Exactly Where We Are

Heb.12:1-2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

  2looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, 

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, 

and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I was convicted by the testimony from a suffering Christian in Afghanistan

who has committed to stay, even if granted the opportunity to leave,

 lest a soul could potentially be witnessed to

that might be lost eternally because they have not yet come to saving faith!

Oh, that we would all have such a commitment of faithfulness to our calling 

and such love for fellowman, exactly where we are!

Yet not I, but Christ in Me City Alight

Lord, be in us a Light so we may be a shining star

Help us be faithful in the fight exactly where we are

So many ways to spend our days and entertain a thought

Lord, keen in us conviction’s blaze to love the things we ought

…to be compassionate and kind; not bent on selfish quest

But ever keeping first in mind our mission and its test

We are all called to fight the fight until Death’s lowered bar

Then help us be a faithful Light exactly where we are

For we are encompassed by a great cloud of witnesses

Lord, help us throw off all that hinders and entangles us

Instill in us pure purpose as we seek to fix our eyes

On the joy set before us, ever pressing to its Prize

Time, like a spark that upward flies soon disappears from sight

Lord, help us be prudent and wise as we redeem its flight 

Then, fitted by Your Word let us not dread love's battle-scar

But help us to be faithful Lord, exactly where we are

© Janet Martin

It's Barefoot Days

One snared on the run as I chuckled over

a cute little collection of shoes left behind because

IT'S BAREFOOT DAYS!!

What's your summer happy place?

Mine is anywhere bare feet are allowed😊

It’s barefoot days

A dusty haze

And golden shimmered glance

Before the chill

Of snow-days spill

In diamond-studded dance

We revel in

Bronze-beveled grin

Of summer spent-too-soon

And part our lips

To snare the drips

Of honey-sweet high-noon

It’s barefoot bliss

Shoes strewn amiss

To feel Earth kiss our soles/souls

And taste the truth

Of hasty youth

Slipping through sky-blue holes

…to make the most

Of summer’s toast

To flower-bower joy

To celebrate

The blithesome gait

Of barefoot girl and boy

It’s barefoot days

Where landscapes blaze

Beneath a quickened clime

Where cricket and

Cicada-band

Serenade summer time

© Janet Martin

Thank-you, Lord (part Two)

Wishing you a good morning and great day!

It's a mist-mantled, dew-dazzled one here in southern Ontario!

This morning's devotion Bible Reading is Psalm 121

A beautiful encouragement and reminder of who is our keeper!

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

Because I ran out of hours last night,

Thank-you Lord, Part two this morning.

(Part one here)

Because today is another busy one including a wedding

and because we can barely scratch the thankfulness-surface

in two little verses, maybe part three tomorrow??

Lord willing?

Here's to a wonder-smitten Friday!

…for help that cometh from the Lord as we lift up our eyes

For compassionate hearts outpoured with more than verbal cries

For faith to take our cross each day to humbly follow He

Who yielded His will to obey Abba at Calvary

For godly forefathers who held firm to the faith that saves

(For deathless soul transcends this terminal archive of graves)

For love to give great purpose to the most menial task

For stems topped off with roses, for needs filled before we ask

For zephyr-sigh and cherry pie, for ageless wonderment

For learning money cannot buy what makes the heart content

For helping hands and God’s commands to keep us holy, oh

For front row seats on earth-grandstands to witness heaven’s show

For summer snared in canning jars to warm cold winter’s clutch

For the way beauty breaks through bars of darkness, buds and such

For brides and grooms, for moms and dads, grammas and grandpas too

For darling lass, mischievous lads that make us lose our cool

For momentum of seasons surging like billows that roll

Through hills and fields, soft-merging with landscapes of heart and soul

For knowing prayer is more than words airborne like thistle-seed

For our help comes from the Lord who knows our every need

© Janet Martin

Thank-you, Lord...

For August’s gilt edge garden-climes, on crests of morning tide...

For pretty-princess dressed in pink and melting gramma’s heart....

For fresh-brewed happiness to drink when needing noon’s jump-start

For feet that dash through childhood’s wink and wakes of outgrown shoes...

(Two tots came sporting newer, bigger shoes and boots)

For fine fellow with yellow curls, with smiles too sweet to spell...

