Wonder-Full

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

 so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

A glimpse at what has overflowed my cup of  hope (aka wonder and joy)

in the past few days...

Winner of the American Express Golf Tournament...

with his son who kept saying 'daddy, let's go see the ducks and geese' (swimming nearby)

completely oblivious to the interview/er about his daddy's shining hour💖

Guess which part of the pumpkin-raisin muffin tot preferred😂

These pics but surface skimmings!!

A few more below!

How does one choose a few from thousands?!!

(h-m-m, is that what God says as He chooses our mercies new each morning?!)

('how does one choose a few from trillions?')

The wonder of the Giver’s love is up to us to find

His promises bring happiness to heart and soul and mind

To we who seek, God’s goodness leaps to cheer the common-place

To sweeten life amidst the toil and strife of truth and grace

To wonder is faith’s sacred bliss; a diamond in the dirt

Of learning how to find the ‘wow’ in hope’s heartache and hurt

How to be awed by Holy God where His kind mercies brim

Our burden but the needful ‘what’ to keep us tuned to Him

The wonder of the Giver’s love bids us to be content

To marvel where the very air we breathe is Heaven-lent

To take the time to be sublimely surprised by the ‘small’

And to begin to barely skim the wonder of it all

The wonder of God is enough to combat wonder’s foe

Where sin would be an enemy we could not overthrow

But, by God’s grace He helps us trace the shadow of His pow’r

As to love’s grief He pins a leaf, bird-symphony, a flow’r

© Janet Martin

(this passage is entitled The God Given Task)

Eccles.3:9-14

What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 

10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

Also He has put eternity in their hearts, 

except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 

13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—

it is the gift of God.

14 I know that whatever God does,

It shall be forever.

Nothing can be added to it,

And nothing taken from it.

God does it, that men should fear before Him.

and the conclusion is entitled:

The Whole Duty of Man

9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; 

yes, he pondered and sought out and set[c] in order many proverbs. 

10 The Preacher sought to find [d]acceptable words; 

and what was written was upright—words of truth. 

11 The words of the wise are like goads, 

and the words of [e]scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. 

12 And further, my son, be admonished by these. 

Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.

From the book Susie, Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon

To We Caught in the Tempo/Tempest (of Unknowns)

 

We Ontario-ans are caught in the tempo of a tempest this morning!

oops! I better fill the feeders...

Done!

The feeders are in an absolute Feather-FLURRY 

of finches, sparrows and juncos this morning!!

mostly gold-finches!

(they definitely prefers sunflower seeds to the deluxe mixed blend!)

What we have seen we know exists...

like the road and the vista beyond...

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;

 blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:29

We cannot see into the unknown 

but The One who loves us beyond measure can!

Life’s unknowns loom in highs and lows so vast and deep and wide

The love and grace that God bestows exceeds its teeming tide

Goodness and mercy follow we who are a-travelling

Toward the hill and hollow of Unknowns unraveling

This life runs rife with minuets composed of circumstance

An arrangement of pirouettes and stumbles in the dance

On music sheets we call Today, notes tremble, spill and twirl

Heartbeats in a brand-new ballet, ‘Yet’s’ ensembles unfurl

Unknown's unwritten lyrics juxtapose with poems penned

How subtly the syllables of highs and lows co-wend

Where we, caught in the tempo/tempest of rhythms that rise and fall

Grasp only small mementos of the fullness of it all

Sometimes God sends a soloist when we prayed for a band

Sometimes as the Unknown untwists we do not understand 

The Maestro who is teaching us to trust His loving lead 

His mercy reaching far beyond what logic can concede

This life is a momentous merge of Knowns to Unknown knit

God knows, as highs and lows converge, the perfecting of it

Where grace and goodness mentor we learning the steps and scales

To a Masterpiece Melody of love that never fails

© Janet Martin

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, 

or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; 

we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death,

 nor life, 

nor angels, 

nor principalities, 

nor powers, 

nor things present, 

nor things to come,

Nor height,

 nor depth, 

nor any other creature, 

shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Love Possible

Somehow, as I grow older the messages etched and penned

onto and into lovely Christmas cards grows dearer.

