A Small and Sacred Plea

The garden is singing God's praises bountifully

in wonderful harvest-hymns...

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

and his greatness is unsearchable.

Ps.145:3

There's a hint of things to come in this morning's

crisp hello!

Lord grant today

Thought, word and deed

Are lovely as can be

No need to blush

If I should turn

And find You next to me

Lord, bless this house

And fill it with

The beauty of love’s bloom

And help me live

As if you were

A guest in every room

© Janet Martin

Inspired in part by the paragraph below

from the book

The Building of Character by 

the Rev. J.R. Miller

Wealth Beyond Measure

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need

for a godly life through our knowledge of him

who called us by his own glory and goodness.

The older I grow the more aware I grow, of my utter need,

hopeless but for God's sufficient grace

He died for all to be our Saviour.

He has and will continue to supply every need according

to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

Sometimes it's easy to be distracted 

as we peer through the lens of circumstance!

Pray we anchor perspective in God's word.

But my God shall supply all your need 

according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Phil.4:19

Where My Saviour Leads

God gives us all we need to keep faith undeterred

Where it is up to us to heed or disregard His Word

His divine power grants and helps us, by His grace

To bear the trying circumstance that we are bound to face

God gives us all we need to live a godly life

To purify thought, word and deed in a world full of strife

To teach us how to love, through Jesus’ precedent

Rather than by the standard of Self’s very selfish bent

God paid salvation’s price and fits us faithfully

To be a living sacrifice with glad humility

To answer ‘here am I’, then, not let fear impede

But trust His goodness to supply exactly what we need

Pray, faith's knowledge of Him increases more and more

Till the allures of this world dim in Light of hope's anchor 

Secured at Calvary, redemption's mercies brim

To give us all we need to spend eternity with Him

© Janet Martin

 

Like Trees Along the Shore

The Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not want.

Ps.23:1

Joy, in its finest form

Pales in the light of Want

Contentment takes the heart by storm

And trumps the tempter’s taunt

Want’s vice is full of ways

To vex the virtuous prayer

Contentment fills the heart with praise

And joy beyond compare

Though life is full of grief

(love’s groaning intercourse)

Joy is its Comforter and Chief

As we trust in its Source

True joy is not the fruit

Of much accruing more

But grows, as love for God takes root

Like trees along the shore

© Janet Martin

Rom.15:13

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.

Let Your Lower Lights Be Burning

Immortality in the Making

'Stop it!' I scolded myself, as I began again, 

to inwardly lament the haste of summer.

'Rather, focus on the vault where Time's timeless treasure accumulates

from the riches of Today's opportunities!!'

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it

Ps.118;24

Imagine if I/we truly, utterly lived/loved in light of the Giver/Maker each day!

As soon as something is given, it becomes a gift!

so then, each day is a gift;

a gift we shape into life's legacy!

How suddenly sacred today has become!

It's rainy.

A good day for errands and indoor chores!

The way we live/love in life will be the way we live/love in death

The character of you and me survives our final breath

The passion of pursuits when all is said and done, produce

The ration of the fruits that God will weigh without excuse

Lord, ere this day begins to drain into eternity

Remind us of what will remain beyond the part we see

How fleet the seat we fill on Time’s four-season-carousel

How surely each coveted thrill will fall prey to farewell

Like paintings in a gallery, love hangs its works of art

Like pieces of a legacy, like treasure of the heart

Lord, ere we wake beyond this world, impress on us today

The proof of love’s witness unfurled through whose law we obey

Where the heart is, there love’s collected treasure too will boast

(Either on earth or up above) of who we love the most

This is the day the Lord bestows, to live with gifted breath

That which transcends the curtain close, immortal then, in death

Lord, ere it is too late to live/love the way we wish we had

'This is the day that You have made to rejoice and be glad'

© Janet Martin

For where your treasure is, 

there your heart will be also.

Matt.6:21

Blue Lake Happiness

There's nothing like a break from the ordinary to make us glad of it!

Two weeks ago we enjoyed our annual break at a little cottage on a little lake...

Where fish/minnows frolic...

Past Uncle's hook  (into Grandson's net)😅

And no. Uncle did not use 'fishy' as bait 😂

After the shrieks of delight this little

shimmer of a fish incited,

I can't wait till he catches a big one!

and sunbeams dance...

 

and feathered friends drift by...

a lake-lull is such a refreshing way to recharge

and ready me to return with fresh gladness 

to the beck and call of  Always Much To Do

(this week's much-to-do is focused on

prepping for a family-reunion we are hosting on Sunday)

The blue lull of the lake bestows a gentle bliss

As wishful thinking takes a break where nothing seems amiss

While in worlds far away the horn of progress blares

Where warriors of workaday shoulder life’s load of cares

The blue lull of the lake makes broken poets whole

As soothing, wordless lyrics break on shorelines of the soul

Its fluid countenance enchants the creature sigh

Where fish frolic and sunbeams dance and feathered friends drift by

The blue lull of the lake is pleasant company

No fear of making a mistake with blue-lake repartee

Content to smile and nod; no critic to requite

Leaning against the knee of God in undisturbed delight 

The blue lull of the lake awakens purest joys 

Unhindered by the give and take of commerce-driven noise 

Far from the madding press of  hello and so long 

The lull of blue-lake happiness writes worship's purest song 

© Janet Martin

I LOVE noting the shifting hues and textures of the water

reflecting the heavens and the time of day

Pondering the Possible,

Then we could be far more carefree, while we weather what we must...

