Established Evidence

Gen.1:11-12

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, 

and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, 

whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, 

and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: 

and God saw that it was good.

Gal.6:7-9

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; 

but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing: 

for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

A grower's chief delight is the fruit and bloom laden plant!

At harvest, as the fruition of labor fills orchards,

gardens, vineyards and fields with yield,

it stirs humble, holy awareness, once again

to the sacredness of planting season!

I am so happy the farmer next door planted soybeans in the field beside our property.

For years this field was a grazing pasture for cattle,

but the new owner keeps his herds inside and so for the first time

since we live here (33years) I have enjoyed the evolving beauty of soybeans close-up!

...and last but not least, Today!

We will reap what we sow

The tree, known by its fruit

Choice-seeds that fall do not stay small

But soon take sacred root

Oh God, you are not mocked

Stir in our hands and hearts

The imminence of recompense

That harvest time imparts

Where the spirit and flesh

At constant odds, contend

With what we sow, for it will grow

Tis futile to pretend

Because the seed reveals

The essence of its kind

Thus, what we plant is what will grant

The harvest that we bind

Ah, even as we reap

Seeds fall; God, help us see

With reverence the evidence

Of fruit upon the tree

© Janet Martin

p.s. a reader just mentioned hopefully I will get a picture of the harvest to complete the circle! 

I sure hope so!

Luke 6:44

For every tree is known by its own fruit.

For men do not gather figs from thorns,

nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

Of Barren Page

I never know what waits each morning to fill the 'barren page'...

Do you?

But one thing I endeavor always; to pray before I touch it!

Do you?

As I wrestled with what today's poem would be

the sky softened and ink and light unfurled

in a tender tango of waking poem and world...

We are all poets in a sense...

some intense in our adherence to strict measures of time

others are free as the wind, these versifiers paying

no heed to things such as meter and rhyme

but...

Be careful dear

the now and here

soon sheds its heady bloom

but cannot quell

the drops that fell 

in poetry and plume

The beckoning of barren page is like a garden plot

Waiting the plant and printed wage of seed and ink unfurled

The poetry of plume and pen gladdens our eyes and thought

Where bowers brim with bloom again in spite of winter’s world

The lure of barren page is like a bud not opened yet

Or like a gift, before we tug the wrapping from its smile

Or like the skyline stoked with daybreak’s stoic silhouette

Keen expectation trembles where still-veiled vistas beguile

The potential of barren page is like a fallow field

Or summer in the silent, snow-white stage of its prelude

A seed or word may seem so small, but, what a mighty yield

Instills the syllables that fall on halls not long subdued

The grace of barren page is like God’s gift of brand-new day

Where soon we spill to its façade, deed’s seeds, thought’s drops of ink

Where masterpieces wait to be; then oh, we ought to pray

Because love’s plume and poetry begin by what we think

© Janet Martin

Phil.4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, 

whatever is true, 

whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure,

 whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable—

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—

think about such things.

Like a Wind-swirl or a Splash...

Explanation to this photo at the bottom of this post...💝

This post inspired in part by Luke 8...

in part by scattered seeds, 

soon bearing blooms of consequence, 

and in part the momentum of moments...

Therefore consider carefully how you listen.

Whoever has will be given more;

whoever does not have,

even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Luke 8:18

“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

Luke 8:25

“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”

Luke 8:39

Where clocks unravel so much more than morning, 

noon ...

and night...

(While I was writing this post my mom called to tell me 

my Uncle (Ernie Frey) passed away last night,

making the point of this poem ever the more poignant! 

