Thought-thoughts

 

As December's full moon climbs

over dusk's pink sill

Thought becomes happy to pause

and be perfectly still...

As the mind thinks, so we become;

Like babies in perception’s womb

Like children in a classroom taught

By a lifelong lector of Thought

Guard well the guests Thought entertains

The conquests toward which Thought strains

Because the person we become

Is shaped through Thought’s collective sum

For all the progress change may boast

It cannot thwart what matters most

Whether we regard it or not

We are the workmanship of Thought

If Thought is lazy, greedy, vain

Pity the one who gleans its gain

If Thought is prudent, humble, wise

It benefits its enterprise

Whatever then, is excellent

Praiseworthy and of noble bent

And true and just, without selfdom

Think on these things, and so become

Janet Martin

Phil.4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, 

whatever is honorable, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable—

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—

think on these things.

Free For the Asking

1 Sa.7:12

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.

 He named it Ebenezer,[a] saying, 

“Thus far the Lord has helped us.

”Read full chapter

1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help.

Ps.27:14

Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage,

 And He shall strengthen your heart; 

Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Some of the 'sparkle' of joy this Christmas season, feels a bit tarnished

as we think of so many loved ones who are missing loved ones,

then we lift each of them by name to Jesus, our everlasting Helper, 

 Comforter and great joy!

His help, comfort and joy are free for the asking and believing/receiving!

and beyond compare.

What kind comfort to pray

To He who knows all things

Whose Presence is our Help/hope and Stay

Whatever today brings

To wait upon the Lord

May test our patience sore

While discovering the reward

Of trusting all the more

Then, as we trust, our love

Refined through bitter test

Begins to shine the glory of

The One who loves us best

***

God helps us if we ask

He helps us work and rest

And fulfill life's most common task

With zeal, contentment-blessed

He helps us when we lie

On a sick bed; He hears

The whimper of the heart-wept cry

The language of our tears

He helps us, young or old

And bids us, come what may

To discover riches untold

As we trust and obey

When we don't understand

Then yield to dread's alarms

He lifts us with His faithful Hand

To lean upon His arms

What sacred liberty

To ask, and then rely

Upon the Higher Thought of He

Who does not rush reply

Our help in ages past

 Our Rock of Ages still

Our Cornerstone to hold steadfast

Faith, anchored in God's will

Janet Martin

O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Rock of Ages

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Author: Robert Robinson (1758); Alterer: Martin Madan (1760)

1 Come, thou Fount of every blessing;

tune my heart to sing thy grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing,

call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

sung by flaming tongues above;

praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

mount of God’s unchanging love!

2 Here I raise my Ebenezer;

hither by thy help I’m come;

and I hope, by thy good pleasure,

safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

wandering from the fold of God;

he, to rescue me from danger,

interposed his precious blood.

3 O to grace how great a debtor

daily I’m constrained to be!

Let that grace now, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here’s my heart; O take and seal it;

seal it for thy courts above.

Considering Gifts...

This is the time of year our thoughts start considering gift-giving;

the perfect Something for that precious someone...

 whilst wandering through isles laden with gifts, free for the 'taking'...

Considering that a week ago there was not a flake of snow to be seen

it does feel like winter literally arrived overnight!

(so, I am attempting to acclimate my delight to white-gilded glories/gifts)

Each day nature's buffet is laden with pleasures to share

Each season filled with reasons to run worship through with prayer

To He who grants fresh chances to awaken and rejoice

As He delights appetites for beauty through nature's voice

Each day a smorgasbord of the Lord's handiwork unfurls

Where Nature is a caterer with pocket full of pearls

And tables spread with green, gold, red and white; beneath, above

We witness He whose majesty earth offers glimpses of 

Each day fresh wonder thunders through the chambers of the heart

If we with slower pace embrace the study of God's art

And pause with awestruck posture, and holy humility

In the ache of a snowflake's astounding intricacy

Each day nature's showcase abounds with sounds and sights to thrill

And remind us because of love's kind Giver, to be still 

And trust the Teacher of the creature without skeptic doubt

To join the hymn that seraphim of earth and heavens shout

Janet Martin

O Worship the King

O worship the King all glorious above

Author: Robert Grant (1833)

Tune: LYONS

O worship the King all-glorious above,

O gratefully sing his power and his love:

our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,

pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

2 O tell of his might and sing of his grace,

whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.

His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,

and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

3 Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;

it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

4 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.

Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,

our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

5 O measureless Might, unchangeable Love,

whom angels delight to worship above!

Your ransomed creation, with glory ablaze,

in true adoration shall sing to your praise!

Psalm 8:3-6

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit[a] him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than [b]the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

Read full chapter

Awakenings~

Happy new month, new week, new day!

Happy December!

