Before The Winepress and Threshing Floor

Wheat harvest is in full swing! 

The 'winnowing fan' is separating the wheat from the chaff!

Many less visible 'harvests' are in full swing too!

John 15: 1-4 & 16

(read the whole beloved chapter HERE)

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 

 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [a]takes away; 

and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 

3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. 

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 

neither can you, unless you abide in Me...

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, 

and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, 

and that your fruit should remain: 

that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

James 2:17

So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

Matthew 3:8
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance...

As we study the ripple effects of carelessness, of sin/ disobedience to God,

its consequence is ghastly, rolling though generations with ease,

if left unchecked,

until the 'pit'-fall once disregarded by a few,

 is so crowded that the awareness of it ceases.

(why is it we are prone to lamenting sin's consequence, 

rather than the origin of the consequence- sin?!)

Wisdom always considers, beyond instant gratification, where the action or choice

if unchecked,  will lead and whether the fruit of it will ultimately,

draw us nearer to God or to the world...

is it a fruit of the Spirit or flesh?

If we have truly repented 

and if we truly love

our Saviour, then fruit in keeping with repentance

will/must be evident!! 

We live in a pleasure-driven age with exorbitant amounts of money

poured into the fleeting fruitlessness of many-a-joy toy...

Oh pray we never let the 'thorns/things' choke out the desire for God;

the Giver of every good and perfect gift!

We don't need to be wealthy to afford the gifts He promises to all

who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

'they shall be filled.' Matt.5:6,

while, the opposite is true when it comes to feeding carnal appetites;

the more we feast, the more we starve! 

If we are rooted in Good Soil we will grow and bear fruit...

Years ago one of the families I did childcare for, 

generously built/gifted me an arbour

and some grapevines, after I casually mentioned to them 

in a gardening conversation that someday I would LOVE to have a grape arbor.

What grand anticipation followed the planting of the vines!

but, nothing happened!!

For three years I watched as each spring a few valiant leaves appeared, 

assuring me there was still some life in the vine,

but it only ever survived each season, rather than thrived! 

Suddenly it dawned on me that perhaps the arbor is too close to

the black walnut trees bordering the neighbor's property!

Sure enough, only wild grapes are juglone tolerant!

In disappointment I dug them up and carelessly plopped them in a hole

in my 'miscellaneous' flowerbed assuming by the looks of them

that this time there was no life remaining...

I was wrong!

Finally the thing that hampered their growth was removed 

and they leaped from the earth like a visual hymn!

thankfully, wisteria is unbothered by juglone!

(walnut tree beauties in background)

the mouth may boast a myriad of profound piety

but fruit will always tell the truth of fig or thistle tree 

how careful then, we ought to heed, before the consequence

the seeds we strew, of righteousness or disobedience 

...because, no matter what we say, our actions do not lie

Who we live for is proven by the one we most deny;

the God of love or god of self; no one can serve two Lords/lords

And by the fruit the tree is known; not by the wind of words

    Producing fruit in keeping with repentance, none can do

apart from the True Vine; then call on Him; He helps us to

endure the painful pruning of the Vinedresser, before

the Grim Authentication of winepress and threshing-floor 

 

Janet Martin

Ps.33:18-22

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

19 To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

Just as we hope in You.

Fruit-Evaluation...

How often love relinquishes what we dearly love 

for Who we dearly love~

***

To love something is never Reason enough unless

it is because we love someone

***

2 Tim.3:1-5

But know this, that in the last days [a]perilous times will come: 

2 For men will be lovers of themselves, 

lovers of money, 

boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,

 unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, [b]unforgiving, 

slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, 

lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 

5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. 

And from such people turn away!

***

We all know it is foolish to wait till autumn to contemplate

what will be the harvest!

Harvest depends on what we sow during planting season!

Today in the Season of life it is still planting season,

even in November.

Fruit is no liar;

we reap what we sow.

We are wise to pause time and again, and evaluate

humbly and honestly the health and hardiness

of the fruit on the tree...

Matt.3:10

The ax is already at the root of the trees, 

and every tree that does not produce good fruit 

will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

On today's to-do/planting-harvest list; can pumpkins...

Roast beets for supper 'salad'...

(Below, last week's first time recipe-try and new fall favourite!)

Myriad medleys of  moments served up inspiration for today's poem...

