Because Of His Mercy...

Titus 3:5-7: 

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

 He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 

so that, having been justified by his grace, 

we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

You are invited to join us as we worship on Good Friday

and Easter Sunday!

Harmonica players have a special place in my heart

so I chose this version of a favorite hymn for this post

Nothing But the Blood of Jesus- Buddy Greene

 

Does mercy not make worth the while of ‘smile and try again’

For mercy meets us in each mile it metes, of joy and pain

Life’s flight of forward measured mien would be a fear-filled Must

Without love’s merciful Unseen to anchor hope and trust

Oh Lord, increase faith’s sacred claim, as we press to the Prize

Let Your Name be the only name our worship magnifies

Let the sword of the Spirit (which is your Word) be our might

For by your mercy, we are brought/bought from darkness into Light

May the mercy that you have shown fill us and overflow

From vessels made of skin and bone, so everyone may know

That You loved us so much you sent Your Son to pay the price

So that no one may perish but all have eternal life

Because of your mercy oh Lord our faith is not in vain

By Your mercy grace has restored mankind to You again

The deceiver, the enemy of God is overthrown

Once and for all you shed Your blood sin’s verdict to atone

Your sacrifice has washed away the need for bull and ram

For blood of beast could never pay, only a perfect Lamb

So by the mercy of the One who beheld Calvary

I AM became the scapegoat for the likes of you and me

Oh, let the wonder of such love give weary souls a lift

God loves each one of us so much He still holds out His Gift

Of ‘all who believe will not perish but will be forgiv’n

And receive everlasting life; not death and hell, but Heav’n

Mercy holds wide the door; the Ark of Safety is not sealed

Look up, do not ignore the stripes whereby mankind is healed

Whereby Hope is an anchor though life's storms may surge and toss

Mercy secures faith’s armour in the power of the cross

© Janet Martin

Isa.53:4-6

Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; 

yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.

 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;

 the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

 6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; 

and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.…

Heb.9:22

...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Heb.10:19-25

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place

 by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us

 through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 

 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,

 having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience 

and having our bodies washed with pure water. 

 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 

 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 

 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, 

but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

To God Be The Glory Forever

 To God Be The Glory

To God be the glory

He did not withhold

The wonderful story

The cross would unfold

From death’s scene, so gory

From grief’s gloomy knell

Christ rose in victory

Over death and hell

To God be the glory

Death did not prevail

For sinners so sorry

His blood will not fail

Faithful to the finish

He suffered the cost

Nothing could diminish

His love for the lost

To God be the Glory

His beloved Son

Fulfilled His Love Story

With ‘Thy will be done’

Knowing Mercy’s offer

Would make scoffers laugh

Yet willing to suffer

On scorner’s behalf

To God be the glory

Whatever we face

Is not without mercy

From love’s nail-scarred grace

Whatever the sorrow

We must suffer through

To God be the glory

For He suffered too

To God be the glory

All who have believed

Will share in the Victory

That Jesus achieved

Through Redemption’s story

Of Never Again

To God be the glory

Forever, amen

© Janet Martin

Lent to Lose (in order to find)

On Sunday our message was from Matthew 16

 including the challenge in verse 25;

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it,

but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

Oh, how easy it is to forget

Life is a gift, lent!

...a gift with sacred reckoning

on how it is spent

Only Trust Him-Alan Jackson

This poem is inspired in part,

by a family tragedy...

On Sunday night my nephew's 19 mo. old son went missing on their farm.

His body was recovered on Monday in a manure pump.

Please pray for strength and comfort

for my brother Stuart and their family and

esp. for my nephew and his wife, Charles and Andrea!

Sometimes the certainty of sorrow tries to steal the glow

And make us worry ‘bout tomorrow and what none can know

Sometimes senses of satisfaction lose approval’s nod

As love suffers the hard attraction that points man to God

Sometimes the trouble we are born to tests want’s willful way

Tempting man with doubt’s first question ‘did God really say?’

For we see only the pieces; the picture as a whole

Must wait until God’s will releases body from the soul

Sometimes people are prone to ponder Mercy’s Upper Hand

But we were born to trust and wonder, not to understand

Born to find strength in surrender, not in a fist we raise

Born to be a humble spender of numbered, gifted days

Sometimes our own idea of what should or should not be

Makes us rebel against replies of ‘be it unto me’

Sometimes sudden loss reminds us not to take for granted

What we soon will leave behind us, back to He who lent it

© Janet Martin

 

 

 

From a Fount That Forges Memories...

