Summer Morning Slice of Heaven

Amos 5:8

He who made the Pleiades and Orion

And changes deep darkness into morning...

...the Lord is His name.

Don't you wish summer mornings lasted longer

than their perfect little jot and tittle?

Behold, without bribe or barter

Like a universal Prize

From Mercy’s unbounded charter

Morning refills earth and skies

New Day’s buffet-table thunders

With feasts too sumptuous to waste

Summer morning groans with wonders

Beckoning Gladness to taste

Behold, without price of money

Without blight of mortal boast

Night melts like golden mist-honey

On a slice of buttered toast

Darling dewdrop-faery favors

Each lily-face with a kiss

Overflows rose-cups with flavors

Of sweet, summer morning bliss

Look, without constraint or bias

Whispers unveil sea and sod

With Mercy's tender alliance

Fresh from the goodness of God

Summer morning jot and tittle  

Did yon pearly gates undo

Just enough to let a little  

Slice of Heaven sparkle through?

© Janet Martin

Without (The Word of) God...

This morning I wasn't sure what today's poem would/should be about

till I open God's Word. An inexhaustible wellspring 

of awe and exhortation, 

of love's truth and grace!

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

John 17:17

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2

My soul faints for Your salvation,

But I hope in Your word.

Psalm 119:81

Forever, O Lord,

Your word [n]is settled in heaven.

90Your faithfulness endures to all generations;

Psalm 119:89-90

John 1:1-5

Without the word of God we are so ill-equipped to face

This day that He has made where hope and pitfalls interlace

The Giver of each good and perfect gift of grace appears

Upon each page; He is The Word which guides, instructs and cheers

Then, how the humble heart applauds the gospel we confess

As we are reconciled to God, and clothed in righteousness

‘Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new’

Through He who became sin for us though not one sin He knew

When on the altar of the cross His life He sacrificed

So that we might become heirs and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ

Without the Word of God we do not think the things we should

As human nature silences what is pure, noble, good

Opinionated logic becomes wise in its own eyes

Without the counsel of God’s Word to proclaim, fend, advise

Without His lamp unto our feet and light unto our path

We cannot see where we should walk, led by his rod and staff

Nor feel the shadow of his wing cover us with his care

Nor hear his whisper when life’s sting and slight is hard to bear

Nor know Him as a Teacher, Comforter, Shepherd and Friend

Without His word to edify, sanctify and commend

Without the word of God we are like blind leading the blind

Impossible to love Him with all heart, soul, strength and mind

Without his Word. He IS The Word; the Way, the Truth, The Life

Sharper than a double-edged sword; His word is like a knife

It penetrates the soul and spirit; judges attitude

It is the blade by which the subtil serpent is subdued

It is the seed that falls oh, pray it falls on fertile sod

It is the law of  Love, the gospel by which faith is shod

Then, pray,  we do not face today unarmed, without God’s Word

Lest unaware we fall away from that which we had heard

Without the Word of God we miss the glory of the Lord

The power of his might, severed relationship restored

The healing touch from heaven to the heart and soul of we

Who are so very broken; we miss divine majesty

The wonder where earth thunders with His ways past finding out

The peace that passes understanding's plagues of fear and doubt

We miss out on the living bread and water, pure and sweet

We miss out on the fellowship of sitting at His feet

We miss out on the mustard seed of faith that makes us whole

We miss darling communion with the Saviour of the Soul

 

© Janet Martin

Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Jeremiah 23:29

"Is not My word like fire," declares the LORD,

"and like a hammer that smashes a rock?"

John 12:48

There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words:

The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Heb.4:11-13

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, 

so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.

 12For the word of God is living and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; 

everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes

 of Him to whom we must give account.…

Morning Flowers...

 

Morning metes its sweet Beginning

Mist-burnished petals unfold

From night’s nebulous bud thinning

Until Time is blush and gold

Flushed with mercy to behold

Like a lily, dew-anointed

Fresh from the Creator’s hand

Darkness fades; hope’s reappointed

Brigades wade until they stand

On shores of star-dust and sand

Strewing in the wake of slumber

Daybreak’s diamond studded world

Where the cares of life encumber

Where faith’s warfare is unfurled

Morning flowers, promise-pearled

© Janet Martin

God's word overflows with wonderful promises that He will keep!

A few promise-pearls to pin to today's To-Do's/dues

Lam.3:22-23

Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed,

 for His mercies never fail. 

23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

1 Thess.5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

2 Pet.3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. 

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, 

but everyone to come to repentance.

Psalm 144:15

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Isa.26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace, 

Whose mind is stayed on You, 

Because he trusts in You.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. 

