For Preciousness of Souls...

Happy Almost Mid-May!!

Once more the day the Lord has made extends the goodness of God’s grace...

We never know what a day holds!

We will never know the ways of God, save this;

all things work together for good to those who love Him 

and are called according to His purpose. (Rom.8:28)

All things! 

though disappointments crush,

though sorrows roll,

though disobedience appears to flourish,

though faith is tested,

though many prayers seem to go unanswered,

though cares groan in our mortal tent

God is working these things together for good 

to those who truly, utterly love Him

and are earnestly seeking to serve God's purposes 

rather than desires of the human heart. 

The human bent of the heart is deceitful above all things

and desperately wicked 

and until faith reaches the place where we are willing

to place our dearly-beloved Isaacs on the altar of sacrifice, 

trusting God's holy and righteous love/will above all, 

we struggle and fall,

 because we are born with a rebellious nature,

and thought that errs!

God's purpose calls us, not to be true to ourselves,

but true to Him! 

2 Cor.5:9-11&14-15

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, 

to be well pleasing to Him. 

10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 

that each one may receive the things done in the body, 

according to what he has done, 

whether good or bad. 

11Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, 

we persuade men; but we are well known to God, 

and I also trust are well known in your consciences...

14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: 

that if One died for all, then all died; 15and He died for all, 

that those who live should live no longer for themselves, 

but for Him who died for them and rose again.

2 Pet.3:8-9

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, 

that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, 

and a thousand years as one day. 

9The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, 

as some count slackness, 

but is longsuffering toward [c]us,

 not willing that any should perish 

but that all should come to repentance.

(I really wanted to write about mothers and tots, 

my family, spring beauty, friends and so much that has confounded delight recently, 

and maybe I still will, but the sacred Source of awe and purpose

 seemed to sound a more solemn note to start a new week! )  

***

Once more the preciousness of souls compels all who believe to pray

Because the holiest of goals approaches with each passing day

This transient tent of skin and bone is but Immortality’s cloak

A dwelling place in which we groan, while should'ring love’s compelling yoke

The human heart is full of schemes to serve the part/art that eyes behold

Tossed to and fro by ‘that which seems’ rather than what God’s word has told

Not how one talks but how one walks bears witness to faith’s diligence

Beware of subtle stumbling blocks dressed in kind disobedience

Study ‘the way that seemeth right’, lest it is filled with compromise

Lest first impressions of delight tempt us with ‘you will become wise’

Lest, in the garden of today, we fall prey to temptation’s vice

Enticed by ‘did God really say?’ rather than humble sacrifice

Once more the day the Lord has made extends the goodness of God’s grace

The example, when Christ obeyed still guides the whole of human race

Faultless and faithful to the end, He bore, for preciousness of souls

The death of convicts, to defend, nay, break the curse where darkness rolls

This Tent is more than food and clothes; time’s flicker, no mean, cosmic whim

The cross, love’s proof that God first chose to save all who believe in Him

Then pray, for preciousness of souls, we take up love’s cross for His sake

Because the holiest of goals approaches, with each breath we take

© Janet Martin

Is Your All on the Altar? 

Lyrics by Elisha Hoffman-1839-1929

1 You have longed for sweet peace,

And for faith to increase,

And have earnestly, fervently prayed.

But you cannot have rest,

Or be perfectly blest,

Until all on the altar is laid.

Refrain:

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.

2 Would you walk with the Lord

In the light of His Word,

And have peace and contentment alway?

You must do His sweet will

To be free from all ill–

On the altar your all you must lay. [Refrain]

3 Oh, we never can know

What the Lord will bestow

Of the blessings for which we have prayed,

Till our body and soul

He doth fully control,

And our all on the altar is laid. [Refrain]

4 Who can tell all the love

He will send from above,

And how happy our hearts will be made,

Of the fellowship sweet

We shall share at His feet

When our all on the altar is laid! [Refrain]

Spiritual Reveille

Reveille: 1. : a signal to get up mornings.

