A Prayer-Poem of Hope and Praise

The magnitude of this morning's sunrise 

was impossible to capture in the lens of a camera...

A little like God's goodness and love 

are impossible to capture in

the lines of a poem!

Dear Heavenly Father,

A prayer-poem of hope and praise!

From strength to strength in You

Sweet consolation this

Whatever valley we pass through

Whatever grief afflicts

Whatever tries joy’s cup

Whatever storm we face

From strength to strength, You bear us up

By your sufficient grace

Where nothing in this world

Transcends Your love so true

Like a majestic Light unfurled

To guide us home to You

© Janet Martin

Psalm 84:5-7

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

Heaven's Overflow

Psalm 113:3

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, 

the name of the LORD is to be praised.

This November we are treated to one spectacular sunrise/sunset after the next...

this Never-Before-Seen sunrise is happening right now!! (or was when I started this post)

Honey! Says Mr. Very-Extra-Matter-of-Fact to me whenever

I am over-rapturously rhapsodizing at heavenly declarations.

'there have been skies forever, with many a sunrise and set.

This is nothing new!!'

and I reply Yes!! but, that's the beauty of it!

This is new! 

No one has ever seen this sunrise/set before!

This is the Beauty of each and every day...

always new!

Like God's mercies every morning!

Lam3:22-24

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!”

A tremor on celestial strings...

Who knows what will unfold

On music sheets from welkin springs

Of magenta and gold

Where, wonder of all wonders, He

Who measures dust of days

With original Majesty

Not one sunrise replays

The Beauty of the Lord is such

No daybreak can deplete

Beneath His unparalleled touch

He never hits 'repeat'

But breathes upon the dark of dawn

Mercy's latest release

Beneath the charge of Hope's baton

A brand, new masterpiece

A brand, new day the Lord has made

For His Name to be praised

Beauty is like a love-song played

To keep Faith's gaze amazed

Then, lift your eyes unto the hills

That hang from heaven's gates

And join the worship hymn that spills

For God knows what yet waits

Sunrise, sunset, again, again

As long as grace bestows

The music bars for love's refrain

As Heaven overflows

Janet Martin

Behold Our God

Living Hope

On Living The Gift

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it

Psalm 118:24

(the circumference of the brilliance of this sunrise was almost full circle!!

It’s so much more than merely left-foot-right-foot-left-foray

This life we live so much more than moment-metered decay

So much more than an unrewarded leap of say-and-do

This life we live is what we give to God when it is through

It’s so much more than toast to boast about what we achieve

These steps we strew behind become the legacy we leave/weave

Then, as the door to One More Day swings stunningly ajar

May we remember by Whose grace and love we go, and are

It’s so much more than grin-and-bear-it, tick-tock-morn-to-night

Or touch-and-taste’s burgeoning tray of distress and delight

This is the day the Lord has made and as its mercies brim

We live the gift we give to God when we return to Him

© Janet Martin

Here are twenty-one beautiful verses on 'living the gift'!

Eph.5:1-21

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 

2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, 

an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, 

let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 

4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, 

but rather giving of thanks. 

5 For [a]this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, 

who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, 

for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 

7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Walk in Light

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. 

Walk as children of light 

9 (for the fruit of the [b]Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 

10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [c]expose them. 

12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 

13 But all things that are [d]exposed are made manifest by the light, 

for whatever makes manifest is light. 

14 Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

Walk in Wisdom

15 See then that you walk [e]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 

16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father 

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

21 submitting to one another in the fear of [f]God.

...then it began to snow...

...and the sun disappeared

into a snow-globe swirled world!

Day Breaks...

From moonrise 

to sunrise

the heavens draw our eyes upward

in universal worship to the Creator of heaven and earth.

Day breaks the sky, ebony-hued

Like wonder-thunder without sound

Like Mercy’s covenant renewed

Like golden signatures unbound

Day breaks the seal on skyline’s scroll

The blush of Beginning unfurled

To weathered carriages of Soul

Perfection crowns a broken world

© Janet Martin

Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
 They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
     It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
 It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Sunrise Supplication...

 

I looked up from my still blank page

where I was waiting to get a 'leading/lead'

on what to write to see This going on!!

So I grabbed some clothes from the hook and shoes sitting inside the door

(which happened to be Matt's parka and Kodiaks)

and I shuffled out to the fence to watch and wonder!

(in case someone saw me and wondered at my strange getup haha)

Lord, calm the tempest in my heart

As dawn draws night away

Where I am about to embark

Upon another day…

Lord, let me not contrive from fear

Dark dread of what might be

But lean upon Thy Word so dear

Like leaning on Thy knee

Lord, like the woman at the well

Open my eyes to see

The gift of God that none can quell

And Thou alone can be

…with Living Water quench my thirst

Let Thy peace intercede

And help me seek Thy kingdom first

Thus, finding all I need

From fathoms of goodness and grace

I draw from faith, not fear

Where, though I cannot see Thy Face

Lord, I know Thou art near

I thank Thee for Thy steadfast care

To help me bear my own

And for Thy whisper through my prayer

That I am not alone

© Janet Martin

I sometimes struggle between making a poem/prayer personal or communal!

