Rad Glory

I began this poem at sunrise...

then the day took over...

Off to a local meat shop first thing,

to take advantage of their annual sausage sale...

stopping for a few photos along the way...

...then grandchildren came for a while to entertain gramma😂💖

What is it about a gate/fence/barrier that instantly draws curiosity

of all ages, even babies?!!

 

Grand daughter borrows gramma's sunglasses for a better look at the clouds...

It all started when she spotted the one on the first photo,

 a billowy, pillow-y one and wished she could jump in it

Now, after the last round of sausage is on to steam,

(Yes! I water-bath-can sausage!)

back to what began almost today-ago 😅

Where the heavens are flung

With profound clarity

A Voice of universal tongue

Declares God’s majesty

His awesome evidence

(That only fools deny)

Thunders with untold testaments

From earth and sea and sky

…to confound creature boast

To humble human hearts

As wonder wows Want’s uttermost

With what God’s hand imparts

Hark! Ere the dark of night

Dissolves, the morning rings

With feathered, unfettered delight

From choristers with wings

Both mighty and minute

Astonish and enthrall

Until only fools dare dispute

The One who authored all

Creation stuns the eye

And kindles joyful due

To join the throngs of earth and sky

With songs of worship too

Buds, primed with petaled proof

Pulse with glorious laud

While sorry fool still holds aloof

The rad glory of God

© Janet Martin

 (Using the word 'rad' today, in its most sacred sense!)

WORDS RELATED TO RAD -DICTIONARY.COM

astonishing, astounding, awesome, breathtaking,

 fantastic, incredible, marvelous, outrageous,

 phenomenal, remarkable, spectacular, superb,

 terrific, unbelievable, far out, groovy, neat, 

offbeat, unorthodox, wonderful

Psalm 14:1

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; 

there is no one who does good.

Grace-berth/Birth

Yesterday's sunrise

So often so little distance seems to lie between dawn and dusk, doesn't it?!!

Yesterday's sunset

Days seem to fly by! 

So does life!!

Just a blip between the dawn of birth and the dusk of death!

(two visitations this week for friend's parents were a vivid reminder!!)

...and not one of us can see how near that Dusk is!

It can fall in the twinkle of an eye to young or old alike!

Thus, often much of life's focus seems to be 

on making every effort to 'Make (fond) Memories'

which really are precious!

...like picking pussy willows 😊

Canning sausage

Spending time with (aging) more precious-than-ever parents...

Because there are 10 children in our family, for mom and dad's Christmas gift

this year, each child is given a month to extra-bless them

 (not counting December (Christmas) and September 

when we hope to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary all together)

March was our month. 

On Saturday we took them to my brother-in-law's sugar bush

 to watch modern-day maple-syrup making...

...and then we dropped by my mother-in-law's house where my sister-in-law served us supper;

 the best bean soup I ever tasted served with Vidalia onions, 

summer-sausage, fresh bread and cheese! A five-star meal!!)

...but, as dear as these memories are there is something

far more sacred in life to make, than memories...

We are called to 'make every effort' for something far more lasting!

2 Pet.1:3-10

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 

through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 

4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, 

so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, 

having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; 

and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; 

and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 

7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

  8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure,

 they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive

 in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  9But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, 

forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10Therefore, my brothers and sisters

 a make every effort to confirm your calling and election.

 For if you do these things, you will never stumble,

  11and you will receive a rich welcome 

into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In light of this, Awareness beckons us behold today with 

more thankful, thoughtful, sacred soul-searching!

