Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Where Unholy Thoughts Could Play...

Ps.86:5&10-13

For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,
rich in loving devotion to all who call on You...

...For You are great and perform wonders;
You alone are God.
11Teach me Your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in Your truth.
Give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear Your name.
12I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify Your name forever.
13For great is Your loving devotion to me;
You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

A few glimpses at what helped to inspire today's poem...







Lord, where unholy thoughts could play
And tempt ‘the good I would’ to stray
Where dark despair could defeat joy
And bait worship with cunning ploy

Where judgement could bar/mar gentle grace
And would make me forget my place
Where pride, could with subtle disguise
Deceive good intention with lies

Where I am often boldly prone
To pursue int’rests of my own
Rather than do the best I can
To encourage my fellowman

Where opportunity abounds
And oft humility confounds
Where self-indulgence could creep in
And blind me to its crafty sin

While excuse grooms its masterpiece
Where unholy thoughts could conceive
A religion of make-believe

Lest by imagination’s whim
The light that I could be grows dim
Lord, let Thy mercy hear my plea
Restore my zeal and love for Thee

Fain and vain is the good I would
Save through the power of Thy blood
Thus, may my utmost longing be
Love’s thankfulness for Christ in me

Lest, where unholy thoughts could play
I slowly, surely go astray
These precious words; how great Thou art

© Janet Martin



An oldie!!



Lyrics by Johnson Oatman, Jr

  1. When storms of life are round me beating,
    When rough the path that I have trod,
    Within my closet door retreating,
    I love to be alone with God.
    • Refrain:
      Alone with God, the world forbidden,
      Alone with God, O blest retreat!
      Alone with God, and in Him hidden,
      To hold with Him communion sweet.
  2. What though the clouds have gathered o’er me?
    What though I’ve passed beneath the rod?
    God’s perfect will there lies before me,
    When I am thus alone with God.
  3. ’Tis there I find new strength for duty,
    As o’er the sands of time I plod;
    I see the king in all His beauty,
    While resting there alone with God.
  4. And when I see the moment nearing
    When I shall sleep beneath the sod,
    When time with me is disappearing,
    I want to be alone with God.

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

The Sacred 'Real Deal'


1 Sam.16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel,
 “Do not look at his appearance 
or at the height of his stature,
 because I have rejected him; 
for God does not see as man sees, 
since man looks at the outward appearance, 
but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Decorated facades
Like pretty cakes, appeal...
(but the truth of the matter is, this pretty frosting
 could be covering something delectable 
or extremely vile! 
The outside doesn't tell...)


Below is a photo my daughter sent me today,
 of a cake she made for a school fundraiser
(used with permission)


It looks great!
And I have tasted enough of her baking to be sure it will taste great!
However 'it looks great' alone is not enough!
It's what is under the countenance that counts🙏

Thought soon gives way to voice
The invisible genesis
Of love turns into choice

Thought's word and deed unfolds
Like leaves on many trees
Yet, countenance that gaze beholds
Is not what God’s eye sees

Eden’s forbidden fruit
Was pleasing to the eye
 Thought entertained That Cunning Brute
Then partook of his lie

Pride mocks God, true and good
The evidence of thought
Is always clearly understood
Through fear of Him, or not

Decorated facades
Like pretty cakes, appeal
But beneath what visage applauds
Is the crucial 'real deal'  

Therefore, we ought to heed
 Thought's hotbed of design
Ere aftermath of scattered seed
Hangs heavy on the vine 

For as we think we are
Then, pray this is our plea
That meditations of the heart
Are pleasing, Lord, to Thee

© Janet Martin


Ps.141
I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to You.
2May my prayer be set before You like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
3Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.
4Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing
or take part in works of wickedness
with men who do iniquity;
let me not feast on their delicacies.
5Let the righteous man strike me;
let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion.
It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it.
For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
6When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs,
the people will listen to my words,
for they are pleasant.
7As when one plows and breaks up the soil,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8But my eyes are fixed on You,
O GOD the Lord.
In You I seek refuge;
do not leave my soul defenseless. 
9Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
and from the lures of evildoers.
10Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.


Friday, December 30, 2022

Thoroughfares of Retrospect


Our mind is the control tower of our life~
Charles Stanley

As we look back on another year almost spent
we traverse thoroughfares of retrospect, don't we?!
My, oh my-oh-my!
What a showcase of mistakes and mercies!

Sometimes it appears technology has
reduced attention-spans to tik-tok sized snippets!
How much is lost at great cost!!
Listening to a message like the one below 
means taking the time to turn off distractions
in order to fuel thought with good counsel!
So worth the time it takes!
Will you join the millions and millions who 
have taken the time to listen to this message?


And if life does not allow the freedom right now to listen to the whole of it,
The first two minutes offer SO much to think about, 
until you have time for the remainder!


