Showing posts with label Alistair Begg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alistair Begg. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2024

When Best Intentions Run Awry


This didn't go as planned!


To Grand sonny's 7 yr. old logic it made perfect sense to take a stick
 and whack the snow and ice out of this little china bird-feeder,
completely unaware that Gramma received it for Christmas
 from a family she did childcare for, 
and who thoughtfully picked out this bird and tea lover's gift .
Gramma, (as she came upon the scene of Grandson 
beating the feeder to bits after 'it was broken anyway' 
and before she heard the explanation that caused 
what appeared to be radical unreason!!) 
did not react as patiently as she should have, ahem!!
And then Gramma apologized for her quick and quite annoyed reaction,
and gave him a little 'explanation' on why she treasured it
and on respecting people's things. ๐Ÿ˜“๐Ÿ˜…
Grandsonny was very sorry๐Ÿ’”๐Ÿ’—
It reminded me of how we all sometimes are part of best intention run amuck.
He was simply going to get rid of the ice๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‡
but, no matter how well-intended the objective
 if, when all is said and done
we leave someone wounded/broken or in retrospect realize
our intentions were misguided,
 we owe repentance and apology to whom it is due
however noble our initial intentions were!
The above episode may seem like a pale example,
but the principle  is the same, 
no matter what the details of the issue.
As we mature we realize even compassion can make mistakes.
Sometimes love can get a bit tangled in that fine line 
between sinner and sin!
Oh God, help us all (Whether leader or laity)
 to be humble enough always, to stand corrected!
Would that we be sorry when we should!
God is faithful to help us pick up the pieces,
and move forward by His grace,
for His glory!

Sometimes our best intentions run awry
The good-we-would misses the mark we sought
And every earnest explanation ‘why’
Cannot suffice to fix the wrong it wrought

Sometimes stumbles can test the ‘humblest’ heart
Surprising Self with startling clarity
When Noble Reason errs, (if but in part)
Wreaking havoc from flawed integrity

Fumbles can foster brutal wake-up calls
With jolts intended to open our eyes
Because no one is above pride’s pitfalls
Or too superior to apologize

Then, sometimes all it takes to get along
Rather than justify the cause so much
Is to say ‘I am sorry, I was wrong’
Then let forgiveness work its healing touch

Sometimes our best intentions run askew
The good-we-would leaves shambles in its wake
And every explanation will not do
Other than owning up to love’s mistake

© Janet Martin

Dear Lord, remind us, rather than stooping to sling stones,
to bow humbled hearts before you in prayer for one another!

John 8:2-11
Now [a]early in the morning He came again into the temple, 
and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.
 And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him,
 “Teacher, [b]this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
 5 Now [c]Moses, in the law, commanded us [d]that such should be stoned. 
But what do You [e]say?” 
6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.
 But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, [f]as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He [g]raised Himself up and said to them,
 “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 
9 Then those who heard it, being[h] convicted by their conscience, went out one by one,
 beginning with the oldest even to the last. 
And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 
10 When Jesus had raised Himself up [i]and saw no one but the woman, 
He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers [j]of yours? 
Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; 
go [k]and sin no more.”

Monday, December 18, 2023

To Rich and Poor Alike

More money buys more things,
but never more hope, peace, joy, Jesus, or more Heaven-status!
The way to heaven is ever the same; a gift,
 for rich and poor alike
accessible through faith, 
by God's grace alone
through Himself,
His Son, Jesus!

Who is Jesus?
Below, the link to one of six messages on who Jesus is!


The message below begins with this statement;
'There was a time when Jesus was God but not man,
But there never was a time when He was man, but not God'

  

Matt 1:21
And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS,
 for He will save His people from their sins.”


