For Every (one-time gift) of Today

Rom.11:36

For of Him 

and through Him 

and to Him 

are all things, 

to whom be glory forever.

 Amen.

For every afternoon not yet framed in fond remembrance

For every day of June still like a pearl in welkin shells

For every wave not yet undone by shoreline’s supine stance

For every grave still waiting for what every breath soft-fells

For every sweet delight and bitter bite from life’s buffet

Not sampled yet; we rise to greet the surprise of Today

For every good and perfect gift from mercy’s treasured trove

For every echo not yet drifting in past’s pastel clime

For every memento first refined by faith, hope and love

For every moment-morsel not yet run through hands of time

From He who gives all that we take, from He who takes away

We trust His grace and thank Him for the blessing of today

For from and to and for Him are all things; to Him all praise

For every lesson not yet taught or learned by young or old

For every green of innocence still unseared by want’s ways

For every earnest shepherd of lambs, eternity-souled

For every hymn unraveled by the willow-limbs that sway

For every sacred beauty-onus-impact of today

For this we touch toes down once more on the tarmac of morn

For every hour still unwed to flickers, farewell-kissed

For every daisy still unchained, for ballads not yet born

For every flower-lyric , orange, yellow, amethyst

For thoughts, pure, honest, noble, true and lovely, Lord, we pray

That we would honor You with each one-time gift of today

© Janet Martin

Finally, brothers and sisters, 

whatever is true,

 whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable—

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—

think about such things. 

Phil.4:8

Dear May, a Farewell Love-letter

 Happy last Day of May!

Dear May, somehow you always exceed eager expectation

As you begin to nurture nature’s treed rejuvenation

As gardens start to thrill our gaze with petal-punctuation

And overhead a minstrel plays leaf-lays in celebration

Dear May, you always rouse anew, rekindled planting pleasure

As you run wooing whispers through buds bursting with bloom treasure

As you, beneath young and old feet, unfurl your finest measure

Where beauty and duty compete with lures of toil and leisure

Dear May, the way you always spill with April’s remnant showers

Makes worth the while it takes until you reward faith with flowers

Tulip chalices, bleeding hearts, allium, lilac-bowers

Always, your floral drumroll kickstarts summer’s fleeting hours

Dear May, your dust is sacred, stirred by farmer’s urgent labor

Your prudent lease sublimely blurred by your lime-coloured saber

Waving a welkin wand that welcomes home the long-lost neighbor

As nests are built and filled with featherdown and fledgling caper

Dear May, it always feels as if you leave us way too soon-oh

Medley of march-and-meander through days, dandeli’n-strewn-oh

We could not bear the fare-thee-well of your sweet afternoon-oh

But for the tolling of a bell that always brings us June-oh

© Janet Martin

Perfect Fit...

When the backdrop of day is green

Because the bud has borne its sheen...

And when the crown of it is blue...

And when the dawn of it is new

And when its gown is lilac-starred

And its breeze like soft seas unbarred...

And when its flowers smile and nod

And when its Gardener is God...

Is it not enough just to fit

Into a teeny bit of it...

When the backdrop of day is green

Because the bud has borne its sheen

And when the crown of it is blue

And when the dawn of it is new

And when its gown is lilac-starred

And its breeze like soft seas unbarred

And when its flowers smile and nod

And when its Gardener is God

Is it not enough just to fit

Into a teeny bit of it...

And make the most of it because

Soon it will be the Day That Was

© Janet Martin

1 Chron. 29:11

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, 

The power and the glory, 

The victory and the majesty; 

For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; 

Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, 

And You are exalted as head over all.

A Let-list

(playing in the old bathtub waiting to be hauled away...)

The older I get, the more I cherish moments of laughter...

...welcome relief to the toll love's constant care/prayer can take,

as the wellspring of laughter is not drained,

but sustained by 'the joy still set before us'!

Below, Baby Brother looks longingly as if wishing he could participate

in more than simply being a spectator...

