You Are Able, Lord

 Inspired by This Heart-wrenching Plea...

Pray With Us. The Covid-Crisis in India

A prayer for them and us!

You are able, Lord

Bid our pleas avail

In the fervent prayer out-poured

Even when words fail

You behold the heart

And Undying Soul

While we witness but in part

You regard the whole

Lord, is that a tear

Gleaming on thy cheek

We who have ears let us hear

The message You speak

Forbid, on deaf lobes

Falls the mourner’s cry

While we gather up our robes

And quickly hasten by

We are family

Brothers, sisters, oh

Our Father Heavenly

Loves His children so

Lord, open our eyes

Help us feel today

Tugs upon familial ties

That move us to pray

Lest we stand aloof

Touch us with Your Sword

Let us be the living proof

Of Your love outpoured

You are able, Lord

By Your Mercy’s Pow’r

Let compassion breathe Your Word

Into suffering’s hour

Let us strive to be

Vessels in Your Hand

Poured in earnest charity

On a thirsting land

You are able, Lord

With or without man

Still, your will is faith restored

To fulfill Your plan

Thus, bid us to live

In obedience

As a humble servant give

Utter diligence

Lest, oh, awful thought

When we meet Death’s Yet

Our house of all we sought

Is left desolate

You are able, Lord

Pray your church will prove

By the power through Your Word

To be stirred to love

Lest on some willow tree

We hang our harps to mourn

Tormented by captivity

As we remember Zion

Amen

  

© Janet Martin

By The River of Babylon- Psalm 137

James 5

(I went to this chapter to share verse 16

but the whole chapter seems timely and fitting)

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 

2 Your riches [a]are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 

3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you 

and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 

4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [b]Sabaoth. 

5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and [c]luxury; 

you have [d]fattened your hearts [e]as in a day of slaughter. 

6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. 

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, 

waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 

8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord [f]is at hand.

9 Do not [g]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be [h]condemned. 

Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 

10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, 

as an example of suffering and patience. 

11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. 

You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—

that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.

 But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into [i]judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. 

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 

16 [j]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

 The effective, [k]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; 

and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way 

will save [l]a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Even If...

'We give relationships our best efforts because we love the Lord.'

Bible Love Notes

...and that's the crucial element; if/because we love the Lord! 

It/He helps us forgive even when it seems it doesn't change anything.

When we put Love/God first it changes everything!

First and foremost, our focus.

Wow!

Today's Bible Love Notes Devotion

seemed to speak directly to me,

feeling a little/ a lot guilty at my less than loving response

to someone this morning which set the fur flying

(I won't bore you with all the juicy, dirty details)😁

and while we did sincerely apologize

for losing our 'cool', two people in their mid-fifties

are not miraculously changed just because we say

"I should not have said what I did, I'm sorry, (but)" 

But, by the time we reach our mid-fifties

 we also realize how vital reconciliation is!

(I'm sorry without the 'but'!!)

On this blog I try to keep life and love real!

Love is hard, often hidden work, but

vital work, so worth the effort, 

because it affects so many more people

than just ourselves!

So, by God's grace we forgive

and try again...

CityAlight-Grace

So, here's to love, even if...

Even if we feel neglected,

rejected, 

misunderstood

Love is patient

kind and gentle

Not angry,

vengeful

or rude

Even if, when disappointed

by the twists 

and turns

of life

Love protects,

considers others

does not wield

a verbal 

knife (oops!!)

Even if, we feel that our

frustration

is justified

Love requires

meek repentance

of self-serving

stubborn pride

Even if it feels lopsided;

 scales of loving's

give and take

Love respects,

lest we,

misguided, think

Self is love's

highest stake 

Even if we lose our tempers/mercy

Love apologizes,

then

Prays when he/she

pushes our buttons

we learn how to

count to ten

😏😓😊

and try, and try

and try again

Janet Martin~

Love never quits

Love never fails

1 Cor.13:8

Speaking of pushing buttons...

If we were push-button machines

we could 'order-up'

and all would be well

in Love of Self's little world...

but, since we are people

for better or worse

feelings and opinions come into play

and our only saving grace is,

'if we love the Lord'

If we don't then long-term 

happy, healthy relationships

are hard! 

...even if for just a bit

we want to sit and

nurse

'poor me'

Love makes us strong 

enough

to get up

and serve

with humility

Love is patient, 

love is kind...

1 Cor.13:4

May's Maestro

Perchance, doth art of May entrance

With undulating hues/views...

Perchance, doth art of May entrance

With undulating hues/views

Doth it stir hearts to sing and dance

As earth its garb renews

Doth Blossom’s dainty decoupage

Rouse hallelujah hymns

Played like an orchestral montage

From bud-bedazzled limbs

Doth May ignite awed happiness

As breathless gaze beholds

The evidence of God’s caress

Where emerald tress unfolds

Doth hope feel like it finds it wings

As verdant vibrato

Spills from earth’s trembling springs and strings

In vibrant crescendo

Doth its melody keen delight

As nature’s opus lauds

In symphonies hidden from sight

Until May’s Maestro nods

© Janet Martin

Song of Solomon 4:16
Awake, O north wind; 

and come, thou south; 

blow upon my garden, 

that the spices thereof may flow out. 

Let my beloved come into his garden,

 and eat his pleasant fruits.

Living the Dream

 

Love; how often it (He) leaves us at

a loss for words, but we try anyway...

Love always...

makes room

for one...

more!

