A Birthday Wish/Blessing

 

  

Happy 26th Birthday, Melissa,

A hardworking, caring, compassionate, beautiful woman!

God bless you in the year ahead💝

This birthday wish, my dear is rather closer to a prayer
That God will bless and keep you in His ever loving care
For what more can we hope for than His hand over our own
And His abiding promise that we are never alone

This birthday wish my dear may look like ink upon a page
Its appearance quite common, while love walks/stumbles to center stage
And struggles to put into perfect words its tender art
For birthday wishes are a small piece of your mother’s heart

This birthday wish is like a blessing; filled with hope’s increase
That in the year ahead God’s presence brings you joy and peace
For what more can we ‘wish’ for than the confidence He grants
Of knowing He is with us no matter the circumstance

This birthday wish is like a candle when faith’s light grows dim
For all that changes, nothing ever rearranges Him
Where there is much more to this verse than first glance can impart
This birthday wish, my dear, is like a small piece of God’s heart

This birthday wish is rather like a prayer of thankfulness
No matter where we are He never leaves or forsakes us
Then, what more can we wish for in life’s little day-to-day
Than One who sees right where we are and hears us when we pray

Love, Mom

Aka © Janet Martin

 

Prov.3:5-8

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
    and nourishment to your bones.

By God's Grace We Go

Each hurdle we have overcome
Does not mean we are good
Each vice to which we don’t succumb
Each test we have withstood
Each success that we celebrate
Each victory we applaud
Each kindness that we demonstrate
All by the grace of God 

By God's grace we achieve the goal

By God's grace when we fall

His goodness and love will console

If on His name we call

For not one iota of worth

Is self-effected, no

But every day while here on earth

Tis by God's grace we go

..so pray to Him and lean on Him

God keeps His promises

When life is dark and hope seems dim

He never forsakes us

Each difficulty that we face

Each sorrow and each groan

By the kind mercy of God's grace

Will be a steppingstone

 

For none are righteous, no, not one

We all need forgiveness

By His grace we receive pardon 

If we our sins confess

If we humble ourselves before

The God of earth and heaven

The gift of grace He will outpour

And His strength will be given

© Janet Martin

 

Romans 8:26

 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 

We do not know what we ought to pray for, 

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

 

2 Co.12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, 

for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, 

so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Ever Poor Enough...

 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms/Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

May we never feel fit enough to master today on our own
May we never feel strong enough to stand without The Cornerstone
May we never feel wise enough without the counsel of God’s Word
May we never be happy without joy from God's love undeterred
May we never be brave enough to fight without heeding His call
May we never be bold enough to reject what cost Him His All
May we never be fool enough to think that Time is on our side
May we ever be poor enough to need what His grace will provide


© Janet Martin

 

Come Ye Sinner, Poor and Needy  

For Soul-diers and Prayer-warriors...

Dreams break; the heart harbours its shards and in hope’s tender aftermath
We learn to carry on where dawn carves out a fresh and gleaming path
For change of plans is part of man’s allotment; we are not in charge
One greater than Want’s meager scope is at the helm of mortal barge

Wills clash; the battleground upon which many silent wars are waged
Appears quite nondescript even while crucial forces are engaged
On terrain strewn with ash of fears while faith is hewn from humble tears
As Mercy stands its ground and Mortal yields to He who commandeers

Time flies; pelf-prizes once fought for have lost their luster; thank-you Lord
But oh, how hard the reckoning of damage no one can afford
While we, still works in progress learn, in the matrix of tick and tock
That truth will never change no matter how much we argue and balk

Grace frees; oh God, without it who could bear the waves of consequence
The rift that Was is bridged by Love and Your gift of deliverance
Where once we too were blinded by the view with foolish vanity
Before the blow that forges faith and fathers true humility

 

 Dreams break; but by God's grace we learn to make the best of what remains
Wills clash; but praise the Lord, the battlefield is strewn with broken chains
Time flies; the prize worth fighting for waits when we pass through death's dark door
Grace frees; now we stand taller on our knees equipped to win this war

© Janet Martin

 Colossians 3:1-4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Read the whole glorious chapter HERE 

A Call to Prayer

If You Hate God...

 Here was a man...

 

 

If you hate God because of man what good will that do you?
It is not man we reckon with when our days are through
If you deny His rightful place/praise because of loss and pain
And look down on His higher ways, what do you hope to gain?

If you choose to ignore the truth it does not change its Fact
Your hate and unbelief keeps His justice and love intact
If you hate God because you see the brokenness of man
Take a long look at Calvary; explain that, if you can


©Janet Martin

 

For God so loved the world

that He gave His only begotten Son

that whosoever believes in Him

will not perish but have everlasting life.

For God sent not His Son

into the world to condemn the world

but that the world through him might be saved.

 

John 3:16-17