Restored...

Matt. 26:30

And when they had sung a hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives...

Ascend The Hill - Hallelujah! What A Savior (lyrics)

In the hour, the dark hour when our spirits groan with grief

When the power, the dark power of despair wars with belief

When the struggle, holy struggle strains faith to the uttermost

As life’s trouble, so much trouble tries the merit of its boast

Have you hasted, humbly hasted to the place where hope’s streams flow?

Have you tasted, sweetly tasted peace this world can never know?

Did you hold a little tighter to God’s Truth that cannot dim?

Did your heart grow strangely lighter as you sat and supped with Him?

Did the wonder of Hope’s Essence cheer you onward to faith’s goal?

Did the Thunder of Love’s Presence drive doubt’s shadows from your soul?

Did today’s Divine Director beckon you to hope’s birthplace?

Did faith’s Author and Perfecter bid you trace the scars of grace?

In the hour, the dark hour when the enemy is bold

Does the power, saving power of the cross increase its hold

Does the path you trod grow clearer, in the lamplight of God’s Word

Does love’s cross you bear grow dearer as faith’s fervor is restored

© Janet Martin

 

 

Sometimes I Miss The Bliss of Ignorance

This post began taking shape through some very precious get togethers

 with friends of Lucy's who have now become friends of mine.

What bittersweet joy these friendships hold...(for both sides)

as we near the 7 mo. mark since she left this world for the next.

Today marks a year since this community

mourned/mourns the loss of a dear wife, mother and friend...

This poem is written

In Loving Memory of Kelly and Lucy

These photos were lovingly composed mementos from a caring friend...

 

Sometimes I miss the bliss of ignorance borne happily

Till sorrow tore the front door from the hinges of my heart

And I welcomed in strangers who were friends waiting to be

To teach me lessons about love and friendship’s priceless part/art

Sometimes, in the raw longing of remembering Her face

I fear that I would trade them all for one more sacred chance/dance

To linger without looking at the clock, in the embrace

Between hello and the farewell that Time never recants

Sometimes goodness and mercy’s Tender Shepherd steals my breath

He comforts me; and crowns my grief with joy, words cannot spell

He draws my want beyond the somber outer folds of death

(Futile to lean upon the place where last Her shadow fell)

Beyond the somber outer folds of Death, I gaze because

The bitter cup of grief when tipped is like a curtain-rise

Then, sometimes when I miss the bliss of ignorance, I pause

And thank God for the unveiling of angels in disguise 

© Janet Martin

 

 

 

To Count All Things But Loss...

 From the book- Streams in the Desert compiled by Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman

1 John 4:9-10

This is how God’s love was revealed among us: 

God sent His one and only Son into the world,

 so that we might live through Him.

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us

 and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Phil.3:8

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence

of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,

and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ...

Read the whole glorious chapter HERE

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

To count all things but loss for Thee

Lord, let this faith's great honour/sole object be

For the excellent knowledge of

Jesus, my Saviour whom I love

To truly count all things but loss

As I behold the bloodstained cross

That held Thy love that never fails

Thy Hands divine, pierced through with nails

Thy body broken, Thy blood shed

My sin upon Thy sinless Head/Stead

As, on the cross of Calvary

You counted all things loss for me

You did not shirk death’s dreadful toll

To be the Saviour of my soul

Thy Father’s will, though Thou didst plea

Did not spare Thee from Calvary

Ah Lord, forbid I prize some claim

Above the glory of Thy Name

Forbid I look upon the cross

Yet cannot count all things but loss

Lest my boast, like a hollow gong

Resounds, Lord, let this be love’s song

To count all things but loss for Thee

Who counted Thy life loss for me

Lord,  all who repent and believe

Will everlasting life receive

And gain, for all eternity

The loss You bore at Calvary 

Then, fix faith's altar at the cross

Lest I forget to count but loss

All that impedes the knowledge of

Thy grace and everlasting love

© Janet Martin

I love the simplicity of this version of

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross - Fernando Ortega

Lyrics- Isaac Watts

1 When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.

2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast

save in the death of Christ, my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them through his blood.

3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were a present far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

April Anthem

 Celebrating twelve days of April today, in all its vexing beauty...

This is one of those poems begun in the bustle of busyness

about a week ago, as I delighted in the moodiness of April.

