Marvelous Beyond Our Wisest, Wildest Ken

October's days this year are a bit of a fog-draped blur...

Below a glimpse of marvels gleaned like jewels of joy, midst grief.

 Ps.118:4&21-24&28-29

Let those who fear the LORD say,

“His loving devotion endures forever.”

I will give You thanks, for You have answered me,

and You have become my salvation.

22The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.d

23This is from the LORD,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.e

24This is the day that the LORD has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it...

You are my God, and I will give You thanks.

You are my God, and I will exalt You.

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

His loving devotion endures forever.

(read the whole glorious chapter of Ps.118 HERE)

'This day is from the Lord' and it is marvelously blessed

With the Light of His Word to help us navigate its lease 

Because God's goodness, (Heaven-bent) determines what is best

Oft, earthly gaze misunderstands hues in Love's Masterpiece 

'This day is from the Lord' and it is a marvelous gift

Faith's confidence restored as we believe and stagger not 

The Cornerstone that anchors hope, no circumstance can shift 

God's promises secure the rope that strains 'neath creature-thought 

'This day is from the Lord' and it is marvelous indeed

Grace-ordained race of wait-and-run, while pressing t'ward the Prize  

Where Holy Ground of Harvest frets with freshly fallen seed

And trouble's panting dust begets 'the spark that upward flies'

  

'This day is from the Lord' and it is marvelous, Amen 

 Its evidence none can afford; This, God's mercy's renewed

He works through suffering, for good, beyond our wisest/wildest ken

Then, pray we reply as we should, with humble gratitude 

© Janet Martin

Rom.8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing

 with the glory that will be revealed in us.

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us 

an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

1 Peter 4:13
But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, 

so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

 

Once More Daybreak...

Daybreak; what a gift!

Let your light so shine before men, 

that they may see your good works,

 and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 

Matt.5:16

Once more daybreak’s blush-gold glory draws our eyes to prize hope’s feast

Mercy’s Magnum Opus unfolds like a flower on the east

Beckoning the humble pilgrim pressing toward Heaven’s goal

To reckon redemption’s risen, reigning Savior of the soul

To give thanks and awestruck honor, proving praise as we obey

He who sets His law and order in the bedrock of Today

As dawn’s light flows through the darkness and yon boundless fathoms brim

Pray, the Light of loving kindness will draw all glory to Him

Pray for rekindled awareness of faith’s living sacrifice

Pray for a conscious preparedness for worship’s ultimate price

Pray however meek and lowly our service seems to be

That we offer it with holy, sincere generosity

Once more daybreak hoists the emblem of God’s merciful regard

Sets upon the earth and heavens a semblance of love’s postcard

As compassion stays the legions that wait all around His Throne

As He looks upon the millions He is waiting to atone

Once more daybreak peals with promise; God is gracious to forgive

Death, oh, death is not victorious if we look on Him and live

Come, oh sinner, poor and needy, will you still refuse to pray

Daring to meet God unready in Death’s ‘no more break of day’

© Janet Martin

Come, Ye Sinner, Poor and Needy

Awesome Anticipation...

Though this poem was inspired by daybreak it applies to every breath and step we take...

As the sun rose I was impacted by the profound realization of

One Day Nearer...

One day nearer to the coming

Of our Lord; and what will be

One day nearer to our going

From time to eternity

One day nearer to beholding

He who saves us by His grace

Each new daybreak is unfolding

One day nearer to His face

And the sacred understanding

Of all that we cannot tell

When the Truth will be unending

In either Heaven or hell

One day nearer to departure

From this world of toil and strife

From the woes of war and hunger

And the cares of love and life

From the hope of our salvation

To faith’s armor laid to rest

From the cross of tribulation

To the crown of righteousness

From this temporary running

To the everlasting Prize

When at last we shed the garment

Of faith’s living sacrifice

One day nearer to the hour

Of reckoning and reward

For man’s days are like a flower

Dust-to-dust, Soul to the Lord

One day nearer to forever

Then remember, while you may

Ere the silver cord is severed

And all but God falls away

One day nearer to the Awesome

Crossing of faith’s Finish Line

…the last petal of the blossom

Caught in nail-scarred hands, divine

© Janet Martin

2 Tim.4:8

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,

which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:

and not to me only,

but unto all them also that love his appearing.

