If I Should Turn From Thee

1 Tim.4:1 NLT

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly

 that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith;

 they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

John 6:60;66-69

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said,

“This is a [a]hard saying; who can understand it?”...

...From that time many of His disciples went [d]back

 and walked with Him no more. 

67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, 

“Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him,

 “Lord, to whom shall we go?

 You have the words of eternal life.

 69 Also we have come to believe and know 

that You are the [e]Christ, the Son of the living God.”

How often it hurts pastors, teachers and parents

as wise and true counsel is ignored, scorned 

and heedlessly turned away from!

How much more, our Heavenly Father!!

May we echo the words of Peter if we are tempted

to put our trust in what we see rather than what/Who we know!

 “Lord, to whom shall we go?

Where Could I Go But to the Lord

To Whom Lord, shall I go

If I should turn from Thee

Whose spirit and life can bestow

The truth that sets me free

Whose blood but Thine atones

From age to age to age

Whose ear but Thine attends the groans

That wrack this mortal cage

In who else can I trust

Without fear or dismay

Whose Word transcends time’s dust-to-dust

And cheers me day by day

Whose purpose will prevail

To crush the enemy

Whose love and justice will not fail

Throughout eternity

Whose law is love but Thine

Who whispers peace to me

Who else laid down his life for mine

With such humility

What can this world afford

But pleasures vain and fleet

What compares to Thy joy, my Lord

Abiding and complete

Then, should I turn from Thee

Lord, where else can I find

A sweeter, surer sympathy

Compassionate and kind

…to heal my broken heart

Whose assurance can ward

Defense against deception’s dart

Without Thy armour, Lord

Who can quench Want’s wild thirst

Or offer Living Bread

Who can save us from this world, cursed

With ignorance and dread

If I should turn from Thee

What can I hope to find

To satisfy the longing plea

Of heart and soul and mind

If I should turn from Thee

Lord, to whom shall I go

To entrust all eternity

Pray, I may never know

© Janet Martin

Coming Soon-Jesus! 

Give Me Jesus

Tangible Reminders (of Who God Is)

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,

who daily bears our burdens.

Psalm 68:19

Sometimes when we pass through seasons of (prayer)-discouragement,

God convicts and comforts us 

with tangible reminders of who He is; 

Faithful 

As surely as nature displays his faithfulness

in every season,

so too is His perfect timing in our lives!

These two poems by Edgar A. Guest remind us to take a breath

...and Behold!

The birthplace of today runs rife

(In spite of weight of care)

With much to make this little life

A lovely thing to bear

Beauty’s showcase is marvelous

Winter-spring-summer-fall

Makes it impossible to miss

The One who wills it all

The budded branch bursts into song

The tresses of its hymn

A shelter for the feathered throng

The nests in lofty limb

A masterpiece of petals spills

From frilly lily-loom

River-ribbons wind between hills

At night star-gardens bloom

…and as the afternoon unwinds

To twilight’s vestibules

The Artist of dusk’s murals finds

Constant originals

Beneath a canopy of sky

Oft aweing mortal gaze

We go; God sees the low and high

Of every trail we blaze

…and beckons us to trust the love

That moves His mighty Hand

In ways that grants grand glimpses of

Who none can understand

© Janet Martin

…and as the afternoon unwinds

To twilight’s vestibules

The Artist of dusk’s murals finds

Constant originals...

The budded branch bursts into song...

The tresses of its hymn

A shelter for the feathered throng

The nests in lofty limb...

1 John 5:14

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 

that if we ask anything according to his will, 

he hears us.

What The World Knows Nothing Of...