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet grand-daughter!

...though without a doubt the celebration is bittersweet this year!

This is not quite the poem I had in mind but

 circumstance sort of moved the heart in this direction today!

Details here on

Divine Design

From a fount that forges memory’s fond mementos, mercy-lent

Pours the future to a suture that weaves pictures, echo-bent

Who knows what will flow from heaven to bestow laughter and tears

Where dawn kindles what dusk dwindles until ‘lifetime’ disappears

From the hand of God (no other, lest we confuse hierarchy

And forget the One who numbers days before one came to be)

From His hand, (the fount of mercy) time’s momentous stream runs rife

Until the will of the Giver returns to Himself, each life

Sacred is the surge of seasons, slowly reeling farewell in

Holy is the toll of twilight, siphoning the soul from skin

Precious is each gifted hour, arranged step-by-steppingstone

Faithful is the loving Father drawing his dear children Home

© Janet Martin

Your eyes saw my unformed body; 

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

 before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:16

Divine Design (updated)

.(here is the update mentioned this morning)

Last night my nephew's 19 mo. old son went missing

on their farm.

His body was recovered today in a manure pump.

Please pray for strength and comfort

for my brother Stuart and their family and

esp. for my nephew and his wife, Charles and Andrea!

I will say of the LORD, 

“He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Psalm 91:2

Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. 

My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield,

 and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 94:22

But the LORD has been my stronghold,

and my God is my rock of refuge.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

No matter what designs the must of trials we pass through

In Thee oh, Lord we place our trust; our refuge is in You

With gaping wounds of heart and soul, beneath the blows of loss

We plead for faith to make us whole by looking at the cross

For when life’s cup of joy is marred by sorrow’s agony

You reach with Hands redemption-scarred; our refuge is in Thee

The places that once brimmed with love and laughter’s harmony

Are full of tears, our visage dimmed with groaning sympathy

To Thee oh, Lord we pour our prayer; when understanding fails

Help us to place our burden where Your faithfulness prevails

To lean upon your promises for they are kind and true

No matter what designs the test, our refuge is in You

© Janet Martin

 

Wealth of Wonder and Love

 

Wishing you a wonder-full and lovely day!

This morning is a gray, rain-drop spangled lake

rather than the golden wake of a few dusks ago...

What if this would be enough; life’s wealth of wonder and love?

What if we were satisfied with the joy that these provide?

What if our words would brim with thanksgiving’s heartfelt hymn?

What if this was happiness; finding more by wanting less

Life is rich when love/God is first; wealth of days, wonder-immersed

In spite of hard hills and holes, love and wonder still consoles

Waking worship’s madrigal, making life so worth it all

While we learn to cherish more, so much to be thankful for

Let's not seek plunder of stuff but more of wonder and love

Overflowing cups of praise from a decanter of days

Taking sparkles from life’s fount, making every moment count

Filling fortune’s treasure trove with wealth of wonder and love

What if, for all that we lack we found something to give back

Finding in love's kindliness the secret to happiness

Deepening, as years go, reverence for  'you and I'

Finding love and wonder's laud grounded in the grace of God

© Janet Martin

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,

 to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,

 teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Col.3:15-16

Ah, This Is Faith

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;

(for he is faithful that promised;)

Heb.10:23

Living Hope- Phil Wickham

We do not have the eyes to see the ins and outs of doubt and dread

We cannot know the high and low of ways and means that lie ahead

That happiness of Mercy’s ‘yes’ is but the prelude to its ‘no’

Ah, this is life, where joy and strife run rife through grace whereby we go

Sometimes we strain to seize the rose forgetting beauty’s brutal stem

And he who suffered painful blows beneath its thorny diadem

How mercy bore without reproach, the horror of Golgotha’s tree

He did not choose to use His throne to refuse God’s authority

For this is love, the author of each sacrifice we choose to make

Without reproach, but simply for the glory of the Giver’s sake

Who offered to give all He had to prove the Father’s love for we

Who could not bridge the awful gap between God and humanity

Then pray, today our goal would be to wholly, humbly honour He

Jesus, who did not despise us, though He could behold Calvary

The brutal blows, the blood-bathed woes before His triumph over death

Then pray today our goal would be to praise His name with every breath

...for this is hope, to know in Whom we have believed and fully trust

In He whose sacrifice achieved once and for all, redemption's cost

Ah, this is faith to hold fast to the truth that His Word has made known

Until we touch the scars that tell how death and hell were overthrown 

© Janet Martin

Invisible Onus

 

While waiting for wild gales to subside a bit before going out

I seized the extra-poem opportunity without delay 😊

Opportunity is a bud begging to bloom!

