A Continued Reflection...

A continued reflection of The Greatest Gift

of God's Son Jesus, who came to earth

to be our Saviour...

Below are the first words I read today!

AWESOME!! 

1 John 5:1-5 NKJV

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, 

and everyone who loves Him who begot 

also loves him who is begotten of Him. 

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, 

when we love God and keep His commandments.

 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.

 And His commandments are not burdensome.

 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. 

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—[a]our faith. 

5 Who is he who overcomes the world, 

but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Above is a picture of the Christmas Card I had hoped to send

to so many more than I managed to accomplish,

due in part, to the mail strike and in part to

simply not getting it done

If you are reading this, then know this card is for you,

dear friend, whether near and far! 

Thank-you so much for your kindness in 2024,

(but esp. since the loss of my sister Lucy on Sept.17)

For the Christmas season I turned my fridge door into a prayer-reminder board

for family, church-family and neighbours who 

are missing loved ones this Christmas💔🙏

Below, a tender poem dropped in my mailbox the other day...

Faith is no rigid religion

It rejoices and it mourns

It bows in willing subjection

Beneath Fealty's crown of thorns 

It believes, before beholding

It trusts God's eternal Word

It protects its mortal molding

With full armour of the Lord 

Looking, beyond this world's dwelling 

To a City yet to come

Faith seeks riches beyond telling

In the Soul's Forever Home

Faith, the substance of things hidden

Gazes at the Evidence

Jesus, come to earth from Heaven

To author faith's recompense 

 

Jesus cheers faith's transportation

With hope and joy in His Name 

Because the gift of salvation

Is the Reason Jesus came

Hallelujah!

Janet 🙏

Below, a poem from my mother

Glorious Gift

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas

...and last but not least, the youngest who would not

shift from this expression 😂😅😆

(which is why I didn't push for a pic of the three together)

2 Cor.9:15

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

No joy to comfort groaning grief

No hope to cheer the soul 

No faith to counter unbelief

Or make our spirits whole

No Light to pierce the sin-dark world

No peace, no battle won

No everlasting love unfurled

For each and everyone

No healing from our wounds within

No cross, no Christendom 

No forgiveness for our sin

If Jesus had not come

No escape then from death and hell

No captive chains undone

No Saviour, because mankind fell

If Jesus had not come

No Heaven for all who believe

Satan, not overthrown

No deathless promise to receive

If Jesus had not come

So as we celebrate, oh pray

With gladdened hearts we lift

A hymn of praise this Christmas day  

For God's glorious gift

© Janet Martin 

Sing Hallelujah to the Light of the World 

Invitation to Celebration!

Doesn't it make our sorrow and suffering-weary hearts

Leap with hope and joy?!

As once more we ponder the wonderful gift

of Bethlehem's Baby Boy,

  Emmanuel, meaning God with us!!

No matter what life brings

No trouble can transcend Jesus

And the comfort that still rings

Throughout the centuries

For mankind's common ground

For we all need God's Gift of grace

Only in Jesus found

Ehp.2:1-10

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 

2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world

 and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, 

the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 

3 All of us also lived among them at one time,

 gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. 

Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—

it is by grace you have been saved.

 6 And God raised us up with Christ

 and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, 

expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—

and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 

9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

10 For we are God’s handiwork, 

created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Come, oh Come, Emmanuel 

Christmas Day, 1915

Listen to Emmett Cahill's complete Christmas concert HERE

***

Emmanuel has come! The Saviour of the world

The Patriarch of Christendom, hope's beacon has unfurled

The Lamb of Calvary, the Shepherd of the soul

Jesus, to fulfill prophecy since Ancient Days foretold

Come, and faith's Gift receive, bow before He who said

That all who repent and believe, in death are never dead

But have eternal life. The battle Jesus won

Upon the cross sweetens faith's strife through the gift of God's Son

He whose sorrow subdued, nay, conquered death and hell

He bore sin's brutal debt accrued since Adam and Eve fell 

In Eden's garden when through doubt they were deceived

And sinned; perfection ruined then, and the Creator grieved 

Hark! for the angel's song still fills dark night with Morn

Good tidings of great joy belong to sinners, weary-worn

Whom God did not ignore, but gave, through love's increase

Jesus! Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace

Janet Martin

The days leading up to Christmas can feel pretty crazy with busyness!

Let's never let the season crowd out its Reason! 

Merry-two-days-before Christmas! 

Matt.1:21

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,

 because he will save his people from their sins.”