Sometimes the sorrow for those who do not believe, love and obey God

is almost more than I can bear,

and lest misunderstood, I come across as having all the answers

and everything 'right', far from it!!

but the one/only answer I have right, is by the grace of God 

through the cross of Jesus Christ;

Gal.6:14

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Living Hope 

Golgotha

Fear, in this fallen world seeks to usurp faith, hope and trust

Without God’s Word to undergird, to guide, rebuke and cheer

How could we bear love’s cross of care or suffer what we must

But for the glory waiting in the Aftermath of here

Where the foothills of Heaven groan with sin, sorrow and strife

Where we, but brief sojourners because earth is but a vale

Need He who rolled away the stone from a tomb filled with Life

The life that will abide; even in death it will not fail

Ah, raise thy gaze above the worldly ways of wanton will

Cling to the sickle of God’s Word to keep thy conscience pure

And drink from the wellspring where Living Waters spill and spill

To sustain and refresh the soul committed to endure

…and tremble at His Word; pray for a spirit, poor, contrite

So, God will look on us and fill us with riches untold;

Green pastures and still waters to restore the soul’s delight

His perfect peace, his joy to be our strength, worth more than gold

Pray for this fallen world, mired in cesspools of despair

Ah pray for those who do not know the goodness of God’s love

That they may come to know He who laid mercy’s coffers bare

Upon the cross to offer what the world knows nothing of

By God's grace alone we are saved; a gift so none can boast

Shall we then continue in sin so His grace may abound

Shall we mock, as it were the One who gave His Uttermost

Oh, may it never be, when once lost, we are found

Surely, goodness and mercy will follow us all our days

Until we dwell with Him by whose resurrection, we live

Where we will never weary of perfecting worship's praise

As we look on Him whom we pierced, and He replied 'forgive'

© Janet Martin

John 11:25-26

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

Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 

26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.

 Do you believe this?”

Isa.66:2

Has not my hand made all these things, 

and so they came into being?” declares the LORD.

 “These are the ones I look on with favor:

 those who are humble and contrite in spirit, 

and who tremble at my word.

At The Cross

Rad Glory

I began this poem at sunrise...

then the day took over...

Off to a local meat shop first thing,

to take advantage of their annual sausage sale...

stopping for a few photos along the way...

...then grandchildren came for a while to entertain gramma😂💖

What is it about a gate/fence/barrier that instantly draws curiosity

of all ages, even babies?!!

 

Grand daughter borrows gramma's sunglasses for a better look at the clouds...

It all started when she spotted the one on the first photo,

 a billowy, pillow-y one and wished she could jump in it

Now, after the last round of sausage is on to steam,

(Yes! I water-bath-can sausage!)

back to what began almost today-ago 😅

Where the heavens are flung

With profound clarity

A Voice of universal tongue

Declares God’s majesty

His awesome evidence

(That only fools deny)

Thunders with untold testaments

From earth and sea and sky

…to confound creature boast

To humble human hearts

As wonder wows Want’s uttermost

With what God’s hand imparts

Hark! Ere the dark of night

Dissolves, the morning rings

With feathered, unfettered delight

From choristers with wings

Both mighty and minute

Astonish and enthrall

Until only fools dare dispute

The One who authored all

Creation stuns the eye

And kindles joyful due

To join the throngs of earth and sky

With songs of worship too

Buds, primed with petaled proof

Pulse with glorious laud

While sorry fool still holds aloof

The rad glory of God

© Janet Martin

 (Using the word 'rad' today, in its most sacred sense!)

WORDS RELATED TO RAD -DICTIONARY.COM

astonishing, astounding, awesome, breathtaking,

 fantastic, incredible, marvelous, outrageous,

 phenomenal, remarkable, spectacular, superb,

 terrific, unbelievable, far out, groovy, neat, 

offbeat, unorthodox, wonderful

Psalm 14:1

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; 

there is no one who does good.

Redemption-wrought Renewal

Surely all the suffering of sorrow, sickness, loss

would get the best of us without God's comfort through the cross

Praise Him; the best this life affords is free to one and all

Salvation through the sacrifice that saves us from The Fall

and breaks the curse of death and hell the hour we believe

renewing faith's hope day by day, through life yet to receive

John 3:16 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world 

that He gave His only begotten Son,

 that whoever believes in Him 

should not perish 

but have everlasting life.

