Unbroken Hope

Now hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:5 NKJV

When trouble meets its mark like a gigantic wrecking ball

When sorrow sears the place from whence our tears like oceans fall

When answers are not able to allay want’s anguished tides

And our hearts are broken, Hope abides

When doubt flexes its muscles like a fighter in the ring

And we cringe in the corner like a frightened little thing

Then we would be defeated but for He whose grace sustains

For though our hearts are broken, Hope remains

When love that long had lavished us with tender happiness

Becomes a sword that pierces us where no kiss can caress

When we begin to wonder how in the world we will cope

Then, though our hearts are broken, never Hope

Hope whispers in our bearing though we cannot see His face

With God’s own arms it gathers us into His kind embrace

And though we stagger ‘neath the cross where loss its grief assures

And hearts are hurt and broken, hope endures

© Janet Martin

 I was going to share verses  7-8 from 2 Cor. 4 but the whole chapter is especially dear today...

...as our church-family mourns their loss 

2 Cor. 4

The Light of the Gospel

1Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

 2Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, 

nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, 

we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 

3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see 

 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, 

and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”a made His light shine in our hearts

 to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.b 

Treasures in Jars of Clay
(Romans 6:1-14)

7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power 

is from God and not from us. 

8We are pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, 

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 

11For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, 

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal bodies.

 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,”

c we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,

14knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus 

and present us with you in His presence.

 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people 

may overflow in thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, 

yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. 

17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us 

an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison. 

18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. 

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Hope...(and remembering Ron)

We at WBC as well as many worldwide are deeply mourning with his family,

 the sudden passing on Saturday Oct. 5, 

of our beloved teacher, counselor, pastor and friend, 

Ron Seabrooke.

(above link is to the last message with us a WBC)

Hope is the holiness through which we grieve.

Hope is the word that came up again and again as we remember Ron.

His life was driven by The Living Hope that he shed with his last breath as faith became sight!

To all of us then on this side of Heaven...

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 

for He who promised is faithful.

Heb.10:23

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope 

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Pet.1:3

Hope takes the trembling heart and hand

To draw us from despair

And makes the way twixt God and man

Thus possible to bear

It hones the hunger for the goal

With holy appetite

And fills the gap twixt God and soul

With faith intent on sight

It drives us to our knees with groans

Then lifts us up at length

And to the depth of grief intones

A supernatural strength

It consoles us beneath trust’s rod

Its comforts, cheers and heals

And tunes the time twixt man and God

With purpose-driven peals

Hope fosters faith and leads us on

Through deepest, darkest vales

Hope anchors us in sorrow’s storm

With love that never fails

© Janet Martin

Jesus Makes All The Difference

Brandt Jean's Act Of Grace Toward His Brother's Killer

Brandt Jean's forgiveness gives us a small picture of what Jesus has or wants to do in every single life; forgive us...because as Brandt stated, we have all done something we should not do! 

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so,

 I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Jesus~

John 14:2

The window to the world flings wide with daybreak’s blush and gold

The life that we are lent extends Love’s promises once more

Where time, like a tugboat draws us; and whether young or old

We cannot tell how near or far we are to ‘yonder shore’

And who can bear to meet the One who wears redemption’s scars

And realize too late the awful state of Deathless Soul

Jesus and only Jesus breaks guilt’s hopeless prison bars

Jesus and only Jesus makes the broken sinner whole

Jesus makes all the diff’rence in the way we love and live

He wakes in us awareness of a fount where mercies brim

Then, because He forgave us we ought also to forgive

For He makes all things possible if we believe in Him

…and though we do not know as yet what battle we must fight

Jesus makes all the difference if we His Gift receive

Knowing the trying of our faith is but to prove His might

That indwells ev’ry one of us who repent and believe

© Janet Martin

Little did I dream that before this post is up...

how far more deeply relevant the above devotional would become!

(I wrote the poem early this morning but our internet is a little 

like a child playing with a light switch! blinks on and off non-stop)

...but oh, how little we know what a day will hold!

Our dearly beloved pastor Ron Seabrooke passed away suddenly this morning!

We are in heart-broken shock but

we do not mourn as those with no hope...

1 Thess. 3: 13-14

Please pray for comfort for his family
and our church family.
He touched lives world-wide and many mourn our loss and heaven's gain!

Don't Grow Up Too Fast

Don’t grow up too fast little girl, little girl

Daddy’s cherished darling, Mommy’s precious pearl

Leave your dearest dollies scattered everywhere

Childhood is the nearest thing to heaven earth can share

Don’t grow up too fast, little boy, little boy

Mommy’s happy helper, daddy’s pride and joy

Leave your trucks and tractors scattered as you go

Childhood is the nearest thing to heaven earth can know

© Janet Martin

A Birthday Poem For a Friend...As Time Streams By

Happy Birthday, Sasha 

Didn't you just have one?! haha😁 

A year sure isn't very long anymore, is it?!

Hope you are having a super-special day!

Sometimes this is the day I dig out dahlia bulbs but not this year!

I just can't bear to tear their blooms away yet!

It seems that Time streams by in its sequence of dawn-to-dawn

And all too soon, noon-after-noon another year is gone

Easier to tame oceans as they rush across the shore

Than to hold back one moment that sparkles and is no more

We used to collect rocks and stamps and butterflies and such

Today’s collections consist of treasures we cannot touch

Where, tendered to a vault that brims with sentimental gleam

We gaze upon spent days like youth gazes toward the dream

…and we will never find the words to make them understand

How future runs through us like an hourglass full of sand

Or how the calendar never misses a single day

Yet seems somehow as if it skips a few along the way  

And so we learn, because we cannot turn back time, to love

And live as if today is all that life will be made of

Because it seems, as time streams by, the older that we get

We feel some days as if we have not even started yet

And so we vow to find the happiness we else might miss

If we are deaf and blind to This Very Moment That Is

Because it seems, as Time streams by in its numeric sums

The older that we get, ah, the more precious it becomes

The music bitter-sweeter than it was when we were young

The hour fonder-fleeter with each season, here then gone

And oh, it seems as time streams by oft from its weathered banks

All we can say is ‘my, oh, my’ and humbly give God thanks

© Janet Martin