 

Human nature tries to be wise in its own eyes; beware

It is a masterpiece of lies that leads us to despair

Without the love and grace of God we cannot be made new

The creature by one’s self cannot the creature's curse undo

Though in his very nature God, Jesus did not esteem

His reputation above what the love of God did deem

But with will meek and lowly He the love of God did prove

And calls us to be holy imitators of His love

How harsh and hard and hopeless is the heart devoid of God

Where judgement is spite’s solace and intellect, darkness-flawed

How sweet the song that fills the tongue, no longer vengeance-cursed

Love possible for everyone because God loved us first

Aha, we altogether need God’s Christmas gift of grace

The affection Mercy decreed is for all human race

Forgiveness from the debt of sin, to all who will believe

And transformation from within only love can achieve

Human nature by one’s own self cannot be overcome

Only the love of God can help after we yield, undone

Above all else then pray that He would give us eyes to see

The price love was willing to pay to set doomed sinners free

Ah, what an everlasting love song fills the heart with praise

For He who forsook heaven’s throne earth’s wretched race to save

Jesus, Jesus, oh may we never cease to bring Him laud

His blood signed the sinner’s release, sealed by the love of God

© Janet Martin

Eph.5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

 2And 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.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him

 

Because Love Came Down

When Love Came Down to Earth

And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

Luke 9:43

This post inspired in part by Luke 9

and this message by Charles Spurgeon

The Secret of Loving God

(a few excerpts from this message)

"Faith is an act, partly of the intellect, and partly of the affections.

And we must therefore have both head and heart renewed by the spirit of God

Or we shall not have true faith.

…it is no mere child’s play. No matter to be settled off hand without thought or consideration.

Search yourself and see whether the spirit of God has produced in you

the true knowledge, 

the true faith 

and the true love 

or otherwise whatever you may think you possess 

of these things is not of God.

We love Him because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

Oh, if you really believe that Jesus loves you 

sit down and turn this over in your mind...

Jesus loves me.

Jesus chose me.

Jesus redeemed me.

Jesus called me.

Jesus has pardoned me.

Jesus has taken me into union with Himself.

Jesus has made me to be a part of The Bride, the Lamb’s wife. 

I shall be one with Him forever!"

When love came down, yon starry height

Was rent with angel host

The darkened world was bathed in Light

And hymns of Heaven’s Boast

When love came down from God to man

In form of helpless babe

The offspring of Love’s Master Plan

Was in a manger laid

When love came down from glory’s Best

To suffer evil’s worst

No one could confound love by test

Because He loved us first

When love came down no man could claim

Worth justifiable

To deserve Jesus Christ who came

One sacrifice for all

When love came down mankind beheld

Love’s/God’s Holy Mystery

The seed that in Virgin’s womb swelled

Infant, Infinity

When love came down, man could not know

How Satan’s scheme was wrecked

Hate tried but could not overthrow

The Cause that births effect

When love came down to you and me

Ah, who with logic whole

Could reject He who came to be

The Savior of the soul

When love came down to sinners vile

Their affection to woo

It made the hosts of Heaven smile

May it make us smile too

...and let the heart of worship brim

And sing, ‘Jesus, Jesus’

And shout for joy this; 'we love Him

Because He first loved us'

From well-springs inexhaustible 

Love's living waters laud

To fulfill the impossible

The love of man for God

With joy unspeakable and sure

God's sorrow forged a crown

The prize of faith and hope secure

Because His love came down

© Janet Martin

another small excerpt from the above message...

Our love is a simplicity founded upon a Mystery…

We love. That is simple enough.

Because He first loved us.

Ah, there is the great mystery which none of us can fully understand.

Potential Disaster...(by Faith Averted)

November unfurled in a blaze of glory/mercy renewed!

