Mercy's Manifestation

1 John 4:9-10

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. 

 And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us 

and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

***

An angel gilds earth's sashes and lintels with gold-glazed white

She stokes yesterday's ashes coaxing from cold hearths, daylight...

An angel gilds earth's sashes and lintels with gold-glazed white

She stokes yesterday's ashes coaxing from cold hearths, daylight

Its Source no Else-force swindles; redemption rolls like a sea

From the Hand that rekindles virgin opportunity

This world, where woe and wonder war, where hope and heartache merge

Where Much is inclined to want More, is balanced on the verge

Of what sight perceives, but in part; Faith's dark glass cast between

The passages we learn by heart, and pastures, Heaven-green 

Each morning Bygone's bower bends with what yet waits to be

Mercy's manifestation rends the veil of history

With blessing beyond mortal ken, as traffic of clad souls

Rushes dawn's showcase once again with sacred 'fishing-poles'

Behold the banner of God's grace, each new day testifies 

Behold what manner of great love erases darkened skies 

Behold, divine delight unfurled from Favour's faithful Hand

An angel's wing wakens the world and morning sweeps the land

Janet Martin 

Lam.3:21-26

21 This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

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

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

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

To the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly

For the salvation of the Lord.

Star of the East

A few more gems from Slim Whitman...

There's a Song in the Air

Long Ago there Was Born...

The Hand That Gently Draws Night's Veil...

Happy first day of the final week of November 2025!!

(can you believe it?!!)

Ps.145:17-18

The LORD is righteous in all His ways

and kind in all His deeds.

The LORD is near to all who call on Him,

to all who call out to Him in truth.

The Hand that gently draws night’s veil from welkin windows dimmed at dusk

Sustains redemption’s gleaming grail; shadows recede and morning breaks

Where what is done none can undo and what yet waits is beyond us

But what Today grants me and you are mercies renewed for our sakes

The Hand that none can circumvent delivers us from night’s dark hues

Where today’s laughter and lament are waiting to cheer and dismay

This is the day the Lord has made; we give account for how we use

Its fleeting moment-promenade falling like stars soon swept away

The Hand that none can see sustains preordained grants of joy and grief

Beyond reason Logic explains, God orchestrates love’s perfect will

Where what we see and understand are not enough to gauge belief

Behold! God’s goodness sweeps the land in grand persuasion to Be Still

The Hand that leads us if we ask and calms the tempest if we trust

Will help us in each humble task, will keep us in His faithful care

Will hold us in faith’s holy fight, will shepherd stray-prone wanderlust

Will shield us from pitfalls of sight and guard us from the Tempter’s snare

The Hand that gently draws night’s veil from nocturne-nestled countryside

Presides with love that does not fail regardless of perception’s wreath

Where what we want He will appraise and what we need He will provide

As morning breaks and Mercy lays His Hand above, beside, beneath

Janet Martin

Heb.13:20-21

Now may the God of peace, 

who through the blood 

of the eternal covenant 

brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, 

that great Shepherd of the sheep,

 21equip you with every good thingc 

to do His will. 

And may He accomplish in usd 

what is pleasing in His sight 

through Jesus Christ, 

to whom be glory forever and ever. 

Amen.

Who Knows What Waits

 

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 14

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 14 is to write a who blank poem.

I watched the sunrise then checked the prompt for today and the first lines flowed naturally...

Who knows what waits where welkin gates are flung ajar by He

Who fills the air with mercy's flare for all humanity...

I then paused to tend to a few chores and in that time

received news that a sick friend had pass from this life

into Heaven and all I could do was pray

as a tremendous wave of relief, joy and grief

washed over me...

As the sun rose glorious in the east she departed to

the land of endless day, endless health, endless joy and peace

Dear Penner family,

Rom.15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, 

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Who knows what waits where welkin gates are drawn ajar by He

Who fills the air with mercy's flare for all humanity

Whose thoughts and ways none can appraise, beyond all mortal ken

Whose Name is Love; a Name above all other names. Amen

Who knows our cares and hears our prayers and saves us by His grace

Whose perfect will tries faith until we see Him face to face

Who does not leave our hearts to grieve without hope in the world

But comes to us and comforts us through promises unfurled

Who suffered too, and traveled through death's vale, but all alone

Who rose again; the curse of sin forever overthrown 

Who longs that all would heed His tender call 'come unto Me'

And trust His love to be enough for all eternity 

Whose glory spills in constant thrills and glimpses of Sublime 

These but the fringe; an earth-sky hinge on a hold we call Time  

Who gives and takes with no mistakes; each life a gift from He

Who knows our score of days before one of them comes to be 

God knows what waits where welkin gates are drawn ajar; rejoice

In gold and rose He overflows the heavens with His voice

Janet Martin

...and before I knew what was waiting in the wings of daybreak

this was the Scripture reading in my devotion from Our Daily Bread

Lam.3:22-33

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke

while he is young.