It alights on the break of day like bird upon a limb

It spreads its fare like a buffet waiting to be a hymn

A sacred supplication from the moment we awake

An open invitation to be willing to partake

To rich and poor its coffer spills, minding ability

So we may seize its offer; it is Opportunity

It grants the chance to hope and pray, to do the best we can

To work with what we have today, and love our fellowman

To be a good steward with what God allots to our care

And not get caught up in the fruitless thought-life of ‘compare’

To bear the yoke of circumstance with meek humility

Aware that life is like a dance with Opportunity

…a bittersweet succession of love’s laughter, pains and aches

It lets us learn life-lessons, not through failure, but mistakes

It does not shake its head and sigh of us, ‘it is no use’

But with each day of granted breath we are without excuse

By the grace of the Giver, to embrace what waits to be

Where life is like a river rife with Opportunity

…that spills its ilk of silk and steel in an ethereal sup

Sometimes a milk and honey meal, sometimes a hard road up

Where nope and yup pour from a cup without jangle and form

Where Hope is but a wraith-like rope that dangles in the storm

Until it is the anchor of the Soul, then we will be

Equipped by faith that makes us whole, for Opportunity

© Janet Martin

As we have therefore opportunity, 

let us do good unto all men, 

especially unto them who are of the household of faith

Gal.6:10

The Truth About Things

This poem was inspired partly by this morning's Bible Love Note

and partly by spending a few hours yesterday burning

brush picked up and raked form the yard...

'At death all Things will turn to dust and ash'

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: 

and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Eccles.12:7

Truth does not shift its weight from foot to foot

Or like a shadow; it is absolute

The precedence of God no one outranks

Man’s part is to obey and give Him thanks

This keeps the heart from becoming enslaved

To the futility of Things, the ‘old man’ craved

Truth teaches us to value what we ought

Lest in the quest for wealth, Truth is forgot

Only treasures in heaven will not rust

All else at death will turn to ash and dust

Naked we came and naked we will leave

Beware, lest snare of Satan doth deceive

The grave is the cadaver’s final splash

At death all Things will turn to dust and ash

© Janet Martin

 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, 

where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, 

where moth and rust do not destroy,

and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.…

Matt.6:19-21

On that note I am about to leave to buy some things,

Because some Things serve a sweet cause such as

 a gift for Grand-daughter's second birthday!

Last year store-lockdowns and Covid restrictions

 kept her first birthday a rather low-key

celebration. no gifts, no party!

This year hopefully we will celebrate with renewed awareness and thankfulness

 of the preciousness of words like 'together' and 'hello'

and 'have a piece of cake'!

From The Hull of Broken Darkness

This is more than transformation pouring from night’s broken pod

More than blush rush of creation; morning is the voice of God

We who trust the tender Shepherd know there is no need to fear

By His Shadow we are covered no matter what, He is near

Never alone, what a promise as we hope and watch and pray

From the hull of broken darkness pours far more than light of day

Lift your eyes above the chaos that afflicts this slip of sod

From the hull of broken darkness pours the faithfulness of God

© Janet Martin

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Today's Challenge...(of what we do for who and why)

We were challenged at the end of Sunday morning's message 

to live in obedience to God, as taught through his Word, 

for the purpose, not of holding us back from our calling

but fulfilling it; giving God all honour and glory

Another day breaks

...and with it God's grace

and replies, soon left behind

Lord, help us to be vigilant,

and diligent

and kind

We wake, make plans, follow the lead

Of beck and call of want and need

Where what we do for who and why

Determines where our passions lie

Where what inspires/fires boast

Bears witness to who we love most

Where how and if and what we pray

Conveys much more than words may say

Where the hidden man of the heart

Plays a very important part

Because as time moves us along

The ‘hidden’ is not hid for long

But shows himself in how we live

In what we keep, in what we give

In gratitude and attitude

Where Rebel Self must be subdued

Where pray our utter goal would be

The soul’s accountability

And therefore, to renounce control

And pray that faith would make us whole

As with Mary’s humility

We reply, ‘be it unto me’

To glorify the One who gave

Himself, man’s selfish soul to save

So, death and hell will not prevail

When from time’s strait the soul sets sail

To meet love’s author, face to face

To reckon what we did with grace

Where what we do, for who and why

Proves who we seek to glorify…

Lord, pray that what we say and do

Today will bring glory to You

Amen

© Janet Martin

Do you not know that you are the temple of God

 and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If anyone [b]defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.