In retrospect we realize what matters does not change
Where guests that the mind entertains proves who we love the most
And though we cannot keep so much of what the years estrange
We can take careful charge of thought’s dinner-parties we host
And prepare with a wary heart, the table where Thought lolls
Before the hand reveals that part that the mind first cajoles

In retrospect we find what wise and fool's proof  cannot null
Who we love most is soon exposed by time’s tender romance
Who we revere and hold most dear is clearly visible
By what we choose and how we use the blessings that God grants
Where Thought is like a banquet table laden with buffets
Where so much good and so much bad can capture our gaze

In retrospect we see how swift time’s subtle shuttle flies
While tears and laughter spill, while we are often filled with awe
At lifetimes woven with the threads of dawn-to-dusk’s demise/disguise
Where thought is like an evil god if left to its own law
And ignorance is like a noose dangling from gallows where
Time’s subtle shuttles fly while Thought offers Fresh Thought a chair

In retrospect we oft admit we did not do our best
To bid Thought to pay sacred, meeker, and more earnest heed
To what God says rather than what Well-meaning Thoughts suggest
Where holiness, not happiness should be Thought’s primal greed
Because the lot of the undying soul is undeterred
Thus Thought should feed its dinner-guests with counsel from God’s Word

…where Thoroughfares of Retrospect spread out a humbling feast
For Thought is always hungry and the Tempter always near
And we concede at best Thought is a needy, bumbling beast
Subject to err without God’s Word to gird and commandeer
Therefore, no matter what befalls Thought’s menus to arrange
In retrospect we realize what matters does not change

© Janet Martin

 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.


Friday, January 21, 2022

Of Barren Page



I never know what waits each morning to fill the 'barren page'...
Do you?
But one thing I endeavor always; to pray before I touch it!
Do you?

As I wrestled with what today's poem would be
the sky softened and ink and light unfurled
in a tender tango of waking poem and world...




We are all poets in a sense...
some intense in our adherence to strict measures of time
others are free as the wind, these versifiers paying
no heed to things such as meter and rhyme
but...
Be careful dear
the now and here
soon sheds its heady bloom
but cannot quell
the drops that fell 
in poetry and plume


The beckoning of barren page is like a garden plot
Waiting the plant and printed wage of seed and ink unfurled
The poetry of plume and pen gladdens our eyes and thought
Where bowers brim with bloom again in spite of winter’s world

The lure of barren page is like a bud not opened yet
Or like a gift, before we tug the wrapping from its smile
Or like the skyline stoked with daybreak’s stoic silhouette
Keen expectation trembles where still-veiled vistas beguile

The potential of barren page is like a fallow field
Or summer in the silent, snow-white stage of its prelude
A seed or word may seem so small, but, what a mighty yield
Instills the syllables that fall on halls not long subdued

The grace of barren page is like God’s gift of brand-new day
Where soon we spill to its façade, deed’s seeds, thought’s drops of ink
Where masterpieces wait to be; then oh, we ought to pray
Because love’s plume and poetry begin by what we think

© Janet Martin

Phil.4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, 
whatever is true, 
whatever is noble, 
whatever is right, 
whatever is pure,
 whatever is lovely, 
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

For Better or For Worse Love's Fool-proof Evidence

There is only one fool-proof instruction manual for love:
God's Word, The Holy Bible
There is only one perfect example of love:
God's Son, Jesus
There is only one name above every name:
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name above all names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Phil.2:9-11

...for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men,
1 Kings 8:39

...for the Lord searches all hearts, 
and understands every intent of the thoughts.
1 Chron.28:9

...for God sees not as man sees, 
for man looks at the outward appearance, 
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Sam.16:7

(A perk of not finishing a morning post till tot is in for an afternoon nap?
some lunch snapshots.😊)

Pots and pans can help us cook up quite a visually-appealing lunch-feast!
(I am always astonished at how a mountain of spinach
disappears when cooked)





This medley of stir-fried onion, green and red sweet peppers,
 celery, carrot and spinach
 topped with a scoop of quinoa, 
a splash of soy sauce
and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds was yummy!
For the first time I cooked un-gummy quinoa


thanks to this post;
😋
Besides pots-and-pans feasts,
Thoughts of man can cook up quite a feast too!
Whether with mind or mouth, 
we become what we regularly feast on.

For better of for worse God knows the intent of the heart
He sees beneath façade of skin that clothes the counterpart
Of longing’s smart and rebel pride,
Of cupid’s dart and dreams denied
His tender gaze beholds the ways of mortal’s mental art

We soon expose, in spite of clothes the thought-guests that we host
The ilk of word and deed soon shows what God/gods we love the most
By what we boast and what we crave
By who we toast astride the grave
By how one lives the Now grace gives; Heaven or earth-engrossed

When circumstance upsets The Plan, when tolerance is tried
When song and dance of fellowman obstructs the prudent stride
For better or for worse God knows
Whether we bless or curse want’s woes
Without a word the heart is heard and seen; nowhere to hide

The intent of the heart becomes tomorrow’s testaments
A catalyst of sacred crumbs scattering recompense
Where, someday we will give account
For seeds that spill from fleeting fount
To strew behind, from heart and mind, love’s fool-proof evidence

© Janet Martin

Monday, November 22, 2021

Tell Me, What Good Can a Good Thought Do (without God)?


