Devotion's Utter Proof (or, Let Love BE)

Not everyone in this world is quite as easily lovable,

(or as eager to help!!) as tots, 

but we are commanded to owe no one anything 

but to love them. (Rom.13:8)

By the grace and love of God, who sees us as we are

and loves us completely, we are able to love one another,

for we are all partly lovable and unlovable

Wishing you a Happy Last Weekend of June overcome with love!!

This deliciously, rain-soft morning affords me some much needed indoor-chore time!!

Rom.12:9-10, 21

Love must be sincere. 

Detest what is evil; 

cling to what is good.

 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 

Outdo yourselves in honoring one another...

Do not be overcome by evil, 

but overcome evil with good

Let love BE more than idle words that brush the ear with sound

Let love BE honour undeterred (for this is holy ground)

Let love BE willing to become a living sacrifice

And never count the paltry sum that constitutes the price

Let love BE faith’s unyielding walk, unaltered by the view

Let love BE anchored in the Rock that is Faithful and True

Let love hold nothing nearer than the cross that Jesus bore

Content to count Christ dearer, and in that, want nothing more

Let love put on the armour that equips us to fight well

Against a cunning charmer bent and bound for death and hell

Let love seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness

Let love BE wholly, holy shod with sacrificial ‘yes’

And not rebel beneath the rod that disciplines The Child

Let love BE daily humbly awed by God’s law, undefiled

Let love BE glad in every day that love’s author has lent

Let love BE ready to obey Him without argument

Let love BE patient, kind, befitted for its altar call

With heart, soul, strength and mind, committed to Christ above all

Who (He) satisfies the purpose in the high calling of love

Who (He) bestows sorrow’s solace that this world knows nothing of

Let love secure endurance, where often its foes contend

Let love’s pure perseverance keep us faithful to end

Let love BE more than pleasure that sacrifice holds aloof

Let love BE the full measure of devotion’s utter proof

© Janet Martin

1 John 2: 15-17

Do not love the world or anything in the world. 

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 16For all that is in the world—

the desires of the flesh, 

the desires of the eyes, 

and the pride of life—

is not from the Father but from the world. 

17The world is passing away, along with its desires; 

but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

1 John 3:11

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: 

We should love one another. 

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, 

so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

There is Rest By and By

  

A poem from my devotion this morning...

 

Grace Unfurled

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Ps. 118:24

I began this poem, inspired by dawn's golden tide

as it rolled across the waking countryside...

(side note; did you know the word 'countryside' is one of my

favorite words in the English language?!!) 

...but helping a friend with strawberry-picking

and Cutie-duty prevailed before it was finished!

Once more summer morn’s golden tide

Washes across the countryside

Duty’s demand wakens a world

Of consumers, to grace unfurled

The grand escape from Yesterday

Rouses both hunter and its prey

…the padlock on dusk’s westward arc

Is obsolete; Dawn melts the dark

As tug of wars of want and need

Either encourage or impede

Our will to do or rue the task

That sparkles from a new day’s flask

This is the day the Lord has lent

We reply with hope or lament

Blessed are they who live to praise

The faithful Giver of our days

Where we, consumers of His grace

Should view nothing as commonplace

But revere He who frees the tide 

That rolls across the countryside

...transforming the place where we stand

To holy ground, beneath the Hand

That wears the scars that paid the price

That authored grace through sacrifice

...a sacrifice second to none

That paid sin's debt for everyone

But left it up to you and me

To choose the grace that sets us free

'for it is by grace we are saved'

Pardon's proof on God's Hands engraved

The hands that reach to you and I

To draw night's mantle from the sky 

© Janet Martin

Where we, consumers of His grace

Should view nothing as commonplace...

But revere He who frees the tide 

That rolls across the countryside

June-Hymn

June seemed to beg in my bones

to be turned/tuned to a hymn today...

As you may have noticed over the years...

I never tire of this view!

Each season turns it into its own masterpiece,

But June, oh, sweet, fleet June

must be its Crown Jewel!

(p.s.) the farmers have no idea of the close heed I pay in spring

as to what crops are being planted around me! because it greatly affects my summer-view!

Seems this year I will soon be fenced in by

knee-high corn by the first of July, thanks in huge part to last week's heat wave!!)

And so, we smile where lunch beguiles from garden salad bowls...

Where June unwinds its green-hued isles like rivers/ribbons through our souls...

June always hath too short a lease; Summer’s virginity

As God unfurls a Masterpiece of bird-bloom symphony...