 2. : a bugle call at about sunrise signaling the first military formation of the day.

Getting up every morning is not for the faint of heart, 

but being properly equipped is the key to success!

Luke 24:49

And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you.

But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

1 Corinthians 12:7

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit

is given for the common good.

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power, love, and self-control.

Without God's Spirit within,

without His word hidden in our hearts

so we do not sin against Him, (Ps.119:11)

how often we would fall prey to sight

rather than walking/living by faith.

How often we would make choices

based on logic deduced from a human standpoint

rather than simply *obeying God

and trusting Him for the consequences.

God gifts us with abilities to use for His purposes and glory!

May that be our whole-sole-soul goal today!

Wishing you a day filled with joy only His Spirit can instill,

as we trust He who is able in all circumstances!

Without His Spirit it is impossible for us to do well 

in life's greatest callings, 

such as training up a child in the way they should go...

Come, all who love and fear the Lord, with holy hunger pray

To be a suit of working clothes His Spirit wears today

To be a vessel filled with Light no circumstance can dim

To be, in humble human form a glorious glimpse of Him

Come, all who seek and trust the Lord, believing in his Word

Pour out your heart in earnest prayer for all who have not heard

Who do not comprehend the Light that shines into the dark

Who, like in days of Noah, scorn the safety of faith’s Ark

Come, all who follow and obey the Lord; do not despair

But be the hands and feet of He who keeps us in His care

Put on His suit of armour, like a soldier who prepares

To head into a battlefield suffused with deadly snares

Come, all who love and fear the Lord, with worship’s yielded awe

For purposes infallible; for timing without flaw

For His glory and by his grace, with holy hunger pray

Then be the suit of working clothes His Spirit wears today

© Janet Martin

2 Tim.2:3

You therefore must endure[a] hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:3
Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, 

are you now finishing in the flesh?

Ephesians 3:16

I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you 

with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Romans 8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit,

 if the Spirit of God lives in you. 

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, 

he does not belong to Christ.

You can't 'work out' disobediences to God.

It doesn't work!

-Charles Stanley from the message HERE 

Come, We That Love the Lord

Because in a Sense It Is Always Planting Season...

Like buds, morning breaks

hours unfold 

bearing noon-blooms

that fade and fall,

like so many flower-petals

to strew the dust of dusk

The petals of days to weeks to months to years

scatter seasons of life in their wake...

We are here for such a small 'season'

in light of eternity;

an eternity that begins

in the moment awaiting every single one of us,

when we close our eyes,

never to open them again on earth!

No matter what season we are in

we are students in its 'classroom'

with still so much to learn...

1 Tim.6:11-12

But you, O man of God, flee from these things (the love of money)

 and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, 

love, perseverance, and gentleness.

 12Fight the good fight of the faith. 

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called 

when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

spring, summer, autumn, winter twirls

a kind of carousel

that often startles boys and girls

with hello's swift farewell

as childhood drifts from carefree streams

as adolescence sails

into a world of hopes and dreams

where Reality hails

with that which life is bound to bring

as the years come and go

a very sacred harvesting

for we reap what we sow

where autumns and winters accrue

bearing the telling yield

of seeds we strewed while dashing through

springtime and summer's field 

Janet Martin

Though we cannot turn back the clock

and undo what is done

or un-plant what is planted

this is a new day the Lord has made!

We can rejoice and be glad in it

and ask Him to help us to be mindful of the seeds we strew today,

for, in a sense it is always planting season

and no one lives to see the full extent of the harvest

for better or worse.

Oh, pray we plant for the better today!

Seeds of righteousness, godliness, faith, 

love, perseverance, and gentleness.

A lot of thought goes into spring planting because

every gardener and farmer knows

we cannot reap what we do not sow!

Last week the first teeny-weeny start on this year's garden-planting!

