Before It Is Too Late

Because death forgets no one,

 today's post is an earnest and urgent beckoning

because of a reckoning none will escape...

The Ninety and Nine...

Luke 15:4-7

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, 

does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness,

 and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 

5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

  6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, 

saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 

7I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven 

over one sinner who repents 

than over ninety-nine [b]just persons who need no repentance.

On his deathbed the other week, my sister-in-law's brother put his faith in Jesus

before, at 51 years of age, he passed from time into eternity.

Praise the Lord! He did not dismiss the window of opportunity still open,

 to repent and believe!

Death forever closes the window of every opportunity

but ultimately the opportunity to receive the gift of salvation!

Sometimes death comes too suddenly to call upon God's name,

so then, we should prepare to meet God today!

God, who so loved us He gave His Son as the final sacrifice for sin because

'without shedding of blood is no remission/forgiveness. Heb.9:22

Matt.24:43-44

But know this, that if the master of the house had known

 what [a]hour the thief would come, 

he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

 44 Therefore you also be ready, 

for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

What can be sadder than to be Almost Persuaded?!

Acts 26:28 NKJV

Then Agrippa said to Paul,

 “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

Almost Persuaded

Death stops us in our tracks,

In leaps of faith, mid-prayer/air

It accomplishes hope’s climax

Or eternal despair

It adjourns highs and lows

When death lowers its bar

It executes life’s curtain-close

No matter who we are

It strips the soul’s veneer

(Pray we prepare to meet

Our God, for we must all appear

Before His judgment seat)

It lurks in every breath

In every step we take

We live in the shadow of death

Eternity at stake

Between Will Be and Was

God’s grace unfurls Time’s mast

And grants what none should waste, because

Today could be our last

Salvation, none can earn

Saves us from sin's dire fate

Because, Death waits at every turn

Who can afford to wait

…to call upon the Name

Of God, mighty to save

All who believe, death cannot claim

For Christ conquered the grave

Therefore, though death is sure

We need not dread its scythe 

All who believe, God holds secure

In everlasting life   

Then pray, do not delay

To make repentance true

Because maybe this very day

Death will take me or you

Then, hearken/listen unto He

Who calls us all by name 

Who gave Himself to set us free

From death's unyielding claim 

Before it is too late

(for death forgets no one)

Pray for faith's gift of saving grace

Through Jesus Christ, God's Son

© Janet Martin

Isa. 51:5-6

My righteousness is near,

My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And on My arm they will trust.
 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not be [b]abolished.

Read the full glorious chapter HERE

Titus 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,

 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 

we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 

13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing

 of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 

14 who gave Himself for us, 

that He might redeem us from every lawless deed

 and purify for Himself His own special people,

 zealous for good works.

To Live a Hymn

Yesterday I attended the funeral

of my friend's father-in-law.

He was 65.

Then, I attended a visitation for another friend's son-in-law.

He was 34.

There my friend told me how my sister Lucy's picture hangs near her sewing machine

so she remembers to pray for me and Lucy's family.

(for irregular visitors here; my sister lost her life suddenly 

when she was hit while riding her bicycle last Sept.) 

Lucy was 55. 

When someone we love passes away it brings an end to

conversations, activities, dreams and plans once fondly shared.

But it flings wide the renewed invitation to dredge the deeps of

what truly matters, above all!

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love.

 1 Cor.13:13

Faith in the finished work of the cross!

Hope through Jesus' resurrection!

so we may know God's love

that surpasses knowledge!

1 Cor.15:16-19

16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 

19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, 

we are of all people most to be pitied.

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

 The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 

26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 

Do you believe this?”

Do the above verses not ignite or rekindle a desire

to live the reflection of belief/faith?!

to live a hymn of hope?!

to live the light of love?!!

To live a hymn of love for Thee

O Lord, let this our motive be

To yield Want’s will to Thy command

To trust the leading of Thy Hand

And not with human wisdom try

Reason’s demand to satisfy

But without fail, to find enough

Where these abide;

 Faith, hope and love

To live a hymn to worship Thee

No matter what the cost may be

To know, no matter what our lot

Tis cradled in Divine Forethought

Where, once for all, Thy sacrifice

Suffered and covered pardon’s price

So, we would always find enough

Where these abide;

 Faith, hope and love

To live a hymn of humble awe

O Lord, to delight in Thy law

And then to fill Time's bar of days

With open-handed, thankful praise

Rather than loot of fleeting pelf

That cannot appease gods of Self

Lord, overflow hearts with enough

Where these abide;

Faith, hope and love 

To live a hymn of joy in Thee

With faith and hope's expectancy

Without a dearer purpose than

To love you first, then fellowman

To lay before Thy throne of grace

Each tear that treads the soul or face

Each prayer learning to find enough

Where You provide

 Faith, hope and love

© Janet Martin

Eph.3:14-21

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,

 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name.

