Mind-setting

 Our mind is the control tower of our life!

Dr. Charles Stanley

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Col.3:2

 

To set our mind on things above

Does not come naturally, it seems

Each sacred, soul-anointed glove

Must learn to bridle idle dreams

How easily the mind can stray

And if we do not rein it in

We might get lost along the way

In pitfalls veiled in flints of skin

The by-and-by that all will brave

Ought to make us more love-inclined

We are either servant or slave

To one master; that of the mind

Therefore we ought to give more heed

(This applies to both old and young)

To what we feed this mighty Stead

That moves our hands and feet and tongue

Thoughts whispers are quick to beguile

With whims Want is quick to applaud

This momentous causeway, Meanwhile

Is all that stands twixt man and God

The mind is kind of like a trove

The treasure that it seeks to hold

Will set its sights on things above

Or be bamboozled by fool’s gold

© Janet Martin

Wonder Upon Wonder

 I eyed a fog-enshrouded woodlot this morning, wondering what wonders I was missing 

as I scrubbed dishes left from a belated family Christmas dinner on Saturday night
that were piled out of sight quickly so we don't waste
precious little all-together time scrubbing pots and pans.

It motivated me to get a move-on with the day's Musts then carve out a bit of a nature-soak!

The handiwork of Nature is a phenomenal glimpse of its Creator!
Sometimes a person just needs to get a closer-up look rather than a longing-distant stare!

Come, stoke the embers waiting to burst into wonder’s flame

Make the most of Today ere it returns from whence it came

Don’t wait but seek out mercy’s extra-ordinary gifts

Before the day like silver thistle seed on echoes drifts

Don’t pine for summertime while winter spills its glory-hours

While wood and fallow beams and gleams with strange, exotic flow’rs

Too soon these ties that cannot bind us long right where we are

Will flutter like an oriflamme of mist or falling star

Then let the loving kindness from the Giver of Today

Fill us with so much wonder that it steals our breath away

Because we feel like honoured guests invited to a ball

Where God rolled out a welcome mat across a worldwide hall

How happy is the heart that leaves to God matters of trust

And bears in mind how brief the wick that winks with dust-to-dust

Humbled to find amidst the grind of duty’s grand employ

Sweet wonder upon wonder until want thunders with joy

© Janet Martin

Psalm 40:4-5

 Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, 

who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—

none can compare to You—

if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.

... who does great and unsearchable things, 

wonders without number.

Job 5:9

Life...

 Hopefully we all weathered yesterday's storm!

At our place we didn't get the ice they forecasted, thankfully.

Just enough to add a bit of glass brocade to branches and yester-blooms.

Sadness, gladness intertwines

Trouble, triumph, alternates

Hope and heartache always lines

Dawn’s fresh favour at yon gates

Where God’s mercy always new

Perseveres, faithful and true

Joy and sorrow interweaves

Love and longing’s tender wars

With the happiness that grieves

Seasons snuffed by swinging doors

Where time’s torrent onward rolls

Like a tsunami of souls

Courage is faith’s gleaming gem

From a Hand that cannot fail

Roses crown the thorny stem

Beauty blooms amidst travail

Morning breaks on eastern sash

Like a phoenix from death’s ash

God with us is all we need

Step by step and day by day

His promises intercede

Where fear stalks its primal prey

Greater than our greatest strife

Is The Way, The Truth, The Life

© Janet Martin

 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

So We Do Not Lose Heart

The previous poem was on change of heart; this one is about not losing heart!
so much suffering and loss in this little life, but we do not lose heart
if we fix our eyes not on the seen but what is unseen!

2 Cor.4:16-18

 So we do not lose heart. 

Though our outer self^[a] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory

 beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen 

but to the things that are unseen. 

For the things that are seen are transient, (temporal)

but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Lord, in this world that oft unfurls a lariat of dread

And takes us captive, not with hope but with fear’s lies instead

Protect us with a shield of faith from evil’s venom dart

Let Your full armour keep us brave so we do not lose heart

Temptation tosses glossy lures to draw us from You, Lord

And we would all fall prey, for sure, without Your Spirit-sword

Remind us whether aged or youth to re-evaluate

Lest we forget the belt of truth or righteousness’ breastplate

There is a battle that takes place where only You can see

Its warriors would fail without your grace and sympathy

But we are strong if we put on the whole armour of You

Though the world scorns, forgive them Lord, they know not what they do

How readily doubt’s gaping pit looms, filled with emptiness

How easily our feet would slip without your promises

How thankfully we cling to what we see though but in part

For we know what you say is true, thus we do not lose heart

© Janet Martin

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,

against the powers of this world’s darkness,

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,

 you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,

and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 Ephesians 6:10-17