Enough Is The Stuff That Today Is Made Of...

 When confronted with gloomy forecasts for the future,

what should we do?!

We are not made to carry Maybe’s cares

Waiting to undo its When

Enough is the stuff that today is made of

Let’s leave tomorrow till then

Enough is the trouble today seems to find

Without adding extra stress

Let’s concentrate on what can no longer wait

Today’s almost-happiness

We are not made to bear fear's promenade

Down streets our feet cannot reach

But through prayer-shaped hope we'll be able to cope

With what today has to teach

© Janet Martin

 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

 Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matt.6:34

Lyrics for this hymn...

Dark and stormy is the desert, 

Through which pilgrims make their way; 

Yet beyond this vale of sorrows 

Lie the fields of endless day.

 O, young soldier, are you weary 

Of the roughness of the way? 

Does your strength begin to fail you, 

And your vigor to decay? 

Jesus, Jesus, will go with you, 

He will lead you to his throne; 

He whose thunder shakes creation,

 He who bids the planets roll.

 'Round him are ten thousand angels, 

Ready to obey command; 

They'll all be there to hover round you, 

Till you reach the heavenly land.

There, on flowery hills of pleasure, 

Lie the fields of endless rest,

 Love, and joy, and peace forever, 

Reign and triumph in your breast.

Our Desperate Need...

Forgive, chastise, oh loving God

The pitfall of man's errant laud

Feeble, the grasp of carnal creed

To comprehend man's desp'rate need

Or the cost of the sacrifice

That paid, once and for all, sin's price

Where He who knew no sin became

The scapegoat for its gruesome shame

And bore on the behalf of we

Our punishment to set us free

Where He who owed us nothing, gave

His Son to overcome the grave

The cross, hope's glorious crux unfurled

To bring life to a dying world

Where we deserve Hades abyss

If we reject such love as this

Where Jesus Christ, through His death freed

And satisfied man's desperate need

© Janet Martin

If we reject God

we under-estimate

the grossness of our sinful state 

and that which word cannot tell

or both Heaven and hell...

Recently I heard a preacher suggest that if every single person received one glimpse

of either heaven or hell, hell would be empty.
so great the glory of heaven, so awful the horror of hell!

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God

 but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them 

because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

1 Cor.2:14

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Living Gratitude

The LORD your God in your midst,

The Mighty One, will save;

 He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zeph.3:17 NKJV

Will we, through what we do and say

Show God our gratitude today?

He, who braved evil’s vilest blow

To save us from death’s awful woe

Who did not spare Himself with words

Though King of kings and Lord of lords

He suffered Heaven’s greatest loss

Even to death, death on a cross

Before He proved His deity

And rose again in victory

And thus fulfilled love’s plan designed

To bring salvation to mankind

And still, as ages onward roll

Only His blood can cleanse the soul

If we repent, if we believe

We then, God’s gift of grace receive

So, in this place where passions war

Where longing and contentment spar

Where darkness cannot stave the flood

Of morning and mercy renewed

Where bud with blossom is instilled

And heart is often wonder-thrilled

As earth’s four-season quadrille grants

The compositions for the dance

That vexes this doubt-harassed dust

With opportunities to trust

And to relinquish our grip

Into Hands that will never slip

But will quiet us with His love

And tame the rebel in Want’s glove

So then, as we consider He

Who keeps watch over you and me

Will we, through what we do and say

Show Him our gratitude today?

© Janet Martin

Sacred Quest

 Making the most and the best of each day is intentional...

and is possible with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary!

Thank-you God, for the blessing of ordinary days

where if we look we will find so many reasons to give You praise!

What a thing of beauty, This

Common duty’s home-sweet kiss

Where our home-sweet-laughter is

And our home-sweet tears

What a blessing, have-and-hold

Worth the hurts of growing old

Learning what we once were told

‘Swift time disappears’

How the flip-side of hello

Grips the heart while letting go

Suffering the rending ‘oh’

Of both joy and grief

Keeping us quite occupied

As the morn to eventide

Runs through town and countryside

Like a laughing thief

What a simple happiness

Living in momentous yes

Tuned to Mercy’s promises

Bridging Unknown’s rift

Where God grants a sacred quest

In day-to-day’s awesome test

To make the most and the best

Of life’s precious gift

© Janet Martin

Process of Performance

1 Samuel 2:9
He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness;

 for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

a humorous look at 'anything is possible if we take baby steps'!!😁

Wherever in the calms or qualms of love and life, my dear

That we may find ourselves one thing remains perfectly clear

That where we are is not the measure of one giant leap

But the effect of step by step appointments that we keep

Our feet follow the fearless fellow simply known as Thought

Good and evil compete where what seems hidden soon is not

Then we should take a closer look at hopes and dreams we prize

The mind can be a crook and tries to trick the heart sometimes

How simple seems the left foot right foot choreography

A virile composition of Great Possibility

Where all that is accomplished, great or small for good or ill

Through step by step repetition makes all things possible

Then the conclusion of the matter when faith feels inept

Is but to trust enough to muster courage step by step

For we are always in the midst of the next tallied sum

Where step by step waits to surprise us at how far we’ve come

© Janet Martin

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional touched on a topic I've been contemplating recently...
the outcome of step-by-step

Scripture Reading; 2 Samuel 12:1-14

In northern Thailand, the Wild Boars youth soccer team decided to explore a cave together. After an hour they turned to go back and found that the entrance to the cave was flooded. Rising water pushed them deeper into the cave, day after day, until they were finally trapped more than two miles (four kilometers) inside. When they were heroically rescued two weeks later, many wondered how they had become so hopelessly trapped. Answer: one step at a time.

In Israel, Nathan confronted David for killing his loyal soldier, Uriah. How did the man “after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) become guilty of murder? One step at a time. David didn’t go from zero to murder in one afternoon. He warmed up to it, over time, as one bad decision bled into others. It started with a second glance that turned into a lustful stare. He abused his kingly power by sending for Bathsheba, then tried to cover up her pregnancy by calling her husband home from the front. When Uriah refused to visit his wife while his comrades were at war, David decided he would have to die.

We may not be guilty of murder or trapped in a cave of our own making, but we’re either moving toward Jesus or toward trouble. Big problems don’t develop overnight. They break upon us gradually, one step at a time.

By Mike Wittmer

People...

 people...

Kind and loving, gentle, grateful

Blind to stumbles, humble, faithful

Happy, pleasant, patient people

Don’t they make you glad?

Critical, uncaring, hateful

Impatient, unkind, ungrateful

Greedy, thoughtless, selfish people

Don’t they make you sad?

© Janet Martin