Cares press and threaten happiness; The shroud of The Unknown

Could blind us to what remains true; we never walk alone

Could have the gall to cast a pall of rude ingratitude

Before our eyes where morning skies unfurl mercy renewed

Could make us dread what lies ahead if we forget to lean

Upon The Word, undeterred by what will be-is-has been

Could toss about and make us doubt Hope’s anchor of the soul

Could rob us of the peace and love of faith that makes us whole

Could weigh us down with cynic’s frown where beauty breaks earth’s vat

Could make us miss the joy of This while fretting about That

Could darken hearts with venom darts while morning breaks night’s mold

And melts the stars from heaven’s bars to wash the earth with gold

Cares press and threaten holiness; the intellect of man

Could justify what some deny because they doubt Love’s plan

But God will bless with happiness those who trust Him and praise

The Giver of More Than Enough as mercy numbers days

What could befall cannot forestall God's goodness preordained

Nor circumvent His mercies bent with justice still contained 

Though what we see appears to be doom and gloom's bitter fruit  

What could unfold cannot withhold grace and truth's Absolute 

© Janet Martin

First when I got up life seemed to be trying to press

its shroud of cares upon my shoulders then My devotions included 

Psalm 47

Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,

the great King over all the earth.

3 He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

4 He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.[b]

5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

7 For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalm of praise.

8 God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

9 The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kings[c] of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted.

...and Brenda's post once again reminded me

to celebrate life's ever-present beauty and joy!

That was all before the glory of daybreak when

'The heavens declared the glory of God;

the skies proclaimed the work of his hands.'

Psalm 19:1

...so no matter what is going on to compose our secret 

or not so secret cares and sorrows that could seek to dethrone our

happiness/holiness,

what a joy to remember

'God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

Psalm 47:8

Earthen Treasure Chests

 Christ, Our Hope in Life and Death

Therefore we do not lose heart.

Even though our outward man is perishing,

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,

is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,

18 while we do not look at the things which are seen,

but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporary,

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Cor.4:16-18

I think I shared this scripture verse a week ago,

but it is in today's Daily Bread Devotion

as well as much needed encouragement

where suffering does not seem to take a break in this broken world.

But, for we who have placed our faith in Jesus

we do not lose heart!

This afternoon I will go to the visitation

for one of the young moms I did childcare for briefly

before she started working from home because of Covid-19,

before being diagnosed with cancer in the spring.

Our hearts are broken for this young family!

Will you hold them (Dana's family) in your prayers??

While the outward man wastes away

As seasons take their toll

Still, we are renewed day by day

In fathoms of the soul

And, though we cannot keep at bay

The hardships we must bear

Within these vessels made of clay

God puts His Treasure there

So that the excellence we boast

Is not of us, but He

Who gave for man, love’s uttermost

To set cursed sinners free

Then though the outward wastes away

Beneath affliction’s rod

Within these vessels made of clay

Shines the treasure of God

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

Because We Are So Loved...

Though freedom and prosperity seem destined for disaster,

we in North America are still ever-so-richly blessed by both!

Then, why do we bicker so? 

Why do we complain?

Is it because we overlook 

the Love that should sustain

From He who gave His Son to save 

our souls from hell's eternal grave?!

Can I hear a hallelujah?!

Endless Hallelujah Matt Redman

Because we are so loved we ought to dearly love our fellowman

Jesus, our great Example proved and taught love's perfect Master Plan

With humble heart that glows with joy to be the servant of a King

As with the gifts that grace deploys, we honour Him in everything

Because we are so loved in spite of less than faithful gratitude

God, rich in mercy, melts the night; His compassion kindly renewed

Then it behooves us to be kind; not blind to one another’s need

Lest His goodness is undermined as we serve gods of lust and greed

Because we are so loved we do not need to wallow in dread’s fear

The patina that gilds the view is but façade’s shallow veneer

No height nor depth, nor life nor death, nor other power can prevail

To separate us from the love God promises will never fail

Then, because God so loves the world (He gave His Son to pay our debt)

We ought to live with fist uncurled, ready to forgive and forget

To frolic like a well-fed calf, to till the soil of soul and sod

With hope; to work, pray, sing and laugh because we are so loved by God

© Janet Martin

Malachi 4:2 NIV

But for you who revere my name, 

the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. 

