Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Of Awe and Love
Ps.33:8
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world
stand in awe of Him
Ps.65:8-13
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
9 You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.[d]
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.
On Sunday morning the message was opened with this challenge;
When was the last time you were completely awed?
And closed with this challenge;
Do you fear God?
Do you love Him?
(For message click HERE, then click on Aug.17)
These challenges were drawn from the beloved chapter of
Have you ever tried to write out your depth of awe and love for God?!!
It's really quite impossible to do but still so worthwhile to try!
It is bound to humble, challenge and perhaps help us
reevaluate what we (should) prioritize!
***
There is so no limit to the love of God for us, so then
There ought to be no limit to our love for fellowmen
There ought to be no task, no sacrifice too great or small
To do or give our best for He who gave His best for all
Whose tender mercies, new each morn proclaim great faithfulness
No matter what befalls God is true to His promises
He manifests His evidence in nature's ordered law
His word and workmanship evoke unsurpassable awe
As He o'erwhelms our souls with joy though sorrow's portions press
He cheers our hearts with hymns of old 'great is thy faithfulness'
Then as we meditate on Him, with worship sadly flawed
His whisper thunders deep within and leaves us sweetly awed
Without God, love and awe are like shadows, cast by Time's lease
With God, love and awe anchor everlasting hope-joy-peace
...because His grace sufficient is enough to rush the heart
With endless hymns of awe and love, 'oh LORD, how great Thou art'
Janet Martin
When the speaker asked us to try and remember when we were last awed
I leaned over to Jim and whispered 'every time I walk through a garden!!'
It is absolutely mind-blowing to witness the unfolding of seeds...
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Of Love and Gratitude
These days gardener's and farmer's souls are a wellspring of gratitude to
the Divine Giver of every good and perfect gift!
Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17
Like comrades, love and gratitude walk humbly, hand in hand
And weave through heart and soul, joy and contentment’s side effect
For love and gratitude enrich the commonest demand
They open eyes to blessings we would otherwise neglect
Where ups and downs we weather would oft be misunderstood
Without the transformation wrought/salutations sought by love and gratitude
We, all in This together would be less inclined to fret
If love and gratitude would be the pleasure of each heart
Then we would be less anxious as we peer toward the Yet
Equipped with love and gratitude, to do our humble part
To make the most of moments; both the happy and the sad
To take this day the Lord has made; to rejoice and be glad
We, without love and gratitude become quite self-consumed
And pave the way to misery, through jealousy and greed
For without love and gratitude, every pursuit is doomed
Much always wanting more without care for our neighbour’s need
Then pray each day that God through His faithful mercy renewed
Would transform souls into wellsprings of love and gratitude
© Janet Martin
There is one spectacle grander than the sea,
that is the sky;
there is one spectacle grander than the sky,
that is the interior of the soul.
― Victor Hugo in Les Misérables
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Because Our Time on Earth is Brief...
Lest we 'fall into temptation and a trap because we want to be rich' 1 Tim.6:9
making it exceedingly difficult to
'love God first and our neighbour as ourselves, Luke 10:27
let us 'serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling'! Ps.2:11
Lest we label 'faithfulness in obedience' as legalistic
in an age of increasing nonchalance,
let us take heed, if we think we stand, lest we fall' 1 Cor.10:12
Lest we drown out God's voice with noise of worldly ploys,
oh Lord, remind us to be still and know that you are God. Ps.46:10
Let us delight in Your law and meditate on it day and night!
So we will be like a tree planted by rivers of water
bringing forth fruit in season,
and leaf that does not wither,
as whatever we do shall prosper. Ps.1:2-3
Our church family is invited to participate in reading through the Psalms during July and August!
Would you like to join us, and also be ministered to by these powerful chapters of Scripture?
Because our time on earth is brief
Not one single soul can afford
To live as if this world were chief
For soon we all will meet the Lord
The Lord is He who gives and takes
His breath instills each breath we draw
Then for Him and fellowman's sakes
Pray love to be our lifelong law
...because our time on earth is brief
Lord, make us more humble and kind
And help us live each day as if
Today we'll leave it all behind
Janet 🙏💝
Monday, July 7, 2025
Hope, What a Precious Word
Without hope all we need is lost! with hope (in God) all we need is found!
Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
and why art thou disquieted in me?
hope thou in God:
for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
and in part by our message yesterday morning from Ps.23
as God ministered to His flock through the preaching of His Word.
