Showing posts with label Chris Tomlin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Tomlin. Show all posts

Saturday, April 8, 2023

What The World Knows Nothing Of...


Sometimes the sorrow for those who do not believe, love and obey God
is almost more than I can bear,
and lest misunderstood, I come across as having all the answers
and everything 'right', far from it!!
but the one/only answer I have right, is by the grace of God 
through the cross of Jesus Christ;
Gal.6:14
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.







Fear, in this fallen world seeks to usurp faith, hope and trust
Without God’s Word to undergird, to guide, rebuke and cheer
How could we bear love’s cross of care or suffer what we must
But for the glory waiting in the Aftermath of here

Where the foothills of Heaven groan with sin, sorrow and strife
Where we, but brief sojourners because earth is but a vale
Need He who rolled away the stone from a tomb filled with Life
The life that will abide; even in death it will not fail

Ah, raise thy gaze above the worldly ways of wanton will
Cling to the sickle of God’s Word to keep thy conscience pure
And drink from the wellspring where Living Waters spill and spill
To sustain and refresh the soul committed to endure

…and tremble at His Word; pray for a spirit, poor, contrite
So, God will look on us and fill us with riches untold;
Green pastures and still waters to restore the soul’s delight
His perfect peace, his joy to be our strength, worth more than gold

Pray for this fallen world, mired in cesspools of despair
Ah pray for those who do not know the goodness of God’s love
That they may come to know He who laid mercy’s coffers bare
Upon the cross to offer what the world knows nothing of

By God's grace alone we are saved; a gift so none can boast
Shall we then continue in sin so His grace may abound
Shall we mock, as it were the One who gave His Uttermost
Oh, may it never be, when once lost, we are found

Surely, goodness and mercy will follow us all our days
Until we dwell with Him by whose resurrection, we live
Where we will never weary of perfecting worship's praise
As we look on Him whom we pierced, and He replied 'forgive'

© Janet Martin

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 
Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 
26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
 Do you believe this?”

Isa.66:2
Has 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, March 21, 2023

Worship Invitation



Isa.25:1
O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Sometimes I'm kind of sad when a Sunday morning worship service ends...
but though corporate worship may conclude, 
never the worship offered in spirit and in truth.
Happy Worship Day!



Not the building nor the vesture
Not in the visible part
Worship swells to our Creator
From the altar of the heart

Not in rigid duty, dire,
Not in pious, performed rite
Worship is devotion’s fire
Burning morning, noon and night

Not by flawless execution
Nor by engaging façade
But of spirit and truth’s fusion
Poured in humble praise to God

To the Author of salvation
Through the faith that makes us whole
Worship is pure adoration
To the Lover of the Soul

Worship He who never leaves us
Worship He who beckons 'come'
The name above all names, Jesus 
Cornerstone of Christendom

Come and join hope's celebration
Universal hymn unfurled 
Worship the God of creation
And the Saviour of the world 

© Janet Martin

But the hour is coming, and now is, 
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; 
for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
John 4:23




Friday, January 27, 2023

Learning to Cherish



Do you also tend to feel a sense of frustration/astonishment 
as you read in Exodus, how God freed the children of Israel from
their bondage and oppression in Egypt in ways that they beheld His mighty power,
Then how, though they had a visual reminder of His presence 
in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, (Ex.13:21)


How, though God parted the Red Sea so they passed through on dry ground, 
before the waters swallowed up the Egyptian army pursuing them.
and yet, how quickly their praise turned to murmuring
 when they were hungry and thirsty,
when present unpleasantness drew their attention and worship
 from He who had proven faithful over and over...
Oh!!! suddenly this sounds very familiar! 
forgive me, Lord!!

Moses' reprimand to the children of Israel is the same for you and me...
Because if we believe we too have been freed 
from bondage and oppression in the wilderness of Sin!


(I jotted half of this poem yesterday from a totally different train of thought
before finishing it this morning after today's scripture reading from Exodus!)

We take it as it comes; Blossoms and butterflies
Wishes that don’t come true and some that do to our surprise
We cannot seize what was or leap beyond today
So, we cherish what is because there is no other way

We take it as it is; of new not yet turned old
Of old that once was younger and of gray that once was gold
We cannot stay the hands that mark the march of time
So, we cherish duty’s demands and beauty’s season-chime

We take it as it goes; the high road and the low
Where only God, who grants it knows what life waits to bestow
To teach us how to trust and love Him all our days
To cherish His goodness to us and live a life of praise

To He who does not faint or weary of our cry
May we withhold thankless complaint and vanity of 'why' 
But cherish that which flows from Mercy's patient nod/rod
What comes, what is, what goes unfurls the soul's return to God


© Janet Martin

...in the morning we shall see the glory of the Lord!
Ex.16:7

Isa. 40:28
Have you not known? 
Have you not heard?
 The everlasting God, the LORD, 
The Creator of the ends of the earth, 
Neither faints nor is weary. 
His understanding is unsearchable.