Ps.118:24

This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

A sense of what yet waits ignites

A tense awareness of insights

Rolling in an un-parted sea

Of uncharted periphery

Daybreak gleams like a pristine sash

Untrampled by Thought’s barefoot dash

Through keyholes, over holy ground

Not sullied by ink-jots unbound

Ink jots disclose, if but in part

The burning bush within the heart

An impressionist’s silhouette

Of a bower bursting with Yet

Dawn unfolds the prevailing hue

Of the old laden with the new;

A trembling generosity

Of frames to fill with what will be

***

Prov.4:23

Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.

Romans 11:29
For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.

Give diligence to truth and grace; to awe and choice because life’s race

Beats to a very sacred drum of calling and election’s sum

Give diligence to worship’s part and guard the chamber of the heart

For from it flows all that we seek; Be swift to hear and slow to speak

Give diligence to hope and love before mortality’s thin glove

Slips from the part that never dies; run as if to obtain the Prize

Give diligence to faith because beyond time’s trying wraith of gauze

Awaits the endless recompense of what/who we gave due diligence

***

Eccles.12:13

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 

Fear God, and keep his commandments: 

for this is the whole duty of man.

Experience steals innocence; for better or for worse

It does not withhold elements of both blessing and curse

Regardless of the circumstance that vexes you and I

Experience is bound to grant a lesson in reply

Foolish to wish for yester-cake or ‘Before’ ignorance

The ups and downs of give and take produce experience

No one can outlive its demands or dodge its dogged reach

The long arm of Experience always has much to teach

It drills us in the pros and cons of gaining older age

Is no respecter of persons; tutor of fool and sage

It builds character or destroys; tyrant and troubadour

Through bitter grief it renders joys we never knew before

Janet Martin

While Waiting....(for fulfillment of prophecy to unfold)

 

Spiritual darkness is a lack of delight in God.

Clinton Manley~

Advent is an in-between time,

when we wait with desire for the second coming

while we remember with delight the first.

Clinton Manley~

Source HERE

Matthew 4:16
the people living in darkness have seen a great light; 

on those living in the land of the shadow of death,

 a light has dawned.”

The sunrise teaches us about the Sonrise that we confess at Advent:

Christ has come. Christ will come again.

Clinton Manley~

Source HERE

While generations rose and fell like waves upon a sea

While centuries tolled like a bell hinged upon prophecy

While with devout commitment the truth was told and retold

While waiting for fulfillment of prophecy to unfold

While evil oppression increased beneath death's shadow chained 

Still, God's upright Hand never ceased where a great silence reigned 

 While blood of bulls and rams ran rife on altars made of stone

While waiting for the Light of Life to pardon and atone

While scoffers and emperors, boldly waved axes with pride 

And lined coffers with despot's gold, the king of kings defied/denied

Some glimpsed hope gleaming from afar, where a great darkness lay

In waiting for the Morning Star to drive its gloom away 

While foretold devastation unfurled like a beast of doom 

The bud of expectation sprouted in a Virgin's womb

The Flower of the Spirit, the Trinity's Diadem 

'Behold the root of David, and the Rod from Jesse's stem'

The Almighty has spoken; Salvation's Day is unfurled

The darkness has been broken by the True light of the world

Wounded for our transgression, redemption's plan to fulfill 

Though we esteemed Him stricken, the Lord's pleasure prospers still (Isa.53)

While generations rise and fall like waves upon a sea

While centuries roll like a ball into eternity

Still, with devout commitment the truth is told and retold

While waiting for fulfillment of prophecy to unfold

Janet Martin

We The Kingdom - Light of the World (Sing Hallelujah) [Lyric Video]

Sweet Summer's Courtship Came and Went...

Not the sun or the summer alone,

but every hour yields its tribute of delight.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Sweet summer's courtship came....

 and went...

Sweet summer's courtship came and went

Weaving its laughter and lament

Into a wreath of season-spent

To crown footfalls that fade

Like flower gardens, fair and brief

Like bowers bent with fruit and leaf

Like hours full of joy and grief

Like shadowland's soft-splayed 

...where childhood's barefoot, carefree strand

Soon falls prey to the firm command 

Of waves that sweep the sea and sand

 In morn to eventide

Whilst gath'ring in the gleaming wake

Of eager passion's give and take

Framed rations, tamed into an ache

  Of snow-capped countryside 

The aftermath of youthfulness

Is resolute in its progress 

Where winter is the effervesce 

Of summer's sanguine splash

Of petal-mettle, fondly kissed

Then felled by time's determined fist

Beneath a scarf of sequined mist

And echo's knee-deep sash

Janet Martin

Where winter is the effervesce 

Of summer's sanguine splash...

...and because it's tradition with the first real snowfall every year,

this song! 🙏

Fall Softly Snow...

A Prayer

Prov.22:1-2&4

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

The rich and the poor have this in common,

The Lord is the maker of them all.