To rich and poor alike He comes
to grant to each the same
The hope that transcends time’s fleet sums;
Salvation through His Name


Where nothing but faith can esteem
the gift that makes us whole
No mortal merit can redeem
the price tag of the soul


No wealth can gain a greater grace,
nor lack a lesser part
Where man regards fine form and face
God looks upon the heart


And rich and poor alike receive
what only faith can win
To all who repent and believe,
the forgiveness of sin


© Janet Martin







Monday, November 13, 2023

Don't Wait Till You Are Old...

Yesterday, as part of the teaching team in a room full of beautiful,
eager, smart, rambunctious Gr. 4-6 Sunday School students,
I couldn't help but long and pray
 for each of them to choose Jesus while they are young;
to be saved from a bitter harvest of wasted years!

Yesterday's was a solemn lesson; Jesus' crucifixion,
stirring and touching tender hearts!
Will you pray for them, and for children the whole wide world over
to believe in and receive Jesus as their Saviour while they are young?!!

On Saturday I compiled  this post after listening to the message below...
and before listening to the message our speaker preached yesterday
also on prayer!!!

Click here then click Nov. 12, 2023) for yesterday's message

***
Devote yourselves to prayer, 
being watchful and thankful.
Col.4:2

***
Pray in the Spirit at all times, 
with every kind of prayer and petition. 
To this end, stay alert with all perseverance 
in your prayers for all the saints.

Below are some excerpts from Alistair's message;

Alistair Begg begins this message, (an address to students), with this;
 "The things I want to share with you are things
that are pressingly important to me.
They are personal things.
They are biblical truths.
They are necessary matters"...

 

If our prayer is meager 
it is because we believe it to be supplemental
 and not fundamental.

***
If we pray only when we feel like it
we will not pray very much at all.

***
More spiritual progress is made through failure and tears
than through success and laughter.

***
C.T. Stodd
If Jesus Christ be God and died for me
then no sacrifice that I could ever make for Him 
could ever be too great

***
Can I tell you how to amount to absolutely nothing for God?
Think of yourself more highly than you ought.

***
Humility is the very seed-bed
in which all of the graces and gifts of God
grow to their maturity

***
1 Pet. 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, 
that he may lift you up in due time.

***
I am not talking about our resolves.
I am not talking about our desires and designs.
I am talking about our doing!

***
I want to tell you,
"When I talk more than I pray,
When I study more than I seek God's help,
When I am tempted to think that when I am on my feet
I am at my most useful,
and when I am on my knees that I am
somehow filling in time that could be more beneficially exercised,
then I am declaring that I am on the wrong side
of this equation.
You see, since prayer is the  key area of our relationship
with our Heavenly Father, it is this area
that is most frequently under attack.
Indeed, I might safely say to you
that you will face no greater attack than in this area
because the evil one knows that the weaponry
that our Commander in Chief, namely Jesus,
has given to us is prayer and the ministry of the word of God.
Therefore He will come to confront us with our view of scripture
and to seek to call in question
the voracity and the sufficiency of God's word,
and he will at the same time seek to undermine any
deep-seated conviction that we have,
that it is imperative that we come to Him and cry out
'Abba, Father!' and that we seek His help
in every part of our journey.."

***
No Christian is greater than his/her prayer life

**
The secret to praying is
praying in secret

***
...but, in the matter of praying
how tragic that so many
have left so much
to so few...

***
Set your moral compasses now.
Take the high ground.
Go for the gold.
Live for Christ.
There is no good thing that the Lord withholds
from those whose walk is blameless

***

...and here is my prayer
for every boy and girl
the wide world over...

Don't wait till you are old
To seek the good and right 
Don't wait till worldly pleasure clouds
God's wellspring of delight 

Remember your Creator
While in your days of youth
Don't wait till you are old to mine
 God's Word for wealth of truth

But love the Lord today
With all your heart; don't wait
Till you are old, to start, because
Then it may be too late

This is my earnest plea
For every girl and boy
Don't wait till you are old, and life
Is full of wasted joy

This is my earnest plea
For children far and near
Don't wait till  God becomes a Voice
That you no longer hear

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12:1
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, 
Before the difficult days come, 
And the years draw near when you say,
 “I have no pleasure in them”:

Isa.66:1-2
This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look on with favor:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.


