Be Careful/Prayerful

'Be Careful we don't want your toes too close!'

  I cautioned Tot yesterday as he got as close as he could

to watch Janet cut up a massive pumpkin on the floor

because it was too heavy to lift to the counter-top.

Due to a bumper pumpkin-canning crop I welcome any favorite pumpkin recipes

(preferably not rich desserts) those recipes are easy to find😅

From little tots to adulthood...a mother's most-oft repeated caution must surely be 'be careful'!!

I find myself saying it countless times to the children in my childcare 

and many times to my grown children!

As we mature we realize there is only one way to be truly careful 

and that is to be duly prayerful!

The best way then, to say 'be careful'

is to say, 'be prayerful'!

Be careful/prayerful then, lest unaware

In what appears as harmless fun

We miss the deathly hazards where

The tempter's web of lies is spun 

Be careful/prayerful then, so when we we meet

The Wolf, dressed in sheep-like disguise 

We will recognize and defeat

With truth, the mastermind of lies

Be careful/prayerful then, and do not wink

At God's Word, man's authority

Where what He says, not what we think

Is what our conduct ought to be

Be careful/prayerful then, and by God's grace

Commit to Him, heart, soul and mind

Lest careless, prayer-less, we embrace

Hands of the blind leading the blind

Janet Martin 

Eph.5:15 NIV

Be very careful, then, how you live—

not as unwise but as wise,

Pumpkin can be turned into Bundt Cake, muffins

and all sorts of goodies!

We mix, stir and bake...and voila!! 

within the hour, results!

Some results for choices we make, take far longer 

with far more serious and far-reaching effects! 

Be careful/prayerful!!

By Tender Means of Poetry (or, To My Gentle Reader)

So sorry, sweet little birdies, but filling the feeders needs to wait!

A sudden day off due to wild weather has opened the rather rare (ice-embossed)

window of opportunity to 'wax poetic' 😅💓

This book, rescued from the garbage bin by a truly caring friend

 who dropped it off at my door last week, 

Stole my heart with the first page!...

and inspired today's poem 'to my gentle reader'...

Of that which kindly comes to be

By tender means of poetry

To cheer us gently on, dear friend

Upon life’s careworn twist and bend

Where face to face we may not meet

To trace the bond of friendships sweet

I thank God for love’s ink-wrought font

To gently bind the wounds of want

And keep each other company

By tender means of poetry

To know, though we are far apart

The timeless tug of heart to heart

To share the very sacred touch

Of tears and smiles and prayers and such

And help us realize anew

The preciousness of me-and-you

And to gladden regions of thought

With refreshed awareness of God

To make us feel like family

By tender means of poetry

To tune us to the creature cry

Of hope; to hold love’s candle high

Where often dreams do not come true

And carefully laid plans fall through

To teach us to not cling too fast

-ly to what soon augments the past

To remind us, through lilt of rhyme

What does not change, in spite of time

And taste life’s sweet comradery

By tender means of poetry

To catch midst winter’s frigid fling

A sense of everlasting spring

To find a plot where tulips grow

To brighten thought while wild winds blow

To rouse an unexpected thrill

Where pages birth a bloom-tossed hill

And suddenly we bow the head

And thank God for the bit o' bread

Through that which kindly comes to be

By tender means of poetry

© Janet Martin

For All The World To See

 

From divine providence

And unplumbed majesty

God spills unrivaled excellence

For all the world to see

The wonder that yet waits

Evades our eyes and ears

Save, through a gap in pearly gates

Where glory’s glimpse appears

Before dumbfounded gaze

God flings His artistry

The firmaments declare His praise

For all the world to see

     Let's pause, because the earth

And sky profusely brim

With creation's marvelous mirth

In evidence of Him

...and it would be a shame

To rush negligently

Where all creation shouts His Name

For all the world to see

© Janet Martin

Psalm 148:13

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is lifted up;
        his majesty transcends earth and heaven.

A Prayer-Poem of Hope and Praise

The magnitude of this morning's sunrise 

was impossible to capture in the lens of a camera...

A little like God's goodness and love 

are impossible to capture in

the lines of a poem!

Dear Heavenly Father,

A prayer-poem of hope and praise!

From strength to strength in You

Sweet consolation this

Whatever valley we pass through

Whatever grief afflicts

Whatever tries joy’s cup

Whatever storm we face

From strength to strength, You bear us up

By your sufficient grace

Where nothing in this world

Transcends Your love so true

Like a majestic Light unfurled

To guide us home to You

© Janet Martin

Psalm 84:5-7

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

A Get-Rich-Quick-Forever Gift!

 

Inspired by the riches of Ephesians 1&2, Phil. 2, and so many more scriptures

All hinged to the Reason for the Christmas Season

Oh may we desire the wealth of spiritual blessing

possible only if we receive The Gift. God's Gift of grace

(Note: this is not a wealth of ease and material opulence,

because this wealth was bought with a great price!

