Regarding Life's 'Musts'

Today's post was inspired, in part,  by a comment Jim (my husband, a truck driver)

 made this morning, as he envisioned another week 

of snowy roads, winter driving etc...

Not in disrespect to my 'I will pray for you'

he simply stated the matter of fact/must;

'all your prayers don't take away the fact that I

still have to face the weather and the highway...'

What a picture of life for all of us!!!

 and what a comfort of love!

When we pray for each other, 'for God to guide and keep'

the prayer does not take away the 'road ahead'

  but suddenly, gloriously 

a miraculous transformation takes place!

We go from this...

to this!!

(oops!! I missed a word in the reference below but

drawing is way too challenging for me to attempt a do-over 😂😐)

also, a glimpse at what happens when I look at the clock and g-a-a-a-asp!

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”;

Life's storms come, and pass

just as one 'must' precedes another!

No matter what we say to someone

we cannot take their 'Must' away.

(Jesus, in Gethsemane, though he pleaded was not spared)

We cannot travel their stretch of highway,

we cannot carry their cross.

We can walk alongside each other and

encourage each other, but we cannot

do each other's 'must'.

How wonderful then, the holy opportunity

free to all, to ask God to help us,

 to hold our hand and to go before us.

We don't have to face life's 'musts' alone!

Oh think about this;

We alone, are responsible for our fellowship with our

Heavenly Father; surely the most sacred 'must' of all.

May we pray, as Jesus in Gethsemane prayed , 'not my will, but Thine!'

Or in the Lord's Prayer, 'Thy will be done'.

Isa.45:2-3 & 5-8

“I will go before you

and level the mountains; 

I will break down the gates of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron.

3I will give you the treasures of darkness

and the riches hidden in secret places,

so that you may know that I am the LORD,

the God of Israel, who calls you by name...

5I am the LORD, and there is no other;

there is no God but Me.

I will equip you for battle,

though you have not known Me,

6so that all may know,

from where the sun rises to where it sets,

that there is none but Me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

7I form the light and create the darkness;

I bring prosperity and create calamity.

I, the LORD, do all these things.

8Drip down, O heavens, from above,

and let the skies pour down righteousness.

Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout

and righteousness spring up with it;

I, the LORD, have created it.

Read the whole glorious chapter HERE

***

Life's burdens must be borne

Its highways must be trod

Its holy unknowns must be faced

Either fear or faith-shod

Its mornings must be met

Its tests must be endured

Its tempests must be weathered, pray

Hope's Anchor is secured

Life's deserts must be crossed

Its hurdles must be leapt

Its battles must be won or lost

Promises must be kept

Its choices must be made

Its voices must be heard

Its sorrows must be suffered, for

Love's due is undeterred

Life's lessons must be learned

Through much-mistake accrued 

Its crown of wisdom must be earned

Humble pie must be chewed

And each of us must choose

How we will heed life's call

Whether we will trust or refuse

The God who loves us all 

Life's burdens must be borne

Its highways must be trod

Its unknowns, betwixt morn-to-morn

Never too hard for God 

© Janet Martin 

Being a transport truck driver in the winter

is not for the faint of heart!

Will you pray for their safety and encouragement too?

Isa.45:21-22

...There is no other God but Me,

a righteous God and Savior;

there is none but Me.

22Turn to Me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth;

for I am God,

and there is no other.

'Til the Storm Passes By

Lyrics-Songwriters: Thomas Mosie Lister

… In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storms howl above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by

… 'Til the storm passes over, 'til the thunder sounds no more

'Til the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by

… Many times Satan whispered, "There is no need to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by"

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

… 'Til the storm passes over, 'til the thunder sounds no more

'Til the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by

Joy Beyond All Compare

Happy Last Weekend of January 2025...already?!!

Last Sunday evening a much belated birthday celebration was enjoyed

(due to many cold and flu postponements)

in honour of the little lad who turned Jim and I into grandparents!

Happy 8th birthday, Grandson

Ps.40:5

Many, O LORD my God, 

are Your wonderful works which You have done; 

And Your thoughts toward us  

cannot be recounted to You in order;

 If I would declare and speak of them, 

they are more than can be numbered.

