A Melody of Mercy Plays (or, A Great and Effective Open Door)

Good, glorious morning (or afternoon) to you!

Lam.3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Rom.13:11

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,...

1 Cor.16:9

For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

A melody of mercy plays where morning is a mist-kissed flow’r...

A melody of mercy plays where morning is a mist-kissed flow’r

Unfolded with a breath of grace from He who orchestrates the hour

God’s loving kindness is enough no matter what today may bring

Goodness and mercy follow us until we dwell at last with Him

He helps us (if we ask) to bear the toll of toil and troubles drills

Faith weeps for joy; from founts of air, God’s unforgetting favor spills

For His compassions never fail, in spite of we who often do

Redemption’s Author rends the veil where mercy’s melody pours through

…where a great and effective door swings wide, where adversaries boast

Thus, we should not advance before we are equipped to face this host

Without the full armor of God, no one is able to withstand

The devil’s wiles; a scheming fraud who thrives on breaking God’s commands

But, praise the name of Jesus Christ; through Him fresh courage is unfurled

Because, greater is He in us than all the armies of the world

Where all who walk by faith behold far more than meets visual gaze

As the bud of today unfolds the melody that mercy plays

…a sweet and solemn battle-hymn, to fit us for frontline warfare

Because the stakes are high and grim, with consequence beyond compare

For, to take up the cross of Christ and follow Him demands our whole

Self is the idol sacrificed to serve the Saviour of the soul

Be of good cheer! Ah, can’t you hear?! a melody of mercy plays

The day of salvation draws near; and then will be the end of days

Come quickly Lord, nay, tarry for too many still reject Your call

Where a great and effective Door opens once more to one and all

© Janet Martin

Rom.13:11-14

And do this, understanding the occasion. 

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,

 for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 

12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. 

So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 

13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, 

not in carousing and drunkenness, 

not in sexual immorality and debauchery, 

not in dissension and jealousy. 

14Instead, clothe yourselves withc the Lord Jesus Christ, 

and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Imagine if we lived each day with the awareness that 

we are living just outside the gates of Heaven! or hell.

Below are a few breath-stealing pages

 I have been parked on this week

and I can't resist sharing with you

to enrich your pondering (and practicing) pleasure, 

to challenge, encourage and refine our daily resolutions...

There is a Fountain-

 

Conditional Unashamed-ness

Psalm 25:2

In You, my God, I trust. 

Do not let me be put to shame; 

do not let my enemies exult over me.

Psalm 71:1

In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; 

let me never be put to shame.

When I asked my grandchildren yesterday if they want to eat lunch inside or outside

in unison they disagreed, so after some fruitless attempts at coming to an agreement,

 I suggested best two out of three draw! They enthusiastically agreed,

until it was over! all three draws were 'inside'. 

Aw, said Grandson, let's just ignore it and eat outside!' 

I reminded him a deal is a deal, 

and quite futile if we don't stick to the conditions.

Then I was struck with the thought of how often I read God's 'deal'

and respond a bit like Grandson...aw, let's just do it my way,

 ignoring His conditions. 

Oh God, thank-you for your mercies, new every morning!

...and what a gorgeous July morning in rural Ontario!

If I would not be put to shame

Lord, let me not seek wealth or fame

But find my joy in Jesus’ Name

The Saviour of the soul

You are the giver of life’s breath

You are the deliverer from death

The Maker of heaven and earth

Faith in You makes me whole

…and keeps me from the tempter’s snare

And guards me from depths of despair

As I confide in You in prayer

And lean upon Your word

That leads in paths of righteousness

For Your name’s sake; so You may bless

Each step with peace and holiness

Through mercies undeterred

If I would live the life I should

So You may work all things for good

Because I love You; pray I would

Never my own god be

…foolish and wise in my own eyes

Often distracted from the Prize

Of Your high calling, by the lies

Of pride, fear, vanity

There is a way that seemeth right

But leads to death, if I delight

Not in You, Lord, but walk by sight

Where distractions run rife

If I would not be put to shame

Lord, let me Your goodness proclaim

And fix my hope in Jesus’ Name

The Way, The Truth, the Life

© Janet Martin

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing 

Prov.18:10

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;

 The righteous run to it and are safe.

