Morning Commission/Submission/Mission-Statement

Someone just posted this on our church-family Facebook page...

Praying this for my friend Pauline today,

and for my cousin Wayne and his family

who continue to need our prayers for encouragement

 in his and their ongoing long suffering!

I'm still reading the book about Charles H. Spurgeon's wife, Susie's life...

and am utterly inspired and astonished at the humility and faithfulness in their devotion

to their Lord and Saviour, through so much sickness, pain and hardship!

My friend's recent illness which caused her to miss her son's wedding last Saturday

fills our hearts and prayers with pitying pleas for God's sufficient grace to sustain her...

Praying for healing and health so she may attend her next son's wedding in February.

Will you pray too, for her strength for today?

Yon tray soft-tilts to gilt the eastward edge of earth and sky

Dawn’s blushing fringe expands to tinge then wash the night awry

Where star-eyed hope and dream is like the little lark that sings

Before the darkness disappears and morning spreads its wings

Where mercy never falters, to altars of human hearts

God’s everlasting goodness His unfailing love imparts

His grace provides the sacrifice for worship’s offerings

Always sufficient for the mission that each new day brings

Dawn tilts a tray of gold and gray; ahoy, with joy we rise

To take up the cross of today with grace our God supplies

He does not leave us comfortless or helpless in the strife

Goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our life

© Janet Martin

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Psalm 23:6

Perfect Grief and Joy

This world is full of the sorrow of

Christmases without loved ones...

My son-in-law and his family are mourning the

sudden loss Grandmother/mother

the victim in this head-on collision on Thursday evening.

My prayer is that the love and comfort of God

will be their strength and peace in the days ahead.

(will you pray too?)

and for my son-in-law as he travels home for four days to be with his family? 

I'm running a bit behind on my Luke reading's reflections

Such a treasure trove of Scriptural wealth

makes it difficult to choose just one or two gems to share...

this post is inspired in part by Luke 17, 

in part by our music and message this morning

(click link then click Sunday Service Dec.19)

and in part by this week's advent theme of love

We sang this breathtaking song this morning

(a new one for me!)

Chris Tomlin - Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) [Lyric Video]

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. 

Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 

‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 

8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready 

and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?

 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 

10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say,

 ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Luke 17:7-10

 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

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.

1 John 4:7-12

Unto earth’s span of toil and test

Where trouble takes its toll

God gave to man His utter best

The Saviour of the soul

This little mist of time and place

Soon vanishes away

God’s gift of salvation and grace

Succeeds faith’s cup of clay

Imagine if time’s trifling toast

Was all that we could win

But love robbed the grave of its boast

And broke the curse of sin

The love of God did not withhold

His Son from suffering

But saw the joy that would unfold

As Death loses its sting

Life’s bitter brunt of grief and loss

Is but triumph’s prelude

Servanthood’s blood and tearstained cross

Unworthy gratitude

To He who came, by Heaven sent

Counsellor, Father, Friend

The Prince of Peace whose government

Will increase without end

Who, in his very nature God

Did not refuse the call

Humility and love unflawed

Obeyed. Death, once for all

From heaven’s throne the Savior stepped

Bethlehem’s Baby Boy

While surely heaven’s angels wept

With perfect grief and joy

© Janet Martin

Priceless Provision...

Visiting the dentist that I have had a long-standing 

Or rephrase, a long tipped almost upside-down relationship with

is NOT the way I would choose to start the week 

but I am very thankful for him nonetheless😅😂

This morning I couldn't help but laugh out loud when he asked me

if I'm feeling numb yet? Oxy moron?

Visiting the dentist always allows lots of time to reflect!

The eastward edge of earth and sky gives birth to break of day...

(to we who remain)

We know it will be so for nothing can dawn’s courser’s sway

How beautiful the funeral service message of comfort was yesterday

to the family and friends of my Uncle Ernie Frey

In closing the minister reiterated the wonderful comfort in the knowledge

 that though we mourn it is not without hope

because God did provide a way that defeated death

and leads to life eternal.

