Showing posts with label compassion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label compassion. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

A Gentle Reprimand (mother or not!)


Below, a bit of conversation between my daughter and I
as she lamented some not-so-shining-parenting-moments earlier today💓
(my comments in the blue)



The quote my daughter shared reminded me that we sure shouldn't 
point an accusing finger at anyone
before we have walked a mile in their shoes...should we?💖💕

Until we’ve worn each other’s shoes and borne each other’s cares
And struggled with each other’s dues and prayed each other’s prayers
I think the point that lingers is love’s gentle reprimand:
Instead of pointing fingers let’s reach out a helping hand

© Janet Martin


Saturday, May 8, 2021

You Are Able, Lord

 Inspired by This Heart-wrenching Plea...

Pray With Us. The Covid-Crisis in India


A prayer for them and us!

You are able, Lord
Bid our pleas avail
In the fervent prayer out-poured
Even when words fail

You behold the heart
And Undying Soul
While we witness but in part
You regard the whole

Lord, is that a tear
Gleaming on thy cheek
We who have ears let us hear
The message You speak

Forbid, on deaf lobes
Falls the mourner’s cry
While we gather up our robes
And quickly hasten by

We are family
Brothers, sisters, oh
Our Father Heavenly
Loves His children so

Lord, open our eyes
Help us feel today
Tugs upon familial ties
That move us to pray

Lest we stand aloof
Touch us with Your Sword
Let us be the living proof
Of Your love outpoured

You are able, Lord
By Your Mercy’s Pow’r
Let compassion breathe Your Word
Into suffering’s hour

Let us strive to be
Vessels in Your Hand
Poured in earnest charity
On a thirsting land

You are able, Lord
With or without man
Still, your will is faith restored
To fulfill Your plan

Thus, bid us to live
In obedience
As a humble servant give
Utter diligence

Lest, oh, awful thought
When we meet Death’s Yet
Our house of all we sought

You are able, Lord
Pray your church will prove
By the power through Your Word
To be stirred to love

Lest on some willow tree
Tormented by captivity
As we remember Zion

Amen
  
© Janet Martin




James 5
(I went to this chapter to share verse 16
but the whole chapter seems timely and fitting)


Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 
2 Your riches [a]are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you 
and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [b]Sabaoth. 
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and [c]luxury; 
you have [d]fattened your hearts [e]as in a day of slaughter. 
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. 
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, 
waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord [f]is at hand.

9 Do not [g]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be [h]condemned. 
Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 
10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, 
as an example of suffering and patience. 
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. 
You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—
that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.
 But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into [i]judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. 
And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 
16 [j]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
 The effective, [k]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; 
and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way 
will save [l]a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Monday, August 10, 2020

All Part of the Pack That Yearns...for Happiness

 Inspired in part, by this: How To Show Up in Beirut as the Hands of Jesus


Need gapes at every turn; will we cast a blind eye
We, all part of the pack that yearns for love and food-supply
No one beneath, above; more deserving or less
Of that which bequeaths love; the common ground of happiness
The Golden Rule, my dear, thus everyone should heed
To feed the poor and dry the tear and minister to need

…need gapes at every turn; will we cast a blind eye
We, all part of the pack that yearns for love and food-supply…

© Janet Martin

 

 The Golden Rule; Matthew 7:12
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them,

 On a personal note:

(I'm struggling to learn the new format of blogger's dashboard,
far more phone than desk-top computer friendly!!)
so if things come up a little wonky, 
apparently what shows on my screen is not always what shows on a phone screen!

Monday, July 6, 2020

Prayer for the Real Deal

the song below is a great one to start a new week on!



I ask Lord, to be fitted for life and love’s tasks at hand
To keep motive committed to Mercy’s First in Command
To see the best in people, to be kind, not finding fault
To recognize how blessed we are and the Giver exalt

I ask that we remember we all carry hurts and hopes
That the conclusions we assume can concoct slippery slopes
That in our heart of hearts which you behold we humbly claim
The goodness of your grace, and then grant fellowman the same

I ask for strength; we are all care-carriers, so it seems
And we all need to learn to rearrange our plans and dreams
To reach rather than wait and see what falls into our laps
To lean upon the One who knows the Full of each ‘perhaps’

I ask for true compassion; so much so it changes goals
Because we realize the priceless-ness of living souls
How what we feel is often not the real deal, but the curve
Of love weighed in the balance as we choose whom we will serve

I ask that we do not despair though weighed with what life grants
Remind us You are everywhere, greater than circumstance
And that we make the most of what will never pass again
For thy kingdom, power and glory forever, Amen


© Janet Martin


Psalm 34:14
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

Monday, March 30, 2020

When, In All This World...


We are bearing a universal cross.
We mourn for suffering and loss of life the world over, 
due to COVID 19.
Let's face it; we're all family.
How about a great big group prayer-hug?! 

Father in Heaven we adore You
Father in Heaven teach
us to trust You for no one
 is ever out of Your reach
Let faith be our Beacon
when sore tempests roll
Dear Father in Heaven
Let faith in Thee make us whole

In Thy Name we pray,
Amen

 2 Corinthians 1:4
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, 
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, 
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.




When, in all this world of wonder, have we ever felt like this?
Bound by kindred hurt and hunger to love’s hug and tug and kiss
When have we, though still oceans, countries and continents apart
Ever felt this closely knitted; sister-brother, heart-to- heart

When in all this world of trouble have we ever faced as one
The awareness of a bubble floating fragile ‘neath the sun
Where the blue dot we inhabit holds love's means to bridge each rift
(We are all indebted creatures to the Giver of life’s gift)

When in all this world of sorrow have we let love intercede
Pulling to the same tomorrow for a universal need
What gathers us more completely in a world of us and you
Than when we suffer together and then help each other through

© Janet Martin




Monday, March 16, 2020

Worldwide Fellowmen...

Suddenly Covid 19 has turned the world into a close-knit community!
 Let's all look out for the welfare of each other! 
Do you know an overtired healthcare worker 
you could cheer in a safe, practical way?




How small and near we are
No one is far away
Where walls and oceans cannot bar
The flight of prayers we pray
So in this neighbourhood
Of worldwide fellowman
With love we lift our prayers to God
And trust His Master Plan

© Janet Martin

Monday, February 24, 2020

As We Look Up...

Do you ever visualize, when you pray before you start your day; 
as from our feeble grasp to His all-encompassing arms 
we relinquish our cares, both of the known and the unknown,
do you ever visualize as we look up 
God, so rich in mercy reaches down?!
Oh, how I LOVE Him! 


From the barely breathed beginnings on the threshold of new day
How sweet to rest our head upon God’s shoulder as we pray
What tender comfort buoys us toward the great unknown
As we look up and sense love’s immense mercy reaching down

How sweet to picture Jesus, with hands disfigured with scars
Brushing away the tears that wash our cheeks like falling stars
And visualize, as we look up, God’s everlasting love
Is reaching down to remind us that His grace is enough

© Janet Martin

 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, 
but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!
Romans 8:15