Hope In Spite of Hardship And A Hug for the Hurting...

All the comforts of this world

cannot replace the comforts of the Soul,

wherewith Faith is cheered!

All the wonders of the world

cannot eclipse the wonder of His Word,

whereby Faith is taught!

All the wealth of this world

cannot compare to the riches of His grace;

Faith's inheritance!

***

1 Cor.13:12

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:

now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

There is SO much more to this life than what/who meets the eye!

(like potato-diggers or flowers)

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.

***

Sometimes, when hardships come some doubt God

and his existence.

In the verses below David reflects, first on Joseph

who was sold as a slave, thrown into prison,

through false allegations,

before eventually being released

and given a place of highest honour!

Until the time that his word came to pass,

The word of the Lord tested him

Ps.105:19

...and then, also on the Israelites 

and God's faithful provision for them

in spite of their complaining and ungratefulness !

But (the Israelites) lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,

And tested God in the desert.

And He gave them their request,

But sent leanness into their soul.

Ps.106:14-15

Yesterday I visited a friend who recently moved into hospice.

She knows her time on this earth is almost over,

Yet,

Her room seemed filled with Hope's Palpable Presence; Peace! 

Through Christ's shed blood and her confession of faith,

when she repented and believed,

'in the valley of the shadow of death she fears no evil

for the Shepherd is with her; His rod and staff comfort her...'

(Still, please pray for her and her family!!)

In spite of this, these are hard days 😭🙏

Dear 'S' 💓

Johnny Cash - If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven

Oh God, help us desire You and trust in You

with all our heart 

and not lean on our own understanding,

lest you satisfy our hands with things we see

and send a leanness of soul! 

What awful dread to live, not led

By He who satisfies the Soul

To think and be, by what we see

Rather than faith that makes us whole

What utter loss, to scorn the cross

And settle for this wicked world

To count for naught, salvation wrought

Through Jesus' blood-bought grace unfurled 

What sad effect if we reject

Glad, Living Hope, through faith in He

Who, in death's hour preempts its pow'r

With life, for all eternity

But oh, what peace and joy increase

As we release the part we brave

To Jesus Christ who sacrificed

Himself to overthrow the grave

Janet Martin 

Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, 

and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; 

for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Hebrews 9:22
According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, 

and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Matthew 26:28
This is My blood of the covenant, 

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, 

the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 

we have fellowship with one another, 

and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

 

Amazing Grace

Recently our Sunday morning messages have been on salvation!

The more I try to plumb the depths of God's amazing love and grace

that purchased the gift of salvation to pay the sinner's debt

 for all who repent and believe and thus receive it,

the more I marvel at how impossible it is

to fully comprehend amazing grace! 

or how impossible it is to believe without repenting

or repent without believing!

Heb.4:16

 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, 

that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

2 Cor. 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

There's Not A Friend Like The Lowly Jesus

You could confound us with the crumbs that fall 'neath The King's chair

But you invite us to sit at Your table, saved by grace

No judgement from the mercy seat that Calvary laid bare

As all who repent and believe become Your dwelling place

You could condemn us but instead You, sinless, became sin

So that through You we might become 'the righteousness of God' 

Not by works lest we boast; salvation, none can earn or win

It is a gift, a gift that leaves believers/receivers humbly awed 

Then, who is qualified to cast judgment's first stone, pray tell

For there is no one righteous, no, not one, we, debtors all

To grace, the grace that saves us from eternity in hell

When truly, truly on Your Name above all names, we call   

You know our hearts, you hear our prayers, You know that we are dust

The recompense that we deserved You bore, once and for all 

You are good, holy, merciful, compassionate and just

Your everlasting love abides as kingdoms rise and fall 

Once, I was a prodigal child squandering love and life 

Once You left the ninety and nine in the fold, to find me

Amazing grace, agape I gaze where redemption runs rife

You reconciled your rebel child and set my doomed soul free 

The crumbs that fall from Your table, would be too good for me

But you invite me to sit down, beloved and justified

By Your amazing grace; I, once condemned have been set free

And clothed in robes of righteousness that only You provide

Janet Martin

Amazing Grace 

Rom.5:6-11

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,

 Christ died for the ungodly. 

 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, 

though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: 

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood,

how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 

10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, 

how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Grace Unfurled

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Ps. 118:24

I began this poem, inspired by dawn's golden tide

as it rolled across the waking countryside...

(side note; did you know the word 'countryside' is one of my

favorite words in the English language?!!) 

...but helping a friend with strawberry-picking

and Cutie-duty prevailed before it was finished!