Christmas Happiness and Joy

Cherishing like never before 

Christmas Happiness and Joy

Both the simple...

Basic Shortbread

Shortbread with dark chocolate and instant coffee bits

Shortbread with toasted pecans, dark chocolate and toffee bits

and profound...

1 John 4:9-12

9 This is how God showed his love among us:

 He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 

10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, 

God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Christmas happiness and joy...

When shortbread, dark chocolate and toffee bits-sweet and toasted pecans and taste buds meet😋

When snowflakes waft, tumble, lilt, sparkle and swirl and the heart feels like a ballerina-twirl/girl

When windows, gold, lamp-lit at eventide frame frosty blue vistas of countryside

When hustle and bustle of shopping and cleaning and cooking don festive attire and meaning

When songs of the season with timeless oblation ring out the glad reason for hope's celebration

Because Jesus Christ, mankind's Saviour was born in a Bethlehem stable on that first Christmas morn

To cheer generations with wonder and love because God knew only His Son was enough

To be sin's last sacrifice, once and for all; Jesus, the name on which every heart may call

To find hope and joy that no sorrow can dim after we have put our faith in Him

© Janet Martin 

Jesus, Joy of the Highest Heaven

Jesus, Only Jesus

Happy Christmas Day- Charlie Pride

Christmas That Never Ends

Day-after-Christmas contemplation...

The hustle and bustle of Christmas busyness,

the rustle of wrapping paper,

the frenzy of last minute food and gift prep,

the shrieks of excitement and delight

will soon fade like fond footfalls of farewell,

we collect in heart-vaults.

...but the Spirit of Christmas,

because of God's everlasting goodness through the gift

of his Son, Jesus, is hopefully a daily joy, all year through!

Christmas Season, with all its fuss and bustle will soon fade

And disappear into the hush of Bygone’s promenade

But, Belief in the Reason for the season, anchors peace

His everlasting goodness gladdens hope with joy’s increase

Belief transforms the lens we look through to find happiness

It mends the holes in our souls with precious promises

And grounds faith in the merit of love, unfathomable

Where Father, Son and Spirit manifests Immanuel

Where redemption endorses profound possibility

The blood of Christ that cleanses and atones, sets sinners free

From the inherent curse; the first-fruit that first sin conceived

But God so rich in mercy washed away when we believed

This keeps the joy of Christmas alive in us all year long

His everlasting goodness kindles everlasting song

Because belief in the Reason for the Season transcends

The temporal; Jesus gives us Christmas that never ends

© Janet Martin

the morning after

a lot of laughter, food and joys aka noise😅💖!!!

John 10;10

I have come that they may have life, 

and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus~

Lord, As We Linger in the Presence of Christ's Sacred Birth, (A Christmas Prayer)

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, 

who came from the Father, 

full of grace and truth.

From our House to Yours

Joyous Christmas Blessings~

Lord, as we come, like shepherds and wise men of old this morn

To gather in the stable where Christ, our Saviour was born

Waken a sweeter wonder as our gifts of worship ring

Renew a humbler hunger for the hope you came to bring

Lord, as we haste to see the Baby in a manger bed

And gaze on He who came as sin’s atonement in our stead

Impress on us anew love’s allotment of joy and grief

Then kindle purer gratitude, abolish unbelief

Lord, as we kneel before You, let the incense of prayers rise

In utter adoration, as we consider faith’s Prize

Deliver us from evil, tune our hearts to hear Your Voice

Where this dark world seeks to drown angel-anthems of 'rejoice!'

Lord, as we linger in the Presence of Christ’s sacred Birth

As You unveil Your glory in the highest to the earth

As we behold Your glory, full of grace and truth, Lord, then

Increase in us glad tidings of peace and goodwill. Amen

© Janet Martin

Luke 2:8-20

Glory in the Highest

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And [c]behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a [d]manger.”

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill[e] toward men!”

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made [f]widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Joy to the World (Traditional)

Beholding Christmas (or Joy's Supremacy)

Isa.9:6-7

For unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given,

and the government will be upon His shoulders.

And He will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7Of the increase of His government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on the throne of David

and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it

with justice and righteousness

from that time and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

***

The more we try the less it seems we can comprehend

the vastness of God's everlasting love!

That's why there are SO many poems and hymns

composed, trying to put into words

what words can never fully express-

of worship enough to fill eternity!

Hallelujah!

Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus

Behold the love/Son of God

Born for sin’s sacrifice

To bear hatred’s most cruel rod

To pay salvation’s price

Behold Bethlehem’s Boy

Redemption’s humble King

Who knew good tidings of great joy

Would cost Him everything

Behold, the Prince of Peace

Behold the zeal of He

Whose grief accomplished the increase

Of His/joy's supremacy

Behold Humility

Child of Mary’s travail

I AM fulfilling prophecy

In minutest detail

Behold, hope’s Star unfurled

Kneel at the manger, then

Behold, the Saviour of the world

Behold Christmas. Amen

Behold, a child is born

Behold, a Son is giv'n

To pierce hell's darkness with a Thorn

That lights the Wick of Heav'n

© Janet Martin

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Micah 5:4

And He shall stand and feed[a] His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He shall be great
To the ends of the earth;  

“He Shall Be Their Peace” - 12/22/2023

We Are All Children (at Christmas Time)

we were counting cookies, one, two, three

when someone stole the cherries!

H-m-m-m, who could it be 😂💗

this poem is a mingling of past, present and future

part recollection, part participation

and part anticipation 😋😊💖

Arms open wide to big hugs of hello

Breath hangs on air, breathless with stars of snow

Scents from the kitchen delight young and old

(We are all children when licking out bowls)

Love looks for ways to fit into a box

Dollies and teddy bears, books, balls and blocks

New socks, odd gadgets, bubble bath, wind chime

(We are all children at gift-giving/getting time)

Tins fill with many a sugary prize

Budget and extravagance compromise

Cook-space grows crowded, taste-testers abound

(We are all children where cookies are found)

Christmas hymns kindle heart-hearths with love’s joy

We thrill as gladness spills from girl and boy

Joy to the World, Silent Night, Deck the Halls

(We are all children while singing those car’ls )

Hark! hear that glorious story again

Gaze at the angels, shepherds and wise men

Kneel at the manger, be wondrously awed

For, we are all children when gazing at God

© Janet Martin

Hark! hear that glorious story again

Gaze at the angels, shepherds and wise men

Kneel at the manger, be wondrously awed

For, we are all children when gazing at God

This Christmas, As I Come To Gaze (At Thy Nativity)

Recently a message I listened to contained the caution that we, as believers 

should guard against getting caught up in romanticizing the Nativity, 

easily possible when charmed by enchanting figurines... 

Sometimes, in this age of 'progressive thinkers' some so-called believers

assume the 'perks' and promises of salvation, 

God's favors and blessings 

without first entering through the Door 

of true repentance which leads to obedience. 

May we, as we search the scriptures, 

ask God to open the eyes of humbled hearts 

to seek and know the full truth of what we 'most surely believe'...

Today's poem began as I pondered parts of Luke 1.

Dear Jesus,

This Christmas as I come to gaze

At Thy nativity

May no vain thought hinder my praise

Or mar my love for Thee

With childlike faith without dispute

With stubborn will undone

With worship in spirit and truth

May I behold Thy Son

The Saviour of the World, first laid

in lowly feeding trough

Thy holiest of holy Babe

No kingly splendor sought  

That none should envy how You came

nor covet Thy renown 

The King of kings, in mortal frame 

From Heaven's throne, stepped down

Then, as I bring my gift of love

To Thy nativity

Impress on me the shadow of

the cross/Gate of Calvary

Amen~

  Janet Martin

  

Marvelous Light

Isa.9:2

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

 on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned...

I am 'labouring' through the last books in the Old Testament,

 groaning through the sobering passages of God's wrath and judgment 

for everyone who turns away from Him, because they do not fear Him,

 but worship others gods, and do not keep His commandments.

But oh, wonderful grace of Jesus, always with every judgment God reminds them

of his mercy and redemption for all who repent and come/return to Him!!

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

Rom.6:12-14

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

13Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness,

but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life;

and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Part of Zacharias's song in Luke 1:76-79

And you, child, will be called

a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord

to prepare the way for Him,

77to give to His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the Dawnf will visit us from on high,

79to shine on those who live in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet

into the path of peace.”

The poem below is but a pale halo of awe, for words fail as we consider

the awesome love and mercy of God...