(find the whole glorious chapter at the end of this post)

The goldfinch doffed of yellow...

 is a dapper fellow still...

Though winter dims bright colour with a layer of brown twill...

The landscape, green and golden...

 or tucked beneath snowy fleece

Is like a priceless painting; a four-season masterpiece...

 

The heavens as they declare God's glory o'er all the world ...

The bud, arousing wonder for miracles, still unfurled

 Stirs in the human heart a hymn that overflows its brink 

To see God in creation is life's sweetest joy, I think...

In living rooms where laughter celebrates a birthday boy...

(before the ruckus, as little sister from across the table contributed a mighty PUFF!!!)

The goldfinch doffed of yellow is a dapper fellow still

Though winter dims bright colour with a layer of brown twill

The landscape, green and golden or tucked beneath snowy fleece

Is like a priceless painting; a four-season masterpiece 

The heavens as they declare God's glory o'er all the world 

The bud, arousing wonder for miracles, still unfurled

 Stirs in the human heart a hymn that overflows its brink 

To see God in creation is life's sweetest joy, I think

How small and trusting is the hand that tugs on mom and dad

Or Gran and Gramps; how suddenly love makes us humbly glad

For things we dare not forget to thank God for every day

Lest love we take for granted is suddenly drawn away

Wakening us to a more purposed response to God's grace

With ears to hear and eyes to see each other, face to face

In living rooms where laughter celebrates a birthday boy

To see God in our loved ones is surely life's dearest joy

Ah, I am wrong. When laughter's song is turned into a prayer

When sorrow tugs are more than hugs as farewells fill the air 

When teardrops fall and all that we can do is lean on He

Who is a Very Present Help in times of misery

For all who are inducted into ranks of those who mourn

He comforts us; and never fails us when hearts are grief-torn

He who knows love's great suffering does not forsake us there

Ah! to see God in sorrow is joy beyond all compare 

Janet Martin

Ah, I am wrong. When laughter's song is turned into a prayer

When sorrow tugs are more than hugs as farewells fill the air...

Ps.40 BSB (Berean Study Bible)

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

He inclined to me and heard my cry.

2He lifted me up from the pit of despair,

out of the miry clay;

He set my feet upon a rock,

and made my footsteps firm.

3He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD.

4Blessed is the man

who has made the LORD his trust,

who has not turned to the proud,

nor to those who lapse into falsehood.a

5Many, O LORD my God,

are the wonders You have done,

and the plans You have for us—

none can compare to You—

if I proclaim and declare them,

they are more than I can count.

6Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,

but my ears You have opened.b

Burnt offerings and sin offerings

You did not require.

7Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—

it is written about me in the scroll:

8I delight to do Your will, O my God;c

Your law is within my heart.”

9I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;

behold, I do not seal my lips,

as You, O LORD, do know.

10I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart;

I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation;

I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness

from the great assembly.

11O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me;

Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.

12For evils without number surround me;

my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head,

and my heart has failed within me.

13Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;

hurry, O LORD, to help me.

14May those who seek my life

be ashamed and confounded;

may those who wish me harm

be repelled and humiliated.

15May those who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

be appalled at their own shame.

16May all who seek You

rejoice and be glad in You;

may those who love Your salvation

always say, “The LORD be magnified!”

17But I am poor and needy;

may the Lord think of me.

You are my helper and deliverer;

O my God, do not delay.

Stick your Nose Into a Tulip...(and other simple pleasures)

A week ago my cousin gifted me this midwinter splash of spring...

the initial inspiration for today's poem

For a taste of spring, when it's not!

and other simple pleasures...

Stick your nose into a tulip...

Sip some lemon-spritzed delight...

Page through gardens, picture-perfect

Waiting while the world blooms white...

Take a 'tropical' vacation

Via pages in a book...