Psalm 18:2

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

my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; 

my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, 

and my high tower.

Proverbs 14:26

In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence:

and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Isaiah 33:6

He will be the sure foundation for your times, 

a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. 

The fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.

It is not possible to trust someone we don't know;

to put our faith in a stranger.

If we are ignorant of the morals and principles

of someone we cannot put our confidence in them.

This, above all, applies to our relationship with God

The only way to grow our love for Him enough to truly trust Him

is to know what He stands for,

 is to know Him through His Word.

To pray that He will open the eyes of our hearts

1 Cor.15:57-58

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, 

always abounding in the work of the Lord, 

knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

I came across this poem this morning;

a fitting reminder for 'lads' of all ages!

...and here is the rest of the poem about Aunt Jane 😂

This is the Life

'This is the life!' I sometimes find myself repeating,

as the raw brunt of it rushes away another day midst work and play

..as I sense the precious shimmer of summer skimming

 the surface of sod and skin, while sweeping souls

in Rites of Passage back to the Giver of life.

Sometimes my breath is stolen anew

by the re-realization of the brevity of Innocence

as I watch my grandchildren growing up far faster, even

than our children did 😅💞

resulting in renewed earnest endeavor, by the grace of God,

not to take a moment for granted,

not to take holiness for granted but pursue it with

unthwartable purpose!

Heb.12:14-17 & 25

Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness,

without which no one will see the Lord.

15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God,

and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

16See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau,

who for a single meal sold his birthright.

17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing,

he was rejected.

He could find no ground for repentance,

though he sought the blessing with tears.

25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks...

This is the life!! May we, by God's grace

make the sacred most of Today!

Cookies are ready, calls Grandma

...and they all come running!! 😂😂💗

This is the life; the good and bad, the happy-sad of hold-let-go

This the life; the grim and glad, the weathering of yes and no

Hello-goodbye, we laugh, we cry, while growing older by the hour

While learning, teaching, crawling, reaching, planting, reaping, sunshine-show’r

This the life, the joy and strife, of traveling a winding path

Of depth, of height, of gloom, delight, of day and night’s long aftermath

Of touch and taste soon laid to waste, of slowing haste to hear the sound

Of Footsteps in the garden where the place we stand is holy ground

…where commonplace is full of grace and nothing stays the same for long

Where happiness is saying ‘yes’ to righteousness and ‘no’ to wrong

Where gray and gold and heat and cold and work and rest skim sea and sod

Weathering frames where death soon claims this little life that leads to God

…this is the life God grants, a gift of song and dance, of loss and pain/gain

Where seasons swirl, where little girl and boy cannot a tot remain

This is the life; morning, noon, night, how swift God’s gifted seasons glim

Where every life is running rife with Rites of Passage back to Him

© Janet Martin

Do Not Be Deceived

The antidote to deception is knowing what is true/truth!

How vital for (professing) mature believers to

walk in truth, living as irreproachable role models,

not authoring confusion!

John 17:17

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

(from Jesus prayer (for us) in the garden of Gethsemane,

 just before He died for us)

Matthew 24:4,11,24

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you…

Galatians 6:7

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? 

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters,

 nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers,

 nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.…

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good character."

 34Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; 

for some of you are ignorant of God.

 I say this to your shame.…

This poem was inspired by my Scripture reading today, 1 Cor. 15,

as well as a few paragraphs from the final chapters

 in the book George Muller of Bristol 

Half-truths will hurt the hearer more than we can comprehend

God, help us handle correctly, the truth that does not bend

To understate matters of fact by gentling truth with lies

To mollify its impact, is a deadly compromise

To take the tempter's doubting stance of 'did God really say?'

Leads into disobedience; instead, we ought to pray 

Deception is a foe that coils in enticing façade

The victor of soul-spoils unless we know the Word of God 

Oh, do not be deceived; truth does not shift or sway or die

Truth is safely believed; God's gift on which we can rely 

The wise discreetly strive to speak the truth in clearest ways

Careful, lest someone who is weak misinterprets, then strays 

Truth is not complicated; Word on which we can depend

Truth, unintimidated and trustworthy to the end

God, make us conscientious, humbly striving to be true  

For the Tempter's pretentious cunning, cannot altar You  

 © Janet Martin

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

 We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, 

full of grace and truth.

