Making the Most of Life

Ps.5:11-12

Let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice: 

let them ever shout for joy because Thou defendest them: 

Let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee.

For Thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous: 

with favour wilt thou compass Him as with a shield.

***

There are few things which make life as meaningless, as selfishness.

Small wonder then that the two greatest commandments

challenge and cheer every choice we make

every day.

***

Our gains and blessings are never given to pocket, but to share.

How prone human nature is to self-indulgence,

rather than recognizing where there is added blessing

there is added responsibility to bless and give...

***

When we are tempted to hide the 'talent' in the earth

whether of money or spiritual gifts

to protect it from failure and loss

let us pray to the Giver for help

to trust Him more.

***

When, with what we are given, we seek first the kingdom of God,

by honouring the Giver, then success is guaranteed,

far beyond what the naked eye can behold!

***

Recently I purchased a little book

(so I would qualify for free shipping from Amazon) 😀

It is a beautiful vault of godly wisdom and exhortation!

(and the above excerpts are just the first few paragraphs!!)

Our greatest understanding cannot comprehend God's ways

Lord, let it be enough for me to trust Thee all my days

How brief, accumulation's lease; the treasures we accrue

Where, how/how where, we concentrate life's wealth is up to me and you 

How holy is each breath we take; each choice we make, oh Lord

Help us to make the most of life by reck'ning the reward

~Janet Martin

Because Our Time on Earth is Brief...

Lest we 'fall into temptation and a trap because we want to be rich' 1 Tim.6:9

making it exceedingly difficult to

'love God first and our neighbour as ourselves, Luke 10:27

let us 'serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling'! Ps.2:11

Lest we label 'faithfulness in obedience' as legalistic

in an age of increasing nonchalance,

let us take heed, if we think we stand, lest we fall' 1 Cor.10:12

Lest we drown out God's voice with noise of worldly ploys,

oh Lord, remind us to be still and know that you are God. Ps.46:10

Let us delight in Your law and meditate on it day and night!

So we will be like a tree planted by rivers of water

bringing forth fruit in season,

and leaf that does not wither,

as whatever we do shall prosper. Ps.1:2-3

Our church family is invited to participate in reading through the Psalms during July and August!

Would you like to join us, and also be ministered to by these powerful chapters of Scripture?

Because our time on earth is brief

Not one single soul can afford

To live as if this world were chief

For soon we all will meet the Lord

The Lord is He who gives and takes

His breath instills each breath we draw

Then for Him and fellowman's sakes

Pray love to be our lifelong law

...because our time on earth is brief

Lord, make us more humble and kind

And help us live each day as if

Today we'll leave it all behind 

Janet 🙏💝

May Today Be...

And just like that it's Summer

Happy First Day of Summer!

May today be a hymn of praise

to He who grants all of our days!

Isa.61:10-11

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise 

to spring forth before all the nations.

After yesterday's wind and rain the garden, adorned with nature's jewels,

 springs forth with vivid hymns of praise!

May today be, in Bygone's trove, 

above all else, a cherished thought

A gem in a collection of 

learning to love the way we ought

A token where devotion crowns

the tempo that unravels days

Composing from hope's ups and downs

a memento of grateful praise

May today be in reverie 

a masterpiece Past mediates

Into the kind of poetry 

ink never quite encapsulates

Arpeggios that waltz and brood, 

o'er vistas of echoes unbound

A breathless sense of having stood 

with shoes removed on holy ground

May today, as moments are spent, 

augment inestimable worth 

An intentional investment 

in treasures not beheld on earth 

As, grace upon grace grants no lack

Because God keeps his promises

May today be, when looking back

A frame filled with God's faithfulness 

Janet Martin

Breath By Breath...

Seeing all the flowers on Sunday at Whistling Gardens

(all photos on this post taken there)

refreshed the enthusiasm of working in my own gardens...

(until I cut through the internet cable with my edger!)

Happily the efficient repair crew has it up and running again!

 Sharing a few more peony photos from Sunday...

***

Each day holds starkly sudden transports

From Time into eternity, for… none knows who

Behooving us to consider things we often don’t!

Each breath, each hour, each step, each grace

Drawing us toward One Universal Certainty.

The other day I read this quote;

‘We often say life is short. Enjoy it!

It would be better to say,

‘Eternity is long. Prepare for it!’

Breath by breath we draw toward

The moment when we meet the Lord

Dear one, tell me, who can afford

To ignore what is certain

Hour by hour we bide our time

Until life’s clock is drained of chime

And death reveals the mystic clime

Veiled by breath’s wafting curtain

Step by step, soul carves its flight

To endless day or endless night

Where none returns from thence, to cite

Its horrors or its wonders

Grace by grace, we face today

Dear one, fall on your knees and pray

For, in each breath eulogies play

And eternity thunders

© Janet Martin

2 Peter 1:12-15
Therefore I will always remind you of these things, 

even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 

 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, 

 because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, 

as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ...

While My Body Grins and Groans (I want to take nothing for granted)

Recently I have heard more than one person say they don't want to take anything for granted!

I echo this sentiment in today's reflection of birthday celebration weekend.

Ps.90:12

So teach us to number our days, 

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Thank-you God, for

 Fridge-foragers...

Father and son discussions (on the merits of certain hockey players etc.) 😅

Impromptu Sat. afternoon surprise coffee break... thank-you Emily and fam!

