Rejoice and Be Glad Kick-off to a New Week

The passage below can't help but kindle holy hope and joy in our hearts!

Ps.130:1-5

Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!

2O Lord, hear my voice;

let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

3If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,

then who, O Lord, could stand?

4But with You there is forgiveness,

so that You may be feared.

5I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,

and in His word I put my hope.

***

This month's Sunday School Verse

for grades 1-6 is pretty awesome too!

(Picturing this scene is rather beyond thought's comprehension, isn't it?!!)

Every living thing shouting God's praise!

Rev.5:13

Then I heard every creature in heaven 

and on earth

 and under the earth 

and on the sea, 

and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne 

and to the Lamb

be praise and honor 

and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”

The above verse, and

 Saturday night's sunset...

...and a lot of unexpected beauty and joy

 in the middle of love's/duty's muddle...

helped to inspire this poem💝🙏

This is the day the Lord has made

Let joy and gladness brim

As we pick up our tools of trade

To humbly honor Him

Because no matter what we do

However great or small

It is enough when offered to

Our gracious Lord of all

Today unfurls love’s living rooms

Let’s make them fit for kings

Where each season profusely blooms

With joy in simple things

And life’s secret to happiness

Is not for favored few

But for each heart when thankfulness

Runs every corner through

Behold, goodness and mercy’s fount

Its measure, who can trace?

Where none could stand if God would count

Our sins without His grace

But He forgives all who repent

His pardon never fails

Thus, joy and gladness cease lament

As thankfulness prevails

This is the day the Lord has made

By His sovereign command

Majesty's grandeur is displayed

On sky and sea and land

And only a fool dares to boast

In what God grants to we

Who are at best, need’s uttermost

Subjects of love’s decree

Then, in light of God’s faithful love

That, through good times and bad

Replenishes Reason Enough

To rejoice and be glad

Surely hope’s undeterred reply

Is to fill all our days

Not with the bitterness of ‘why’

But with joy’s thankful praise

© Janet Martin

today's tools of trade at my house include

empty jars and apples,

paring knife, peeler, bowls and pots etc.!

The goal?!

Canned apple pie-filling😋😊

Our apple tree receives no extra TLC besides

what the Good Lord grants in sun and rain.

 So whatever I preserve with apples are usually apples I have purchased.

This year (due to lots of rain?)

 our tree has a bumper crop of mostly un-wormy,

what I have dubbed 'play-apples'.

Last week I dried some ...(google how to oven-dry apples)

...and also did my first ever batch of pie-filling!

It is delicious! 

I hope to share the recipe on a future post!

Gifted Gravity...

 

2 Cor.6:1-2

As God’s fellow workers,a then, we urge you

not to receive God’s grace in vain.

  2For He says:

“In the time of favor I heard you,

and in the day of salvation I helped you.”b

Behold, now is the time of favor;

 now is the day of salvation!

Come to Jesus

Sometimes, sorrow for lost souls

is almost more than hearts can bear,

But love clings to love's sacred sorrow

and turns its tears to prayer on prayer

***

Night’s dark wave on dawn’s shoreline breaks

Shadows are drawn away

A tide of humanity wakes

To face another day

To tread the Sands of Time that brace

A very sacred Verge

Where morning thunders with God’s grace

Where slumbering masses surge

The Preacher cries in Jesus’ Name

‘Awake!’ where footsteps roll

Past gaping graves that soon will tame

The dust, but not the Soul

Alas, the House of Prayer, has turned

Into a den of thieves

The faith that saves obtusely spurned

For a handful of leaves/sheaves

The Son is trodden underfoot

Understanding defiled

Where wrong is right and evil good

Opprobrium runs wild

‘Repent, repent!’ The preacher pleads

While the proud crowds rebel

And poison Innocence with creeds

That lead to death and hell

The ears that hear are far and few

So too, the eyes that see

Yet, morning breaks, and stirs anew

Time’s gifted gravity

Light shines into the dark once more

Hope takes a holy breath

Where Sands of Time compose a shore

That cannot withstand death

Behold, Salvation’s Day unfurled

From greatest to the least

Life cries into a dying world

Dawn spills a mercy-feast

Again, the Patient Preacher takes

Love's post most tenderly

For lost souls, on the verge that breaks

Into eternity

© Janet Martin

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,

 as some understand slowness. 

Instead he is patient with you,

 not wanting anyone to perish, 

but everyone to come to repentance.

Rescue the Perishing

Like Nature's Rendition of The Last Post

 

Something about the early dark of November kindles nostalgia...

Sometimes, like an old song a bygone era reappears

To replay on a phantom stage fond scenes of yesteryears

To coax back into being what will never be again

Save in a book of memories we open now and then

If only to remind ourselves not to get lost too long

In the bittersweet ballad of an intangible song

Wafting upon the starkness of an Autumn eventide

After leaf-notes have fluttered from the treetops where they sighed

...all summer long, like a love song we took for granted till

Whispers were winnowed one by one and everything was still

Save a gripping rendition of the Last Post being played

For fallen leaves; and moments and the melodies they made

© Janet Martin

 

Till Life on Earth Is Through

Each new day overflows

With undefeated worth...