Once more summer morn’s golden tide

Washes across the countryside

Duty’s demand wakens a world

Of consumers, to grace unfurled

The grand escape from Yesterday

Rouses both hunter and its prey

…the padlock on dusk’s westward arc

Is obsolete; Dawn melts the dark

As tug of wars of want and need

Either encourage or impede

Our will to do or rue the task

That sparkles from a new day’s flask

This is the day the Lord has lent

We reply with hope or lament

Blessed are they who live to praise

The faithful Giver of our days

Where we, consumers of His grace

Should view nothing as commonplace

But revere He who frees the tide 

That rolls across the countryside

...transforming the place where we stand

To holy ground, beneath the Hand

That wears the scars that paid the price

That authored grace through sacrifice

...a sacrifice second to none

That paid sin's debt for everyone

But left it up to you and me

To choose the grace that sets us free

'for it is by grace we are saved'

Pardon's proof on God's Hands engraved

The hands that reach to you and I

To draw night's mantle from the sky 

© Janet Martin

Where we, consumers of His grace

Should view nothing as commonplace...

But revere He who frees the tide 

That rolls across the countryside

The Best Gift (We Can Never Buy)

Because He Lives- David Crowder

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee-Carrie Underwood

We cannot buy the things that only God grants, through His love

The pelf and pleasure of this world can never satisfy

No bag or box or bank account is ever big enough

To hold or purchase happiness, no matter how we try 

We cannot buy the hope that only God grants through his Son

For Jesus Christ, who knew no sin became sin's sacrifice

His death and resurrection purchased hope for everyone

Who repents and believes and receives everlasting life  

We cannot buy the truth that only God grants, through His word

His word will fill all who hunger and thirst for righteousness 

Therefore we ought to trust more dearly the things we have heard

'He who is just and faithful, forgives the sins we confess'

We cannot buy pure joy or peace only God grants, through grace

For by grace we are saved; not of works lest any should boast

His joy in us makes joy complete; nothing can take His place

His peace, not of this world endures unto the uttermost 

How futile is the search for happiness then, without He 

Who gives us all things richly to enjoy, through salvation

Who became flesh and made His dwelling among us so we

By faith, may see His glory too, the glory of God's son

The things that truly satisfy, cannot be bought or sold

No matter how we try we cannot purchase happiness

Only God grants The Gift that transcends this world's transient hold

Silver and gold can never buy His precious promises

The best gift we can never buy and only God can grant

Is free to all who call on Him; the Saviour of the soul

Though we may gain the whole world, without God's best gift we can't

Find hope, truth, peace or joy; these come through faith that makes us whole

© Janet Martin

Ps.146:5

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, 

whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Gifted Gravity...

 

2 Cor.6:1-2

As God’s fellow workers,a then, we urge you

not to receive God’s grace in vain.

  2For He says:

“In the time of favor I heard you,

and in the day of salvation I helped you.”b

Behold, now is the time of favor;

 now is the day of salvation!

Come to Jesus

Sometimes, sorrow for lost souls

is almost more than hearts can bear,

But love clings to love's sacred sorrow

and turns its tears to prayer on prayer

***

Night’s dark wave on dawn’s shoreline breaks

Shadows are drawn away

A tide of humanity wakes

To face another day

To tread the Sands of Time that brace

A very sacred Verge

Where morning thunders with God’s grace

Where slumbering masses surge

The Preacher cries in Jesus’ Name

‘Awake!’ where footsteps roll

Past gaping graves that soon will tame

The dust, but not the Soul

Alas, the House of Prayer, has turned

Into a den of thieves

The faith that saves obtusely spurned

For a handful of leaves/sheaves

The Son is trodden underfoot

Understanding defiled

Where wrong is right and evil good

Opprobrium runs wild

‘Repent, repent!’ The preacher pleads

While the proud crowds rebel

And poison Innocence with creeds

That lead to death and hell

The ears that hear are far and few

So too, the eyes that see

Yet, morning breaks, and stirs anew

Time’s gifted gravity

Light shines into the dark once more

Hope takes a holy breath

Where Sands of Time compose a shore

That cannot withstand death

Behold, Salvation’s Day unfurled

From greatest to the least

Life cries into a dying world

Dawn spills a mercy-feast

Again, the Patient Preacher takes

Love's post most tenderly

For lost souls, on the verge that breaks

Into eternity

© Janet Martin

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,

 as some understand slowness. 

Instead he is patient with you,

 not wanting anyone to perish, 

but everyone to come to repentance.

Rescue the Perishing

Apart from What God's Grace Bestows

While works do not save, it is a person's works that ultimately bears witness

 of whether or not we are attached to the Vine!

