Saturday, February 27, 2021

Disappointment's Catalyst


There is no getting around it; life is full of disappointments!
The future as it passes seldom looks like we imagined!
Without utter faith in God, hope is a lost cause!

Disappointment can be as minor as unwanted weather
and fender-benders
and as major as life and death matters!


This life is lavished with beauty (often in the broken),
and happiness (often full of holes)
and little time-outs (often when we least want them)


This is one of my battle-songs 
when things come along
I cannot understand
The first line is 
'Here's my heart, Lord, Speak what is true'
We cannot however, hear what is true unless we
turn to His Word and hide it
in our hearts so we do not sin against Him, 
as we surrender personal opinion and interpretation to


Thy word have I hid in mine heart, 
that I might not sin against thee.
Psalm 119:11

Disappointment does not cater to the hopes and dreams of we 
Weathering, in spite of wishes, the brunt of reality 
What a fete of faith and labour paves the street from here to where 
We shake off the dust of trusting and take off the yoke of prayer 

We are not equipped to carry more than one day at a time 
Worry drains us of The Very Present Help we need to climb 
Where no one can build a barrack that can thwart life’s suffering 
But where faith always has access to the Shelter of God’s Wing 

And to put on the full armour that will fit us for the fight 
On an altar of surrender to the One who paid sin’s price 

Disappointment is most often the unwanted catalyst 
God allows in hopes to soften hearts and rebellion’s clenched fist 
What a fete of hard-fought yielding to the higher, perfect ways 
As we learn to trust the Giver and the keeper of our days 

© Janet Martin 

Psalm 121:5
The LORD is your keeper; 
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.



Friday, February 26, 2021

Aurora Awe

 





This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm118:24

Shake off the dust of dreams waylaid 
Fling wide hope’s hoary door 
For this, the day the Lord has made 
Has never been before 

Reach past the cast of wave-washed sand 
To what is grand and new 
For where we go He holds our hand 
If we but ask Him to 

And though we cannot see what waits 
To tune trust’s latest buzz 
The One who draws ajar gauze-gates 
Of mist-kissed morning does 

© Janet Martin 

So many fresh cares to fill our prayers, right?!
Seems like so many young moms in this community 
are struggling with sudden, hard health-crosses

Made me look up this hymn this morning
when I cried 'Why?'
by Charles W. Naylor


God’s way is best; if human wisdom
A fairer way may seem to show,
’Tis only that our earth-dimmed vision
The truth can never clearly know.

Refrain:
God’s way is best, I will not murmur,
Although the end I may not see;
Where’er He leads I’ll meekly follow,
God’s way is best, is best for me.

Had I the choosing of my pathway,
In blindness I should go astray,
And wander far away in darkness,
Nor reach that land of endless day.

He leadeth true; I will not question,
Though through the valley I shall go;
Though I should pass through clouds of trial,
And drink the cup of human woe.

God’s way is best; heart, cease thy struggling
To see and know and understand;
Forsake thy fears and doubts, but trusting,
Submit thyself into His hand.

Thy way is best, so lead me onward,
My all I give to Thy control;
Thy loving hand will truly guide me,
And safe to glory bring my soul.







Thursday, February 25, 2021

Awe's Oceanic Aftermath=Art aka Worship

 

Completely and perfectly awed 
By the grand handiwork of God 










Dusk draws our eyes westward until 
Day falls beneath earth’s windowsill 
Night snuffs its picture like a flame 
That disappears from whence it came 

Where we are left to contemplate 
The crumb-sum on time’s dinner plate 
Like moments turned to memories 
From joy’s startling complexities 

How holes and hues of happiness 
Transform our views of more and less 
How wealth is not in what we hold 
But in the worth of moment-gold 

And how we are too very small 
To cup the wonder of it all 
Completely and perfectly awed 
By the grand handiwork of God 

Awe’s oceans seem to rush the heart 
Insisting on becoming art 
And so, we sing, paint, pen and gaze
 Until oceans turn into praise

© Janet Martin 





Prelude to the Awakening



Whoa!! 

The morning dissolved in errands that started at sun-up, 


then to a batch of bread...


a pan of granola bars


(recipe note: substitute dried cranberries with  any dried fruit, or chipits)
and if I don't have barley flakes I substitute quick oats and ground flax seed


...also, speaking from experience, the 20 min. cool time is optional if you want a sample sooner😀





and the whole morning had intermittent explosions/interruptions of harmonica music 
(my new toy thanks to some Christmas gift$$$ 
and an invitation to play for the kids at church on Sunday)!


