Between Now and When...(A Sacred Consideration)

The somberness of this week, (remembering the sudden death of my sister)

stirs a sacred consideration/consciousness of The Inevitable;

Eccles.12:7

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

No argument of man can thwart what God has decreed,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 John 3:16

Between Now and the moment When

our final breath transports us into the presence of God

we have the opportunity to Remember our Creator;

to repent from our sins and believe in Him!

Come As You Are-David Crowder

 

Between now and when our final, fatal breath is drawn

When the heart yields its bower bent with hope and heartache's spawn

As earthly order ceases in the twinkle of an eye

And time's temporal lease is sealed with one eternal sigh

  

Between now and when we will slip from life, through death's sheer veil 

When every former fellowship we knew is bound to fail

When the dark glass through which we peer dissolves in one felled breath 

And the soul sheds its dust veneer unfazed by mortal death

Between now and when we will face the Crucial Certainty

Of stepping from Time's transient grace/place into eternity  

How will we use each gifted chime, pouring from Favour's Fount

To pages sealed until non-Time, when we will give account  

Between now and when What Will Be, WILL BE forevermore  

We have fresh opportunity to prepare for the Shore

From which no bark returns to tell the world that it IS true

There is a Heaven or a hell when life on earth is through 

Between now and when we will see God, who loves you and me 

We ought to consider where we will spend eternity  

And pay more earnest heed to truth's decreed and undeterred

From God, who grants us all we need through the Light/Life of His Word

Janet Martin

Eccles.12

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,

Before the [a]difficult days come,

And the years draw near when you say,

“I have no pleasure in them”:

2While the sun and the light,

The moon and the stars,

Are not darkened,

And the clouds do not return after the rain;

3In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,

And the strong men bow down;

When the grinders cease because they are few,

And those that look through the windows grow dim;

4When the doors are shut in the streets,

And the sound of grinding is low;

When one rises up at the sound of a bird,

And all the daughters of music are brought low.

5Also they are afraid of height,

And of terrors in the way;

When the almond tree blossoms,

The grasshopper is a burden,

And desire fails.

For man goes to his eternal home,

And the mourners go about the streets.

6Remember your Creator before the silver cord is [b]loosed,

Or the golden bowl is broken,

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,

Or the wheel broken at the well.

7Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

8“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“All is vanity.”

9And moreover, because the Preacher was wise,

 he still taught the people knowledge; yes, 

he pondered and sought out and set[c] in order many proverbs.

  10The Preacher sought to find [d]acceptable words; 

and what was written was upright—words of truth.

  11The words of the wise are like goads, 

and the words of [e]scholars are like well-driven nails,

 given by one Shepherd.

  12And further, my son, be admonished by these. 

Of making many books there is no end, 

and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

14For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.

The Fruit of 'Ought' or With Harvest-hope in Mind

These flowers are still available from  Countryview Greenhouse

near the 'Alma' end of Well. Cty. RD 8,

in case your looking to tuck a bit of colour into a corner or border!

(bedding plants are 1/2 price!!)

***

Heb. 2:1

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed 

to the things which we have heard,

lest at any time we should let them slip.

Luke 18:1

And he spake a parable unto them to this end,

that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Rom.8:26

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is:

Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:11

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

James 4:17

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do

and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Every farmer or gardener knows which seeds ought to be planted

 for a specific fruit to harvest...

Only if we sow as we ought

and tend as we ought

 can we hope as we ought.

Due to ample rain

gardens and fields in our part of Ontario

are beginning to burgeon with

fruit of harvest-hope!

and flowers!!