As the fruits of the Spirit begin to grow there should be a stark/marked difference

between the old life and the new...

Matt. 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, 

that they may see your good works

 and glorify your Father in heaven.

    

Apart from what God’s grace bestows, no boast have I to claim

Praise God; where judgement’s verdict rose in condemnation’s blame/shame

Grace did abound, through Jesus Christ, the hour I believed

By the Lamb that God sacrificed, full pardon I received

Shall I then sin where grace runs through and through me; God forbid

The new man in no way should do the things the old man did

For then I mock the sacredness where Jesus Christ’s shed blood

Clothes me in robes of righteousness, but by the grace of God

How can I, who have died to sin, live therein anymore

The miracle grace wrought within ends who I was before

Through salvation, the gift God gives, the sinner is set free

Henceforth it is not I who lives, but Christ who lives in me

Apart from what God’s grace bestows, dwells in me no good thing

Praise God from whom all blessing flows, for death has lost its sting

Because the old man, crucified, wears newness in its place

Where Jesus Christ is glorified through sinners saved by grace

© Janet Martin

Romans 6: 1-4

 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 

3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus

 were baptized into His death? 

 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, 

that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 

even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Does It Not (Bid Thought to Marvel)

 Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed?

 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father 

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

 4 who gave himself for our sins 

to rescue us from the present evil age, 

according to the will of our God and Father, 

5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. 

Amen. 

Gal.1:3-5

Does it not bid thought to marvel

He who knew no sin became

Sin's sacrifice for all people

To redeem us through His Name

Does it not stir adoration 

For He whose blood was out-poured

Once for all, the soul's salvation

Wrought, through Jesus Christ the Lord

Does it not stun contemplation

That the Son of God should be

Humbled to death's meanest station

On a cross for all to see

Crushed beneath the weight He carries

Sinless, bearing all our sins

For we, beneficiaries

Of His holy sufferings 

Does it not undo vainglory

To view hate's presumptuousness

While love, clothed in bloodshed, gory

Wove faith's robes of righteousness

Does it not renew surrender

Does it not steal our breath

To behold the soul's Defender 

Obedient unto death

Look, where love's manifestation

Suffered voluntarily  

Does it not stir adoration

From the likes of you and me

Jesus Christ gave Himself for us

Bearing Pardon's Albatross 

So that we we may be victorious

Through the power of the cross

Does it not bid thought to marvel

At the hope the cross affords

Through sin's sacrifice so royal-

King of Kings and Lord of lords

   © Janet Martin

Nothing But the Blood of Jesus

Wonderful Merciful Saviour

Lord, When I Think About Your Love or Awed Impetus

How Great Thou Art 

 

And Can It Be?

Lord, when I think about Your love

And what it bid of You

May it revive awed impetus

To be faithful and true

Thou, King of kings and Lord of lords

Author of earth and sky

Led like a lamb ‘neath slaughter’s swords

On a cross lifted high

Lord, when I think about Your Son

Who died so I could live

Who, during His crucifixion

Cried out, ‘Father, forgive’

I pray that Your love would pour through

My redeemed edifice

To amaze, humble and renew

Devotion’s impetus

Lord, when I think about Your love

The Lamb that took my place

I cannot comprehend the trove

The spills grace upon grace

Or the breadth of Thy treasury

From which mercies abound

To satisfy each earthly plea

With purpose heaven-crowned

Lord, when I think about your love

Words fail to intercede

Redemption’s ‘Infinite Enough’

Supplies infinite need

Where blood drenched altars made of stone

Could never satisfy

What only Christ’s blood could atone

The sins of you and I

Lord, when I think about the breath

That rent the temple's veil

And broke the curse that authored death

All other wonders pale

The love that frees, and bought for us

Not punishment, but Prize

The blood of Jesus wrought for us

The right to Paradise

Lord, when I think of who You sent

Spite’s sword falls from my hand

Redemption seals a covenant

I cannot understand

You gave Your Son to take my place

Though You know me full well

Still, I receive grace upon grace

Instead of death and hell

© Janet Martin

John 1:16-17

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

 17For the law was given through Moses;

 grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

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.”

Like Velvet Tulle

Below is a paragraph from the study page for the leaders

of last Sunday's Sunday School lesson...

sound encouragement/wisdom to live by

as we dwell on the theme of faithfulness!

'We can’t undo the past, but we can be decisively committed to the next step, 

the next moment, and the next opportunity.

What if you committed to faithfulness one day at a time?

 And what if your faithfulness marked the people around you in significant ways? 

Then I would imagine that your faithfulness 

will lead to future opportunities for greater influence.

Don’t waste today.