No! this is not all my garden!!

Beyond the grass strip is the farmer's field!

He has lent me a corner of his field so I am able 

to have a larger garden than I could otherwise enjoy!

Thou Art With Me (No Sweeter Words)

Yesterday a friend asked me where I turn, in scripture, 

for comfort, esp. in the wake of losing a sister I dearly loved. 

I hardly knew what to say at first because many Psalms have comforted me,

 as well as many of Jesus words in the gospels such as John11:24-25, John 14 

and Paul's words of comfort to the church..1 Cor.15, 1 Thess. 4:13-18, 

 but Psalm 23 is a living prayer in my soul...

each verse a ministering breath of Heaven

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: 

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

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.

5 Thou preparest a table before me 

in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil;

 my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

He Leadeth Me

Before feet touch the floor each morning

what sweet comfort to whisper

'I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me'...

***

'Thou art with me' no sweeter words 

My mortal tongue can boast

(Save this 'for God so loved the world

He gave his uttermost)

'Thou are with me' no sweeter peace

Can drive dread fear away 

Thy rod and staff will never cease

To be my strength and stay  

'Thou art with me' no sweeter joy

Can comfort sorrow's tear

In vain foes rally to destroy

Faith's confidence and cheer 

  

'Thou art with me' no sweeter Friend

Can help or hear my prayer

No purer knowledge can defend

The path from here to There 

'Thou art with me' no sweeter song

Can fill my heart with praise

Goodness and mercy suffers long

To keep me all my days 

'Thou art with me' I shall not want

Whatever comes my way

Thy Presence thwarts the tempter's taunt

Of 'did God really say?' 

'Thou art with me' to gently lead 

Me to faith's sacred goal

Life's ups and downs cannot impede

The Shepherd of my soul

Janet Martin

Lead Me Gently Home

And Now the Hills Are Greenly Gowned ...

Eccles.3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

He has also set eternity in the human heart; 

yet no one can fathom what God has done 

from beginning to end.

and now the hills are greenly-gowned...

and now with universal tongue, dusk's slow-paced majesty 

spills heaven's masterpieces, hung where everyone can see...

The last two evenings drew many a marveling gaze and gasp!

and now the hills are greenly-gowned, now gnarly, naked limbs

with nature's softest wreaths are crowned in blushing blossom-hymns

and heady haze of half-blaze lamps; bud-wicks begin to gleam

with the enchanting ambience of once-upon-a-dream

as earth's vault, birth and beauty-lined, bursts with faithful 'ahoy'

from God, who richly grants mankind life's good things to enjoy

and now with universal tongue, dusk's slow-paced majesty 

spills heaven's masterpieces, hung where everyone can see

the evidence of He whose glory no one can deny 

(pity the one who cannot see, but with the naked eye) 

and cannot sense the holy ground that trembles with God's touch

where now the hills are greenly-gowned in hues we love so much 

and now once more the birds return, that fled winter's chill climes

and from last-autumn-felled filled urn flower-resurgence chimes    

the earth is charged with petaled bells, and bird-song friendliness

until the dullest of hearts swells with holy happiness

where worship knows no brooding bound, in worlds brimming with bloom  

where every hill is greenly gowned with May, from mercy's loom

the earth and its fullness thereof is like a fount restored

or, like a letter penned with love by our gracious Lord 

Once again, God has not withheld creation's let-there-be

now, gratitude and gladness meld in humble harmony

to He who clothes the tree, soft crowned in diadems bespoke 

and the hills that are greenly-gowned in the Creator's cloak  

Janet Martin 

now gnarly, naked limbs

with nature's softest wreaths are crowned in blushing blossom-hymns

and heady haze of half-blaze lamps;...

A Sober Petition (or, An Earnest Appeal)

Today, there’s a surplus of noise in our lives,

 yet God still speaks in a quiet voice 

through the Scriptures and by His Spirit. 