Sometimes we cannot reap because we do not sow to God

The yield of fruit for which we weep, we seek from fallow sod

The answered prayer for which we plead, cannot bear what we ask

Because we have not sown its seed or tended to its task 

Sometimes the good we ought to do we do not, but ignore

Obedience, and cater to a roaming lion's roar

Rather than giving earnest heed to the things we have heard

And confessing a thought or deed contrary to God's Word

When we approach the throne of grace, where faith finds hope and cheer

Until we see Him face to face; pray first for ears to hear

The still small Voice of He who does not err in His reply

Or bless unconfessed sin, because He so loves you and I 

Sometimes we know the Very Thing we ought to repent of;

The barrier to which we cling with stubborn, selfish love

Because we lack humility, or sorrow for our part

That drew Jesus to Calvary and broke His Father's heart  

Sometimes the 'fruit' for which I plead can never be, until

I recognize, then sow the seed of love's surrendered will

And toil, and till and tend faith's field with humble diligence

Until God's grants the promised yield of love's obedience 

Praise God from whom goodness and love flow without flaw or fail   

Praise Him that He is mindful of man's trouble and travail

Praise He who is faithful and true, compassionate and kind

He helps us sow as we ought to, with harvest-hope in mind

Janet Martin 

Today's poem was kindled/convicted largely by today's devotion...

On Growing (our) 'Old'

Psalm 39:4-5

“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. 

Let me know how fleeting my life is. 

You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, 

and my lifetime as nothing before You. 

Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath.

 Selah

I remember as a child, telling my mom I want to be a nice grandma, 

like my grandma, when I'm old and she told me

 that to be a nice old person begins, 

not when we're old, but when we're young!

So, however young or old we are, let's begin today 

to make tomorrow's older version of ourselves

 a bit more patient, humble, caring and kind.

Last night I visited my aunt (Naomi) in the hospital,

not because I'm so kindly faithful at visiting my aunts!!

 but because she happened to be in the room beside my sister-in-law's room.

I blinked and blinked as I gazed at my aunt, 

feeling like I was looking at the face of dear grandma from years ago!

My aunt is a beautiful 'old' person just like her mother/my grandma was 💝🙏

Whatever we are doing, who/wherever we are today

we are 'growing' who we will become when we are old-er!

Let's 'bloom' like a beautiful flower; like my mom's amaryllis! 

Who we turn into when we’re old begins when we are young

The golden years of childhood mold the makings of the man

Like learning the rules of respect, and how to hold the tongue

What habits we should not neglect and doing what we can

To make this world a kinder place with gentler word and deed

To treat one another with grace rather than spite and greed

To be who we imagine when/if we reach ripe eighty-three

Begins long, long before the benediction of fleet/sweet youth

Better to begin now to hone the way we hope to be

Before we look back and bemoan the telling toll of Truth

Tis no small thing to train a child to live/love the way they should

To tame tempers that else run wild, and never lead to good

To be a wise old woman-man is not by accident

We ought to prize, the best we can each opportunity

To mine for wisdom in life’s sacred lease of moments spent

Rather than wasting acres with wild-oat futility

Because Time seems to quicken haste with every passing year

Thus, no one can afford to waste the wealth of Now and Here

Who we want to be when we’re old begins anew, today

To treasure like nuggets of gold, life’s moments as they spill

From choices into consequence we cannot wish away

As they augment investments Time is eager to fulfill

Sooner than we suppose we feel and see and bear the truth

Of what once seemed strange and surreal, turned into living proof

This life is full of schemes, it seems, to teach us how to pray

 And give to God our hopes and dreams, while weathering the art

Of ever growing older with each precious, passing day

While turning wrinkles bolder, while nothing new tries the heart

While often we forget while we are busy being young

The things we do habitually, shape who we will become 

Janet Martin 

 

Before The Winepress and Threshing Floor

Wheat harvest is in full swing! 

The 'winnowing fan' is separating the wheat from the chaff!

Many less visible 'harvests' are in full swing too!

John 15: 1-4 & 16

(read the whole beloved chapter HERE)

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 

 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [a]takes away; 

and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 

3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. 

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 

neither can you, unless you abide in Me...

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, 

and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, 

and that your fruit should remain: 

that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

James 2:17

So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

Matthew 3:8
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance...

As we study the ripple effects of carelessness, of sin/ disobedience to God,

its consequence is ghastly, rolling though generations with ease,

if left unchecked,

until the 'pit'-fall once disregarded by a few,

 is so crowded that the awareness of it ceases.

