Something to Sing and Shout About!

Gold breaks the brooding mold

No dark can bar the Light!

No threat of man can overthrow

God's mercy or His might 

Dark dread mingles with undying hope these days, doesn't it!

Remind us, oh, Lord

1 John 4:4

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: 

because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Greater Is He-Sixteen Cities

Arise, My Soul, Arise

Arise, arise, arise

Seize hold of Mercy's prize

Nothing can sway

Hope's anchored Stay

Though oft the tempest tries

Again, again, again 

Ever since time began 

The wellspring of 

Eternal love 

Renews mercy to man 

From day to day to day 

It does not fade away 

But with each morn 

It is reborn 

To comfort mortal clay  

Beware, beware, beware 

Of doubt and pride's despair 

Lest the good fruit 

That would take root 

Is smothered by its tare 

Then pray and pray and pray 

Love’s perfect law obey 

Lest we forget 

The promised Yet 

That draws nearer each day 

Amen, amen, amen 

No mortal scheme can ban 

The wellspring of 

Eternal love 

That flows from God to man 

Then cheer and cheer and cheer

Stand guard with holy fear

As prophecy

Fulfills 'hear ye'

Redemption draweth near

Then shout and shout and shout

Something to sing about

Mercy renewed

Let gratitude

Extinguish seeds of doubt

© Janet Martin

Something to sing about forever and ever.

Truth is an anchor no tempest can sever!

Hallelujah!

To all (in Rome) who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:7

God Knows...

 

Isa.46:10

I make known the end from the beginning, 

from ancient times, what is still to come. 

I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'

So much trouble to cause anxiety, all over the world.

So  much noise!

So many lies!!

Here's a song to fill our hearts with hope and peace!

Here's My Heart, Lord-David Crowder

(one of my favourite parts,)

You are strong, You are sure,

You are life, You endure,

You are good, always true,

You are Light breaking through

You are more than enough

You are here, You are love

God knows the heart; no tricking He who sees beyond façade 

Who hears beneath the poetry and what our hands applaud 

Sometimes we could become quite glum when faced with The Unknown 

But God, who is the Righteous Judge will not be overthrown 

God knows the Truth; no matter what we claim to be, He parts 

The curtain of exteriors to view our heart of hearts 

Beware, so we are not deceived by half-truths, reason-blurred 

For God will fulfill every jot and tittle of His Word 

God knows the end from the Beginning; and God is not mocked 

When we see These Things start to happen, we should not be shocked 

But we should stand up straight and tall and lift our heads up high 

And understand the signs, for Redemption is drawing nigh 

God knows not all who say ‘Lord, Lord’ are followers of Him 

But those who seek His word to light the Way that would grow dim 

And those who obey His commands and do the Father’s will 

Upon the Solid Rock they stand as prophecies fulfill 

The shepherd knows his Sheep and His Sheep listen to his Voice 

God sees the heart; He knows the truth; then tremble and rejoice 

His thoughts and ways, past finding out, are higher than our ways 

His righteous Judgement will prevail; then lift your heart in praise 

© Janet Martin 

Psalm 7:11 NLT

God is an honest judge.

 He is angry with the wicked every day.

Psalm 11:7
For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice. 

The upright will see His face.

Tea... Anyone?

 

Tea for two 

Who have been through 

some highs and lows 

we’d rather not 

Who are still in 

The thick and thin 

Of love lessons 

not fully taught 

© Janet Martin 

(this itty-bitty ditty 

I dare say applies to 

Anyone who 

Might care 

To share 

A cup of tea 

With me)

of course, this is a virtual-tea-party

due to the ongoing social restrictions😞

Rush Hour's Waiting Room

 

Time flies in spite of all we are waiting for!

Some prayers get answered quickly, 

others are a kind of whisper-woven waiting-room!

Only One knows what all will unfold in the sun's gold trek from east to west,

what prayers will have answers we recognize 

and which ones are veiled in what feels like waiting.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.

What waits to be no one can see save He who keep us in His care 

What waits to teach our wanting reach is something each must trust to prayer 

What waits to turn lessons we learn to wisdom earned as years increase 

Waits to compose with ebbs and flows of highs and lows, a Masterpiece 

What waits to blend daybreak and end where whispers wend and groan and grin 

What waits to stir perfect wonder to thunder beneath speechless skin 

What waits to seal the rush and reel of silk and steel behind closed doors 

Waits to create a brand-new gate through which the weight of waiting pours 

What waits to make, with give and take the awe and ache of letting go

What waits to tune the afternoon with what will soon festoon thought's show

What waits to spill, to thrill, to fill this uphill drill twixt sky and sod 

Waits to become the soldered sum of mercies from the hand of God 

© Janet Martin 

 

 

Love IS

 

Love is a flower garden in a bower full of snow...

