Precious Lord and Saviour

Precious Lord and Saviour

Glorious Deity

Author of salvation

Fathers you and me

Precious Lord and Saviour

Friend above all friends

His love never wavers

 His love never ends

Precious Lord and Saviour

Sorrow’s comforter

Morrow’s blessed assurance

Death’s deliverer

Precious Lord and Saviour

Confidante secure

Hears our wordless hunger

Makes our calling sure

Precious Lord and Saviour

God of Heaven and earth

Fills us with His favor

This, love’s faultless worth

Precious Lord and Saviour

Faithful every day

Mercy and forgiveness

Meets us as we pray

Precious Lord and Saviour

Goodness beyond price

First You were Creator

Then The Sacrifice

Precious Lord and Saviour

Supreme dominion

One true God forever

And ever, amen

© Janet Martin

 For such is God,
            Our God forever and ever;
            He will guide us until death.

Ps.48:14

Ya' Got Trouble???

It bends our prideful will and tries the words we spout with ease

It leads the heart to places where a prayer is all it feels

It teaches us the meaning of ‘getting down on our knees’

Where otherwise we soon forget the Love that helps and heals

It makes us cradle joy with a most reverent esteem

It wakes within us wonder for life’s humble chug-and-chore

And when the brunt of it has passed like ripples on a stream

It takes the hand of someone somewhat wiser than before

It comes for our good though it does not feel good, oh no!

But we should try to bear its cross without complaint or spite

For if we pay attention we will note what comes will go

Gratitude’s affidavit more humble after its plight

So when it comes, though it is never an invited guest

We ought to do our best to weather it by God’s kind grace

For trouble, though it does not tell the reason for its test

After its tumult passes makes this world a brighter place

© Janet Martin

 

Until The Resurrection...

(This song below is written from the perspective of the disciple Peter)

I wrote the poem below trying to imagine what it would have been like
as one of the Marys or one of the disciples...

They did not see it then…With hearts all sorrow-torn

They turned back to their homes again their precious Lord to mourn

And wonder at His words they did not understand

The King of kings and Lord of lords slain beneath evil’s hand

And how they must have cried as sight tested Belief

Their precious Jesus, crucified as if He were a thief

And then the tomb was sealed and roman guards stood watch

The object of their hope repealed in death upon a cross

The horror of the day replaying o’er and o’er

With broken hearts they turn away; their Master is no more

The Way, the Truth, The Life, A corpse behind a stone

No Overcomer of the World or army overthrown

Only the echo of His cry upon the hill

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" ...then everything was still

How could He be a king?! No one could comprehend

The wonder they were witnessing as life came to an end

…and no one knew it then; what price had just been paid

Redemption for all sins of men on sinless Jesus laid

Nor how death became Life and broke its curs-ed power

How the Light of the World beamed brightest in His darkest hour

The peoples of the world seemed to have fought and won

With swords and insults boldly hurled at Jesus Christ, God’sSon

“Come down, come down” with jeers they spat upon His face

And laughed at He who commandeers the galaxies in space

(…no seed can save itself and still bud into tree

A soldier cannot save himself yet set his country free

Thus the Good Shepherd then If He would save his sheep

Knew love’s intense ultimatum; His life He could not keep)

“He said, I come to seek and save those who are lost

Though Lord, He came, humble and meek, knowing the price it cost

He came to give His life as ransom for mankind

Stepped from His throne to earthy strife; He left Heaven behind

But death could not prevail; No stone could seal the tomb

Of He who rent the temple’s veil and quelled the sinner’s doom

Love cannot be contained; on that bless-ed third Day

Victory could not be restrained but had its glorious say

'He is not here; He is ris’n', Are any words more dear?

Could any toll the bells of Heaven with greater joy or cheer?

Or dry the mourner’s tear or stop the scorner’s sneer

Or fill the heart of man with hope; than He is risen; He is not here?!

Once for all He died: the cross of shame Love braved

Jesus, the only name whereby the soul of man is saved

Then praise the King of Kings for joy His grace imparts

For our Redeemer lives on high and in believer’s hearts

So, when we weep our ‘why’ at heartache that must be

Or trouble raises its war-cry or grief its agony

Remember Sin’s Debt borne; and look to That Last Day

For on that Resurrection morn He’ll wipe all tears away

© Janet Martin

This is a universal joy, hope and peace, not to all, but to all who
' believe him and accept him'
 John 1:12-13

This poem is an accumulation of pondering the Easter Story and the book of Romans.
We are going through the book of Romans in our worship services for the next while.
This link will take you to the messages we have heard so far from Romans ch.1 to ch.5:1-11


Today's reading:
 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ 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.

Hallelujah Highway!

This is no road to ruin or despair

Nor does it goad the heart to sad lament

This is a hope-anointed thoroughfare

A better-times-are coming testament

No woe-is-me or what’s the point-of-this

Though sorrow and surrender’s pain assail

This is no highway to death’s farewell kiss

Or fear of what is next as pulses fail

 Unless, (oh, pray the Lord it is not so)

That He called you by name and you said ‘no’

© Janet Martin

A Share It or Keep It Challenge...

Oh! Those awful times when we wish we could unspeak what we spoke in haste...

 So many words to chose from...their sequence is Crucial!

Wise to put them through the 'humble and kind' test

Do you have a word to say

That would keep gloom’s clouds at bay

That could stir a prayer, a song

When life’s hurt weighs hard and long

Share it, share it, share it

Do you have a word to tell

That could save a soul from hell

That could lift the heart downcast

That could help faith to hold fast

Share it, share it, share it

Do you have a word to spurt

That would shame or blame or hurt

That would cause someone to fall

That could scar the hidden soul

Keep it, keep it, keep it

© Janet Martin