Thursday, March 15, 2018

Divine Consolation



Remember when the adrenaline of youth ran like molten music in our veins?!
(art credit: Melissa from her high-school collection)
 Sometimes, when I'm super-tired I miss my younger, more energetic person;-)

Remember when we thought 'impossible' That which haste of years brings
 and others (whose shoes we now fill) warned us about...?!(like grunting when we get up?!) lol


Ah! with each step-breath-twilight nears the threshold of life's sunset years...



How smooth the hand that turns each page then shuts the book on middle-age...


As winter, like a strange postcard echoes of summer, caught off guard!


As we age, aren't you thankful for a Divine Console-er that never ages or fails as our bodies do?!


God, Author of time’s temp’ral scale
And Arbitrator of what is
What Divine Consolation, this
To know His law will never fail

His law is Love; ah, sometimes we
Misunderstands God’s Higher Thought
When we try to decipher what
No mortal mind is made to see

No man has seen God; thus fools scorn
For knowledge trusts in what it sees
But faith accepts God’s mysteries
Consoled by He who metes each morn

How pitiful is brainwashed dust
So lust inclined and vision blind
Divinity consoles mankind
When heart and mind resigns to trust

Alpha, Omega, First and Last
God’s Ordinances no one thwarts
While Divinity’s mercy courts
Mortality’s rebellious cast

Where soon youth’s burst of speed declines
On landscapes deftly rearranged
And what we clasp is soon estranged
As change insists on fresh designs

 And writes laugh-lines of poetry
Across the brow once smooth and young
 No-ways’ that boldly braved the tongue
Concede vulnerability

…and slowly we begin the crave
What once we thought so little of
God’s Divine Consolation; love
To escort us beyond the grave

© Janet Martin

 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. 
These things are excellent and profitable for the people.
Titus 3:3-8



Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Some Crucial Do's and Don'ts



I pray in this poem it is not a note of harshness, but earnest love that prevails!
Time is the most precious insecurity that we have!
...with do's and don'ts that carry an eternal impact!


Don’t let the gate that looms ahead
That waits to seal away the dead
Steal living’s joy with dying’s dread
Unless you don’t know Jesus
Then call upon the One who saves
The soul, immune to death and graves
Let faith prevail where fear enslaves
But God’s forgiveness frees us

Do not ignore, do not delay 
For who knows who'll meet God today?
His promises prepare the way
Where none return to tell
The glory or the horror of
Either a place of hate or love
Oh, do not wait 'til death will prove
The truth of Heaven or Hell

© Janet Martin

"Now he'll find out" Matt said sadly ...
It is with deep sadness we hear that Stephen Hawking has passed away!
Science can never prove the soul,
disprove the soul
or save the soul!

Also, we mourn with the loved ones of a local young man who was going to be married in June but was struck by a vehicle yesterday and died! We never know when we will meet God but this we do know; We will meet God! Are you ready to meet the One who sent His Son for our salvation and life after death?!

A Living Hope for believers!

 Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.…
1 Thess. 4:13-14

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, 5who through faith are protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Pet.1:3-5


Tuesday, March 13, 2018

For All The Hers and Hims


 I tried to post something earlier but I simply could not concentrate this morning 
so after the first verse was somewhat jumbly-jotted, I jumped in the vehicle 
and went to one of my favorite local beauty-spots to 'commune' with my Maker.
... a small plot of Grave-markers and a grand vista of 'present'  balances perspective!
Sometimes when I'm out in the quietness of His wonderful world it's like God puts his arm around me and He whispers/shouts, "Janet, look! I made all this and I will take care of you and yours!"


The blue tulle where dusk’s crepuscule gathered earth in its folds
Begins to thin; the din that daylight wakens starts to stir
Yon bar layered with stars grows dim and dons flushed pinks and golds
Once more the door of mercy metes time’s streets to him-and-her

This burial place of human race is decked with dashing feet
The gateway to what-waits-to-be rouses earth’s eastward scrim
Ho, ho, here’s to a showdown where woe and wonder compete
As Mercy pours light to time’s corridors for her-and-him

A canvas splashed with answers that we cannot comprehend
Clashes with questionnaires we clutch in vain like paper gods,
While earth showcases manifold Masterpieces, my friend
And woos us to trust in the Artist all nature applauds