Hello, heaven’s halo gleaming 
From a vault unplumbed, unfurled 
Like a fount of sequins streaming 
Through Want’s dreaming, scheming world 
Where progression and tradition 
Engage in clashing ideals 
Locking horns in opposition 
While time spins and thins its wheels 

Hello morning, Mercy’s token 
Fixed where every eye can see 
God has spoken, darkness broken 
By Ageless Authority 
He bestows gracious oblation 
Dawn throbs with love’s melody 
Pouring like an invitation 
Beckoning ‘come unto Me’ 

Hello, hope and heartache tango 
Teaching us the art of trust 
How to hold and how to let go 
In this dance of dust-to-dust 
Hello, happiness and hunger 
Learning love’s rhythm and rhyme 
Where no one is growing younger 
In the arms of Father Time 

Hello, season-circuit rider
On a phantom carousel
Of spring, summer, autumn, winter
Until we bid time farewell
Farewell, legacy-composer  
Farewell, fleeting breath-by-breath
Hello, morning drawing closer
The awakening in death

© Janet Martin 

Listened to this song from my daughter's playlist
this morning... 





Psalm 136:1
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! 
For His mercy endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; 
His loving devotion endures forever.


Psalm 145:9
The LORD is good to all; 
His compassion rests on all He has made.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Sacred Synopsis

 

True love does not come easily...
but with God
who is love
and loves you and me

the challenge?
the verses below;
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests 
but each of you to the interests of the others.
Phil.2:3-4

That is why we labor and strive, 
because we have put our hope in the living God, 
who is the Savior of all people, 
and especially of those who believe.
1 Tim.4:10

Oh, what  reason to shine!


The best we have for rich or poor wherever life may lead 
Is to offer the best we have to thought and word and deed 

But thought and word and deed will not be what they ought to be 
Until we entrust want and need to God’s authority 

For want and need will always be part of this human race 
Beneath God’s kind authority of love, mercy and grace 

Where without faith in He whose love, mercy and grace sustain 
The grounds of hope and joy and peace, our best will be in vain 

Because no matter what we win it will not be enough 
Until the best we have begins with God, for He is love 

And love makes possible the best that we can ever be
By faith in He who grants through grace, love's kind humility

© Janet Martin

1 Tim.6:6-10

But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap 
and into many foolish and harmful desires t
hat plunge people into ruin and destruction. 
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith 
and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Hoar-frost Heaven...


These photos turned out to be just the start of Jack Frost's artwork
on Sunday morning!
By the time we left for church wonder was dizzy with delight, 
gazing hither and yon upon sheer perfection!
(More photos here)





Frosty fringes gild glossed hinges of a weathered winter-gate 
Gracing fences, tracing branches with vestige of crystal lace 
Teasing poets with a show of nature’s ‘look but do not touch’ 
Where the air is fairly bursting with the font of Jack Frost’s brush 

Worship thunders where awe wonders at frost-fretwork whisper-thin 
Earth showcasing interlacing detail of woven welkin 
Where nothing is ordinary or of very lowly class 
As we gaze in sheer amazement at a landscape etched in glass 

Hoar-halation crowns creation with boreal ambience 
Woodlands glisten with impressions of angel-host radiance 
Hill and hollow frilled and swaddled in a dazzling vertigo 
Once again and without question nature’s pageant steals the show 

Once again its flawless anthem raises praises to the One
Who is Alpha and Omega and will never be outdone
So we stutter from this gutter of utter depravity/dependency 
Where a vision of redemption grants a glimpse of purity 

© Janet Martin 


“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,
 “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow;
 Though they are red like crimson, 
They shall be as wool.
Isa.1:18

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; 
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Time's Sacred No-return Return


A small glimpse of a bit of recent 'pleasure-treasure!'







Do you ever get the sense 
that earth is a boat
and we're passengers 
on time's massive float
being drawn breath by breath 
toward a shore
through the access called Death
to Forevermore?





