Outer Fringes

Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways;

how faint is the whisper we hear of Him!

 Job 26:14

Both sunset last night...

...and sunrise this morning

...were of exceptional caliber and colour!
Like an ethereal orchestra!

(it inspired a personal 'psalm' of sorts)

Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

Without speech or language,

without a sound to be heard,

their voice a has gone out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun

like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens

and runs its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth. 

Master of Creation

Maestro of the sea

Author of salvation

For humanity

Dark and light are driven

Beneath Thy command

Artist of the heavens

Sculptor of the land

Comforter of sorrow

Keeper of Time’s toll

Father to the sparrow

And man’s deathless soul

Hope in doubt’s confusion

Shepherd to the flock

Peace amidst the doom in

Human-natured talk

Both Taker and Giver

Goodness, mercy, love

Guides the rippling river

To the ocean’s trove

Ruler of each season

There is none like Thee

Who else defies reason

Without Reason’s plea

Who else grants seed’s ration

Or saves us by grace

Taking kind compassion

On this human race

Who Thy might can fathom

None else can compare

Invisible awesome

Lamplighter of air

© Janet Martin

 There is none like You, O LORD; 

You are great, and great is Your name in might.

Jer.10:6

Psalm 86:8
O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.
Psalm 86:10
For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.

Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? 

who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Psalm 89:5-8

 The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD—

Your faithfulness as well—

in the assembly of the holy ones.

For who in the skies can compare with the LORD?

Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?

In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared,

and awesome above all who surround Him.

O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You?

O mighty LORD, Your faithfulness surrounds You. 

Job 38:12
(click link to read the following four chapters of awesome declarations of God's might)

 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
    or shown the dawn its place,

Wonder-full

 Sometimes we are dazed 

and dumbfounded anew

Amazed by how much 

God loves me and you

Sometimes we hardly 

know where to start

To tell of the wonder

 that urges the heart

To praise the One worthy 

of all attention

His ways beyond earthly 

comprehension

Sometimes we are wholly 

and humbly awed

In the shadow of angels 

through the mercies of God

Heart of worship let me prove

‘Neath the scepter of Thy love

‘Neath the shadow of Thy gaze

Lord, I bow in humble praise

For the beauty of Thy land

For Thy mercy’s gracious hand

For death-cursed deliverance

For Thy faithful providence

For the favors of Thy grace

For Thy faithful promises

And the comfort that You send

For Thy All that has no end

For Thy whispers deep within

For Thy forgiveness of sin

For Thy strength in joy or strife

For Thy death to purchase life

For Thy power unsurpassed

For Thy truth to hold us fast

For Thy purpose undeterred

For Thy everlasting word

For Thy hope steadfast and sure

For Thy salvation secure

For Companionship divine

That unmerited, is mine

© Janet Martin

  Honor the Lord your God, worship only him, 

and make your promises in his name alone.

Deut.6:13

 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
Mal.6:10

Reasons To Sing...

Sometimes on Mondays, singing for the love of life's Giver is not my foremost thought...

Sometimes I focus on long to-do lists a little before I ought

Sometimes, to inspire glad Reason to sing for the love of more than I planned

I need let go of want-woe-worrying, so He can hold my hand

 A little while ago I shared Reasons I Write Poetry

and Reasons I Pray.

Today I'm focusing on Reasons to Sing 

(partly because singing was not my first impulse this morning, 

until I read Ann Voskamp's devotional where she encouraged us 

instead of trying to 'do it all' this week to focus on letting Christ 'be it all'!

(the first stanza works as a single poem which was my original plan but the words kept coming:)

If we let go we start to see

The One who holds us faithfully

If we unclench our fists of greed

We start to see another’s need

If we stare pride straight in the face

We die to self and live by grace

If we choose faith in place of fear

We hush the demons that we hear

And if we want to know life’s best

We love; then trust God for the rest

His hierarchy exceeds time’s graph

His mercy pleads on our behalf

His Excellence, earth’s hills exalt

His Example, no one can fault

His Holiness, eclipses awe

His love, life’s pure and perfect law

His Way, pursued through humble prayer 

Leads to Reward beyond compare

His Word is Truth and without end

The Presence of a faithful Friend

His Law, a universal rule

His blood shed for both wise and fool

His Righteousness our sole Soul-boast

His sacrifice, our uttermost

His death so we may live, our hope

His promises so we may cope

His Resurrection so that we

May also share death’s victory

His Strength for time-length’s push and pull

Till faith-turned-sight makes half-joy full

© Janet Martin

...And then, With Something Soft and Fierce

There is nothing darker than the window of the soul without hope

There is nothing brighter than the window of the soul where hope streams through the dark

many of us feel helplessly sickened as we hear the cold awful truths about abortion...

where hope is looking in all the wrong places and resorts to the hands of killers
who somehow see themselves as hope!

...no soft newborn baby-faces to kiss because life's reality looks hopeless without God!

Our family is gearing up for more newborn baby kisses in a month...(Lord willing!)

and the idea of killing a baby at this stage of pregnancy 

simply sickens me to the utter core of existence!
(I saw a video last night where this was the case😢)

(we all feel like this sometimes, don't we? after we've tried and tried to stay on our feet

.... But life is a sheet of ice!)

and as I loved and laughed yesterday...

.... I couldn't help but think of the millions of babies 

who fly straight to the Arms of their Maker beneath the hands of human monsters
which we all potentially are before Love's/salvation's transformation takes place and hope has a goal!

Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, 

we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

…and then with something soft and fierce and stronger than mere touch

The wick within the warrior’s chest is quickened with a flame

That withstands The Impossible of what is seen and such

As hope restores its fire through the One from whence we came

For nothing is Impossible with He who rules the World

In spite of scoffing ridicule by those who do not choose

To trust love’s just Rewarder who, recorded in His Word

Does not forget His promises or alter ordained dues

Holy the hope that heeds more than man’s maimed advocacy

And clings to cords not severed yet while lords of evil gloat

Unshakeable, unbreakable, the Law and love of He

Who has triumphed and yet waits while hope keeps Time’s ship afloat

Do not despair for hope beams brightest in the darkest place

Ignorance with most macho boast cannot Hope’s halo dim

Abortionists and atheists cannot slaughter God’s grace

Inhale, exhale, life pulses with the Very Proof of Him

Man, though he snuffs the breath of life cannot conquer the soul

No man can author birth for God alone wills life to be

And death, the equalizer of the flesh is but the toll

Where Hope of Heaven, dread of hell becomes Reality

…then, Hope is nothing more than cold ash after fires flamed

Its grand mission accomplished as the heart of man is stilled

When some will see too late the awful fate of Hope unclaimed

And some will thrill as Hope in all its glory is fulfilled

© Janet Martin