 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you

 with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 

18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,

 to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,

 according to his power that is at work within us, 

21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, 

for ever and ever! 

Amen.

Read the full glorious chapter of 1 Cor.15 HERE

1 Cor.15:50-58

50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, 

that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,

 nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 

52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, 

and we will be changed. 

53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, 

and the mortal with immortality.

 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, 

and the mortal with immortality,

 then the saying that is written will come true: 

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h]

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 

57 But thanks be to God! 

He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. 

Let nothing move you.

 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,

 because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Below, the last paragraphs of yesterday's and today's devotions from

Streams in the Desert Vol.2

...and last but not least, my most listened to song of 2024...

I Set My Hope on Jesus

Death Wakens Awareness....To Life/Love

It is a season of mourning in our family...

 Now we bid fond earthly farewell

to James's (my husband's) beloved 93 year old mother,

who passed away on Friday.

(obituary HERE)

How we will miss her,

but how we rejoice that she is released from her

weary and worn out body.

Dear mother,

No more precious shared lunches and coffees and chats...

or birthday celebrations

(Cake decorating credit goes to my sister-in-law)

or being greeted by your sweet, welcoming smile

from your chair where you delighted in watching birds

and people come and go.

No more hardships for you, dear mother!

Your chair is empty...

Once again death rouses awareness...

Death, is a Certain Doorway through which all will disappear

A sacred, solemn, Supreme Inevitability

And when its Immutable Must summons one near and dear

It tunes Thought to Time's Holy Lease hinged to eternity

Death wakens re-awareness to the gift of Here and Now

It spotlights love's track-record forged by what we do and say

And brings us boldly face to face with ourselves, somehow

And Precious Opportunity afforded in Today

Death stirs in us a sense of so much more than meets the eye

The Part no lens can captivate, and knowledge cannot quell 

It bids us ponder somberly love's breath-by-breath reply

To He who gave himself to break the curse of death and hell  

Death rouses us to look at life and its impending goal

It begs for answers to questions none should flee or ignore   

'What doth it profit us to gain the world and lose our soul?

And who can carry anything through death's leveling Door?

Death wakens fresh awareness to the preciousness of 'us' 

And how it is a privilege to live to give and share

Each others joys and sorrows;  then, rather than fret and fuss

Or point accusing fingers, to fold them in thankful prayer 

 © Janet Martin

1 Cor.15:53-58

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 

and this mortal must put on immortality.

 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption,

and this mortal has put on immortality, 

then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:

 “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O[n] Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, 

be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work 

of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

A Very Present Sorrow...

The verse below was the first verse to minister to me 

in the wake of the news of my sister's passing last week

(that-feels-like-so-much-longer!)

God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in trouble.

Ps.46:1 KJV

As I watched the sun rise this morning 

a rush of conflicting emotions filled me...

A Very Present Sorrow tunes my senses to time's tug

Each moment widening the gap between what once we knew

While narrowing the distance till Yon Greeting's Hello-hug

Where there will be no parting, where no tears will run us through

A Very Present Sorrow draws attention to time's tide

Reverence and resistance clash like wrestler's in a ring

Futile to fight the Thing that harbours healing in its stride

Better to bear love's burden without bitter querying 

A Very Present Sorrow rouses respect for time's toll

We, like a brood of beggars would face Fate's future, so grim

Without the hope that transcends Time; salvation for the Soul 

From God, who richly comforts, as we cast our cares on Him 

A Very Present Sorrow needs a Very Present Help

God is our strength, He helps us carry sorrow's sacred cross 

As He bears us on angel's wings unto His Very Self

He heals the broken heart and binds the wounds of grief and loss 

© Janet Martin

Ps.147:3 

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

Lam.3:32-33

Though he brings grief,

 he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.
 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.