(but that would mean leaving mommy, something he is not fond of😅💖)

Let the music of sweet laughter kindly comfort creature care

In the lessons love must suffer, let not hope yield to despair

Through the thick and thin of learning (something we never outgrow)

Let us never cease from turning to the One who loves us so

No matter what pains and grieves us, as life’s troubles train and fret

God is good; He never leaves us in the rubble of regret

Or to the brutal archrival of He whom deserves all laud

Let us never cease to marvel at the wondrous works of God

Let His unfailing love cheer us as we learn to trust His lead

Oh, what peace to know He hears us when for steadfast faith we plead

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus; His Word our joy sustains

Rather than what never pleases or eases Want’s hunger pains

Let us look with humble fervor to the needs of fellowmen

Let us live to serve our Saviour with all that He grants. Amen

Let us run with firm endurance the race that is set before

Until faith’s blessed assurance turns to sight forevermore

© Janet Martin

Let Us Run...Alex McQueen

Heb.12:1-3

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

  2looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, 

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 

despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, 

lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

What a Friend We  Have in Jesus

Sabbath Song

 

I was glad when they said unto me, 

Let us go into the house of the Lord.

Psalm 122:1

Is He Worthy?

Praise God for goodness granting, nay, commanding Sabbath rest

Praise Him for the implanting and expounding of His Word

He beckons us to gather, there to be divinely blessed

And keep the hope within us anchored to truth undeterred

As we worship together, our Father, Saviour, Friend

And exhort one another to be faithful to the end

Praise God for invitations to come to His house to pray

To join the celebration that will fill eternity

To share in the communion of all who await The Day

Of glorious reunion when face to face we shall see

God who so loved the world He gave His Son to pay sin’s debt

And save us from death’s hopeless grave; oh come, lest we forget

Lest we forget God’s faithfulness, love’s favors and mercies

Lest we fall prey to hatefulness so prevalent and bold

Lest lie by lie and vice by vice we drift from his decrees

Lest we forget His sacrifice and our love grows cold

Lest we, no longer glad to go to the house of the Lord

Miss the precious implanting and expounding of His Word

© Janet Martin

A Mercy-kindled Beckoning

As we approach the throne of  grace may we be reminded to

not grow weary in our prayers for what seems impossible 

(so much sin, sickness and sorrow!) because

... "with God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:37

The God that created the world,

The God that parted the Red Sea,

that snowed manna in the wilderness,

that tumbled the walls of Jericho

That closed the mouths of lions,

That walked in the fiery furnace

that walked on the water,

that provided a Spotless Lamb once for all sinners

oh, and as written here in

 John 21:25

Jesus did many other things as well. 

If every one of them were written down, 

I suppose that even the whole world 

would not have room for the books

 that would be written.!

Yes! This God is with us!

He fuels our sometimes-wavering

 faith with unwavering faithfulness!

The great Designer and Creator of heaven and earth is with us!

It trembles in each breath, each smile

It fuels poems, still unpenned

It lures us like a country mile

To see what lies beyond the bend

It helps us greet the day at hand

And God’s replenished grace, with zeal

To return to duty’s demand

And what today waits to reveal

Though veiled, it draws us to pursue

Proposals with hope’s precious urge

Like arms outstretched in welcome to

All who approach its holy verge

That always authors reckoning

From what no one can fully see

Of mercy-kindled beckoning

God-granted Possibility

© Janet Martin

Possibility is a bud,

burgeoning with bloom!