And April was still moody, all this week-long no matter

how optimistically we said with every snow-frantic flurry,

'enjoy its beauty because this might be the last one till next winter!' 😅😁

Your world is like a picture book that Mother Nature makes...

In dips and nooks and crooks you cup impromptu ponds and lakes...

Your pages showcase weathered haunts poised on the verge of green...

With here and there the farewell taunts of Old Man Winter’s sheen...

Your brook lures us to listen to lyrics where heaven gleams

Our eyes begin to glisten with the dance of kindled dreams...

While earth lies like a mat beneath a moody, brooding sky...

a few hours later...

While front door sports a flower-wreath to bid stray snows goodbye...

Your tug-of-wars may vex us when we wake to worlds of white...

again and again!!!

Your sudden storm perplexes plots primed with tulip-delight...

But Mr. Goldfinch sports a dapper, yellow splash of cheer

Assuring us no matter what the weather, spring is here...

Your world is like a picture book that Mother Nature makes

In dips and nooks and crooks you cup impromptu ponds and lakes

Your pages showcase weathered haunts poised on the verge of green

With here and there the farewell taunts of Old Man Winter’s sheen

Your brook lures us to listen to lyrics where heaven gleams

Our eyes begin to glisten with the dance of kindled dreams

While earth lies like a mat beneath a moody, brooding sky

While front door sports a flower-wreath to bid stray snows goodbye

Your robin rouses chuckles as he freely entertains

Your brittle honeysuckle vine welcomes reviving rains

Your zephyr, like a flute unfurls a riveting prelude

To warm the whisper that uncurls leaf-laughter, long subdued

Your tug-of-wars may vex us when we wake to worlds of white

Your sudden storm perplexes plots primed with tulip-delight

But Mr. Goldfinch sports a dapper, yellow splash of cheer

Assuring us no matter what the weather, spring is here

Your world is like a flower bud waiting to burst with bloom

But first you must push through the mud we chase with mop and broom

While you run restless fingers through earth's sunshine-hungry isles 

While Old Man Winter lingers, just to melt beneath your smiles

© Janet Martin

Of Painful Joy or Of Boundless Love

 

Ps. 23:4

Yea, though I walk through the valley

 of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

 thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

1 Pet.1:6

In this you greatly rejoice, 

though now for a little while, 

if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,..

Whether on faith's mountaintop

or in the dark, lonely valley

the incomprehensible, steadfast love of God abides

to minister to body and soul's need 

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

This is a poem I am still in the process of learning...

through deep disappointments

and divine epiphanies 🙏

There is no limit to the love of God

Its height and depth thought cannot comprehend

Whether beneath the guerdon of its rod

Or in a garden where soft breezes wend

His love cannot be measured or contained

Nor with ingenious eloquence explained

The love of God is beyond reckoning

He knows the heart of man is vile indeed

The hub of prideful Fancy’s beckoning

Left unbroken, would choke faith’s mustard seed

So, lest we covet what we cannot keep

Faith’s Great Perfecter runs love’s plowshares deep

…with piercing love, He works for our good

Ah, pray for faith to see beyond the part

That is often sadly misunderstood

While He prepares the test-plots of the heart

Until faith’s finely-tilled furrows are sown

With seed that grows for His glory alone

We are the sheep of His pasture. He tends

The welfare of His flock with rod and staff

He rescues, rebukes, comforts and defends

No cost too great to work on our behalf

Because the love of the Good Shepherd knows

The dire danger of wolves in sheep’s clothes

The love of God produces painful joys

For He too faced the Tempter’s crafty charms

A shrewd maneuverer of deadly ploys

To blind us to love’s everlasting arms

To draw us from His word that girds and feeds

Thus, with both rod and staff, love intercedes

Then, for a season, if need be, love grieves

The proving of faith’s shield to quench sin’s darts

Until at last with patience, God achieves

His joy complete, only His love imparts

As the heart yields He overflows its sod

With bounty from the boundless love of God

© Janet Martin

As for This Fellow...

...as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is!

John 9:29

Amazing Grace

Do we listen when He asks us

To trust Him implicitly

On the roadway to Damascus

Have we been struck blind, to see? 

Have we committed to follow

Jesus; to 'fight the good fight'

Or do His precepts ring hollow

Because we still walk by sight 

Does 'the joy still set before us'

Satisfy our cup of grief

Does faith's Canaan-land implore us

To guard against unbelief

Has our stubborn will been broken 

As we looked on Calvary

Have we echoed Wonder spoken

'I was blind but now I see'

Have we fixed our eyes on Jesus

Has 'this fellow' been revealed;

He whose blood-bought pardon frees us

He, by whose wounds we are healed 

Is 'this fellow' our Saviour?

