(Not) Changing the World

We may not, in the grand scheme of things, change the world

but we can certainly do our bit!

 A reverence for angels that are growing up too fast...

An eye to see the beauty in each season’s works of art...

A note of thankfulness, even when the song is off-key

A traveling companion with a heart of sympathy

A word of consolation and a patient ear to hear

An air of celebration no matter the time of year

Because, though we may never change the world, we can begin

To make it a bit better in the corner we are in

A love for one another that makes every day worthwhile

A joy that comes from blessings like a home, a hug, a smile

A cup of tea with you and me, awareness of a page

We fill with today’s memories, no matter our age

An eye to see the beauty in each season’s works of art

Where though we may not change the world, we may cheer/change a small part

A reverence for angels that are growing up too fast

A prayer for grace and guidance as we face what soon is past

A sweeter disposition as the days to years run rife

A deep appreciation for the simple things in life

Where, though we may not change the world with our rhythm and rhyme

We can gladden the place we are, one kindness at a time

Awe, as we consider the birds and learn what they would teach

Hope, as we trust God’s outstretched hand, always within our reach

Humility as we become older and pray, more wise

And soften our answers, often much to our surprise

Because we realize, although we may not change the world

Right where we are, we can add to its loveliness unfurled

Endeavoring to grumble less and sing a little more

And savoring soul-happiness, like wreaths on a front door

And wondering at wonders that never cease to amaze

Where earth and heavens thunder with a smorgasbord of ways

To author praise and turn a meeker gaze to fellowman

Where though we may not change the world, we can change what we can

© Janet Martin

Awe, as we consider the birds...

The Awful (Terrifying) Truth

Why this poem?!!

Because whoever and wherever we are,

God so loved us that He gave his only begotten son

that whosoever believes in Him

will not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

...and we all need to be reminded

 this sacred prelude, this day of grace

is leading to Forever and ever. either with God

or without!

🙏

We love to think about and praise God for his love, hallelujah!!

but His love would be a mockery

without judgement's wrath against all injustice and evil!

We don't hear the word hell much, used

in the context of its awful truth, do we?

And small wonder! 

There is no more sobering topic in the whole world.

But on the other hand, if this is so,

 why are we so afraid to speak of it

and perhaps snatch someone from a fiery grave?!!

Not everyone goes to Heaven,...

"“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ 

shall enter the kingdom of heaven,

but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

said Jesus in

Matt.7:21

While we are saved not by works, but by the gift of God's grace

through  His son, Jesus

works will always testify who we truly believe, honour and love above all!

Rescue the Perishing

Don’t buff truth with a lie

Don’t sugarcoat hell’s lair

Don’t wink and think the sin will die

Without confession’s prayer

The Word of God is just

And absolute and whole

The Word of God transcends the dust

That clothes the deathless soul

When God joins him and her

No lawyer can undo

Or sever with a signature 

One, turned back into two

Beware, lest lies take root

Be careful lest you fall

The tree will be known by its fruit

God’s Word, infallible

Fall on your knees and pray

The hope God calls us to

Commands us to love and obey

In everything we do

Be on guard where deceit

Gains popularity

Because its laws seem kind and sweet

-er than God’s fixed decree

The Tempter’s cunning guile

Harkens back to that day

When he deceived Eve with a smile

And ‘did God really say?

There is a Promised Land

There is a lake of fire

One, for the Faithful to the End

The other for the liar

The want of man will fight

And fight and fight until

He sees God in dawn’s breaking light

And yields his stubborn will

Then, wanting above all

A life that God can bless

By honoring the sacred call

Of holy righteousness

Don’t buff the truth with lies

And think no one can tell

The Word of God does not disguise

The awful truth of hell

There is a way that seems

Right in the eyes of man

Beware, beware, the devil schemes

To seduce all he can

Forbid that we become

Wise in our own eyes

Untroubled by the condition 

Of truth exchanged for lies

It is a fearful thing

To live bold and unbowed

Far worse, the awful reckoning

To die, still cold and proud  

God's grace will intercede

And help us bear the cross

That guards against the lies that lead

To hell and endless loss

Forbid that we become

Emboldened by a lie

Until the conscience becomes numb

To what will never die

© Janet Martin

Luke 16:17-18

It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear 

than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery,

and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV /

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 

Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters,

 nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves,

 nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified,

 you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Rev.20:15

And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 ESV /

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, 

the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,

 their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, 

which is the second death.”