He was in his 80's but the moment life ceases, the span of

100 years is but a spark and one breath eternity)

Between the bars of birth and death a sacred field unfolds

Where scattered seeds of no and yes soon shatters nascent molds

To strew beneath our hands and feet the fruit of consequence

Where tots follow, so pure and sweet, cloaked in Brief Innocence

What may seem nondescript at first, bursts tick-tock’s tiny glove

The loom of living blessed and cursed with faith or lack thereof

Where clocks unravel so much more than morning, noon and night

The Judge’s gavel poised above the roar of dark and Light

We all have this in common; death’s Summoning of the Soul

The seeds we scatter matter; only faith can make us whole

The Word of God anchors Unknown with Truth’s Security

Time's speck of sod man’s stepping stone into eternity

...this stanza added after mom called💖🙏

Ah look, life’s book of seasons is soon turned to dust and ash

Thought’s tilt-a-whirl of reasons like a wind-swirl or a splash

Where soon the wheel of day-to-day that shapes life’s clay will cease

Ah, pray we hear God say, ‘your faith has saved you. Come in peace’

© Janet Martin

I have one tot in my childcare

 who loathes the sound of tick-tocking clocks right now,

and so we have been trying to allay her fears by bringing clocks up close 

and smooth-talking/soothe-talking time away😅

It's quite an awakening to the adult mind to try to explain time

in terms a small child can understand!!

Conditional Blessing

Heb.11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

There are definitely some 'conditions' when it comes to

reaping a harvest of joy...

Love is no sit-back-and-enjoy-the-benefits sport,,

but rather a life of diligent, servant-heart obedience

not to gain/keep our salvation but to say/prove

I love you, Lord!

If we desire God to bless

Our lives with joy’s true happiness

We have a vital part to play

In His reply; we must obey

If we long for His peace to fill

Our hearts though storms and struggles spill

It will, for He is kind and just

His peace will prevail, if we trust

If we want to find we must seek

And learn to turn the other cheek

Not answer blow with counter-blow

But in humility, bow low

If we want to reap joy so sweet

Then Self must first take a back seat

Before faith’s field can yield non-stop

Fruits-of-the-Spirit bumper-crop

His love does not indulge our greed

But will supply our every need

He will not leave us comfortless

If we believe His promises

So, if we ask for God to bless

Our lives with joy and happiness

We have a vital part to play

In His reply; if we obey

© Janet Martin

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, having been justified by faith,

  [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

  2through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, 

and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

  3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, 

knowing that tribulation produces [b]perseverance;

  4and perseverance, [c]character; and character, hope.

  5Now hope does not disappoint, 

because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts 

by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

1 John 2:3

By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him:

 if we keep His commandments.

Trust and Obey-Don Moen

Obey God and Leave the Consequences to Him - Charles Stanley

Harvest Homily

Today's harvest has the potential of

turning me beet red! 😄

I planted beets and boy!! did I get beets!

(looks like a few woody ones)

At least it's a literal beet red!

Some harvests have the potential of turning us beet red

but not with beet juice😡😆

We might think we can twist fate’s arm

And trick the hand of recompense

But some things we cannot out-charm

Action will equal consequence

Where what we sow is what we reap

The seed cannot its fruit estrange

Then close and careful vigil keep

We cannot trick what cannot change

The seeds that fill us with regret

If we repent God will forgive

Though consequence will still beset

He helps us through each day we live

We might think we can twist God’s arm

And plant some seeds that will not grow

Consequence is immune to charm

The seed it is, the fruit will show

© Janet Martin

Galatians 6:7 ESV 

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

  

Onus of Belief (and unbelief)

 PAD Challenge 27:

For this Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

Write a believe poem and/or...

Write a don't believe poem.

We Believe- Newsboys

 

Some are afraid to Believe

For the onus it will bring

Because belief is grounded in

The soil of reckoning

And reckoning becomes

When this mist-kiss is through

The price of Belief’s soldered sums

Not in the what, but Who

Still, some avoid Belief

As if this will annul

The Soul that cannot die

And reply's inevitable

They scorn love’s Beckoning

Disregard the reward

But oh, unbelief's reckoning

Ought not to be ignored

© Janet Martin

John 3:16-21

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. 

 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but to save the world through him. 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already 

because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, 

but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 

 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light 

for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 

 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, 

so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done 

has been done in the sight of God.

Mark 16:16

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,

but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Romans 10:9

that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord,"

and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,

you will be saved

Wisdom's Magnum Opus

 

'We should not ask whether 'The Thing' on its own is Good or Bad,

 Dad would caution us when teaching discernment,

 'because a Thing/action is always hinged to where it leads. 