The gladness only God bestows

Undergoes grand rebirth

This time of year our hearts and minds start to turn Christmas-ward!

For the believer in Jesus, it is a glad celebration

 of the Living Hope, joy and peace we cherish every day!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace

 as you trust in him, 

so that you may overflow with hope 

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

We walk by faith, not sight

The joy that we proclaim

By God’s grace, is the chief delight

Of all who love His name

We do not hope in vain

Our God, faithful and true

Abides with us midst fear and pain

Of this world’s fleeting rue

Each new day overflows

With undefeated worth

The gladness only God bestows

Undergoes grand rebirth

As we fix our gaze

On That Which is Unseen

While weathering the wearing ways

Of time that lies between

By faith, reply reveres

The call that we receive

As we treasure God's Word that cheers

All who trust and believe

…while keeping watch, we pray

That faith will remain true

Until the great and glorious day

When life on earth is through

© Janet Martin

Matthew 24:42
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.

Is There Room in your Heart?

Where Ten-thousand Poems Brim...

This is the day that the Lord has made.

We will rejoice (and rejoice) and be (humbly) glad in it

Ps.118:24

Seems like every new day bleeds/breeds

A fresh crop of poems seeds

Seems like every season spills

Plethora of poem-thrills

Seems like every hour bared

Begs a poem to be snared

Seems the world is full of ink

Bidding thirsty bards to drink

Seems life is a garden room

Where poem-buds wait to bloom

Seems a pity then to haste

While a poem goes to waste

Where a moment waits to be

Woven into poetry

Seems reason enough to pause

To glean glints of poem-gauze

Seems like everywhere we look

Life is like a poem brook

Where each new day lilts and brims

With ten-thousand poem-hymns

© Janet Martin

Far More Than Some Yon Phantom Force...

Imagine if we could see as clearly the sacred date of Happy-halfway-through-life!

as we see dates like Happy-halfway-through-November!!

That's tomorrow, if we live to see it!

In the twinkling of an eye, time/mortality's skin-thin veneer will be rent and we will see God.

How we see Him here will greatly impact how we see Him there!

Do we see Him as precious Saviour of our Soul and glorious Lord of our life

or is He some far-off, antiquated Dictator of dos and don't that we decide not to bother with?!!

Is He our Friend and Heavenly Father or simply some yon force of fate??

Psalm 8:1 ESV

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory above the heavens.

November Dusk is one glorious example of Majesty's Showcases!

Friday Dusk...

Our God is He whose majesty fills land and sea and air...

Sunday Dusk...

a coral and lavender festooned sky

Monday Dusk...

(north-facing)

an eruption of grandeur that drew humanity to windows and out-of-doors

in exclamations of wonder aka worship!

(east-facing)

...and west-facing

Far more than some yon phantom Force that rules with iron hand

Or sets in motion each life’s course, to curb with cold command

Far more than One who sits enthroned above the galaxies

Far removed from agonies groaned and troubles that must be

Our God is He whose majesty fills land and sea and air

Yet is acquainted thoroughly with all grief that we bear

Who suffered every sorrow known, who endured brutal loss

Who was rejected by His own, and nailed upon a cross

Far more than a Religious Chief of dos and don’ts uncouth

He is the Bedrock of Belief, the Cornerstone of Truth

A faithful Shepherd where we all like sheep have gone astray

His Rod and Staff lift all who fall and call upon his Name

He is the ear that bends to hear the prayer we cannot speak

His voice whispers, ’be of good cheer’ and ‘blessed are the meek’

He, Holy Spirit dwells in us, our power is His Word

Salvation, through his Son Jesus is the hope of the world

Far more than imagination’s rebellious negligence

The God of all creation’s decree is obedience

He is not mocked; therefore, we ought to give more earnest heed

To what we hear and hunger more for what He has decreed

Rather than fleeting pleasure that is destined to decay

We ought to dearly treasure what will never fade away

For, far more than a Rider on a White Horse up above

He is the glorious, Source of living hope, joy, peace and love

In Him, faith’s foothold is secure; trust leans upon His breast

His promises are just and sure; His timing always best

God, who is rich in mercy, bends this tent of time and place

And ushers into existence, a new, lent day of grace

That draws us ever nearer to the answer of the Soul

When God unveils the mirror that now darkly hides the Whole

Where, how we see and love Him here is authoring reply

Transcending time’s skin-thin veneer in the wink of an eye

© Janet Martin

We are all without excuse when

it comes to the evidence of God!

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

his eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

Don't Wait Till You Are Old...

Yesterday, as part of the teaching team in a room full of beautiful,

eager, smart, rambunctious Gr. 4-6 Sunday School students,

I couldn't help but long and pray

 for each of them to choose Jesus while they are young;

to be saved from a bitter harvest of wasted years!