(Read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

You're Still God

Numerous people have sent me the above song to comfort me, (thank-you)

and my sister read part of the lyrics

at Lucy's funeral in her tribute...

(Because) We Never Know From Day to Day...

Job 14:1-2

Man, who is born of woman,

is short of days and full of trouble.

Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;

like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

We are a community in mourning

after a tragic traffic accident

Death has a way of re-reminding us 

to look our beloved families, neighbors and friends in the eye

and love them like we were on borrowed time!

We never know from day to day what will unfold of joy or grief

Life grants no guarantees but one; death an ineludible Chief

'Man born of woman’s, days are few and full of trouble', we are told

We never know who will be next to slip beyond our feeble hold

The best that we can do is live and love as if today could be

The day of lasts before we step from time into eternity

We never know when joys we often take for granted will conclude

How kinder we would be, how gentler, humbler our attitude/gratitude

The best that we can do is trust the Giver as the Taker too

And not demand an explanation when a numbered day comes due

The best that we can do is make the most of Opportunity

Because we never know from day to day, what waits to be

© Janet Martin

In loving memory of Kelly F.-Mar.12, 1980-Apr.14, 2024

Wednesday, March 12th, 1980 - Sunday, April 14th, 2024

Wednesday, March 12th, 1980 - Sunday, April 14th, 2024

Of Payoffs In Waiting (or Something About a Gaping Grave)

Yesterday my dad's oldest brother (and Wayne's father) was laid to rest.

He is an uncle fondly remembered by his nieces and nephews

 for his good-natured, uncomplaining and optimistic outlook

 though his life had many hardships!

We cousins are in a stage where funerals have become our meeting place

and with these gatherings comes the solemn reminder

our childhood playmates are not children anymore,

all of us under the influence of Time's unflinching touch 

and we are reminded of this truth;

that death can come to the young

but it will come to the old

and the realization is dawning that our generation

 is on the heels of the one we are, 

one by one, laying to rest!

A ripe old age turns to mist

 in death's twinkling of an eye!

So then, as we turn again 

to shoulder our yokes of scarred delight

pray we do not lose sight 

of the only payoff that counts

when, for all 'momentary mountains/afflictions, 

the eternal payoff is unveiled!

2 Cor.4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart.

 Though our outer self is wasting away, 

yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

 17For our light and momentary affliction is producing 

for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. 

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Just beyond what we can see ...

(No matter how bitter/sweet)

lies Payoff's Eternity...

Below, a bit of 'sweet'.

This dog can be sassy and silly one minute

and sound asleep at my feet the next!!😂

Though the payoff of push and shove

Through ups and downs of life and love

May appear, to the sphere of sight

Like a showcase of scarred delight

While grappling with the yoke of truth

By fresh parades of fading youth

And though the payoff may seem small

For prayers that rise and tears that fall

Where today holds no guarantees

That Circumstance will aim to please

The Hierarchy of Hope and Dream

We nurture with fondest esteem

…and though the payoff drags its feet

Where hold and letting go compete

Something about a gaping grave

When mourners meet, its scene to brave

Reminds us with sobriety

Of a payoff we cannot see

The payoff for man’s hope and hurt

Is not a fresh-turned mound of dirt

Is not a final farewell tear

Is not the boon of now and here

Oh no! Death is the turn of key

Where push and shove/life and love’s payoff will be

So then, before it is too late

Pray we would reevaluate

The quests and payments we applaud

And rest our confidence in God

Who will, for all eternity

Unveil what the payoff will be

© Janet Martin

We sang two of my favourite hymns yesterday

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

and Abide With Me

Keep On!

Yesterday I attended the funeral of Wayne.

Friends and family received words of comfort and encouragement

as we reflected on a man, not perfect, but committed humbly

to honor God, though his lot in life was not what anyone would choose,

he desired above all to;

'fight a good fight, to run the course and to keep the faith, 

The service opened with the reminder that Wayne has done what still awaits all of us! 

He has met his Maker, but His Maker was/is also his Savior. 

We were challenged that the same may be true of us;

that when we meet God we will meet Him not only as our Maker 

but, as our Savior too!

The second speaker reminded family and friends 

that our God is a God of promises; 

He promises peace, 

He promises rest 

and He promises never to leave or forsake us. 

Sweet words of comfort esp. for Wayne's wife, children, Dad, siblings, etc.

