All We Have...(Comes From God)

Am I truly willing to love (aka give)

with all I have?

This, the challenge/conviction from this morning's reading...

A few excerpts below

This morning is gleaming and shiny as a new silver or gold coin

begging to be spent/invested!

So many avenues, snares and benefits for both money and time

where every day is an investment for eternity!

Ps.16:11 

You will show me the path of life;

 In Your presence is fullness of joy; 

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Heb.4:13 KJV

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:

 but all things are naked and opened 

unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

NIV

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. 

Everything is uncovered and laid bare 

before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The Creator of life is the Supreme and Sovereign Giver 

(and withholder) of all we have or want!

Rom.8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good 

of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose.

Nothing is hidden from the One with Whom we have to do

No thought or motive's intention escapes His thorough view 

Not one measure that we possess , not one means we applaud

Is secured by our own success; All we have comes from God

No one is exempt from the tender love that wrought God's grace

God gave Himself and did not send another in His place

To bear surrender's uttermost; death on a cross, so grim

To leave no room for mortal boast; All we have comes from Him

No part of God's authority is for a select few

Forbid we have no fear of He with Whom we have to do

But, weigh all that transcends the grave with holy diligence

Because all that we have is by the Giver's providence 

Pray, we wholly rely on He who supplies our need

Pray we despise the enemy that thrives on fear and greed

For all we have is given, not to claim as our own

 Else earth's foretaste of Heaven would not make the Giver known  

 

Oh God, deliver us from evil that subtly takes root 

The love of money; a devil that blights both tree and fruit

Oh God, the Giver of our days, with Whom we have to do

Instill in us love's hymn of praise; all we have comes from You

So then, with all we have from You, pray, with all that we have

Of might and means, we purpose to invest beyond the grave 

Aware that life composes what death cannot circumvent 

When the Giver discloses what we did with what He lent 

© Janet Martin

A few more excerpts from the ending of the book

George Muller of Bristol...

to both cheer and challenge all who seek to live

to give without counting the cost!

Building for Eternity...

 

 

 

By Love Constrained/Compelled

Wishing you countless opportunity today, to

be constrained/compelled by love 

through Christ to love one another!

Come, Gracious Spirit

By love constrained; oh, what a way to live

To give the best we have for He who gave

Himself; ‘neath driven nails He cried ‘forgive’

Then overthrew the power of the grave

By love constrained; oh, what a way to find

The depth of riches God grants, by His grace

Wisdom and knowledge, divinely designed

Through unsearchable paths man cannot trace

By love constrained; oh, what a way to see

The beauty of the glory of the Lord

When patience, kindness and humility

Revere the recompense of the reward

By love constrained; oh, what a way to lay

Up treasure where no worldliness defiles

Where thief can not break in nor rust decay

The righteousness redemption reconciles

By love constrained; oh, what a way to walk

Love's 'second miles' none but love's Author knows

The Treasurer of life's most priceless stock

No Wall Street-Dow Jones-Nasdaq record shows 

By love constrained; oh, what a way to die

Daily to self-pleasing futility

In order so that we may glorify

No longer ‘I’, but Christ in you and me

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.5:14-21

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, 

therefore all died.

  15And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, 

but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. 

Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

  17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

 The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ 

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

  19that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, 

not counting men’s trespasses against them. 

And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, 

as though God were making His appeal through us. 

We implore you on behalf of Christ: 

Be reconciled to God. 

21God made Him who knew no sin to be sinb on our behalf, 

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

All My Boast is in Jesus

Happiness Masterpiece

Today's post is inspired in part by Rom. 8 and 

 in part by the final chapters of George Mueller of Bristol

(what a testimony his life was/is to the faithfulness of God)

Sometimes we, in our human natured bent want the result/reward

without paying the price of the prize!

we want a fit physique without the workout and exercise.

We want the blessing of obedience without the obedience

The answer to prayer without the praying/waiting/trusting

We want wisdom without the learning/earning

We want harvest without the planting-pruning-growing...

We live in a society where we have easy access to SO much,

to provide instant gratification!

We no longer need to wait and hope we hear our favorite song

we can binge-listen-watch-read-eat-drink, you name it!

It's really quite alarming!

And instead of satisfying the 'beast'

it seems to have the opposite effect! 

Romans 8:5,9

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; 

but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit…

Psalm 143:10

Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: 

thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

No Friend Like Jesus

Sometimes we, in our human bent forget the whole duty of man

Sometimes we become discontent when circumstance provokes the plan

Oh Lord, our gracious God, You care, when faith is overcome with sight 

When we are tempted to despair, Lord, pierce the darkness with your Light 

Sometimes we do not find because we do not seek humility  

Because we do not wholly yield to He who WAS, IS, and WILL BE

The lowliness and holiness of Jesus Christ, is plain to see

Upon a cross He sacrificed Himself to set doomed sinners free 

Sometimes when we don't understand, response does not befit the saint

Instead of keeping love's/God's command we wallow in thankless complaint 

Oh Lord, our gracious God, forgive our often very erring ways

When evidence by how we live does not reflect believer's praise 

Sometimes we, in our human bent fall prey to carnal attitude

Instead of worship we lament; grumbling replaces gratitude

Oh Lord, our gracious God, you see our hearts and love us, nonetheless 

Each morning You hold out the key to true and perfect happiness

The spirit is willing; the flesh is prone to want and reason blurred

Instead of earnest prayer we mesh with logic not found in Your Word

Oh Lord, our gracious God increase sorrow until Your joy complete

Makes happiness a masterpiece of Marys washing/kissing Jesus' feet 

© Janet Martin

Luke 7:36-50

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.