Upon a scale we oft forget, the fruit of love is weighed

Each new day, rife with gleaming 'yet' grants opportunity 

To manifest love's evidence, as word and deed are laid

Before the One whose ordinance lays the ax to the tree   

 

Upon a scale we cannot see, we heap the fruit of love

While God's goodness streams fresh and free, like rainfall and sunshine

His mercy hails and we reply; as what we prize we prove

By who we serve; vain to deny the fruit upon the vine   

Great peace have they who love God's law, yea, nothing will offend

Then pray for more genuine awe as we approach The Scale

For love is not a liar as it fills limbs that will bend

With fruit of heart's desire and the proof that will not fail 

Upon a scale none can revoke love's sacred fruits accrue 

The deed we did, the word we spoke, the Thought, secretly sown 

Then pray we pay more earnest heed as we embark anew

To till the ground and plant the seed that by its fruit is known

Upon a scale held in hands scarred by love, nailed to a cross 

We heap our answer; no holds barred, holy, holy, the fruit 

Because it tells the tender truth; futile, all verbal gloss 

The fruit of love, the sacred proof that silences dispute  

Gal.5:19-26

The acts of the flesh are obvious: 

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy,

 fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; 

drunkenness, orgies, and the like. 

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this

 will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,

 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness and self-control. 

Against such things there is no law. 

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh 

with its passions and desires. 

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 

 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Gal.6:7-10

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. 

Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

  8The one who sows to please his flesh, 

from the flesh will reap destruction;

 but the one who sows to please the Spirit, 

from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, 

for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

  10Therefore, as we have opportunity, 

let us do good to everyone, 

and especially to the family of faith.

 

Praise God From Whom All Blessing Grows...

This poem has been percolating in my soul for some time 💓🙏

Life is unceasingly busy with beauty/bounty of harvest among other things...

(including, much to our relief, the recovery of our pickup truck,

on Sat. night, after it was stolen from our back yard 

two weeks ago during a family reunion!

It will (happily) be returned in due time.

Thank-you to all who prayed and please continue to pray

 for the poor soul who stole it 😢💔)

Praise God from Whom all blessings grow as earthen wellsprings overflow...

The seed is rent with plume and root,

 the bough is bent with gleaming fruit...

The land, a patchwork counterpane of lush corn fields and gathered grain...

And gold-green sheen of soybean field aflutter with impending yield...

And in yon once-upon-spring-brooks, wild flowers beckon second-looks...

A rambling rush, where sight is awed by aster, teasel, goldenrod

Praise God from Whom all blessings grow as earthen wellsprings overflow

The seed is rent with plume and root, the bough is bent with gleaming fruit

The land, a patchwork counterpane of lush corn fields and gathered grain

And gold-green sheen of soybean field aflutter with impending yield

And in yon once-upon-spring-brooks, wild flowers beckon second-looks

A rambling rush, where sight is awed by aster, teasel, goldenrod

Praise God from Whom all bounty brims; happiness is hope’s harvest hymns

The creature’s quick complaint subdued by unmerited gratitude

As God, rich in mercy and love runs goodness through sod’s treasure trove

For needy likes of you and I whose worship lifts up glad reply

To He who gives us strength for toil as we gather seed’s sumptuous spoil

Or when praise is unlearned, still He pours unearned blessing lavishly

Praise God from Whom all blessings peal. Before whose throne we humbly kneel

To offer soulful stutters to the One who cares for me and you

Who loves to stun our ardent prose with the perfection of the rose

Who challenges the showman’s noise with dripping peachy-sweetest joys

Who strums the hidden parts of earth and orchestrates the art of birth

Who sees our hearts, knows how we are, yet still upends His blessing-jar

Praise God from Whom all blessing grows in reds, pinks, purples, greens, yellows

Each garden plot, (after the heat) a paradisiacal retreat

Each tree-tress like a mandolin breeze-balladeers get tangled in

Each woodland dark and whispering before fall’s stark unraveling

Each bower like a temple where we cannot help but bow in prayer

Each flower a masterpiece, oh, praise God from Whom all blessings grow

Each fruit and veg a five-star score of possibility galore

Each by God wondrously designed; each perfect after their own kind

Praise Him for healthy appetite and praise Him for each tasty bite

Of blessing only He can grant where our duty is to plant

Then trust Him for the compliments of sun and raindrop providence

Content to join the hymn that flows, ‘praise God from whom all blessing grows’

© Janet Martin

Praise God from Whom all blessing grows in reds, pinks, purples, greens, yellows

Each garden plot, (after the heat) a paradisiacal retreat...

Each tree-tress like a mandolin breeze-balladeers get tangled in

Each woodland dark and whispering before fall’s stark unraveling

Each bower like a temple where we cannot help but bow in prayer

Each flower a masterpiece, oh, praise God from Whom all blessings grow

Ps.66:1-5

Make a joyful noise to God,
all the earth!
2Sing the glory of His name;
make His praise glorious.
3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds!
So great is Your power
that Your enemies cower before You.
4All the earth bows down to You;
they sing praise to You;
they sing praise to Your name.”