Has transformation begun?

Turning sight-governed behaviour 

Into faith's 'Thy will be done' 

Has Belief sight's barrier broken

By 'this fellow' humbly/wholly awed

Have our eyes of faith been opened  

To behold the Son of God

Dear, once-blind-but-now-I-see-man

Keep your courage undeterred

You will not fall prey to man's plan

Through the keeping of His Word 

Janet Martin 

 

John 9:25

He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. 

One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

Awakening to 'Living the 'Dream'

Today's poem was inspired by my niece who, yesterday, wrote on her Facebook post...

(after recovering from another round of sickness in their household)

'Walking around our property tonight, I took a moment

and realized in all the busyness & stress of home ownership & motherhood,

this is everything I've dreamed for' 💗

Thank-you J, for the reminder to treasure the moment and find the joy in it

no matter how hectic the 'happiness' spills!

'The dream' isn't only the picture-perfect moments but all of it together;

the lows make us more thankful for the highs.

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Ps.118:24

Family milestone celebrations

are one of the happiest blessings on earth...

The other evening we celebrated Granddaughter's 6th birthday,

Which means it was her turn to receive her mommy-box/gramma box

'mommy' is the Pennsylvania-Dutch word for gramma.

(a short 'e' sound at the end rather than long)

In a mommy box 'treasures' are buried in popcorn...

Gum-lover's delight below 😂

the inside of the box is lined with little poems, pictures and bible verses

(I forgot to take a photo of the inside)

Awakening to 'Living the Dream'

To recognize that sorrow is the price we pay for joy

Loss is the proof of having had; everything comes, to pass

And grief and love are life’s most tenderly entwined alloy

Moment’s momentous momentum, sand in life’s hourglass

To recognize that highs and lows comprise ‘living the dream’

Without the brutal ‘bitter’ we would not cherish the ‘sweet’

Or taste the lilt of laughter with more reverent esteem

After the tears we shed when life and death solemnly meet

To recognize the priceless prize disguised as here-and-now

Intangible and fleet, the font that fills history’s mold

And then, with fervent thankfulness to make a humble vow

To do our part to make its art a pleasure/treasure to behold

To, recognize today is all we have, no more or less

To ‘live the dream’ by faith, not fate; to be constantly awed

By He whose loving kindness is the key to happiness

To recognize, through lows and highs, the faithfulness of God

© Janet Martin

I have decided to center my posts after all.

It's hard to teach an 'old dog' new tricks, plus

I have discovered some 'centered' poetry volumes 

in my poem book collection.

See HERE for back story on this 😆

Love's Law Of...(First things First)

While the layout of each lesson-book may vary

the requirement and result are universal because

we reap what we sow

and God is not mocked! Gal.6:7

I've been on a stretch of demanding days and

half-sleep nights. During the night, last night

the electricity must have blinked off and since I don't

have a battery back-up in my alarm clock

and since I had the blind and room-darkening curtains pulled

and since I had a sound sleep last night, I was appalled when

I looked at my phone and it was... 8:48?!! 😭😬

The tempter was there instantly with 'you over-slept!

no time for devotions today! you must hurry! hurry!"

What a most terrible way, (I have learned from experience)

to hurry, hurry into the day without first thanking and praising God for his mercies renewed,

and then lifting up our 'broken' to Him, our sick, sorrowing and lost loved ones.

Then drinking from the wellspring of His word to have our spirit refreshed and strengthened

because the flesh is weak and prone to fall prey to what it sees...

Circumstance changes constantly...

Last night, snow and ice-ensconced world...

This morning, sunshine drenched world beneath rising temps!

Tis an art the heart must master for life's story to be sweet

Success can lead to disaster if we do not learn its creed

Where the spirit oft is willing but the wanting flesh is weak

Where sight oft seems more fulfilling than ‘faith as a mustard seed’

Tis a test the best of scholars and teachers cannot evade

Nor the tribe that wears blue collars nor miners, nor astronauts

In the end we all will answer for the choices we have made

Be it maestro, merchant, dancer, five-star chef, scrubber of pots

Tis a law of awe and wonder, impossible to detail

Where wellsprings of blessing thunder from each breath no longer cursed

It will enrich dream and duty, a rubric that will not fail

As we marvel at the beauty of love’s law of First things first

© Janet Martin

One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’c and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’d”

28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”

29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Read Jesus answer HERE...v.30-37

Take Time to be Holy

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Heb.13:8

...leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matt. 5:24

Loved

Happy April!

