For Future Joy...

Sometimes our earthy joys seem perfect, leaving little to be desired...

...sometimes our joy howls with a hunger we cannot name!

Sometimes we are so fixed on present suffering we forget about the 'joy set before us'
"...if we are children,
then we are heirs:
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him,
so that we may also be glorified with Him!" (Rom.8:17)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,

the author and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy set before Him

endured the cross,

scorning its shame,

and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

We live in a world in want of instant gratification,

craving creature-comfort, 

We live in a world of daily struggle,

of disappointment's setbacks,
of joy hinged to sorrow...
as the poet Khalil Gibran analyzes...
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow,"
and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come,
and when one sits alone with you at your board,
remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
 (whole poem here)

Sometimes we forget to focus on the joy 'set/yet before us'(Heb.12:2)

We forget 'that our present sufferings are not worth 

comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.' (Rom.8:18)

Not full, the joy of here and now

Earth’s fragile pedestals of glee

Are scarred with tears

And marred with fears

And hard to hold permanently

Love suffers long and it is kind

Where human nature hates to wait

Though oft we must

As we entrust

This quest for joy to more than fate

The weight of present care we bear

Does not begin to compare to

The glory of

God’s faithful love

We will behold when life is through

…thus, for the Joy set before us

We press and cannot comprehend

...how suffered loss

And endured cross

Will fade in glory’s dividend

Not for the joy of here and now

The joy faith fosters must still bear

The hurt of life

And dirt of strife

That leads to joy beyond compare

Not for the here and now, full joy

But for the joy set before us

We fix our eyes

On heaven’s prize

And the author of joy; Jesus!

© Janet Martin

This Blink of 'Ink' (because we are all poets of a sort)

Oft the heart balks, the head smooth-talks

And tries to set at ease

The little nudge when we won’t budge

Second miles to appease

The poetry that people see

Shouts loud; it crowds the street

Its magnum opus simple as

A gift of bread and meat

The rift between Is and Has Been

Is subtle, like a blink

The page that wears what thought unbares

Holds far, far more than ink

Hollow, the poems in sundry tomes

 Of volumes cover-bound

Until the Word that leaves souls stirred

Hope's rightful place has found

...for human race will soon embrace

The cold, hard facts of sod

Futile the guile of painted smile

Before the face of God

How awe-full then, when sons of men

Witness His Majesty

And see the scars that broke the bars

That sets sin’s convicts free

Oft the heart balks, the head smooth-talks

The feet from second miles

Until we think upon the ink

That outlives short-lived whiles

© Janet Martin

 This is the plan determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand stretched out over all nations. 

 For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
    His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Isa.14: 26-27

 All you people of the world,
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet sounds,
    you will hear it.

Isa.18:3

By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 

And so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thess. 4: 15-17 

Have you claimed hope's promise of Forever with the Lord?!
If your answer is yes, praise the Lord!
If it is no, what are you waiting for?
Tomorrow might be too late to prepare for forever and ever, Amen.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, 

the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom.6:22-23 

"Ask and it will be given to you; 
seek and you will find; 
knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matt.7:7

(ever notice how the first letters in the above sentences spell 'ask'?) 

This Flight of Night and Day...

 

Been growing older...and old-ish with Alan's music,

from Here in the Real World,  Chasin' that Neon Rainbow  etc,to this one, The Older I Get

Interesting how an artist's writing and song choices change with the years:)

The older we get the more, not less, we start thinking about what's ahead

and what's important!!

This flight that leads to heights unfathomed grants another rung

Our senses tuned more meekly to It than when we were young

Thought’s scope of bold imagination turns a keener ken

To hope and soul salvation and mortality of men

It is a holy-fear-riled Thing; this breath-by-breath approach

Toward the Lord, where severing of skin and soul encroach

…and there is no escaping what will come and never pass

Love’s ultimatum shaping so much more than days of grass

No, no, don’t turn your head away and say it isn’t so

Our personal appointment date with God, ah, who can know?!

Don’t turn your heart from Him yet somehow think it will be well

Or slap each other’s backs and laugh and say ‘see you in hell’

Love does not leave us grasping blindly at some shrine engraved

Look at the cross, repent, believe and cursed soul will be saved

How awful is the thought of death and then The Judgement Day

If Unbelief, with final breath let’s heaven slip away

This flight of night and day is like a staircase through the stars

But laid beneath man’s bumbling breach on cradle-to-grave bars

And only by the grace of He who suffered Calvary

Are we prepared to not run scared when Mercy’s face we see

Holy, holy, someday we all will see Him, Love Sublime

The Son of Man enthroned, carried on clouds will shatter Time

The stars will fall and some will call on mountains then to hide

From Righteous Wrath of He who bled on their behalf and died

How is it hope and dread are so intricately entwined

Souls clothed in blips of dust-to-dust will soon leave earth behind

As daily grind, heave-ho, yes-no slips through an Awesome Door

This flight of night and day folded into Forevermore

© Janet Martin

Time Takes Its Toll...and A Dave update!