As we hope in Him our good Shepherd restores our souls!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for...Heb.11:1
Who hopes for what he can already see?
But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Hope-what a precious word; 'hope thou in God' Amen
Hope, the substance that keeps faith stirred to trust the more, and then
With strength and joy restored, hope in God sings and sings
A Shepherd to the soul; when cares and sorrows press
Where wayward paths increase and fattened feelings taunt
Hope eclipses desire with peace and cries 'I shall not want'
A Comforter and Friend; unyielding, in the fray
Hope arms and anchors; does not bend to 'did God really say?
But with glad confidence beneath His rod reproved/behooved
Hope replies 'God is my defense and I will not be moved''
A Rock that does not shift through howling gales of change
Hope anchors us, lest we should drift and let sight, faith estrange
As God tests wish and whim with patience-honing ways
Take up hope's cross and follow Him with persevering praise
Effort and rest, in sync; seeking God's kingdom first
As the deer pants for brooks to drink, Hope in God slakes faith's thirst
And never disappoints; His gift of grace enough
© Janet Martin
Eph.2:4-5
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved),...
Saturday, May 24, 2025
The Other Side of Hug-and-Kiss...
There is only one way to remain grounded in Things Above; in the unseen...
by seeking faithfully to be found faithful!
Remembering the reward for faithfulness is veiled on earth...
Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom,
and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—
he will be blessed in what he does.
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!
You have been faithful with a few things;
I will put you in charge of many things.
Enter into the joy of your master!’
Faithfulness is like our 'marriage vow' to God,
forsaking all others, as long as we live,
in the matter of fidelity and allegiance to Him
with love second to none
because we have resolved All For Christ!
Just as in earthly marriage as time goes by
and human nature rears its unlovely head,
we don't always 'feel' the passion
and excitement as in the beginning,
but pray it is replaced with
a deeper, matured awareness that faithfulness
must/will weather the highs and lows that are bound to be,
'Well done, Thou good and faithful servant'
is no small fete to win.
It requires daily surrender to our Heavenly Father,
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
and to the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer.
Faithfulness forgives and accepts forgiveness.
Faithfulness is a firm and humble obedience,
a penitent repentance when we stumble/sin,
a modest presentation of Self,
so we may give God the glory
for making possible the boast
of our salvation.
***
Today we are attending the wedding of my niece
and we will witness the vows they make;
'till death do us part'
We will hear them speak before God
the words that bind two into one;
Therefore what God has joined together,
let man not separate.”
A wedding day is a day of joy and celebration and grave solemnity
as vows made on earth are sealed in heaven.
It is no laughing matter, This
The other side of hug-and-kiss
Of being true no matter what
When tempted to undo love's knot
Love's vows are not of fickle font
But transcend every wish and want
Because these words, 'till death doth part'
Are etched forever on God's heart
When hug and kiss is interspersed
With human foible's selfish worst
Startled, we start to humbly learn
Faithfulness grants no quick return
...but refines rose-coloured romance
With love, that would not stand a chance
Without steadfast commitment to
He who made us 'no longer two'
'A three-strand cord is hard to break'
'Love bears all things' love's highest stake
With God 'all things' are possible
Without, love is soon miserable
For self times two is not enough
To satisfy the ways of love
How harsh is disillusioned bliss;
The other side of hug-and-kiss
But oh, how lovely in return
Is love that is willing to learn
And learn again, the meaning of
A patient, kind and faithful love
For tis no laughing matter; this
The other/weathered side of hug-and-kiss
But is, when all is done and told
Life's greatest beauty to behold
...as the covenant of 'I do'
Remembers, one cannot be two
When faithfulness seeks no excuse
To sever what no man can loose
© Janet Martin
For those who are seeking truth
and maybe reasons to re-resolve to remain faithful
first and foremost to God, some helpful links below
Dr. Joseph Webb on the truth about I Do, based on God's Word!
or this;
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Love's Law Of...(First things First)
While the layout of each lesson-book may vary
the requirement and result are universal because
we reap what we sow
and God is not mocked! Gal.6:7
I've been on a stretch of demanding days and
half-sleep nights. During the night, last night
the electricity must have blinked off and since I don't
have a battery back-up in my alarm clock
and since I had the blind and room-darkening curtains pulled
and since I had a sound sleep last night, I was appalled when
I looked at my phone and it was... 8:48?!! 😭😬
The tempter was there instantly with 'you over-slept!
no time for devotions today! you must hurry! hurry!"