1 Thess.5:1-10

Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.

  2For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 

3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly,

 like labor pains on a pregnant woman, 

and they will not escape.

4But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.

  5For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; 

we do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 

6So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober. 

7For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

  8But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, 

putting on the breastplate of faith and love,

and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

9For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, 

but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, 

we may live together with Him. 

11Therefore encourage and build one another up, 

just as you are already doing.

Still, Still with Thee

Glorious Day...

Mist-kissed Flower

This poem is a bit of bittersweet longing

 for the days/ 'mist' of July; 

a month that always seems to vanish too fast!

James 4:14

What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Psalm 103:15-16

As for man, his days are like grass—

he blooms like a flower of the field;

16when the wind passes over, it vanishes,

and its place remembers it no more.

Sweet day, you wend your way through thought and touch to disappear

The sparkle of your subtle shuttle weaving yester-year

Like ripples on a lake of laughter; longing-hold-let go

Where echelons of ever-after ever ebb and flow

It makes life feel a little like a dreamland made of mist

A little like a spectacle of echoes/roses to untwist

Dawn spills and fills dusk’s purple tray with latest live-and-learn

Where always, sweet today, you wend your way to No Return

…only to reappear, my dear, as new as new can be

To weave fresh wisps of smile-and-tear/dust veneer into a memory

Bruised bliss, This; being brave enough to kiss your hands and feet

And dance with you, sweet day; for love is always bittersweet

…sometimes I get the sense of you soft-slipping from my touch

And sometimes then, I wish I didn’t love you quite so much

Sweet day, you spill your hour to a bower of Back When

Like petals from a flower that will never bloom again

© Janet Martin

I'm off to spend a sweet day among hollyhocks, green beans, tomatoes aka Garden😊

Sacred Summons To Today

It may look like simply swing pushing/riding

(and we are all so excited and delighted to have a new playset

after the old one blew away!)

Why did it blow away?!

Big storm and no anchors.

(that's a poem/parable for another post)😅

Swing pushing by Janet would simply be years and years, 

and thousands upon thousands

of fleeting swing-pushes but for one thing....

Prayer.

Prayer takes the mundane and makes it sacred!

Prayer reaches far beyond the present push!

Each and every child, as they are pushed are prayed for

as well as their parents!

I pray for strength, grace and wisdom

 in parenting and marriages

that they/we may be faithful through thick and thin

one day at a time, by God's grace!

(because marriage and parenting is love's

most beautiful Hard!)

The first tot in my childcare

is renting a house this summer and our son 

is living in it as well.

One young man (who has since moved to Nova Scotia) is getting married.

One is getting his G1 shortly...

...and all of them are growing up/grew up so fast!!

This is the day the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

God bless and guide you in today's push and pull

whatever/wherever that may be...

The night’s dark veil is rent

And to the land and sea

Returns the sacred fundament

Of opportunity

Slumber grants its reward

Of ambition renewed

Come then and let us serve the Lord

With praise and gratitude

He loves us oh, so dear

And draws dawn’s door ajar

Where no one knows how far or near

To Seeing Him we are

Therefore, none can afford

To cast a careless eye

Where His kind mercy has restored

Dawn’s lantern to the sky

Before its colors fade

Before ‘has’ turns to ‘had’

Behold the day the Lord has made

To rejoice and be glad

In the vineyard of grace

How sweet is His employ

Because no matter what we face

The fruit of grace is joy

Then, though life’s thorns may prick

Where oft we weep and groan

The Hand that lights the morning wick

Cradles each stepping stone

…and fits us for the task

He tenders to today

Forbid that we neglect to ask

Him for help to obey

A sacred summons spills

Across the land and sea

Grace reverberates and refills

Day's opportunity 

© Janet Martin

One Day/Step At A Time

This poem kinda progressed as the morning unfolded

stunning me afresh with the need to

Only Trust Him

We would wear ourselves weary with worry, 

but for what good?!