Oh, what a blessed hope and joy for all who believe!

So, though this year for many, Christmas is marked with sorrow

for those who believe it remains a season of everlasting joy as well!

The Child in the manger 

became man's redemption on the cross at Calvary!

Now, that's a Tree worth revering,

a joy worth shouting!

From it hung the Light of the World

in time's darkest hour!

Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

The quote below is from a book of Peter Marshall messages...

The eastward edge of earth and sky gives birth to break of day

We know it will be so for nothing can dawn’s courser’s sway

Just as we know the west will showcase sunset’s artistry

Faith fixes eyes upon a prize it knows but cannot see

This is the day the Lord has made with hope and grace renewed

Time’s march, far more than stiff-starched moment-soldiers, season-hued

It is a footpath to an aftermath by breath concealed

And only when life ceases, then the rest will be revealed

God does not leave grief comfortless when death collects its due

If we believe then we receive Hope’s anchor, firm and true

Though storms may toss with loss, the power of the cross abides

Faith dearly clings through sufferings to the hope God provides

The Faithful One who gave His Son to pay the sinner’s debt

Will never fail though dark the vale of sorrows that beset

God, through His Son, knew love had won, though it appeared He died

The triumph of faith, hope and love was on death’s other side

© Janet Martin

Luke 12:31-32

But seek [f]the kingdom of God, 

and all these things shall be added to you.

 “Do not fear, little flock, 

for it is your Father’s good pleasure

 to give you the kingdom. 

Jesus, Son of God

Like a World-wide Barge

Isa.26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You, 

Because he trusts in You

In case you missed a few of the previous posts, an update:

My brother Lewis and his wife are passing through some storms of life.

Their almost 15 yr. old daughter suffered extensive injuries

 in an accident on the weekend.

While they stayed with her, Lewis's wife's mom passed away 

last night after a battle with cancer!

My sister-in-law suffered the angst of a mother wanting to be with her daughter,

and of a daughter wanting to be with her mother!🙏💔

Tango of mango and merlot, cotton-candy pink

Draws a world of eyes toward dawn’s mercy-immersed brink

Where time's twirl, so full of troubles takes its tender toll

On the body (but the chariot of the deathless soul)

Often we are prone to cater to Self’s dying dust

Rather than our Creator in whom we may trust

He is faithful though we do not understand His ways

Never does He break a promise (this world oft betrays)

Yet we are prone to seek answers not found in His Word

Doubting His love-letters because acumen is blurred

He, who unfetters each morning, like a world-wide barge

Bearing on life’s sea of learning (His most precious charge)

Once again, we embark where uncharted highs and lows

Wait to test our ways of thinking with what grace bestows

As tangos of mango, merlot, cotton candy pink

Fade, never the Giver’s love (no matter what we think)

© Janet Martin

His Love Cannot Fail

Your Faithfulness, Oh Lord, Our God

Oh God, our Help in Ages Past

In some homes/nests (after chatting with a few young moms recently)

 little birdies wake at the crack of dawn

and it isn't long before mummy and/or daddy's wings already feel frayed and frazzled 

and it isn't even 9:00 a.m.! 

In other nests little birdies have grown up and flown the coop/ shelter of parental wings...

and all they can do is look up to He who careth for them 

and ask Him to cover their 'beloved birdies' with the feathers of His wings 

and protect them from a world full of danger and evil, 

some of it so enticingly (and popularly) on display!

The God of the ages is faithful!