For work to do while little girls have big stories to tell...

For Hope, that in the worst of times, through Heaven’s Best, abides

For August’s gilt edge garden-climes, on crests of morning tide

For feet that dash through childhood’s wink in wakes of outgrown shoes

For summer’s flower-splash that twinkles in ten-thousand hues

For Duty’s humble, holy task with diligence maintained

For Beauty’s benevolent flask outpoured yet never drained

For garden-treasure dug-tugged-picked-scrubbed-sliced; delicious crunch

For table set for kiss-and-hug-full tots hungry for lunch

For pretty-princess dressed in pink and melting gramma’s heart

For fresh-brewed happiness to drink when needing noon’s jump-start

For energy refurbished after slumber’s charge is met

For westward burnished backdrops showcasing dusk’s silhouettes

For silver river-ribbons sparkling to the darkling sea

For weary want re-smitten with unwritten poetry

For mercies new each morning; oh, what would we do without

For dew-dazzle adorning every tendril, twig and sprout

For He who hears each prayer we groan and moan, murmur and weep

For baby tucked with teddy bear, ready to fall asleep

For fine fellow with yellow curls, with smiles too sweet to spell

For work to do while little girls have big stories to tell

For so much more than we could ever earn of blessing-tides

For Hope, that in the worst of times, through Heaven’s Best, abides

...we thank-you, Lord

© Janet Martin

 For garden-treasure dug-tugged-picked-scrubbed-sliced; delicious crunch...

Have you ever wept over the beautiful sight of a bowl of tomatoes...

or potatoes?

...and the sheer unworthiness to be partaker of dinner

 while millions suffer and starve?

Next Sunday our church is hosting a fundraiser to buy food to package to

send to Haiti.

Would you like to be part of this joy?

Click here to live these words

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat"...

Matt. 25:35

If I Were An Onion...

2 Peter 1:8

For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, 

they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive

 in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Pet.3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 To him be glory both now and forever! 

Amen.

Seeds that don't grow or bear fruit are good-for-nothing.

Which onion are we?

The onions I planted this year have not grown at all!

As I started pulling them in disappointed frustration

the thought struck me. 

Is this what God will pluck up when my life is over

or will I be a big, round Fruitful Onion?

(like the ones I purchased)

What a waste and pity

Seeds that never sprout

Always just a gritty-bitty

Shadow of a doubt

What a futile effort

After sun and rain

Not even a hint of fruit

Planted, but in vain

What a shameful outcome

Fruitless all the way

Still the same at harvest-time

As on planting day

© Janet Martin

John 15:2

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; 

and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

 

Faithful is God or We Are Not Helpless. Hallelujah!

A guttural *helpless, heart-cry best describes my prayers this morning

for a world groaning in tribulation...

For Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia,

(just a sad few of the many countries in dire distress)

Earthquakes, floods and wildfires rage.

Terrorists torture and terrorize.

Sickness and sorrow burdens.

America and Canada grow ever colder to the

Faith these countries were founded on

boldly proud and blind to the reaping of godless sowing!

God is not mocked

*But we are not helpless!

Hallelujah.

Deuteronomy 4:7

For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them

as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

Psalm 46:1-3 –

 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way 

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam 

and the mountains quake with their surging."

Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past

The battleground that keeps us bound toward Reward’s indemnity

Is fraught with what we ought to do and snares set by the enemy

Soon evidence through recompense from seed of word and deed is shown

What was concealed will be revealed for by the fruit the tree is known

Oh Lord, increase Your peace in us as we trust, whether old or youth

Broad is the way where demons prey on those who stray from Steadfast Truth

Your Word is sure; all will endure who feast upon Thy Bread of Life

The pure in heart will not depart from You though evil’s ruse runs rife

Desire’s vice and sacrifice no one beholds in full but He

Who authors birth and instills worth to we, prone to depravity

Where we all prove who we most love by the testimony of choice

Oh God, forbid Your light is hid by its indisputable voice

This battleground of sight and sound confounds the intellectual

*But corruption cannot corrupt that which is Incorruptible

Faithful is God, no matter what the godless, blood-thirsty reply

Be of good cheer, He bends his ear to hear faith’s guttural heart-cry

© Janet Martin

*Line from a sermon recently

Another hope-filled Hymn

Behold Our God

Psalm 18:6-19 –

 "In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.

From His temple he heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears. 

Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, 

because He was angry. 

Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; 

glowing coals flamed forth from Him. He bowed the heavens and came down; 

thick darkness was under His feet. He rode on a cherub and flew;

 He came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 

He made darkness His covering, 

His canopy around Him, thick clouds dark with water.

 Out of the brightness before Him hailstones and coals of fire broke through His clouds.

 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, 

and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.

 And He sent out his arrows and scattered them; 

he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. 

Then the channels of the sea were seen,

 and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke,

 O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 

He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me,

 for they were too mighty for me. 

They confronted me in the day of my calamity, 

but the Lord was my support. 

He brought me out into a broad place;

 He rescued me, because He delighted in me."

August-Anthem

 This morning's sunrise parted night's skies in a blaze of glory!

'Dawn is a tango of coral and mango'...

The first line of this poem was snared on Saturday as I returned from errands

but didn't have the freedom to see where it's lure would lead...

this stunner of a day break broke the song wide-open!

Beauty bewitches where flower-wild ditches

Brim with glad hymns rousing heart’s pure delight

Time sings in petals hoisting summer’s medals

In celebration of bloom’s fleeting flight

Joy thrills with pleasure as gardens spill treasure

Backyard vacations are second to none

Rippling vibratos of cricket-concertos

Leaf marquees lure us from sizzle of sun

Harvest increases worship’s masterpieces

Countryside canvases spark reverence

Gratitude thunders where seed’s timeless wonders

Fill fallow frames with God’s benevolence

Dawn is a tango of coral and mango

Waking a dazzling world, dew-diamond starred

August entices with scents; pickling spices

Heady aromas, baked, barbecued, jarred

Nature’s enchanter tips heaven’s decanter

Sunshine and rain compose prize-poetry

Earth is a palace, each bloom like a chalice

Sparkling with sup for butterfly and bee

Breeze-musky minstrels strum corn tassel-tinsel

Labor is sweet as we glean fruit of toil

August is always a room full of hallways

Leading us through summer’s milestones of spoil

August composes with stubble and roses

Ballads that tremble on tender heart-strings

Stirring our senses with stayed recompenses

Borne on the mercy of morn’s welkin wings

Keeping us grateful for summer’s still-plate-full

Of flowered hours not yet bent and spent

Of sun-steeped laughter that lingers long after

August has folded its gold and blue tent

© Janet Martin

Keeping us grateful for summer’s still-plate-full

Of flowered hours not yet bent and spent

Of sun-steeped laughter that lingers long after

August has folded its gold and blue tent...

Backyard vacations are second to none...

below...looking for the stick that got lobbed awry!

Eccles.3:1-2

To every thing there is a season, 

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

God Himself...

How easy it would be to become disillusioned by what we see

if not rooted in what we know, because God said so.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 

and a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:105

John 16:33

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

 In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

When tried by disappointment’s test and vexed by plans upset

When waves of want for what seems best roll through prayers still unmet

When second chance and circumstance grant opportunity

To seize anew the Hope God grants to cheer adversity

Then pray we hold more near and dear the Lantern of his Word

To light faith’s path lest footsteps veer because vision is blurred

To light faith’s path lest footsteps veer because vision is blurred

Requires more than the veneer of valor undeterred

Without God’s Word life’s storms are ruthless, tossing to and fro

The soul not rooted in His Truth that none can overthrow

Then pray, we repent and believe so that we may endure

With more to cling to than the sheave that death cannot secure

With more to cling to than the sheave that death cannot secure

Though disappointment’s test may grieve and morrows are unsure

We have hope’s confidence that nothing in this world can shake

While we long for deliverance from anguish and heartbreak

His Word is a lamp to our feet, a Light unto our path

And God Himself until we meet in Time’s Grand Aftermath

…and God Himself until we meet in Time’s Grand Aftermath

Where nothing remains to compete with love’s mercy or wrath

Then, lest disenchantment and doubt should cause our foot to slip

Do not begin today without God’s Word to full-equip

Then, come what may the dark cannot triumph the Light of All

As we press on toward the mark for the prize of God’s call

© Janet Martin