Where Multitudes Still Follow (and many turn away)

Matt.4:16-17&25

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned.”

   From that time Jesus began to preach and to say,

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven [c]is at hand.”

Great multitudes followed Him—

It's been a gloomy stretch of weather here...

The billows of snow from a little over week ago reduced

in short order to puddles!

We long for the great light of the sun after a long stretch of none,

yet, this but a mild comparison to the light of the world that has already come

and eternally pierced the darkness of sin and death!

Are you living in the joyful light/awareness of God's great love for you?

***

Multitudes followed Him where a Great Light had dawned

In the manger at Bethlehem, 

then Egypt and beyond

The One, prophets foretold of glory’s suffering

Had stepped to redemption’s threshold, 

the hope of man to bring

…calling all to ‘repent, for God’s kingdom is near’

Goodness and mercy’s covenant 

would pour in gory tear

Where faithful unto death the Lamb of God became

For the believer’s dying breath, 

life only death can claim

…and Jesus is the Name whereby mankind is saved

No minor prophet, He who came 

to conquer death’s dark grave

With a great light unfurled throughout eternity

Jesus, the Savior of the world 

can set death’s captive free

The light that cannot dim still gleams unto this day

Where multitudes still follow Him 

and many turn away

But those who trust behold what bold doubters ignore

Of signs that prophets long foretold 

when time will be no more

When the clouds will be seared, and every eye shall see

And look upon the One they pierced

 with their iniquity

And the whole world will wail at the sight of I AM

His power and glory unveiled 

as all ‘behold The Lamb’

But lo, all who repent and died to self are saved

Their names are written on the hands 

that Calvary engraved

But oh, all who refused 

love’s grace and truth to claim

Are released, by their choosing to 

Hellfire's unquenched flame 

© Janet Martin

I kept veering from the last line,

inadvertently trying to 'soften' it

but why?!!

life/death is a Heaven or hell matter!

there is no in between!

P.S. it feels fantastic to be upright without a spinning head after a day in bed with the flu.

My heart and prayers have been rekindled for those who spend day after day in bed!

My sister-in-law (Karen) is in the hospital since last Thursday 

suffering from a twisted bowel. Please join me in praying for her healing and

her and her family's encouragement!

My cousin who is an invalid due to MS, 

and his family appreciated your continued prayers as well!

He Will hold Me Fast

Be Careful/Prayerful

'Be Careful we don't want your toes too close!'

  I cautioned Tot yesterday as he got as close as he could

to watch Janet cut up a massive pumpkin on the floor

because it was too heavy to lift to the counter-top.

Due to a bumper pumpkin-canning crop I welcome any favorite pumpkin recipes

(preferably not rich desserts) those recipes are easy to find😅

From little tots to adulthood...a mother's most-oft repeated caution must surely be 'be careful'!!

I find myself saying it countless times to the children in my childcare 

and many times to my grown children!

As we mature we realize there is only one way to be truly careful 

and that is to be duly prayerful!

The best way then, to say 'be careful'

is to say, 'be prayerful'!

Be careful/prayerful then, lest unaware

In what appears as harmless fun

We miss the deathly hazards where

The tempter's web of lies is spun 

Be careful/prayerful then, so when we we meet

The Wolf, dressed in sheep-like disguise 

We will recognize and defeat

With truth, the mastermind of lies

Be careful/prayerful then, and do not wink

At God's Word, man's authority

Where what He says, not what we think

Is what our conduct ought to be

Be careful/prayerful then, and by God's grace

Commit to Him, heart, soul and mind

Lest careless, prayer-less, we embrace

Hands of the blind leading the blind

Janet Martin 

Eph.5:15 NIV

Be very careful, then, how you live—

not as unwise but as wise,

Pumpkin can be turned into Bundt Cake, muffins

and all sorts of goodies!

We mix, stir and bake...and voila!! 

within the hour, results!

Some results for choices we make, take far longer 

with far more serious and far-reaching effects! 

Be careful/prayerful!!

Awed Awareness

Today's post Inspired in part by Gen.19

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand,

 and upon the hand of his wife, 

and upon the hand of his two daughters; 

the Lord being merciful unto him...

