There Is No Getting Around It...

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Matt.5:5

Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Saviour

No matter who we are

However great or small

There is no getting around it;

Pride goes before the fall

No matter who we are

However rich or poor

There is no getting around it;

God's promises endure

No matter who we are

Humble or full of pride

There is no getting around it

God's laws and love abide

Janet Martin

Proverbs 29:23
A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

'Wasting' of Self...

 So many forsake/deny/reject faith in God, 

disillusioned by circumstance and feelings...

rather than realizing after His grace and mercy detailed and explained 

in the first 11 chapters of Romans what our response ought to be...

 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters,

 in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, 

holy and pleasing to God—

this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1

These pages from the book Building of Character by J.R. Miller

Not in vain, the pain of learning

‘Neath the chisel as He shapes

Hearts agape with hope and yearning

As the artists sculpts and scrapes

Harsh and hard may seem the process

Firm, the Artist wields the knife

As He carves away, with losses

At the fabric of a life

Many with stubborn refusal

Flee His method; present-blind

Never becoming the vessel

That the Artist had in mind

We must let the Master labour

As He chips and strips at pride

Teaching us to love our neighbour

Until we are Self-denied

Until what we once thought worthy

Outside of the Artist’s plan

Lies in waste, as grace and mercy

Shapes a truly godly man

© Janet Martin

Your Common Sense...or Mine?

 If COVID-19 has revealed anything it's how very 

strongly we can disagree!

 ...granting all of us the opportunity to be a little humbler and kinder!

You say that you have common sense and I say you overreact

You think my common sense is strange; I say it is matter of fact

You tell me the right thing to do and I say absolutely NOT

You say more and I say less 

and you say no and I say yes

And we say what a noisy mess of diff’rences we’ve got

Some need to know ahead of time and some just wait and see

Some love white bread with butter; some live meat and gluten free

Variety, the spice of life can cause quite a kerfuffle

Unless we easy up a bit 

and settle down the dust of it

And sometimes just say nothing to save feathers we might ruffle

© Janet Martin


...inspired in part by some feathers strewn about the yard😏

How Can We Show Love...

These are dark days but because He lives we can face tomorrow!

"Because I live, you also will live."

John 14:19

 

Have you found it hard to feel encouraged in these dark days? 

 "it's so hard to know how to show love in a city where everyone is afraid"

said Melissa last night as she struggled with ideas on how to show love

in a world where again this week so much of the news 

is heavy and hard and we want to change the world with love but how?

~ "You must be the change you want to see in the world."~
Mahatma Ghandi 

Melissa shared an encounter with her intent to show love the other day...

she heard a lady in a wheel-chair calling 'will someone please help me cross the street?'

so she thought, 'well, that's pretty obvious! I can help her'

but as she pushed the very heavy wheel chair the woman wailed in pain over every bump,

Melissa got stuck in an LRT track and sheer panic forced the chair free!

When she reached the other side one woman was as distraught as the other

and she said 'all I intended to do was show love'.💝

It's hard not to let anger take root in the unfairness-es of life...

but God IS love. 

He IS good!

Psalm 145:8-9

 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
    slow to anger and rich in love.

 The Lord is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.

 

Let's trade our anger in for humble prayer

for a heart of forgiveness and love!

I turned to Psalm 37 yesterday for comfort and encouragement

It begins like this...

Do not fret because of evildoers,...

We are not equipped to stand up for what we believe

until we get down on our knees! 

How can we show love in a world where fear’s dark fathoms roll

With woe and pain, anxiety, chaos out of control

Mountains can seem so hard and high, but we are called to climb

And suffer the strain of its struggle one step at a time

How can we show love in a world where doubt and mistrust mars

The heart where hope should spring immortal, instead of hate’s scars

How can we hold a hand when Covid keeps touch beyond reach

Or comfort one another in death’s losses, dark and deep

How can we show love in a world of love misunderstood

Because broken humanity has not loved like we should

This place where racial prejudice makes people vile of heart

Makes we who want to show love, wonder how to do our part

How can we show love in a world where opinion takes charge

The Word of God rejected/neglected by the masses, by and large

How can we gain wisdom to know how to love without fail

On an ocean of ships tossed to and fro without a sail

How can we show love and not take offense when ‘they’ oppose

When we are crowned with thorns while scorn tramples love’s perfect rose

When evil seems to triumph and the world screams ‘where is God’

When answers are inept when instead of a kiss, a rod

How can we show love in a world that needs it desperately?

We start by looking through lenses of true humility

We start by seeking God to guide, for we are called to climb

One smile, kind word, one retort withheld, one prayer at a time

One heart that trusts the One who battled in Gethsemane

Surrendering His will to Love’s Supreme Authority

One life committed to the call no matter what the price

Where the greatest Command of all begins with sacrifice

© Janet Martin

Of Remembering Our Place...and His

 "I am unworthy--how can I reply to you?

 I put my hand over my mouth.

Job 40:4

Have you read Job chapters 37-42 recently?

If not, this is a great spot to be reminded of who we are 

and who God IS

Your way, not ours

Is the best

Though we are oft

Quick to suggest

Improvement to

The rod you use

Of greener greens

And bluer blues

Then, as to Job

In days of old

Remind us when

Complaint grows bold

Of Who you are

East, West,

North, south

Then let our hand

Cover our mouth

…save to reply

With humble heart

My Lord, my God

How great Thou art

© Janet Martin