28 Let him sit alone in silence,

for the Lord has laid it on him.

29 Let him bury his face in the dust—

there may yet be hope.

30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,

and let him be filled with disgrace.

31 For no one is cast off

by the Lord forever.

32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,

so great is his unfailing love.

33 For he does not willingly bring affliction

or grief to anyone.

Where we'll never grow old by Jim Reeves with Lyrics

With Every Beaming Break of Day

'I believe it is very important for people to appreciate each other'

 -my Dad's thoughtful reply

to my 'I appreciate you more the older I grow' 🙏💓

As break of a new day dazzles creation

 I am so thankful for the gift of fresh opportunity

to forget past failures and regrets and press on...

Pressing on toward the Goal...

Phil.3:12-14

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,

but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

14I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

Behold love, gold and silvered lined

Transcends the bars of yester-rue

With goodness and mercy, brand-new...

With every beaming break of day

For all that Bygone holds at bay

Of opportunity declined

Behold love, gold and silvered lined

Transcends the bars of yester-rue

With goodness and mercy, brand-new

With every gleaming gift of grace

In spite of what none can erase

God, rich in mercy meets us where

We all have darling, equal share

To take this day He made to fit

Faith’s freedom to be glad in it

With every teeming morning-tide

Rife with renewed mercies untried

To cheer the common ground, we trod

Of moments leading back to God

He overflows the part we see

With virgin opportunity

….to love Him and each other more

And to be truly thankful for

His favours, as He bids us trust

Goodness that baffles mortal dust

And kindly cheers us on our way

With every beaming break of day

With every beaming break of day

Oh, may we never cease to pray

For many sorrowing and sick

For courage, as we face the thick

Of unknowns waiting to unfold

Linings of gray, silver and gold 

Janet Martin

I am SO thankful I didn't know yesterday morning

that love would challenge me (in the form of a girl

who used to be in my childcare) to ple-e-e-eae hold her pet...RAT!!! 

'He's so cute and he doesn't scratch or bite' 😭

I was NOT as calm as the photos may seem to suggest!!! 

P.S. I agreed to do it only after they agreed to take a picture

as living proof that I did indeed

HOLD A RAT!!! 😆

Morning Hymn

Lyrics: 1. O, how lovely is the morning, when it is begun with God; Joy and thanks our hearts adorning, as behooves a child of God, Waking after night so fair in the Maker’s gentle care, Rising without grief or sorrow to a new and joyful morrow. 2. Let our eyes be raised to heaven where the sun is shining bright, And on hill and dale and meadow is dispensing life and light; But far more than sun in space beams the Saviour’s kindly face; Truth and kindness, peaceful nearness shine out in eternal clearness. 3. Even as the springtime flowers grow beneath the sun’s warm rays, So the Lord by His own powers makes us garlands for His praise; He invites most lovingly: Little children, come to Me! All should truly know Him ever, call Him Brother, Lord, and Saviour! 4. This day also He will guide us, in our work His help provide, And on wisdom’s ways He’ll lead us, standing ever by our side, That on this whole blessed day no mishap can come our way; And that under His rich blessing night will find us sweetly resting. 5. Through His grace made sweet and easy, we’ll His teachings understand, When he on the path of duty gently leads us by the hand. O, how blest the child that may in His grace begin the day, Whose desire and wish is wholly by His love to be made holy. ​ 6. Come then, Lord of life eternal, step into our midst, we pray; Help that we may not be merely hearers of Thy Word today. To our teacher, O, be near; bless the children gathered here; May we thrive in fullest measure, and Thy heart in us find pleasure!

With Thee

 

Psalm 72:18-19

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous things!
 And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.

Before the duties of the day

Rush in to draw my thoughts away

Where creature cares will always be

Lord, first I want to sit with Thee

Before the becks and calls of life

Like waves upon a sea, run rife

'ere joy and strife resume their spree 

I want to kneel in prayer with Thee

Before I tend to love’s demands

I want to touch your nail-scarred Hands

Lest I forget Thy love for me

I want to spend daybreak with Thee

...and praise Thee for Thy gift of grace

For hope and comfort's resting place

Before life's pressing charges plea 

I want to learn to love/live like Thee  

© Janet Martin

Still, Still With Thee 

Still Still With Thee

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

1 Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,

When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;

Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,

Dawns the sweet consciousness I am with Thee.