In the world you will have tribulation;

 but be of good cheer,

 I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. 

I do not give to you as the world gives. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ 

and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives His people strength; 

the LORD blesses His people with peace.

Heb.13:5

Let your conversation be without covetousness; 

and be content with such things as ye have: 

for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Heb.13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God are "Yes" in Christ.

 And so through Him, our "Amen" is spoken to the glory of God.

Fool-School or Knowledge-College...

Prov.1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Today's poem was written this morning after being inspired by 

The Daily Bread Devotion...

However, tots arrived as the last line was jotted

and with a few more than usual today just

"slipped away'' !

Outside my window a robin sings gustily 

as I dig deep for second wind to finish today's musts...

A female grosbeak and a few American gold-finches peck

away at their sunflower seed supper.

Two chubby mourning doves waddle and bicker below the feeders

This in place of a pic tonight due to camera frustrations...

***

In order to be reachable our spirits must teachable

And gratitude should keep our attitude humble and kind

In order to be teachable our spirits must be reachable

The college of life’s knowledge, a structure of heart and mind

In order to live peaceably without spite, greed and jealousy

Our heart and mindset ought to be goodness and mercy-awed

Devoted to vigilant prayer and goaded to be more aware

With diligence to note and share the wonders of our God

© Janet Martin

Living's Hymn

Make the most of moment measure

Feel the notes that glance and glim

Composing with tick-tock treasure

The lyrics of Living’s Hymn

Trace the tempo of an hour

With far more than fingertips

Bury your face in dawn’s flower

Linger where departure drips

Wear wonder like ballet slippers

Twirl across time’s ballroom floor

Orchestral arrangements quiver

With what soon will be no more

Leap where faith turns fear to flying

Scale the heights of happiness

Keep the melody from dying

Dredge the deeps of thankfulness

Write a love song full of fumbles

Dust your knees off when you trip

Life is a dance full of stumbles

Sing with joy and cherish it

© Janet Martin

Sometimes, In This Present Culture

Isaiah 11:2

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him-

-the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and strength,

the Spirit of knowledge

and fear of the LORD.

(this verse below fills my heart and prayers these day...)

Ephesians 1:17-19

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit ^f of wisdom and revelation,

 so that you may know him better. 

18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened 

in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, 

the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 

19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. 

If we want something to grow we feed it.

What is fed will grow...

Spiritual growth or the hunger for spiritual blessing

happens as we feed on 'spiritual bread'!

John 6:35

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. 

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, 

and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Sometimes in this present culture

We could fall prey to despair

Where evil is like a vulture

And people don't seem to care

Or fall before God in prayer

Present culture's satisfaction

Fosters lies and unbelief

 Numbed by cyberspace-distraction

The god of opinion, chief

Dumb to God in heaven's grief 

Seems as if Spiritual Blessing

Is a treasure few esteem

Focused rather on possessing

Fortunes, fickle as a dream

While eternal riches stream

Seems as if mankind's redemption

 Purchased through God's only Son

Is the bull's eye of rejection

Though He died for everyone

Though He cried 'Thy will be done'

...to bring many sons to glory!

To lay down hope's solid rock

Seems as if God's Great Love story

Has become a laughing stock

Culture hails the stumbling block 

Fearless in the face of Mercy

Fearless, though death and hell wait

Scorning Christ with jeers and curses

Or with doubt's fruitless debate

Fearless in their dire state/strait

Blinded by the tempter's logic

Lured by sight's defeated stride

Seems this present culture's rock is

But the shifting sands of pride

Or the boast of God denied

Seems as if Spiritual Blessing

Is an odd and foreign phrase

Not a treasure worth confessing

And pursuing all our days

By denying self-bent ways  

Seems as if the fickle aweing 

Of excess, not sacrifice

Veils the subtle serpent drawing

The attention from the price

With enticements, 'fun' and 'nice'

Seems as if this present culture

Does not grasp the sacred Thence

Of heaven or hell, of judgement 

And the certain recompense 

Of the soul's inheritance

Seems as if 'riches in glory'

Falls on head-phone deafened ears

And the grace of God's love story

Is met with hate's bold-faced sneers 

Or Indifference-Veneers

As if the best we inherit

Is Something gold-silver-pearled

And as if life's Crowning Merit

Is This Fleeting Warp unfurled

Not riches beyond this world

Sometimes, in this present culture

Love weeps beneath faith's scorned cross

Hell's lord is a gilded vulture

Heaven's God tests us with loss

 And prayer's groaning albatross

God, open Faith's eyes within us

Tune us to truth's cunning foes

You are not slack in Your promise

Of wealth time cannot disclose

Of inheritance You chose

© Janet Martin

Psalm 47:4
He chooses our inheritance for us, 

the pride of Jacob, whom He loves. 