A few Good Songs to start a New Week on...

Promises-Matt Boswell & Matt Papa

  






 

'Think good thoughts' and 'think positive thoughts'
are becoming popular phrases in this age!

Please tell me what good can a good thought do
without God?
(without yielding thought to prayer)

James 1:16-18
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 
Every good and perfect gift is from above, 
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 
with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth,
 that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.

Tell me, what good can good thought do
When we are down and out
If Good Thought is not first thought through
To Who ‘Good’ is about

Good thought is good but cannot turn
The tables of despair
To hope if we rebel and spurn
Good thought turned into prayer

For if the Good Thinker refutes
Goodness by Goodness blessed
Mortal’s inferior substitutes
Are pitiful at best

Dare we with atheistic bent
Omit the Name whereby
Goodness, mercy and love prevent
What law would justify

Ah, what is thought (both good and ill)
But our utter need
To submit to the Perfect Will
Of God to intercede

Good or positive thoughts alone
Are like trying to fly
While we, manacled to a stone
Are leaping for the sky

Tell me, what good is Good Thought’s sum
Without the power of
The One all Goodness proceeds from
God’s Never-failing Love

Therefore, the goodness Mind suggests
Flows not from mortal aught
But from God's grace that manifests
His love in noble thought

Tell me, what good are good thoughts when
By True Goodness bereft
Bids a façade without God, then
Is any goodness left? 

© Janet Martin

Lots more 'goodness' where these verses came from:
God's Word

You are good, and do good; 
teach me Your statutes. 
Psalm 119:68

You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, 
and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, 
and gave them water for their thirst. 
Nehemiah 9:20

Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; 
turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. 
Psalm 69:16

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; 
and He knows those who trust in Him. 
Nahum 1:7

No one is good but One, 
that is, God. 
Mark 10:18

He loves righteousness and justice; 
the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 
Psalm 33:5

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; 
blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 
Psalm 34:8

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 
For the Lord is good; 
His mercy is everlasting. 
Psalm 100:4-5

Oh, how great is Your goodness, 
which You have laid up for those who fear You, 
which You have prepared for those who trust in You 
in the presence of the sons of men! 
You shall hide them in the secret place
 of Your presence from the plots of man; 
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion 
from the strife of tongues. 
Psalm 31:19-20


Monday, November 15, 2021

Heart-effect

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Psalm 141:3

Let the words of my mouth, 
and the meditation of my heart, 
be acceptable in thy sight, 
O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

A winter wonderland to set the heart singing this morning (I hope) 😉
Contemplating what comes out of our mouths today
besides breath-clouds on the frosty air!



How cold the heart of spite doth burn
How mean then, mind doth mete
To tongue unlovely words that turn
To sorrow and defeat

How warm the heart of love doth leap
How kind then, mind doth spill
To tongue goodness and mercy’s sweet
-ness of grace and goodwill

How destitute are you and I
Without humility
To turn sharp edges of reply
To tender sympathy

© Janet Martin

Sunday, April 25, 2021

To Hosts of Homage

 PAD Challenge 25For today's prompt, write a thought poem. 



'Everything we do/become begins with what we think,
and which thoughts we entertain! we do not fall prey to
a passing thought, but the one which we indulge'
our father would caution us, as teens.
'We all have terrible things that enter the mind but as the old
proverb goes;
Just because a bird flies over our heads
doesn't mean we need to allow it to build a nest'

***
So many thought-guests drop by!
We need to be careful to whom we offer a chair!

***
We become what we feed thought...
Such a huge buffet!
choose well

Something like this is nice for
thought's breakfast...




One life to live;
A gift to give
Our uttermost attention to
Where thought gives birth
To waste or worth
Of everything we say and do

Thought entertains
In boundless veins
Guests of both honor and deceit
Its rendezvous
(no matter who)
Soon bursts through gates of mouth-hands-feet

This control tow’r
Of holy pow’r
All other boasts of might exceeds
Therefore, we ought
To give much thought
To what we think and where it leads

© Janet Martin

Whatever is noble, 
whatever is right, 
whatever is pure, 
whatever is lovely, 
whatever is admirable — 
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy —
 think about such things.

