Redemption's Groaning Gate Flings Wide...

 My sister Lucy's granddaughter picked these wildflowers for me the other day...

I don't think she noticed the tears I choked back as I was honoured

by her innocent eagerness.

The mug seemed the perfect vase for my utter joy and sorrow!

Below is a collection of verses to treasure as they comfort and cheer the soul

and remind us of what matters most!

Psalm 25:14

The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

Psalm 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;

 the LORD gives grace and glory;

 He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

Psalm 115:13

He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.

Psalm 5:12

For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous; 

You surround them with the shield of Your favor.

Ps.69:15

But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.

Ps.119:153-160

153 Consider mine affliction, and deliver me:

 for I do not forget thy law.

154 Plead my cause, and deliver me: 

quicken me according to thy word.

155 Salvation is far from the wicked: 

for they seek not thy statutes.

156 Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:

 quicken me according to thy judgments.

157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; 

yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.

158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; 

because they kept not thy word.

159 Consider how I love thy precepts:

 quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness.

160 Thy word is true from the beginning: 

and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

 

Redemption's groaning gate flings wide and a new day is born...

A multitude of mercies smiles upon a world sin-worn... 

Redemption's groaning gate flings wide and a new day is born

A multitude of mercies smiles upon a world sin-worn 

The Author of Salvation who appoints what none can trace

Once more anoints creation with un-stoppered love and grace

Regret, remorse, repentance spar within the human heart 

God's holiness and man's pride are a humble prayer apart 

Oh Lord, rebuke my erring will, waiting to cause offence 

So the purposes You fulfill/instill may have preeminence 

The truth of your salvation comforts all who fear You, LORD 

Imbue deep dedication to the counsel of Your Word

Lest, for the lack of earnest heed I look away and drift

Forgetting who supplies my need with truths that do not shift 

Delight thrills all who love Your law with thoughts too rare to speak

My spirit thirsts for constant awe, but oh, my flesh is weak

Prone to descend the slippery slope of half-truth to appease

The carnal foe to Living Hope with 'come soul, take thine ease '

Each edict of your Word is true, where faith sees but in part  

Lord, help me learn it through and through and hide it in my heart 

So that I do not grieve you, Saviour, but with yielded will

Reverence the Shield of Your favour as Your mercies spill

Janet Martin  

 

 

Amazing Grace

Recently our Sunday morning messages have been on salvation!

The more I try to plumb the depths of God's amazing love and grace

that purchased the gift of salvation to pay the sinner's debt

 for all who repent and believe and thus receive it,

the more I marvel at how impossible it is

to fully comprehend amazing grace! 

or how impossible it is to believe without repenting

or repent without believing!

Heb.4:16

 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, 

that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

2 Cor. 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

There's Not A Friend Like The Lowly Jesus

You could confound us with the crumbs that fall 'neath The King's chair

But you invite us to sit at Your table, saved by grace

No judgement from the mercy seat that Calvary laid bare

As all who repent and believe become Your dwelling place

You could condemn us but instead You, sinless, became sin

So that through You we might become 'the righteousness of God' 

Not by works lest we boast; salvation, none can earn or win

It is a gift, a gift that leaves believers/receivers humbly awed 

Then, who is qualified to cast judgment's first stone, pray tell

For there is no one righteous, no, not one, we, debtors all

To grace, the grace that saves us from eternity in hell

When truly, truly on Your Name above all names, we call   

You know our hearts, you hear our prayers, You know that we are dust

The recompense that we deserved You bore, once and for all 

You are good, holy, merciful, compassionate and just

Your everlasting love abides as kingdoms rise and fall 

Once, I was a prodigal child squandering love and life 

Once You left the ninety and nine in the fold, to find me

Amazing grace, agape I gaze where redemption runs rife

You reconciled your rebel child and set my doomed soul free 

The crumbs that fall from Your table, would be too good for me

But you invite me to sit down, beloved and justified

By Your amazing grace; I, once condemned have been set free

And clothed in robes of righteousness that only You provide

Janet Martin

Amazing Grace 

Rom.5:6-11

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,

 Christ died for the ungodly. 

 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, 

though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: 

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood,

how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 

10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, 

how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 through whom we have now received reconciliation.

