Blessedly Assured

Thine is the kingdom, the power and glory

Forever. Amen

Matt.6:13

This morning this poem came as a gift to my own heart's cry, 

as God, through His word convicted and comforted me. 

I pray it does the same for you 💓🙏

So much sorrow and sickness (physically and mentally)

So much corruption and carelessness,

so much deception and distraction...

So much more the power and glory of God

pursues and prevails!

I Sing the Mighty Power of God

Draw near to He who loves us more than mortal mind can guess

Who hems us in behind, before, with truth and righteousness

Who IS steadfast and does not leave or forsake us, like we

Whose thoughts are easy to deceive when fixed on what we see

Trust in the Lord who knows our need; beyond Thought’s repertoire

God’s goodness and mercy exceed our most noble desire

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; in His promises bask

For He is able to impart more than we think to ask

When we are tempted to despair, where wickedness is grim

Call upon God in earnest prayer, for a mind stayed on Him

In spite of all that we cannot appease or understand

Beyond man’s meager Scope of Thought God IS in full command

His Sovereign Order does not cease; He is holy and just

And He will keep in perfect peace, the mind of steadfast trust

Though what we see appears to be in utter disrepair

The Father of humanity is constant in His care

The Author and Perfector of faith’s proving intercedes

The grace He grants always enough to meet the hour’s needs

Though grief and pain and loss molest, while scorners jeer and wink

Soon faith’s brief sojourn will be blessed in ways we cannot think

Eye has not seen nor has ear heard, or grazed thought’s wildest ken

The things God has prepared for all who adore Him. Amen

Who love Him heart, soul, strength and mind, and trust implicitly

In spite of arguments inclined by what appears to be

…exceeding, inexhaustibly beyond Thought’s lofty roar

God is able to do and be immeasurably more

Then, trust in Him with all your heart, draw near to Him and pray

Assured that what we see in part He will make known someday

© Janet Martin

Eph.3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father [f]of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, 

to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 

17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; 

that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 

18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints 

what is the width and length and depth and height— 

19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; 

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly 

above all that we ask or think, 

according to the power that works in us,

 21 to Him be glory in the church

 by Christ Jesus to all generations, 

forever and ever. 

Amen.

Of What Will Never Change...

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever:

with my mouth I will make known Thy faithfulness

to all generations.

Ps.89:1

Dear family...

This is a one-birthday-poem-for-all-of-you!

Better late than never!

We celebrated the last family-birthday of the year yesterday 💝

(Happy 31st, Melissa!)

...and this poem began 'hatching' as I cherished the moments

with my 'brood' 😅

Back when you were much smaller and I was much younger too

Often it seemed my mother-heart would burst with love for you

And, try as I would, I could not find words to fit the joy

A mother feels when she beholds her precious girl or boy

Back before time stole what I thought would last much longer then

Before tours of tomorrow turned you to women and men

Often, I thought my heart could burst with love, defying speech

As I grappled with the discourse of much to learn and teach

Back in youth’s green-gold mold, replete with hold-and-letting-go

While days turned into stars, that fell and melted like spring-snow

I never dreamed how, as time flew through weathered best and worst

My love would always make my heart feel as if it could burst

Back then I thought that life’s best days would leave love feeling blue

As arms and laps, then rooms released the present-ness of you

But for all that the call of life is destined to estrange

My heart still feels like it could burst with what will never change

My mother-heart will always feel like it could burst with love

The tenderness that stole my breath when you were small, still does

The love that followed all your firsts in prayers you never knew

Remains the same; my love and prayers will always follow you

© Janet Martin

...and that goes for my grandma-heart too 🙏💖

Granddaughter is distressed over

her 'looth tooth', hanging by a thread,

which she finally let mommy tug out with some thread

just in time to enjoy the dinner

The above video ends with youngest Grand-sonny asking if he can finally

have some of the M&M's he spotted in the pantry 😂💘

With Thee

 

Psalm 72:18-19

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous things!
 And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.

Before the duties of the day

Rush in to draw my thoughts away

Where creature cares will always be

Lord, first I want to sit with Thee

Before the becks and calls of life

Like waves upon a sea, run rife

'ere joy and strife resume their spree 

I want to kneel in prayer with Thee

Before I tend to love’s demands

I want to touch your nail-scarred Hands

Lest I forget Thy love for me

I want to spend daybreak with Thee

...and praise Thee for Thy gift of grace

For hope and comfort's resting place

Before life's pressing charges plea 

I want to learn to love/live like Thee  

© Janet Martin

Still, Still With Thee 

Still Still With Thee

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

1 Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,

When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;

Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,

Dawns the sweet consciousness I am with Thee.