Friday, December 9, 2022

Emmanuel (What more do we need?)


Matthew 1:23
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, 
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 
 being interpreted is, God with us.



O Come, Emmanuel-Simon Khorolskiy 


God with us since the beginning; God with us; His Word unfurled
Like hope’s harbor in this sinning, struggle-stricken, broken world

God with us, His omni-presence no army can overthrow
His Word in our hearts, the essence of peace only faith can know

God with us down through the ages; grace and truth to set us free
Manifesting sacred pages; He Who Was, IS and Will Be

God with us in joy and sorrow never to leave or forsake
Yesterday, today, tomorrow His Word will not change or shake

God with us, ah, precious promise, who can fully comprehend
The wonder of Jesus; glorious, infinite and without end

God with us, eternal power, demons tremble when we pray
 Oh, the height and depth of our confidence through mercy's Stay

God with us amidst a heathen disregard and deadly jeer
In and through His Word faith meets/seeks Him to comfort and commandeer

God with us, Unseen, yet faithful Father, Counsellor, and Friend
He helps us to help each other to be faithful to the end

God with us, sweet consolation no matter what may beset
God with us, mankind’s salvation oh, may we never forget

Holy, holy hallelujah! Come, let us praise and adore
He who is Love, Truth, Jehovah! God with us forevermore

© Janet Martin

Emmanuel, God With Us- Charles Spurgeon



Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Perfect Reason to Boast

 


This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, 
nor the strong man in his strength, 
nor the wealthy man in his riches.
But let him who boasts boast in this, 
that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, 
who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth--
for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

1 Cor.1:31
Therefore, as it is written: "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."

Glory ye in his holy name: 
let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.








Then, even when hard knocks abound 
And we are found wanting, we boast 
In humble worldwide common ground 
That He who made us loves us most 

When trouble tests the best with worst 
And we doubt what we see, we know 
And by this grace of God we go 

Through ages past or yet to come 
His kind assurance soothes the soul 
Nothing can separate us from 
God’s love in absolute control 

Then sing for joy and glorify 
The One who does not shift or change 
Praise Him who cares for you and I 
With love that nothing can estrange 

Then, even when hard knocks abound 
And we are found wanting, we boast 
In humble worldwide common ground 
That He who made us loves us most 


© Janet Martin 

The verses below are this week's life's theme!!
Hallelujah!
his love is certain through all uncertainty

Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, 
nor angels nor principalities nor powers, 
nor things present nor things to come, 
39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, 
shall be able to separate us
 from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.














Monday, March 18, 2019

On Keeping Faith's Focus...


 Here it is, unveiling the skyline; a new day of grace!
 ...soon it will sink, a wink of pink on the westward brink... 
...into Past's vast embrace


The wily one with many charms
Our wish and whim regales
Wise then to lean on loving arms
Of He who never fails

God's faithful Word no one should doubt
But beg His Spirit prove
That which no one can thrive without
Life’s greatest merit; love

The wars we fight twixt right and wrong
Would be a losing chase
Without the One who makes us strong

Humility, ah, who can boast
This attitude of Christ
Save as we yield our utter most
To He who loved us first

With heart and soul and strength and mind
We ought to love the Lord
For who knows when time’s mist and wind
Will usher in Reward

© Janet Martin

Gorgeous beginning to a whole new week...
Pray the Lord to guide and keep!



 So we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it.
Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. 
What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
2 Cor.5:9-11

We were challenged in yesterday morning's message to have the same attitude as Christ-

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, 
and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, 
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Phil. 2:5-11 KJV

Pride and humility will both suffer but one suffers for self, the other for others/God.

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Oh, What A Love


(this song and this video will give you holy-hallelujah thrill-chills!)

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof
Oh what a comfort to know
Whatever happens, His mercy and love
Cradles both wonder and woe

No might or merchant can usurp the One
Who was, Who IS and will be
Heaven and earth rest in ‘His will be done’
Provident Power is He

No creature care is too big or too small
To entrust to love’s scarred Hand
Whether we flourish or whether we fall
He is the One in command

Nothing unseen or mistaken by He
Who has nothing left to prove
Though He is oft misunderstood while we
Lap from His wellspring of love

Circumstance and consequence may afflict
Heartache and hurt test and try
Where footsteps fall in the halls of a gift
The Giver reasons the Why

For, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof
All they who dwell therein
Comprise His uttermost language of love
Faithful Forgiver of sin

He is the Father who offered His Son
His Most Beloved, to be
The sacrifice for the wrongs we have done
His loss for our Victory

Though He is God since before Time began
He suffered Death, not in vain
We are the Reason His love had a plan
Where Heaven waits to explain

© Janet Martin