(why is it we are prone to lamenting sin's consequence, 

rather than the origin of the consequence- sin?!)

Wisdom always considers, beyond instant gratification, where the action or choice

if unchecked,  will lead and whether the fruit of it will ultimately,

draw us nearer to God or to the world...

is it a fruit of the Spirit or flesh?

If we have truly repented 

and if we truly love

our Saviour, then fruit in keeping with repentance

will/must be evident!! 

We live in a pleasure-driven age with exorbitant amounts of money

poured into the fleeting fruitlessness of many-a-joy toy...

Oh pray we never let the 'thorns/things' choke out the desire for God;

the Giver of every good and perfect gift!

We don't need to be wealthy to afford the gifts He promises to all

who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

'they shall be filled.' Matt.5:6,

while, the opposite is true when it comes to feeding carnal appetites;

the more we feast, the more we starve! 

If we are rooted in Good Soil we will grow and bear fruit...

Years ago one of the families I did childcare for, 

generously built/gifted me an arbour

and some grapevines, after I casually mentioned to them 

in a gardening conversation that someday I would LOVE to have a grape arbor.

What grand anticipation followed the planting of the vines!

but, nothing happened!!

For three years I watched as each spring a few valiant leaves appeared, 

assuring me there was still some life in the vine,

but it only ever survived each season, rather than thrived! 

Suddenly it dawned on me that perhaps the arbor is too close to

the black walnut trees bordering the neighbor's property!

Sure enough, only wild grapes are juglone tolerant!

In disappointment I dug them up and carelessly plopped them in a hole

in my 'miscellaneous' flowerbed assuming by the looks of them

that this time there was no life remaining...

I was wrong!

Finally the thing that hampered their growth was removed 

and they leaped from the earth like a visual hymn!

thankfully, wisteria is unbothered by juglone!

(walnut tree beauties in background)

the mouth may boast a myriad of profound piety

but fruit will always tell the truth of fig or thistle tree 

how careful then, we ought to heed, before the consequence

the seeds we strew, of righteousness or disobedience 

...because, no matter what we say, our actions do not lie

Who we live for is proven by the one we most deny;

the God of love or god of self; no one can serve two Lords/lords

And by the fruit the tree is known; not by the wind of words

    Producing fruit in keeping with repentance, none can do

apart from the True Vine; then call on Him; He helps us to

endure the painful pruning of the Vinedresser, before

the Grim Authentication of winepress and threshing-floor 

 

Janet Martin

Ps.33:18-22

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

19 To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

Just as we hope in You.

Paramount Appraisal...

Phil.2:3-4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride,

 but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 

4Each of you should look not only to your own interests,

 but also to the interests of others...

'Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, 

do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.' 

Matt.7:12

Galatians 6:2
Carry one another’s burdens, 

and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 

Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.

A new day scales earth's eastward edge 

Worlds reappear to sight

As God maintains His ancient pledge 

Of seasons, day and night...

***

What are you up to today?

I am only doing childcare one day a week right now

and that day is Wednesdays

so I am enjoying the company of two

eager, affectionate and energetic little boys...

Ah, what we do with where we are and what we have, my dear

Is of far more Importance than at brief glance, may appear

Where train of thought (and sometimes not) turns into words and deeds

And what we say and do turns into potent, scattered seeds

Then, when the sum of it takes root and the shoot is full grown

We bear witness to steadfast truth, 'by fruit the tree is known’

Ah, what we do with here and now is how lifetimes accrue

No turning back, no leaping over present moment’s due

Where no one is forgotten, or of insignificance

No matter who or where we are, action bears consequence

So then, what matters most (because we all will give account)

Is what we do with what brims from time’s invisible fount

Ah, what we do with what may seem to deftly disappear

Is worth a second look because of what remains, my dear

From God’s goodness and mercy, morn’s fresh opportunity

And if we ask, He helps us who-wherever we may be

To do our best with what we have, not what we wish we had

This is the day the Lord has made to rejoice and be glad

…and recognize the value of a Prize we press toward

Where the fruit of the tree effects recompense of reward

For, what we do with what we have will verily become

Something we ought not to ignore; a lifetime’s sacred sum

Does this not stir humbler regard for what we have, before

Life's fruit is gathered into baskets of Forevermore….

