With Love that Never Fails (As Surely as the Morn)

But as for me, I will sing of Your strength;

Yes, I will joyfully sing of Your faithfulness in the morning,

For You have been my refuge

And a place of refuge on the day of my distress.

17 My strength, I will sing praises to You;

For God is my refuge, 

the [t]God who shows me favor.

Psalm 59:16-17

We can so easily get caught up, attracted and distracted by what we see

rather than what we know is so because God said it!

The One who constantly awes us with masterpieces

of morning sky and nature's my-oh-my,

He is our refuge and strength!

Though so much seems to fail

Never The Hand that draws

The break of day across the vale

That groans with mercy’s cause/laws

And unfolds in the palm

Of grace, the molten sky

And parts the wingspan of the dawn

Like a new butterfly

Where we, creatures of dust

And mist/must of numbered days

So often fail to fully trust

The higher thoughts and ways

Of He who never fails

Is spite of what some say

Even while mercy’s Hand unveils

And grants another day

Where morn-to-morn unfolds

(a twinkle in time’s eye)

Exteriors that man beholds

Beneath fringes of sky

Where so much seems to fail

When weighed by what we see

In worship’s hour of travail

Before eternity

Consider this, dear friend

Before we shake a fist

And curse He whose mercies attend

Both saint and atheist

Who makes the rain to fall?

Who does love emerge from?

Who paid sin’s ransom, once for all?

And calls on all to ‘come’?

He knows each creature care

And suffered every one

Because Love did not choose to spare

The status of His Son

A manger met His birth

A cross displayed His death

Where no one could fathom the work

Fulfilled at his last breath

Then, though so much seems loss

Remember, we behold

As they who stood beneath the cross

But fringes of the Whole

Where, though thought’s logic fails

Never the Hand of He

Scarred with the imprint of the nails

That set death’s captives free

He is the King of kings

He is the Lord of lords

Who bore salvation's sufferings

Beneath the thrust of swords

With love that never fails

As surely as the morn

The landscape of life's path unveils 

His mercies are reborn 

© Janet Martin

As surely as the morn

The landscape of life's path unveils, 

His mercies are reborn 

Flower Bower/Power

 Watching day dawn was a little like watching a bud unfold its flower!

The heavens burst with hymns

For Mercy’s ceaseless ways

The bower of Beginning brims

And overflows with praise

The countenance of earth

Dons shades of hope renewed

As witnessing God’s grace gives birth

To humble gratitude

Darkness cannot prevail

Morning melts midnight’s gloom

With perfect love that will not fail

As heavens burst with bloom

© Janet Martin

Give Me Jesus

Lam 3:22-23 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Surrender's Sacred Sup

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear

To hear as the learned.

Isa.50:4

From welkin wells a love song swells

In torrents unrestrained

As mercy spills and grace refills

The cup that twilight drained

As hope renewed and gratitude

Mingle in sweet accord

To join the hymn where heavens brim

With whispers of our Lord

As we lift eyes beyond the ties

Of duty and decay

To He who writes on welkin heights

The Love Song of Today

From welkin wells a love song swells

In perfect harmony

As mercy spills and grace refills

Cups of mortality

As goodness grants deliverance

Today’s ‘Never Before’

Unveils a feast upon the east

Gaze is a troubadour

Joy is reborn, from morn to morn

God wakens us to heed

His Faithfulness: He promises

To satisfy our need

From welkin wells a love song swells

Surrender’s sacred sup

As mercy spills and grace refills

The cup that faith lifts up

© Janet Martin

Lam.3:22-27

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

25The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him.

26It is good that one should hope and wait quietly

For the salvation of the Lord.

27It is good for a man to bear

The yoke in his youth.