Should I, Because of Stubborn Pride (protect a favoured sin)

 Here's My Heart, Lord

Should I, because of stubborn pride, protect a favoured sin,

Unwilling to admit Idolatry. Oh God, I pray

That You would rend rebellion’s veil in this temple of skin

As repentance rouses renewed devotion to obey

Oh Lord, Enlighten the eyes of my heart, transfixed by these;

The knowledge of hope’s calling and the glory of your grace

Protect me from the tempter that taunts me to ‘take mine ease’

Trading redemption’s riches for the enemy’s embrace

Smite me with grief if I defy your goodness with my greed

If I should set a stumbling block before my fellowman

Remind me of Your lifeblood poured out to supply Soul's need 

And open the eyes of my heart to Your wonder again

Oh, do not let me covet what can never satisfy

Do not let me mouth half-confession’s vain and pious prayer

Lord, let the truth of you undo the lacquer of the lie

That glosses over pitfalls that are waiting to ensnare

Should I, because of stubborn pride, protect a favoured sin,

Lord, open up my eyes to weigh sin’s wages with Your gift

Then would You rend rebellion’s veil in this temple of skin

And help me give more earnest heed to Your Word, lest I drift…

© Janet Martin

Inspired in part by Eph.1 NKJV

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Redemption in Christ

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He [a]made us accepted in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and [b]prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, [c]both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who[d] is the [e]guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your [f]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality[g] and [h]power and [i]might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Of Life's Sacred and Surreal

today's post,  a first...

 ...sharing, with special permission from my youngest daughter,

an excerpt from her very precious Christmas gift to me last year,

a collection of her poetry and journal snippets,

 glimpses of heart-pieces like only ink allows...

It's been a little while since we were both in our respective corners of the morning

but today is a perfect reflection of this...

Wow! yup...poetry plunked, plucked, pried and prayed from the schmozzle of living...

often with reminders, no matter what season we are in...to Cherish!

because seasons are so brief, each with a beauty of their own!

Whatever season we are in no matter when or where

Time seems to slip through our skin in whispers thin as air

And suddenly we turn to see what once seemed long and slow

Now, pictures in a gallery where echoes ebb and flow

Nobody, no matter how strong can keep the tide at bay

That runs through us like sea-song as it washes years away

As generations roll like soul-filled waves that rise and fall

Prey to the subtle season toll that no shoreline can stall

…reminding us that no matter what season we are in

Time's echo-chimes soon scatter like thistle seeds on the wind

While we learn to savour the full flavour of moment crumbs

Before they slip forever to what each season becomes

...before the Giver of each life retrieves what seasons lease

As a momentous Shuttle weaves the ilk of Time's increase

Still slipping through our fingers soft as silk yet hard a steel 

Leaving a sense that lingers, of life's sacred and surreal

© Janet Martin

The same feeling that inspires many a poem and song

like this one...

Slipping through my Fingers 

By humility and the fear of the Lord

are riches and honour and life

Prov.22:4

There Will Be Poetry

 As long as earth unchains a thoroughfare of blossom-laud...

As long as the heavens declare the majesty of God...

(this sunset is from May 2022)

 

...because this year the sunrises and sunsets are obliterated 

by a smoky haze due to the wildfires out west!

The best the skies can muster is a rosy orb...

As long as work can wait because a child has come to play

Before they dash through that old gate that draws the child away...

As long as earth unchains a thoroughfare of blossom-laud

As long as the heavens declare the majesty of God

As long as bowers burst with leaf and flower filigree

After winter’s welcome retreat, there will be poetry

As long as zephyrs pirouette and oceans roll to shore

And dusk authors a silhouette-and-shadow-repertoire

And morning metes mercy renewed and sets a new day free

To stir the heart with gratitude, there will be poetry

As long as work can wait because a child has come to play

Before they dash through that old gate that draws the child away

As long as May rolls over bars as green as green can be

And lilacs burst with perfumed stars there will be poetry

As long as baby birds peep-peep from nests tucked into trees

And seasons sweep from east to west tuning fond memories

As long as joy surprises us with its simplicity

Keeping the child alive in us, there will be poetry

As long as there are gardens to grow happiness and plants 

As long as nature's arboretums burst with radiance 

Overflowing bud-chalices with petal-luxury

That crowns plain dirt with palaces, there will be poetry 

 

