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

Monday Morning/Every Morning Prayer and Praise...

Lam.3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Quicken us, Lord, with Your Spirit, with wealth of Thy wisdom

Lest we would, for some earth-trinket forfeit Heaven's Kingdom

Lest through the love of an idol we lose Intercession

Lest the tongue we do not bridle hinders sin's confession

Lest by breaking one commandment we offend all others

Lest, by errant understanding we cause stumbling brothers

Lest pride's vile infatuation blinds us to faith's calling

Lest the deceiver's temptation binds us to down-falling

Lest greed becomes the go-getter breeding selfish living

Forging from blessing a fetter rather than thanksgiving

Lest we lose this life by loving Self's death-doomed direction

Lest we forget choices proving who consumes Affection

Lest we choose, when life is ended,( sooner than expected)

Compensation we befriended by Who we neglected/rejected

Quicken us Lord, with Your Spirit's steadfast, sweetest pleasure

Lest we value more the merit of earth's fleeting treasure

© Janet Martin 

***  

Mercy, new each morning

What more do we need

To grace our sojourning

To cheer word and deed

To bolster hope's yearning

To secure faith's sail

Mercy, new each morning

Love that will not fail

© Janet Martin 

***

Lord, You know what today/this week will bring

And what its charges will entail

Lord, there is no chink in Your wing

The armour You forge will not fail

Lord, with truth and humility

Let our light shine forth, and then

Through each good deed may others see

You, and glorify You. Amen

© Janet Martin 

***

Christ the True and Better (Lyric Video) - Matt Boswell & Matt Papa

Barge of Today...

On Mercy's Ocean

 Barge of Today

sets sail...

***

Life/love is heavy!

Handle with prayer

***

James 1:3-4

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience. 

4But let patience have its perfect work, 

that you may be [b]perfect and complete, 

lacking nothing. 

Luke 12:24-25

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap,

they have no storehouse or barn;

yet God feeds them.

How much more valuable you are than the birds!

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Sometimes life sends challenges 

that seem bound and determined

to turn into worry!

But, praise God, he invites us to turn our worry into prayer!

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Above us night's dark awning thins and dissolves, star by star

A Warden in soft moccasins draws Today's door ajar

And beckons to the waking world to rise and shine, re-awed 

By Mercy's ocean re-unfurled fresh from the Hand of God    

Barge of Today is laden with unnumbered *hopes and pleas 

Each ordained voyage, maiden, east to west on welkin seas 

Where we, both passenger and crew, have much to do; ahoy

As the kind Captain steers us through uncharted grief and joy

He tries our faith with Circumstances we would never choose 

But also, by the grace He grants us, patience learns its dues 

A far more kind and humble poise in what we ask and seek

As we discover the scarred joys of 'blessed are the meek'

Above us night's dark awning thins; a fleet of souls once more  

Embarks; Barge of Today begins its crossing to dusk's shore  

Ah pray, come whatsoever may, love and faith will not fail

If perchance the Barge of Today should hoist its final sail 

© Janet Martin 

*A family I love very much has been searching since the summer, for a new home to rent,

after being notified that they need to be out of their current home

by Feb. 2025. The search has been super-discouraging and fruitless, so far!

 Can you join our prayers that God will help them find a house they can afford,

large enough for 2 adults and four children?! 

It is has turned into a testing of faith producing

a bumper-crop of prayers on their behalf!

Please join! 

update January 2025: a home has been found!

thank-you and praise God for His provision.

 

Flawless Outpouring...

Heb.11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

What terrible misconceptions we believe,

what deadly mistakes we make

without faith...

'Wow', I commented the other day

'even in the thick of sorrow

other cares don't take a holiday!!'

Aren't you thankful God invites us to cast our care on Him

because He cares for us?!!

1 Pet.5:7

Humble yourselves, therefore,

 under God’s mighty hand,

 so that in due time He may exalt you.

 7Cast all your anxiety on Him,

 because He cares for you.

Ps.55:22

Cast your burden on the Lord,

And He shall sustain you;

He shall never permit the righteous to be [b]moved.

Even in the thick of sorrow

Creature care still finds its way

We are not made for tomorrow

God is faithful...for Today

Like a song flawlessly outpoured

The heavens declare, loud and clear

The glory of our loving Lord...