It is holiday weekend in Ontario...for some...

non-farmers-wedding caterers/florists, gardeners, etc 😅

I'm about to finish some tasks I couldn't complete yesterday...

canning yellow bean salad and zucchini relish

( if you are in the neighborhood and would like either yellow beans or

zucchini, send me a message. they can be yours free for the picking)

What if we would have more gardens where we would linger to pray...

(rather than simply SWEAT and toil?! 

It was a sweltering garden week!!)

What if, in the face of insult we would be patient and kind

Giving grace, rather than revolt, when we are vengeance inclined

What if we would have more gardens where we would linger to pray

Before rushing hard and headlong into a new workaday

What if we would plant more flowers rather than sowing wild oats

Using youth to redeem hours wisely before harvest gloats  

What if we considered lilies and He who weaves their fine cloak

What if we would be more willing to believe the words He spoke?

(Then we could be far more carefree, while we weather what we must

Knowing Who is able 'ere we lower our yoke of dust)

What if we were far more giving than taking more than we should

What if our goal for living was another's greater good

What if life's most fruitful labor was unfeigned humility

Loving God first, then our neighbour; what a heaven, earth would be

© Janet Martin

A few excerpts from the profound part Sermon on the Mount

below, passages from Matt.6

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

 If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets,

 as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. 

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 

4 so that your giving may be in secret. 

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you...

...“And why do you worry about clothes? 

See how the flowers of the field grow. 

They do not labor or spin. 

29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today

 and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ 

or ‘What shall we drink?’ 

or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

32 For the pagans run after all these things, 

and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, 

and all these things will be given to you as well. 

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

 Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Unlike Bridal Shower Gifts

It pained me to crop off all the smiling faces in the photos below

but for respect of privacy I must!

Photo credit; Bridal shower hosts-my sister and niece

Last night I attended a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancée.

Each gift she opened was different but all were thoughtfully

chosen and wrapped for the bride-to-be to open,

and she did with smiles of delight, excitement and thankfulness!

It reminded me of a tidbit of conversation with my mother-in-law yesterday

as we talked of the day when we are 'presented'

back to God, all in our different wrappings,

but unlike bridal shower gifts, 

when God tugs at/opens the diverse wrappings

what remains will be the same in every 'gift';

The Living Soul returned to God,

who so thoughtfully and lovingly 'chose' us,

designed/created us so differently 

and, just as we carefully choose gifts for those we love

He too chose a gift for those He so loves!!

Knowing we are born sinners God provided an

eternal and universal gift/pardon for all who believe in Him.

For God so loved the world that

He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believes in Him will not perish

but have everlasting life

John 3:16

Whatever shapes our share of trials, disappointments and griefs,

God loves us with an unfailing love and justice!

How His face will beam as He welcomes His Bride in the

Greatest Wedding of all Time;

all honor and glory and praise will be for Him

who, through His Redeeming gift purchased Soul's salvation!!

To try and grasp the fulness of his love is mind-blowing!! 

No matter what befalls, God knows

Beneath the Wrapping that we see

His gift of boundless love bestows

More than enough for you and me

God's love no thought can comprehend

He weaves time's ephemeral gauze 

 That drapes The Day when all will bend

Before WHO IS, WILL BE and WAS 

How carefully He fashioned us

Beneath the fleeting part we see

God instilled the mysterious, 

Profound pulse of eternity

The pride and ignorance of fools

Blasphemes/rejects the Name, mighty to save

They do not fear the One who rules

Beyond the tissue of the grave 

God is not mocked; His love is just

Where mercy sparkles from morn's flask 

He grants, to humble faith-hope-trust

Beyond what we can think to ask

No matter what befalls, God knows

Beneath the Wrapping that we see

Each gifted moment overflows

With shimmers of eternity

© Janet Martin

What Gift of Grace is Jesus My Redeemer

Eph.2:1-10

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 

 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world 

and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,

 the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 

All of us also lived among them at one time,

 gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts.

 Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 

 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ

 even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 

 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, 

expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—

and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 

 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

For Such a Time as This

Happy August! 

And day dawns,

 and seeds brim; 

earth’s fulness like a song...

Proclaiming the goodness of Him to whom all things belong...

It so easy to weigh attitudes and replies/choices 

on the scale of circumstance rather than consequence!

Quick fixes and instant-gratification

 are often not wise or lasting fixes or healthy-habit honing!

God, grant us wisdom and discretion through your Word!

Phil.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.

I love listening to this song, esp. in the morning!

Still, Still with Thee

  

Wherever we are today, whatever the circumstance,

for such a time as this God equips us through His Spirit and His Word!

‘For such a time as this’ God puts us where we are

Sin’s consequence leaves much amiss; still, Love tips mercy’s jar

And day dawns, and seeds brim; earth’s fulness like a song

Proclaiming the goodness of Him to whom all things belong

God, rich in mercy reigns! How safe our hope in Him

Whose everlasting Truth sustains the Light that cannot dim

Though dark the days may be, where trouble takes its toll

And subtle is the enemy of faith that makes us whole

The best and worst of days confirm His promises

Mercy moves in mysterious ways to try man’s faithfulness

Poetic, pious phrase is not worship’s Great Price

Beyond our mortal gaze He weighs the fruit of sacrifice

‘For such a time as this’ God grants His steadfast Word

To anchor hope in promises that cannot be deterred

Goodness and mercy still follow us all our days

‘For such a time as this’ God will not fail in all He says

© Janet Martin

Esther 4:14

For if you remain silent at this time, 

relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place,

 but you and your father’s family will perish.

 And who knows but that you have come to your royal position 

for such a time as this?”

I also love this song, a go-to when discouragements press!

God Will Take Care of You