Embrace Pure Joy

 James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,

[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, 

not lacking anything.

He Hideth My Soul 

Embrace pure joy 

Ahoy, ahoy 

God’s grace is not 

Some moot decoy 

But rends the dark 

As we embark 

And press toward 

Victory’s mark 

His hope, 

The anchor of the soul 

While waves of want 

And wonder roll 

Beneath the toll 

Of day-to-day 

That draws Time’s 

Fleeting charge away 

In little barges 

on a sea 

that pours into 

eternity 

© Janet Martin 

 

From Here to There

 

Embrace the chase; the grace, the grit 

The very human race of it. The highs and lows 

that ebb and flow across the shores 

of come and go and want and woe 

as love and loss compose the sacred 

albatross of care and prayer 

and cross to bear 

as we press on 

from here 

to There 

💗

© Janet Martin

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, 

but only one receives the prize? 

Run in such a way as to take the prize.

A Most Majestic Madrigal

It's very hard to choose only a few shots

from a sunrise that fills the skies with

the outer fringes of Heaven's Majesty!

This winter we have been treated again and again 

to second-to-none sunrises!

We, weighed with love and duty's call

Are not without reasons to sing

A most majestic madrigal

Is rising from time's hidden spring

 It hails to people far and wide

Age-old originality

Regales the town and countryside

Anointed with God's 'let there be'

We watch heaven's staircase unfurl

An all-encompassing 'hello'

Where Someone climbs its rungs of pearl

His golden train trails on the snow

 © Janet Martin 

Blessed Are We...When

Morning Prayer;

Dear Lord create in us

a holy, awesome dissatisfaction

when we settle for less

Anoint hope's howling hunger

with heaven's hidden attraction

through Your righteousness

Amen

Psalm 32:1

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 

Whose sin is covered.

Jer.17:7

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, 

And whose hope is the LORD.

Psalm 112:1

Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, 

Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, 

Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

James 1:12

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved,

 he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Psalm 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, 

The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

Matt. 5:1-12

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: 

and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, 

and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: 

for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

It's an eye-opener isn't it?!

The conditions hinged to God's promised blessings

so then,

Lord, when we pray for blessing

Make us humbly aware

Of sin that needs confessing

Thy blessing to prepare...

Three Barriers Between Us and God

The way of life is riddled with both triumph and defeat 

The hope to which we cling is like a lifeline, bittersweet 

Our darlings of desire and God’s will often conflict 

Because we want His blessing without what hinges to it 

The altar that pleases our Lord is not fashioned of stone 

But is the heart that offers up its cup of skin and bone 

In gratitude to He whose mercy paid sin’s awful debt 

And sacrificed His Son to be the scapegoat in our stead 

He suffered all we ever will, of poverty and pain 

But with his eyes fixed on the Prize He suffered, not in vain 

Because obedience beholds more than the sacrifice 

Love suffers long and it is kind and sees beyond the price 

Some blessings are not hard to see, they burst and beam and brim 

Some come, disguised as ‘why’ to test who will still honour Him 

Lord, remind us, when we ask for your Providence to bless 

That we have firstly sought Your kingdom and Your righteousness 

© Janet Martin 

He who did not spare His own Son, 

but delivered Him up for us all, 

how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32

More Love To Thee-Fernando Ortega

Learning To Read God's Poetry

 Winter dusk warms the ink in frozen pens...

My dear, because we cannot live on poem-books alone 

We must learn how to siphon poetry from grin and groan 

And how to glean from fleeting hues of time’s momentous tide 

A ballad, born of blush and blues brushed on the countryside 

My dear, because the now to then of seasons slips and drips 

Like lyrics from a phantom pen or sighs from trembling lips 

We need to learn to recognize God’s lines of poetry 

They waft upon dusk-softened skies, they sail the snowy lea 

My dear, because, like love, life’s poetry oft masquerades 

In what seems very ordinary day-to-day parades 

We need to take a longer look at what ink-drops compose 

With gurgle of the brumal brook, winter’s skeletal rose 

My dear, because we cannot keep at bay the dying day 

Or other gently waning whispers tangled in the fray 

We need to learn to see more than time’s trouble and its bite 

And marvel at the poetry that only God can write 

© Janet Martin 

Completely Compelled

 

Let the peace of Christ rule 

Let the word of Christ dwell 

Let the love of Christ tru- 

-ly and humbly compel 

The heart to give thanks 

With rapturous praise 

To Great God who grants 

Mercy all our days 

So, let His peace rule 

And let His word dwell 

And let His love tru- 

-ly, completely compel… 

© Janet Martin 

All Right...

 

Into Your hands we place today 

For all we cannot see 

Is already on full display 

Before Your Sovereignty 

Where all we do not understand 

And all we cannot know 

Are safe when placed into the Hand 

Through which all moments flow 

Then help us brave the soul’s release 

Of yielding utterly 

For Thou wilt keep in perfect peace 

The heart that trusts in Thee 

© Janet Martin

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 

whose mind is stayed on thee: 

because he trusteth in thee.

Isa.26:3

What waits to be 

we cannot see

(save One) it is enough

to know that He

Beholds you, me

With everlasting love

The only way

to begin well each day

is to pray...

Did you Think to Pray?

Charlie Pride

1 Corinthians 14:15
What then shall I do? 

I will pray with my spirit, 

but I will also pray with my mind.

 I will sing with my spirit, 

but I will also sing with my mind.

 

Time Is a Bird of Prey

It floods the earth with seasons rich with Beauty's boundless cast...

And the greatest beauty of all;

He loves us with an everlasting love.

Jer.31:3

and He tells us to look at the birds...

(which all bird watchers and feeders in Canada have no problem doing these days,

the feeders an absolute feather-flurry these cold, snowy mid-winter days!!)

Every now and then the birds disappear and then I see why

as the shadow of a Bird of prey floats across the snow...

(Unlike Time, from which no one can hide😉)

 

Time leaves its mark on faces, places, wisdom’s crowning snows 

It tumbles from God’s grace, like a river that stilly flows 

It floods the earth with seasons rich with Beauty’s boundless cast 

And stitch by stich unravels future while weaving the past 

Time does not change its ways though best known for the change it brings 

Where nothing stays the same for long on its gossamer wings 

It is a dauntless teacher, leaving no student unsought 

The foolish scorn its lecture but the wise are humbly taught 

Time stuns we, all first-timers in its only one-go-round 

Where deftly/definitely getting older is our very common ground 

As we weather and shoulder, by the grace of God above 

The feather and the boulder of His everlasting love 

Time is a bird of prey devouring each day with ease

To scatter in its wake the warring ache of memories

As it flies faster, faster, so it seems, yet tick and tock

Have never deviated from its elemental clock

Time is a buffet table laden with morsels of choice

And although much is taken much remains to give Thought voice

Where Choice speaks far more plainly than man's vain verbosity

And tethers the selection to accountability

Time is a gift; the Giver knows the number of our days 

How far the river flows before it empties into graves 

Where only the immortal soul transcends the mortal shell 

Thus, time takes a most sacred toll and we should heed it well 

© Janet Martin 

note; as I was posting this a sparrow-hawk sailed in out of nowhere and snagged a bitty bird😢

It's a 'bird eat bird world out there', so watch out for the hawks!