After the ripple effect is studied you will have your answer

about whether a Thing is good or bad.'

Have I always heeded Wisdom's Magnum Opus?

Sadly, no. Sometimes I allow the sparkle of the splash to blind me!

Ripple-effects of recompense

Should cause us to be ‘ware

And consider the consequence

Action is bound to bear

Discernment delves deeper than mere

-ly breadth of pebble-throw

It contemplates the scope and sphere

Of how far ripples flow

Love looks beyond the present-tense

And sparkle of the splash

To where ripples of recompense

Are surely bound to wash

The path to Aftermath is scarred

By vain apology

Because of ripples that we barred

From our periphery

© Janet Martin

Today, More Than Word-play Melt-away

May today be more than 

prattle of word play

but rather a vison 

with a mission! 

(or is it mission with a vision😊)

Part of my mission today? window washing!!

(to clear the vision a bit😀)

Oh! and may the snow-melt continue!!

Yesterday morning-

-this morning!

As much as some of us enjoy word-play,

may today be much more!

Circumstance grants participants the chance to do our part

Compassion is a soldier that shoulders the faint of heart

Desire is a fire that requires dire care

Where altogether tethered, we weather its 'whether' (or not) share

Emotion is an ocean of devotion’s counterparts

Persuasion, the invasion of temptation’s subtle darts

Assumption is the gumption to conclude truth without facts

Pride is a deadly guide that flatters, lies, lures and distracts

Redemption is exemption from an awful debt we owed

Forgiveness the divineness of God’s grace to man bestowed

Belief, the capsheaf of achievement, arrogance undone

Salvation; liberation’s restoration through God’s Son

Poetry is the pottery from think-ink’s spinning wheel

Success is happiness with less rather than More’s appeal

Peace is release from fear, my dear, as trust hoists up its sail

With Hope, faith’s rope secured in promises that will not fail

Today is more than word-play on age-pages signed and sealed

Choice is a voice that needs no noise to have the heart revealed

Dawn is the spawn of opportunity’s brawn beckoning

Time is a stair we climb toward the Lord and reckoning

© Janet Martin

Bible Love Notes; The Time is Coming

Col.3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, 

as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 

 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. 

It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

The Futility of 'Should'

 

Sore foot (mentioned here) feeling much better today after

reaping the rewards of folly...

And turning 'should' into

'did' put There, a pair of shoes to wear

while splitting wood.

Jim split this pile for me.

(because when I get the axe stuck 

in a stubborn piece of firewood

it's quite a performance to un-stuck it!😟)

Oh! nothing like a picture to make us notice things...

 I should sweep 😐!!

Good choice or bad 

Well, aren’t you glad 

Each time you choose the good? 

Where oft trouble 

Is the rubble 

Of ignoring ‘Should’ 

Why is it 

That we resist it; 

Wisdom’s greater good 

Learning after 

Reckless laughter 

The shrewdness of Should 

Stumbles, tumbles, 

Fumbles, humble 

This foolhardy brood 

…long the lesson 

of confessin’ 

Disregarded Should 

What good are 

These super-star- 

Sidekicks of Could and Would 

If we never 

Take it further 

Wisdom’s whispered ‘should’ 

Good intention

The invention

Of many a 'should'

Just imagine

What attainment

If we only would

© Janet Martin 

Should on its own has never accomplished a Thing!

What's on your Should-list?

(because we all have one...or should)😉

Inside Out

 

There is no question as to why our North American nations are in trouble.

Pray, God's people, pray!

2 Chron. 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, 

will humble themselves and pray and seek my face 

and turn from their wicked ways, 

then I will hear from heaven, 

and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

1 Cor.11:27-31

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner 

will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 

 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 

 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ

 eat and drink judgment on themselves. 

 That is why many among you are weak and sick, 

and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Repentance is the only resolution...

to acknowledge sin and confess

I'm looking forward to spring when buds begins to break and bear/bare their bloom!