Time’s seasoned telltale signs keens expectation’s catalyst
Where That-and-This still startles him-and-her with life’s Meanwhile
God keep us on our tippy-toes with rose and amethyst
And points our faces upward to anoint us with His smile

© Janet Martin

 O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me. 
  You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away. 
  You look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well. 
  Even before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all.
  You have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me.
  All You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.
Ps. 139:1-6 

To my blog-readers, not on FB; Jim got his surgery results today!
Although the tumor was cancer, we are thankful they caught it early and
no immediate further treatment is needed.
He will be watched closely however because this type of tumor can return quickly.
Thank-you for all you prayers, thoughts and encouragement!
Continued prayers are deeply appreciated.

...oh! and where is this beauty spot, you are asking?😀
At the east end of the 10th/Well. Cty. Rd.8!


Monday, March 12, 2018

Step-by-Step Soul-diers



Hopefully hugs and kisses far out-number scolding and discipline 
but sometimes when our 'discipline' seems harsh at the moment 
it's good to remember this is no ordinary task; these are soul-diers we are training!

 (Beautiful baby-innocence is soon shed; 
pray we provide Solid Ground for this step-by-step sojourn/soul-journey)

Like specks of dust upon an arc by light and dark caressed
We forge a path toward a mark etched where Time takes its toll
Until we leave behind this grind that flowers east to west
And weaves with step-by-step discourse the death of all but Soul

The voice of choice sometimes distracts us from life’s Greatest Call
(To love God first and next to love our neighbor as our self)
Where we have this in common; no one knows what will befall
To test time’s step-by-step trailblazers prone to love of pelf

Leviathan-like longing looks a lot like you or me
The One who loves us most pleads ‘come, and I will give you rest
His Genuine Fulfillment is *The Truth that sets us free
He tunes death’s step-by-step approach with noble, purposed quest

Like specks of dust, yet, each so loved by He who fashioned us
He made us in His image; instilled dust’s mortality
With peace that passes understanding, only if we trust
In He to Whom each step-by-step will lead Ultimately

© Janet Martin

The Thing about Truth is; it never grows old!
This timeless truth should never leave our lips...
 God loves you! God loves me!

More than anything in the world God desires for us to love Him 
but just as we cannot force anyone to love us 
He allows us to choose Him 
and He never forces Himself on anyone!


The Truth will Set You Free
(2 John 1:4-6)
As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him.  
So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, 
“If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. 
How can You say we will be set free?”
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  
A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

 John 8:30-36 


Below, an excerpt From Keepers of the Springs by Peter Marshall 
who had a passionate concern for this world's soul-diers!

Ultimately, we are all soul-diers in training!

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Love Offering, From He Who Owed Us Nothing

 





I know I've posted these songs before, but with Easter coming
the messages in the lyrics ring nearer and dearer than ever
as I reflect on God's glorious gift of grace 
for all mankind forever, to sorry sinners that stand condemned
but for the redemption that poured from Calvary's cross 
once for all in forgiveness of sins to all who believe!
(all that wonder in one run-on sentence!!:-)

Is there any message 
dearer 
than the one from 
Calvary? 
Jesus took the place of 
sinners; 
gave His life for you
 and me
With the pardon His blood 
purchased, 
we who stand condemned 
may call
On He who loves and 
forgives us 
and gave His life once, 
for all...
Granting for our guilt
salvation; 
absolution from sin's 
curse
With His death he 
overpowered 
Death's dominion 
over us  
Sealed the gates of hell with 
Heaven
Tore the veil twixt God
and man
Took our justified
chastisement 
to fulfill salvation's
plan
He who owed us nothing
offered
To suffer in our
place
Love looked far beyond the 
moment 
And sealed Destiny with
grace
Free, but for one 
stipulation
Only those who ask
receive
Only those receive
salvation
who first repent and
believe

Janet Martin

Sometimes one simply has to marvel again and again
at how the love of God grants to sinful, sordid, shameful, selfish
human race-
Grace

(Inspired in part by today's message)
Today's message is part one of two entitled

If you are filled with what's and whys as to what in the world life is all about
feel free to listen to the previous messages in the link to the Romans series we are in
and stay tuned as we continue through to the end of the book!

Link to the first chapter of the Book of Romans here