...so, reflecting on a funeral at Christmas is not morbid

but in reality, is what the joy of Christmas is; Jesus, the hope of mankind

come to earth to be our Saviour

not for this brief life only, but to all who believe,

 forever and ever! Amen!

This reality makes our Christmas reflections more precious than ever!!

And rekindles faith's fervor to keep on till we too can say,

'I have fought the good fight, 

I have finished the race,

 I have kept the faith. 

8Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, 

which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day,

 and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

2 Tim.4:7-8

Keep on, we, not yet victorious

Upon Jesus fix faith’s eyes

For the joy still set before us

Keep on pressing to the prize

Keep on praying to keep seeking

God’s kingdom and righteousness

Keep on trusting, wholly leaning

Of His steadfast promises

Keep on looking to the Saviour

To imbue our walk and talk

To correct rebel behaviour

Lest we leave a stumbling block

Keep on casting cares on Jesus

Praise Him with each thought and breath

Until His last mercy frees us

From these bodies doomed to death

Keep on hoping, keep on loving

Every sin, humbly confess

Until the day of faith’s proving

Wins a crown of righteousness

Keep on with fixed dedication

To fight dark forces of sin

Until faith’s last invitation

Hears these blessed words ‘enter in’

© Janet Martin

Hope's Stomping Grounds

Today's post is as bittersweet as they come...

My cousin Wayne, 

most recently mentioned in this post

is free from suffering at last!

Gathered to God on Monday, Dec.18

Ps.116:15

Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.

Recently I received the book below,

*Reflections of Jesus,

a gift from the author, as a way of saying thank-you!

(I am delighted to have the poem Bethlehem Star included in it)

When I received the news that Wayne passed away I picked up this book

and looked and looked at the painting on the cover

weeping sad-glad tears as I pictured him like this,

 Safe in the arms of Jesus.

His hurting is over!

Please pray for healing for the family 

as they mourn the loss of husband and father,

son, brother, etc.

as they bear both deep grief and deep relief!

'our loss is his gain' said a family member last night at the visitation.

 'a great wait/weight lifted at last' murmured his sorrow-worn wife

We mourn, but not as sorrow grieves, without hope, by God’s grace

The rending tear that death achieves and mortal eyes surmise

Does not reveal the Whole; the Unseen of faith’s resting place

As Sight, with no dark glass between beholds The Promised Prize

As God, gathers a suffering Soul into eternity

Healed from the hurts that take their toll on this side of death’s door

Freed from the weight of waiting for the Final Victory

Beyond futile debating of life’s why-when-and-wherefore

How precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints

For eye has not seen nor ear heard the things he has prepared

For those who love Him; thus, no bitter barter tunes or taints

The tears that flow, because through Christ the Soul from hell is spared

The interim that Time employs until this life is through

And loss no longer vexes joys with Heaven’s sweetest gains

Is but Hope’s Stomping Grounds, a tie that Heaven will undo

When in the twinkling of an eye, death rends life’s binding chains

Then, comfort one another with the hope in Christ alone

God hears our prayers and mothers our sorrow-broken hearts

He tromps Hope's Stomping Grounds with us, (not one step on our own) 

Until the hope found/bound in Jesus, faith's finished fabric parts  

© Janet Martin

May we all make our calling sure while time is still on our side!

May the reason for the Christmas Season become profoundly dearer

as we believe, and receive the inheritance 

only the Saviour of the Soul will/can give;

Living Hope

Rom.15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Thess.4:13-18

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,

concerning those who have fallen [b]asleep,

lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,

even so God will bring with Him those who [c]sleep in Jesus.

15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord,

that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord

 will by no means precede those who are [d]asleep.

16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,

with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first.

17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up

together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

*if you would like to order the book

Reflections of Jesus

click here- Jim Horsley Fine Art

Like a Dead Man Walking...

2 Chron.6:18

Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.

When one lives, indifferent to and unaffected by such a God

as described in the verse above,

such an one is surely like a dead man walking💔😥

wild flowers...just one example of how

our Creator delights to delight us!

May we never live unaffected by our awesome God!