Be faithful to your purpose 

to live as the salt of the earth 

and the light of the world.

And God will use you today and, Lord willing, 

multiply your efforts and opportunities tomorrow.' -The Gospel Project

Since last Thursday our area is an ice-and-snow castle!!

Like velvet tulle the crepuscule of night dissolves; it falls

Like paper from a gift that lifts the darkness from earth’s halls

Like whispers of mercy and love brushing shadows awry

Like a fresh sheet beneath our feet that reaches to the sky

Like smiles across the miles that toss barges of want and need

Like little boats or music notes that bob and press and plead

Like melodies in symphonies where seasons rise and fall

Like music bars or shooting stars or like a madrigal

To fill that cast of Almost Past with what none should ignore

Today; the place where by God’s grace it spills from shore to shore

To set the stage, where age to age the fruit of choice becomes

At that last breath the life and death of very sacred sums

When, like soft tulle the crepuscule of time and grace will fade

Like mist upon the Sealed Bygone of choices we have made

© Janet Martin

Psalm 51:15-17

O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

A Get-Rich-Quick-Forever Gift!

 

Inspired by the riches of Ephesians 1&2, Phil. 2, and so many more scriptures

All hinged to the Reason for the Christmas Season

Oh may we desire the wealth of spiritual blessing

possible only if we receive The Gift. God's Gift of grace

(Note: this is not a wealth of ease and material opulence,

because this wealth was bought with a great price!

But the price gives us access to all the priceless promises of God)

One Still Night

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms 

with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Eph.1:3

God’s gift of glorious grace

In meanest cradle lies

The riches of redemption veiled

In baby’s newborn cries

The hope of humankind

Descends from Heaven’s throne

To mercy’s masterpiece designed

Death’s sentence to atone

Through the shed blood of Christ

God trumps Lucifer’s schemes

From His Own Offspring sacrificed

Pardon’s profusion streams

…to lowly sons of earth

The holy Son of God

Suffered the pains of human birth

To bear rejection’s rod

…and suffer unto death

Even death on a cross

The King of kings offered Himself

To be a Lamb for us

The Son of God became

The Name believer’s hail

He suffered crucifixion’s shame

To rend the temple’s veil

So, all may freely come

Hope’s riches to embrace

The Cornerstone of Christendom

God’s gift of glorious grace

No more to be enslaved

By doubt, greed, pride and fear

But through faith, by grace we are saved

We, once far off brought near

To taste death's sweet release

Where Jesus took our place

His blood, the purchase price of peace

God’s gift of glorious grace

Ah, here all praise begins

Death falls like shackles spliced

We, who were dead in our sins

Are made alive with Christ

God, who is rich in love

Forgives this sinful race

Through the exceeding riches of

Jesus, God’s gift of grace

That in ages to come

His kindness might be known

Through we who benefited from

The kindness Christ has shown

© Janet Martin

The Masterpiece of Grace

I began writing this poem early this morning without any idea what today's message would be!

But the passage for the inspiration of this poem was part of this morning's message at WBC!

1 John 4: 11-12

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, 

God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.

I have been reading a lot in Ephesians and 1,2&3rd John recently!

So, the 'message' in the message reiterated a lot of what has been on my heart!

Thank-you God (and Gary)

Oh, The Everlasting Love of God

Oh! Pray that most stunningly profound moment takes place

when we are utterly awed by God's unfathomable grace

that His love bestows on all who call on Him,

in repentance and belief,

and then, our only possible reply can be

  the greatest of these: love! 

Amazing Grace/Anthem Lights

Love leaps with joy’s sweet poses and in sorrow weeps and mourns

It awes us with its roses, and it pricks us with its thorns

It uplifts hearts with gladness, and it weighs hearts down with care

The utmost happy sadness that mortal will ever bear

It soothes and stuns; it sears and cheers and wounds and heals, oh my

It binds and frees and finds its knees beneath its weighted sigh

It satisfies our deepest need but cannot succour Self

It is an enemy of greed and miser’s hoarded pelf

Daily it dies unnumbered deaths yet is life to the full

Of priceless worth and yet to keep it is impossible

For until it is given, none its merit can applaud

A mirror made in Heaven to reflect the proof/love of God

Love suffers long and it is kind no matter what the price

The crown jewel of blessing lined with constant sacrifice

The tally of its treasure reckoned in regions above

On ledgers beyond measure because who can fathom love?