First I had we-us-our instead of me-I-my

but it seemed more personal to pray this in first person

and my prayer is that it will uplift and encourage

you as you pray/read it!

John 4:10

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God 

and who it is that asks you for a drink, 

you would have asked him 

and he would have given you living water.”

One of my favourite hymns...

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

(LOVE to hear the next generation singing these beloved hymns!)

From Rent Reservoirs

Beauty and duty distractions kept me from my keyboard this morning...

but not from worship!

Surely the hour is an altar awaiting our sacrifice of praise!

Not difficult on a morning like today!

(I linked to the word brigantine in the poem

because grand-sonny wondered why grandma was looking at boat pictures)😊

He arrived while I was working on the first stanza

which is why my morning poem became an afternoon poem

...with a message that is wonder-full any time of day or night!

Once again, like yesterday, the sunrise was like listening to an orchestra...

From mercy’s boundless reservoir new morning meets its mark

On daybreak’s brigantine once more passengers reembark

Who knows what waits where welkin gates are grandly flung ajar

Where, only when time’s tide abates will we have won faith’s war

Heavens unfold the glory of love’s kind mercy renewed

Where we behold but fringes of unfathomed magnitude

Praise He who cups earth’s marbled globe in absolute control

And as we touch the hemline of His robe, He makes us whole

The train of the king’s glory fills the temple of the earth

Then tell the old, old, story of the Saviour’s lowly birth

Of how he left Perfection mankind’s sin-debt to atone

How, with His resurrection death and hell were overthrown

…and how all who believe in Him receive the gift of grace

Eternal life; no sentence grim when death’s dark door we face

Then come what may, where mercy’s kind compassion is renewed

We face the day with peace of mind and humble gratitude

...for He who rends dark yonder with a glimpse of Majesty

Where hearts thunder with wonder at whispers of 'let there be'

As mercy breaks the bower of the bud with crimson rose

And from a reservoir of love, God's goodness overflows

© Janet Martin

After the sun rose it disappeared for a little while...

...only to reappear with a sky-wide smile!

Sorry for so many pics 

but trying to pick only a handful out of a couple hundred wow-some photos

is no small joy-task!

Psalms 50:2 - 

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, 

God hath shined.

Aurora Awe

 

This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm118:24

Shake off the dust of dreams waylaid 

Fling wide hope’s hoary door 

For this, the day the Lord has made 

Has never been before 

Reach past the cast of wave-washed sand 

To what is grand and new 

For where we go He holds our hand 

If we but ask Him to 

And though we cannot see what waits 

To tune trust’s latest buzz 

The One who draws ajar gauze-gates 

Of mist-kissed morning does 

© Janet Martin 

So many fresh cares to fill our prayers, right?!

Seems like so many young moms in this community 

are struggling with sudden, hard health-crosses

Made me look up this hymn this morning

when I cried 'Why?'

by Charles W. Naylor

God’s way is best; if human wisdom

A fairer way may seem to show,

’Tis only that our earth-dimmed vision

The truth can never clearly know.

Refrain:

God’s way is best, I will not murmur,

Although the end I may not see;

Where’er He leads I’ll meekly follow,

God’s way is best, is best for me.

Had I the choosing of my pathway,

In blindness I should go astray,

And wander far away in darkness,

Nor reach that land of endless day.

He leadeth true; I will not question,

Though through the valley I shall go;

Though I should pass through clouds of trial,

And drink the cup of human woe.

God’s way is best; heart, cease thy struggling

To see and know and understand;

Forsake thy fears and doubts, but trusting,

Submit thyself into His hand.

Thy way is best, so lead me onward,

My all I give to Thy control;

Thy loving hand will truly guide me,

And safe to glory bring my soul.

Ravished, Raptured, Dazzled...

Another stunner!!

How much more wonder we are lavished with

than we ever deserve!

Thank-you, Lord!

After taking these photos I took the truck to the mechanic just up the road

and walked a long, loveliest way home!

Ravished and raptured by sun up and down 

Lavished with laughter at nature’s renown 

Wonderstruck by weightless shadows, blue-bent 

Dazzled by diamonds that don’t cost a cent 

Wooed by a woodland begging to be trekked 

Stunned by its branches and bloom-hulls, star-flecked 

Awed by God’s goodness that reckons no bounds 

Resolute mercy beckons and confounds 

Ravishing, rapturing, lavishing oh 

Dazzling and wooing and stunning us so 

© Janet Martin 

I had just returned home, brewed a fresh pot of coffee

when the door was flung open

and 'what to my wondering eyes should appear

but my darling daughter and two grandchildren dear!'

With camera still in hand I said wait and let me get a picture,

because, in spite of all the beauty I've seen so far today,

this tops it all!

Needless to say, my heart over-floweth with wonder and gratitude!

Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof, 

the world and all who dwell therein.