Without Humility and Fear and Trembling at God's Word and Morning-tide is Gently Breaking (a Twofer today :-)

It takes patience, determination and discipline to blog this time of year!!

Yester-morn and this morning Cutie and Duty-Beauty prevailed

before I had accomplished sharing a poem here...

It's harvest and making-the-most-of-moments-

before-school-begins-again season...

Yesterday morning I first deposited all the corn on the lawn to husk but it

was so cool and windy we ended up moving into the garage!

Grand-sonny loved 'trucking' cobs to the wheelbarrow and baskets 

to keep the huskers husking!

Husking complete!

Isa.66:2

“These are the ones I look on with favor:

those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

and who tremble at my word.

I wrote the poem below before heading out to pick corn..., 

inspired in part by the above verse

and in part by plain, old-fashioned 

observation/self-examination 

Without humility and fear and trembling at God’s word

The paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake, are vision-blurred

Without willing contrition/submission of heart and soul, strength and mind

Love is oft led into temptation, sensual and blind

And without daily taking up love’s cross to suffer-long

Speech is a clanging cymbal and worship, a hollow gong

Without utter reliance and unswerving confidence

In God, the tree will not produce fruit of obedience

Without earth’s treasure taken now and then, to temper boast

Our want will never waken to desire God the most

Without the world forsaken first, God’s armor cannot shield

Us from the awful day when the unrighteous are revealed

Without the consolation of God’s hope, we lack the ken

To trust Him for salvation and knowledge of truth. Amen

We lack faith’s thankful fervor for the grace of God, who gave

Himself to be our Savior and to overthrow hell’s grave

Without surrender’s ‘not my will but Thine be done’ today

We lack the love we ought to have that bids us to obey

Without love's purposed commitment of living, sacrificed

We cannot find the fulfillment that comes through Jesus Christ

God will not keep in perfect peace, a mind un-stayed on Him

The ear is deaf if the heart has no word of God within

To lead in paths of righteousness and keep faith undeterred

With love’s humility and fear and trembling at His word

© Janet Martin

After corn husking I forgot to take photos till cleanup was complete!

All done! For now😅

The first four lines of today's poem

whispered to me out of a dead sleep... 💗

(so, if you prefer a quick ditty to

drawn-out doggerels those lines can be

its own little lyric)

Morning-tide is Gently Breaking 

Morning-tide is gently breaking like a gold lake over sod

Faithfulness, free for man’s taking tumbles from the hand of God

Goodness grants fresh salutations of love, from mercy renewed

Grace runs rife with invitations to fill life with gratitude...

Challenging easy desires and the thirst for pleasure’s vice

To a frontline that requires Giving’s living sacrifice

Morning-tide is gently rolling like a wave across the lea

Time’s tintinnabulum tolling holy opportunity

Beckoning, from mercy’s table, to drink deeply from hope’s fount

Reckoning is not a fable; someday we will give account

Pray then, that each day composes a most sober legacy

Lest we blush when God exposes what was hid, for all to see

Morning-tide is grandly sweeping over land and sea; behold

He whose kind and patient keeping dissolves the darkness with gold

He is awesome and all-knowing; earth and heaven beam and brim

With His evidence, bestowing immutable proof of Him

Until, He exchanges glimpses of His glory; time’s veil rent

Where at last seeing convinces every lofty argument

Morning-tide is gently breaking like a lake of gleaming gold

Moments, free for our taking, already slip through our hold

Softly and subtly preparing answers we will not escape

In the face of mercy’s bearing, recompense is taking shape

Where morning-tide, gently shimmers in a lake of gold and pink

Where the mist of reply glimmers, then dries in permanent ink

Come, before the tide of Morning disappears into the dark

Heed the voice that pleads with warning, lest we wait and miss Faith’s mark

Kiss the feet of the Creator, worship Him without reserve

Where He counters each debater with creation’s vim and verve

While the worshipper fills pages with humility or pride

While God crowns the dust of ages with newness of morning-tide

© Janet Martin

Helping gramma painstakingly uncurl and examine every single lemon tea leaf,

(before drying)

for tiny worms woven almost imperceptibly into curled edges!