2 Alone with Thee amid the mystic shadows,

The solemn hush of nature newly born;

Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,

In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

3 Still, still with Thee! as to each newborn morning

A fresh and solemn splendor still is given,

So does this blessed consciousness, awaking,

Breathe each day nearness unto Thee and heaven.

4 When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,

Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;

Sweet the repose beneath Thy wings o'ershading,

But sweeter still, to wake and find Thee there.

5 So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,

When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee;

O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,

Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.

Amen.

For Each Today, Fresh Made...

'Put sprinkles on mine so I will be really happy'

ordered/requested an eager, innocent three-year-old recently

as he watched me scoop, wishing the ice-cream was blue, 

like the picture on the cone-box.

(is that how we sound to God sometimes??

Asking for sprinkles while he is scooping generous

helpings of ice-cream?!)

Stand in awe and sin not.

Ps.4:4

This morning I had all but the final two lines down in today's poem

before Duty prevailed...

Sausage to can...

Grand-kiddo helpers to pick peas...

Mercy, in tender splendor sets the wick of morn ablaze

For we, time's fortune-spenders in a sequence of todays...

Mercy, in tender splendor sets the wick of morn ablaze

For we, time's fortune-spenders in a sequence of todays

Where ups and downs, bound to perplex the architect of dreams

Wait, once again to test and vex and prove what love esteems

Creation's constant glory seals the evidence of God

Wonder, like holy thunders peals in each soul, humbly awed 

While laughter and tears ebb and flow, while sorrow-billows swell 

*Where holding turns to letting go and hello to farewell 

Let us reason together the Duty of you and me

To kind and humbly weather both beauty and misery

Not on our own but by the grace of God, who made all things

His steadfast Presence helps us face whatever today brings 

Mortal wish sometimes disagrees with purpose God-bestowed 

'An ice-cream cone with sprinkles please' is not a pleasure owed 

And all the 'sprinkles; in the world cannot compare, when weighed

With mercy's  faithfulness unfurled in each today fresh-made

Janet Martin

*Where holding turns to letting go and hello to farewell 

(the above lines inspired by the heart-wrenching tragedy of the Texas flood)

Tears and prayers flow...

Aubade (and a prayer request)

When we receive the gift of salvation and become children of God,

we also 'inherit' the call of The Great Commission;

Matt.28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said,

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Ps.119:4-6

4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

6 Then shall I not be ashamed, 

when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

***

In light of the verses above

what a sacred unfurling then, is each new day! 

A new day melts the dark; duty's charge hails anew

Therefore, once more, before embarking on 'so much to to'

My soul is stirred to reach to touch Mercy's return

The Giver has so much to teach and I so much to learn

A new day fills the air where unplumbed moments span

*Praise God who hears my/our humble prayer and works His perfect plan

My soul is stirred to bow, beneath the Verge of Choice 

Lest, in the heat of Want, somehow I miss His still, small Voice

A new day meets our gaze; a fresh wave of Unknown

To tutor us in Thoughts and Ways much higher than our own

My soul is stirred to sing; come joy or sorrow's lot

Beneath the shelter of His Wing the child of God is taught 

Janet Martin

*One of my prayers is for my sister-in-law, Karen,

back in the hospital due to bleeding, after an emergency

hip replacement two weeks ago.

  Would you join  in praying for her encouragement and healing?

Below, a few of yesterday's 'gifts' 💓

A flock of blue jays descended and chattered as they foraged for

 a few minutes then flew on...

brothers 💙

Break of Day Hymn or Election Day Hymn

It is Election Day in Canada

Ps.113:1-4

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

Praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

From this time forth and forevermore!

3 From the rising of the sun to its going down

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

4 The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens...

Ps.112:1&7

Praise[a] the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments...

He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Ps.111:1-4&10

Praise[a] the Lord!

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart,

In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

2 The works of the Lord are great,

Studied by all who have pleasure in them.

3 His work is honorable and glorious,

And His righteousness endures forever.

4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion...

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.

Breaking of day is brief; soon heaven's blushing grandeur pales

To workaday backdrops; where duty's common demands press

With weighted musts/mists of creature care and Future's un-blazed trails

Compelling us not to proceed without God's promises

The theater of dawn rings, rife with birdsong-orchestras

Praise He who cups and overflows the fountain of today

No matter what befalls Our God is worthy of applause

He is above all nations; nothing can His will dismay

...then do not be afraid because the Lord is on His throne

His goodness and mercy sustain all who call on His name

From rise to set of sun, pray, we will make His praises known

And love each other well till we return from whence we came 

Time's turn of leaf is brief where breaking of day-to-day tolls

Eternity is chief; let's set our minds on things above

While living here below, let's trust the Saviour of our souls

For all we do not know, then treat our fellowman with love

...for break of day is brief; time's turn of leaf soon filled and stilled

Eternity is chief; not this world's fleeting, noisy roar  

The works of God are great; seek His pleasure and be fulfilled

His everlasting righteousness endures forevermore 

Janet Martin

The theater of dawn rings, rife with birdsong-orchestras...