June has too many loveliness-es to name, but we try

Because we know how soon its comeliness yields to July

The moments that compose its song like music notes that brim

Where bowers cannot keep for long each lily-lifted/gifted hymn

And so, we smile where lunch beguiles from garden salad bowls

Where June unwinds its green-hued isles like rivers/ribbons through our souls

And takes each summer heart by storm, thrilling spectator-woes

As wild flowers begin to perform annual roadside shows

June always hath too short a lease; Summer’s virginity

As God unfurls a Masterpiece of bird-bloom symphony

Where earth is fair of face; she dances like a carefree child

While Nature’s Magnum Opus grants a free-for-all run wild

June’s laughter is contagious, kindling laughter in us too

In spite of wars life wages and sorrows that run us through

We find a kindly Comforter as flower-fountains spill

Healing Want’s wounded wonderer/wanderer with thund’ring canticle

Front porches become perfect perches for hiatuses

Vistas of pop-up churches births worship in all of us

Where oh-so-many pleasures leave its seekers humbly awed

By the manifold measures of the handiwork of God

The earth and its fullness thereof belong to Him. Amen

In spite of mortal’s lack of love He blesses us again

And sets to perfect timing, lilt of leaf and butterfly

And vine labyrinths climbing trellises crowned with blue sky

The busy bee bumbles from rose to rose and drinks and drinks 

Heedless of pollen crumbs, he nosedives into reds and pinks

Heady with happiness of honey-sweet, sweet dreams, oh my

He knows that earth and heaven meet, first in June, then July 

June grins with lovely things like hummingbirds that dart and flit

From plume to plume; and we delight to be a part of it

Partakers of a love-song, where joy is never off-tune

But beckons us to sing along because God gave us June

© Janet Martin

June has too many loveliness-es to name, but we try...

Order of Priorities

2 Thess.3:1-5

...pray for us, that the word of the Lord may spread quickly 

and be held in honor, just as it was with you.

  2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men;

 for not everyone holds to the faith.

  3But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you 

and guard you from the evil one.a 

4And we have confidence in the Lord that you are doing 

and will continue to do what we command. 

5May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

***

Day breaks; responsibility rouses mankind from slumber’s cot...

I began this poem last Saturday, as I juggled demands

where 'cares (and duties) of this world tug and weigh'...

On Monday I stayed with my (ever-growing-frailer) mother-in-law as she listened

to the funeral message as another of her dear friends

was laid to rest; a 93 yr. old mother of 13! 

(side note; my mother-in-law will turn 93, if the Lord wills, on Aug.2)

During the funeral service

one of the ministers shared a story he read about a farmer

who was building a new milk house.

When the building inspector asked to see his permit he confessed that he forgot to get one.

The Inspector asked him if he remembered to order gravel. 'yes' said the farmer.

And cement? again, the farmer answered yes. And did you remember to

line up help for this project, the inspector pressed.

Yes, said the farmer once more.

 Then the inspector said to him,

Now I know, you did not forget to get a building permit.

You just didn't deem it important!

The minister was seeking to impress on the listener

the importance of recognizing what is truly important and preparing for it; 

preparing the Soul to meet God is life's most dire urgency

for no one knows when 'dust-to-dust’s mandate will appease'

all earthly priorities.

What is important to us we remember!

What is important to us takes its place in our order of priorities!

Below, a few beautiful paragraphs from the book

George Muller of Bristol 

The order of priorities is sometimes hard to reconcile

So many tasks of ‘me first, please’, where weeds abound and flowers smile

Where happiness and heartache meet and mingle in the human breast

Where weariness and work compete and put will power to the test

Where souls to tend and bills to pay keep us on our knees and toes

Where cares of this world tug and weigh and what yet waits God only knows

The order of priorities reveals the hierarchy within

Where a most sacred diocese exists beneath our cloak of skin

No matter who or where we are, God sees the hearts of you and me

Where who we worship sets the bar for what will take priority

And, holy is the consequence of what is just as it appears

As precedence yields evidence by what Priority reveres

Day breaks; responsibility rouses mankind from slumber’s cot

Where instantly Priority beckons in the throne-room of Thought

Oh Lord, how great Thou art; oh, guard us from the evil one today

Let Thy word in our minds and hearts equip us to trust and obey

Before this boon of beckoning, dust-to-dust’s mandate will appease

And then will be the reckoning for order of priorities

© Janet Martin

2 Pet.1:3-9

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness

 through the knowledge of Him who called us by His owna glory and excellence. 

4Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises,

 so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,

 now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue;

 and to virtue, knowledge;

  6and to knowledge, self-control; 

and to self-control, perseverance; 

and to perseverance, godliness;

  7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; 

and to brotherly kindness, love.

  8For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, 

they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive

 in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

9But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, 

having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Galatians 6:10
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, 

especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Yesterday I spent a while tackling

 'where weeds were abounding!

(and flowers smiling!)

To Be the Oldest Sister/Daughter

(Belated) Happy Birthday, Emily 💝🙏🙏

Because it's never really 'belated' to celebrate those we love!

We finally had a chance to celebrate our oldest daughter's birthday, 

on Sat. evening two weeks after the official date! 

This poem was written for her and for 

my oldest sister who turned 60 a week ago!

We who are blessed to have an older sister to follow

 can easily take a lot for granted!! 

We also had an opportunity to try out Jim's/Grandpa's birthday present from his grandchildren;

an oldie game, croquet! lots of laughter from all 

(except the two year old who was soon comforted with a swing ride)

To be the oldest sister bears a charge she does not choose

Of feet anointed with a fine pair of trailblazer-shoes

The familial ground-breaker, whereby younger sisters gauge

Unspoken preparation for wars time and nature wage

The oldest sister shoulders an unalterable yoke

While younger sisters walk on luxury of ground she broke

Keeping a wary watch for firsts that steadfastly commence

Where time insists on countless reluctant relinquishments

Mother's first little helper and daddy's second sweetheart

First to test many waters that life is bound to impart

First scholar, first teenager, first to leave the nest called 'home'

First to face every new season of what is yet to come

To be the oldest sister, is to first weather the tide

That wakens her to winds of change, with gaze, less starry-eyed 

Than once-upon-more-youthful-years, soon strewn upon a wake 

That each sister behind her, Lord-willing, is bound to take 

God bless you, Oldest Sister/daughter, may His hope keep joy unfazed 

And grant you faith and courage where new trails wait to be blazed

Ere younger sisters follow where once first your footsteps fell 

God bless and keep you as you step into a new year's swell

© Janet Martin

 

 

Sweet Summer (part 1)

 Welcome, sweet summer!

Ps.19: part of verses 4 and 6

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun...

...nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Sweet summer, with so much to love we hardly know where to begin…

Where heady scent of fresh-mown hay hangs heavy on dawn’s dewy hush/brush...

Where countless hues of green imbue the rolling view, leafy and lush...

I love the calm after a storm, thunders through twilight like a train

Leaving behind a dazzling world, adorned with jewelry of rain...

Sweet summer, with so much to love, each day feels like precious fling

As earth and its fulness thereof begins to laugh, and leap and sing

Where heady scent of fresh-mown hay hangs heavy on dawn’s dewy hush/brush

Where countless hues of green imbue the rolling view, leafy and lush

Sweet summer’s thoroughfare is frilled with flowers, wonderful and wild

The garden bears the eager, carefree, banter of a bare foot child

Tree canopies cast cooling pools of shadow play across the yard

Against the wall behind the house, handsome hollyhocks stand on guard

I love the calm after a storm, thunders through twilight like a train

Leaving behind a dazzling world, adorned with jewelry of rain

I love the caroling of songbirds welcoming the day, still dark

I love the sounds of children playing in the splash pad at the park

In sweet summer we slow our pace lest we miss beauty to behold

Where duty’s never-ending chase runs through joys that never grow old

Beneath the arbor lavished with fragrant, purple wisteria-sigh

Through puddles on the laneway, strewn like mirror-fragments, full of sky

Sweet summer, with so much to touch and taste and smell and see and do

Ah, ‘what is man?’ we cry to He who runs awe’s happy wonder through

With strawberry and cherry bliss pleasing palates of everyone

With wheat fields billowing like oceans turning gold beneath the sun

Sweet summertime, when life is like a gift we open every morn

Its misty wrapping melts like butter over gleaming fields of corn

And we are glad with simple things like picnic basket’s smorgasbord

A pleasure fit for queens and kings, that everybody can afford

Sweet summer, tugging us between task and basking in pools of shade

Content with a good book and glass of iced coffee or lemonade

Where days flit by like butterflies, where school doors close and scholars grin

Sweet summer, with so much to love we hardly know where to begin…

© Janet Martin

Sweet summertime, when life is like a gift we open every morn

Its misty wrapping melts like butter over gleaming fields of corn...

Beneath the arbor lavished with fragrant, purple wisteria-sigh...

With wheat fields billowing like oceans turning gold beneath the sun...