Taking time to prayerfully focus our attention on God 

will help us tune in to His comforting, guiding voice.

 (Daily Bread Devotion-Listening for God's Voice)

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, 

but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:18

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, 

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Ps.90:14

***

Lulled by this world's noise

oh may it not be so

Deafened and blinded to the joys

Only God can bestow

***

We live in an age of unprecedented distraction!

Oh God, protect me/us from senses dulled

by constant appeal...

The prayer below is a sober petition

inspired in part by my dream last night

when I learned I only had a short time remaining to live,

and in part by the awful reality 

of the regard/disregard of the Word of God

as if it were the word of man! 

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour

Grant me not peace where sin resists

Repentance, with Reason’s clenched fists

Where surrender is ‘but in part’

Rather than fully yielded heart

Grant me not joy where pride defends

Choices of disobedience

Convict me where sly snares invade

Lest ‘faith’ becomes a masquerade

Dear loving, gracious, holy God

While I behold but the façade

Whereby judgement is oft inclined

You see my heart and soul and mind

Then, grant me not dull hopes unfurled

By prospects of this fleeting world

But rather guard with watchful eye

The place where true affections lie

And grant me not, where sin still reigns

A false sense of its broken chains

Forbid that I should be deceived

By erring rationale believed

Lord, grant me meeker, purer thirst

To seek you and your kingdom first

Then, help me live each day of grace

Prepared to meet Thee, face to face

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

© Janet Martin

Take Time To Be Holy

May Happy-Dance

A two-fer today

to celebrate the first day of May,

possible in part because it is raining and in part

because its the first 'free' morning in a while...

So it's a happy-dance under an umbrella😊😊

(most of the lines in this poem

are still 'eager anticipation'

so no photos...yet!)

Happy, happy greens and golds

Branches, blossom-kissed

Happy buds that burst with holds

Pink and amethyst

Happy sun-warm afternoon

Picnic getaway

Happy harbinger of June

Happy, happy May

Happy planting season’s prime

Praying that it grows

Happy hope and dreaming time

Picture-perfect rows

Happy tulip’s regal cup

Set on grand display

Happy raindrop-fill-’er-up

Happy, happy May

Happy silver zephyr-sass

Azure heaven-vault

Dandelion-dappled grass

Laughing summersault

Happy good-and-perfect-gift

Robin’s lusty lay

Cumulus schooners adrift

Happy, happy May

Happy hint ‘o-heaven dells

Lilac lavished bars

Lily-of-the-valley-bells

Forget-me-not stars

Wildly blushing apple-trees

Countryside’s nosegay

Rambling brookish melodies

Happy, happy May

Happy longer-days-again

Happy riverbanks

Hosting happy fishermen

Happy, humble thanks

For woodland’s shy, half-leaf haze

Nature’s hip-hooray

For earth’s million hymns of praise

Happy, happy May

For vim, rested and renewed

After winter-spent

For gladness of gratitude

Daffodil content

Happy carefree, barefoot child

Happy work-and-play

Happy worship, wonder-wild

Happy, happy May

Kick off shoes, kick up your heels

Happy young-always

Happy everything that steals

Our breath and gaze

Happy song and happy-dance

Happy livelong day

Happy people, pets and plants

Happy, happy May

© Janet Martin

Happy buds that burst with holds

Pink and amethyst...

Preludes to Amen... or, Today

Happy, Happy green, gold and blossom-pink

month of May!

This cheery. warbling songster enticed me from my cozy slumber to greet the day and May!

Have you ever longed to rush the ways

 of wisdom or nature;

to become wise overnight

instead of weathering/suffering growth

like a tree or a child?

In order for a flower

to mature into full bloom

it cannot skip one step of the development

and unfolding;

so too with faith and wisdom

***

Last fall my cousin  gave me some money as a gift to buy

a keepsake plant in memory of Lucy.

I chose a few 'special' peonies.