All fruit and flower comes from the inside out!

What happens on the inside, you can bet without a doubt 

Will soon show on the outside; of what we are all about 

To deal with sickness-symptoms, without getting at the root 

Is like putting a big band aid on an infected foot 

To try to fix the problems that plague us we need to start 

Where good or bad begins within the human-natured heart 

How often we point at the proof of need with loud lament 

But to address the issue is like chipping at cement 

Unless we recognize the place where all true change begins 

And first repent and believe in He who forgives our sins 

A band aid hides the ugly truth but cannot cleanse the bod 

A nation cannot heal until man’s heart is right with God 

Futile to try to fix a foible from the outside in 

For in the heart is where the troubles of this world begin 

For sin, like an aggressive weed soon overtakes the whole 

Lust, conceit, pride, fear, hatred, greed, the seed of sinful soul 

And when its buds bear fruit, no words are needed to explain 

Thus, without starting at the root, best efforts are in vain 

Repentance is the only resolution; to confess 

Then God will forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 

And only then, after we bow before the Lord of all 

Are we prepared to be a vessel fitted for His call 

For Who is on the inside, you can know without a doubt 

Will soon show on the outside; of Who we are all about 

© Janet Martin

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! 

You clean the outside of the cup and dish, 

but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish,

so that the outside may become clean as well.

Matt.23:25-26

Trickle Effect or Tsunami

 

Oh, the sacred runnel 

that runs through channels

 where its trickle effect

sets the course of  lives 

that are not even born yet!

The trickle is fed by a source

It courses from, into

a force far greater than the crater

that it first ran through... 

  Somewhere the thundering power of Niagara Falls 

is fed by a trickle...

It seems invisible at first; The progeny Thought breeds 

In an arena that hosts entertainment and neglect 

But Evidence is soon unveiled in the bold font of deeds 

A virile force that sets the course of thought’s trickle effect 

The guests we host, of good or ill soon spill seeds of its kind 

Where what we do and say begins in thought’s ivory cell 

With how we satisfy the howling hunger of the mind 

And prove who we love best by what quest and interest tell 

Thought is a battlefield; the wars twixt enemy and Friend 

(Though we brandish no weapons to expose its crucial spree) 

Are fought where we are prone to forget aftermaths that wend 

In striking trickle effects of pride or humility 

Thought is the control-tower of the body that displays 

The Trickle Effect of Influence; what a sacred spring 

That feeds the Fount that bleeds into the voice that choice obeys 

And makes what seemed invisible the Most Apparent Thing 

The Trickle Effect may seem unassuming at first glance 

A gathering tsunami veiled in Equilibrium 

That cannot long contain the force that roars with allegiance 

To stay or change the course of generations yet to come 

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.10:5

...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Phil.4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, 

whatever is noble, whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable--

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--

think about such things.

The Gravity of Seeds

 

We all want a healthy harvest but wanting isn't enough;

to harvest what we hope for takes the long, hard work of Love

Hang in there, fellow field-hands!

Proverbs 16:2

All a man's ways are pure in his own eyes, 

but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.

Through dad's life he proved the deed/'seed'

above was far more than 'getting in mother-in-law's good books.

His life is a legacy of helpfulness.

And isn't it ironic how even in harvest time 

we are planting and watering.

Gal.6:9

 Let us not become weary in doing good, 

for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Sometimes we are so weary and tempted to despair, but God is faithful...

2 Thess. 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you 

and guard you from the evil one

Prayer for Today.

"Lord, let us sense the seeds we strew

and recognize the recompense

when harvest time comes due,

In Thy Name we pray

Amen

It matters, for we scatter seeds 

Through every high and low 

Where words and prayers and fruit of deeds 

At Harvest Time will show 

It matters, what we think upon 

Where, who we choose to serve 

Will either make us weak or strong 

When life throws us a curve 

It matters, how we proceed thus 

Trailblazers of a kind 

For little feet that follow us 

Not very far behind 

It matters, what we say and do 

The ‘why’ of yes and no 

Like little seeds we strew and strew 

That grow and grow and grow

It matters; Every. Single. Day

No matter where life leads

Its ups and downs will soon display

The gravity of seeds

It matters. No one can mock God

The hand reaps what it sows

Where what seems hidden in time's sod

The harvest will expose

© Janet Martin 

Proverbs 20:11
Even a young man is known by his actions--

whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Matthew 7:20
So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Down the Road, So Thankful Then...