Luke 19:16

Lest sluggishly we loiter

Lest apathy besot

Lest we grow numb and thus become

Futile in our thought

Lest we seek sorry solace

In the Sodom of sin

Lest terribly we fail to see

The state that we are in

Lest resolution flounders

Lest influence cajoles

The Still Small Voice that affects choice

That affects deathless souls

Lest we no longer shudder

At evil’s evilness

Or recognize the tempter’s lies

Disguised as ‘happiness’

Lord, wake in us awareness

Of Sodom’s fate, to flee

Lest, like Lot’s wife we mourn that life

And look back longingly

Seize us with holy horror

Of sin’s sad judgment day

Lord, chasten us and hasten us

To repent and obey

Lest the nonsense of notions

And opinions, absurd

With worldly vice, lulls us with ‘nice’

Lord, keep us in Your word

Lord, like Lot when he lingered

Be merciful, I pray

Let your command, like a firm hand

Seize us from Sodom’s sway

Lord, where there is a carcass

The vultures congregate

Lord, wake in us awed awareness 

Before it is too late 

© Janet Martin

Luke 17:20-37

The Coming of the Kingdom

(Genesis 19:24–29)

20When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.d”

22Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them. 24For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day. 25But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

26Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: 27People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other left. 35Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left.”e

37“Where, Lord?” they asked.

Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

Reminder to Remember

Recently I heard this comment (quoted loosely);

The saddest life of all is giving our all 

to something that turns out in the end,

to be completely and utterly worthless/meaningless.

The author of the book of Ecclesiastes

 ponders the meaning of life, finds great wealth 

and tastes every heart's desire

only to come to this awesome conclusion 

after realizing everything in this world is ultimately vanity...

Eccles.12:13-14

Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

The beauty of the earth is a glimpse-of-Heaven backdrop

to the brutality of the battle of wills

between man and God/God and man

(This reminder to remember was written to myself

and anyone else who can relate to the battle of want

between what is temporal and what is eternal)

...also a bit of a continuance along the lines of thought

that inspired yesterday's poem

 

Sometimes the guise of lesser prizes we are yearning for

Can blind us to the binding gait of those who’ve gone before

The price we are willing to pay, sometimes not worth the cost

For something that will fade away in death, forever lost

Sometimes we grapple with apples of want’s eye, and we miss

The treasure that transcends the pleasure of This transient kiss

For time's measure of moments melts like snowflakes in the sun

While warp and weft of seasons weaves and unravels as one

Sometimes the diamond in our dreams is not as it appears

The pinnacle doffed of its gleam as its procurement nears

The glamor of achievement and the clamor of applause

A trophy of bereavement on ashes of futile cause

God, help us to remember you behold and know our need

Help us note and surrender gloating gods of pride and greed

Help us guard against pitfalls decked in visual appeal

And help us not to put our trust in what we think and feel

God, open our heart’s eyes as we seek and search Your Word

So, stepping-stones and stumbling blocks are not confused and blurred

Remind us, not one jot or tittle is hidden from You

And all will give account when this little lifetime is through

God, keep our eyes upon a prize beyond all mortal ken

For the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, amen

Help us put on Your whole armor, with humble, sacred breath

Lest we stray to a way that seems right, but its end is death

© Janet Martin

Proverbs 12:15

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.

Proverbs 16:25

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Of Something Very Personal

I seem to be on a bit of a better-late-than-never routine these days!

partly because recently I'm really struggling with last lines, 

so sometimes it is taking a little longer to complete the poems!

But all by the grace of God and for His glory, go/write I!

Away, away night’s crepuscule recedes; earth reappears

To set time’s stage of hopes and needs with wage of smiles and tears

A sash of marbled splendor, charged with God’s glory and grace

He lavishes time’s spender with love, never commonplace

Where once more to the holy beck and call of life we press

To give its Author all we can, or something far, far less

Where what may seem A Little Poof of moments, as they fall

Becomes the Living Proof of Something Very Personal

Kind of like a love letter by our deeds and choices penned

Then signed, sealed and delivered to God at life’s sacred end

…with no room to edit, omit, excuse, explain and such

It will be very evident who we loved, and how much

© Janet Martin

Psalm 63

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, 

my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone that sweareth by him shall glory:

but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

Room of Doors

How wonderfully heart-warming it is to recall a life well-lived, in faithfulness to God.

But how very common, unpopular and unglamorous is the living of such a life,

ignoring the lure of many a wink with eyes fixed on One Door (to eternity)

that once again God's mercy holds ajar in a new day of grace!