Love is God's beaming banner of daybreak and grace unfurled

Love is a hand that finds a hand when it’s too dark to see 

Love is a candle in the window of the ageless soul 

Love is a shared umbrella, picture-book or cup of tea 

Love is a kind reminder of God, who is in control 

Love is a flower garden in a bower full of snow 

Love is the jewel in the common crown of day-to-day 

Love is the tender duel between hold and letting go 

Love is humble surrender to trust God, come what yet may 

Love is a second-mile on feet that have seen better years 

Love is a hearty handshake, hug, blooms on a windowsill 

Love is a mother’s faithful prayer, the wellspring of her tears 

Love is a Father watching over children of free will 

Love is anything given without thought of recompense 

Love is the smallest kindness in a big, crude, clumsy world 

Love is a leap of faith that disregards fear’s phantom fence 

Love is God’s beaming banner of daybreak and grace unfurled 

Love in an invitation to be willing to be wrong 

Love is a celebration of small words like ‘us’ and ‘we’ 

Love is the recognition of bigger words like ‘belong’ 

Love is a purposed vision because God loves you and me 

Love is the time it takes to make a fellow-fellow hope 

Love is the eyes to prize each day God lends to our touch 

Love is the age-old gold that melts the gray from heart or slope 

Love IS; the proof of God in a world that needs Him so much 

© Janet Martin 

Love is the age-old gold that melts the gray from heart and slope...

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love one another deeply, 

because love covers over a multitude of sins.

A Word of Caution and Encouragement

 There Is Rest By and By

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! 

You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. 

But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--

justice, mercy and faithfulness. 

You should have practiced the latter, 

without neglecting the former.

Matt.23:23

The effects of Covid-19 to the body of Christ 

has been a sobering eye-opener😢💔

Oh, let's not get caught in neglecting

the more important matters of the Law!

Our young pastor on Sunday morning (min.5-7) ;click Sunday Service Jan.3,2021,

cautioned us with a kind reminder; 

that at the heart of all our differing and varying opinions

 (obvious by all the denominations of Christian faith)

 at the heart of the true believer in each individual

 is an honest desire to follow Jesus.

Then, at this time of deep conflicting opinion this is SO vital to remember.

Let's be peace-keepers!

Let's fold pointing fingers into humble, earnest prayer for love and wisdom.

(these woes below came about as I looked in the mirror... of His Word. Ouch)

Woe to we, who will dare to stab a brother in the back 

And prove without a doubt that it is true love that we lack 

Woe to we called to be bearers of one another’s care 

But publicize opinion rather than resort to prayer 

Woe to we who speak ‘piece of minds’ without all facts in place 

Proving once more that everybody’s greatest need is grace 

Woe to we, human-nature bent, where verbal push and shove 

Will justify excuses with the opposite of love 

Woe to we who are quick to speculative prejudice 

Thus, making a mockery of said-robes of righteousness 

But God bless we who strive to be with kind humility 

Examples of the greatest love for all the world to see 

So, when love’s perfect work is wrought, a few will yet remain 

To prove the message that Christ taught was not offered/authored in vain 

© Janet Martin 

John 4:23

Yet a time is coming and has now come 

when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, 

for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

Gal.6:2

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Today's Daily Bread Devotion contains a kind reminder

of the sweetening work of  Time/Experience in the

life of a believer and fruits of the Spirit.

Seasoned Scene Sonnet

Isa.45:5-6&12 

(click link to read the whole powerful chapter)

I am the Lord, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

people may know there is none besides me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other...

It is I who made the earth

and created mankind on it.

My own hands stretched out the heavens;

I marshaled their starry hosts.

The morning melts the dark, the heavens spawn 

Dawn’s ever-ebbing shadows from the air 

Unrolling, like a bolt of blush chiffon 

Gilt gossamer that tumbles through our stare 

Unveiling labour, love and longing’s stage 

Where scenes change with each season’s ordered rite 

While overhead the heavens never age 

But mark the night and day with dark and light 

To leave its imprint not in stars, but hearts 

A script composed of constant no return

As ways and means of circumstance imparts 

An ever-startling scope of more-to-learn 

Hope, like a bud that still withholds the rose 

Keeps us caught between knees and tippy-toes 

© Janet Martin

Forever-Chris Tomlin

Of Circumstance and Mercy-Grants...

 His Mercy Is More

Isa.63:7

I will tell of the LORD's unfailing love. 

I will praise the LORD for all he has done. 

I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, 

which he has granted according to his mercy and love.

Life could overload love with care 

And drain us of the strength to bear 

What circumstance and mercy grants 

To test the purpose of the prayer 

Life could rob us of happiness 

That only joy and peace possess 

Where only trust in Mercy’s Must 

Achieves its holy hopefulness 

Life could distract us from the goal 

With that which wraps around the Soul 

When we forget Mercy’s paid debt 

and the Yet, after Time’s brief toll 

Life could trick us into despair 

When lies, disguised as loving care 

Are calloused to Mercy’s kind Who 

Delivers us from evil’s snare 

Life could feel like a futile chase 

The future too fearful to face 

Without belief in Mercy’s Chief 

The One True God of love and grace 

Life would do all of this without

One greater than the weight of doubt

He broke sin's chains through Mercy's pains

To prove the love life is about

So life is more than load of care

That would drain us of strength to bear

What circumstance and Mercy grants

Through perfect Love beyond compare

© Janet Martin