Dear Lord, what waits, only You know

Daybreak heeds Your command

Your evidence puts on a show

As mercy floods the land

Enough, your grace whereby we go

To face the day at hand...

Without agape love I am
A beast by quick impulses ruled
My most noble ideal a sham
By pagan happinesses, schooled/fooled

Without I AM’s agape love
I am a ship tossed to and fro
No earthly anchor strong enough
To weather wanton winds that blow

Without love greater than my own
To truly love I cannot do
Until God sits on my heart’s throne
And teaches love I never knew

...and then it is no longer 'I'

But He who is the good in me

I touch His scars to satisfy

What else would still a rebel be   

© Janet Martin

Rom.5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, 

because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts 

through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God.

 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God’s love was revealed among us:

God sent His one and onlyc Son into the world, 

so that we might live through Him.

And love consists in this: 

not that we loved God, but that He loved us 

and sent His Son as the atoning sacrificed for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...

No Suitable Substitute

For the last while on Sunday mornings
our teaching messages have been from 1 John,
and have kindled many a meditation
of both somber evaluation and profound encouragement
leading to many coordinating passages throughout scripture.

Eccles.12:13-14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good,
or whether it be evil.

Ps.51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise.

1 Sa.15:22
So Samuel said:
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

1 John 5:3
This is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments.

Disobedience/sin separated Adam and Eve
from their perfect relationship with God. Gen. 3
Sin made God sorry that He had made man; Gen.6:5-8

Sin kept Moses from the Promised Land. Num. 20:12

...and ultimately sin took God's only Son, Jesus to the cross
to be the eternal Sacrifice for sin;
to purchase our pardon, for all who repent and believe.
Jesus, who pled to God the Father,
if it be possible let this cup pass from me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will... Matt.26:39
And Jesus was obedient to death, even death on a cross. Phil. 2:8

Thus, by the grace of God we can be saved,
not by good works lest we boast,
but for good works God prepared in advance for us to do.
Eph. 2:8-10

The old quote 'actions speak louder than words' rings true!
How hollow are the words 'I love you' without the fruit of deeds to prove it!

Oh Lord as we begin a new week help us anew
to trust in You with all our hearts,
and to fear you and keep Your commandments!

No substitute could suffice to wash away our sin, but Jesus' blood. Heb.10:4-10

No substitute, outside of obedience, can bear witness to the righteousness of God in us. 1 John 2:3

No substitute will do
No pretense will suffice
Nor lenient logic reason through
Faith in God’s proving price

No joy will be complete
No noble cause defend
No clause corrupts the mercy seat
Of God, both Judge and Friend

God, faithful to forgive
Beholds the heart alone
He witnesses the fruit we live
And thus, the tree is known

There is no substitute
No judgement-proof façade
Obedience is the pure fruit
Of love and faith in God

© Janet Martin

Divine Drumroll

 'A poem should never be centered' Victoria told me yesterday morning (something she learned in the poetry class she took in her previous semester). What?!! I gasped, and realized that my poem-book collection is filled with 'uncentered' pages yet it never occurred to me why; but line length, layout, pauses etc are part of a poem's persona and centering it on the page removes that element of the poem! (proving how much I have yet learn when it comes to poetry)

So, please forgive the previous posts. From now on I will post to the left of the page. (it is on my wish-list to take some poetry courses but maybe in my 60's??) Life seems to have drained my mental energy tank right now!

Do you feel it too?! Beneath earth's dull façade, a kind of divine drumroll...

Beneath earth’s umber solitude
After winter’s gale is subdued
A petal-prelude starts to play
On listless landscapes, stark and gray

Ah, can’t you sense a teeming surge
Where raindrops dance on dreamland’s verge
Ere violets, tulips, daffodils
Inaugurate summer-long thrills

…where soon lackluster sweeps will gleam
With nature’s nuances of green
With blossom-blush, where naked limbs
Await the garb of leaf-song hymns

Where spring’s impending loveliness
Begins to stir beneath a tress
Of barren boughs and dormant deeps
Instilled with promises God keeps

Ah, can’t you feel the rush of hope
Beneath the burlap-swaddled slope
Arousing a divine drumroll
Resounding in both land and soul

© Janet Martin

Gen.8:22

“As long as the earth endures, 

seedtime and harvest, 

cold and heat,

summer and winter, 

day and night 

will never cease.”