The God of Mother Mary is faithful to mothers and fathers

grandparents and great-grandparents the world over

to all who put their trust in Him

Your faithfulness, oh Lord, our God

Is our hope and stay

Where change wields its insistent rod

You do not shift or sway

Your faithfulness, man's very present 

Help in time of need

It eclipses the circumstance

To kindly intercede

Your faithfulness is heaven-high

Your judgments ocean-deep

No fragment of Your truth slips by

That you forget to keep 

Your faithfulness attunes in us

Love's meeker melody

Hope, through heartache, the genesis

Of perfect harmony

Your faithfulness, the Wing that draws

Us where Your Law/love presides

And we can rest secure because

Your faithfulness abides

© Janet Martin

Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; 

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Psalm 36:5

He will cover you with his feathers, 

and under his wings you will find refuge; 

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalm 91:4

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, 

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matt.6:26

Prelude To Perfect Harmony

Morning rends time’s seamless quiver

Like a Hallelujah Hymn...

Turning to these dear familiar verses this morning...

in Lam.3:22-24&32

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Though He causes grief,

Yet He will show compassion

According to the multitude of His mercies.

From the unplumbed heights of heaven

As moon and stars are subdued

Ensembles of night are riven

With mercy’s anthem renewed

Morning rends time’s seamless quiver

Like a Hallelujah Hymn

To partaker from the Giver

Hails hope’s haloed seraphim

Ever faithful through the ages

Man’s Maestro of numbered days

Tunes the timbre of time’s pages

We cannot reckon His ways

But, because of sins forgiven

And the purchase-price He paid

We praise the God of Salvation

For this new day He has made

Our Father, who art in Heaven

Thou who lovest one and all

Keen us to the composition

Where moments like eighth notes fall

In steadfast determination

Weening that which will become

The sacred manifestation

Of worship’s recorded sum

Help us follow the instruction

Of love's baton in Thy Name

Till pray, death is the induction

Into Heaven’s Hall of (Thy) Fame

Where our songs will never falter

Nor our music be off key

As Beholding melts faith’s altar

Into perfect harmony

© Janet Martin

 

O, God Our Help in Ages Past

 

Till The Storm Passes By

 

I Will Come To You...

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 14:18

Let us never dare to think when we see God

we will hold Him accountable to us for something

we are called to suffer!!

On the brink of His betrayal, torture, and crucifixion

to purchase man's redemption 

He gave His Disciples (all who will believe in Him)

a most precious promise!

Have you claimed it/Him?

And I will pray the Father,

and he shall give you another Comforter,

that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14: 16

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 

whom the Father will send in my name, 

he shall teach you all things,

 and bring all things to your remembrance, 

whatsoever I have said unto you.

 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:

 not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:26-27

The above verses were part of a comforting funeral message

 for the family and fellow-mourners

at the loss of Cody Troy

my nephew's son/brother's grandson.

We mourn, but with hope of seeing him again!

 Father Along was sung at the first part of the service

 which aunts and uncles attended

 (second stanza esp. fitting)

Near The Cross

Oh, God, the sense of loss we feel

When loved one’s ways are parted

Can spark longing’s utmost appeal

And leave us broken-hearted

But You, whose ways we cannot know

Though we may seek to fathom

Are always faithful to bestow

Your uttermost compassion

When on the brink of agony

To purchase man’s salvation

You poured Your sacred sympathy

In words of consolation

‘I will not leave you comfortless’

Oh, what a tender token

This most precious of promises

On the eve of Your death spoken

For all who believe will receive

Your Holy Spirit’s kindness

A Truth the world cannot perceive

Because of grievous blindness

But you provide a Comforter

In sorrow’s darkest hour

While we behold the sufferer

You behold grace and power

The bud, before the bloom unfolds

Does not reveal its glory

So too mortal visage beholds

But a glimpse of the story

Then help us not to hate or doubt

Love beyond comprehension

But pray instead for those without

Thy Spirit’s intervention

You will not leave us comfortless

Though trial's troubles test us

We have your precious promises

To sustain and to bless us

Oh God, you know grief's anguish too

You suffered our pardon

Then help us wholly lean on you

Lest our hearts should harden

© Janet Martin

Yet Hope Lives

 

(my brother's grandson)