2 Alone with Thee amid the mystic shadows,

The solemn hush of nature newly born;

Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,

In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

3 Still, still with Thee! as to each newborn morning

A fresh and solemn splendor still is given,

So does this blessed consciousness, awaking,

Breathe each day nearness unto Thee and heaven.

4 When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,

Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;

Sweet the repose beneath Thy wings o'ershading,

But sweeter still, to wake and find Thee there.

5 So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,

When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee;

O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,

Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.

Amen.

A Masterpiece of Reverence (in the making)

 

Romans 12:11

Do not let your zeal subside;

keep your spiritual fervor,

serving the Lord.

Ephesians 6:7

Serve with good will,

as to the Lord and not to men,

1 Corinthians 10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,

do it all to the glory of God.

Psalm 100:2

Serve the LORD with gladness;

come into His presence with joyful songs.

1 Samuel 12:24

Above all, fear the LORD

and serve Him faithfully with all your heart;

consider what great things He has done for you.

💝💝💝

Dear poet-(whether-we-know-it-or-not!)

Here's to Fresh Fervour/Favour for Today's Poem-possibilities!

A little glimpse at yesterday's ballad 💗

Today, like a fresh page is laid beneath each poet’s pen
Where this new day the Lord has made glistens with grace again
For we, apt to forget the bent of breath, cut down to size
Composing, as Today is spent, a poem of replies
Intangible and permanent, moment-ink spills and dries

‘Oh God, have mercy on us all’ as lyrics rush reply
Blotting fresh pages as they fall, with love oft run awry
As mortal clashes with Sublime; with grace we cannot daunt
While give and take’s rhythm and rhyme, perplexes wishful want
We loot inkwells as old as Time, supplied with virgin font

‘Thy word is a lamp to our ‘pen’, a light unto our ‘page’
Thy Word is truth; foolproof, amen. Faithful from age to age
Then, with this day Thy goodness grants, may we, though sadly-flawed
Recognize Dried Ink's permanence; then seek to write, love-awed
A Masterpiece of Reverence to Thee, most gracious God

© Janet Martin

I Peter 3:8-12

Finally, all of you be of one mind,

having compassion for one another;

love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be [b]courteous;

9not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling,

but on the contrary blessing,

knowing that you were called to this,

 that you may inherit a blessing.

10For “He who would love life

And see good days,

Let him [c]refrain his tongue from evil,

And his lips from speaking deceit.

11Let him turn away from evil and do good;

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their prayers;

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Of Awe and Love

Ps.33:8

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the inhabitants of the world

stand in awe of Him

Ps.65:8-13

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

where morning dawns, where evening fades,

you call forth songs of joy.

9 You care for the land and water it;

you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

to provide the people with grain,

for so you have ordained it.[d]

10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

11 You crown the year with your bounty,

and your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

the hills are clothed with gladness.

13 The meadows are covered with flocks

and the valleys are mantled with grain;

they shout for joy and sing.

On Sunday morning the message was opened with this challenge;

When was the last time you were completely awed?

And closed with this challenge;

Do you fear God?

Do you love Him? 

(For message click HERE, then click on Aug.17)

These challenges were drawn from the beloved chapter of

Psalm 145

Have you ever tried to write out your depth of awe and love for God?!!

It's really quite impossible to do but still so worthwhile to try! 

It is bound to humble, challenge and perhaps help us 

reevaluate what we (should) prioritize! 

***

There is so no limit to the love of God for us, so then

There ought to be no limit to our love for fellowmen

There ought to be no task, no sacrifice too great or small

To do or give our best for He who gave His best for all

 

Whose tender mercies, new each morn proclaim great faithfulness

No matter what befalls God is true to His promises

He manifests His evidence in nature's ordered law

His word and workmanship evoke unsurpassable awe

As He o'erwhelms our souls with joy though sorrow's portions press  

He cheers our hearts with hymns of old  'great is thy faithfulness'  

Then as we meditate on Him, with worship sadly flawed

His whisper thunders deep within and leaves us sweetly awed

Without God, love and awe are like shadows, cast by Time's lease

With God, love and awe anchor everlasting hope-joy-peace  

...because His grace sufficient is enough to rush the heart

With endless hymns of awe and love, 'oh LORD, how great Thou art'

Janet Martin

Great is Thy Faithfulness 

How Great Thou Art

When the speaker asked us to try and remember when we were last awed

I leaned over to Jim and whispered 'every time I walk through a garden!!'

It is absolutely mind-blowing to witness the unfolding of seeds...

Dear Lucy, Of Memories We Treasure Now...

There is something heart-wrenchingly healing

as I compose each Dear Lucy poem/post!

Thank-you, Lord

This quote (author unknown), rings so true 🙏💓

When someone you love becomes a memory

the memory (and memories) become a treasure...

Tomorrow it will be 11 months since someone I took far too for granted

(Dear Lucy,  the middle sister of the five Martin girls)

 became a memory to treasure...and oh, what a bitterly-sweetest treasure!