White as Snow or Triumph's Reservoir

Genesis 15:1

...Fear not,  Abram, (Janet, and all who believe.)

I am Thy Shield and Thy exceeding great reward.

Prayer is the greatest power-source in the universe.

Why do we so often settle for something/someone less

than the Best?!! 

Through God's Word and humble prayer we, through Him,

become who He created us to be

We will never be all we or others wish us to be...

Until/unless we have been crucified with Christ and

'it is no longer I but Christ in me'

then we can be infinitely more

 than thought humanly possible,

not to please people,

but, by and to the honour and glory of God!

The 'more' Christ works in us

may never be applauded by the masses

or perhaps, often times, even noticed...

Such as

The private victory over temptation,

The bridled tongue, 

The second mile,

The altar of sacrifice,

The yielded will, (oft-repeated)

The peace that God alone grants

to all who fear Him and seek/strive 

to live in obedience to His commandments...

The sacred fulfillment of 'Love one another'

The joy, gloriously, mysteriously complete

though we sorrow/suffer,

The power to truly and completely forgive!

...but God knows

and keeps a precious record

of our earthly relationship with Him,

until, some day when we will see Him face to face;

Jesus Christ, our salvation, who through His shed blood,

though our sins were like scarlet

He washed us white as snow!

Isa.1:16-20

Wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

stop doing wrong.

17 Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.[a]

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the good things of the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Read the whole dire chapter HERE

***

Imagine if snow was scarlet, like sin, instead of white, like redemption!!!

How glorious its whiteness suddenly seems! 🙏

When the groan of Intercession yields no dramatic reply

When our sorrowful confession does not move the earth and sky

When the evidence of Seeing challenges Faith's Things Hoped For

'Christ in us', instills faith's being with whispers to trust Him more

God, whose faithfulness and justice vexes logic's rationale  

Will fulfill his every promise; never slack or forgetful 

He beholds The Precious Many, ignorant of Calvary 

(It is not his will that any should perish eternally)

Love, beyond all comprehension bore death's cross in our stead 

God, rich in mercy's compassion, gave His Own to pay sin's debt

He is ever interceding, for all who call on the Lord

He, both shield and faith's exceeding, everlasting great reward, 

Love, beyond all comprehension holds eternity at bay

Love, whose scarlet intervention washes sin's cursed stains away

White as snow, Redemption's River courses, bridging death's dark rift 

Would that all would trust the Giver of Salvation's sacred gift

 

Then, though groans of Intercession yield no visible reply

When our sorrowful confession does not move the earth and sky

When the evidence of needing challenges Faith's Things Hoped For

'Christ in us', transforms faith's pleading into Triumph's Reservoir 

© Janet Martin 

Blessed be the Fountain of Blood (Lyrics Only)

Alan Jackson-Blessed Assurance (Lyrics)

Nothing Is Mine Alone Save This...

Lest I harbour an unforgiving spirit,

Lest I forget whose love and grace grants what I consider 'mine',

Lest I grow greedy, self-serving/reliant, proud, bitter, 

Lord open my eyes and remind me,

The only thing that is mine 

is my reply to You

for all You have given/done for me

On Sunday we were challenged to contemplate our

response, attitude and gratitude for forgiveness

Click HERE and then click Nov. 10 service

for beautiful baptism testimonies, 

and meaningful message!

Mark 11:26

But if ye do not forgive, 

neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Lord, you forgive, You bore my shame/blame

Not one sin saved to damn 

Then Lord, help me in the same way

To forgive fellowman  

May these words forever strike a chill to our undying souls,

'I will not forgive'

Thy handiwork and love, my awe...

Dear Lord,

Remind me, what is 'mine' is Thine

All that First Glances own

Are but gifts from Thy Hand divine

Nothing is 'mine' alone

Save Thy forgiveness for my sin

Thy Presence for my fear

Thy Love, my stubborn will to win

Thy Word, my hope and cheer

Thy promises, my faith's delight

My joy, Thy grief achieved

Thy death for my eternal life

The hour I believed

Thy rod and staff to comfort me

Thy pardon for my debt

Thy mercy, my humility

Thy grace for my regret

Thy life for mine; Thy life-blood shed

Thy prayer-groaned/honed albatross

'Father forgive'; Thyself instead

Of me upon the cross 

Thy penance for my reckoning

My power by Thy Name

My reply to Thy beckoning

Is all that I can claim

Thy handiwork and love, my awe

Thy Righteousness, my peace

No hope have I save by Thy law

That anchors my release

From death and hell, My freedom sealed

By Thy decree divine 

My brokenness, by Thy Wounds healed

All that I have is Thine 

So, when my erring attitude

Forgets Thy goodness, then

Correct my lack of gratitude

As You see fit. Amen

© Janet Martin

I've shared the songs below many times

because I love them!