-Philippians 4:8


Monday, March 1, 2021

Only God/Love


In the Court of Thought
do you sometimes feel like shouting,
'Order in the house, please!'
That's when hopefully
Humble Prayer rises up
and orders Thought
to 'be still and know 
that He is God/love'!
 (Ps.46:10)


What a power-house for good or evil every single one of us
 carries on our shoulders, right?!
Around a table full of people
there is always so much more than
meets the eye...
so much more than
Sunday-night supper at Gramma's House...

Some after-homemade-pizza and carrot cake-reflection/digestion😋😊



As we shed innocence, we all struggle at times with that hidden world of thought!
Here's hoping, nay, here's praying we do not try to order thought's steps on our own!


Thought can be a darksome dungeon wrought with dangers in disguise 
Carving warpaths through assumption with the razor-edge of sighs 
Mercy meets us in the moment if we reach beyond the noose 
That inflicts its guarded torment and that only God/love can loose 

Thought can rage, a cage of demons bent on carnage of good cheer 
Who knows what can brim unbidden, havoc hidden in a tear 
Consequence’s score is settled on a stage none can outsmart 
Only God/love can melt the mettle of a cold and bitter heart 

Thought can threaten course of action it ought not to contemplate 
Only God/love can break the pattern wrought by thoughts of spite and hate 
Lest stones heaped for easy access in a quick slip of the tongue 
Hones a hotbed of responses often rude and rashly flung 

Thought can set a deadly snare and snuff the flame the love would fan
Who can bear for long the brute that shakes its fist at fellowman
Hosting a cruel slew of reasons for vengeance to vindicate
Only God/love is fully qualified to set the record straight

Thought can be a harsh task master, sarcastic, heartless and mean 
Authoring certain disaster without God/love to intervene 
Thought alone can never conquer what thought ought not to resound
Only God/love can overcome the foe that rushes Holy Ground

Thought can rise on wings of worship from the belly of despair 
Turn discouragement to courage as hope’s feathers beat the air 
Not by sudden surge of honor as noble logic gives chase 
But by God/love alone who offers and authors goodness and grace

© Janet Martin 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, 
whatsoever things are honest, 
whatsoever things are just, 
whatsoever things are pure, 
whatsoever things are lovely, 
whatsoever things are of good report; 
if there be any virtue, 
and if there be any praise, 
think on these things.

Phil.4:8

For the word of God is living and powerful, 
and sharper than any two-edged sword, 
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, 
and of joints and marrow, 
and is a discerner of the thoughts 
and intents of the heart.
Heb.4:12

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Think on These Things

 


We all have ample 'opportunity' to get caught up in
unprofitable thoughts; envy, fear, doubt, shame, spite, judgment, anxiety...
On and on it goes!

Years ago, when Victoria was part of Gems 
she brought home this verse-card.
It took up permanent residence on the fridge.





Think on these things; Not that which fosters doubt and despair’s woe 
But dwell upon the love and grace of God Whereby we go 
And think upon praiseworthy things to fill the heart with joy 
On noble, true and lovely things that no foe can destroy 
Think on these things 

Do not let thought get mired in the bog of discontent 
Or tangled in deception’s web or regret’s vain judgement 
But rather think on things that build upon the word of He 
Who will not fail no matter what our failing may be 
Think on these things 

Think of the One who sent His Son, the Lord of Heaven and earth 
Who put on man and began life in lowliest of birth 
Laid in a manger for a bed so none can envy He 
Who loved mankind unto death on the cross at Calvary 
Think on these things 

Don’t give place to the devil; he delights in fear and shame 
And a whole host of evil that draws thoughts from Jesus’ Name 
The name above all names that became the scapegoat for man 
To pay the penalty for sin that mortal never can 
Think on these things 

Think of the tree that stands between Eden and Heaven’s Throne 
The Author of the universe rejected by his own 
Has made a way that all may call upon Him and be saved 
His robe of righteousness clads servants of we, once enslaved 
Think on these things 

Think on the things that foster peace and goodwill unto men 
Joy to the world, the Lord is come to break the curse of sin 
With Soul’s salvation as a gift, not works, lest any boast 
Death’s outer darkness pierced by love and mercy’s uttermost 
Think on these things 

© Janet Martin 

Friday, May 29, 2020

Heart and Goal


A calm hour with God is worth
a whole lifetime with man.
-Robert Murray McCheyne- 

What goal fires our purpose?
Is it temporal or eternal?

 1 Peter 1:24
For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field;
 the grass withers and the flowers fall,


So much seeks our full attention
Weak or strong are not immune
To the ethereal dimension
Of the dreamer’s private room
Where no mortal master governs
What no guard can chaperone
In thought’s invisible caverns
Where the heart becomes a throne

…where the one who reigns upon it
Breaks through flesh and blood façade
By the way we weigh life’s moments
Serving either Self or God
By the object of our wonder
By the comforts that console
Where each moment draws asunder
The gap between Heart and Goal

© Janet Martin