A Prayer and A Humourous Parable

 It's a busy life isn't it?!

Hopefully never so busy that we forget what truly matters!

Building for Eternity!

Our church is adding onto its building because we are running over with

the future church aka young families/children!

We are all invited to be part of the donators Big Picture

in these exciting times of growth!

I was convicted humorously yesterday in my Sunday School class of grades one-to-three girls...

One big sister was so delighted because
she earned four mini chocolate bars after finding the verse first in a Bible sword-drill.
Her little sister, quite envious was sobbing quietly.

Big sister put her arm around her and whispered, 

"don't worry! Jesus is still your friend and you can still pray to Him"

...cold comfort to the one who looked at the chocolate tucked securely in her big sister's pocket!

How often are we guilty of the same kind of response!

'praying' for the 'needs/needy' while our pockets bulge?!

Giving is the one thing with a guaranteed return!

God loves a cheerful giver!

 Then Lord, I pray...

That greed should never bid me turn from need, unfeeling, bold and cold

That love would walk the second mile where no one but You will behold

And Lord, that whereas I am able I would give with meek intent

Remembering You set the table heaped with what Your mercy lent

That leer of fear won’t render fruitless the labourer of Your field

That far, far more than duty bids me to be mindful of the yield

That the purpose of loves' endeavor would never be self-apprised

And Lord, if I should spurn Your whisper that I would return, chastised

That the ever-dwindling measure of my numbered days on earth

Would not be spent seeking pleasure but bent on far greater worth

That a kind, careful awareness would keep mind and conscience keened

Lest seared by the repetition of love’s perfect law demeaned

That, when my time on earth is finished and the final battle won

That then full joy will be accomplished when I hear these words ‘well done’

And that the Substance of Things hoped for, evidence of things not seen

Will instill in me such a hunger that nothing can come between

© Janet Martin

Sacred Spending Spree

Happy Spending Spree on this glorious September Day!

May all that we 'purchase' be to give away...for the Giver's Glory!

All that we have the Good Lord gave

Though sometimes we forget

And think somehow we earned the ‘wow’

That butters our bread

Time’s teeny wink of say and think

Links to eternity

The gifts God grants a one-life chance

To use them carefully

Who, but Great God can claim the laud

Of health or wealth we boast/host

Ah, how one spends what His grace lends

Proves who we love the most

So then we ought with prayerful thought

To invest in far more

Than This small gust of dust-to-dust

And money’s futile score

For all we have the Good Lord gave

Thus no one can defend

Entitlement to one red cent

Of what He gave to spend

© Janet Martin

 Then He told them a parable: 

“The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.

So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’

Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, 

and there I will store up all my grain and my goods.

Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. 

Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. 

Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Evaluating the (Not-So) Hidden Motives

I have no regular posting time these days.
But, often if I have a poem on the go then kiddo's nap-time
allows a little window of opportunity to share it 😊

I couldn't really decide what photo relates to this poem
 so I chose some that showcase my motivation to plant a garden/zinnias!

What motivates us to the means

Of what we give for what we get

What drives us like half-mad machines

Toward the goals not conquered yet

What in the world makes us most glad

Most satisfied or deeply sad

If God stripped us of skin and bone

Who would He find on our heart’s throne?

What spins the wheels of want and will

What pleasure bids us suffer pain

What feeds our hunger for a thrill

Is it true love or selfish gain?

Sometimes when discontentment taunts

We ought to double-check our wants

And weigh the breath of would-be-boast

With who or what we cherish most

What fires our rise-and-shine
Or would we rather not confess
What drives us to the finish-line
Or fuels dreams of happiness
What, when the coin of time is spent
(and this is A Most Certain Thing)
Will who/what we valued with its Cent
Make worth the payday death will bring

© Janet Martin

How many of us absolutely live with the verse below as our utmost value?

What is more,
 I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth
 of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
 for whose sake I have lost all things.
 I consider them garbage,
 that I may gain Christ

Phil.3:8 NIV

...or, the KJV takes it even beyond the word 'garbage'!

 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ,

Phil.3:8 KJV

Mini Morning Meditation

The east is filled with starlight reaped

The earth, beneath its flare

Is like a groaning table heaped

With love’s unfailing Dare

Each breath we take is grace at large

Though free, its charge is great

Mortality is like a barge

Instilled with Deathless Freight

Where each new day is like a gift

Dawn like a breath-breadth lease

And only love/God can bridge the rift

Twixt misery and peace

© Janet Martin

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

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

God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

1 John 4:11-12

These Sacred Days of Courtship...

May the incense of true worship

Rise from hearts filled with love’s fire

May God’s unrestricted Lordship

Humble, utter awe inspire

May the hope that burns with reason

Stir us onward in the climb

Through the plant-to-harvest season

Till the very end of time

May it urge us to take captive

Every thought we entertain

For the enemy is active

In advertising false gain

He is eager to distract us

From the truths that matter most

Tempting us to exchange Jesus

For a more apparent boast

May God’s mercy and His goodness

(Though at times misunderstood)

Be the banner to remind us

That He works for our good

Then may this inspire worship

Knowing He is on our side

In these sacred days of courtship

Before the Groom claims His bride

© Janet Martin

 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

John 4:23