O Praise The Name (Anástasis) Lyric Video - Hillsong Worship

 

He Makes Every Morning Glorious...

From yon formless fount of ages

Marmalade-hued mercies brim...

It is Good Friday Eve.

I wrote this poem this morning but was unable to post it

before heading to my mother to help with some spring cleaning

so what began as an aubade is now a vesper!

***

Acts 2:23

He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, 

and you, by the hands of the lawless, 

put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.

Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 4:12
Salvation exists in no one else, 

for there is no other name under heaven given to men 

by which we must be saved.”

John 3:16
For God so loved the world 

He gave His one and only Son, 

that everyone who believes in Him 

shall not perish but have eternal life.

***

From yon formless fount of ages

Marmalade-hued mercies brim

Over Bygone’s battered stages

Roll the lyrics of hope’s hymn

As night’s brooding backdrops dim

Hark! What holy favours fashion

Melodies of grace unfurled

Pulsing with divine compassion

Like springtime’s first bud uncurled

From the Savior of the world

He, who bore sin’s gory pardon

Whose blood poured in agony

First in Gethsemane’s Garden

Then in full, at Calvary

As He died for you and me

He, who did not scorn love’s calling

Knowing from the start, its price

On the cross, crude and appalling

Only Jesus could suffice

To be sin’s last sacrifice

Look! In every hand a hammer

Hark! On every tongue, vile jeers

While like a Lamb, led to slaughter

Obedience perseveres

Through atonement's lonely tears

He who rose again, victorious

Overthrowing death and hell

He makes every morning glorious

Sweetens suffering’s citadel

With hope’s unrelenting bell

…pealing from morn’s formless fountain

Mercies brim, marmalade-hued

Heavens throbbing with redemption

-anthems of God’s grace renewed

Worship bursts with gratitude

Jesus, Jesus, darling Saviour

Ransom for me, wretched clod

Forgives all who ask this favour

Salvation, a gift from God

Purchased by His Son's shed blood   

© Janet Martin

Without The Cross

Amazing Love (and can it be)

Farewell's Shadowlands

Oh, the undeterred momentum of moments no one can faze

It sparkles through our bearing to a world of yesterdays

It vexes rhyme-dazed poets and Duty's proprietors

As it hastens new morning through noon and dusk's gaping doors

Where, in the wake of choices that we make in its brief chase/grace

Remains the part that never stays yet no one can erase...

The above ditty was suddenly inspired from part of a 

conversation with Hubby this morning, who called

in the beginning/middle of the poem below,

begun after starting the fire, morning devotions

between putting supper in the crockpot,

filling empty bird feeders,

answering messages, texts and emails,

and other sundry domestic dues,

 while trying not to panic as

 I gaped at the clock that boldly declared

that the topic I began writing about

(daybreak's hello) in the waking hues of today

has long since ceased to be...

already part of farewell's shadowland!

but, in the afore mentioned conversation 

Hubby asked me if I ever think of everything

I could accomplish if I didn't write.

I guess none of us can see the hidden 'scale' within,

 where we weigh (hopefully) the eternal value of how we fill

fleeting moments!

Oh, how often I am torn between lyrical cadence

and domestic prudence 😔😅

...because what we do is so brief

yet so eternal!

Dawn, like an unplumbed well of ink

Unstoppers gold-gray, blue and pink

The tranquil tides of night soft-wane

Unveiling berths of mirth and pain

Beneath the tolling of a bell

Unfurling shadows of farewell

The halo of hello is brief

Harbinger of pleasure and grief

Like ripples of a pebble tossed

Dawn disappears; its advent lost

In hues and dues that rose then fell

To fuel shadows of farewell

How subtle spills life’s epitaph

A world where echoes weep and laugh

Composed from the momentous surge

Where daybreak and hello soon merge

Like melted mist, intangible

With long, deep shadows of farewell

Present, where past and future meet

Beckons reckonings, bittersweet

How careful-prayerful we should weigh

Think-ink, that fuels do-and-say

Soft spilling from our lips and hands

To dwell in farewell's shadowlands  

© Janet Martin

Ps. 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

A Beautiful Life-Jim Reeves