 And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 

37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, 

when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, 

brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 

38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; 

and she began to wash His feet with her tears, 

and wiped them with the hair of her head; 

and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, 

he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, 

would know who and what manner of woman this is

 who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answered and said to him,

 “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.

 One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay,

 he freely forgave them both. 

Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 

44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?

 I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet,

 but she has washed My feet with her tears 

and wiped them with the hair of her head. 

45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman 

has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 

46 You did not anoint My head with oil, 

but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.

 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. 

But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves,

 “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Then He said to the woman,

 “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

The Poorest of the Poor or Beggars by Choice

It's one thing to read the beginning of Romans 12,

but quite another to live it! Don't you agree? 

Therefore I urge you, brothers, (meaning every believer)

 on account of God’s mercy,

 to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, 

which is your spiritual service of worship.

 2Do not be conformed to this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

 Then you will be able to test and approve 

what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: 

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, 

but think of yourself with sober judgment,

 according to the measure of faith God has given you...

Oh, so many perfectly, good reasons can tempt us to

dwell more on the temporal than the eternal!

If we could see for a moment what lies beyond the bit we see...

...not one of us would hesitate to prepare today for eternity; 

one glimpse (of either Heaven or hell)

would be enough to convince us completely!

The Gate of Final Breath (unlike the gates in the picture below) 

leaves no loop holes or gaps through which one might escape/return

 

To ignore or decline or disregard God’s still small voice

Turns us, often quite unawares, into beggars by choice

The poorest of the poor; no joy, hope or peace for the soul

No one to trust with all our hearts, no faith to make us whole

No touch to heal our blindness, no Comforter for our grief

No Father to reply when we cry ‘help my unbelief’

No all-sufficient grace to be our strength when we are weak

No fear of He who keeps account of idle words we speak

As destitute in spirit as blind beggars on the street

Without a Friend to bind Want’s wounds and help us to our feet

Knowing that He is able to do far more than we think

No anchor in life’s storms, no Living Water we can drink

No assurance of everlasting life after we die

No confidence or courage when we look death in the eye

No humble gratitude to He who paid the debt we owed

No gladness (other than what favor’s circumstance bestowed)

No power greater than the shadow of might man may boast

No sweet hour of prayer to cheer us when we need it most

No whisper of encouragement to combat dark despair

No Word to light our path, no one on whom to cast our care

No reason for love’s sacrifices, beyond what we can see

No joy still set before us when we shed mortality

No glory at the Finish Line, no Victor’s sweet reward

No crown to lay before God’s throne, no ‘Worthy are You, Lord’

No promise that defeats the grave, no treasure, Heavenly

No doubtless proclamation of ‘Greater is He in me’

No armor to equip us so we can fight the Good Fight

No happiness that transcends trouble with holy delight

No self-denying, death-defying purpose-passion-plea

No pleasure at the right hand of God for eternity

No one to do through us what we on our own, cannot do

No chosen, precious Cornerstone unshakeable and true

To build upon; no refuge in the shadow of His wing

No higher call to satisfy our present suffering

No Salvation’s deliverance from wrath to come, for sin

No escape from the poverty we chose, in place of Him

When we ignore, decline or disregard God’s still, small Voice

We turn ourselves, oft unawares, to doomed beggars, by choice

© Janet Martin

sometimes we refer to beauty here as 'glimpses of paradise' ...

...but God tells us differently: 

1 Cor.2:9

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, 

Nor have entered into the heart of man 

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Wishing you blessed encouragement at the beginning of a new week

on account of God's mercies,..

a life holy and pleasing to God

A few more Sunday evening drive show/car-stoppers!!

The air was dense with purple fragrance! 

Sometimes You Say I've Changed...

Jim and I are approaching our birthdays-season,

kindling tender reflection.

Jim is entering a new decade on Saturday💓🙏

Once upon a time our parents were parents of little children,

then, they became parents of adult children,

Then they became parents of adult children with little children

Now they are parents of adult children with adult children 

who are raising the next generation of little children...

and so it goes.

Nothing and no one stays the same for long!

Best to embrace the place/grace we are in,

for where one season is,

another is waiting to be

as long as life remains!

I am completely content in the season I am in,

not because everything is perfect but because

there are enough joys to balance the heartaches.

Thank-you, Lord!

Spending time with our children

and grandchildren is one of 

life's blessed joys, in the season Jim and I are in.

I love how helping to plant potatoes made Grand-kiddos

 feel happy, important and valued...

(the 'taking turns' rule kept it lively, 

with always someone trying to sneak in two 'turns' in a row 😂)

We had eight rows planted in next to no time at all!

