

© Janet Martin



Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! 
You clean the outside of the cup and dish, 
but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matt.23:25-26

Monday, January 25, 2021

So Many Reasons To Rejoice

 Grace and Peace to you from God, Our Father

Fernando Ortega


2 Peter 1:2-4
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
 3as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
 through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
 4by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises,
 that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature,
 having escaped the [c]corruption that is in the world through lust.

Is fresh as a flow’r from bud’s bower borne 
While the clock winds down Time’s seasons of sand 

No one can overthrow Ruler of all 
No matter what, Lord, Thy will, will be done 

You never falter, Your love does not fail 

While here we bear birth and death’s in-between 
Lord, you invite all to, ‘come unto Thee’ 
Forbid we settle for something we see 


Then let us put on a garment of praise 
Let us forever rejoice in the Lord 

© Janet Martin 

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    love and faithfulness go before you.
 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
    who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
 They rejoice in your name all day long;
    they celebrate your righteousness.
 For you are their glory and strength,...

Psalm 89:14-17


though all else changes...never God!










Monday Morning Reveille



Up and at ‘em
Herd or scat ‘em 
Hug and hold ‘em 
Wash and fold ‘em 
Training, teaching, 
Praying, preaching 
Hurting, hoping 
Seeing, groping 
Running, crawling, 
Flying, falling 
Laughing, crying 
Cheering, sighing 
Dawdlin’, hastin’ 
Time’s a-wastin’ 


Left foot, right foot 
Slipper, work-boot 
Slow or faster 
Let love master 
Sort and tally 
Hill or valley 
Squat or lanky 
Kind or cranky 
Old or younger 
Let sheer wonder 
Thunder, rumble 
Tremble, tumble 
Never grumble 
But be humble 

Winning, losing 
Waking, snoozing 
Seizing, yearning 
Leading, learning 
Lend or borrow 
Joy or sorrow 
Seen or hidden 
Bossed or bidden 
Don’t be lazy 
But keep busy 
Ev’ry season 
Make the reason 
In life’s story 
For God’s glory 

© Janet Martin

For you were bought with a price. 
So glorify God in your body.
1 Cor.6:20

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, 
do all to the glory of God.
1 Cor.10:31

In the same way, let your light shine before others,
 so that they may see your good works 
and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matt.5:16

For from him 
and through him 
and to him are all things. 
To him be glory forever. 
Amen.
Rom.11:36

Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; 
whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—
in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 
To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. 
Amen.
1 Pet.4:11










Sunday, January 24, 2021

Bit 'o Dusk Doggerel

I love the earth asleep beneath a sweep of snow and shadows cast ...




I love the earth asleep beneath a sweep of snow and shadows cast 
How daybreak’s oriflamme is lowered on dusk’s flagpole at half-mast 
And how wow is the only word that seems to fit the frame of mind 
As we behold gold blurred with blue turned into today left behind 

© Janet Martin


Daughter cooking dinner means time for a bitty dusk-ditty...or two๐Ÿ’—



I love the way the heart feels snuggled 'neath a heap of down-duvets 
And earth is like a painting swaddled before our very gaze 
And dusk is like a dark blue blanket tossed across worlds lost from view 
And somehow as we stand and watch it we become a bit lost too 

© Janet Martin

Someday, Forevermore or Bond of Freedom

(for we who share the bond of freedom in Christ)
For now we are apart but someday
worshippers will sing together forever and ever!
This first song is very fitting for the times we are in
(worth the while to read the translation)




 

 

1 Thess.4:16-18

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, 
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, 
and the dead in Christ will rise first. 
After that, we who are still alive and are left 
will be caught up together with them 
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 
And so we will be with the Lord forever. 
Therefore encourage one another with these words.

From sea to sea and shore to shore we who believe are bound 
By a sweet and communal cord of common, holy ground 
The blood that washes sinners clean and sets the cursed soul free 
Is Mercy’s universal vein that binds God’s family 

Salvation, wrought through Jesus Christ is our saving faith 
His death, to pay the debtor’s price no offering could erase 
For blood of bulls and rams could not atone and justify 
Only a Perfect Lamb, the Son of God could satisfy 

And by His outpoured blood we are unified far and wide 
To be the family of God; His pure and spotless bride 
Not by our works (lest we would boast) but by the grace of He 
Who gave his uttermost upon the cross of Calvary 

From sea to sea and shore to shore, while onward ages roll 
A beautiful, mutual yoke binds soul to soul to soul 
Of we who are freed from death’s sting through He came to save 
Because He died and rose again, Christ has conquered the grave 

Jesus fulfilled salvation’s plan, His name above all names 
Has given to the soul of man, hope, without guilt’s past claims 
Redemption is the joy we share, His love the song we sing 
In universal praise and prayer to Jesus Christ our King 

© Janet Martin