© Janet Martin

Better-Awareness

Sometimes we misunderstand things because we don't wait for the finished picture!

It takes time for an Artist to complete His (or, as below, her) work

Better to be patient in waiting

Than impatient and settling for far less than God would grant...

After she completed the swing set I thought she was done,

and I praised her drawing but, after she studied it briefly she returned to it.

Something seemed wanting.

Then she added grass, sky, clouds and people!

A much prettier picture than I was ready to settle for 💝

Better to be reprimanded than to flourish in deceit

To obey is better than the pomp and show of sacrifice

Better to be bowed in bearing, washing fellow-traveler's feet

Than to be proud and uncaring; always counting giving's price

Better to be poor and gentle than world-wealthy and unkind

Better to be robbed and beaten, than to be the one that steals

Better to walk by faith daily, than coast through life, seeing-blind 

Better to be led through fire than to trust in how one feels 

Better to be mocked and hated than applauded for sin's fruit 

Better this, to suffer wrongly than to live without a care 

Better to be wild with hunger than succeed in greed's pursuit

Better, tossed by trouble's tempest than smooth sailing without prayer 

Better to be God's-grace strengthened than to never know its need

Better to grow wise in waiting, than a fool, soon gratified 

Better to trust in the Lord than lean on Logic's shaky reed/lead 

Better to be stumble-humbled than poised on tight-ropes of pride  

© Janet Martin

Proverbs 15:17

Better a dish of vegetables where there is love 

than a fattened ox with hatred.

Proverbs 17:1

Better a dry morsel in quietness 

than a house full of feasting with strife.

Ecclesiastes 4:6

Better one handful with tranquility 

than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

Not every aftermath  is instantly visible

as outlined HERE 

but without a doubt,

we reap what we sow! 

Deut.10:12-21 BSB

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you

but to fear the LORD your God

by walking in all His ways, to love Him,

to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

13and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD

that I am giving you this day for your own good?

14Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens,

even the highest heavens,

and the earth and everything in it.

15Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them.

And He has chosen you, their descendants after them,

above all the peoples, even to this day.

16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

17For the LORD your God is God of gods

and Lord of lords,

the great, mighty, and awesome God,

showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow,

and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.

19So you also must love the foreigner,

since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

20You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him.

Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.

21He is your praise and He is your God,

who has done for you these great and awesome wonders

that your eyes have seen.

Run!

1 Cor.9:24

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, 

but one receives the prize? 

Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Over and over, as we watch the athletes compete at the summer Olympics

we see it is not how they begin a race or competition but how they finish that counts!

So too it is with the most sacred and ultimate universal race,

but, should we not win, this is one heartbreaking loss

no one can afford, because there is no coming back

'next year'  or in four years to try again.

No, it is not how we burst out of the gates at the starting line 

but by the grace and fear of God, how we persevere

through the ups and downs of life, faithful to the end

the counts eternally!

For we have become partakers of Christ if we 

hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end 

Heb.3:14

...so that He may establish your hearts blameless 

in holiness before our God and Father

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus 

that you should abound more and more,

 just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;

  2for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

1 Thess.3:13. & 4:1

Let Us Run

Run! Fit for the calling, cutting worldly ties  

Training like an athlete fixed upon the prize

Run! with firm endurance, with no backward stares

Lest some former stumble distracts and despairs 

Run! lest in some moment, in the hardest part

We look back with longing of a wicked heart

Run! lest love of leisure, seeking to attract

Lures us from the treasure Heaven keeps intact

 

Run! with holy yearning, though no roars applaud

Trained to be discerning through the Word of God

Run! and feel the pleasure of the joy that waits

As the fervent faithful pass through Heaven's gates 

 © Janet Martin

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Pondering the Possible,

Then we could be far more carefree, while we weather what we must...