 For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

1 Cor.3:16-17

Under The Umbrella of God's Care

Today's poem was partly inspired by my morning prayer as I asked God to please spread

His care like an umbrella over me and the kiddos that others entrust to my care...

The verge of what will be soon merges with all that has been

Whether valleys shadowed with death or pleasant pastures green...

While the kiddos play or 'help'...

... I sometimes find things to putter about with...

Pinch me! I feel like I just bedded down the gardens,

and though this may be a bit premature, (because yes,

 I do see the snowflakes in next week's forecast)

I just can't resist the urge to merge with garden-dirt a bit

(because the neighbors got a dog, we sorta did too😀)

(Yesterday morning while I was working in the kitchen I heard a clatter in the laundry room.

apparently the back door did not latch properly

after I hung out the laundry and this dog made himself at home without knocking😂

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, 

and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. 

This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

Eccles.2:24

Ah, here we are, not very far from learning’s next affair

But always underneath the kind umbrella of God’s care

Because showers of blessing come in every shape and size

Some welcomed with wide open arms, some hard to recognize

We never know what waits to show its face with smile or tear

But oh, the more we trust, the less each of us has to fear

God, we are prone to groan beneath the weight of ‘what might be’

Help us to learn to lean on you with faith’s humility

The gold of beaming rampart unfolds like a work of art

From the grail of God’s mercy to the cup of human heart

Where, here we are, not very far from Love's unfailing Hand

All that we need to do is reach and He will help us stand

The verge of what will be soon merges with all that has been

Whether valleys shadowed with death or pleasant pastures green

We kick the dust of want and must; it rises but to fall

God's grace spreads like an umbrella over one and all

© Janet Martin

The gold of gleaming rampart 

unfolds like a work of art...

Morning Meditation for Soul-feet

 

Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

More, oh Lord, than light of morning

To be a lamp to our feet

More than blush and gold adorning

Where light and shadow compete

Where the way is wrought with pitfalls

That the sun cannot expose

As its east to west unravels

The path to life’s curtain-close

More, oh Lord, than resurrection

Of the orb that melts the dark

Pointing in the one direction

That will never miss its mark

Let your word, be like a beacon

And a lamp unto our feet

Let it light the way of reason

Ere death’s solemn gaze we meet

More, oh Lord, than light of heavens

Over each step to preside

Futile is yon molten lantern

Mortal’s deathless crux to guide

Thus, oh Lord, let your Word ever

Be a light unto our way

For Thy Word, oh Lord, will never

Lead the feet of souls astray

© Janet Martin

Is There On Earth Any More Appealing Hymn?

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;

 the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1

This Is My Father's World

Is there on earth any more appealing hymn

Than the one that heralds the return of spring?

Is there a more welcome, sweeter melody

Than the robin’s cheery tir-a-tir-a-lee

Than the goldfinch, dapper in bright, yellow duds

Trees and bushes bursting with laughter-filled buds

Showers slipping earthward, washing landscapes clean

Rolling from blue heavens, a threshold of green

Than we, kissed by sunshine’s friendly howdy-do

Counting age-old blessings as if they were new

Peering like schoolchildren, out to yonder clime

Tossed by zephyrs peeling, ‘almost recess time’

Teasing bees from slumber, then the butterfly

Drawing from the garden, snow-white lullaby

Rousing in the farmer, vigor’s vim renewed

Spring is like a charmer, waking gratitude

Gratitude for seasons running through a hand

That created nature to heed his command

While we, glad with reasons that never grow old

Fling open stiff windows long closed to the cold

Hailing hope’s revival akin to the joy

Of welcoming home prodigal girl or boy

Like a celebration as wondrous rebirth

Ushers transformation to both hearts and earth

Comforting the ruddy, winter-weary reed

With a gentle study of pods run to seed

Probing autumn’s castoffs, tucked into the sod

Being kindly whispered back to life by God

He deserves the glory as hearts and buds brim

Is there on earth any more appealing Hymn?