Not by goodness and grace devoid

God’s evidence shouts loud and clear

To keep Hope’s Creature overjoyed

Though Teacher vexes faith’s veneer

Where often sterling Wish is tried

Lest Want protects pride’s stumbling blocks

Lest Self is not humbly denied

Lest sight, not faith is how Boast walks/talks

…while longing’s nameless legions wage

A tug of war twixt fear and trust

And we are apt to prize the cage

Rather than Soul, veiled by frail dust

Not by God’s providence bereft

Nor by His Righteous Eye ignored

From the fissure in Mercy’s cleft

Today is flawlessly outpoured

Like the Lord’s love song undeterred

Hope soars once more, on eagle’s wings

No jot or tittle of God’s Word

Forgot; faith lifts Her voice and sings

For nothing is impossible

With God; then, what more do we need

Than worship, while the miracle

Matures, within faith’s mustard seed

Like a song flawlessly outpoured

The heavens declare, loud and clear

The glory of our loving Lord

Whose favour vexes faith's veneer 

Whose mercy, flawlessly outpoured

Fills frames with faithfulness renewed

God unfailingly keeps His Word

Then sing, with joyful gratitude 

© Janet Martin

Isa. 40:28-31

(read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary;

His understanding is beyond searching out.

29He gives power to the faint

and increases the strength of the weak.

30Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall.

31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength;

they will mount up with wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.

A Divine Work of Art

Sooner or later, one way or another we will all shoulder cares and face challenges!

What a comfort to know, One goes before us, even as He is with us!

Ps. 34:7-10 (read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

The [a]angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

9Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!

There is no [b]want to those who fear Him.

10The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

Ps.139:1-6 (Read the whole wonderful chapter HERE)

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3You [a]comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

5You have [b]hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it

I wonder what this poem would have turned into if I had been able to finish it on Friday

Before Duty beauty hailed...

On Saturday morning I added another few stanzas

 after prepping some food for a family reunion,

before we left...

Hello, on this Monday morning,

on this beginning of

who-knows-but-One-what

this-week-holds🙏

This morning after dropping Jim off at his work

 while waiting for a little country store to open

so I could get supplies for today's tomato canning

I had a few extra minutes to delight in

September scenery!

Dawn blushes on the east

A divine work of art

God’s renewed mercy spreads a feast

To keep faith strong in heart

The veil of night is torn

Daylight, a beaming bloom

That breaks star-studded bud with morn

Where rose and thorn resume

…where faith fights foes of fear

Where tears and laughter meld

To mold echo-mementos dear

From moments briefly held

Dawn’s lease of highs and lows

And all points in between

Soon succumbs to dusk’s curtain-close

And worlds of What Has Been

Before night draws its shade

Across the glade and glen

Let’s take this day the Lord has made

To Honor Him, Amen

Let's partake of the feast

God's rich mercies provide

Behold, dawn blushes on the east

Faith, hope and love abide

...a divine work of art 

From He who grants enough

To fit us to do our part

To live a life of love 

© Janet Martin

Dawn’s lease of highs and lows

And all points in between

Soon succumbs to dusk’s curtain-close

And worlds of What Has Been...

MORNING HAS BROKEN - Cat Stevens (Lyrics)

Universal Reveille

Sometimes the rising sun seems like a golden trumpet

playing a most solemn universal Reveille

Arise, the skies are gleaming like toast with marmalade

The breaking day is beaming with Mercy’s grand aubade

Shake off the shroud of slumber; a tide no one can wrest

Sun-gold and shadow-umber surges from east to west

Over facades, so common, where creature cares abound

Sometimes we miss the summons; today is holy ground

Behold, Today is awesome; be earnest and astute

For morning, like a blossom, soon falls prey to the fruit

And, no matter how polished, the apple of reply

Excuse is soon abolished; Fruit does not tell a lie

Where we are prone too often, to forget, life is lent

Then pray, hard hearts to soften, for sinners to repent

Because none knows the hour when the Lord will appear

To pluck a precious flower from stems of Now and Here

Today unravels, teeming with taste-touch-smell-hear-see

In sacred soul-diers, streaming toward eternity

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name

Today is a gift/charge given by Thee, from whence we came

Protect us from vain prattle, but, with thy truth and grace  

Equip us for the battle that faith is bound to face

When second miles grow dreary, revive in us again  

The will to not grow weary in doing good. Amen 

Then with renewed strength beaming with gladness humbly awed 

To rise, beneath skies gleaming with the goodness of God

© Janet Martin

Goodness of God

Phil.2:12-16

(read whole glorious chapter HERE)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, 

but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 

13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

14 Do all things without [d]complaining and disputing,[e]

 15 that you may become blameless and [f]harmless, children of God 

without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, 

among whom you shine as lights in the world, 

16 holding fast the word of life, 

so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ 

that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.