For The Sake of the Gospel We Meet...

Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Heb.10:25
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, 

but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

When We All Get to Heaven

 

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To tell it again and again
Love’s message from the One who died
To save the souls of man

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To build each other up
To fellowship and humbly share
Communion’s loaf and cup

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To preach, teach, edify
Salvation’s mercy to repeat
For That Great Day draws nigh

For the sake of the gospel we meet
And may it never be
That one should cry with bitter grief
'No one told it to me'

For the sake of the gospel we meet
The Good News for this world
Is greater than time’s transient street
On dust-to-dust unfurled 

For the sake of the gospel we meet

All hurting-hoping worn

To cheer us onward in the race

With confidence once more

For the sake of the gospel we meet
Lest we would be deceived
By those who do not fellowship
With those who have believed/received

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To sing Amazing Grace
To praise the Name above all names
Who suffered in our place

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To worship reverently
To King who left His throne to save
Death-cursed humanity 

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To hear His Word and pray
Because the truth found in God’s Word
Will never fade away

 

For the sake of the gospel we meet

Lest none remains to tell

The story of God's grace to keep

Undying Soul from hell

© Janet Martin

Of Secret Sacrifice

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:24

To crucify The Inner Man is a most painful task
But He who wrought salvation's plan will help us if we ask
For He is rich in mercy, with a most exceeding love
Where sacred immortality instills each mortal glove

To crucify the nature that is contrary to God
Is not a once-and done affair accomplished with a nod
Oh, no, this crucifixion is a lifelong enterprise
Seed is without fruition unless first the kernel dies

The noise that tongue employs is hollow when opinion-charged
Bold babble hard to swallow from a mindset, self-enlarged
Humility runs deep and wide; it is not loud and proud
The Inner Man, when crucified, does not attract a crowd

To offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice
Is to remember more than just Mercy’s initial price
But to revere the altar fastened to the rising sun 

From love that does not falter as we fight the evil one

These private executions as we crucify our wants
Seems perfect prey for liar’s sway and the deceiver’s taunts
But as we confess avarice and pray for its release
His grace anoints love’s sacrifice with perfect joy and peace

© Janet Martin

Force To Be Reckoned With...

 

For there is always more to It than that which meets the eye
Then grace, not judgement ought to fit Observation’s reply
Where what we hold in common should gentle response’s rod
Remember, there is no one who is not precious to God

…and we are not able to see beneath outer veneer
What disappoints with misery; what fathers rage or fear
The heavy loads we shoulder are not fastened to our backs
Remember, we’re all soul-diers prone to enemy attacks

To be part of the human race is not an easy ride
We all need love’s kindness and grace to reach the other side
Life; a force to be reckoned with, needs more than noble nod
Aware that each breath is a gift to we, precious to God

Therefore our prayer should ever be a plea, humble and true
That God so rich in mercy would make us merciful too
For judgement without mercy is a bold, cold dare to brave
For so much more than meets the eye unfolds beyond the grave


© Janet Martin

Eph. 2:4-10

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

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Awe's Sum...or Awesome August

 

August awes us with its beauty
Bites our backs with burning sun
Tugs the heart twixt dream and duty
Wild its flower-rivers run

August woos us with brave wonder
Hint of farewell winks its eye
O’er an ocean of bloom-plunder 

Bobs the bee with butterfly

August brims with ample treasure
Beckons us to glean its wealth
Bids us sample Mercy’s measure
Here’s to happiness and health

August teases us with tinges
Rousing bittersweet lament
Where its sultry midday hinges
To a world of summer spent

August angles evening shadows
Early over stubble-sweep
While the cricket tunes the meadows
With incessant cheep-cheep-cheep

August sizzles like a fry-pan
Reeds guzzle the creek-bed dry
Heat-waves ripple on the skyline
Hairdos fizzle in reply

August is a wordless sonnet
Luring bards of meeker stance
To capture its stirring ballad
In a melody of thanks

August is a groaning table
Laden with earth’s zest and zeal
Beneath heaven’s bluest gable
August spreads a five-star meal

August, a common-place palace
August, a garden, a beach
August is a phlox-gilt chalice
August is a dripping peach

August awes us with sweet splendor
Season steeped in ironweed
Cicadas drone, brooks meander
Finches feast on thistle-seed

© Janet Martin 

Harvest Thoughts...

The 'harvest' is in full-swing...

 

as is the ever-sacred, ever-planting season!

How swift the seeds return

With harvest-heavy grant
The laborer is sure to learn
We gather what we plant

The heart is like a field
Where toiling is in vain
Unless we sacrifice its yield
To the Giver again

What good is grain/gain galore
For the poor that we see
If we offer them nothing more
Than verbal sympathy

 

So small, the seeds that fall

But what a vital part

For harvest is a Holy Call

In the field of the heart 

Then pray we keep in mind

The planting-season's sums

Of seeds that will reveal their kind

When harvest season comes

 

© Janet Martin

Braved Ink

 By God's grace and for His glory!

 

So much great reading because of Braved Ink

Ah, who could bear the verbal noose
Cut loose by Someone Else’s scars
He grants Reason perfect excuse
...on His Hands we almost touch stars

Ah, could shoulder weight of ink
Or heed Intangible commands
But for a safeguard without chink
The Bastion of nail-scarred Hands

© Janet Martin