There Is A Fountain With Lyrics By Selah

Forgiven-Crowder

Come As You Are-Crowder

Gladness Beyond Comprehension

Happy November 2nd from a

misty, gold-leaf-drippy, frost-filigree morning in Ontario!

My oh my!! What an awesome loving Creator we have!

Below, a few frames of the first day of November's farewell...

and, my, oh my, how our loving, awesome Creator hates sin.

But my, how He loves us, sinners,

born with the curse of sin,

since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.

But, He so loved us that

 He gave His only begotten Son

so whoever believes in Him will not perish

but have everlasting life 

John 3:16

God hates sin, but His love forgives every

sin we repent of and confess.

If we confess our sins, 

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

He loved us so much that

God made him who had no sin 

to be sin for us, 

so that in him we might become 

the righteousness of God. 

2 Cor.5:21

God loves us so much He knew that He alone 

was the only perfect, eternal sin offering, 

so He offered, not some noble substitute, but Himself/His son

 to pay the grueling price of pardon

because without the shedding of blood

there is no remission;

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood,

 and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Heb.9:22

So God shed His blood and gave his life

 on a cruel cross for all to see

Therefore I (God) will allot Him a portion with the great, 

and He will divide the spoils with the strong,

 because He has poured out His life unto death, 

and He was numbered with the transgressors. 

Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isa.53:12

and to this very day, for all eternity

God's faithfulness repeats

 “I have loved you with an everlasting love; 

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Jer.31:3

God's sacrifice would have been impossible

unless He truly loved us!

Is it not then in turn the same for us?

It is impossible for us to truly follow/serve Him/sacrifice Self

until we truly love Him?

Let's ask God to help us remember

never to hate Him because of

how 'sinners' may hurt or disappoint us because

we are all sinners

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom.3:23

 God loves us so much He gave us His Word

so we may know Him and love Him all the more...

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

John 1:1

The more we seek Him the more we find Him

“Ask and it will be given to you; 

seek and you will find; 

knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matt.7:7

***

Hark, what hails time's spark of trouble?

What gladdens guerdons of grief?

What makes most precious, life's bubble 

Bobbing like a wafting leaf ?

What compels hope for tomorrow?

What can no rival destroy?

Even in the thick of sorrow

What anoints the tear with joy?

What anchors the transient staircase

That body, heart and soul brave?

What satisfies Yearning's embrace?

What transcends the lifeless grave?

What, 'midst mayhem, grants peace, glorious?

What sweetens the bitter rod ?  

This; the unfailing, victorious

Everlasting love of God

© Janet Martin

Emotions seem to run especially high 

during impending elections, don't they?!!

Pray we remember what/Who matters most

and Whose loving and perfect purposes none can thwart

Deut.4:7

For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them 

as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

  8And what nation is great enough to have 

righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law

 I set before you today?

The Everlasting Love of God (Lyric Video) - Matt Boswell & Matt Papa

Veiled Glory

Judge not, by outer countenance the merit of the goal...

The above picture from

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes was my first introduction

as a child, to the sorrowful images of the Greatest Love Story!

John 12:27-28

Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?

 ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? 

No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.

  Father, glorify Your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven:

 “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

Glorify Thy Name

Judge not, by outer countenance the merit of the goal

One facet of a circumstance does not reveal the whole

The Saviour of the soul could see beyond salvation’s price

Beyond the awful cost as He became sin’s sacrifice

While gaping throngs reviled and railed and jeered what appeared loss

The darkness of the hour veiled the glory of the cross

Love’s agony of grief and pain in mingled passion poured

Redemption’s unrelenting gain and glory of the Lord

Fret not the trouble that this world can never overcome

But look to where God’s love unfurled the hope of Christendom

Beyond the gory cross, the empty grave, beyond death’s toll

The glory of the resurrected Saviour of the soul

© Janet Martin

John 12:44-50

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only,

 but in the one who sent me. 