Dear Lucy, Though We Miss You So

Deut.29:29 (the theme verse for Lucy's funeral message)

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, 

but those things which are revealed belong to us 

and to our children forever, 

that we may do all the words of this law.

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

 26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. 

Do you believe this?”

Today Lucy would have turned 56...

Mom, my sisters and sister-in-laws who were free to come

as well as one of her closest friends,

had a precious time sharing a potluck lunch around her table.

The absence of Lucy bustling about the kitchen making sure

everyone had more than enough to eat or drink

was keenly felt by all💔🙏

Thank-you everyone, for your loving messages and prayers!

They truly make all the difference.

Dear Lucy...

You've slipped beyond the realm of days

And though we miss you so

And our hearts still ache in ways

Only love can bestow

We do not want to question He

Who grants each breath we draw

But rather, trust His Sov'reignty

With humble, thankful awe

You've slipped beyond the realm of years

But left behind the part

We cherish with laughter and tears; 

A memory-filled heart

And though love's scenes are bittersweet

Because we miss you, dear

We thank God, as grief and joy meet

For hope's unfailing cheer

You've slipped beyond the realm of Time

And though we miss you so

Faith grants us visions of a clime

Where no tears ever flow

No fear or pain can enter where

Your Soul has been set free

To worship God in perfect prayer/beyond earth's care

For all eternity

You've slipped beyond our touch and sight

But death is not in vain

For Jesus conquered death with Life

We die to live again

So, though we mourn, what joy to know

That death is not the end

Dear Lucy, though we miss you so

Soon we will meet again

Janet💕

Ps. 103:15-19

As for man, his days are like grass—

he blooms like a flower of the field;

16when the wind passes over, it vanishes,

and its place remembers it no more.

17But from everlasting to everlasting

the loving devotion of the LORD

extends to those who fear Him,

and His righteousness to their children’s children—

18to those who keep His covenant

and remember to obey His precepts.

19The LORD has established His throne in heaven,

and His kingdom rules over all.

Be Still, My Soul

Farewell's Shadowlands

Oh, the undeterred momentum of moments no one can faze

It sparkles through our bearing to a world of yesterdays

It vexes rhyme-dazed poets and Duty's proprietors

As it hastens new morning through noon and dusk's gaping doors

Where, in the wake of choices that we make in its brief chase/grace

Remains the part that never stays yet no one can erase...

The above ditty was suddenly inspired from part of a 

conversation with Hubby this morning, who called

in the beginning/middle of the poem below,

begun after starting the fire, morning devotions

between putting supper in the crockpot,

filling empty bird feeders,

answering messages, texts and emails,

and other sundry domestic dues,

 while trying not to panic as

 I gaped at the clock that boldly declared

that the topic I began writing about

(daybreak's hello) in the waking hues of today

has long since ceased to be...

already part of farewell's shadowland!

but, in the afore mentioned conversation 

Hubby asked me if I ever think of everything

I could accomplish if I didn't write.

I guess none of us can see the hidden 'scale' within,

 where we weigh (hopefully) the eternal value of how we fill

fleeting moments!

Oh, how often I am torn between lyrical cadence

and domestic prudence 😔😅

...because what we do is so brief

yet so eternal!

Dawn, like an unplumbed well of ink

Unstoppers gold-gray, blue and pink

The tranquil tides of night soft-wane

Unveiling berths of mirth and pain

Beneath the tolling of a bell

Unfurling shadows of farewell

The halo of hello is brief

Harbinger of pleasure and grief

Like ripples of a pebble tossed

Dawn disappears; its advent lost

In hues and dues that rose then fell

To fuel shadows of farewell

How subtle spills life’s epitaph

A world where echoes weep and laugh

Composed from the momentous surge

Where daybreak and hello soon merge

Like melted mist, intangible

With long, deep shadows of farewell

Present, where past and future meet

Beckons reckonings, bittersweet

How careful-prayerful we should weigh

Think-ink, that fuels do-and-say

Soft spilling from our lips and hands

To dwell in farewell's shadowlands  

© Janet Martin

Ps. 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.

A Beautiful Life-Jim Reeves