And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

Shall trouble or hardship or persecution 

or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 

 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]

 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

  For I am convinced that neither death nor life,

 neither angels nor demons,[k] 

neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 

 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, 

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A Poem For Trailblazers of a New Day

(sometimes  doggy is just too much! What a lot of laughter she has brought to our lives)

Whether in the lightness that laughter brings

or not, we are cupped in the Hands

of He with whom nothing is impossible

There is nothing new in this poem, 

but somehow even the things we know

need repeating and reminding now and then. 

Wishing you a glorious day!

The dawn of new day flickers where the wick of morn is lit

Where Mercy’s fount is quickened and faith rejoices in it

Where Time plants feet on virgin soil and draws ajar a door

Where none, with lofty dreams or toil has ever been before

Where age-old passions wait to try and disappointment hails

And God still cares for you and I with love that never fails

The birth of what is waiting breaks through gates no latchkey locks

It shimmers on a million lakes and highlights hollyhocks

It glistens in rhinestones of rain and diamonds made of dew

And pours in glorious ‘try again’ to tots like me and you

Where by the good old golden rule we meet our fellowman

And *vow to keep our cool when things don’t go the way we plan

This day the Lord sets free is like a gift to one and all

That grants us opportunity to heed His tender call

Where none have seen or been, therefore nobody can foretell

What good or ill will spill before eventide tolls its bell

But come-what-may of joy or strife, this Truth abides, dear friend

The God who grants this day, this life, is faithful to the end

© Janet Martin

*This fresh morning has already produced a few stresses

with the potential of more to come 

(click link for reason for this potential

because we have a niece getting married today!)😅

...but I am as ready as I can be to help in the

seemingly inevitable mad dash preceding the delight

of planting my derierre on a chair

 and breathing 'we made it, thank-you Lord'!

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 

 mind is stayed on thee: 

because he trusteth in thee.

Isa.26:3

Unfailing Love

 PAD Challenge day 20;

For this Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

Write a love poem and/or...

Write an anti-love poem.

His Love Never Fails

(I share this song repeatedly because I love it)

Love in blood-veiled glory, bowed

Did not fall or fail

Gave His life, though, loud the crowd

Mocked and scorned Hope’s Grail

Love in utter Mercy groaned

It is finished, then

With his dying breath atoned

Fallen sons of men

Love in glorious triumph rose

Scorned death's lowly tomb

For no burial could enclose

Resurrection’s Bloom

Love in kind compassion waits

To rend Yonder Veil

Too many outside the gates

Where love did not fail

© Janet Martin

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

 Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, 

but everyone to come to repentance.

Under The Umbrella of God's Care

Today's poem was partly inspired by my morning prayer as I asked God to please spread

His care like an umbrella over me and the kiddos that others entrust to my care...

The verge of what will be soon merges with all that has been

Whether valleys shadowed with death or pleasant pastures green...

While the kiddos play or 'help'...

... I sometimes find things to putter about with...

Pinch me! I feel like I just bedded down the gardens,

and though this may be a bit premature, (because yes,

 I do see the snowflakes in next week's forecast)

I just can't resist the urge to merge with garden-dirt a bit

(because the neighbors got a dog, we sorta did too😀)

(Yesterday morning while I was working in the kitchen I heard a clatter in the laundry room.

apparently the back door did not latch properly

after I hung out the laundry and this dog made himself at home without knocking😂

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, 

and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. 

This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

Eccles.2:24

Ah, here we are, not very far from learning’s next affair

But always underneath the kind umbrella of God’s care

Because showers of blessing come in every shape and size

Some welcomed with wide open arms, some hard to recognize

We never know what waits to show its face with smile or tear

But oh, the more we trust, the less each of us has to fear

God, we are prone to groan beneath the weight of ‘what might be’

Help us to learn to lean on you with faith’s humility

The gold of beaming rampart unfolds like a work of art

From the grail of God’s mercy to the cup of human heart

Where, here we are, not very far from Love's unfailing Hand

All that we need to do is reach and He will help us stand

The verge of what will be soon merges with all that has been

Whether valleys shadowed with death or pleasant pastures green

We kick the dust of want and must; it rises but to fall

God's grace spreads like an umbrella over one and all

© Janet Martin

The gold of gleaming rampart 

unfolds like a work of art...