2 Cor.4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. 

Even though our outward man is perishing, 

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 

is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

 while we do not look at the things which are seen, 

but at the things which are not seen. 

For the things which are seen are temporary, 

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Renewed day by day

Where challenges we face

Would draw hope’s anchored joy away

Without God’s love and grace

Without His promises

To cheer our mortal clay

Without His perfect no and yes

To comfort as we pray

Without the confidence

Of Him, in full control

Without Calvary’s Providence

To save the deathless soul

...till the dark glass between

Faith and Sight melts away

The glory of what/Who is Unseen

Renews us day by day

© Janet Martin

Standing on the Promises of God

Because He Lives- David Crowder

School/Leap of Faith- A Sonnet

As we were leaving on Sat. for our annual weekend in TO I realized

the pink eye I was trying to ignore was suddenly getting much worse.

We stopped to pick up a prescription because all the over-the-counter meds were sold out!

(bit of a pink eye epidemic on in our area)

To top it off, a mild sore throat escalated into wild discomfort.

By Sat. night the long anticipated dinner, (and remainder of the weekend)

was more endured than enjoyed!

While I know this is small on the grand scale of troubles

it was/is still super disappointing!

But on we go...

with so much still to be thankful for!

1 Thess.5:18

give thanks in all circumstances;

 for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I didn't get any photos this weekend except a few at 

Krispy Kreme donuts on the way home...

There's a good parable in watching the process of a donut being made.

A glob of sticky dough, mixed, pressed and fried before the

final, delectable sweet-treat finish!

So, speaking in donut terms, sometimes

 when we're in the gob-of-sticky-dough stage

 or the pressing and frying stage

it might be easy to forget

 there's a 'sweet-treat' finish!

To roam among grave stones of seasons spent

Is but to squander what soon wastes away

To wander in deserts of discontent

Is but to miss the treasure of Today

To mourn for what we cannot change is vain

Distracting us from present precious sands

To dread the unknown is a futile pain

Better to pray and leave it in God’s hands

His grace, always sufficient for life’s lot

His mercy new each morning, praise His name

His love transcends the scope of mortal thought

His promises are free for all to claim

His goodness greater than affliction’s lathe 

His peace, perfected in each leap of faith

© Janet Martin

Jim needed to leave for work when we got home!

I snuggled on the couch and listened to an extremely uplifting message 

from David Jeremiah about faith.

I couldn't find the exact one on YouTube, 

but below is a link to another gem of a message filled with invaluable reminders.

It starts in with this...

From David Jeremiah-The School of Faith

"One of the sobering thoughts about the Christian life is the truth that God is far more interested in who we become and what we are than in what we do. He cares a whole lot more about how we live than about what we accomplish. His purpose is to build Christians, not cathedrals. His focus is on people, not programs, and for this reason, when God is working in the life of a person, he often allows unexplainable events to prepare and perfect those that he is getting ready to serve him in a much bigger way in the kingdom. The New Testament says this: "Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives". Often when difficult things happen in our lives, it's not the evidence of something that is wrong, but proof that something is right."

***

Life aka, 

The School of faith

is filled with highs and lows,

 joys and woes,

 in all shapes and sizes

thorns and rose-

coloured surprises

Everything comes, 

then it goes.

What yet waits

Only God knows...

But,

Whether we are enjoying the flower

or being pricked by its stem

God is faithful.

Forever

Amen 

Donuts remind me of a song from days gone by when

our children were little...

Life Without Jesus is Like a Donut

Like Glimpses Through a Gate

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the path of life; 

In Your presence is fullness of joy; 

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The thrill of February spring was short-lived,

...as was the clean up from previous ice-storms, 

 We woke to a world ensconced in nature's glitz!

How oft the Creator consoles

Earth's happiness, so full of holes...

February is always a struggle for me, poetically-speaking, 

and this February is no exception, so emotionally demanding/draining

 with so much local trouble and sorrow,

not to mention globally!

But hallelujah,

 God Was, Is, and Ever Will Be in perfect control!