John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; 

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

1 Pet.5:8-9

Be sober-minded and alert. 

Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, 

seeking someone to devour. 

9Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge

 that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing 

the same kinds of suffering.

Ode for Summer's Poets

 

Where meals are gathered from a garden-green charcuterie

Oh my, but fresh-picked goodness garners five stars, hard to beat

In simple supper-salad satisfaction guarantee

Where summer's poets thank the Lord for poems they can eat

Where golding wheat field billows like an ocean ebbs and flows...

Where overhead the sky beckons in bottomless blue pose/prose...

Where flower gardens toss a lure, sure to delight the sigh

Of summer's poets enchanted by petaled color-splurge...

Where bees are buried to their knees inside each nectar-fount...

Where golding wheat field billows like an ocean ebbs and flows

Where rural routes are fringed with wild lupine and chamomile

Where overhead the sky beckons in bottomless blue pose/prose

To summer's poets hypnotized by ballads that beguile

Where finding happiness is easier in sweet July

Where daybreak rolls across earth’s shoreline in a coral surge

Where flower gardens toss a lure, sure to delight the sigh

Of summer's poets enchanted by petaled color-splurge

Where bees are buried to their knees inside each nectar-fount

Where there are blooms enough to satisfy the thirst of all

Where the Creator knows how to stoke a syllabic count

From summer's poets eager to compose a madrigal

Where an air of contentment settles like dew-heady dust

Where clover fields yield a perfumed playground for butterflies

Where every backroad rouses a wild streak of wanderlust

In summer's poets looking for a country paradise

Where meals are gathered from a garden-green charcuterie

Oh my, but fresh-picked goodness garners five stars, hard to beat

In simple supper-salad satisfaction guarantee

Where summer's poets thank the Lord for poems they can eat

Where we hop out of bed to watch the sun come up at five

Where we linger till ten to feel dusk’s symphony immerse

Our senses, where best reasons we are glad to be alive

Keen summer's poets pressed for time to tame them into verse

Where July is an arms-wide-open, welcome-home embrace

Where shadow-pools beneath the maple tree are dark and deep

Where lavish looms spin lilies, lavender and Queen Ann’ s lace

While summer's poets smile and snare fond mementos to keep

© Janet Martin

Where we linger till ten to feel dusk’s symphony immerse

Our senses,...

Time, Precious Time

Happy July!

Glorious, sun-drenched blue-sky July!

The gardener's playground,

A child's splash of freedom from school-routines

A poet's (and farmer's) paradise 

of early daybreak and long, slow, dewy, dusty dusk!

In Canada we are celebrating Canada Day!

There is so much about this country I love and so much I mourn.

The faith/Rock it was built upon is being boldly trampled underfoot.

When a house or country is not built on the Rock but on sand, 

how great is the fall of it!

A country is only as strong as its people.

A people are only as strong as their faith.

Faith is only as strong as the Thing that fortifies it;

 how much we fear/revere the one true God

Prov.9:10-12

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11For through wisdomb your days will be multiplied,

and years will be added to your life.

12If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage;

but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.

A cool, foggy beginning to July!

June's farewell dusk was a beauty to behold!

Precious Time is one thing we all have in common;

How much of it we have is up to Giver.

What we do with it is up to us!

Time is bestowed, not in lump sums, but sacred breath by breath

Only God knows how long before its lease succumbs to death

Where it is up to you and me to choose to use full-well

Each new day’s opportunity, before dusk’s tolling bell

Time’s moment-measure kindles clocks, and grants so much at stake

Where stepping stones and stumbling blocks are scattered in its wake

Where eyes and ears and feet and hands, (not commonplace at all)

Are instruments that Thought commands, while countries rise and fall

Time, precious time; a twinkling star filled with fleeting ado

Where what we think and who we are is up to me and you

Take heed; Thought is unmolded in accountability

After the tent is folded that harbours eternity

Time, precious time lowers a stage hinged to a solemn Door

On this side we engage in proving Who/who we most adore

But on the other side of it, after dusk’s final toll

Time, precious Time will be the flit that keeps all but the Soul

© Janet Martin

Matt.7:24-27

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,

 I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, 

and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;

 and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,

 shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, 

and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; 

and it fell: and great was the fall of it.