By The Grace of Him

When I my own sad state survey

Knowing the heart that God can see

Then all that I can think to say

Is, ‘thank-you God, for saving me

 ...and in this race of birth to death

For which there is no trial run

I owe nothing, save every breath

To thank God for what He has done

Our God is merciful and kind

He sent his Son to pay sin’s price

Not leaving it to us to find

By works or blood, a sacrifice

So now, all I can think to give

To prove to Him my gratitude

Is this; each moment that I live

An offering of servitude

The love of God will never fail

In life, in death, we need not fear

Since Time began He tips the grail

Of faithfulness to each one here

And as a new day spills to fill

The place of yesterdays, we know

The God of old is with us still

And by the grace of Him we go

© Janet Martin

Aren't you glad it is by grace, not works we are saved, lest any man should boast? Eph.2:8-9

Aren't you glad God never leaves or forsakes us? Deut. 31:6   Heb.13:5 

Aren't you glad His promises are sure? Deut.7:9  

Aren't you glad no matter who we are, and no matter what we do, if we do it for Him it is enough? 

Matt. 10:42

Sometimes, In My Smallest Smallness

 I chuckled as I saw myself in him...

so many apples within reach but he wanted the one w-a-a-a-y up there!

Sometimes in my smallest smallness

I think that I would rather hold

That which Today does not possess

And sometimes then, I am so bold

As to hanker and wish without

The sentinel of Second Thought

And sadly then I overlook

The Very Thing today has brought

© Janet Martin

... be content with what you have...Heb13:5

Lord, Then Help Us Hear

Speak to us Lord; then help us hear

The noise of World is loud and proud

Where lust-of-flesh-and-eye-cries leer

At motley misfits in its crowd

Speak to us Lord; then help us trust

And let our faith intercept fear

Lord, grant to meek vessels of dust

The ears to hear, then let us hear

Speak to us Lord; then help us share

The love that Your love stirs in us

And boldly let our lives declare

Your Way, your Truth, your Life, Jesus

© Janet Martin

My, My, How Blessed We Are...

No matter where we look, nature is in full-spill mode these days...

Wonder is a daily surprise

Nature, a treasure jar

Of seasons spilled beneath Time's skies

'My, my, how blessed we are'

Nothing we do or say can change

The will of nature's way

No sweep of hand can rearrange

The order of Today

The matrix of love's give-and-take

Of sun and moon and star

Bestows to us the loaf we break

'My, my, how blessed we are' 

Then, lest we are distracted by

That which we cannot see

Let us repent and satisfy

Time with humility

...and wonder at the glad surprise

In nature's treasure jar

Trusting its Giver with our cries,

'My. my, how blessed we are'

Janet~

 The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Psalms 24: 1-2

From 'Dear Me' to Dear You :)

All our frantic 'Dear me-ing' cannot make 'them' see what life insists on teaching in its own time...

I cannot force into your head

The lessons I have learned

But must wait patiently instead

While your insight is earned

I cannot make you understand

Until perhaps you've worn

The sweat and tear, the prayer-clasped hand

Heart-strings, stretched, tattered, torn 

I cannot force with force, wisdom

Time's daily no return

Comes from the Hand of He who loves

And keeps us as we learn

Mom~ aka Janet

The More We Live and Learn

The more we live the more we learn

The more we learn we see

How much remains for us to learn

Whoever we may be

The more we live the more we learn

To live right where we are

Because the future soon is past

And never very far

The more we live the more we learn

To honestly admit

How very little we full-know

Of what we thought we did

© Janet Martin

...but this one thing we desire to learn and know more and more
There is none like You, Lord!

Psalm 86:8-13

 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;

no deeds can compare with yours.

All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

For you are great and do marvelous deeds;

you alone are God.

Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

For great is your love toward me;...

This Slip-slipping Thing

History does not change

Save for the scope of it

Future is the Perhaps whereon

We dare to dream a bit

But Ever-present Now

Before it disappears

Is all we have to have and hold

As it weaves yester-years

Sometimes I crave for That

Which once fell through my touch

The gossamer of have-and-hold

A thread we cannot clutch

But cherish as it slips

From Here to There, the skein

Whereby eons unravel, love

Is dripped in moment-mien

…as history expands

Its panoramic cast

Adapting as time's newest strands

Are caught and woven fast

To that vast tapestry

Soft-vexing our clasp

With fragments of finality

Slip-slipping through our grasp

 

© Janet Martin

Happy 21st Birthday, Melissa...