Love's Purest Harvest

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Thank-you, God, for the toil of rakes,

of pruning shears and petal-tears

and garden tours where farewell aches

with every tug and turn. As years

accumulate with searing ease;

sheaf upon sheaf

of memories

Thank you, God, for beggarly bliss

where happiness and hunger meld

where no morrow can cool the kiss

that weeps with joy at having held

and borne the sting of thorns to smell

the rose before

its petals fell

Thank-you, God, for the tender task

of tending graves; no cruel grief

is this; to linger thus, to bask

in the fullness of fallen leaf

and listen to the eulogy

that weans the whisper

from the tree

Thank-you God, for each little slice

of Heaven on earth’s dust-to-dust

season-altars of sacrifice

-es kindling utter wonder-lust

And humbler gratitude, to crown

Love’s tender teardrops

slipping down

© Janet Martin

A few more 'slices' 

of Heaven on earth’s dust-to-dust...

A Hope-Hug

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.

Earlier this week a commentator for The Masters remarked how

there are far more games being played than the one we see on the greens;

the games of the mind!

We can all relate to that comment, can't we?!

But above all that fuels the duels of the mind

there is faith, hope and love. (1 Cor.13:13)

These are no game!

These equip us for what waits after life's/faith's grueling duels are done!

Images like the ones below can't help but rouse a sort of reflection

and stir a sacred anticipation for That Day

when by the grace of God for His eternal glory, believers, faithful and true

 celebrate the Victory of all Victories!

When it will be our arms lifted in unceasing praise to the One who made triumph possible!

Dear Christian, are you discouraged, weary beyond words, with love's cares and prayers?

Press on. A Heavenly hug awaits!

Hope heals many a hurt

Hope drives us from despair

Hope endorses the holy work

Of meek and patient prayer

And does not make ashamed

All who through faith, trust Him

Who once upon a cross proclaimed

Hope that no woe/foe can dim

Though oft we groan with grief

Where hell’s painted façade

Promotes the plague of unbelief

And fearlessness of God

Still, mercy is renewed

Each morn, His truth remains

Where faith keeps hopelessness subdued

Through grace His love sustains

Whoever will may come

Trust in God and repent

Before the certain, sacred sum

Of numbered days is spent

Before it is too late

To prepare to meet God

Because Last Breath has sealed the gate

With judgment’s solemn rod

Without His gift of grace

Without redemption’s stream

How can we bear to think to face

He who died to redeem

And break the curse of sin

To save the deathless soul

To anchor hope beneath the skin

Of faith that makes us whole

© Janet Martin

 In Need 

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 25:5

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

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope

 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

1 Peter 1:3

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33:22

But if we choose to reject and disregard Him,

what then?!!

If we choose through unrepentance, God's wrath?!!

A somber reflection from a devotion by Charles Spurgeon 

Ode to Grief...

You hide in jolly hollyhocks

In eyes alight with dreams

In leisurely barefoot, beach walks

In rainbow zinnia streams

In little lass with little curl

In outdoor time for tea

To celebrate a little girl

Who just turned half-past three

In ‘my, how fast sweet baby grows’

In pangs pure love imparts

In vignettes made of mementos

To carry in our hearts

In treetop tress, first green, then red

Orange, russet, gold, then doffed

In brittle crunch beneath our tread

Where leaf-lilt echoes waft

In fading valor of the sun

In autumn-morning mist

In days, that trick us summer-spun

With nights silver-frost-kissed

In swells of history disguised

In gleaming rise of day

The essence of the Thing we prized

Snatched to dusk’s foaming fray

In what has almost disappeared

As if it never was

A Very Vexing Vaunt veneered

With breath-taking Because

Because of love, because of joy

At every turn you lurk

I sense you in the carefree boy

In poise of play and work

In gardens, grand with grin and groan

Of seed's bounteous wealth

In hands, weathered, worked to the bone 

In thankfulness for health

In pansies, ever-pleasant charm

In hope and happiness

In sweeps that ripple, rife and warm

With life and loveliness

In arms that never quite grow cold

Though Child slips from Her knee

To chase the winds of growing old

On wings of vanity

You hide in touch cut to the quick

An artisan of scars

You always hover in the thick

Of laughter’s falling stars

Ah, grief, the price of love, ah love

So worth grief's cruel test

For only love can be enough

To satisfy the rest

© Janet Martin

Perfect Grief and Joy

This world is full of the sorrow of

Christmases without loved ones...

My son-in-law and his family are mourning the

sudden loss Grandmother/mother

the victim in this head-on collision on Thursday evening.