When we are struggling to know if something is right or wrong

don't ask of someone 'what do you think??'

What we think is irrelevant!

Go to God's word and seek what He commands!

The Hands of God

D.H. Lawrence (1882-1930)

The Hands of God

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But it is a much more fearful thing to fall out of them.

Did Lucifer fall through knowledge?

oh, then, pity him, pity him that plunge!

Save me, O God, from falling into the ungodly knowledge

of myself as I am without God.

Let me never know, O God

let me never know what I am or should be

when I have fallen out of your hands, the hands of the living God.

That awful and sickening endless sinking, sinking

through the slow, corruptive levels of disintegrative knowledge

when the self has fallen from the hands of God,

and sinks, seething and sinking, corrupt

and sinking still, in depth after depth of disintegrative consciousness

sinking in the endless undoing, the awful katabolism into the abyss!

even of the soul, fallen from the hands of God!

Save me from that, O God!

Let me never know myself apart from the living God!

Quest of the Poet

Last week as I walked through a parking lot this leaf landed at my feet.

so, I picked it up...

It inspired the first stanza of this poem.

To pick up fallen leaves and press them into summertime

To woo from echo-sheaves, a few mementos, into rhyme

To enrich Ordinary with the wealthiness of less

Where lyrics of God’s glory author hope and happiness

To siphon from life’s ups and downs, keepsakes of common ground

To mend and dazzle heart shaped cups with treasures that confound

To showcase living’s simple joys with meek and thankful awe

To marvel at the patient poise of nature’s steadfast law

To thwart the sting and blight of biting words with beauty’s kiss

Life is too short to slight the sweep of so much we might miss

To cheer the wage of weariness with wonder to behold

Tendered to page through tears and tests of longing etched with gold

To leave unpenned the vile and vulgar, the boorish and base

But rather, weave a sense of smiles and friendship in its place

To hoist with holy feeling, love’s banners unfurled in font

And be a voice of healing in a broken world of want

To meet each other, heart to heart, through art of ink-finesse

Though ever face to face apart, together nonetheless

To find a diamond in the ruffled feathers of a thought

To bind the weathered wounds of love with blue forget-me-not

To will the jot and tittle of Becoming into bloom

And spill a little sunshine to a shadow-darkened room

To cast a glim of gladness into sadness that must be

And melt away brute madness with the torch of poetry

To lavish parchment pallor with the splendor of mid-June

And whisper to full color gray November’s afternoon

To coax a spark from embers of a dying place in time

And turn what one remembers into legacies of rhyme

© Janet Martin

Yesterday we woke to winter's wonderland!

Today the sun is doing its best to make it disappear

...before the next forecasted flurry!

For The Joy Set Before Us...

PAD Challenge Day 12: For today's prompt, write a future poem. 

Heb.12:2

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 

who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, 

despising the shame, and is set down 

at the right hand of the throne of God.

Luke 2:10

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: 

for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 

which shall be to all people.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

A hymn of great joy!

What lies behind we cannot change

What looms ahead we cannot see

Today, the day the Lord has made

Brims with redemption's majesty

Good tidings of great joy still ring

As we press on to life's reward

Anchored in mercy's offering

A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord

The message that the angels bore

Still peals with hope's favor and grace

Concealed in joy still set before

When we behold Him face to face

 

The evidence of things unseen

Is worth the fight that faith employs

As we endure what lies between

Each step we take to Heaven's joys 

Fear not, for unto us this day

Glad tidings of great joy resound

Nothing can take our hope away

As we traverse time's holy ground

A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord

Has borne our sorrow and our grief

He suffered what none could afford

The punishment that brought us peace

For the joy set before Him He

Endured the cross, despised its shame

Seeing beyond the agony

To all who would call on His Name

Made perfect through His suffering

Where we esteemed Him stricken, He

Salvation's captain, crushed the sting

Of death, robbed graves of victory

The message that the angels told

In days of old, none can destroy

The anchor of the cross will hold

Till hope is crowned with Heaven's joy

Janet Martin

1 Cor.1:18

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;

 but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Lord, What an Awesome God You Are

We have had a whole week of AWESOME moon and sunrises and sunsets!!

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada!

As we reflect on freedom, it's cost, 

as we pray for those suffering ravages of war,

we reflect and praise God for a greater, everlasting freedom

found in Christ who died to set all of human race free from the curse of sin and death!

So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:36

You fling the gates of dawn ajar...