Time draws its barge along 
on straits of day to day 
Beneath the chime of golden gong 
or clime of lowered gray 
We grapple with A Sail 
of Utmost Gravity 
Because Time’s sacred charge entails 
far more than we can see 

Time tugs its transient bark 
‘neath arcs of dark and light 
Where we are far more than tourists 
on floats of sound and sight 
We wear God-granted grace 
as breath-tones rise and fall 
And bear the very common place 
of duty’s beck and call

Time flies through outstretched arms 
and eyes wide with surprise 
It breezes through fists clenched against 
its resolute demise
It tosses plans awry 
and teaches us to trust
The invisible hand that makes 
visible dust to dust

Time takes its telling toll 
on mortal’s temple-gate 
Where carriages of deathless soul 
have much to contemplate 
For This, no pleasure cruise, 
transports us to a Shore 
Where every single passenger 
embarks forevermore 

Time steals our breath and seals 
its aftermath in years 
How swift its gift of empty reels 
fills up and disappears 
While heart-strings groan and fray, 
and pray, we start to sense 
The absolute approaching of 
That Day of Recompense 

Time ticks around the clock 
but cannot tell how far 
Or near to the most searing dock 
and final pier we are 
To meet the destiny 
of This Fleeting Sojourn 
Where verily, eternity 
is time's sacred return

© Janet Martin 

Some encouragement while we 'sail'...
(Imagine if the passage below said
 'to the churches of Canada' in place of Thessalonians
and this could/would be said of us from its letter-writer?!!)

2 Thess.1:1-5
Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
*To the church of the Thessalonians 
in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,
[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, 
and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 
Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance 
and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, 
and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, 
for which you are suffering. 


2 Thess.2:16-17
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, 
who loved us and by his grace gave us 
eternal encouragement and good hope, 
encourage your hearts and strengthen you 
in every good deed and word.


Saturday, February 20, 2021

Whisper-Soft

 We woke to a whisper-soft world!

Happy One-month-till-spring-Saturday!!

The sun has a lot of gold beaming to do this year to get rid of white whispers...😊




White whispers cling to everything 
Like featherdown from angel-wings 
White whispers blanket barren limbs 
Like notes composing argent hymns 
White whispers deck hill, rill and dell 
Like stars that lost their grip and fell 
White whispers muffle sound, like feet 
A-dancing, down a downy street 
White whispers sparkle like a sweep 
Of diamond-dazzle-streams, knee-deep 
White whispers tumble, twirl and waft 
Until the world is whisper-soft 

© Janet Martin 

Friday, February 19, 2021

Some Best Reasons To Get Out of Bed


The empty side of the bed, when Jim was gone for the week,
used to be full of tots! 
Now those years have turned to echoes... and books!!!😀

I try to remember to put the little library away
before he comes home but sometimes I forget, 
earning all kinds of wisecracks😉😊


Sometimes the idea of staying in bed and reading for a day sounds divine,
but, we would never choose to be confined to our beds, would we?!!
We have so many Best Reasons to get out of bed every morning
while God grants health and strength!
My thoughts and prayers are with those confined to a sick-bed.
What a high, hard, holy calling that is!

It made me ponder some wonderful reasons 
to rise and Shine for the Giver!

And whatever you do, do it heartily, 
as to the Lord and not to men,
Col.3:23

To live to love and give heart, soul and mind to push and shove 
To know because God promised so makes Hope’s Reason enough 
To look into His word to keep faith’s vision undeterred 
Instead of trusting what we see, then doubting what we heard 

To place our want beneath the microscope of recompense 
Lest we become numb to the fact that choice reaps consequence 
To make the most of what we have before life throws a curve 
That takes away what is today, a gift we don’t deserve 

To worship without worry for what tomorrow might bring 
To work to turn today into a servant’s offering 
To recognize the prize that Mercy summons to our care 
And never try to touch it until it becomes a prayer 

To treasure teeny tots so soon turned to women and men
To measure motive moving thoughts that turn into action
To balance labour with 'be still and know that I am God'
And strive to love our neighbour with more than a passing nod

To live to give back to the One who grants each day, our best 
So someday we may hear Him say ‘well done, enter thy rest’ 
To not neglect to reverence and respect Mercy’s Hand 
Lest we fall prey to pride and thereby break ev’ry command 

To turn the other cheek and never speak of it again 
For what is done in secret will not in secret remain 
To make our calling and election sure, as sure can be 
Because the grave veils the grave matter of eternity 

© Janet Martin 


To treasure teeny tots that soon turn to women and men...
(nothing quite warms hearts like little faces, rosy from the cold!)






Thursday, February 18, 2021

Loving Proof

 

A new day is upon us; what waits, we do not know
Only the One who grants it can see where it will go
Then, with this sweet assurance that He will lead the way
We ought not to proceed, love, before we pause to pray

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? 
Be strong and courageous. 
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, 
for the LORD your God will be with you 
wherever you go."

An Important Truth to learn and remember
whether we are very young or very old...



