A Wake Up Call

'these days I feel like I live in a state of perpetual crying to God'

I said to my sister in a conversation last night. 

This morning the first verse in my devotion was 

Eph.5:14

Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

It seemed to pour into my heart's cry from the night before

inspiring today's poem...

Sometimes we use the phrase 'wake up call'

when we refer to something that jolts us to Reality!

or a caffeine jolt...😅💓

Oh, pray that none of us are spared whatever wake up call

it takes to draw us first to repentance and 

then to re-awareness/reawakening if we begin to slip or slumber!

Wake up, all who yet sleep

Rise from death’s dormant pose

Where every breath is like a leap

Toward life’s curtain close

Wake up, for none can see

How near or far the place

That turns Time to eternity

And ends the day of grace

Wake up, do not delay

Hell’s night none can afford

Wake up, while it is still Today

And bow before the Lord

To call upon His name

To repent and believe

And weep with wonder as you claim

The gift faith will receive

Wake up, while Mercy’s Gate

With each breath swings ajar

Wake up before it is too late

To escape Judgement’s Bar

Wake up! Shake of the ruse

Of religious façade

Examine every bold excuse

Defying/denying Holy God

Wake up. Fear Him and keep

His laws with reverence

Oh pray, wake up, all who still sleep

In disobedience

Wake up; for God so loves

And cares for you and I 

He overflows Truth's treasure troves

With salvation's reply 

Wake up; do not reject

The Light no night can dim

Wake up and ask God to direct

Each footstep back Him

© Janet Martin

Last night my physical feet ached with weariness

due to many outdoor steps taken as we worked in God's Great outdoors! 

Sometimes our spiritual body aches with weariness too, doesn't it?

As we walk second miles, as we pray and cry

 to God for a reawakening to the Sacredness of the

gift of life, its brevity before eternity!

This broken world is not out of the Healer's reach!

But oh, how often we turn away!

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

If I Should Turn From Thee

1 Tim.4:1 NLT

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly

 that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith;

 they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

John 6:60;66-69

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said,

“This is a [a]hard saying; who can understand it?”...

...From that time many of His disciples went [d]back

 and walked with Him no more. 

67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, 

“Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him,

 “Lord, to whom shall we go?

 You have the words of eternal life.

 69 Also we have come to believe and know 

that You are the [e]Christ, the Son of the living God.”

How often it hurts pastors, teachers and parents

as wise and true counsel is ignored, scorned 

and heedlessly turned away from!

How much more, our Heavenly Father!!

May we echo the words of Peter if we are tempted

to put our trust in what we see rather than what/Who we know!

 “Lord, to whom shall we go?

Where Could I Go But to the Lord

To Whom Lord, shall I go

If I should turn from Thee

Whose spirit and life can bestow

The truth that sets me free

Whose blood but Thine atones

From age to age to age

Whose ear but Thine attends the groans

That wrack this mortal cage

In who else can I trust

Without fear or dismay

Whose Word transcends time’s dust-to-dust

And cheers me day by day

Whose purpose will prevail

To crush the enemy

Whose love and justice will not fail

Throughout eternity

Whose law is love but Thine

Who whispers peace to me

Who else laid down his life for mine

With such humility

What can this world afford

But pleasures vain and fleet

What compares to Thy joy, my Lord

Abiding and complete

Then, should I turn from Thee

Lord, where else can I find

A sweeter, surer sympathy

Compassionate and kind

…to heal my broken heart

Whose assurance can ward

Defense against deception’s dart

Without Thy armour, Lord

Who can quench Want’s wild thirst

Or offer Living Bread

Who can save us from this world, cursed

With ignorance and dread

If I should turn from Thee

What can I hope to find

To satisfy the longing plea

Of heart and soul and mind

If I should turn from Thee

Lord, to whom shall I go

To entrust all eternity

Pray, I may never know

© Janet Martin

Coming Soon-Jesus! 

Give Me Jesus

I Love The Lovely Month of May

This poem niggled just as I was ready to leave 

yesterday afternoon to help my parents with some gardening

 so I quickly scribbled the gist of it in my 'draft-book' 

and didn't get a chance to return to it until this morning 

but Beauty Duty called before I could finish it, 

so it kept evolving and expanding throughout the day...

My apologies for the length but there's SO much in May to love!!!

I love the mist of orchards kissed and crowned with blossom-vim...

Or wading knee deep through a sweep of dandelion-gold...

Or reveling in the unraveling of budded limb

Like pausing to watch gauzy green-leaf parasols unfold...