As this morning's sun broke over the far horizon I murmured

Oh Lord, what an awesome God You are!! inspiring today's praise-poem!

Lord, what an awesome God you are, Creator, Saviour, Friend

Your majesty and divine pow’r none other can transcend

In paths of righteousness You lead, Your Word’s authority

Directs, where evil doers breed naysaying heresy

Your Deity debated, until wise in their own eyes

They worship the created, exchanging The Truth for lies

Lord, what an awesome God You are; compassionate and true

Where nothing in the world can bar prayers committed to You

Your eyes are on the righteous and your ears attend their cries

The comfort of Your justice calms the storm of mortal ‘whys’

As in secret Gethsemanes we look upon your Son

And humble selfish pleas with ‘not my will but thine be done’

Lord, what an awesome God you are; though oft misunderstood

You fling the gates of dawn ajar with kind Mercy renewed

Your love restrains Your wrath of which mankind has been forewarned

Your Word, remains a light unto the path by mockers scorned

Who have boldly rejected You and thus, choose hell to pay

When Souls are resurrected on that final Judgement Day

Lord, what an awesome God you are; evil will not prevail

You make us strong, the power of the cross will never fail

Though Satan is a charmer, masquerading as the light

All who wear Your full armor will be fitted for the fight

As we press on toward the joy still set before us when

Forever we behold You, Lord God, *Agnus Dei, amen

© Janet Martin

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:29

Agnus Dei

This poem was also inspired in part by this message

Why We Need The Gospel-Alistair Begg

Tug of Ink

PAD Challenge day 10: For today's prompt, write a struggle poem.

To board dawn's gleaming barge

While seasons ebb and flow...

To know when to say ‘yes’

To know when to say ‘no’

To hold to hope and happiness

Amidst love’s letting go

So much to touch and kiss

So much that used to be

So much to balance with the bliss

Of unpenned poetry

Today is always new

Immune it seems, to age

Let’s never grow too old to woo

Its poetry to page

Let’s slow dance, cheek to cheek

What is to be will be

Enough, my love to learn to speak

In tongues of poetry

Let the masses deploy

Long ladders to success

Enough, my love, to feast on joy

Of poem happiness

To press past the façade

Of front-line highs and lows

And to feel the *pleasure of God

In poems to compose

To board dawn’s gleaming barge

While seasons ebb and flow

To stay true to the humble charge

Of life’s ink undertow

© Janet Martin

"When I run, I feel God's pleasure" Eric Liddell

Acts 17:28

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ 

As some of your own poets have said,

 ‘We are his offspring.’

Candor of the Clock

PAD Challenge day 9. For today's prompt, take the phrase "(blank) of the (blank),"

replace the blanks with a word or phrase,

make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

Consummate toll of tick and tock

Determined undertow

Winnowing shorelines made of rock

With season ebb and flow

A minute and momentous merge

Of is, was, and will be

The gilded surface of a surge

Veiling eternity

…while dreamers dream and poets troll

The teeming deeps that mock

The pioneer of heart and soul

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

The lilt that tuned the nudge that broke

The shell that held the bow’r

That grew into a mighty oak

Reclaims glory’s fleet flow’r /hour

Giver and taker synchronized

The candor of the clock

Grants and gathers eons comprised

Of teeny tick and tock

…unfurling a tempest of pearls

Some pray, some shake a fist

Tick tock, the clock replies, and twirls

Time’s carousel of mist

© Janet Martin

James 4:14

What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears 

for a little while 

and then vanishes.

Life's Finest Work of Art

PAD Challenge day 8-For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

Write a form poem, and/or...

Write an anti-form poem.

Form: Shakespearean sonnet

This poem was inspired by the driver of this truck

that pulled over and offered a regular biker to his job, a ride

on this clear, cold, crisp morning!

The biker accepted😊💓

(nothing sets a sweeter tone for the day than acts of kindness)

a smile is a gift anyone can give

a helping hand, life's finest work of art

beauty is found, no matter where we live

if kindness is the first-fruit of the heart 

although no hall of fame or gallery

will showcase, what some may call commonplace

no one can leave a finer legacy

than that of love, humility and grace

no name in lights, no wild applauding cheers

for this is not love's mission or its quest

but to mingle laughter and prayers and tears

and thus become the blessing and the blessed

today, oh, what a perfect place to start

to make another Finest Work of Art

Janet Martin

Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, 

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God and the Father by him.