Unrepentant of rebellion, undelighted by God’s word

Unexcited about spending eternity with the Lord

Unattached to wonder’s wellspring surging from the hand of He

Who created earth and heavens with His sovereign ‘let there be’

Unmoved by mercy’s renewal, unawed by redemption’s flood

Unbowed by confounded humble awareness of Holy God

Unchanged by His grace and goodness, untouched by unfailing love

Unpersuaded by the power that can earth and heaven move

Unstirred by the pretty flower, by the songbird’s sanguine trills

By the beauty of a bower lavished with leaf-layered frills

Undevoted to His kindness, undefended by His Shield

Unaffected by thought-blindness unoffended by sin’s yield

Unguarded by angel-armies, untransformed by hope’s pure joy

Inattentive to heart-gardens of innocent girl and boy

Indifferent to the Shepherd, who, without counting the cost

Leaves the fold to search until He gathers the sheep that was lost

Unfamiliar with the Father and faith’s fellowship of prayer

Unappeased by Living Water’s promises beyond compare

Unimpressed by the true riches stored beyond time’s subtle haste

Preferring one that bewitches Want with instant touch and taste

Unaroused by utter worship to the Author of all things

Unamazed and uninspired by blessing each season brings

Unable to see the table that is groaning with a feast

Granted by He who is faithful from the greatest to the least

Unthankful, proud and unholy, unresponsive to the toll

That will strip Self of its boasting, leaving nothing but the Soul

Giving no glory and honor to God for the gift He gave

Living like a dead man walking but to wake up in hell’s grave

© Janet Martin

The Holy Whole (of Soul's eternity)

Gorgeous sunny, spring daybreak!

I'm sure everyone in our neck of the woods wants to make the most 

of FINALLY, a fabulous stretch of sunshine warming winter-weary bones! 

Lawn-raking never felt so fine, like spring-cleaning the outdoors!

The wise in this world endeavor to make the most 

of every day, no matter the weather! 

Because, no matter who or where we are, death is life's gravest matter 

and none of us knows how near its Door draws with each breath we take...

***

We live but once; the wise weigh well the measure of its lease

For there are none who can foretell how soon a life will cease

But only God, who grants each breath beholds the holy Whole

Of numbered days before the death that bares the deathless soul

Not one of us can know who next will hear His summons fall

To draw us from time’s brief context to meet the Lord of all

Death is life’s gravest matter borne on seasons as they roll

Its dust and ash we scatter, the torn garment of the soul

The holy Whole of moment-sums slip subtly, yet rife

Through the undoing that becomes the measure of a life

The wise, aware of today’s momentous fragility

Weigh well the flickering blaze of accountability

Oho, how soon the afternoon dons twilight's dusky hues  

How swift life's gleaming gift spawns the shadow of deathly dues

How surely no one knows That Rending Toll's proximity 

That will  unveil The Holy Whole of Soul's eternity 

© Janet Martin

Luke 12:35-40

Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 

36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, 

so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. 

Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, 

will have them recline at the table 

and will come and wait on them. 

38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready,

 even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.

 39 But understand this:

 If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming,

 he would not have let his house be broken into. 

40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come 

at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Oho, how soon the afternoon dons twilight's dusky hues...  

Witness in the Making

The funeral service my husband and I attended today 

was closed with this sacred text from

the final words in the Holy Bible;

Rev.22:12-17&21

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, 

and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, 

the First and the Last, 

the Beginning and the End.

14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, 

that they may have the right to the tree of life 

and may go through the gates into the city. 

15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, 

the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters 

and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. 

I am the Root and the Offspring of David, 

and the bright Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” 

And let the one who hears say, “Come!” 

Let the one who is thirsty come; 

and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life...

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. 

Amen.

What will be said of you and I when we are laid to rest

Oh, what will be the legacy that transcends mortal goals

After we cease the evidence of what we now love best

When the reward of Recompense its sacred summons tolls

What are we doing to prepare for what waits one and all

Nobody knows how near or far we are to earth’s farewell

Thus, this sojourn is no eat-drink-be-merry festival

It is the holy prelude to either Heaven or hell

Where what and who we love most consumes thought’s most earnest quest

As thought’s most earnest quest turns into choice and consequence

And writes what will fill memories as we are laid to rest

And only God can break the seal that reveals Recompense

What will be said of you and I when death collects its due

Depends on here and now and how we use life’s little lease

Oh, pray that what will be remembered most of me and you

Is our love for God portrayed in love, hope, joy and peace

When we face what we all will face but once forevermore

What will God say when you and I step from this transient shell

When we witness the evidence of what we most adored

Will the reward be Heaven's joy or agony of hell?

© Janet Martin

Between Here and Sunset