Of Goodness and Mercy

 Surely Goodness, Surely Mercy -Shane and Shane

God’s Goodness: what delight this confidence bestows

His goodness does not shift like shadows through life’s highs and lows

But, steadfast and secure in spite of creature care

The full assurance of His goodness combats dark despair

Where we who trust in Him, and His goodness unfurled

Are part of His Goodness, to bring hope to a dying world

To cheer the suffering, to bear their burden too

To be a ready offering of His goodness run through

God’s mercy: what sweet joy and consolation bless

No foe or trouble can destroy mercy’s kind faithfulness

Sin’s pardon has been won. No other fete achieves

What mercy grants to everyone who repents and believes

Where we would deserve death and hell, grace sets us free

His mercy fills Final Breath’s knell with shouts of victory

For through death’s valley, He will walk with us, so near

To overthrow the enemy so that we need not fear

Goodness and mercy, oh, let endless praise begin

His goodness for our want and woe, His mercy for our sin

Wherever life may lead, whatever may befall

Goodness and mercy intercede to help us through it all

Where so unworthy we, heirs and joint heirs of Christ

Benefit from the agony that Jesus sacrificed

To draw all men to Him, the Perfect Prince of Peace

Where His goodness and mercy brim from founts that never cease

The glass through which we peer does not reveal the whole

A darkly, sorrow-scarred veneer enshrouds the deathless soul

Where what we see in part often vexes our gaze

Goodness and mercy’s works of art above our thoughts and ways

Because the cruciform of faith and hope and love

Must bear the testing storm its authenticity to prove

But, whatever betide, of grief and pain and strife

Goodness and mercy will preside all the days of our life

© Janet Martin

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not [a]want.

2 He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;

He leads me beside the [c]still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will [d]dwell in the house of the Lord

[e]Forever.

Hymn of Today

How oft it seems my heart is torn

Twixt want and wonder's 'How?'

While from wellsprings of morn to morn

Mercy renews Love's Vow

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; 

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Jer.31:3

Yet I call this to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

22Because of the loving devotionb of the LORD 

we are not consumed,

for His mercies never fail.

23They are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness!

24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in Him.”

Lam.3:21-24

It was one of those mornings where the knowledge of Hope

grappled with the Anchor; where the heart's cables groaned 

beneath the ache and weight of creature-care,

where there was but one thing remaining; prayer

as Mercy Renewed broke through the darkness!

Hallelujah!

The sunrise like a mighty metaphor...

On shores of hurt and hunger yon doors of daybreak part

Where wars of want and wonder vex body, mind and heart

Where anguish and elation in constant conflict vie

A vexing combination of intent and reply

Before soon slips to After; twixt What Was and Will Be

Time’s roar of tears and laughter pours through humanity

In stunning revelation; nobody left intact

Where no imagination can void matters of fact

Faith and fear, hope and heartache, desire and despair

A smorgasbords of choices, we partake of its fare

Where today hinged to morrow, is like life’s quintessence

Of love’s joy hinged to sorrow, of choice to consequence

Where whatever we weather, more weather waits to be

Where we are altogether bound for more than we see

Where the glory of living is not in what we get

But in the sacred giving earnest heed to The Yet

Of what is sure and certain, still waiting in the wake

Until death’s lowered curtain unveils what is at stake

Until the holy thunder of Last Breath sails the sea

Twixt Shores of Want and Wonder and Vast Eternity

Through doors of Divine Mercy, to shores of you and me

New morning shines with berths of fresh opportunity

Where the grace of the Giver holds Judgment’s bar at bay

He strums the strings that quiver with hope’s/love's hymn of Today

© Janet Martin

Eph.3:14-21

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, 

to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; 

that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints 

what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,

 that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly

 above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus 

throughout all ages, world without end.

 Amen.

This song premiered on YouTube half an hour ago!

How unbelievably fitting!! 

I weep and leap for joy!

Oh God, I praise you again!

(Psalm 42)   I will Praise Him Again - City Alight

The Masterpiece of Grace

I began writing this poem early this morning without any idea what today's message would be!

But the passage for the inspiration of this poem was part of this morning's message at WBC!

1 John 4: 11-12

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

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

God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.

I have been reading a lot in Ephesians and 1,2&3rd John recently!

So, the 'message' in the message reiterated a lot of what has been on my heart!