But the price gives us access to all the priceless promises of God)

One Still Night

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms 

with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Eph.1:3

God’s gift of glorious grace

In meanest cradle lies

The riches of redemption veiled

In baby’s newborn cries

The hope of humankind

Descends from Heaven’s throne

To mercy’s masterpiece designed

Death’s sentence to atone

Through the shed blood of Christ

God trumps Lucifer’s schemes

From His Own Offspring sacrificed

Pardon’s profusion streams

…to lowly sons of earth

The holy Son of God

Suffered the pains of human birth

To bear rejection’s rod

…and suffer unto death

Even death on a cross

The King of kings offered Himself

To be a Lamb for us

The Son of God became

The Name believer’s hail

He suffered crucifixion’s shame

To rend the temple’s veil

So, all may freely come

Hope’s riches to embrace

The Cornerstone of Christendom

God’s gift of glorious grace

No more to be enslaved

By doubt, greed, pride and fear

But through faith, by grace we are saved

We, once far off brought near

To taste death's sweet release

Where Jesus took our place

His blood, the purchase price of peace

God’s gift of glorious grace

Ah, here all praise begins

Death falls like shackles spliced

We, who were dead in our sins

Are made alive with Christ

God, who is rich in love

Forgives this sinful race

Through the exceeding riches of

Jesus, God’s gift of grace

That in ages to come

His kindness might be known

Through we who benefited from

The kindness Christ has shown

© Janet Martin

Let All Who Believe Shout for Joy

The third week of advent celebrates joy!

Our temporary joys pale in comparison with the eternal joy of Jesus!

Scripture is filled with proclamations of joy!

hallelujah!

...in this world we will have trouble but take heart!

He has overcome the world!

John 16:33

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.

Remain in My love.

If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love,

just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you

and your joy may be complete.

John 15:9-11

Jesus, Only Jesus

The joy that waits to transport us from faith to sight defends

The joy still set before us with the joy God’s Spirit sends

To be a friend and comforter, to anoint lips with praise

For what the Lord has done to fill us with joy all our days

The joy that is complete begins with love’s obedience

To worship He who forgives sins and voids its consequence

He is the Vine, the branch apart from Him can bear no fruit

Of righteousness because the heart denies Truth's Absolute

The soul that is redeemed proclaims God’s goodness all day long

Then bless the beauty of the name that fills our hope with song

For glad tidings of joy, no worldly riches can afford

Bethlehem’s baby boy became our Saviour, Christ the Lord

Let all who believe shout for joy for what the Lord has done

No power on earth can destroy what Calvary has won

He broke the curse of death and hell; the world He overcame

He authors joy unspeakable and Jesus is His name

Let all who take refuge in Him rejoice, yes! shout for joy

For time and trouble cannot dim the Voice of hope's employ

Then, may the joy and peace of God, anoint and overflow

In all we do and say, awed by God’s gift so long ago

© Janet Martin

1 Peter 1:3-9

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

By His great mercy He has given us new birthb into a living hope 

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

  4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, 

reserved in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power

 for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while 

you may have had to suffer grief in various trials 

7so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, 

which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, 

and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; 

and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him 

and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 

9now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, 

the salvation of your souls.

Psalm 5:11-12

But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;

let them ever shout for joy.

May You shelter them,

that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.

12For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous;

You surround them with the shield of Your favor.

Song of Silence

I had the honor and delight of being one of the hosts

this morning for our church's annual women's Christmas brunch!

(Faces blurred for privacy)

I forgot to take a picture of the food!

(It was a potluck event and it was so delicious)

After the laughter and chatter subdued

After food savored and fond farewells bade

Silence settles like a snowflake postlude

Over scrubbed kettles and memories made

After hello has turned into ‘so long’

After the treasure of fellowship ends

Silence follows, like a bittersweet song

Medley of echoes and pleasure of friends

After the loveliness of touch and sight

Slips from our fingers and fades out of  view    

Silence, like a flicker of candlelight

Wraps love's gold halo around me and you 

After the fabric of moments unfold

After ‘together’ turns into ‘apart’

Silence is like a picture book we hold

Every page in the shape of a heart

© Janet Martin 

Silence settles like a snowflake postlude

Over scrubbed kettles and memories made...

Emmanuel (What more do we need?)

Matthew 1:23

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, 

and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 

 being interpreted is, God with us.

Emmanuel-God with Us

O Come, Emmanuel-Simon Khorolskiy 

God with us since the beginning; God with us; His Word unfurled

Like hope’s harbor in this sinning, struggle-stricken, broken world

God with us, His omni-presence no army can overthrow

His Word in our hearts, the essence of peace only faith can know

God with us down through the ages; grace and truth to set us free

Manifesting sacred pages; He Who Was, IS and Will Be

God with us in joy and sorrow never to leave or forsake

Yesterday, today, tomorrow His Word will not change or shake

God with us, ah, precious promise, who can fully comprehend

The wonder of Jesus; glorious, infinite and without end

God with us, eternal power, demons tremble when we pray

 Oh, the height and depth of our confidence through mercy's Stay

God with us amidst a heathen disregard and deadly jeer

In and through His Word faith meets/seeks Him to comfort and commandeer

God with us, Unseen, yet faithful Father, Counsellor, and Friend

He helps us to help each other to be faithful to the end

God with us, sweet consolation no matter what may beset

God with us, mankind’s salvation oh, may we never forget

Holy, holy hallelujah! Come, let us praise and adore

He who is Love, Truth, Jehovah! God with us forevermore

© Janet Martin

Emmanuel, God With Us- Charles Spurgeon