(in memory of my peony/flower-loving sister)

I wish I could hurry them into

big, beautiful bushes of full bloom,

but I cannot.

\

we cannot hasten growing things..

a tree,

a child,

the wisdom

that experience brings

better to live with patience then

rather 

than push

or try to rush

God's gracious hand

*Amen~

© Janet Martin

God does not give us surplus strength

we can store up for tomorrow,

nor knowledge that usurps faith,

nor detours, shortcuts or bypasses

to His commands in his Word

in an attempt to hurry the gain of His blessing...

...and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

Deut.33:25

 

*My, how very special and sacred then, is Today

because by each 'amen' lifetimes are born! 

Sometimes, in the heat of hello 

and farewell's beck and call

Of morn-to-eve-tides ebb and flow 

in seamless rise and fall

Where sun and shadow ups and downs 

Like friends and strangers meet

And bittersweet, its artwork crowns

Both triumph and defeat

...sometimes we tend to overlook

or undermine the way

These fill the pages of life's book

Entitled thus, Today

And, how each Good we wish would be

is worth the work/wait, though hard

 As faith believes, but does not see

As love learns no holds barred 

So, better, than to analyze

details of dust-to-dust

 Or air the grievances of 'why's

better turned into trust

Pray, we press on with humbler heed

to what we do and say

Because the fruit of scattered seed

begins again, Today 

What universal, noble cause

anoints each morn-to-morn

Hark! mercy breaks dawn's seal of gauze

As new Today is borne/born

From God to man and back again

filled with responses, where 

Pray, preludes to today's 'amen'

are filled with thankful prayer 

© Janet Martin

Rom.13:8-14

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, 

for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,”

 “You shall not murder,” 

“You shall not steal,” 

[b]“You shall not bear false witness,”

 “You shall not covet,” 

and if there is any other commandment, 

are all summed up in this saying, namely, 

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor;

 therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 And do this, knowing the time, 

that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; 

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

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. 

Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, 

and let us put on the armor of light. 13 

Let us walk [c]properly, as in the day, 

not in revelry and drunkenness, 

not in lewdness and lust, 

not in strife and envy. 

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 

and make no provision for the flesh, 

to fulfill its lusts.

Break of Day Hymn or Election Day Hymn

It is Election Day in Canada

Ps.113:1-4

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

Praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

From this time forth and forevermore!

3 From the rising of the sun to its going down

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

4 The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens...

Ps.112:1&7

Praise[a] the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments...

He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Ps.111:1-4&10

Praise[a] the Lord!

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart,

In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

2 The works of the Lord are great,

Studied by all who have pleasure in them.

3 His work is honorable and glorious,

And His righteousness endures forever.

4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion...

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.

Breaking of day is brief; soon heaven's blushing grandeur pales

To workaday backdrops; where duty's common demands press

With weighted musts/mists of creature care and Future's un-blazed trails

Compelling us not to proceed without God's promises

The theater of dawn rings, rife with birdsong-orchestras

Praise He who cups and overflows the fountain of today

No matter what befalls Our God is worthy of applause

He is above all nations; nothing can His will dismay

...then do not be afraid because the Lord is on His throne

His goodness and mercy sustain all who call on His name

From rise to set of sun, pray, we will make His praises known

And love each other well till we return from whence we came 

Time's turn of leaf is brief where breaking of day-to-day tolls

Eternity is chief; let's set our minds on things above

While living here below, let's trust the Saviour of our souls

For all we do not know, then treat our fellowman with love

...for break of day is brief; time's turn of leaf soon filled and stilled

Eternity is chief; not this world's fleeting, noisy roar  

The works of God are great; seek His pleasure and be fulfilled

His everlasting righteousness endures forevermore 

Janet Martin

The theater of dawn rings, rife with birdsong-orchestras...

O Praise The Name (Anástasis) Lyric Video - Hillsong Worship