Showing posts with label law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law. Show all posts

Friday, March 17, 2023

Law/Awe of Love


There is nothing glamorous or sensational 
when it comes to humble, faithful obedience.
Look at the cross!!
No wild applause praises the Living Sacrifice.
Often it is not beautiful to behold!
Yet, only careful, diligent obedience to His commands 
makes manifest our declarations of love for God


Today as in the days of Moses, the condition of 
God's blessing remains the same...
James 1:25
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it,
 and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, 
this one will be blessed in what he does.

How can His Word be in our mouths and hearts? 
By familiarizing ourselves with it/Him.
How do we do that? Only one way.
By spending time in his Word/with God.
then what happens?
More love for Him.
An awe-struck love
 yielding a willing, humble obedience!
for we serve best/most what/who we love best/most

How often I/we fail!!
but oh, pray failure will not drive us to despair
but rather to repentant prayer, to confess our sins
to He who is faithful and just to forgive them 
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

...and then, re-impacted with awe for God's grace, on we go,
not in lawless living but in the law of liberty/love!


Re-impact us with awe
Impress upon our hearts
The wonder of the law of love
That serving You imparts

Renew our minds, oh Lord
So, we may test and prove
The righteousness that will confess
The perfect law of Love

The law that binds love's wounds
The law of liberty 
The law that stands on the commands
Of old eternally 

Delight us with your Word
And thus, complete our joy
With the increase of hope and peace
That nothing can destroy

With heart and soul and mind
Let love’s agenda be
Diligence in obedience
With glad humility

Re-impact us with awe
For love’s redeeming vow
And the reward we press toward
When at Thy feet we bow

…when at Thy feet we bow
By utter awe undone
The mysteries of Your grace and love
Unveiled around Thy throne

© Janet Martin


Romans 2:13
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God,
 but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.

Romans 8:2
For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life 
set you free from the law of sin and death.

The chaos, confusion, and curse of disobedience
(lack of reverence and love for God) 
speaks for itself
💔🙏😢





Saturday, January 28, 2023

Truly Love

Oh, how we love our precious innocent children
who depend on us to honor their innocence 
and teach them what is right
and Who is the one true God!!


Encouraging young parents through 'tough love' 
when training little children reminds us
over and over how parenting our earthly children
reflects a picture of our Heavenly Father as He 'parents' us, doesn't it?!
We sure must test His patience sometimes as we ignore His commands.
What a kind and merciful Father he is!
He took the time to appoint/establish commandments that,
if we obey them will lead to peace and joy!
Sometimes we use 'happiness' as an excuse to bend or break His rules
instead of trusting the love that puts boundaries in place!

Today's scripture reading included the account of Moses
 receiving the Ten Commandments from God...
Imagine what this world would be like if we obeyed them/Him?!


Our Heav’nly Father cares for us: so He sets Ground Rules
And boundaries, to keep in check our bent to being fools
And making deadly choices when temptation’s lure is tossed
To echo 'did God really say’ when innocence was lost
And Eve believed the liar and did eat, and Adam too
One bite began the plight of man that still tests me and you

Our Heav’nly Father cares for us; so, he gave us His Word
A kind, tangible Presence to comfort and undergird
To be a lamp unto our feet in a world dark without
Where logic errs without His Word to vanquish fear and doubt
Where we would stray into the way that seems right but is not
Where the romance of ignorance sets a Death-trap of Thought

Our Heav’nly Father cares for us; He knows that we are prone
So, like all loving parents do, He authors boundaries
To safeguard precious darlings against lurking enemies
Because like children we will never fully understand
The love that cares enough to guard desire with command

Our Heav’nly Father cares for us; He works for our good
How often we do not appreciate Him like we should
And thank him for His steadfast righteousness and truth and grace
To anchor us so that we do not drift from place to place
But embrace the sweet peace we find with awed epiphany
God’s flawless laws and precepts do not bind but set us free

Our Heav’nly Father cares for us; what perfect happiness
To walk, not in the counsel of wicked ungodliness
But in the way where blessing will both console and chastise
Like the tough love of parents who are vigilant and wise
As they train up a child to see choice leads to consequence
And love is only truly love with a commandment-fence

© Janet Martin

Psalm 1:1-5

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.
3He shall be like a tree
Planted by the [c]rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

4The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.




Friday, June 18, 2021

Of Law and Love...

  
When I bought this wisteria last year the green-house owner
cautioned me I will need to be patient 
but hopefully in a few years it will cover the arbor!
This is the first year of what I hope is just the beginning of
more and more growth!
The law of nature and the love of nurturer
sometimes working together and sometimes at odds!

How fruitful/flower-full are the branches attached to the vine!


But I am aghast that I was so transfixed by the bloom-beauty...


that I missed the caterpillar-evil all around...





