Prayer For a Heart of True Worship

I've come to this conclusion as I contemplate my heart of worship...

The Depth of my devotion in worship is a reflection of the depth of my love and devotion to God.

My prayer then is for more love for Him because He first loved me!

(written before the worship service as a plea for a heart of true worship)

Why does a mind wander so easily?!

 Yet a time is coming and has now come 

when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, 

for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

John 4:23

Lord, pray that we would worship thee

With unadulterated love

For thou wilt keep in perfect peace

The mind firm-fixed on things above

Lord, still our hearts as Truth imparts

Thy wisdom filling dark with light

Renew in us a steadfast love

Until hope turns from faith to sight

© Janet Martin

Signs of the Times...

We are halfway through September...already!

It is Sunday night.

When/if we awake we will be one week away from the first day of fall! 

When I dropped hubby off at work tonight it was dark before 8:00!

The air is drenched with musky scent; the rain-cloud snuffs the sun

And nighttime drops its dusky tent before the day is done

The orchard lane is dappled where the ripened apple plops

And suddenly we miss the robin’s warble in treetops

The harvest moon is like a loonie set on velvet deep

The cricket-tune is waning its incessant cheep-cheep-cheep

Soybean sweeps flutter like a butterfly kaleidoscope

And suddenly we read between the lines on wild-bloomed slope

Orange pumpkins wink from tangled fretwork that was green before

The spider spins its spangled network of silk gossamer

Now russet hints begin to tint the coppice by the fence

And suddenly we feel the tug of farewell’s imminence

…where golden candle-halos warm the nooks of heart and home

Where mellow yellow afternoon dangles from azure dome

And everywhere we look the earth and its fullness thereof

Brims, beams and bursts from seams of field and garden’s treasure trove

The brook is flecked with leaf-shaped rafts that drift, eddy and surge

A blue baton strums woodlands in A Prelude to the Dirge

Where signs of time beckon and call ‘the end is near, dear friend’

For suddenly we sense that fall is just around the bend

© Janet Martin

There is another End nearing according to the somber signs of the times

 foretold by Jesus on the Mount of Olives... 

 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, 

the disciples came to him privately. 

"Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, 

and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

 Matt.24:3

(click link for refreshed awareness!)

The Devil is a Sportsman...

The devil loves a challenge; yes, and decorates the sin

Where with his lariat of lust might draw his victims in

Or with the boast of busyness or with the idle mind

For lust of eye and flesh, or pride of life can deftly bind

The best of good intentions to the worst outcome of all

Too wrapped in Self-attention to surrender to God’s call

The devil sets a snare where weakness eyes temptation’s tray

And all who dare to live without God’s armor will fall prey

There is no halfway in between; no one can serve two Gods

And evidence is always seen where Choice outweighs facades

Then pray that the confession of our faith will shed the old

As the new man seeks treasure greater than silver and gold

The devil knows that pleasure for the moment will appease

The guilt, and gloats as longing yields to evil’s expertise

Where what seemed good at first did not supply true happiness

Hunger and thirst is cursed until it craves God's Righteousness

Then as we trust Him and obey His power is unfurled

Greater is He within us than He that is in the world

© Janet Martin

A Mighty Force Invincible

Because of this love we often do things

we would never have chosen to do on our own

and we leave undone the things we once wanted to do.

Love is as strong as death when it once gets full possession of a person

 it will completely carry them away 

and love to God is indeed a mighty force …

Charles Spurgeon

We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19

 The poem below was inspired by the above wonder-full 

worth-your-well-spent-while message!

Lord, you know what we love the most and why we choose the things we do

You know that we are prone to boast; Lord, let our boast be love for You

For we do not love without cause; Your love came first and set man free

Then let earth resound with applause of death to self through love for Thee

Let love not fill its due (a pew) and mingle with the Sunday crowd

Then rush to Monday’s work-to-do and blush to speak your name out loud

But let us shout our claim to love (Your name) let hearts be overcome

To live with joy, not shame, because of what Your Love has saved us from

Let us enlist in love’s pure force and serve the Captain of the Soul

Nothing can veer love’s corps off course as we march God-ward to its goal

Then, with eyes set on Recompense let love suffer long and be kind

Let not one shred of evidence of the ‘old man’ remain behind

Let love completely carry us; a mighty force, invincible

We love because You first loved us; oh, glorious, flawless principle

Then, forbid we, once having heard should still shy like a skulking fool

No bone is broken by sheer word of unbelief’s cold ridicule

Lord, loose that sacred fire-storm that vanquishes all fear and doubt

Let love’s compelling force reform our utter being inside out

So that someday with heaven’s throngs in everlasting sweet accord

We’ll sing for aye the victor’s song ‘we love You, Lord, we love You, Lord

© Janet Martin

How I Love You, Little Tot

How I love you, little tot

Helpful to the point of not

Laden with the best of cares

Trucks, books, dolls and teddy-bears

How I love you, little child

Driving joy and patience wild

My, but you are small and smart

Darling, trusting, pure in heart

How I love you, little one

With each rise and set of sun

You follow with run and play

Every child of Yesterday

How I love you, precious dear

You’ll grow up too soon, I fear

Gracious Lord, please hear my prayers

Hold my hand as I hold theirs

© Janet Martin