Oh Lord God, rich in mercy, help us trust You 

like we should

Help us to look longer at the lily's attire 

Until fear and pride turn into worship's pure fire

My little 'longer look' at lilies this morning

while pouring out my heart to their Creator/Clothier 

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 

and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory 

was not arrayed like one of these.

Luke 12:27

Life grants us one day at a time

Then leave to God tomorrow’s dread

For on this ever-present climb

We cannot leap back or ahead

Futile to fret the ‘Yet’ none sees

Where fear and faith ever compete

Better to get down on our knees

And pour our cares at Mercy’s feet

For as we yield, we learn to trust

And as we trust we learn to yield

The love of God is not unjust

He clothes the lilies of the field

God grants us one day at a time

A step-by-gifted-step ascent

He holds the ladder as we climb

Where all we have and hold is lent

Then as we soften our grip

And cling to nothing but His Word

We start to taste the fellowship

That waits in heaven, undeterred

God ministers in 'breath-by-breath'

His purposes, oft unrevealed

While he finetunes the strings of faith 

He clothes the lilies of the field

How flippant is our finest boast

And all that mortal may applaud

How foolish to propose a toast

Blind to the faithfulness of God

Grace grants us one day at a time

Oh, pray that our goal will be

To give God glory as we climb

From time into eternity

© Janet Martin

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [b]help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 43:5

The World tells us to reach within ourselves!

The Word tells us to reach out to God and trust...

in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God 

and the Word was God.

John 1:1

Of Open Ark-door

Whether morn is gold or gray

Mercy molds each brand new day

This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it

Psalm 118:24

Ah, here it is, A brand new This; The day the Lord has made 

He crowns Bygone’s echo-abyss with Mercy’s balustrade 

Where want will lure but hope secures what we all see in part 

And heaven only knows the highs and lows it will impart 

Ah, here are we; humanity, the apple of God’s eye 

He watches over you and me through every low and high 

Where dreams will break and hearts will ache and hope will feel quite frayed 

But we are all wrapped in love’s shawl; this day the Lord has made 

Ah, here he IS; no genesis or exodus to He 

Who crowns Bygone’s soldered abyss with Opportunity 

Where one and all receive equal shares in time’s latest lease 

And play a part within the heart of Mercy’s Masterpiece 

Ah, here it is; the Truth of this; the day the Lord has made 

Is like a kind and holy kiss of God’s grace, un-betrayed 

Where He does not extend for aught Time’s sacred season-sum 

But flings ashore the Ark’s wide door and beckons to all, ‘come’ 

© Janet Martin 

2 Pet.3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, 

as some count slackness, 

but is longsuffering toward us, 

not willing that any should perish 

but that all should come to repentance.

Like A Wave on The Sea...

Sometimes while supper is cooking I like to take a quick hike across the fields...

It always yields something to be awed about and makes one forget, 

for a bit, the things we could fret about!  

Surging toward us like waves of the sea

All the tomorrows still waiting to be

Who knows what laughter and heartache they hold

Sweeping the shoreline with turquoise and gold

Darling, the morrow that yesterday etched

Stencils blue shadows like art, pencil-sketched

Almost the moments that it had withheld

Have drained into the place where all days meld

Beauty is timeless as He who designs

Wonders too countless to rein into lines

Free-for-all fortune that no one can buy

Small as a sparkle and big as the sky

Sometimes the future feels like a grand wave

Rolling toward us with forces to brave

But as it sweeps across shorelines gold-gray

It never exceeds the scope of Today

Time always leaves yesterday in the dust

It never insist on tomorrow’s must

Who knows what waits where the season-bells chime

But this; we face it one day at a time

© Janet Martin