To Find Fullness of Life/Love or Faith's Resolution (By the Grace of God)

This poem is a tall 'order'/prayer

but with God, nothing is impossible!

 By His 'grace upon grace' I/we go,

pray, for His glory alone!

Earth and sky shout His evidence!

Oh, what a crying shame

If I should place faith's confidence

In any other Name

John 1:16 

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

This poem is written in first person 

because it immediately became more convicting

than the less direct 'we' and 'our' approach! 

No side-stepping the 'issue' today! 😅🙏

Some goals to strive toward...

To find fullness of life/love that only self-forgetting yields

To bear the yoke of prayerful hope in harvest-heavy fields

To be humbly encouraged by faith’s cloud of witnesses

To not lose heart; enough to be heirs of God’s promises

To take my cross and follow Him with heart, soul, strength and mind

To fix my eyes on Jesus who is trustworthy and kind

To make my great ambition more than this world can afford

To hold no longing dearer than to gain Heaven’s reward

To recognize ‘the whole duty of man’ and to reply

With unwavering confidence and courage, ‘Here am I’

To value, more than anything the wisdom from God’s Word

To teach, rebuke, correct and train, equip and undergird

To transform heart’s desires as the Lord is my delight

To commit to nothing but what is worthy and upright

To find in every common place, rare jewels for joy’s crown

To fret not, though the wicked prosper, God will cut them down

To stay my mind on He who will keep it in perfect peace

To be still and know He is God who giveth the increase

And though I do not understand His higher thoughts and ways

To be forever thankful He is worthy of all praise

And if I stumble, if I fall, where sight and faith compete

To take the Hand grace offers and to get back on my feet

To count for joy, the trial whereby faith must be refined

To make the love I boast more patient, pure, gentle and kind

To be an honored vessel wherein God has placed His light

To endure hardness as a soldier fitted for the fight

To find fullness of life/love by pouring out my love/life for He

Who poured Love's lifeblood on the cross to save a wretch like me

© Janet Martin

Ps.37

Do not fret because of those who are evil

or be envious of those who do wrong;

2 for like the grass they will soon wither,

like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4 Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,

but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;

though you look for them, they will not be found.

11 But the meek will inherit the land

and enjoy peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the righteous

and gnash their teeth at them;

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he knows their day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword

and bend the bow

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose ways are upright.

15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken.

16 Better the little that the righteous have

than the wealth of many wicked;

17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,

and their inheritance will endure forever.

19 In times of disaster they will not wither;

in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

20 But the wicked will perish:

Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,

they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,

but the righteous give generously;

22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land,

but those he curses will be destroyed.

23 The Lord makes firm the steps

of the one who delights in him;

24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

25 I was young and now I am old,

yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken

or their children begging bread.

26 They are always generous and lend freely;

their children will be a blessing.[b]

27 Turn from evil and do good;

then you will dwell in the land forever.

28 For the Lord loves the just

and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed[c];

the offspring of the wicked will perish.

29 The righteous will inherit the land

and dwell in it forever.

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,

and their tongues speak what is just.

31 The law of their God is in their hearts;

their feet do not slip.

32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,

intent on putting them to death;

33 but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wicked

or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

34 Hope in the Lord

and keep his way.

He will exalt you to inherit the land;

when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man

flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,

36 but he soon passed away and was no more;

though I looked for him, he could not be found.

37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;

a future awaits those who seek peace.[d]

38 But all sinners will be destroyed;

there will be no future[e] for the wicked.

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him

Benediction and Resolution

I'll Wish I Had Given Him More

I went on a hymn-hunt after the message today

after the man who brought the message shared the lyrics.

Thank-you Richard!

 (also for the last line in this poem)

This benediction to the Old Year is more like a resolve for the New,

To grasp with renewed wonder 

To timeless truths of old 

And satisfy heart-hunger 

With what hands cannot hold 

To sense the thread of moments 

Unravel as they weave 

A sacred recrudescence 

Deigned by Who we believe 

To cling with firm conviction 

To He who does not shift 

And anchor each ambition 

In hope’s unashamed gift 

To not become too weary 

To do the good I/we ought 

But press toward the vic’try 

In a good fight well-fought 

To guard against the anguish 

Of disillusionment 

And not let love’s cause languish 

In selfish discontent 

To trust the Rock of Ages 

Amidst the raging gale 

And hold on to the Pages 

That Last Gasp will unveil 

To pay closer attention 

(lest God forbid, it slips) 

To the gift of redemption 

And Soul-dier it equips 

To not let vain emotion 

Control life’s little lease 

But make love's sole devotion 

Salvation’s Centerpiece 

© Janet Martin 

Joshua 23:11,12
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, 

that ye love the LORD your God…

Some Worth-(our)-While Resolutions...

 The photo collage below is from a summer front-porch sit at my sister's house!
(see first line of poem below:)
The view was second to none! and the company/fellowship was pretty nice too!
Here's to keeping some simpler, sweeter resolutions in 2020!

 
Happy Last Day of 2019!

 Here's to some totally within reach transformations that might not be quite as quickly visible

as those that took place overnight!

This year, let’s sit upon a porch though this seems like a thing of yore

(Because most of us seem too hurried just to linger anymore)

Just to rave at waves of colour weaving oceans through the sky

Or to marvel at the measure of a moment flitting by

Let’s close our eyes and wander back to simpler, ampler days and years

Or ponder present pleasantries before its pleasure disappears

Let’s pray more for our friends and neighbours, family both far and near

Or rock and talk about the weather or a hymn that we hold dear

Let’s try to pause without a worry about where we ought to be

Let’s learn to linger over pages filled with nature’s poetry

Let’s be awed, struck with wordless wonder as the sun sets in the west

And put down handheld distractions (lest we deem God’s art second best)

Let’s make a firm four-season promise to spend more time far less stressed

For the author of earth’s beauty offers endless ways to be impressed

The flower of an hour soon lies lifeless where spent ages drift

Let’s not let it slip through our fingers without regard for its gift

Let’s make a resolution to be more at ease with fellowman

And strive to please the Giver of all that He grants, the best we can

And let’s with kind, earnest endeavor bind love’s wounds with mercy’s kiss

To heal the heart and bridge the gap twixt what once was with what yet is

Let’s remember that we never know what a day, (nay, an hour) may cast

Let’s make real the cliché to live each day as if it were our last

Let’s picture this world as the foothills in full view of heaven’s gates

Then this will help us keep the focus when we would forget what waits

Let’s be more careful with the air full of echoes that soon will teach

Let’s be aware of the awesome blessing of loved ones still within reach

Let’s treat each other as if we never know if we will meet once more

Let’s make life worth the living by giving without once keeping score

Let’s sip our seasons slowly, wholly humbled by hope’s holy ground

Lest we miss out on what is right before us waiting to be found

Let’s turn the other cheek; not waste our precious whiles seeking revenge

Let’s fill our thoughts with thankfulness that spills out in ten thousand glad amens

© Janet Martin

...on this note I'm off to linger over pages filled with nature's fresh snowfall poetry!