45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.

 46 I have come into the world as a light,

 so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, 

I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 

48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; 

the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.

 49 For I did not speak on my own, 

but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life.

 So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Getting to the Root of the Problem...

 PAD Challenge day 3: For today’s prompt, write a problem poem. 

Below an excerpt from Peter Marshall's sermon-

Keeper of the Springs

(and this was in the 1940's!!)

One cannot fix a problem until one pinpoints the source

But one ought to note symptoms that should trouble you and I

For epidemic-proportion-populace on a course

Of Ignorance to Truth, where empty churches testify

A somber lack of reverence and interest and care

For the Great Certainty for which we all ought to prepare

...and so tis no small wonder that things go from bad to worse

 In laws of twisted logic of confusion gone berserk

Where right is wrong and wrong is right and God, a name they curse

And well-intended master-plans of Fix-it just don't work

In a world doomed to madness as they seek but cannot find

Hope's everlasting gladness that yields joy and peace of mind 

When truth is seen as lies and lies are heralded as truth

It is because the Word of God is trodden underfoot

Then darkened understanding errs and bears pitiful proof;

Denial of the problem that yields problematic fruit

And gross incomprehension of the sad state we are in;

Because they/we do not recognize the root problem of sin 

The problem is not war or poverty, but hate and greed

A proud and unrepentant heart, thinking, utterly flawed

A negligent apathy to sin's subtle, deadly seed

In seeking first this world rather than the kingdom of God

Where empty churches gape and children/people traipse toward a Goal

Ignorant of Love's problem-solving Saviour of the Soul 

Sad problem this; too many homes where God's Word has no place

And homes where the Bible is but a book upon a shelf

Ignoring that apart from God, there is no saving grace

Apart from the Vine the branch is a Dead Thing by itself

Revealing that the culprit in this problem's quandary

Until we surrender to God, is always you and me 

© Janet Martin

Rom.1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 

because it is the power of God 

that brings salvation to everyone who believes: 

first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 

17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—

a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] 

just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f]

So many do not know

or believe or care

about the day of redemption 

and reckoning drawing near...

Malachi 4:1-3

The Day of the LORD

(Zephaniah 1:7–18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11; 2 Peter 3:8–13)

1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, 

when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble;

 the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,”

 says the LORD of Hosts.

 “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness 

will rise with healing in its wings,a 

and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

  3Then you will trample the wicked, f

or they will be ashes under the soles of your feet 

on the day I am preparing,” 

says the LORD of Hosts.

Does It Not (Bid Thought to Marvel)

 Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed?

 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father 

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

 4 who gave himself for our sins 

to rescue us from the present evil age, 

according to the will of our God and Father, 

5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. 

Amen. 

Gal.1:3-5

Does it not bid thought to marvel

He who knew no sin became

Sin's sacrifice for all people

To redeem us through His Name

Does it not stir adoration 

For He whose blood was out-poured

Once for all, the soul's salvation

Wrought, through Jesus Christ the Lord

Does it not stun contemplation

That the Son of God should be

Humbled to death's meanest station

On a cross for all to see

Crushed beneath the weight He carries

Sinless, bearing all our sins

For we, beneficiaries

Of His holy sufferings 

Does it not undo vainglory

To view hate's presumptuousness

While love, clothed in bloodshed, gory

Wove faith's robes of righteousness

Does it not renew surrender

Does it not steal our breath

To behold the soul's Defender 

Obedient unto death

Look, where love's manifestation

Suffered voluntarily  

Does it not stir adoration

From the likes of you and me

Jesus Christ gave Himself for us

Bearing Pardon's Albatross 

So that we we may be victorious

Through the power of the cross

Does it not bid thought to marvel

At the hope the cross affords

Through sin's sacrifice so royal-

King of Kings and Lord of lords

   © Janet Martin

Nothing But the Blood of Jesus

Wonderful Merciful Saviour

Redemption-wrought Renewal

Surely all the suffering of sorrow, sickness, loss

would get the best of us without God's comfort through the cross

Praise Him; the best this life affords is free to one and all

Salvation through the sacrifice that saves us from The Fall

and breaks the curse of death and hell the hour we believe

renewing faith's hope day by day, through life yet to receive

John 3:16 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world 

that He gave His only begotten Son,

 that whoever believes in Him 

should not perish 

but have everlasting life.