Into the darkness of the world that groans with scorn and spite

The splendor of hope is unfurled to pierce the dark with Light

To salvage us from death’s despair, from sin’s most cunning means

To draw us to repentant prayer where mercy intervenes

The Saviour of the world has come; Jesus, the Son of God

The Cornerstone of Christendom to bear death’s meanest rod

The Great I AM, the King of kings and Lord of lords became

The Lamb who takes away the sins of all who trust His Name

‘Ho, every son and daughter’ the Heavenly Father cries

Come, drink the Living Water from the well that never dries

Come and buy without money, eat to fulness without price

A land of milk and honey waits through mercy’s sacrifice

Into the darkness of the world in need of peace and joy

Behold, a great Light is unfurled, veiled as an infant boy

Who came to bring Justice to earth and hope to sorry strife

To pierce the fierce shadow of death with everlasting Life

…to guide our feet into the path of peace, away from sin

To satisfy God’s blameless wrath by bringing souls to Him

To soften stubborn hardness of cold hearts with mercy’s might

To call us out of darkness into His marvelous light

© Janet Martin

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, 

a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 

to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness 

into His marvelous light.

Isa.55:1-9

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;

 come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? 

and your labour for that which satisfieth not? 

hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,

 and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live

; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, 

and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God,

 and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:

 and let him return unto the Lord, 

and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

December Hymn

 

December drapes dormant landscapes with snowflake-sequined flair

It kindles in its chill a thrill that contradicts despair

And cheers faith’s frame with hope’s dear Name; Jesus! As once again

Hearts start anew to travel to the town of Bethlehem

December decks earth’s halls with shawls that nature’s shuttle weaves

Where fall-gales doffed treetops, white softness soothes its loss of leaves

And stirs within cages of skin a holy atmosphere

Of peace and love, through knowledge of the Name we hold so dear

December brims with joyful hymns and beauty to behold

Fresh snowfall awes and gently draws us back to days of old

Until we feel the sacred zeal of shepherds and wise men

And yearn to bring the Christ Child King gifts of worship. Amen

December rings the old year out before it brings the new

It rebukes doubt with shouts of joy for what is good and true

And bids us come and see Christendom’s Cornerstone, and laud

The glory of the Gift, where love unveils the face of God

© Janet Martin

2 Pet.1:1-2

To those who through the righteousness 

of our God and Savior Jesus Christ

have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance 

through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem-Nat King Cole

some of the 'hymns' of joy brimming from cookbook lyrics,

due to Christmas celebrations beginning...

Fruitcake Christmas Cookies

(very versatile for switching up the dry fruit and nuts!)

Italian Almond-Cookies

(or, in Victoria's words, melt-in-your-mouth-orange pillows)

Fruit Cocktail Jello Salad/Dessert

(easily done using home-canned fruit)

 

Only The Best Will Do or Perfect Best

This is the time of year

we start wracking our brains for perfect gifts

because only the best will do when it comes to saying

'I love you'

When considering our efforts of finding 'the best'

doesn't it evoke a picture of God, 

before that first Christmas morn,

looking down on the world, 

His heart shattered with love as He wept,

for He knew 'only the Best will do!'

when it came to proving His love

 for me and for you!

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.”

I LOVE the lyrics to the song below

First Christmas Morn

This is the time of year

Unlike the whole year through

When we choose gifts for loved ones dear

Only the best will do

In this season of love

Boxes and bags become

Vaults filled with motley treasures of

Socks, books, toys, candy, gum

Presents are squirreled away

In unsuspecting nooks

A kind of game that parents play

Lest Curious Youngster looks

Reason softens its stance

As love and prudence wrest

As budgets and hearts spar and dance

To find The Perfect Best

The Perfect Best is love

Therefore, love longs to show

The best it can, reflections of

First Christmas, long ago

When Heaven’s Perfect Best

God’s equal, put on man

Knowing the cost, did not contest

Salvation’s perfect plan

Because God loved us so

On that first Christmas morn

Into this sin-cursed world of woe

A Redeemer was born

For God looked from above

And He saw me and You

And said, as His heart broke with love

‘Only the Best will do’

So, God gave us a King

A gift beyond all ken

His only Son, Jesus, to bring

Peace and goodwill to men

A gift that saves the soul

And flings ajar a Gate

That leads to faith’s ultimate goal

Where God and heaven wait

Then pray, this time of year

We rev’rently recall

The Reason for the season, dear

The gift that says it all

For things are only things

Love is the Perfect Best

The gift that only Jesus brings

Makes perfect, all the rest

© Janet Martin

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that

He gave us His only begotten son,

that whosoever believes in Him

should not perish but have everlasting life

Phil.2:5-8

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

6Who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped,a

7but emptied Himself,

taking the form of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross.