Because We Find Ourselves In Need of More...

 This is the time of year when resources of sundry mien are rapidly depleted...

My prep-work this Christmas has been anything but neat and tidy

as it is squeezed into corners of time carved out amidst other chores and commitments!

I decided to bake orange-cranberry scones for some loved ones who need treats with less sugar 

due to diabetes and special diets etc. midst drying bread for dressing 

midst daughter's baking projects...

Because often we find ourselves in need of more

Patience

Energy

Time,

Money,

Trust

Love

We should never hit the ground running

Without

first

Reaching

for

Grace

from

above

© Janet Martin

Because We Find Ourselves In Need...

 Here we are!

Two sleeps away from Christmas Day!

Here we are; where the raised bar that lowered day by day

Has handed out and gathered in whilst winnowing away

Where we had stood a year before and marveled at the pace

Of highs and lows that ope and close the rose of granted grace

That unfolds in its petals the mettle of mortal woe

As happiness of holding close turns into letting go

Where here we are, a little kind and wiser than before

Because we find ourselves in need of God a little more

Because we start to glimpse the brevity of numbered days

Swept up like dust beneath a broom of subtle, seasoned ways

And we begin to recognize in all we cannot see

The sacred beauty in the prize of Opportunity

Where here we are; the bar dusk lowered melts in pink and gold

To offer from Past’s molded cast Time’s newness to our hold

Where wishes that were granted are implanted with request

As gratitude and worship learn to trust God for His best

© Janet Martin

Wishing you true joy as we dwell on the Reason for the Season!

 
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, 

having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This Is Personal (No Matter Who We Are)

 No matter who we are His gift/gifts are free...

No matter who we are or where; How smart or philosophical

Or poor in what the world deems rich or true or intellectual

The common ground we share is found not in survival’s rigmarole

But in the Bible-truth by He who breathed in man a living soul

Whether we are a super-star or obscure as a grain of sand

Or activist or pacifist or fist tight-clenched or outstretched hand

We all must choose who we will serve before that final Door we brave

Because we cannot thwart the One who will escort us through the grave

The Ultimate for all of us resides beyond what we can prove

The Evidence of faith must first put on The Greatest of These; love

For who of us can boast save in what grace of God alone allowed

Therefore no matter who we are, we all stand out in Mercy’s crowd

Where God so loved the world He sent His only Son to pay sins debt

No one is righteous save through Him and only Him (lest we forget)

Foolish to bicker or quibble where Opinion may disagree

Better to pray and guard that which outlives this brief mortality

…because no matter who we are we all will stand before the Lord

To give account; no one left out, He gives both rich and poor His Word

Where Truth is universal; no one the exception to the rule

His law is love, his judgments pure, His commands grievous to the fool

My dear, the common ground we share lies beyond time’s four-season sieve

Naked we came into this world and naked everyone will leave

For flesh and blood cannot inherit that which faith in Christ reserves

When then, no matter who we are, our Soul receives what Choice deserves

© Janet Martin

 

1 Peter 1:3-5

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope

 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,

 reserved in heaven for you, 

who through faith are shielded by God’s power 

for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Our Father Who Art in Heaven...

 This poem/prayer was inspired as I prayed for all those who mourn this Christmas! 

(so many hearts are raw with fresh grief and 

so many are learning to live with its tender ache as time goes by)

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (NIV)
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;(NKJV)

Col. 4:2

Dear Heavenly Father,

May the prayers of your dear children

Surround and bless those who mourn

May the faithful Hope of Heaven

Soothe the stabs from trouble’s thorn

May this ranting, raving mad world

Before gates of grace are sealed

‘ere all prophecy is fulfilled

Look to Jesus, and be healed

…peace that passes understanding

Though the storm our vessel tries

Though the tempter is tormenting

Time’s inhabitants with lies

Let it be in us a haven

Make its Source our Strength and Stay

While this swirl of dust is graven

With all that will pass away

Make our hearts a humble altar

Cupped in Living Sacrifice

Remind us, God, you’re our Father

And you bought us with great price

Through the gift of Your Son Jesus

And the curse He overthrew

If we believe you receive us

Making us your children too

Our Father up in Heaven

Let us then hallow Thy name

Through your Gift we are forgiven

None can any merit claim

For the Author of salvation

Gave the very best He had

So that every tribe and nation

Can look up and call you Dad

 

Then as we cry Abba, Father

(For God, oh how oft we slip)

You reach down with tender favour

And restore our fellowship

As You minister in spirit

As You supply our need

Father, we can feel and hear it

Your love, as you intercede

Amen

© Janet Martin 

Instead of devoting ourselves to argument leading to anger,

let us devote ourselves to prayer, leading to worship in spirit and truth!