I love the mist of orchards kissed and crowned with blossom-vim

Or wading knee deep through a sweep of dandelion-gold

Or reveling in the unraveling of budded limb

Like pausing to watch gauzy green-leaf parasols unfold

I love how expectation for transformation is met

How nature is a pianist no pessimist subdues

The merry breeze plays melodies like a May minuet

I love the lark, and how dawn’s dark the warbler’s lay renews

I love the verve, the crook and curve of brook-song through the dell

The verdant surge as summer’s verge unfurls a grassy sea

The wholesome, holy happiness found in a flower bell

The cooing of the mourning dove, the fuzzy/buzzy bumble bee

The dusty haze as farmers blaze fresh trails of hope and trust

The garden where we breathe a prayer with every seed we sow

The pleasure of a treasure trove buried beneath tilled dust

The earthy joy as we employ the tools of spade and hoe

The sense of youth in spite of truth that uncouth mirrors mime

So much to do rather than rue faced facts; so much to like

The outdoor bench whereon to quench the raging thirst for Time

The waddling duck, the toddler stuck on bigger brother’s bike

I love the awesome promises that replenish the rose

Where despite thoughtless thanklessness God’s kindness intercedes

I love how He pens poetry no mortal can compose

Providence grants Extravagance no ignorance impedes

I love how Now is full of Wow, how sweetly May’s sun shines

How chubby raindrops plop and leave behind a crop of pearls

I love the waltz, foxtrot, and somersaults on laundry-lines

While frisky zephyrs tug brisk Housewife’s skirt with flirty twirls

I love the way dusk lingers on the fringes of so long

Running reluctant fingers over one more May day through

Beckoning us to sit a bit beneath the lowered gong

That tolls away the workaday with bronze, mauve, blush and blue   

I love how earth gives age-old birth to wonder’s infant cries

How May morn brims with worship hymns that last the livelong day

How perfumed plume of lilac bloom scorns atheistic lies

I love the green-gilt lilt that frills the lovely month of May

© Janet Martin

The garden where we breathe a prayer with every seed we sow

The pleasure of a treasure trove buried beneath tilled dust

The earthy joy as we employ the tools of spade and hoe...

(Thanks to the generous farmer next door my garden is planted in

a fresh plot while we give the old plot some refreshment and rest!)

I love the way dusk lingers on the fringes of so long

Running reluctant fingers over one more May day through

Beckoning us to sit a bit beneath the lowered gong

That tolls away the workaday with bronze, mauve, blush and blue...

   

Collections of Today or (of Eternal Unreachable)

Today, the page on which every life-story is written!

A bevy of birds and blooms

cheers this time of year's incessant duty with beauty!!

Unreachable, the poses exhumed from Past’s picture-show

Untouchable, the roses that bloomed a summer ago

Unmovable, unchangeable, scenes of spent seasons splay

In an un-rearrangeable Collection of Today

Yesterday's lifeless embers cannot warm the outstretched hand

An empire of echoes is naught but a shadowland

So then, ere dusk erases what will never more return

Of today’s tender graces and of lessons yet to learn

...of names still warm with faces we can touch and cup and kiss

Before Framed Font/Want replaces Today’s Very Present ‘This’

Still very rife with reason at the mercy of Because

Before the soldered season of Collections of What Was

Let's live as if today was all we have, for so it is

Each hour rolling like a wave tolling Past's Genesis   

Composing the unchangeable, irretrievable play

Of eternal, unreachable Collections of Today

© Janet Martin

1 Tim.4 BSB

Godly Exhortation for Today...

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith

 to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 

2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, 

whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

3They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods 

that God has created to be received with thanksgiving

 by those who believe and know the truth.

  4For every creation of God is good, 

and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected, 

5because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

6By pointing out these things to the brothers, 

you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus,

 nourished by the words of faith 

and sound instruction that you have followed.

7But reject irreverent, silly myths.

 Instead, train yourself for godliness

. 8For physical exercise is of limited value, 

but godliness is valuable in every way, 

holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.

  9This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance.

10To this end we labor and strive,a 

because we have set our hope on the living God, 

who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe. 

11Command and teach these things.

12Let no one despise your youth, 

but set an example for the believers 

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

13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, 

to exhortation, and to teaching.

14Do not neglect the gift that is in you,

 which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you 

at the laying on of the hands of the elders. 

15Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, 

so that your progress will be evident to all. 

16Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. 

Persevere in these things, 

for by so doing you will save both yourself 

and those who hear you.

No Matter What Today Will Bring

 

This poem 'pressed' to the forefront this morning instead

of the pursuit of another.

My prayer is that it will cheer and bless,

and help us as we keep our eyes fixed on a prize

that ought to challenge our motives daily!

No one knows what today will bring

but we do know on Whom we can cast all care

And ask Him to be our strength as we cheer each other on...

1 Pet.5:6-7

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,

 that He may exalt you in due time,

 7casting all your care upon Him, 

for He cares for you.

I had fully intended to incorporate these quirky quackers

into today's poem...

I am helping a friend with some gardening this week

and their ducks are an endless source of amusement and delight!

May we all find opportunity to be amazed and awed by

the beauty, diversity and wonders of God's creation!