Dream a summer celebration/destination

On the bank of frozen brook

Stick your nose into a tulip

Sip some lemon-spritzed delight

Page through gardens, picture-perfect

Waiting while the world blooms white

Take a tropical vacation

Via pages in a book

Dream a summer celebration

On the bank of frozen brook

Make the most of words like 'cozy'

Before tasks of sweat-and-till

Unearth work gloves resting easy

For a little longer, still

Stoke home-fires with thanksgiving

Thank God for warm, fuzzy socks

Say a prayer for people living

Under bridges in a box🙏💔

Be content to sing and putter

Make a decadent dessert

(never mind the extra butter) 😉😅

A few winter treats won't hurt 

Chuckle at the chubby junco

Watch the birds without a clock

Dictating strict marching orders

With nothing but tick and tock

Pour a second 'second coffee'

Mindful of a subtle string

Drawing winter, like a tugboat 

Closer and closer to spring

Tromp/ski through snow-swaddled creation

With an ear tuned to a clime

Where green and violet arrangements

Will emerge in perfect time

Though the sunshine, brief and sallow

Cannot melt the snowy strand

We know soon its warmer yellow  

Will trump Old Man Winter's hand

 So, stick your nose in a tulip

Sip some lemon-sparkly bliss

Page through gardens, picture-perfect

While the sun fine-tunes her kiss

Janet Martin

Pour a second 'second coffee'...

Chuckle at the chubby junco...

Watch the birds without a clock...

Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless Love - Praise and Harmony

Lyrics 

Song by Keith & Kristyn Getty

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love;

Too vast and astounding to tell.

Forever existing in worlds above,

Now offered and given to all.

Oh fountain of beauty eternal;

The Father, the Spirit, the Son.

Sufficient and endlessly generous:

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

Creation is brimming with thankfulness,

The mountains, exultant they stand;

The seasons rejoice in Your faithfulness,

All life is sustained by Your hand.

You crown every meadow with color;

You paint every shade in the sky;

Each day the dawn wakes as an encore of

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

How great, how sure;

His love endures forevermore.

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

What grace, that You entered our brokenness;

You came in the fullness of time.

How far we had fallen from righteousness,

But not from the mercies of Christ.

Your cross is our door to redemption;

Your death is our fullness of life.

That day, how forgiveness flowed as a flood:

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

How great, how sure;

His love endures forevermore.

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

United in Your resurrection,

You lift us to infinite heights.

Could anything sever or take us from

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

How great, how sure;

His love endures forevermore.

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

White as Snow or Triumph's Reservoir

Genesis 15:1

...Fear not,  Abram, (Janet, and all who believe.)

I am Thy Shield and Thy exceeding great reward.

Prayer is the greatest power-source in the universe.

Why do we so often settle for something/someone less

than the Best?!! 

Through God's Word and humble prayer we, through Him,

become who He created us to be

We will never be all we or others wish us to be...

Until/unless we have been crucified with Christ and

'it is no longer I but Christ in me'

then we can be infinitely more

 than thought humanly possible,

not to please people,

but, by and to the honour and glory of God!

The 'more' Christ works in us

may never be applauded by the masses

or perhaps, often times, even noticed...

Such as

The private victory over temptation,

The bridled tongue, 

The second mile,

The altar of sacrifice,

The yielded will, (oft-repeated)

The peace that God alone grants

to all who fear Him and seek/strive 

to live in obedience to His commandments...

The sacred fulfillment of 'Love one another'

The joy, gloriously, mysteriously complete

though we sorrow/suffer,

The power to truly and completely forgive!

...but God knows

and keeps a precious record

of our earthly relationship with Him,

until, some day when we will see Him face to face;

Jesus Christ, our salvation, who through His shed blood,

though our sins were like scarlet

He washed us white as snow!

Isa.1:16-20

Wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

stop doing wrong.

17 Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.[a]

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the good things of the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Read the whole dire chapter HERE

***

Imagine if snow was scarlet, like sin, instead of white, like redemption!!!

How glorious its whiteness suddenly seems! 🙏

When the groan of Intercession yields no dramatic reply

When our sorrowful confession does not move the earth and sky

When the evidence of Seeing challenges Faith's Things Hoped For

'Christ in us', instills faith's being with whispers to trust Him more

God, whose faithfulness and justice vexes logic's rationale  

Will fulfill his every promise; never slack or forgetful 

He beholds The Precious Many, ignorant of Calvary 

(It is not his will that any should perish eternally)