By humility and the fear of the Lord

Are riches and honor and life.

A Prayer to begin this blistery, blustery day in Ontario.

Hold onto your hats!

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord to riches money cannot buy

To wealth the world cannot afford, and lucre cannot satisfy 

Grant me the pleasures of the soul, not flaunted before mortal gaze

But in fond happiness made whole through contentment to sing Thy praise

Mold me through life's hardships with grace to help me trust and thus rejoice

Hold me in Thy nail scarred embrace; open my heart to hear Thy voice

Let the desires of my heart be fashioned by faith, hope and love

Fulfilled with riches You impart and the world can know nothing of

In Jesus' Name I pray

Amen

Janet Martin

Oh may I learn to truly pray like the apostle Paul...

Not that I speak in respect of want;

for I have learned in whatsoever state I am

therewith to be content.

Phil.4:11

Here's My Heart by David Crowder with lyrics

A Thank-you Collection

Today's Daily Bread Devotion, through the hymn Count Your Blessings,

reminds us, when we are discouraged we should begin to count our blessings and

'it will surprise us too, what the Lord has done'!

What a visual reminder of photo-captured blessings I enjoyed

on Monday, as I scrolled through a year's worth of photos while (frantically)

creating a few Christmas gifts to take advantage of a pre-Black Friday Sale with a Monday midnight deadline (that I found renewed/extended in my email on Tuesday morning 😒😅)

After that and today's devotions a thank-you hymn begged to be born!

Thank-you for puddles on the lane, for splash-wild laughter as it rings

For good old days that still remain, thanks to gladness in simple things ...

Thank-you for walls that we call 'home'; a haven in a hurried/harried world...

Thank-you for every hymn and psalm by nature's troubadours unfurled...

Thank-you for faithful parents who train up their children by Thy word

Thank-you Heavenly Father, You bless us with patience undeterred

Thank-you for each shiny, new day; grant us wisdom to spend it well

Thank-you for list'ning when we pray and hearing all we have to tell

Thank-you for walls that we call 'home'; a haven in a hurried/harried world

Thank-you for every hymn and psalm by nature's troubadours unfurled

Thank-you for Wonder's my-oh-my to nullify shadows of doubt

For every slice of humble pie I hate but would be vain without

Thank-you for family and friends, whether nearby or far apart

For the sunshine that kindness sends to warm the garden of the heart  

Thank-you for everybody who gives misjudgment, doubt's benefit

And for Your Word, steadfast and true no matter who may challenge it

When care-worn loving takes its toll, Thank-you for strength to help us through

When sorrow's sobbing billows roll, when happiness is feeling blue

Thank-you for promises to cheer the soul with holy fellowship

For Thy counsel to commandeer, For Thy whole armour to equip

...so we may be able to stand against the evil of the hour

Thank-you that You are greater than legions of dark, demonic pow'r

Thank-you for pleasures evermore, waiting beyond Time's hills and vales 

You comfort us as you restore our souls with love that never fails 

Thank-you for hope that You secure; for joy complete in spite of grief 

The wellspring of your Word is pure and sweet as honey to Belief 

Thank-you for little boys and girls to remind us of wants amiss

Thank-you for freckles, dimples, curls, and chubby cheeks to kiss and kiss

Thank-you for puddles on the lane, for splash-wild laughter as it rings

For good old days that still remain thanks to gladness in simple things 

...like cuppa comfort-soup or tea, cookies and milk, or fresh-baked bread

Like quiet good-book company, like no stone pillow for my head 

...like wood to keep the fire fed, like coffeeshops where cronies meet 

Like compliments, not left unsaid, like tasks to safeguard hands and feet

...like the touchdown of feet to floor each morning as we rise and shine

And oft forget to thank You for the gift of feet; 'the world is mine'  

For minds that still retain a thought for more than a moment or two

For ink to spell thrill into jot (also known as Poem for You)

For more than pages can contain or all earth's ledgers can record

For unearned favours You sustain though ofttimes they remain ignored 

...like answered prayers we never prayed, like supplied needs unrecognized

Of catastrophic outcomes stayed, of kind protection never prized 

We thank you Lord, for countless ways You graciously and freely bless

Forgive us when we fail to praise and thank You for your faithfulness

Janet Martin 

 Gratitude for His faithfulness helps us gain momentum for the future.

  Arthur Jackson

Count Your Blessings (Ingrid DuMosch & The London Fox Singers)

Ps.136;1-4&23-26

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!

For His mercy endures forever.

3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!

For His mercy endures forever:

4 To Him who alone does great wonders,

For His mercy endures forever;

23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,

For His mercy endures forever;

24 And rescued us from our enemies,

For His mercy endures forever;

25 Who gives food to all flesh,

For His mercy endures forever.

26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!

For His mercy endures forever.