Below is a group of friends that tried

to get together for at least a few of our birthdays

every year..(one friend absent from these shots)

These tea-parties have become cherished memories to treasure!

(Lucy, third from the left) 

Above photo Oct. 2023, a birthday tea at the café where Lucy served us with

honour and delight!

Lucy LOVED serving her friends and family either in her home

 or at various restaurants and cafés

where she worked throughout her life!

Below Mar. 27 2024 (Lucy's last birthday)

my mom, sister and I surprised her at work

and came for lunch

This memory plus many more while sitting at her kitchen table,

inspired the first four lines of this month's poem.

Your brisk, bouncy, efficient stride

Your happiness when serving us

Your table set with loving pride

Your pleasure in the detail-fuss...

Your brisk, bouncy, efficient stride

Your happiness when serving us

Your table set with loving pride

Your pleasure in the detail-fuss

Your smile, your spontaneity

Your tardy tune-in with 'what?! who?!'

Your love of home and family

And interest in others too

Your faith, that deepened joy and grief

Your prayers for fellow hopes and hurts

Your delight in each season's brief

Beauty-fest. Your fresh-baked desserts

Your 'artist's eye' for painting things

Your energy to get it done

Your sentimental renderings

Or humorous, quick-witted pun

Your love of books, of poetry

Of anything worthy to read

Of planting a garden to see

The miracle in every seed

Your kindred-spirit-common-ground

With we who  love the loss of words

When truth's epiphanies confound

The tongue, but leave hearts and souls stirred

Your boundless appetite for life

While weathering its 'yes' and 'nope'

From a fountain of mercy, rife

With opportunity and hope

Your encouraging wisdom born

From your own share of bitter blows

Your willingness to brave love's thorn 

To reap the beauty of its rose  

Your one-and-only-you, oh how

We miss your precious presence here

Where memories we treasure now 

Are love's beautiful keepsakes, dear

Reminding us, through smiles and tears

To thank God for the blessing of

Bearing the part sorrow reveres 

Because we were part of your love

By your sister Janet on

behalf of so many

'treasure-embracers' 

B-day celebration at D's house

(June 2021)

Another B-day celebration...

this one at my house (Sept.2022)

...and another below at 'J's'  house

(June 2023)

Ps.116:15 NIV

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.

  

                       

                                                                                                               

For One and All, the Same

Ten thousand people doing something wrong does not,

as the number of wrong-doers increases,

eventually make the wrong right!

'They do it too' is a dangerous excuse if 'they' are doing wrong!

2 Cor.5:9-10 (read the whole sacred chapter HERE)

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, 

to be well pleasing to Him. 

10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 

that each one may receive the things done in the body, 

according to what he has done, whether good or bad...

We are well known to God

Our hearts, an open page

Then bow before Him, wholly awed

For He holds judgment’s wage

A wage we justify

With simple clarity

The track-record of our reply

Will prove if we loved He

…who suffered Calvary

To pardon our sin

So that all who believe will be

Heirs and co-heirs with Him

(To believe is to know

For all that we do not

That by the grace of God we go

Regardless of our lot)

The hour we believe

Repenting of our sin

Is the same hour we receive

Eternal life with Him

Through God’s Son, sacrificed

Salvation’s gift was wrought

Repentance, through the blood of Christ

Redeems each soul, blood-bought

How Mercy must have groaned

Knowing love’s albatross

To gain the joy of sin atoned

He must endure the cross

But there, belief begins

A lifelong wonderment

In He who forgives our sins

And makes the heart content

He arms us for faith’s strife

Through the might of His name

He is the Way, the Truth, the Life

For one and all, the same

© Janet Martin

John 3:14-18

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 

even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 

but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; 

but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned:

 but he that believeth not is condemned already, 

because he hath not believed in the name 

of the only begotten Son of God.

Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?

 

An August Aria

Earth is a garden billowing with threshing days...

 and flow’rs...

The kitchen is a paradise of aromatic thrill

Of vinegar and pickling spice, garlic, pepper and dill...

Earth is a garden billowing with threshing days and flow’rs

While a keen scythe is winnowing sweet summer of its hours

The kitchen is a paradise of aromatic thrill

Of vinegar and pickling spice, garlic, pepper and dill

The afternoon-sun scorches rural vistas with its blaze

While we seek north-faced porches to escape its sizzling rays

The landscape like a giant bolt of fabric unfurled, lies

In rippling sweeps/heaps of green and gold beneath heat-hazy skies

…a stage where cricket-minstrels hide to play their ceaseless tune

Tugging at heart-strings gently tied to dusk’s rose-tinted moon

And wafting softly on the air, fond good old days renew

In children’s voices falling where once we were children too

© Janet Martin