We walk by faith, not by sight!

2 Cor.5:7

How oft the Creator consoles

Earth's happiness, so full of holes

Where grief exacts love’s bitter thorn

As dreams are dashed and hearts are torn

…and then the morn heaps hope’s buffet

As mercy’s masterpieces splay

Like glimpses, through a gate ajar

Where everlasting pleasures are

How often our faith could be

Disillusioned by tragedy

This, but part and parcel of Time

Tethered to weathered season-chime

Where rhyme and reason could dismiss

God’s goodness with betrayal’s kiss

Until, like glimpses through a gate

He reminds us of joys that wait

How often we could lose our way

If we relied on logic’s say

Where wise and fool alike concede

Man’s days are few and full of need

But, the best this world can demand

Pales, compared to God’s Promised Land

Glimpsed through a gleaming gate, agape

With impressions of its landscape

How oft the poet’s flound’ring prayer

Could yield to pirates of despair

Where unholy taunt plunders thought

And steals joy with blessings forgot

Until God opens downcast eyes

To impact us with sweet surprise

Unveiled, like glimpses through a gate

Where worship’s endless pleasures wait

How oft life's weight of care could wage

A war that nothing could assuage

Without more than this world can host

Of temporary toast and boast

Hoisted between eternities

A flail of mortal agonies

While glimpses through yon Gate remind

The man of the soul's transient rind 

How oft the Creator consoles

Earth’s happiness, so full of holes

With glimpses of Heavenly Hills

From whence our Help and Comfort spills

To cheer us onward in the flight

Of walking by faith, not by sight

Until Yon Gate eclipses grace

And glimpses become face-to-face

© Janet Martin

Psalm 121:1-3

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Lord, I Need You

I Need Thee Every Hour

Faith-forge...

This poem is inspired in part by a few stories I recently read or am reading...

the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and now, Moses!!

Also, the story of George Mueller

(the excerpt below esp.)

Heb.12:1

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The beautiful 'cloud of faithful witnesses' that encompass us

 challenge, inspire and encourage

 the ongoing stories of our own lives/faith still being written!

Take heart, fellow-friend!

Stories of faithfulness cannot be written in a hurry!

I began this poem yesterday morning, but it was not a poem

that could be quickly spilled....then tot-care gobbled up the day!

Last night my energy and concentration tank was so completely depleted

to the point of feeling like I was getting sick (but a good night's sleep resolved)

so this is yesterday and today's poem!

Below: a Celebrate-the-Very-Brief-Splash-of-Sunshine-with-a-Hot Chocolate-'Picnic'!

The answers that we seek in our hurry oft seem slow

When faith’s posture is weak, not meek but impatient to know

Doubt and desire wrestle as God tests love’s utmost part

(To be His chosen vessel is not for the faint of heart)

The high call of surrender grants no accolades unearned

Faith’s Author and Perfecter leaves no stumbling block unturned

But moves in ways contrary to sight’s acumen and whim

God’s rebuke necessary to expose wants not of Him

Encompassed by a cloud of witnesses, faith’s legions shine

As God fulfilled/revealed His promises and purposes divine

While waiting-seasons refined trust and taught them to endure

And be obedient because God’s Word is just and pure/sure

What sometimes seems like pleas ignored or forgotten by God

Or futile ‘waiting on the Lord,’ is oft discipline’s rod

To dredge the depth of the heart’s measure where His Word should be

To test the timbre of the treasure only He can see

What masters of disaster mortal’s lack of patience proves

When we choose to move faster than God's higher way behooves

When foolishly we plunder gates still barred to our request

Blind to redemption’s wonder waiting to reveal His best

God's providence instilling/fulfilling holiness, makes no mistakes

He tugs at ties unwilling until pride's resistance breaks 

And probes the hold that still denies Supreme Authority

Until faith's utter boast replies 'not I, but Christ in me'  

© Janet Martin

2 Tim2:3

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

We Will Go Forth (and a few more Thursday Thoughts)

We cannot outlive the Unknown

or challenges we face 

But look, each moment's steppingstone

is anchored in God's grace

Faith's substance of things we hope for

will someday rend the veil

Revealing the complete splendor

Of love that did not fail

***

The sunless stretch continues...

not sure what happened to last week's forecast for this week's yellow...