Selah

1 Pet.1:3-5

A Heavenly Inheritance

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope 

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4to an inheritance [b]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, 

reserved in heaven for you,

  5who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation 

ready to be revealed in the last time.

***

We only progress in sound living

as we progress in sound understanding

Charles Spurgeon~

***

Surviving our Present Culture

 

...and if after you listen to the first message you are hungry for more...

Satan's Strategy to Defeat Us – Dr. Charles Stanley

Living With An Almost-Heaven Viewpoint

 Beulah Land

Yesterday's post Sing a Song of Almost Heaven

turned my train of thought down a slightly different track today...

Living with an Almost Heaven Viewpoint shifts our point of view

Makes us more aware of caring about death’s approaching due

Keeps us keened to what is promised that will forever endure

Rather than the cross upon us or temptation’s dangling lure

Time is such a fleeting measure, just a vapor, my dear friend

The soul is the single treasure that will final breath transcend

No matter where feet may take us or what success we may boast

‘Almost Heaven’s viewpoint tunes us to The Thing that Matters Most

What a joy when we envision as we pay Devotion’s Price

Jesus standing where the mission of true love is sacrifice

Jesus smiling as we smile back while we give and give and give

Because Almost Heaven waits after this little life we live

© Janet Martin

Matt.25:40

And the King shall answer and say unto them, 

Verily I say unto you, 

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, 

ye have done it unto me.

Sing a Song of Almost Heaven

Did the first week of July leave you breathless too?

with an earth-warped sense of Almost Heaven?

Sing a song of bare foot princess

Loveliness of little girls...

Sing a song of sapphire rafter

Vaulted above saffron field

Sing a song of salad gladness

Sing a song of Almost Heaven

Heady scent of fresh mown hay

Landscape-sills lavishly laden

With summer’s floral buffet...

Sing a song of Almost Heaven

Heady scent of fresh mown hay

Landscape-sills lavishly laden

With summer’s floral buffet

Sing a song of sun-kissed hours

Cabbage amethyst and jade

Chubby child’s fist, full of flowers

Ice cube-crackling lemonade

Sing a song of bare foot princess

Loveliness of little girls

Pretty polka-dotted dresses

Tiara of tousled curls

Sing a song of sapphire rafter

Vaulted above saffron sweep

Lilting with hope’s hearty laughter

Of a soon-harvest to reap

Sing a song of pure devotion

Where the fruit of sweat and toil

Swells and billows like an ocean

Green and gold with mercy’s spoil

Wild bloom opulence fills ditches

Chamomile and chicory

Trefoil tapestry bewitches

Loosestrife pens pink poetry

Sing a song of School is Over

Garden-haven happiness

Honeybees imbibed with clover-

Nectar’s innocent excess

Sing a song of lily-lanterns

Candelabras, petal-plush

Daddies, laddies and blue herons

Fishing silver shallows, hush

While summer starts to unravel

Sing of hammock hideaways

Book vacations that don't travel

Holiday traffic highways

Sing a song of salad gladness

Bowls brimming with beans and peas

Hearts hurting with happy-sadness

Tuned to fleeting symphonies

Slow the music, pause primed pages

Tame the tempo of tick-tock

Let the ebb and flow of ages

Dare the dogma of the clock

Let love’s warm waves lap ‘round small talk

Feel the font of memories

Heatwave-rippled street and sidewalk

Honey-suckle tickled breeze

Sing a song of moments flitting

Like a finch or butterfly

Sing a song of front porch sitting

Sing a song of sweet July

© Janet Martin

While summer starts to unravel

Sing of hammock hideaways...

Today's poem was

Inspired in part by this gem of a July poem...

July

by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

I am for the open meadows,

Open meadows full of sun,

Where the hot bee hugs the clover,

The hot breezes drop and run.

I am for the uncut hayfields

Open to the cloudless blue,—

For the wide unshadowed acres

Where the summer's pomps renew;

Where the grass-tops gather purple,

Where the oxeye daisies thrive,

And the mendicants of summer

Laugh to feel themselves alive;

Where the hot scent steams and quivers,

Where the hot saps thrill and stir,

Where in leaf-cells' green pavilions

Quaint artificers confer;

Where the bobolinks are merry,

Where the beetles bask and gleam,

Where above the powdered blossoms

Powdered moth-wings poise and dream;

Where the bead-eyed mice adventure

In the grass-roots green and dun.

Life is good and love is eager

In the playground of the sun!