Good times 💖

And great opportunity to live out this passage:

 Deut. 6:5-9

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart

 and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.

  7And you shall teach them diligently to your children (or grandchildren)

and speak of them when you sit at home 

and when you walk along the road, (or work in the garden)

when you lie down and when you get up. 

8Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

  9Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

***

I love how the soft soil beneath their bare feet made them giddy with delight

I love how they still all love gramma's lap 💝 

I love when they can have some one on one grandpa time

 (while gramma cleans up supper dishes)

I love having  special reasons to bake...

 

Sometimes you say I’ve changed, and in a sense, I guess it’s true

Time changes things and I suppose it changes people too

Because perspective, with experience is apt to shift

The older that we grow the more we see life as a gift

The older that we grow the more we care about today

Because we’ve come to know how swift each day-gift slips away

To the permanent residence where centuries amass

Where everything that comes along is just as bound to pass

Where circumstance has always dealt both life’s better and worst

Where stepping stones to wisdom often felt like failure first

Where what we learned has earned a gentler, beholden regard

Because the way to learning it, was often slow and hard

Honing what we admire and desire and respect

And opening our eyes to joys we no longer neglect

As we begin to see without a shadow of a doubt

The certainties that younger people seldom think about

Where threescore year and ten or four was for far older crones

Before we looked time in the mirror and felt it in our bones

Admitting with aha, that time’s dexterous sleight of hand

Is more adept than any trick vain mortal can command

Sometimes you say I’ve changed; far sadder to remain untaught

After a lifetime leased to learn to love the way we ought

After day after day of grace, by mercy’s Hand arranged

Forbid the best that we can boast is that we never changed

© Janet Martin

Ps.90:12

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

How Oft-Soft a Sense of Joy-filled Grief...

...or, is it grief-filled joy?? 

(below, a week ago)

"If the tulips never died

the season for irises and peonies,

columbine and corn flowers,

 would never be born"

was my consolation during

 this morning's flower-garden stroll...

How oft/soft the haste of moments stirs

A bittersweet-ness as it blurs

The very present with the past

Ephemeral, yet iron-cast

How oft a long-awaited day

Of balmy breeze and sunbeam-play

Unfolds its bloom upon a stem

That cannot keep its diadem

…where soon echoes and petals meld

To grace the place where death is held

While overhead life thunders by

Beneath a rising, falling sky

How oft delight is caught off-guard

Where children dash across the yard

Heedless of currents that commence

To bear them from sweet innocence

…where soon they humble love's reply

With gaze that meets gaze, eye to eye

And we begin to revere more

The Hand that draws ajar dawn’s door

And we begin to slow our pace

To drain each precious drop of grace

From breakers as they heave and swell 

To wash dusk's shorelines with farewell

How oft we run with outstretched arms

But cannot hold for long, life’s charms

As love, ever a student, gapes

With groping awe, at spent landscapes

How oft we, like our silenced kin

When in the prime of groan and grin

Begin to sense a glove-like sky  

Taming/claiming an ocean of reply 

How oft then, time's momentum wakes

A bittersweet climax that breaks

Like foaming tides across a shore

Where lust for love and life implore

© Janet Martin

Eccles.3: 1-2

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

 A time [a]to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;...

I Wanna Live...

A Subtle Smorgasbord...

A word of caution...

The two photos at the top of this post are lovely.

The two at the bottom are not,

(unless the sight of mice traps

doing their thing doesn't bother you😅)

The picture is included because of the sobering parable it depicts

A new day is upon us

It lends to me and you

A very telling onus

By how we live for who

Each day is filled with choices

A subtle smorgasbord

Where what we cherish voices

Who is master and Lord

Pray, it is He who freed us

From the bondage of death

Pray we plead Him to lead us

In paths of righteousness

Behold, today is breaking

Alike to one and all

A gift, free for the taking

And rife with beck and call

Pray, by God’s grace and goodness

We are faithful and true

And recognize love's witness

By how we live for who

To everything a season

Until our life is through

Let’s make God's love the reason

For everything we do

...a new day is upon us

A subtle smorgasbord

Groaning with epic onus

That should not be ignored  

© Janet Martin

Ps.23:3

He restores my soul; 

He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Rom.6:16

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, 

you are that one’s slaves whom you obey,

 whether of sin leading to death, 

or of obedience leading to righteousness?

After hearing a constant, suspicious rustle in the laundry room this morning

I set one of four mouse traps

 (set in the kitchen before bed last night, because of a mouse sighting)

 between the dryer and wall!

Before long I heard a snap.

I waited a bit then went to check and lo, and behold!

The mouse was contently feasting on peanut butter

seemingly unaware of his deadly fate.

His kitchen-foraging pal was no longer able to warn him...

(I think last evening's massive downpour drove them to seek higher, drier ground!!)

The Rich Man and Lazarus (a parable)

Luke 16:19-31

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 

20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores

 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. 

Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. 

The rich man also died and was buried. 

23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up 

and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me 

and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, 

because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, 

while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, 

so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, 

nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 

28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, 

so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,

 they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Lord Have Mercy (For What We Have Done)