Thank-you God (and Gary)

Oh, The Everlasting Love of God

Oh! Pray that most stunningly profound moment takes place

when we are utterly awed by God's unfathomable grace

that His love bestows on all who call on Him,

in repentance and belief,

and then, our only possible reply can be

  the greatest of these: love! 

Amazing Grace/Anthem Lights

Love leaps with joy’s sweet poses and in sorrow weeps and mourns

It awes us with its roses, and it pricks us with its thorns

It uplifts hearts with gladness, and it weighs hearts down with care

The utmost happy sadness that mortal will ever bear

It soothes and stuns; it sears and cheers and wounds and heals, oh my

It binds and frees and finds its knees beneath its weighted sigh

It satisfies our deepest need but cannot succour Self

It is an enemy of greed and miser’s hoarded pelf

Daily it dies unnumbered deaths yet is life to the full

Of priceless worth and yet to keep it is impossible

For until it is given, none its merit can applaud

A mirror made in Heaven to reflect the proof/love of God

Love suffers long and it is kind no matter what the price

The crown jewel of blessing lined with constant sacrifice

The tally of its treasure reckoned in regions above

On ledgers beyond measure because who can fathom love?

Love yields, yet clings to what is right, often misunderstood

Love is a peacemaker that fights with all its might for good

Love lends a helping hand and walks a second mile or ten

Because love, the greatest command is God in us, amen

No flesh can force, form or plan love from matter, tangible 

The divine mesh of God in man is unfathomable

Where without love/God no one can set the building blocks in place

On The Cornerstone that begets The Masterpiece of Grace 

© Janet Martin

Once Upon Many a Wistful Morrow (have been here and gone)

Happy September!!!

And to Adam He said:

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten from the tree

of which I commanded you not to eat,

cursed is the ground because of you;

through toil you will eat of it

all the days of your life.

18Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

19By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your bread,

until you return to the ground—

because out of it were you taken.

For dust you are,

and to dust you shall return.”

Gen.3:17-19 (BSB)

We have toiled 'by the sweat of our brow', haven't we?!!

And Lord willing we are not done yet!

And we have eaten, haven't we?!

Thank-you, gracious Heavenly Father!

While not everything may have bloomed, obedient to expectation's hope, 

as we planted seeds, seedlings, and bulbs,

we are thankful for what often exceeds hope and expectation! 

From Fancy's Dream of a plethora of colorful dahlias....

to bushy reluctant bloomers 

that buried the planters until I moved them

From barren field with dust flying to a sweep of golden butterfly-like flutters...

From blank canvas....

...to our Creator's Masterpieces!!

A reflection and reply to this poem from May...

Once Upon a Wistful Morrow (demands full attention now)

Spring's Wistful Morrow-World, my dear, has now been nearly spent..

Its planted plot and furrow unfurled in fruit-testament

Hope, giddy with spring's fantasy of flowers, bears the yoke

Of disappointment and delight; for blooms are not bespoke

And so we choose to cherish what was granted, midst withheld

Before the present perishes as past and future meld

Where we, all struggling students 'neath the tutelage of God

Are learning patient prudence, for no hand can force a bud

Or undo, what in Eden, routed man's eternal rest

As Eve and Adam doubted and put God's Word to the test

Where the infested ground we till still yields to human race

The bread we eat, the flower frill, like emblems of God's grace

Where, though spring's Wistful Morrow may not unfold as we planned

We know both joy and sorrow's plume are cradled in God's Hand

© Janet Martin

And the sunrise was no slouch either!!!

The last pic in my spring post made me a bit teary...

These tots seem so much bigger already!