As long as dawn is gentle, always new and fresh from God

As long as hearts are humble and kind and constantly awed

By so much to be glad about, as long as we can see

Beyond the brunt of fear and doubt, there will be poetry

As long as thoughts are soft, not hard and embittered by spite

As long as cloud-ships sail aloft and stars dazzle the night

And the music of moments orchestrates a symphony

Of wonder and contentment oh, there will be poetry

As long as there is always something new, like a sunrise

…and, (though not all dreams may come true some do to our surprise)

And, as long as Today runs rife with opportunity

To make the most of love and life, there will be poetry

© Janet Martin

As long as baby birds peep-peep from nests tucked into trees...

(not quite peeping yet!! just freshly hatched!)

Psalm 66:1

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth!

As long as joy surprises us with its simplicity

Keeping the child alive in us, there will be poetry...

A Wake Up Call

'these days I feel like I live in a state of perpetual crying to God'

I said to my sister in a conversation last night. 

This morning the first verse in my devotion was 

Eph.5:14

Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

It seemed to pour into my heart's cry from the night before

inspiring today's poem...

Sometimes we use the phrase 'wake up call'

when we refer to something that jolts us to Reality!

or a caffeine jolt...😅💓

Oh, pray that none of us are spared whatever wake up call

it takes to draw us first to repentance and 

then to re-awareness/reawakening if we begin to slip or slumber!

Wake up, all who yet sleep

Rise from death’s dormant pose

Where every breath is like a leap

Toward life’s curtain close

Wake up, for none can see

How near or far the place

That turns Time to eternity

And ends the day of grace

Wake up, do not delay

Hell’s night none can afford

Wake up, while it is still Today

And bow before the Lord

To call upon His name

To repent and believe

And weep with wonder as you claim

The gift faith will receive

Wake up, while Mercy’s Gate

With each breath swings ajar

Wake up before it is too late

To escape Judgement’s Bar

Wake up! Shake of the ruse

Of religious façade

Examine every bold excuse

Defying/denying Holy God

Wake up. Fear Him and keep

His laws with reverence

Oh pray, wake up, all who still sleep

In disobedience

Wake up; for God so loves

And cares for you and I 

He overflows Truth's treasure troves

With salvation's reply 

Wake up; do not reject

The Light no night can dim

Wake up and ask God to direct

Each footstep back Him

© Janet Martin

Last night my physical feet ached with weariness

due to many outdoor steps taken as we worked in God's Great outdoors! 

Sometimes our spiritual body aches with weariness too, doesn't it?

As we walk second miles, as we pray and cry

 to God for a reawakening to the Sacredness of the

gift of life, its brevity before eternity!

This broken world is not out of the Healer's reach!

But oh, how often we turn away!

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

If I Should Turn From Thee

1 Tim.4:1 NLT

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly

 that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith;

 they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

John 6:60;66-69

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said,

“This is a [a]hard saying; who can understand it?”...

...From that time many of His disciples went [d]back

 and walked with Him no more. 

67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, 

“Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him,

 “Lord, to whom shall we go?

 You have the words of eternal life.

 69 Also we have come to believe and know 

that You are the [e]Christ, the Son of the living God.”

How often it hurts pastors, teachers and parents

as wise and true counsel is ignored, scorned 

and heedlessly turned away from!

How much more, our Heavenly Father!!

May we echo the words of Peter if we are tempted

to put our trust in what we see rather than what/Who we know!

 “Lord, to whom shall we go?