Before The Tree and the Fruit... (or, It May Seem Small in the Planting)

One choice may seem so small, for good or bad,

but small things amassed become something much bigger;

grains of sand make a shore,

drops of water an ocean,

moments, a lifetime.

Choice, repeated becomes a habit!

Our 'habits' become our lives...

Day by day,

verse by verse, 

chapter by chapter 

we read through the Bible

and are spoken to and taught by God, 

or not!

Prayer by prayer 

we learn to worship Him 

and trust Him a little more, 

or not...

What are we going to do Today, 

with our pocket full of moment-seeds

dropping from the Hand of goodness and mercy

to the soil of the soul?

(Where, even in reaping, we are planting!)

I'm about to head out to plant some marigold among the tomatoes,

in hopes of deterring tomato worms!

1 Cor. 1:4-9

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God

 which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 

5 that you were enriched in everything by Him 

in all [a]utterance and all knowledge, 

6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed [b]in you, 

7 so that you come short in no gift, 

eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

8 who will also confirm you to the end, 

that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called 

into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Isn't verse 9 an awesome verse to begin a new week on?

To remind us to make the most of every opportunity?!

It may seem minute, the measure of a moment, thought or seed

But the value of life’s treasure is measured by word and deed

Where Choice bears a holy onus in each little ‘yes’ or ‘no’

Where no one can trick the promise that we will reap what we sow

It may seem inconsequential; as, partakers of God’s grace

We, oft thoughtlessly unthankful, give the Giver second place

Not with preconceived intention but, as bridles are cut loose

Without forceful intervention interfering with excuse

It may seem so small, where choices gape with opportunity

Be careful, for Reply voices far more than first glance may see

And no matter how we defend lack of honor with excuse

The fruit of seed cannot pretend; what we plant, seed will produce

It may seem so very common; left foot, right foot, slumber, wake

Sometimes we forget that Someone grants each gifted breath we take

Sometimes, then we are not prayerful, humble and obedient

Sometimes then, we are not careful with the seeds God’s goodness lent

It may not seem very dire, crucial or imperative

What or who attunes desire, what we choose to keep or give

Who we worship in the granting of love and longing’s pursuit

It may seem small in the planting, before the tree and the fruit

© Janet Martin

Day by Day

Ephemeral and Eternal

Gal.6:7-10

7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked.

 Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

  8The one who sows to please his flesh, 

from the flesh will reap destruction; 

but the one who sows to please the Spirit, 

from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, 

for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 

10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone,

 and especially to the family of faith.

Saturday was filled with harvest-season thrills!

(weather turned out drier than expected)

...and it's because of the on-coming generation that what we sow is so crucial;

they will be reaping some of that harvest!!

We cannot ever fully know

Where-when fruit grows from seeds we strew

Or how far-reaching is the flow

Of words we say and deeds we do

Eternal and ephemeral

The potent ink of moment-font

Unfathomable potential

For kinder thought and meeker want

…and humbler thanks for lessons learned

That teach a sweeter contentment

As moment-to-moment is turned

Into lifetimes composed and spent

Ah, we can never fully see

Where moments, as they slip through choice

Will root and sprout into a tree

As fruit of fallen seed gives voice

Then, pray for purer, truer love

For nobler goals than earth can boast

For what God grants is quite enough

To serve Him to the uttermost

As much as lies within us then

We ought to try each day to dwell

Peaceably with our fellowmen

Because of seeds that soon will tell

…how well we loved each other while

Moments tumbled through touch to meld

To Bygone’s everlasting isle

Of moments once so briefly held

© Janet Martin

Until we make our peace with God we cannot truly make peace with each other~

Yesterday, the service leader opened the service 

with prayer for this broken world

which we all have our own broken part in!

How comforting to be able to gather freely

and open God's word together to grow in

the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Rom.12:18

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 

live peaceably with all men.

Isa.26:3

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: 

because he trusteth in thee.

Isa.48:22

“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

My, my, how the wicked wreak havoc

where peace could/would otherwise be!

We remember those who are suffering today,

especially in war-torn countries!

Most Humbly Thankful

as we gather

orchards and gardens

into pots and pans

baskets and bowls

it woos a hymn

that overflows

most humbly-thankful 

hearts and souls

Janet~

Ps.100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, 

and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:

 be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

 and his truth endureth to all generations.