My prayer is that the love and comfort of God

will be their strength and peace in the days ahead.

(will you pray too?)

and for my son-in-law as he travels home for four days to be with his family? 

I'm running a bit behind on my Luke reading's reflections

Such a treasure trove of Scriptural wealth

makes it difficult to choose just one or two gems to share...

this post is inspired in part by Luke 17, 

in part by our music and message this morning

(click link then click Sunday Service Dec.19)

and in part by this week's advent theme of love

We sang this breathtaking song this morning

(a new one for me!)

Chris Tomlin - Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) [Lyric Video]

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. 

Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 

‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 

8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready 

and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?

 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 

10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say,

 ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Luke 17:7-10

 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

9 This is how God showed his love among us: 

He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 

10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

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

God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:7-12

Unto earth’s span of toil and test

Where trouble takes its toll

God gave to man His utter best

The Saviour of the soul

This little mist of time and place

Soon vanishes away

God’s gift of salvation and grace

Succeeds faith’s cup of clay

Imagine if time’s trifling toast

Was all that we could win

But love robbed the grave of its boast

And broke the curse of sin

The love of God did not withhold

His Son from suffering

But saw the joy that would unfold

As Death loses its sting

Life’s bitter brunt of grief and loss

Is but triumph’s prelude

Servanthood’s blood and tearstained cross

Unworthy gratitude

To He who came, by Heaven sent

Counsellor, Father, Friend

The Prince of Peace whose government

Will increase without end

Who, in his very nature God

Did not refuse the call

Humility and love unflawed

Obeyed. Death, once for all

From heaven’s throne the Savior stepped

Bethlehem’s Baby Boy

While surely heaven’s angels wept

With perfect grief and joy

© Janet Martin

Divine Design (updated)

.(here is the update mentioned this morning)

Last night my nephew's 19 mo. old son went missing

on their farm.

His body was recovered today in a manure pump.

Please pray for strength and comfort

for my brother Stuart and their family and

esp. for my nephew and his wife, Charles and Andrea!

I will say of the LORD, 

“He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Psalm 91:2

Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. 

My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield,

 and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 94:22

But the LORD has been my stronghold,

and my God is my rock of refuge.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

No matter what designs the must of trials we pass through

In Thee oh, Lord we place our trust; our refuge is in You

With gaping wounds of heart and soul, beneath the blows of loss

We plead for faith to make us whole by looking at the cross

For when life’s cup of joy is marred by sorrow’s agony

You reach with Hands redemption-scarred; our refuge is in Thee

The places that once brimmed with love and laughter’s harmony

Are full of tears, our visage dimmed with groaning sympathy

To Thee oh, Lord we pour our prayer; when understanding fails

Help us to place our burden where Your faithfulness prevails

To lean upon your promises for they are kind and true

No matter what designs the test, our refuge is in You

© Janet Martin

 

Betrayal; The Chief of Grief

This week-end many will celebrate love on Valentine's Day.

I am so thankful for all the faithful love in my life

but this year I feel an unutterable sorrow for so much brokenness!💔

And while the word Betrayal renews reverence for the word Faithful 

it also leaves us grief-stricken with a sometimes-feels-helpless heartache, 

to witness the ruins of shattered lives!

Is there any hurt more bitter and brutal than betrayal; When trust is broken?! 

When spouses, friends, preachers, teachers, apologists, priests 

betray those who trusted their love, 

their counsel, their ‘wisdom’, their vows, their office. 

One of Jesus’ twelve disciples betrayed Him, (with a kiss!) 

Surely there is a sorrow more bitter than death! 

That of betrayal! 

When trust is shattered, love besot, 

When what we thought was so, is not 

When lie and liar are unveiled 

When it seems, alas, love has failed 

God, who, still trustworthy and true 

(With Whom we all will have to do) 

Abides, resides, provides; He knows 

The pain of thorns that pierced the Rose 

He wept, while his beloved slept 

Betrayed by a friend’s kiss, no less

He reaches down with hands nail-scarred

He understands; his brow thorn-marred

Who plumbed the depths of pain and grief 

In suffering, ah, He is Chief 

So then, whatever bitter lot 

We can trust Him, no matter what 

© Janet Martin 

Heb.4:13

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. 

Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes 

of him to whom we must give account.

So we pray and pray for the broken, the betrayed, 

and the betrayer, just as Jesus, Son of God though He was, did. 

Heb.5:7-9

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions 

with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, 

and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

 8Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation 

for all who obey him...