It is holiday weekend in Ontario...for some...

non-farmers-wedding caterers/florists, gardeners, etc 😅

I'm about to finish some tasks I couldn't complete yesterday...

canning yellow bean salad and zucchini relish

( if you are in the neighborhood and would like either yellow beans or

zucchini, send me a message. they can be yours free for the picking)

What if we would have more gardens where we would linger to pray...

(rather than simply SWEAT and toil?! 

It was a sweltering garden week!!)

What if, in the face of insult we would be patient and kind

Giving grace, rather than revolt, when we are vengeance inclined

What if we would have more gardens where we would linger to pray

Before rushing hard and headlong into a new workaday

What if we would plant more flowers rather than sowing wild oats

Using youth to redeem hours wisely before harvest gloats  

What if we considered lilies and He who weaves their fine cloak

What if we would be more willing to believe the words He spoke?

(Then we could be far more carefree, while we weather what we must

Knowing Who is able 'ere we lower our yoke of dust)

What if we were far more giving than taking more than we should

What if our goal for living was another's greater good

What if life's most fruitful labor was unfeigned humility

Loving God first, then our neighbour; what a heaven, earth would be

© Janet Martin

A few excerpts from the profound part Sermon on the Mount

below, passages from Matt.6

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

 If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets,

 as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. 

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 

4 so that your giving may be in secret. 

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you...

...“And why do you worry about clothes? 

See how the flowers of the field grow. 

They do not labor or spin. 

29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today

 and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ 

or ‘What shall we drink?’ 

or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

32 For the pagans run after all these things, 

and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, 

and all these things will be given to you as well. 

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

 Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Before The Tree and the Fruit... (or, It May Seem Small in the Planting)

One choice may seem so small, for good or bad,

but small things amassed become something much bigger;

grains of sand make a shore,

drops of water an ocean,

moments, a lifetime.

Choice, repeated becomes a habit!

Our 'habits' become our lives...

Day by day,

verse by verse, 

chapter by chapter 

we read through the Bible

and are spoken to and taught by God, 

or not!

Prayer by prayer 

we learn to worship Him 

and trust Him a little more, 

or not...

What are we going to do Today, 

with our pocket full of moment-seeds

dropping from the Hand of goodness and mercy

to the soil of the soul?

(Where, even in reaping, we are planting!)

I'm about to head out to plant some marigold among the tomatoes,

in hopes of deterring tomato worms!

1 Cor. 1:4-9

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God

 which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 

5 that you were enriched in everything by Him 

in all [a]utterance and all knowledge, 

6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed [b]in you, 

7 so that you come short in no gift, 

eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

8 who will also confirm you to the end, 

that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called 

into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Isn't verse 9 an awesome verse to begin a new week on?

To remind us to make the most of every opportunity?!

It may seem minute, the measure of a moment, thought or seed

But the value of life’s treasure is measured by word and deed

Where Choice bears a holy onus in each little ‘yes’ or ‘no’

Where no one can trick the promise that we will reap what we sow

It may seem inconsequential; as, partakers of God’s grace

We, oft thoughtlessly unthankful, give the Giver second place

Not with preconceived intention but, as bridles are cut loose

Without forceful intervention interfering with excuse

It may seem so small, where choices gape with opportunity

Be careful, for Reply voices far more than first glance may see

And no matter how we defend lack of honor with excuse

The fruit of seed cannot pretend; what we plant, seed will produce

It may seem so very common; left foot, right foot, slumber, wake

Sometimes we forget that Someone grants each gifted breath we take

Sometimes, then we are not prayerful, humble and obedient

Sometimes then, we are not careful with the seeds God’s goodness lent

It may not seem very dire, crucial or imperative

What or who attunes desire, what we choose to keep or give

Who we worship in the granting of love and longing’s pursuit

It may seem small in the planting, before the tree and the fruit

© Janet Martin

Day by Day