What a most terrible way, (I have learned from experience)
to hurry, hurry into the day without first thanking and praising God for his mercies renewed,
and then lifting up our 'broken' to Him, our sick, sorrowing and lost loved ones.
Then drinking from the wellspring of His word to have our spirit refreshed and strengthened
because the flesh is weak and prone to fall prey to what it sees...
Circumstance changes constantly...
Last night, snow and ice-ensconced world...
This morning, sunshine drenched world beneath rising temps!
Tis an art the heart must master for life's story to be sweet
Success can lead to disaster if we do not learn its creed
Where the spirit oft is willing but the wanting flesh is weak
Where sight oft seems more fulfilling than ‘faith as a mustard seed’
Tis a test the best of scholars and teachers cannot evade
Nor the tribe that wears blue collars nor miners, nor astronauts
In the end we all will answer for the choices we have made
Be it maestro, merchant, dancer, five-star chef, scrubber of pots
Tis a law of awe and wonder, impossible to detail
Where wellsprings of blessing thunder from each breath no longer cursed
It will enrich dream and duty, a rubric that will not fail
As we marvel at the beauty of love’s law of First things first
© Janet Martin
One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’c and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’d”
28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Read Jesus answer HERE...v.30-37
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.
Heb.13:8
...leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matt. 5:24
Thursday, March 13, 2025
To Live a Hymn
Yesterday I attended the funeral
of my friend's father-in-law.
He was 65.
Then, I attended a visitation for another friend's son-in-law.
He was 34.
There my friend told me how my sister Lucy's picture hangs near her sewing machine
so she remembers to pray for me and Lucy's family.
(for irregular visitors here; my sister lost her life suddenly
when she was hit while riding her bicycle last Sept.)
Lucy was 55.
When someone we love passes away it brings an end to
conversations, activities, dreams and plans once fondly shared.
But it flings wide the renewed invitation to dredge the deeps of
what truly matters, above all!
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
1 Cor.13:13
Faith in the finished work of the cross!
Hope through Jesus' resurrection!
so we may know God's love
that surpasses knowledge!
1 Cor.15:16-19
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ,
we are of all people most to be pitied.
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
Do the above verses not ignite or rekindle a desire
to live the reflection of belief/faith?!
to live a hymn of hope?!
to live the light of love?!!
To live a hymn of love for Thee
O Lord, let this our motive be
To yield Want’s will to Thy command
To trust the leading of Thy Hand
And not with human wisdom try
Reason’s demand to satisfy
But without fail, to find enough
Where these abide;
Faith, hope and love
To live a hymn to worship Thee
No matter what the cost may be
To know, no matter what our lot
Tis cradled in Divine Forethought
Where, once for all, Thy sacrifice
Suffered and covered pardon’s price
So, we would always find enough
Where these abide;
Faith, hope and love
To live a hymn of humble awe
O Lord, to delight in Thy law
And then to fill Time's bar of days
With open-handed, thankful praise
Rather than loot of fleeting pelf
That cannot appease gods of Self
Lord, overflow hearts with enough
Where these abide;
Faith, hope and love
To live a hymn of joy in Thee
With faith and hope's expectancy
Without a dearer purpose than
To love you first, then fellowman
To lay before Thy throne of grace
Each tear that treads the soul or face
Each prayer learning to find enough
Where You provide
Faith, hope and love
© Janet Martin
Eph.3:14-21
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you
with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever!
Amen.
Read the full glorious chapter of 1 Cor.15 HERE
1 Cor.15:50-58
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Below, the last paragraphs of yesterday's and today's devotions from
Streams in the Desert Vol.2
...and last but not least, my most listened to song of 2024...
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
On Learning Love's Darling Price
Last week love's privileges and duties pressed to the forefront
so much so that poetry needed to take a quiet break.
Part of me softly mourned the loss of a sister who checked in most days
to see what was happening on my 'porch' and on a week like last week,
most surely she would send a text. something like 'is everything okay? missing your posts'.
At church on Sunday morning a friend mentioned that it was a quiet week on my blog??
and I told her why and also how special her checking in was.💝🙏
Later another friend also encouraged me, not to fret about writing,
but to be content when time does not permit!