But I love this tea so much which, I explained to them, is why it is worth the

squeamish effort!' And they love tea at gramma's house too!

1 Tim.1:17

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, 

to [e]God who alone is wise,

 be honor and glory forever and ever. 

Amen.

Sweet Summer...part 3

Click links below for

Sweet Summer- Part 1

Sweet Summer- Part 2

I began this poem the other day,

to commemorate the tipping point of August's halfway mark! 💖💖💖

Halo of gold and maroon...

Serenade of cricket-croon...

Where the floral colour-spree

Lures bard, 

butterfly...

and bee; (the bees wouldn't sit still enough to give me a good shot 😅)

Where the wonder of the world

Sparkles in dew-gilt unfurled...

Of gardens, bursting, and how

With earth’s tables heaped with chow...

Halo of gold and maroon

Serenade of cricket-croon

Morn, noon night, vibrato-lilt

Trembles in ensembles, spilt

Where the sizzling heat wave broods

Over dark and still-life woods

Where the floral colour-spree

Lures bard, butterfly and bee

Where the cornfields grow and grow

Like infantry, row on row

Where the florid landscape lies

Like a Painter’s Paradise

Where the wonder of the world

Sparkles in dew-gilt unfurled

Feeds the whine of combine-loot

Weighs the wispy vine with fruit

Stuns the poet, middle-stride

With the ink of August-tide

With the hazy, lazy grief

Of boughs, dense with sighing/dying leaf

Of gardens, bursting, and how

With earth’s tables heaped with chow

Of the gard’ner, overcome

By a seed’s volupt’ous sum

Of the brook, bereft of lay

Lyrics lost to reeds and clay

Of the pigment of the rose

Formula God only knows

Of wild lilies of the field

Spilling in copious yield

Of the rush, before the hush

After sedum’s school-girl blush

Of fleet, bittersweet dog-days

Of summer’s soft-slipping ways

Of the hummingbird that drinks

From bloom founts; reds, purples, pinks

Of hydrangea’s lavish crown

Pretty as a bridal gown

Of orchards in quiescent form

Like the calm before the storm

Of kitchens filled with chop-slice

Vinegar and pickling-spice

Dill, parsley, basil, foray

Canners never put away

Menus brightened with fresh voice

Where the cook is spoiled for choice

While the spider spins and spins

While summer’s silk lining thins

While dust wafts o’er dusky day

While the barefoot children play

While the mother collects art

Lost to touch but kept in heart

While the fondness for each flow’r

Falls prey to the baying hour

Falls prey to Bygone’s clenched fist

Clutching at frayed fronds of mist

© Janet Martin

Of hydrangea’s lavish crown

Pretty as a bridal gown...

Of kitchens filled with chop-slice

Vinegar and pickling-spice...

Dill, parsley, basil, foray...

Canners never put away...

Menus brightened with fresh voice

Where the cook is spoiled for choice...

While the spider spins and spins

While summer’s silk lining thins

While dust wafts o’er dusky day...

While the barefoot children play...

Better-Awareness

Sometimes we misunderstand things because we don't wait for the finished picture!

It takes time for an Artist to complete His (or, as below, her) work

Better to be patient in waiting

Than impatient and settling for far less than God would grant...

After she completed the swing set I thought she was done,

and I praised her drawing but, after she studied it briefly she returned to it.

Something seemed wanting.

Then she added grass, sky, clouds and people!