Dawn's Friendliness or Mercy's Grief

 Dawn's friendliness...

fills up the sky...

with mercies ever new

Dawn’s friendliness fills up the sky, where mercies ever new

Upon which mortal can rely, runs night’s dark ramparts through

And eases from its awning, stars, and floods the land and sea

With birth; unveiling earthen bars where darkness used to be

Refurbishing a color-world as Mercy’s hand unrolls

Today’s sacred runway, unfurled beneath feet bearing souls

Dawn’s brief, mist-mantled advent beams in beauty’s purity

Where mercy’s patient kindness streams in spite of apathy

The heavens, like a preacher everyone loves to applaud

A universal Teacher glorifying one true God

His evidence, like soundless thunder pours from boundless trays

To rouse in rebel-creatures wonder’s awe-enraptured praise

Dawn’s swift gift of perfection soon yields to workaday Must

Pointed in the direction of far more than dust-to-dust

Where mercy metes the holiness/Friend-liness of a new day of grace

God gathers mortal lowliness/emptiness in love’s kingly embrace

As goodness spills to refill dawn’s chalice with Mercy’s grief

For it is not His will that any die in unbelief

© Janet Martin

2 Pet.3:8-9

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: 

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.c 

9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, 

but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish 

but everyone to come to repentance.

We Pray For Traveling Mercies, Lord

1 John 5:14

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 

that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Last week we received a prayer-request from a family,

for traveling mercies as they departed to answer God's call to a far-off land.

They have now posted a picture of their safe arrival!

We rejoice and continue to pray for them as they adjust to a new country,

and for all of us, who are striving to heed God's calling, 

we pray for 'traveling mercies' 

until we reach our destiny, to be forever with the Lord!

We pray for traveling mercies Lord, where cares and heartaches press

For hope and confidence restored through Thy Word’s promises

For salvation to be our song no matter what we face

Lord, make us weak to make us strong through Thy sufficient grace

We plead for traveling mercies Lord, for eyes we fix on Thee

To run with endurance toward The Reward none can see

For the joy set before us be our strength and joy and crown

Until with the victorious we lay this body down

We pant for traveling mercies Lord; that you would quench our thirst

With Living Water of Thy Word where boundless well-springs burst

From Truth’s eternal Rock, through ages never overthrown

Though storm and battle wages naught can shift Thy Cornerstone

We need Thy traveling mercies Lord, to lead us through each mile

We need thy Holy Spirit’s Sword where smiling snares beguile

Where our feet would slip without angel-armies unfurled

To vanquish dread and fear and doubt with peace, not of this world

We pray for traveling mercies Lord; and trust in Thy reply

For all we ask according to Thy will, you satisfy

Then, though we do not know or see all that time may betide

We press toward Faith’s destiny by mercies You provide

…all we like sheep have gone astray, but Thou, by Thy Son’s blood

Have borne our grief and washed away sin’s curse in mercy’s flood

Thou, The Good Shepherd, kind and true hears Thy sheep’s humble prayer

As traveling mercies lead us through the pastures of Thy care

In Thy Name we pray,

Amen

© Janet Martin

Blessed Jesus, Hold My Hand

Let Us Run

Sharing this song again because it uses a favorite scripture of mine

I need to repeat over and over! 🙏💗👑

Morning Flowers...

 

Morning metes its sweet Beginning

Mist-burnished petals unfold

From night’s nebulous bud thinning

Until Time is blush and gold

Flushed with mercy to behold

Like a lily, dew-anointed

Fresh from the Creator’s hand

Darkness fades; hope’s reappointed

Brigades wade until they stand

On shores of star-dust and sand

Strewing in the wake of slumber

Daybreak’s diamond studded world

Where the cares of life encumber

Where faith’s warfare is unfurled

Morning flowers, promise-pearled

© Janet Martin

God's word overflows with wonderful promises that He will keep!

A few promise-pearls to pin to today's To-Do's/dues

Lam.3:22-23

Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed,

 for His mercies never fail. 

23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

1 Thess.5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

2 Pet.3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. 

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, 

but everyone to come to repentance.

Psalm 144:15

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Isa.26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace, 

Whose mind is stayed on You, 

Because he trusts in You.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. 

In the world you will have tribulation;

 but be of good cheer,

 I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. 

I do not give to you as the world gives. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ 

and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives His people strength; 

the LORD blesses His people with peace.

Heb.13:5

Let your conversation be without covetousness; 

and be content with such things as ye have: 

for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Heb.13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God are "Yes" in Christ.

 And so through Him, our "Amen" is spoken to the glory of God.