Where Could I Go But to the Lord

To Whom Lord, shall I go

If I should turn from Thee

Whose spirit and life can bestow

The truth that sets me free

Whose blood but Thine atones

From age to age to age

Whose ear but Thine attends the groans

That wrack this mortal cage

In who else can I trust

Without fear or dismay

Whose Word transcends time’s dust-to-dust

And cheers me day by day

Whose purpose will prevail

To crush the enemy

Whose love and justice will not fail

Throughout eternity

Whose law is love but Thine

Who whispers peace to me

Who else laid down his life for mine

With such humility

What can this world afford

But pleasures vain and fleet

What compares to Thy joy, my Lord

Abiding and complete

Then, should I turn from Thee

Lord, where else can I find

A sweeter, surer sympathy

Compassionate and kind

…to heal my broken heart

Whose assurance can ward

Defense against deception’s dart

Without Thy armour, Lord

Who can quench Want’s wild thirst

Or offer Living Bread

Who can save us from this world, cursed

With ignorance and dread

If I should turn from Thee

What can I hope to find

To satisfy the longing plea

Of heart and soul and mind

If I should turn from Thee

Lord, to whom shall I go

To entrust all eternity

Pray, I may never know

© Janet Martin

Coming Soon-Jesus! 

Give Me Jesus

I Love The Lovely Month of May

This poem niggled just as I was ready to leave 

yesterday afternoon to help my parents with some gardening

 so I quickly scribbled the gist of it in my 'draft-book' 

and didn't get a chance to return to it until this morning 

but Beauty Duty called before I could finish it, 

so it kept evolving and expanding throughout the day...

My apologies for the length but there's SO much in May to love!!!

I love the mist of orchards kissed and crowned with blossom-vim...

Or wading knee deep through a sweep of dandelion-gold...

Or reveling in the unraveling of budded limb

Like pausing to watch gauzy green-leaf parasols unfold...

I love the mist of orchards kissed and crowned with blossom-vim

Or wading knee deep through a sweep of dandelion-gold

Or reveling in the unraveling of budded limb

Like pausing to watch gauzy green-leaf parasols unfold

I love how expectation for transformation is met

How nature is a pianist no pessimist subdues

The merry breeze plays melodies like a May minuet

I love the lark, and how dawn’s dark the warbler’s lay renews

I love the verve, the crook and curve of brook-song through the dell

The verdant surge as summer’s verge unfurls a grassy sea

The wholesome, holy happiness found in a flower bell

The cooing of the mourning dove, the fuzzy/buzzy bumble bee

The dusty haze as farmers blaze fresh trails of hope and trust

The garden where we breathe a prayer with every seed we sow

The pleasure of a treasure trove buried beneath tilled dust

The earthy joy as we employ the tools of spade and hoe

The sense of youth in spite of truth that uncouth mirrors mime

So much to do rather than rue faced facts; so much to like

The outdoor bench whereon to quench the raging thirst for Time

The waddling duck, the toddler stuck on bigger brother’s bike

I love the awesome promises that replenish the rose

Where despite thoughtless thanklessness God’s kindness intercedes

I love how He pens poetry no mortal can compose

Providence grants Extravagance no ignorance impedes

I love how Now is full of Wow, how sweetly May’s sun shines

How chubby raindrops plop and leave behind a crop of pearls

I love the waltz, foxtrot, and somersaults on laundry-lines

While frisky zephyrs tug brisk Housewife’s skirt with flirty twirls

I love the way dusk lingers on the fringes of so long

Running reluctant fingers over one more May day through

Beckoning us to sit a bit beneath the lowered gong

That tolls away the workaday with bronze, mauve, blush and blue   

I love how earth gives age-old birth to wonder’s infant cries

How May morn brims with worship hymns that last the livelong day

How perfumed plume of lilac bloom scorns atheistic lies

I love the green-gilt lilt that frills the lovely month of May

© Janet Martin

The garden where we breathe a prayer with every seed we sow

The pleasure of a treasure trove buried beneath tilled dust

The earthy joy as we employ the tools of spade and hoe...

(Thanks to the generous farmer next door my garden is planted in

a fresh plot while we give the old plot some refreshment and rest!)

I love the way dusk lingers on the fringes of so long

Running reluctant fingers over one more May day through

Beckoning us to sit a bit beneath the lowered gong

That tolls away the workaday with bronze, mauve, blush and blue...