A much prettier picture than I was ready to settle for 💝

Better to be reprimanded than to flourish in deceit

To obey is better than the pomp and show of sacrifice

Better to be bowed in bearing, washing fellow-traveler's feet

Than to be proud and uncaring; always counting giving's price

Better to be poor and gentle than world-wealthy and unkind

Better to be robbed and beaten, than to be the one that steals

Better to walk by faith daily, than coast through life, seeing-blind 

Better to be led through fire than to trust in how one feels 

Better to be mocked and hated than applauded for sin's fruit 

Better this, to suffer wrongly than to live without a care 

Better to be wild with hunger than succeed in greed's pursuit

Better, tossed by trouble's tempest than smooth sailing without prayer 

Better to be God's-grace strengthened than to never know its need

Better to grow wise in waiting, than a fool, soon gratified 

Better to trust in the Lord than lean on Logic's shaky reed/lead 

Better to be stumble-humbled than poised on tight-ropes of pride  

© Janet Martin

Proverbs 15:17

Better a dish of vegetables where there is love 

than a fattened ox with hatred.

Proverbs 17:1

Better a dry morsel in quietness 

than a house full of feasting with strife.

Ecclesiastes 4:6

Better one handful with tranquility 

than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

Not every aftermath  is instantly visible

as outlined HERE 

but without a doubt,

we reap what we sow! 

Deut.10:12-21 BSB

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you

but to fear the LORD your God

by walking in all His ways, to love Him,

to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

13and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD

that I am giving you this day for your own good?

14Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens,

even the highest heavens,

and the earth and everything in it.

15Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them.

And He has chosen you, their descendants after them,

above all the peoples, even to this day.

16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

17For the LORD your God is God of gods

and Lord of lords,

the great, mighty, and awesome God,

showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow,

and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.

19So you also must love the foreigner,

since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

20You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him.

Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.

21He is your praise and He is your God,

who has done for you these great and awesome wonders

that your eyes have seen.

Of Bard's Battlefield or Walking Battlefields

How swift the eye perceives 

The innocent façade

That veils the part/heart that hails or grieves

The holiness of God

The battlefield of Bard (humankind)

Is neither ink nor page 

Beneath form's peripheral guard 

What storms of worship/passion wage 

Be still, my soul, and know

That He alone is God

He heals the battle-wounds below

The innocent façade 

© Janet Martin

The battlefield of Bard

Is neither ink nor page...

I do constant battle with a dark voice telling me I should quit this blog.

This fierce force laughs, jeers, scoffs, scorns, accuses, belittles, stabs, shames, 

in great attempts to dissuade, discourage and despair!

(It's not always easy to put one's mind and heart on public display)

But that voice is no match 

for The Other Voice who, 

as I bow my head He hears my heart,

 He whispers sweet peace to me.

He orders the demons out!

He restores my soul!

Hallelujah

 💝🙏

Whatever our personal battlegrounds are,

may we heed the Still, Small Voice of our loving Creator

remembering we can do all things through He who gives us strength,

and who designed us each with our own unique abilities

gifts and responsibility to them/Him!

If we proceed, empowered by His grace and for His glory

 we succeed, not always perfectly, but never in vain!

Let's keep in mind we are all walking battlefields-soul-diers-warriors,

and thus be more gentle with each other !!

***

The cure for fear and despair is always

to take my eyes off myself

and fix them on God

And His great love's 'battle-scars'

when He broke the curse of sin

when He was pierced for our transgressions 

and crushed for our iniquities💓🙏

Isa.53:5 

***

Over 12 years ago my friend gave me the tidbit below

and since then, it has been taped where I generally write,

as her gentle reminder when I need it.

Thank-you Jane W.

1 Cor.10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, 

do it all for the glory of God.

One voice tells me to quit 

A critic mercy-void

A brute who thrives on fear and doubt

Till courage is destroyed

But oh, the other Voice

 Is gentle as can be

A friend whose tender grace and joy 

Whispers sweet peace to me 

One voice is loud and crude

The other, still and small

One makes love feel misunderstood

The other, not at all 

One voice is like a sting

And fuels dark despair

The Other sets the heart to sing

And fills/stills the soul with prayer 

© Janet Martin

He Whispers Sweet Peace to Me

 

Of Flower-Power and End Results

2 Thess.3:5

Now may the Lord direct your hearts 

into the love of God 

and into the patience of Christ.