2 Cor.4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. 

Even though our outward man is perishing, 

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 

is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

 while we do not look at the things which are seen, 

but at the things which are not seen. 

For the things which are seen are temporary, 

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Renewed day by day

Where challenges we face

Would draw hope’s anchored joy away

Without God’s love and grace

Without His promises

To cheer our mortal clay

Without His perfect no and yes

To comfort as we pray

Without the confidence

Of Him, in full control

Without Calvary’s Providence

To save the deathless soul

...till the dark glass between

Faith and Sight melts away

The glory of what/Who is Unseen

Renews us day by day

© Janet Martin

Standing on the Promises of God

Because He Lives- David Crowder

Like a Love Song...

This morning's Old and New Testament readings

impresses on the reader the sacred sanctity of shed blood!

Lev. 17-18& Matt. 27:27-50

There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood

Lev.17:11

 ...for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ 

Matt.27:24-26

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, 

but rather that a [c]tumult was rising, 

he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, 

“I am innocent of the blood of this [d]just Person. You see to it.”

25 And all the people answered and said, 

“His blood be on us and on our children.”

26 Then he released Barabbas to them; 

and when he had [e]scourged Jesus, 

he delivered Him to be crucified.

***

Redemption streams 

for every sin

...repented of!!

God's promises

not slack concerning

...obedient love

***

God is not mocked

By grace we go

While ever reaping

What we sow

***

One grain of pride

Is enough to tumble

A lofty tower

ninety-nine percent humble

***

When we open the door to

What Leads to Sin

We let a host

of demons in

***

God's law does not author confusion

and chaos' increase

God's laws author order, holiness,

righteousness and peace

***

Like a love song from lips and lives

Like a tree bearing wholesome (holy) fruit

Like a fountain from which joy thrives

Through surrender’s stream-nourished root

May faithful, fervent worship spill

From hearts, ceaselessly awed by You

Because, oh God, we know Your will

Is ever trustworthy and true

Our times are in Your righteous hands

And in far higher thoughts and ways

Than human nature’s quick demands

That undermine repentant praise

You grant each day, mercy engraved

Then, bless the greatest name of all

The name whereby mankind is saved

From the curse wrought by Adam’s fall

Sinless and undefiled You bore

Sin’s pardon for all human race

Sin that is remembered no more

As we repent and receive grace

Then, as we believe in Your Word

To undergird, exhort and thrill

May, like a love song, undeterred

Obedient, true worship spill

© Janet Martin

Lord, When I Think About Your Love or Awed Impetus

How Great Thou Art 

 

And Can It Be?

Lord, when I think about Your love

And what it bid of You

May it revive awed impetus

To be faithful and true

Thou, King of kings and Lord of lords

Author of earth and sky

Led like a lamb ‘neath slaughter’s swords

On a cross lifted high

Lord, when I think about Your Son

Who died so I could live

Who, during His crucifixion

Cried out, ‘Father, forgive’

I pray that Your love would pour through

My redeemed edifice

To amaze, humble and renew

Devotion’s impetus

Lord, when I think about Your love

The Lamb that took my place

I cannot comprehend the trove

The spills grace upon grace

Or the breadth of Thy treasury

From which mercies abound

To satisfy each earthly plea

With purpose heaven-crowned

Lord, when I think about your love

Words fail to intercede

Redemption’s ‘Infinite Enough’

Supplies infinite need

Where blood drenched altars made of stone

Could never satisfy

What only Christ’s blood could atone

The sins of you and I

Lord, when I think about the breath

That rent the temple's veil

And broke the curse that authored death

All other wonders pale

The love that frees, and bought for us

Not punishment, but Prize

The blood of Jesus wrought for us

The right to Paradise

Lord, when I think of who You sent

Spite’s sword falls from my hand

Redemption seals a covenant

I cannot understand

You gave Your Son to take my place

Though You know me full well

Still, I receive grace upon grace

Instead of death and hell

© Janet Martin

John 1:16-17

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

 17For the law was given through Moses;

 grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.