It means a lot when someone cares about what is going on in our little worlds, doesn't it?!
A reminder for me to look around to see who I could/should be checking in on.
Whatever our 'little worlds' hold, of good or ill,
true joy and peace begin with surrender to God
who loved us so much He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in Him
will not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
On Sat. night when I returned home
a loving friend had left a thoughtful gift at my door!
Thoughtfulness and kindness are gifts
money cannot buy, but sometimes
money purchases very touching and precious mementos
like this....
Here's to a new day of learning love's darling price...
True love is like a priceless gift we need to give to find
Love's Greatest Gift, God gave to save the souls of humankind
To give us an example we should learn/yearn to imitate
To teach us how we ought to love before it is too late
My sad record of failure would/should unfurl a ghastly noose
But God, because He gave His Son, has cut death's lariat loose
He gave His Word so we may know the truth that sets us free
To love Him first and then each other with humility
Ah, pity all who look for love but cannot find its key
Who sift the dust of this world for love's immortality
Rather than reaching for the Gift only God can provide
Then finding in love's giving love's longing is satisfied
Ah, pray we endeavor to be at love's high beck and call
Because God, who so loves us gave Himself for one and all
To equip us with what/Who we need to learn love's darling price
How giving due glory to God yields living sacrifice
© Janet Martin
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give you: Love one another.
A new commandment I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
/ By this everyone will know that you are My disciples,
if you love one another.”
1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God.
1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
/ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
/ This is how God’s love was revealed among us:
God sent His one and only Son into the world,
so that we might live through Him. ...
Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride,
Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride,
but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. /
Each of you should look not only to your own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Gale-worthy Grounding
Devastation and disaster are part of this life
and sometimes sadly, seems the only way
for God to really get our attention.
Somehow, when life unfolds smoothly we
are more apt to slip into selfish complacency rather
than call on Him.
When we dwell only on grief's wounds
that loss of loved ones inflicts
sorrow can be almost unbearable!
However, when we remember and think on the believer's gain,
where death is but the door to faith's inheritance
what comfort God's promises bestow.
John 11:25
Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
My friend gifted me a beautiful book
knowing how much I love the books
Streams in the Desert and Springs in the Valley
This book, by the the same author, Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman
is entitled Consolation... and I love it!
It is a collection of daily devotions
of consolation and encouragement...
(And the pretty, handmade brooch pinned to my bookmark ribbon
was a gift as well from a sweet and super-talented artist
in my Sunday School class 💝💖)
Yesterday's devotion was esp. ministering to me
and may be to you as well,
as our hearts are with everyone affected by the wildfires in LA.!
As I pondered where to begin
to find the beginning of true hope, joy and peace
as I began to trace one truth
it always joined to another...
Faith, without a firm foundation when life’s gales begin to blow
Will be devoid of duration; like a ship tossed to and fro
Hope, without faith’s expectation anchored in redeeming love
Flaps it wings; determination on its own is not enough
Joy without hope’s secure anchor; Jesus, who forgives our sin
When met with bereavement’s rancor, has no Comforter within
Peace, without joy’s Awesome Author, (whose gift of salvation saves)
Cannot be; because no other Voice can calm dread’s wind and waves
Trust, without God’s peace to buffer trouble’s billows undeterred
Cannot bear what it must suffer without guidance from God’s Word
Love, without Trust’s full surrender, is a bud, eager to burst
With incomparable splendor of the One who loved us first
Faith, hope, joy, peace, trust and love; what better bulwark can there be
By the grace of God quite enough to pray ‘be it unto me’
Quite enough to be enough though hell's fury should be unfurled
Upon the Rock of Jesus' love Faith's Footing overcomes the world
© Janet Martin
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
/ through whom we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we stand.
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. /
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ...
Colossians 1:5
the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven,
Colossians 1:5
the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven,
of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel
1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, /
and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
reserved in heaven for you, /
who through faith are shielded by God’s power
for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
without which no one will see the Lord.
Lyrics...
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
2
“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”
3
“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”
4
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”
5
“E’en down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when grey hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.”
6
“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!”
Author (attributed to): R. Keen (1787); Author: K. (1787); Author (attributed to): George Keith (1787)
Labels:
faith,
holiness,
hope,
Jesus Christ,
joy,
love,
peace,
Rock of Ages,
salvation,
trust
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