Sometimes, whether intentionally or not,

 in misfortune, some bring salt to rub in the shoulda-wish-I-woulda-wound.

Others, like my sweet sister, bring hugs and flowers.

Thank-you, Lucy💗

(to you, my gentle readers; never underestimate the power

of a hug and flowers)

Little do we know what circumstance awaits 

to test the readiness of love's reply

But this we do; Emmanuel (God with us) does not fail

 to help the fumbling likes of you and I 

Above an altar fixed beneath our hands and feet, 

God's mercy, new each morning fills the earth and skies 

The sacrifice we bring to Him (or not) 

will prove without a word of explanation,

 what we dearly prize/ where our treasure lies

Last week's 'tests' drew me to scriptures of encouragement to be faithful no matter what!,

This morning (because I am forgetful)  I returned to reread a few posts 

to re-remind me of God's promises!

 Wealth Beyond Measure

Run!

Life, ultimately, is a series of tests, isn't it?!

The true test, in all we dream and seek 

is whether its getting is for the pleasing and benefit of Self

or to bring honour and glory to God, the giver of each life!

Lord, purify my goals, delights and desires today

And waken a more fervent longing to trust You and obey

Lord, forge within my stubborn bent a meeker heart, I pray

 For Thou, Lord, art the Potter, oh, and I, Lord, am the clay

If in the end, it draws a soul to Thee

Lord, let me not despise Thy chastening

But echo these words ‘be it unto me’

Where the day of Thy grace is hastening

If in the end it bears eternal fruit

For Thy Kingdom, power and glory, Lord

And stays me from this world’s deadly pursuit

And saves me from a death none can afford

Then, without regret, worry or complaint

Forbid I cling to what cannot defend

But walk worthy of the call of the saint

If it draws a soul to Thee, in the end

So that Thy love would abound more and more

Confound the beast that does not boast of Thee

And reprimand the pride that you abhor

If in the end it yields humility

© Janet Martin

Glorious reminders in my morning reading today!

Because God Cares (For You and Me)

Therefore humble yourselves

 under the mighty hand of God, 

that He may exalt you in due time,

  7casting all your care upon Him, 

for He cares for you. 

1 Pet.5:6-7

We do not put our trust in the Lord so we will be spared trouble in this broken world,

but rather so that that He can be our confidante and faithful helper and friend.

He does not help us so we can heap up earthly store and live in ease and comfort,

but so we may have comfort and hope that transcends this troubled Temporal;

for hope that is seen is not hope!

We put our trust in the Lord, and cast our cares on Him,

because He is our Saviour and portrayed at Calvary 

how far He would go to prove his love for all humanity.

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

  

It's easy to heap praise to God in a thriving garden 

bursting with goodness over goodness.

Praise was not my first thought, however, on Sunday,

when, during our family reunion our pickup truck was stolen out of our backyard!!

And though, in the grand scheme it is a small loss, it is very inconvenient! 

Unbeknownst to the thief, the theft includes an aluminum extension ladder,

our lawn trimmer, some golf clubs and shoes, stored in the back of the truck,

when we cleaned out our garage for the reunion

 because the forecast was cool, wet and windy!

There's nothing like trouble to test our attitude and gratitude!! 🙏

Because God cares for me and you

We know, whatever life betides

We have a Friend and Helper who

Hears every plea that faith confides

We have a loving Father, true

In spite of obstacles, we meet

An outstretched hand to guide us, through

His Word, a Lamp unto our feet

We have an everlasting hope

Fixed on unfailing promises

To comfort us so we can cope

And let His peace transcend distress

We have One who, for our good

Tries and refines humility

Lest we miss truths we never should

Because God cares for you and me

© Janet Martin

2 Thess. 2 was part of my reading this morning.

The chapter ends with these comforting words to the believer,

after speaking of the apostasy of the last days...

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, 

and our God and Father, who has loved us 

and given us everlasting consolation 

and good hope by grace,

17 comfort your hearts and [i]establish you

 in every good word and work.

God Will Take Care of You