Tuesday, September 5, 2023

I Cannot Get Enough (for all eternity)

 


Doing a mini-mountain of corn grants, sweet opportunity to
enjoy rich teaching...
Yesterday these messages ministered to my soul 

Submitting to God







I cannot get enough
For all eternity
To sing about my Savior’s love
And what He gave to me

His pardon for my sin
Death’s sentence come to end
A gift that I cannot begin
To fully comprehend

His death to conquer death
The moment I believed
Redemption crowns each gifted breath
Through salvation received 

His truth to set me free
His hope, alive and sure 
His peace amidst adversity
His joy complete and pure

His Spirit to cheer me
I cannot get enough
But to sing for eternity
About my Saviour’s love

© Janet Martin




Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Faithfulness's Fitness/Litmus Test (or All For Christ)


Today's song and poem, a very personal challenge!!

Ps.130:1-4
Out of the depths
I cry to You, O LORD!
2O Lord, hear my voice;
let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.
3If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,
then who, O Lord, could stand?
4But with You there is forgiveness,
so that You may be feared.


 





Am I equipped with the Full Armor, (that without, none can endure)
Where an unscrupulous charmer tosses many a lovely lure

Am I willing to be accused falsely, yet answer not a word


Ready, no matter what the cost, self-sacrificed, to follow Him

Knowing, for all who truly love Him, God works out all things for good
Oh, am I ready to portray Him, with faith all but Jesus-blind

© Janet Martin

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.


Eph.5:1-17
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, 
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, 
let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, 
which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 
5 For [a]this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man,
 who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things
 the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Walk in Light

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. 
Walk as children of light 
9 (for the fruit of the [b]Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
 but rather [c]expose them. 
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 
13 But all things that are [d]exposed are made manifest by the light,
 for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Walk in Wisdom

15 See then that you walk [e]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is...


 




Sunday, August 20, 2023

The Serious Business of Fruit

A fruit grower works hard to produce good fruit.
They consider the climate, the soil, the fertilizer and pruning, etc.!
We enjoy the fruit of their labour. 
Yum!!
(right now it's peaches!)


We can talk all we like, but talk is not fruit!
and unless it jibes with our walk, it's a lot of wind!

Jer.17:10
“I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

How we live is serious business
The tree is known by its fruit
Talk is but wind tossing branches
‘Walk’ inaugurates the root
With what ‘talk ‘cannot refute

Who we love most is no secret
The voice of choice, loud and clear
The fruit of the tree will prove it
…who we most love and revere
Love is serious business, dear

Wisdom and folly bear witness
As harvest yields what was sown
Life and love are serious business
Because when the tree is grown
By the fruit the tree is known

"Let's address the heart of matters
And cut to the final goal
 Before time's hour-glass shatters
Before the tree bares the Soul
Where the fruit will tell the whole" 

© Janet Martin

Luke 6:43-45

A Tree and Its Fruit

43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles. 45The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.


Preserving fruit from the garden grants lots of listening-opportunity, 
to be challenged and encouraged in our own fruit-bearing...
below are a few favorites from the past week!



 

one excerpt-
The church does not baptize on the assurance of faith; 
it baptizes on the profession of faith!


1 John 1:5-7
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, 
that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
  6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, 
we lie and do not practice the truth. 
7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 
we have fellowship with one another, 
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Amazing Grace



The longing of the human heart is actually, 
ultimately a longing to know God
and be known by God, and
the solid joys and the lasting treasures
are only found in God
and only found in God's revelation of Himself in Jesus!
and only enjoyed by those who are prepared to say
'nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling'

- excerpt from the ending of the above message

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Earnest Entreaty...