It could certainly have the potential to dampen our spirits if we let it!

But...

If we would fixate on the weather we might be quite glum

It's been a dose of dreary, drippy, damp, sunless ho-hum

But love and life are so much more than covers of a book

So much of what is written is hidden until we look!

Then as we turn the pages where God's goodness overflows

We find ourselves quite speechless, awed by blessings He bestows 

***

Seeds are so very, very small

Sometimes we doubt their clout

And dare to wonder where they fall

...until they start to sprout 

Seeds look like nothing much at first

Mere crumbs, mundane and mute

But from the crumb, when it has burst

Comes all manner of fruit 

Seeds seem to be too slight and slow    

To hold much harm or good

But as the sprout begins to grow

Seed's clout is understood 

***

Our worlds are often mirrored in the shimmer of a tear

Or lightened by the laughter of someone we love so dear

Or sweetened by the banter of a breeze, a child, a bird

Or brightened by the candle of a kind and gentle word

Hard knocks are often softened by a handshake and a smile

Making the world that shimmers in a tear, so worth its isle/while

***

Tick-tock tempo laps the shoreline of  a winter afternoon 

Like the summer-blue momentum of lake-lyrics lazy tune 

Like a breeze undresses tresses of its leaf-shaped souvenirs 

Tick-tock tempo falls and rises until winter disappears

***  

This morning's foggy shroud inspired the beginning of this poem...

We will go forth then, you and I

The view of what yet waits withheld

Like a masterpiece made of sky

Vaulted above the mist-veiled veldt

While the clocks unrelenting toll

Unfurls and collects, synchronized

In breath-sized billows as they roll

Through hopes salvaged from dreams capsized

Undoing what we thought we knew

With sudden, foreign points of view

We will go forth because, my dear

No choice awaits but to proceed

Faith spurs us on and spars with fear

As scars forge wisdom’s crown and creed

Where delight, like a diamond stud

Dazzles dark backdrops of dismay

Where hope, like an unbroken bud

Reminds us of blooms held at bay

Cheering us on as vast unknowns

Unfold flowers and steppingstones

We will go forth but not alone

Goodness and mercy follow still

Where thoroughfares of grin-and-groan

Are never all down or uphill

The valley where shadows are cast

Like creases in a color-world

While the Master pieces the Past

With present grace on grace unfurled

His able Hands cradle the sky

We will go forth thence, you and I

© Janet Martin

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

2 Cor.5:7

How Awesome is This Place

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,

 “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 

And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! 

This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 

Gen.28:16-17

Echoing Jacob's words today 'how awesome is this place'

of God's redeeming grace

On That Day-City Alight

How awesome is this place

Where grace and mercy meld

To bring hope to a sin-cursed race

Through Jesus, not withheld

But, for glory’s increase

He suffered in our stead

The punishment that brings us peace

And triumphs death’s dark dread

How awesome is this place

Of grief, joy, love and hate

Where some believe with humble faith

And some doubt and debate

The way, the truth, the life

The hope that sets us free

Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ

And the grave’s victory

How awesome is this place

This is the gate of heav’n

Where, by the goodness of God’s grace

The sinner is forgiv’n

Not in part, but in full

Redemption’s torrents pour

To work in us the miracle

Of sins recalled no more

How awesome is this place

Eternity’s threshold

The darksome glass, ere face to face

His beauty we behold

Where no more tears will be

When all will be made new

Together forever with He

Who so loves me and you

How awesome is our Lord

Where His grace tarries still

While prophecy fulfills His Word

According to His will

Where earth is heaven’s gate

Then call upon His name

Before it is too late, too late

Salvation’s gift to claim

© Janet Martin

Rev.21:5

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” 

Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”