We don’t know what the day will bring 
Before its fling is through 
We don’t what we’ll lose or win 
But Lord, you do 

We don’t always love like we should 
Or use time’s gifted due 
To work toward the greater good 
But Lord, you do 

We don’t have what it takes to earn 
Eternal life, it’s true 
Or open Heaven’s gates in turn 
But Lord, you do 

© Janet Martin


Deut.6:5-8

 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart 
and with all your soul and with all your strength. 
6These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
 7Impress them on your children. 
Talk about them when you sit at home 
and when you walk along the road, 
when you lie down and when you get up. 
8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
 9Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

What A Love!

 

Today, for some Christians, Lent begins.
This meditation is a reflection
to remind us we give
because
we have been given!

How does one select only one,
from a vast collection of amazing renditions of this song; 


Redemption, what a word 
Released from a debt we incurred 
Forgiveness signed by blood of He 
Who authored sky and sod and sea 
And died upon a cross for us 
Redeemed from sin by Him, Jesus 

Salvation, what a gift 
Divine atonement spans the rift 
That began when Adam and Eve 
Were ripe and ready to deceive 
When doubting God, they ate the fruit 
That He forbade, and sin took root 

Grace, mercy’s uttermost 
Saved, not by works lest any boast 
But for man’s universal Fall 
He sealed our pardon once for all 
And will our every sin forgive 
To all who repent, look, and live 

Hope, what a glorious goal
Awaits faith's death-victorious soul
No one can add or take away
What Christ accomplished on that day
When from death to life He arose
Triumphant over Eden's woes

Jehovah, what a God 
Demons tremble and saints applaud 
He who is coming back again 
But not even angels know when 
We will behold heavens ablaze 
With Son of Man, Ancient of Days 

© Janet Martin 

More Than Pecksniffian Narcissism

 

We are the clay the potter presses hard upon love's wheel
May we remember He sees more than how it makes us feel
Just as the Lord who looked beyond His Son at Calvary
Saw how loss on the cross would gain Ultimate Victory

After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life d 
and be satisfied
Isa.53:11

Jim Reeves



Lord, May Your Word be more than logic that I read but do not heed 
Oh, what a pity to be versed in knowledge without mercy’s creed 
And what a waste, if I but half-taste Your goodness and never see 
That it is You who heaps time’s table with love’s kind humility 

Lord, may your joy be more than clone of circumstantial confidence 
Oh, guard my mind from blinding decoys that can lure gullible glance 
Be purposed, conscious demonstrations of You in my inmost part 

Lord, let love be my greatest hunger and fulfillment synchronized 
May Thy divine denominator glorify You, undisguised 
When I am torn between the tug of Perfect Love and want’s design 
Lord, may I recognize Your hug and respond with ‘Thy will, not mine’ 

Lord, let my love be more than narcissism's canting avarice 
Oh God, forgive me when like Judas I betray you with a kiss
Then, when love suffers long, remind me how Paul and Silas replied
In chains at midnight praising and proclaiming You, Christ crucified

Lord, in Thy name I pray,
Amen

© Janet Martin

Paul's Message by the Spirit's Power
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom 
as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 
3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.…
1 Cor.2:1-3


 

Whisper-weight


A whisper can move mountains...
I whispered as I watched the darkness begin to break 
beneath the weight of dawn's whisper

(and the next bit was a dash between keyboard and curtain-rise to a new day)😊









A whisper can move mountains When entrusted to the One 
Who woos from outer regions faithful rising of the sun 
Who decorates the heavens with a sumptuous glory-feast 
And feeds hunger for beauty from buffets poised on the east 
Who awes us, humbly human with his flawless majesty 
Who never turns a blind eye or deaf ear to you and me 
Who loves us so he gave the best He had, His only Son 
To pay the debt we never could for each and every one 
Who can call on His name if we but repent and believe 
A whisper can move mountains as His pardon we receive 
As mercy rends the veil of inner darkness with His Light 
Like morning's molten, golden whisper woos away the night 

© Janet Martin 

Matthew 17:20
"Because you have so little faith," He answered. 
"For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, 
you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' 
and it will move. 
Nothing will be impossible for you."

Matthew 21:21
"Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "if you have faith and do not doubt, 
not only will you do what was done to the fig tree,
 but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,'
 it will happen.

1 Kings 19:11-12

The LORD Speaks to Elijah at Horeb
11Then the LORD said,
 “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD.
 Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” 
And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains 
and shattered the rocks before the LORD,
 but the LORD was not in the wind.
 After the wind there was an earthquake, 
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

Meanwhile westward as best as I could see...
 (pretend the three pics are side by side)




1 Corinthians 13:2
If I have the gift of prophecy 
and can fathom all mysteries 
and all knowledge, 
and if I have absolute faith 
so as to move mountains, 
but have not love, 
I am nothing.