Today's poem inspired in part by the messages below,
Esp. this line; nothing is worse than men who think that they see
when they are in reality, blind.
and when, in their delusion they make bold, to act as leaders
and guides for others.




 Pictures That Tell a Story (Part 2 of 2) - 08/04/23



We love You, Lord, Because You first loved us, then pray that we
Live to be like vessels out-poured in glad humility
Not wise in our own eyes, with truth, imagination-blurred
But a people that dearly prize the statutes of your Word

Oh, may the love that we confess be more than verbal spew
Convicted by Your holiness to live holy lives too
And as we meditate upon our Saviour we adore
May Want be narrowed down to One/one; to love You more and more

Lest false teachers tease truth with lies that lull heart’s eyes to sleep
Until we do not recognize the wolves among the sheep
Lest deceived, believing we see, are like blind leading blind
Lord, help us seek You earnestly, with heart and soul and mind

Lest love becomes a clanging gong, sanctify, by Thy Word
True love, to enkindle a song of worship, undeterred
A hymn, so very precious, because we are subjects of

© Janet Martin

John 17:17
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.


Monday, July 17, 2023

No Commonplace Charge (is parenting)

Baby is teething and objects loudly to being put down for long...
Mommy is so weary!๐Ÿ™

...with these two to keep her on her toes (and knees) besides!

I am no longer parenting little children but
I am grand-parenting little children 
which makes the messages below very relevant to my season of life as well!

***

To leave children without principles is
not to make them free but it is to render them helpless





We have within our keeping a very precious charge
of innocence soon reaping the harvest of its guards
no commonplace appointing from God, is parenthood
a baby the anointing of wonder, pure and good 

we have within our caring, besides child's sweet delight
the onus of preparing the soul-dier for the fight
no commonplace employment is the call they bestow
far more than mere enjoyment of watching Soul-dier grow  

we have within our reaching (for such a little time)
wide flung windows of teaching far more than nursery rhyme 
no commonplace vocation to all whom God assigns
the careful cultivation of very tender vines

What a priceless investment; the training of a child
how soon the world's resistance tests with lures, lie-defiled
no commonplace endurance, a parent's prayers outpoured
For wisdom and assurance established in God's Word

we have within our asking a very present Aid
Who tenders with love's tasking, commands to be obeyed
For this is no small gracing, a child, innocence-wrought
But a Soul-dier soon facing life, armed with what was taught  

© Janet Martin
Link to all four messages in this series below




Monday, July 10, 2023

I Am a Master of Excuse

This excerpt from the message below moved me to tears...
Oh! that this would be my true ambition.

Christian contentment
is the direct fruit
of having no higher ambition
than to belong to the Lord
and to be entirely
at His disposal.

Alistair Begg


  


I am a master of excuse and pious coquetry
I fit finely inside replies of I and my and me
I am far, far too readily induced to compensate
For second miles I’d rather not suffer; the cost too great
I rise to meet the day and pray, then forget easily
That I can do all I can do through Christ who strengthens me

For when I repent and believe I am ‘mine own’ no more
But ought to be devoted to the Saviour I adore
And ought to be, with every gifted breath and day, content
Because by grace I have been saved; the temple veil is rent
And I, invited to boldly approach the throne of grace
Will receive grace and mercy to supply each need I face

I am a wretch; yet Christ loves with an everlasting love
By His divine power He fits me for Heaven above
Therefore I have no boast but this; the blood of Jesus Christ
Who broke the curse of sin and death through Himself, sacrificed
For I, a master of excuse, who forgets easily
That I can do all I can do through Christ who strengthens me

© Janet Martin

Gal.2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, 
but Christ lives in me. 
The life I now live in the body, 
I live by faith in the Son of God, 
who loved me and gave himself for me.

Phil.4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Rom.7:24-25
O wretched man that I am! 
Who will deliver me from this body of death? 
 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!