 Time definitely takes its toll on bodies, no matter who we are sooner or later something gives out!
I have a friend who suddenly without warning lost sight in one eye. She, so youngish-seeming, will turn 70 at the end of the year, Lord willing, but oh, adapting to one-eyed vision is such a test!
Hard to drive, hard to read, hard to judge distance! Will you pray for her encouragement?
Jenny 15 yrs. old, one day a school-girl, the next in hospital with no feeling in her legs, then a cancer diagnosis, still in hospital and undergoing chemo-treatments!
Please pray for her and her family's encouragement!
I have a brother whose journey of healing after a fall at work in June is a huge test of patience for someone who loved work, and life! Will you pray for him and his family and their encouragement?
We all deal with small surrenders as we age, no matter how hard we fight;-)
Time takes its toll...on all but Soul!
Let's pray for each other's encouragement to fight the good fight!

Time takes its toll on all but Soul

This fragile flesh born for decay

Bears highs and lows as days disclose

High hopes and doubt, joy and dismay

And all that we can know for sure

Where we know trouble will not cease

Is this; nothing keeps us secure

Save God who grants midst mayhem, peace

In days of old wild flood-deeps rolled

Across the world, where Noah’s ark

Because he did what he was told

Carried him through days long and dark

…the ark of mercy waits today

Its door to safety beckons, come

Before grace seals The Only Way

Through His spilled blood to heaven’s Home

Then lest we, caught, when we think not

Are swept from this world up to God

We should pay heed to what we ought

And never scorn what saints applaud

Time does not wait but nears A Gate

Then pray the Lord Thy soul to keep

Lest caught off guard, we learn too late

That only flesh succumbs to sleep

© Janet Martin

 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
For if the message spoken by angels was binding,
and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Heb. 2:1-3

The author of this song Fanny J. Crosby, was blind!

So no matter how hard the journey the believer's hope is fixed on things to come!


Dave update: It's been a while! but the journey is on-going.
(for previous updates click on Dave and Karen in labels section at the bottom of the post)

Yesterday he had an appointment with a specialist in Toronto.

 Here is an update from Dave's wife, Karen.

Hi Everyone

Here is the update from today's appointment

Today we went to meet with the specialist in Toronto. Came out of it with a lot of mixed emotions.
He has two problems. First is that he has a frozen shoulder, 2nd that the tear of the rotor cuff is so large not sure if surgery will even work.
He said surgery would not have happened right now anyways until we get the frozen shoulder fixed. He said that Dave's shoulder just doesn't move at all and has no strength in it. So he will be in contact with Dave's Physiotherapist in Elmira and let him know what he wants him to work on with him. Once we get that fixed then I think we will meet with the specialist again and go over our options.
I was kinda surprised,( I was sure that he would have surgery and it would be fixed) so at the appointment we didn't ask a lot of questions, but of course thought of a lot of questions that we should have asked on our way home - First we need to get the frozen shoulder gone- and see if that helps him to move that right shoulder and arm.
The one good thing is Dave doesn't have any pain with that arm ( unless of course he moves it the wrong way)
2nd is I was so worried about Dave going under for surgery with his lung - but I don't have to worry about that now. I know that God has the right time for everything, so please remember us in your prayers for us to have the patience we need with this part of his healing.
Dave ribs are still sore, but we know they said that that can take up to 6 months and we are not at 4 months yet.
Have a great weekend.

Blessed Bond

There is a bond beyond this earth

Woven through grief and care

It unites us in sacred worth

It is the bond of prayer

No mile or night its might can dim

No span its plan can still

God takes the words we lift to Him

And shapes them to his will

What hallowed ground are folded hands

What fellowship is there

Though sight alone misunderstands

It trusts the bond of prayer

…as far and wide its whispers bind

Believers, heart to heart

What peace and promises we find

Where the world has no part

Then, though this world seems dark and cold

We find sweet comfort where

Heartstrings of hope and faith enfold

Us in the bond prayer

© Janet Martin

 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 

1 Thess.5:25