Love, beyond all comprehension bore death's cross in our stead 

God, rich in mercy's compassion, gave His Own to pay sin's debt

He is ever interceding, for all who call on the Lord

He, both shield and faith's exceeding, everlasting great reward, 

Love, beyond all comprehension holds eternity at bay

Love, whose scarlet intervention washes sin's cursed stains away

White as snow, Redemption's River courses, bridging death's dark rift 

Would that all would trust the Giver of Salvation's sacred gift

 

Then, though groans of Intercession yield no visible reply

When our sorrowful confession does not move the earth and sky

When the evidence of needing challenges Faith's Things Hoped For

'Christ in us', transforms faith's pleading into Triumph's Reservoir 

© Janet Martin 

Blessed be the Fountain of Blood (Lyrics Only)

Alan Jackson-Blessed Assurance (Lyrics)

Faith's Sacred Enrollment

Through what lies behind

we are being prepared

for what lies ahead!

***

Regret has but one merit;

to learn from it

***

God cares for each of us beyond our wildest comprehension;

and invites us to cast our cares on Him!

Why do I/we often attempt to shoulder care

as if He didn't care?!!

***

What great fun and frustration, as we cheer on

our favourite teams, for better or worse!

When we put our faith in God

we become part of a 'team'

whose 'Coach' puts us through drills we often don't recognize

unless/until they produce His desire's sacred result;

a more humbly prayerful people.

Oh Lord, we give thee thanks

Whatever comes our way

May circumstance unveil the ranks

That teaches us to pray

...that tutors hope and trust

Though sorrow's throes increase

As we surrender what we must

You fill us with your peace

Lord, nothing is too hard

For You to will and do

Where the deceiver preys, you guard

The heart, humble and true

And should we stumble, still

You do not turn away

But with the shards of broken will

You teach us how to pray

Oh Lord, kindly renew

Our courage through your love

Help us to wholly lean on You

The wellspring of Enough 

For we know no true loss

Whatever comes our way

As long as You command/commend the cross 

That teaches us to pray

To wallow in regret

Is futile; Lord, pray we

Will learn from the mistakes that set

More sorry sights on Thee 

Forgiver of our sin

Help us as You prepare

The sacred drills faith enrolls in; 

Today's lessons in prayer

Our faith ought never be

In throne-rooms of this world

Lord, open eyes of faith to see

Your mighty Hand unfurled

Then, as a soldier/soul-dier true

Whatever comes our way

 Help us to put our trust in You

Who teaches us to pray

Your strength, through weakness gleams

In grief, Your comfort cheers

From the ash-heaps of broken dreams

We cry; Your kindness hears

And bends to bind the ill

That comes through creature care

That tests us with love's best until

We lean on You in prayer

 

 © Janet Martin 

Prov.3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; 

and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 In all thy ways acknowledge him,

 and he shall direct thy paths.

Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright 

Monday Morning/Every Morning Prayer and Praise...

Lam.3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Quicken us, Lord, with Your Spirit, with wealth of Thy wisdom

Lest we would, for some earth-trinket forfeit Heaven's Kingdom

Lest through the love of an idol we lose Intercession

Lest the tongue we do not bridle hinders sin's confession

Lest by breaking one commandment we offend all others

Lest, by errant understanding we cause stumbling brothers

Lest pride's vile infatuation blinds us to faith's calling

Lest the deceiver's temptation binds us to down-falling

Lest greed becomes the go-getter breeding selfish living

Forging from blessing a fetter rather than thanksgiving

Lest we lose this life by loving Self's death-doomed direction

Lest we forget choices proving who consumes Affection

Lest we choose, when life is ended,( sooner than expected)

Compensation we befriended by Who we neglected/rejected

Quicken us Lord, with Your Spirit's steadfast, sweetest pleasure

Lest we value more the merit of earth's fleeting treasure

© Janet Martin 

***  

Mercy, new each morning

What more do we need

To grace our sojourning

To cheer word and deed

To bolster hope's yearning

To secure faith's sail

Mercy, new each morning

Love that will not fail

© Janet Martin 

***

Lord, You know what today/this week will bring

And what its charges will entail

Lord, there is no chink in Your wing

The armour You forge will not fail

Lord, with truth and humility

Let our light shine forth, and then

Through each good deed may others see

You, and glorify You. Amen

© Janet Martin 

***

Christ the True and Better (Lyric Video) - Matt Boswell & Matt Papa