The grace of God implores 

with love that will not fail

Where life is like a room of doors where choice and onus hail

Where seasons rise and fall 

like wave rolls over wave

Until our final port of call is back to God who gave

We share in common this,

 kiss of humanity

As wail of earthly genesis births immortality

Where Mist of Mortal Must, 

is tethered to a toll

Beneath the sheath of dust to dust resides the deathless soul

Ah, it is not enough 

to do the best we can

Or confess that we love, but only by measure of man

For all love comes from He 

who alone authors life

Each breath flirts with eternity like thread skimming a knife

The grace of God implores 

where goodness and love brim

Behold! life’s little room of doors begins and ends with Him

Time’s wave of corridors 

where seasons rise and fall

 Rolls swiftly o'er grave-stubbled shores to the Soul’s port of call

The grace of God implores 

and wills a new day's toll

Ah, pity the one that ignores the Savior of the Soul

The Way, the Truth, The Life; 

there is no other Door

Save one; where remorse will run rife forever, evermore 

© Janet Martin

John 1:4
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

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 

from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 10:9
I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. 

He will come in and go out and find pasture.

John 11:25
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. 

Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.

John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.

 No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Anguish...

Dear Believer, does your heart too, break for the lost and the cost of unbelief?

Do you weep for those who sleep in the darkness of sin?

Do you mourn for those not yet born again?

Do you pray

And pray

And pray?!

Come To Jesus

  

What script of desolation spills like ink-demonic seas

When naught but human logic fills thought’s godless theories

What darkness over darkness rolls without the light of Truth

How doleful daybreak's bower tolls, how hopeless is youth’s youth

Without the faith that rends the veil

And trusts the love that cannot fail

What fathoms of futility soon lie in wanton waste

What claim to shame’s depravity tunes knowledge, mortal-based

What agonizing anguish rings beyond time’s transient bar

When fullness of rejection flings the gates of hell ajar

When, without faith that makes us whole

Denial faces Deathless Soul

What weight of sorrow sears the prayer that reaches Mercy’s ears

As groan on groan beyond compare beseeches, tears on tears

Because the love and truth of God, by some, is thought a sham

No reverence, no fear, no laud for salvation’s I AM

Where without He who justifies

Hell claims the soul that never dies

What Gethsemane-like appeal should bleed from prayer on prayer

What throes of love should bid us kneel, love’s pleading cross to bear

For what good is the best laid plan unfurled if its sad goal

Is but the wink-span of the world in exchange for the soul

Where nothing, when Last Breath is spent

Can comfort Unbelief’s Lament

© Janet Martin

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.

Prov.14:26-27

He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence,

and his children shall have a place of refuge.

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

turning a man from the snares of death.

Let's Live Today In Such A Way (as if we could die of a heart attack)

Jim didn't know his out-of-the-blue-question last night

(after we had ceased chatting for a little while and I was snoozing

 between pages of the book The Gauntlet) 

would spark today's poem.

He suddenly asked 'what if tomorrow is the day when people say

 'did you hear?!! Jim died of a heart attack today!'

Maybe you're laughing a little but...

It's not an impossibility for any one of us 

and perhaps a prudent/valid question to contemplate before

' the dust returns to the ground it came from, 

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.'

Eccles.12:6-7

Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped

and the golden bowl is crushed,

before the pitcher is shattered at the spring

and the wheel is broken at the well,

7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Why does it matter so much?!

Because the soul is deathless with only one of two destinations

depending on the preparation we have made!

Salvation-heaven

Rejection-hell

I can't even remember if or what I answered 

but Jim's last words last night set the tone for my first thoughts this morning!

And inspired today's poem🙏💗

Take time to thoroughly appreciate life's simple, temporary joys

but first, address soul-sacred Eternity

(Grandson checking out gramma's birthday espresso)

Second-cousins sharing a swing...

(Photo used with permission💖💖💖)

My sister's grand-daughter pulled a goofy face just as I clicked😂

To live today in such a way, that it could be our last

Transforms our sighs and what we prize where morning hoists its mast

For none can tell how near farewell draws its finality

As we embark toward that mark, we know but cannot see

To live today as if we may not have another, wakes

A sacred sense of recompense in every breath one takes

And stirs us to a humbler view of time’s momentous fount

…moments become the holy sum of which we give account

To live today as if to say ‘thank-you’ to God, who grants

Its gift of grace, each lovely face we kiss, each ‘second chance’

Will help us weave the steps we leave behind into a prayer

For those still in the thick and thin of love and living’s care

To live today in such a way will beckon us to be

More mindful of the thinning glove that cups eternity

How sweet the flask that metes the task for loved ones near and dear

How fleet the feet that rush to greet the mists of yesteryear

Where sorrows surge and morrows merge with splurge of seasons spent

This is the toll that weans the Soul from mortal filament

Pray, let’s be kind and keep in mind what lies beyond yon past

And live today in such way, that it could be our last

And live today as if to say ‘I love you, you, and You’

And live today as if we may meet God when it is through

© Janet Martin

I remember wise words spoken by my dad years ago...

