Be Of Good Cheer

Thinking of those going through deep waters...
the list is LONG!
Oh God, comfort and strengthen them!
"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you."
Isa.43:2

Be glad; God rich in mercy  will not leave us comfortless

Though loss and pain may torture our Present Happiness

Be of good cheer for He is near; and He has overcome

Never leaves or forsakes us though the test leaves senses numb

Be strong and of good courage; fellow-friend, be not afraid

Withersoever we must go God IS; be not dismayed

Take courage, it is I, cries He who walks upon the sea

Where we would sink in sad despair without Hope’s guarantee

‘Be still; and know that I am God’ He whispers through the gale

And saves us with His staff and rod of love that will not fail

Be watchful and stand firm and faithful to the end of day

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and He will lead the way

© Janet Martin

Came across this poem recently; one I recall from long ago
but have not read in decades;

 a true gem by anonymous

When God Wants To Drill A Man

When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;

When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him

Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;

While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses,
And which every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out-
God knows what He’s about.

– Anonymous

Should Be Like Night And Day...

 Happy March!...and here's to our ongoing 'marching' orders!

Where the battle that exists twixt good and evil requires our full attention,

Where living by the Spirit should in no way resemble following the flesh!

Should be like night and day; the old man and the new

What we do now should not relate to what we used to do

Should be like black and white; the way we are and were

Where now we walk by faith, not sight, when we become God’s heir

Should be like dark and light; the world twixt lust and love

A transformation evident by what our choices prove

Should be like death to life; that sacred exodus

We who have fled to take hold of The Hope set before us

...should be like night and day; like a captive set free

When we have put to death the person that we used to be

© Janet Martin

 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, 

if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. 

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

Romans 8: 8-9

 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?

Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 

Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus 

were baptized into His death?…

 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, 

but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life;

 and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

Romans 6:1-3, 12-13

Here's some kind caution and encouragement...

Now...Before Eternity

Yesterday's Brush

Today's art!

A compilation of Now does not

drift and heap visibly like flakes of snow...

yet leaves lifetimes in its wake...

Now is the test of time

Now is the day of grace

Now is a rung on scales we climb

A universal race

Now is all that we have

Twixt past and future fixed

Now is the dirt above the grave

The stomping ground betwixt

All that has passed away

All that is yet to be

Now is the mercy of Today

Before eternity

Now is the test of time

Now grace is full and free

Now is a ladder that we climb 

Into eternity

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.6:2 NASB

for He says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,

 AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." 

Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," 

behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION "--

Where Hope Is...Not

Happy Leap-day!
Especially to those celebrating their birthdays today!

 "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD.

 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 

though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Isa.1:18

Pink flares and fades beyond plush grades of freshly fallen snow

Soon the whole sky is like a sigh of pastel overflow

The heath above earth’s pristine glove rouses a tender rhyme

Before the air becomes the stair the sun begins to climb

Where hope is not some routine jot tendered to to-do's chase

But God's abiding rod and staff; the autograph of grace

See how dawn’s glow ignites the snow; gold gilds white through and through

As mercy wields, o'er hills and fields, morn's olden orb anew

The showcase of faith, hope and love beams with Time’s practiced grin

The crepuscule of neb’lous wool withdrawn; Dawn wins again

Where hope is not Positive Thought derived by mortal breath

Hope is redemption; the exemption from eternal death

Then with the voice of earth rejoice and praise mankind’s Best Friend

No matter what, the love of God is faithful without end

The beauty we behold unfolds a glimpse of what hope grants

If we believe and then receive Mercy’s inheritance

Where hope is not circumstance-wrought, but purchased at great cost

For God so loved the world He gave His Son to save the lost

Pink flares and fades; care's escapades fuel what prayers become

For none of us can know the Thus ensconced in moment-sum

But we are clean as the pure sheen of freshly fallen snow

If we confess our sinfulness (for God’s word tells us so)

Where hope is not karma’s mascot that lucky stars achieve

Hope is the love that secures us the moment we believe

© Janet Martin

The Onions Are Sprouting!

The onions are sprouting

Thus hope usurps doubting

Where we feared perhaps spring would lose her fair way

Where landscapes are pillowed

With white-capes soft billowed

Like waves made of marshmallow crème and star-fray

High-ho merry maiden

With pots and pans laden

With fresh-chopped ingredients ready for soup

Soon fresh garden salad

Will tickle the palate

Soon all this white mayhem will melt underfoot

Then sing without sorrow

In some soon tomorrow

The field’s frozen furrow will turn like a page

The seed in the packet

Will spill from its jacket

The bloom in the bud will break free of its cage

The onions are sprouting

This humble gourd shouting

From dark cellar corners of bright sunny hours

Then grin at this hinter

Teasing Old Man Winter

With tender green tendrils; the prelude to flowers

© Janet Martin

Thursday-what's-for-Supper was loosely based on this recipe...

(I added black beans, fresh veggies, soy sauce and omitted one can of soup) 

 Last night's supper left-overs are perfect for today's savoury snow-day soup!