Yesterday's was a solemn lesson; Jesus' crucifixion,

stirring and touching tender hearts!

Will you pray for them, and for children the whole wide world over

to believe in and receive Jesus as their Saviour while they are young?!!

On Saturday I compiled  this post after listening to the message below...

and before listening to the message our speaker preached yesterday

also on prayer!!!

( Click here then click Nov. 12, 2023) for yesterday's message

***

Devote yourselves to prayer, 

being watchful and thankful.

Col.4:2

***

Ephesians 6:18

Pray in the Spirit at all times, 

with every kind of prayer and petition. 

To this end, stay alert with all perseverance 

in your prayers for all the saints.

Below are some excerpts from Alistair's message;

Notes from the Flyleaf of My Bible — 11/11/2023

Alistair Begg begins this message, (an address to students), with this;

 "The things I want to share with you are things

that are pressingly important to me.

They are personal things.

They are biblical truths.

They are necessary matters"...

 

If our prayer is meager 

it is because we believe it to be supplemental

 and not fundamental.

***

If we pray only when we feel like it

we will not pray very much at all.

***

More spiritual progress is made through failure and tears

than through success and laughter.

***

C.T. Stodd

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me

then no sacrifice that I could ever make for Him 

could ever be too great

***

Can I tell you how to amount to absolutely nothing for God?

Think of yourself more highly than you ought.

***

Humility is the very seed-bed

in which all of the graces and gifts of God

grow to their maturity

***

1 Pet. 5:6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, 

that he may lift you up in due time.

***

I am not talking about our resolves.

I am not talking about our desires and designs.

I am talking about our doing!

***

I want to tell you,

"When I talk more than I pray,

When I study more than I seek God's help,

When I am tempted to think that when I am on my feet

I am at my most useful,

and when I am on my knees that I am

somehow filling in time that could be more beneficially exercised,

then I am declaring that I am on the wrong side

of this equation.

You see, since prayer is the  key area of our relationship

with our Heavenly Father, it is this area

that is most frequently under attack.

Indeed, I might safely say to you

that you will face no greater attack than in this area

because the evil one knows that the weaponry

that our Commander in Chief, namely Jesus,

has given to us is prayer and the ministry of the word of God.

Therefore He will come to confront us with our view of scripture

and to seek to call in question

the voracity and the sufficiency of God's word,

and he will at the same time seek to undermine any

deep-seated conviction that we have,

that it is imperative that we come to Him and cry out

'Abba, Father!' and that we seek His help

in every part of our journey.."

***

No Christian is greater than his/her prayer life

**

The secret to praying is

praying in secret

***

...but, in the matter of praying

how tragic that so many

have left so much

to so few...

***

Set your moral compasses now.

Take the high ground.

Go for the gold.

Live for Christ.

There is no good thing that the Lord withholds

from those whose walk is blameless

***

...and here is my prayer

for every boy and girl

the wide world over...

Don't wait till you are old

To seek the good and right 

Don't wait till worldly pleasure clouds

God's wellspring of delight 

Remember your Creator

While in your days of youth

Don't wait till you are old to mine

 God's Word for wealth of truth

But love the Lord today

With all your heart; don't wait

Till you are old, to start, because

Then it may be too late

This is my earnest plea

For every girl and boy

Don't wait till you are old, and life

Is full of wasted joy

This is my earnest plea

For children far and near

Don't wait till  God becomes a Voice

That you no longer hear

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12:1

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, 

Before the difficult days come, 

And the years draw near when you say,

 “I have no pleasure in them”:

Isa.66:1-2

This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

Where is the house you will build for me?

Where will my resting place be?

2Has not my hand made all these things,

and so they came into being?”

declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:

those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

and who tremble at my word.

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

No matter who or where we are,

 what we shoulder or what we face...

What a Friend We Have in Jesus!

Psalm 59:16

But I will sing of Your strength 

and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning.

 For You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength,

 an ever-present help in times of trouble.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

I love you Lord, my Help, the One in whom I put my trust

I love you Lord, my Hope until I shed this garb of dust

I love you Lord, my Joy in grief, my Comforter and Friend

I love Your Word to cheer and keep Faith faithful to the end

I love You for You understand each wordless groan of prayer

I love You, as You walk with me through valleys of despair

I love Your Hand to hold me as life doles its ups and downs

I love You. You console me when anguish my gladness crowns/drowns

I love You, Lord; You are my strength; through You I will endure

I love You, Lord, for I am rich when my spirit is poor

I love You Lord; your grace and mercy pour as I beseech

I love You, for You minister where no one else can reach

I love You Lord; You are my song in the night and the day

I love You. You forgive my sin and wash my guilt away

I love You, Lord; You are my anchor when storms test and toss

I love You; death defeated through the power of the cross

I love You; Lord, You are my peace when fear seeks to prevail

I love You with the love You give; Your love will never fail

© Janet Martin

Jesus, Lover of My Soul