And never seems to find the time or reason to complain

With so much to be thankful for in both sunshine and rain

Love leaves so very little room for gloomy ‘woe is me’

It sets the heart a-bloom with mercy’s gentle sympathy

And never seems to find the time or reason to complain

With so much to be thankful for in both sunshine and rain

Love steps into a world of need and beauty intertwined

To make the most of here and now so swiftly left behind

It forgives flaws because we are all broken from the start

Love sees beyond appearance to the person of the heart

Love always makes room for one more, with warm, welcome embrace

It cherishes the moment as a sacred gift of grace

To employ for the joy and benefit of fellowman

Mindful of its Employer, love gives the best that it can

...and looks forward, not back at facts no wishing can undo

Love focuses not on the 'What' but rather on the 'Who'

So often softly startling us with opportunity

To serve the King of kings with honour and humility

Love makes worthwhile each mile no matter how common they seem

And often smiles to realize, love is living the dream

Because love leaves so very little room to fret and fuss

With so much to be thankful for from He who so loves us

© Janet Martin

Philippians 1:9-11:

 "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more 

in knowledge and depth of insight, 

so that you may be able to discern what is best 

and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—

to the glory and praise of God."

Cradled...

 

Pease excuse the unartistic flaws of the drawing below

...it vaguely mirrors the image in my mind

Morning murmurs in mist tresses

Tints earth’s eastward fringe, flushed bronze

Draws the darkness from hushed meadows

As the shadows melt, day dawns

Morning metes Time’s maiden voyage

Always today is untried

Into the Unknown, life’s passage

Rolls from morn to eventide

Morning is God’s mercy-token

Great, the faithfulness of He

Who does not leave us forsaken

He knows all we cannot see

Morning, flings ajar barred/starred shutters

Daylight sweeps o’er sea and sod

Unfolding uncharted waters

Cradled in the hands of God

© Janet Martin

Deut.31:6 NIV

Be strong and courageous. 

Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, 

for the Lord your God goes with you; 

he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Isa.43:2 NLT

When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you.

Already Breath-taken

 

Already breath-taken

Ere buds fully waken

And silence is broken

By leaf-token’s laud

Already dumbfounded

By beauty unbounded

For we are surrounded

By glimpses of God

Already enchanted

By blooms, still unplanted

And tree-tops half-glistered

In whispers green-gold

Already delighted

By dreams unrequited

Yet we are excited

To watch them unfold

Already forgotten

Winter’s frigid cotton

And battles we fought in

A world, cold and white

Already forgiven

The green side of livin’

Rolls out to blue heavens

In sighs of delight

© Janet Martin

Hooray for May or May Minuet

 For as the earth brings forth its bud...

In Ontario buds are on the brink of bursting into glorious hallelujah...

We watch, already breath-taken by the prelude!

Bright bolts of flower-fabric unfurl with flamboyant flare

Where emerald backdrops emanate from worlds, long bleak and bare

The woodland, draped in olive haze of lacy filigree

Beckons both feathered busker and bumbling humanity

Where mercy’s favor is renewed the farmer plants the field

He labours yet must learn to lean on He who grants the yield

Lord pray, first green will burst with gold and gold with harvest hymn

As earth becomes a fountain where bud and seedling-hope brim

Now garden dreams run rampant like a stream after spring-show’rs

Forgotten are the aches and pains of toil’s back-breaking hours

Where mosaics of morrow’s posies bloom in flawless form

And culinary conceptions take thought’s tastebuds by storm

Wild apple-orchards dapple hillsides in pastel chiffon

Like ballerinas poised to twirl as the music turns on

And we all become boys and girls, in heart if not in skin

As May melts chill winds with romance of sunbeam’s dance and grin

May’s Masterpiece Creator dazzles sweeps of sky and sod

Mankind, the awed spectator strolls art-galleries by God

The wonder-pangs that Beauty both kindles and satisfies

Since time began grants glimpses of a Perfect Paradise

Three cheers for May, a pansy-lilac-hyacinth-hooray

A sit-a-bit and take a quick half-aft-noon holiday

To drink the ink of poetry not snared on pages yet

To watch while earth becomes a stage for nature’s minuet

© Janet Martin

Isa.61:11

For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise 

to spring forth before all the nations.

Minuet Dance

(reminds me of sunbeams, breezes, butterflies and blossoms)

Of Season-Spectrum

Timothy 4:12 ESV /

Let no one despise you for your youth,

but set the believers an example 

in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Happy 23rd Birthday, Matt!

We love the laughter your sense of humour brings to our home

 as well as your conscientious attitude to life!

Wishing you God's guidance and blessing in the year ahead!

Photo Credit; Brittany Ruppert

The spectrum of a season swiftly sweeps from now to then

The boys and girls of Good Old Days become women and men

The dreamlands of sweet childhood clash with brash reality

As fruit begins to emerge on green branches of the tree

Accountability begins to replace innocence

What was footloose and fancy-free now demands diligence

And where the air once wore the cheers of ‘no more school, hooray’

The student starts to learn that lessons take no holiday

...where shoes too large for little feet to fit, suddenly do

As boys and girls of Good Old Days shoulder life’s ‘Nothing New’

‘Remember your Creator then, in the days of your youth

So that you may be able to discern well what is truth’

Because the spectrum of a seasons soon loses its sheen

Branches become set in their ways, that once were limber-green

And harvest that seemed far off starts to render its return

Where a new age of Innocence waits eagerly, to learn

© Janet Martin