Monday, May 1, 2023

The Best News the World's Ever Heard

 

This poem was inspired in part by this message
and in part by a broken heart for those
who don't know or simply don't care about
The Best News the World's Ever Heard

"Isn't this the best news the world's ever heard?!!"
Alistair Begg from the message/link below




Here is the best news that the world’s ever heard
Sealed in sacred script of God’s eternal word
That shines in the darkness to give faith insight
To guide and direct, to rebuke and advise
To keen our conscience, lest sin blinds our eyes
To reprove excuses for commands we shirk
To train and equip us for every good work
To walk in a manner worthy of the call
From He who shed his own lifeblood once for all
So, all who believe in Him will never die
Saved from the curse wrought through the serpent’s first lie

Here is the best news that this world’s ever heard
Hope anchored in truth of God’s eternal word
His counsel to help us to trust and obey
To guard us from pitfalls on charming display
Because the law of the Lord is love’s delight
Awe’s sweet meditation by day and by night
To quicken the prayer for bold scorners that laugh
In the face of He who will sift them like chaff
When the day of grace that runs wild through each breath
Is severed as life’s silver cord yields to death
And it is to late to be suddenly stirred
By salvation’s best news this world’s ever heard

© Janet Martin

Psalm 1 KJV
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
 nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; 
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, 
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
 and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
 nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: 
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.









Friday, November 11, 2022

Lord, What an Awesome God You Are

We have had a whole week of AWESOME moon and sunrises and sunsets!!

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada!
As we reflect on freedom, it's cost, 
as we pray for those suffering ravages of war,
we reflect and praise God for a greater, everlasting freedom
found in Christ who died to set all of human race free from the curse of sin and death!

So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36












You fling the gates of dawn ajar...
As this morning's sun broke over the far horizon I murmured
Oh Lord, what an awesome God You are!! inspiring today's praise-poem!




Your majesty and divine pow’r none other can transcend
Your Deity debated, until wise in their own eyes

Lord, what an awesome God You are; compassionate and true
As in secret Gethsemanes we look upon your Son

Lord, what an awesome God you are; though oft misunderstood
You fling the gates of dawn ajar with kind Mercy renewed
When Souls are resurrected on that final Judgement Day

Lord, what an awesome God you are; evil will not prevail

© Janet Martin

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John 1:29



This poem was also inspired in part by this message


Sunday, November 6, 2022

Today's Centrality



Today is another sunny and still quite mild day
in an especially beautiful fall in southern Ontario!
What we do with Today, no matter the weather 
or whoever or wherever we are,
 has an eternal bearing!
Today matters!


  

(The excerpt below is found in the message above)

‘It is interesting that Samuel’s life is marked by long periods of silence, then moments when He comes to the fore. He could not ever come to the fore in such usefulness were it not for the fact that long periods of silence were marked by steady faithfulness. What most of us do in the hum drum nature of our lives, in the private personal way, in the routine activities that are our days, those are the things that make us (and Alistair repeats, ‘those are the things that make us’), and it was certainly so with Samuel.

 

Not what was yesterday or morrow’s yet to be
Today alone requires full responsibility
Today’s centrality twixt past and future set
Is all we ever have wherewith a lifetime to beget

To fret for what is not is gross futility
To work with what today allots is wise humility
To recognize its charge cloaked in the commonplace
To trust God with a thankful heart for His unfailing grace

The place of Here and Now, otherwise called today
In light of what mercies endow, bids us to work and pray
Because today effects accountability
The wise do not neglect/forget this most solemn reality

…that nobody escapes. Prepare to meet Thy God
Let hunger feast upon His Word, to leave us fully awed
Not in morrow’s unknown or Bygone’s beaten path
But in Today, the steppingstone to endless love or wrath

The aftermath of feet stirring Today's brief woo
Inevitably leads to He whose Breath of Life we drew
Where today’s toll unchains links in a sacred cord
Until only the soul remains to receive life’s reward

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12:6
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, 
and the golden bowl is broken; 
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
 and the wheel broken at the well,