May we be His hands and feet and pray that 

He helps us hunger and thirst for righteousness

so we may be filled 

And protected from a futile 'chasing of the wind'...

How great our God and King

How wonderful indeed

No matter what today will bring

He will supply our need

Oh, may we not forget

No circumstance can sway

The love and grace that paid the debt

Mortal could never pay

The hope of humankind

Is anchored in the Word

Of He who does not change His mind

His purpose undeterred

He keeps His promises

How wonderful to know

His justice, truth and righteousness

No one can overthrow

Then shout for joy, and sing

God, trustworthy and true

No matter what today will bring

Will care for me and you

© Janet Martin

Songs of May and Morn

It was a weekend of celebrating...

 Grandson's 1st birthday,

 

mothers/motherhood,

and May/gardening...

(helping grandpa plant potatoes)

Grand-sonny preferred planting potatoes to the tedium of planting peas...

When I handed him a little pail of pea seeds he proceeded to pour them into the

furrow rather than place them one by one,

 until gramma showed them how to space the seeds😅

I can't wait for them to begin witnessing the miracle from seed to fruit!

On this note, off we go on a new week rife with life's wonders and woes!

An orchestra of colour plays a melody reborn

To set both earth and heart ablaze with songs of May and morn

The author of all things ignites from minstrels great and small

A hymn of gladness, and invites us to join, one and all

To praise He who is faithful, absolute and wonderful

And eternally able to do the impossible

A symphony of splendor spills from He who does no wrong

It rolls across valleys and hills like a redemption song

To clothe the field with flowers and the tree with leafy sheen

To transform barren bowers with a thousand shades of green

And to remind the creature, awed at what God's love restores

To trust creation’s Teacher who sustains hope’s reservoirs

An invitation steals the show with holy thundering

A celebration peals ‘hello’ and beckons us to sing

In spite of cares we shoulder and the sorrows of this world

God cheers the awed beholder with His handiwork unfurled

And wakes a purer, meeker praise as melodies reborn

Once more set earth and hearts ablaze with songs of May and morn

© Janet Martin

Sometimes my morning worship/prayer/quiet time 

seems like a bittersweet duel between

groaning grief for what feels like 'impossible' prayers

and dumbfounded joy for His awesome Word and handiwork.

...a duel between sorrowful recognition/reconciliation 

of suffering the consequence of a sinful action

and awe for God's abiding faithfulness, kindness, forgiveness, love and grace

***

Isa.26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

A few recent devotions from My Utmost for His Highest

We Cannot Make Love

Today I am making garden-planting plans!

Other things made this week?

Order from chaos!

Birthday cake and dinner memories...

...and of course, coffee!!😊

We are always making, aren't we?!!

Making plans, meals, order, things, memories, 

coffee...

But, we cannot make love...

And say, 'see, here it is', to set in front of someone

like a trophy to display upon a shelf

We cannot make it like a Thing and say,

'This is a Love'

So, where does love come from;

This 'Thing' everyone needs and can

never get too much of...?

Where is this Fount 

from whence all Goodness flows?

This 'Thing' that never fails,

Only the lack of it...

We cannot make love

Can’t bake it like a cake

Can’t steep it like a cup of tea

To soothe a bellyache

Can’t mold it out of clay

Can't forge it out of steel

To build a bridge to span the gap

Twixt heart-to-heart appeal

Can't cut it from a page

Or order it online

Can't woo it from whispering leaves

Or pluck it from a vine

Or buy it from a shop

Or shake it from a bough

Like red apples in autumn-time

Can't milk it from a cow

Or hatch it from an egg

Or catch it like a fish

Or carve it out of balsam wood

Or mix it in a dish

Or pull it from a box

Or paint it, like fine art

Or compose it with pen and ink

To lure/coax it from a heart

Can't wish it from a star

Or press it from a grape

Or force it from bud into bloom 

Can't knit it like a cape

Or weave it like a mat

Can't earn it by hard toil

Or pour and smooth it like concrete 

Or dig it from the soil

Ah, where can we find love?

High on a dusty shelf?

Or, do we start to find it when

We stop living for Self

Love is life's greatest joy

Love is life's greatest grief

Love is the evidence of God

That triumphs unbelief 

No, we cannot make love

The way we make a pie

Love is the heart/part of God in us

That only fools deny

Nobody has seen God

Only His majesty

Made manifest among us through

The likes of you and me 

Love; oft misunderstood

Love, ink of poet's laud 

The Great Equalizer of boast

Because love is from God

Janet Martin

1 John 4:7-12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, 

and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, 

that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us 

and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

12 No one has ever seen God; 

if we love one another, 

God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

A Very Serious Question or When You See a Pansy Smiling...

 

When you see a pansy smiling

As if this life knew no lack...

When you see a pansy smiling...

Tell me, dear

Do you smile back?

Janet😊💖