Inspired by my friend's comment about the effort it takes to get a family photo done!

She said' Surely we'll be thankful to have them, down the road!'

Her words impacted me with the thought of how often struggle and effort is

for something 'down the road we will be thankful for'!

For all the times we didn’t take the easy way, for where it led 

And suffered loss for Jesus’ sake to look after the poor instead 

And did not follow after what indulges pleasure’s endless thirst 

Because it did not imitate the example that Christ set first 

For all the ways we failed, yet did not fall prey to the doubter’s lies 

But confessed our sin and then once more pursued the Runner’s Prize 

And threw off all that hindered us; the sin that easily besets 

Fixing our eyes on faith’s Author and Perfecter, and not regrets 

For all the times ‘Thy will be done’ required surrender’s hard parts 

And sacrifices no one knew but He who knows our heart of hearts 

Way down the road (or near at hand, ah, who can tell) when we look back 

So thankful then, for all the times He kept us through the foe’s attack 

So thankful then for hope that did not make ashamed the love whereby 

God poured his Holy Spirit into us in trustworthy supply 

So thankful then to hear Him say ‘well done’ as humbly, joyfully 

We worship evermore the One who said, I draw all men to Me 

© Janet Martin 

(this next little poem also inspired by another friend's remark a few days ago

about trusting the Author and Perfecter of our faith...

and I realized often

The author is easy to accept/trust, but oh, 

the Perfecter; we cannot begin to fathom His ways!

The Author of our faith we gladly acknowledge is God 

But the Perfecter, this is where He tests the faith we laud 

The Author we embrace and hail the grace whereby we go 

The Perfecter; His ways we do not understand or know 

The Author gave His Son to save us from just judgment’s wrath 

The Perfecter (or finisher) tries words with Real Life’s path 

Where both blessing and hardship play a very vital part 

In proving through response who is the Lord God of the heart 

© Janet Martin 

Does our faith dare to utter the prayer of Habakkuk in Habakkuk 3? 

v.2  Lord, I have heard of your fame; 

 I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day,

in our time make them known;

in wrath remember mercy...

v 16 I heard and my heart pounded, 

my lips quivered at the sound; 

decay crept into my bones, 

and my legs trembled. 

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity 

to come on the nation invading us. 

17 Though the fig tree does not bud 

and there are no grapes on the vines, 

though the olive crop fails 

and the fields produce no food, 

though there are no sheep in the pen 

and no cattle in the stalls, 

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 

I will be joyful in God my Savior. 

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; 

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, 

he enables me to tread on the heights. 

Journey to Deeper Love and Gratitude

The older I get the more real and dear this cry of David becomes:

Psalm 130:1-4

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;

2 Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,

Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

Give Me Jesus 

Life can be mean when left to means that seem to make first-impulse-sense 

When we react without weighing the impact of the consequence 

We tend to think after the chink in faulty armour is exposed 

Rather than first examine best and worst outcome scenarios 

To test the measure of time’s treasure that slips through us breath by breath 

Is an awak’ning undertaking that could scare us half to death 

Because the laws of cause and effect are not tricked by time or rank 

Where the reaping is in keeping with the kind of seeds we plant 

To think that we can wink at wisdom and somehow not pay the price 

Or that desire is no liar when it ignores sound advice 

Is but to play the fool most truly no matter how cool it seems 

For consequence compensates duly what conscience and choice esteems 

If God kept tally of our folly who could stand and who could pay 

But to repentance he grants pardon and His strength to face the day 

Love incomparable makes bearable the harvest, not subdued 

Obedience, the evidence of love and humble gratitude 

© Janet Martin