"live in such a way that if God told you today or tomorrow you will die,

you would carry on exactly as you would otherwise have.

Live life always ready to meet God!

Eccles.3:11

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.

Heb.9:27-28

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

28so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many;

and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin,

but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

Matthew 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."

Acts 4:12

Salvation is found in no one else,

for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind

by which we must be saved.”

Acts 16:30-34

Then he brought them out and asked,

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,

you and your household.”

32Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord

to him and to everyone in his house.

33At that hour of the night, the jailer took them

and washed their wounds.

And without delay, he and all his household were baptized

. 34Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them.

So he and all his household rejoiced

that they had come to believe in God.

So When Death's Solemn Shadows Fall

PAD challenge day 14: For today's prompt, write a scary poem.

Heb.10:26-31

The Just Live by Faith...

26For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,

 there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

  27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, 

and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

  28Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law 

dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

29Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy 

who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, 

counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, 

and insulted the Spirit of grace? 

30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” [g]says the Lord.

 And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 

31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the path of life; 

In Your presence is fullness of joy; 

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Jesus Paid It All/Old Rugged Cross Medley by Anthem Lights

How holy swells the wellspring where Time’s finite fathoms toll

Each breath subtly unraveling the mantle ‘round the soul

How fragile is the fleeting glove of man’s mortality

Where He who wove us with His love instilled eternity

…so when this little life is through, if we believe in Him

Death will be but the doorway to the place where pleasures brim

As all our tears are wiped away forevermore by He

Who stepped from Heaven’s throne to pay sin’s debt in agony

So when Death’s solemn shadows fall no terror fills its wave

Unless, still we refuse to call on He, mighty to save

Unless because of unbelief, pride scorned the blood grace spilled

And wakes to the eternal grief of rejection fulfilled

To all He pleads, come unto Me, sin's sentence to atone  

Salvation for humanity is found in Christ alone

Where, Holy God's mercy unfolds another day of grace 

Until faith's fulfillment beholds the glory of His face 

How holy swells the spring where Love's infinite fathoms roll 

Each breath softly unraveling the glove that veils the goal  

Pray, when Death's solemn shadows fall beneath the Reaper's knife

Tis but the the Saviour's tender call to everlasting life

© Janet Martin

Isa.53:4-5

Surely He has borne our [g]griefs
And carried our [h]sorrows;
Yet we [i]esteemed Him stricken,
[j]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions,
He was [l]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes[m] we are healed.

Let It Be...(an easier-said-than-done-outpouring)

This weekend Grandsonny and granddaughter

experienced the joy of lending a helping hand...

(work before play 😄)

and reaping some delightful rewards!

 

...the happiness of Maple-taffy-cone sweet thank-yous 

Where can you get a sweet thank-you treat too?!! Here!

Winding Road Maple Products

...the thrill of a ride in Grandpa's big truck

We are all children in a sense, earning a recompense of reward...

1 John 3:18

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue,

 but in deed and in truth.

After a few recent devotions and yesterday's message

 I have once again been soundly challenged

 to weigh my love in the scales of His Word and choices I make

 to see if my love for God and fellowman is found wanting!

Lord, let it be Thy love for me that satisfies my want and need

Lord, let it be my love for Thee that shines Thy light in word and deed

Lord, let the witness of Thy love be more than Sunday morning rite

Lord, let the fruit of the tree prove Thy love to be my chief delight

Lord, let it be my faith in Thee (not what I see) that keeps me strong

And let my humble honor be to help a fellowman along

And let my joy forever spring from a Fount that cannot run dry

Thy love, Lord exceeds everything that my thought attempts to descry

Lord, let it be Thy love for me that crowns the motive of my will

And let the light of Thy love be like a city set on a hill

Lord, let goodness and mercy be a messenger in hands and feet

Thy love for me, my love for Thee to make life’s journey to Thee sweet

Lord, let it be my hope in Thee that reminds me how great thou art

Remind me of love’s sympathy that broke Thy body and Thy heart

Then, as I see Thy love for me let nothing hide Thy lovely face

The backdrop of a bloodstained tree, forbid, some lesser loves replace

Lord, though the storms of life increase, Lord bid the demons of dread flee

For thou wilt keep in perfect peace, the mind that is transfixed on Thee

And let it be Thy love for me that grants the courage to proceed

And let it be my love for Thee that helps a fellowman in need

© Janet Martin

No one can help everyone but we who are blessed to have

can all help someone who does not have!!