© Janet Martin

Song of Solomon 2:11

For, lo, the winter is past...

Spring and Morning Rhapsody

Like a golden chariot rolling from yon shore

Laughter lobs a lariat snaring winter's roar

According to the calendar winter is past!

Happy, happy spring!

This morning I heard my first robin of the season

heralding the break of day

and the return of spring-summer-fall!

Is there on earth any more pleasant hymn

than the one that heralds the return of spring?!

Noah Builds an Altar
…21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, 

“Never again will I curse the ground because of man, 

even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth.

 And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

 22As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,

 cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

Genesis 8: 21-22

Evidence is throbbing

Over land and sea

Renewed promise lobbing

Mercy’s melody

Heaven’s hallelujah

Draws away the dark

Through God’s vow to Noah

Morning meets its mark

Like a golden chariot

Rolling from yon shore

Laughter lobs a lariat

Snaring winter’s roar

God honours His promise

Beneath Mercy’s wing

Covenanted onus

Always returns spring

From bud-brimming bowers

Like a leaping lamb

Harbinger of flowers

Hoists Hope’s oriflamme

Kindling hallelujah-

Sacrifice of praise

As we thank Jehovah

For His faithful ways

Like a rush of petals

Generations pass

Dust we stir soon settles

On man’s days of grass

With both grace and warning

Mercy spreads His Wing

Always bringing morning

Always bringing spring

Look, the ink of ages

Signs love’s legacy

Winter’s hoary pages

Melt to history

Tuning hallelujahs

With renewed delight

For spring is upon us

After winter’s night

Come, let's heap fresh altars

With offerings of praise

God's word never falters

Nor His perfect ways

Bow with thankful hearts, thus

Mercy will not fail

Light pierces the darkness

Spring rends winter's veil

© Janet Martin

Fringe-Hinge

 

Do you feel it;

The sense of Impending Infinity?

Do you hear it?

How dusk is the hinge on an unfathomable door

And This but the fringe of So Much More

Temporal, so temporary, Eternal, eternity

Yet the two are intertwined very, very intricately

Moments but breath-by-breath tokens preceding forevermore

Where final exhale flings open an unfathomable door

Such a blip of time to ponder what no one can comprehend

Life is no paperback novel; this is serious, my friend

Who knows when we will be ushered from the temporal to see

How what seemed so temporary will impact eternity

© Janet Martin

Peering Down the Habit-hole

Today we are taking a moment to peer down the rabbit, oops, habit hole!

(I'm blaming all the 'bunny-bobbles' around the bird-feeders

and yard for ferhuddling/befuddling me!) 😂 

(although habits are a bit like rabbits; they breed new ones😉)

Habit Definition: (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior 

such as 'her habit of taking a morning walk'.

 2a : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly

 or completely involuntary such as 'she got up early from force of habit.'

The older I become, the more it dawns on me 

what a potent part habits play in who we become!

Wise to train/bend the limb in the right direction while it is green!

So true the adage; Old habits die hard

Some habits are shaped by necessity;

Others by apathy

Better to get in the habit of counting mercies

rather than misgivings!

A great day is a grateful day!

On my lots-of-tots days my habit of morning blog-post 

(unless it all comes together quickly),

 is now an afternoon nap-time post!

We enjoyed a gorgeous daybreak!

the colors as crisp as the air!

Habits are things we say and do often without much thought

Yet crucial in shaping who we become, like it or not

They tune the tone of grin and groan from the moment we wake

And set down crucial steppingstones to paths of life we take

As strengths or weaknesses imbue the elemental flux

Of word and deed soon turned into character’s vital crux

Habits can settle into mettle of response with ease

They wave no flag of caution to warn of deficiencies

As they seep into attitudes that benefit or taint

With either gratitude or rude and critical complaint

Therefore, we ought to hone habits with care for we become

For better or for worse, blessing or curse of habit’s sum

Ah, holy role of habits, what a potent part you play

A little bit like subtle fingers fashioning the clay

Where what is hidden in the heart has ways of showing through

By how habit accommodates the ways of say-and-do

To weave with ribbons of reply, wise, foolish, cruel or kind 

Life's everlasting legacy each of us leaves behind 

© Janet Martin

So here's a word of encouragement

to honing healthy habits

such as:

Pray before touching down on new day

Read God's word to keep faith's focus undeterred

It is wise to exercise

Eat good food for health-wealth

Chew words well before spitting them out

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12