(Missed a pic of the delicious raspberry lemon scones, still oven-warm!)

Precious birthday-celebration dinner-guests...

 (my parents)

and Victoria...

 Dear Husband, May I never take you for granted

(too often, sadly, I do!)

esp. your hat-tossing habits 😐😏 which haven't changed

 since mentioned HERE on last year's anniversary poem...

Special sister time...

even more special in a peony garden !

Whistling Gardens near Brantford, ON

(below, a few of fifty+ pics of peonies)

Sister smelling the 'roses' while her hubby

scouts out ice-cream shops on homeward route 😊😂💖

I want to take nothing for granted in life's little Learn and Teach

Where soon each gifted day is planted in a garden out of reach

I want to wonder at God's grandeur; be mesmerized by His grace,

To be fine-tuned to tender splendour till nothing seems common place

Collecting through life's gains and losses, a much gladder gratitude   

Braving love's charge of shouldered crosses by trusting Mercy Renewed 

Contented in the Steadfast Knowing, come what may God never fails

His love is constantly bestowing winds to test and steer faith's sails

I want to take nothing for granted, where blooms briefly beam and nod 

But to be more humbly enchanted by the handiwork of God 

He, who attends both joy and sorrow maintains nature's threaded loom 

I want to live today without tomorrow's borrowed dread and doom 

I want to manifest His Presence in the peace of Letting Go

Where true happiness is, in essence, this; trusting His yes and no

Confident that the One who began a good work will see it through  

The Author of salvation's plan is faithful, trustworthy and true 

I want to take nothing for granted in life's leap from Him to Him 

Soon morning's newborn ray is slanted westward; soon Today grows dim

While epitaphs that time composes sets gasps in permanent ink

Like a storm of thorns and roses scattered, blood-red and blush-pink 

As breath-by-breath's brimming succession spills life's sacred, fleeting Toll

Wreathed by dust-to-dust's grim profession of death's claim of all but Soul 

So, before my hulled husk is planted in a garden of grave-stones

I want to take nothing for granted while my body grins and groans 

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall

Or love's smile-and-tear weathered tether snaps; the ties that bind undone

By the Hand that brought us together; nothing new under the sun

Rousing us, Self-heady-prone dreamers to face raw reality

Time's transient flash of  vapour/paper streamers unhinges eternity 

So, while life's precious plot is planted with memories that love makes 

I do not want to take for granted that which God both gives... and takes 

© Janet Martin

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall...

Thank-you God, for another birthday...

Thank-you for sisters/family and friends

 who showered me with beautiful birthday wishes

and flowers...

I came home yesterday, a bit peony-high

to find a new variety of peony (Dark Eyes) a deep burgundy-red

 at my door, from my friend's garden!

thank-you Kim 💖

I was also sweetly blessed by a begonia-planter 

in memory of the begonias Lucy gave all of us sisters last year,

from my sister Marlene 💗💔

Some flowers in the hue of the flowers Lucy gave us sisters last year

(because the peachy-coloured begonias were sold out)

From my sister Carolyn...we 'watered' them with a few mingled, tender tears;

Love's universal language

I'll admit it was an extra-teary birthday.

I miss Lucy with profound tenderness in times like these

so I took out the book she gave me in place of a card last year...

 

Spiritual Reveille

Reveille: 1. : a signal to get up mornings.

 2. : a bugle call at about sunrise signaling the first military formation of the day.

Getting up every morning is not for the faint of heart, 

but being properly equipped is the key to success!

Luke 24:49

And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you.

But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

1 Corinthians 12:7

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit

is given for the common good.

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power, love, and self-control.

Without God's Spirit within,

without His word hidden in our hearts

so we do not sin against Him, (Ps.119:11)

how often we would fall prey to sight

rather than walking/living by faith.

How often we would make choices

based on logic deduced from a human standpoint

rather than simply *obeying God

and trusting Him for the consequences.

God gifts us with abilities to use for His purposes and glory!

May that be our whole-sole-soul goal today!

Wishing you a day filled with joy only His Spirit can instill,

as we trust He who is able in all circumstances!

Without His Spirit it is impossible for us to do well 

in life's greatest callings, 

such as training up a child in the way they should go...

Come, all who love and fear the Lord, with holy hunger pray

To be a suit of working clothes His Spirit wears today

To be a vessel filled with Light no circumstance can dim

To be, in humble human form a glorious glimpse of Him

Come, all who seek and trust the Lord, believing in his Word

Pour out your heart in earnest prayer for all who have not heard

Who do not comprehend the Light that shines into the dark

Who, like in days of Noah, scorn the safety of faith’s Ark

Come, all who follow and obey the Lord; do not despair

But be the hands and feet of He who keeps us in His care

Put on His suit of armour, like a soldier who prepares

To head into a battlefield suffused with deadly snares

Come, all who love and fear the Lord, with worship’s yielded awe

For purposes infallible; for timing without flaw

For His glory and by his grace, with holy hunger pray

Then be the suit of working clothes His Spirit wears today

© Janet Martin

2 Tim.2:3

You therefore must endure[a] hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:3
Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, 

are you now finishing in the flesh?

Ephesians 3:16

I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you 

with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Romans 8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit,

 if the Spirit of God lives in you. 

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, 

he does not belong to Christ.

You can't 'work out' disobediences to God.

It doesn't work!

-Charles Stanley from the message HERE 

Come, We That Love the Lord