Love yields, yet clings to what is right, often misunderstood

Love is a peacemaker that fights with all its might for good

Love lends a helping hand and walks a second mile or ten

Because love, the greatest command is God in us, amen

No flesh can force, form or plan love from matter, tangible 

The divine mesh of God in man is unfathomable

Where without love/God no one can set the building blocks in place

On The Cornerstone that begets The Masterpiece of Grace 

© Janet Martin

Above, Beyond and Over All

A lone dove coos...

In spite of, amidst, into life's lease of woes

To take the sting from the its biting blows

God's grace and glory and goodness flows...

Sometimes it would be easy to be overwhelmed by

the darkness of this world,

 the hate, the wars,

the grief this brings to loved ones,

 the spiteful critic's tongue,

the constant arguing, 

finger-pointing, fault-finding, failure

 (because we are human)

but for the glory of God's love 

that still spills in more ways

than hate could ever infringe upon!

Thus we are overcome with love and hope

 rather than hate or despair.

Hallelujah!

 And from its labyrinth of limbs, a hymn of happiness...

...this 'finch-hymn' filled the snowflake-filigree-ed March morning!

this poem was going to be a quick four-liner due to a long to-do list today,

then it became an eight-liner, then twelve, 

then I decided to just let go of Time's restraints 

and let the ink flow🙏💗😊 

Amidst the misery and mayhem of this troubled world

A snowflake falls, a lone dove coos, a sunrise is unfurled

The bloom undoes the casing of a bud, a bulb, a seed

And stuns us with the loveliness that God alone can breed

Into the brokenness that ended Eden’s paradise

A dewdrop gleams, a flower beams, a newborn baby cries

Winter yields to the woo of spring, the tree redons its tress

And from its labyrinth of limbs, a hymn of happiness

Among love’s thorns that prick and pierce with fierce and bitter sting

Kindness still smiles and walks a second mile; brooks laugh and sing

And where it sometimes seems the earth is a showcase of death

God proves His faithfulness with birth; wonder still steals our breath

In spite of sorrow’s agonizing, unrelenting ways

The wind still whispers in the willow; humble faith still prays

A child still melts the heart where Innocence its Hour wills

Mercy renews its vows and rends night’s veil; God’s glory spills

Above, beyond and over-all, where sinful boast runs bold

The divine faithfulness of God prevails ten-thousand-fold

In spite of mortal misery, God's love still never fails

The greatness of His majesty in victory prevails

Beyond the scope of what we see a better morning waits

Where hope will turn to jubilee beyond time's tear-stained gates

Thus now, though we are wearied by faith's foe, redemption flows

Still, still amidst the misery and mayhem blooms Love's Rose

 

© Janet Martin

1 Chron.29:11

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory,

 The victory and the majesty; 

For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,

 And You are exalted as head over all.

Still, Still With Thee

While Love, Not Hate Flings Wide Dawn's Gate

While love, not hate flings wide dawn’s gate; 

life’s wonders wait to steal our breath

The hand that threads the wand that weds 

dawn’s bronze and reds to night undone

Cannot be swayed;

Love does not fail but rends night’s veil 

and tips dawn's grail of grace instead

Without love's promises 

in the Word of God

to anchor hope

and secure joy

We are prey 

for dread's deadly demons

set to loot frail soul-vessels

with brute fear 

This morning in the dark before dawn

the immense sense of impending gloom and doom

fell away in the light of God's Word 

Jude 1:20-21

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up

 in your most holy faith

 and praying in the Holy Spirit, 

 keep yourselves in God’s love 

as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 

to bring you to eternal life.

In the face of so much hardship all around us

may we never lose sight of the joy of

faith's glorious, flawless facts

 'bringing us to eternal life'.

In time’s showcase of doubt, we brace ourselves to face forecasts of doom

While mercy swells from ancient wells to toll hope’s bells with joy, not gloom

Deathtraps to happiness seem set to collapse ‘perhaps yes’ with ‘nay’

While God attends the rod that rends night’s veil and bends the dark with day

Dread’s demons lurk; their doleful work of woe berserk with throes of death

While love, not hate flings wide dawn’s gate; life’s wonders wait to steal our breath

For we are not by God forgotten; we, so rotten to the core

Still sole heirs of His grace and love; guilt’s trove spoiled with goodness galore

The hand that threads the wand that weds dawn’s bronze and reds to night undone

Cannot be swayed; this day He made both field and Reaper’s blade in one

Do not despair, but be aware; life’s care is but the thoroughfare

That leads back to, not what but Who offers true joy beyond compare

Who can afford God’s love ignored and the reward that Truth exacts

While skylines brim with proof of Him where none can dim Faith’s flawless facts

Of God in charge, though World at Large may barge where angels fear to tread

Love does not fail but rends night’s veil and tips dawn's grail of grace instead

© Janet Martin