In Memory of Cody Troy

August 27, 2019-March 28,2021

Yet Hope Lives

When God reaches down from Heaven

For a child, so sweet and fair

Hearts with sorrow’s pangs are riven

We are tempted to despair

When death claims a life so tender

Grief is raw and tender too

Yet Hope lives as we remember

Where this little angel flew

Safe within the arms of Jesus

Is the little child He lent

For a little while to please us

And make homes and hearts content

Gifting gladness with their laughter

Weaving through grief’s agonies

Fond echoes that linger after

Touch has turned to memories

God ordains our days of passage

Before one has come to be

Some He spares from life’s cruel heartaches

Some must suffer patiently

So, by grace that we are given

We will hope and not despair

When God reaches down from Heaven

For a child so sweet and fair

© Janet Martin

Unfailing Light

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matt.5:9

  

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet; the darkness of this world

Would overcome save for the light by Thy true Word unfurled

Greater is He within than this world’s total sum

Of armies; with Thy word oh Father, we will overcome

Save us, oh Lord our God with Thy unfailing love

Keep us from being partakers when push might turn to shove

Bless the peacemakers, Lord;  be our strength and stay

As we study Thy faithful Word Your lamp will light the way

Be merciful Oh, Lord and comfort our lament

The wicked will have their reward, the proud their punishment

Then, as we cling to Thee and the Lamp of Thy word

Let your face shine on us and fill us with Your love, oh Lord

© Janet Martin

 Psalm 31

²³ Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord.

Both Banner And Anchor

Circumstance,

such as what my husband's cousins family is faced with 

would crush without

The Greatest Love of all which grants

grace for the trial, strength from above

unfailing sympathy, undying love!

The dad of the young man that was killed
encourages the other young man involved
 to use this 'mistake' as a steppingstone, not a millstone'...

I know I shared this song pretty recently but it bears repeating!

A banner of pure gold unfurled above the stirring land

Enlarges over the whole world mercy’s First in Command

Where steadfast rise and fall of storms that mortal subject braves

Without God’s Greatest Love of All would drown us in its waves

The Light that lights the world is greater than dawn’s flaming flare

And though like rain our tears are pearled on petals curled with care

From fathoms without frame Love’s abiding promises roll

Hope rides upon dread's lethal main that fain would crush the soul

The power of His might no other force can apprehend

The hour’s unfazed appetite no man or beast can bend

The tie that binds its sum no frantic fingers can undo

Where what is gathered will become the dust of me and you

…then look where morning breaks through yonder bars of darksome deep

Our Greatest love never forsakes the charges in His keep

No matter what befalls where loosened tempests toss and seethe

The power of the cross installs Hope’s anchorage beneath

© Janet Martin

 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, 

a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

Hebrews 6:19

Masterpiece of Master Peace

 Last night the wheels fell off the peace-and-goodwill bus for a little...

in a blur of lost tempers and misunderstood personalities that

might never be fully understood this side of Heaven😐 

(aren't you humbly thankful if we confess our sins 

He is faithful and just to forgive our sin

and cleanse us from all unrighteousness?!(1 John 1:9)

As we let those words sink and sink in 

meek gratitude renders

hope renewed

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble.

 But take heart! I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

In this world where fear and sorrow

Molds a masterpiece of care

What is our hope for tomorrow

To defend us from despair

In this world where toil and trouble

Unfurls hobbles of dismay

What buoys and cups time’s bubble

Bobbing toward Judgement Day

In this world where want and waiting

Tries the fealty of us all

What crushes the taunting, hating

Head of evil’s dreadful gall

In this masterpiece of mayhem

In this world of sin and strife

What in the midst of confusion

Is the bulwark in our life

What keeps our eyes fixed on heaven

In this world of blame and shame

Ah this! Knowing we are forgiven

Is the Master Peace we claim

Knowing that nothing can ever

Overthrow Salvation’s Name

Yesterday today forever

Jesus Christ abides the same

Knowing, glorious, victorious

Waves the banner of release

In the cleansing blood of Jesus

All will find love’s Master Peace

© Janet Martin

 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just 

to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 NKJV