The law without love is a rod of merciless demand
But love is the fulfillment of Jesus’ greatest command
First God, then fellowman, on these two commandments depend
All of the law and prophets from beginning to the end

The law, without love is adherence to appearance-art
Favor based on performance with an unaffected heart
Where, only by the Spirit, after we are born again
Is the righteous requirement of the law not in vain

The law alone is powerless, redemption to achieve
Forgiveness, the first-fruit of love as we cry ‘I believe’
Where God, so rich in mercy, loved us with a perfect love
And gave his perfect Son to save us, His great love to prove

For all the blood of goats and bulls could never justify
And law alone cannot atone for sins of you and I
It judges and condemns; love offers an alternative

The law had come through Moses, grace and truth through Jesus Christ
Oh, praise the Name of He who came to set the sinner free
And accomplish the perfect law of love in you and me

Alone we can do nothing, but when rooted in the Vine
Life flows through us, love flourishes with fruit of God’s design
Where, while the law points out the flaw and exposes the sin
Only the love and grace of God transforms us from within

© Janet Martin

Gal.5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law.

Rom.6:14
For sin shall no longer be your master,
because you are not under the law,
but under grace.

For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1-4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life
has set you a free from the law of sin and death.
3For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,
b God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
c And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
4in order that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh
but according to the Spirit.

John 13:34-35
"A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are My disciples,
if you love one another.”…

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not!
Read clarification here; Romans 7:7-25


Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Above All Else and A Few Other Poem-lets



His creation is free for all to enjoy...
no one has the rights to the sky,
no one can take credit for what seeds deploy 
No one is able to explain His 'why'
No one is master of sky, sea or sod
Because no one is greater than Creator God


© Janet Martin

***

No matter where we are or who
The One Thing we are called to do
No matter what reason or ruse
May fit the frame of good excuse
Not any of us are exempt
(no matter how pious Intent)
From the Greatest Command of all
No matter what our creed or call
To love the Lord above all else
And next, our neighbour as ourselves

© Janet Martin

Matt.22:34-40
 And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
 they themselves gathered together.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:
“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart 
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

***

It is so easy to ignore
The carriage of the lie 
but there is always so much more
than that which meets the eye

Facades can fool with cunning craft
 The pitfall Guile achieves
*examine well before and aft
lest appearance deceives 


© Janet Martin

*my dad's advice when teaching us discernment;
"examine not just what is, but where it will lead"

***

the sacredness of numbered days spills out in such familiar ways...
like cooking. 
Creating salads or salad bar for supper. 
Can't quite decide which they would prefer;
Create your own or ready-to-serve.
I have a feeling it will be ready-to-serve style.
Just need to cook some pasta yet then creating begins😋
I worked out in the gardens first thing this morning instead of writing...
It's a warm one out there today so now I'm trying to think of a refreshing supper
(between writing )
Fresh garden greens was the starter to today's salad bowl of thoughts!



the sacredness of numbered days
spills out in such familiar ways
so we should always be on guard 
Seduction plays a wily card
and doesn't seem to mind a bit
If we become misled by it

***

the pleasure of a poem, oh
sometimes with ink, 
sometimes with snow
of gold-dust 
wafting o'er dusk's spa
To crown the commonplace
 with awe
Thank-you, God!

(I was covered with garden dust and plant-dust last night
then looked up to see gold dust wafting on bars of dusk)

***


 


 

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

The Great Law of Love




Ah, moral law what sacred bar whereby life’s wrong and right is proved
Yet, may we never use it to make one feel judged rather than loved

Love in its lesser form neglects to caution, rebuke and advise
It claims to care but views a stumbling fellowman with half-shut eyes

Yet, futile to deal with effect before identifying Cause
Where without love there is no merit in waving a book of laws

Forbid, before noon’s flying colours fold into the close of day
That we with earnest heart do not forget to love enough to pray

Lest while we criticize and point at dust-specks in another’s tries

Forbid we speak of love and yet when push and shove turns into grind
We fail to be its tender proof; not gentle, meek, patient and kind

Then pray at break of day before we face time’s tides that stilly roar
That we above all else seek grace and strive to love each other more

© Janet Martin

Romans 3:19-20, 23-24
  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, 
so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.  
 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; 
rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  
 and all are justified freely by his grace 
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 13:8-10
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, 
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  
 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, 
You shall not murder, 
You shall not steal, 
You shall not covet,” 
and any other commandment, 
are summed up in this word: 
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  
 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; 
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

the law of love Matt. 22:35-40
 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.  
 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  
 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God 
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  
 This is the great and first commandment.  
 And a second is like it: 
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

 “Do not judge, or you will be judged.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye,
 but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?…

...and if you are not tired of reading
you might enjoy this post 
by
Dr. Alan Snyder