Behold the berth/birth where God’s grace is extended

Where Life runs rife with holy beck and call

Daylight dissolves heaven’s star-studded blanket

From mercy’s fount hope-forged stepping-stones fall

From He whose love cannot be comprehended

Today is bestowed by God, to one and all

Though want and woe’s what and wherefore may vary

Though no two roads of life are quite the same

No matter what composes cares we carry

Rest and redemption are found in One Name

For the deathless soul, none can burn or bury

Jesus, the Way, Truth and Life all may claim

Today is a common-ground charge, all must weather

Like a barge drawn over sky, sea and sod

Where soon the Harbour at Twilight will tether

Some to the slumber that morning will prod

Some through a gate that parts, light as feather

Over that last lowered gangway to God

Who can afford to be calloused and careless

When no one knows where time’s curtain will close

Pity the passenger, faithless and prayerless

Unready for what Last Breath will expose

Come, bid Today reawakens awareness

To behold berths/birth where God’s grace overflows

© Janet Martin

So off we go on a new Today!

How many remain,

 only the Giver knows!

Divine Intervention

The Creator of all we marvel at is our Divine Intervener/Interceder! Hallelujah!

How oft despair would gain a fateful foothold in my thought (Ps.43:5)

And bind my mind and spirit in chains where doubt and fear rue

And leave me floundering in bogs of misery, guilt-wrought

But for the lifeline of God’s promises, faithful and true (Heb.10:23)

From age to age His Word abides to cheer and edify (1 Pet.1:25)

To convict and correct, to comfort, exhort and command (2 Tim:316)

To whisper to the storm-tossed bark, ‘Fear not, for it is I’ (John 6:20,Matt.14:27)

To equip me with armor that will evil's wiles withstand  (Eph.6:13)

His manna for my wilderness, ( Deut.8:3) His grace to save my soul (Eph.2:8)

His ear to hear my prayer, (1 Pet.3:12) his righteousness to call my own (2 Cor.5:21)

‘When I am weak, then am I strong’ (2 Cor.12:10) ‘thy faith hath made thee whole’ (Matt.9:22)

Living Water to quench my thirst, ( John 4:14) His life-blood to atone (Eph.1:7)

His Word, a lamp unto my feet, a beacon pure and sure (Ps.119:105)

Where darkness would pervade without the Light sent from above (1 John 2:8)

For joy still set before us, He beckons us to endure (Heb.12:2)

Through His power, purpose and peace, goodness, mercy and love (2 Pet.1:3)

Heavens declare His glory,(Ps.19:1) and His glory fills the earth  (Isa.6:3)

His invisible qualities by creation proclaimed  (Rom.1:20)

His plan for man’s salvation, (Matt.1:21) for repentance (Mark 1:15) and rebirth  (John3:3)

Wrought through His sacred suffering, (John 3:16) yielding hope unashamed  (Rom5.5)

His cross to draw all men to Him so we may be set free (John 12:32)

His death to pay sin’s debt, His resurrection to fulfill (1 Cor.15)

His prophecy, to conquer death and hell; His victory

Has overthrown the grave because He braved His Father’s will (Luke 22:42)

His peace past understanding, (Phil.4:7) and His Mystery revealed (Col.1:26)

His all-sufficient grace (2Cor.12:9) to help us to trust and obey (Prov.3:5-6)

His Mighty Hand pierced through with nails; by His wounds we are healed  (Isa.53:5)

His Everlasting Presence promised each step of the way (Josh.1:5)

How oft despair could gain a dread-filled death grip on my heart (Ps. 42:5)

And draw me from the Well where Life’s undeterred waters brim (Isa.55:1)

But, God is rich in mercy (Eph.2:4) and He helps us do our part (Heb.13:6)

To deny self, take up His cross and humbly follow Him (Matt.16:24)

© Janet Martin

Lamentations 3:20

Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me.

His Word Will Stand

When Earth Starts Dancing With First Fragrances of Spring...

 

This poem began the other day as I, like 'last year's pup' also sought the southside deck...

...delighting in first sightings of robins, and song-sparrow warbles and killdeer cries

Sometimes when earth starts dancing with first fragrances of spring

When robin song romances winter’s wearied weathering

It rouses frames filled with fond scenes of days, long left behind

With ways that will not change in spite of change’s ceaseless grind

It brings to mind pictures of school girls, hopscotch, skipping ropes

Of farmers whistling, with fresh bounce in steps of buoyed hopes

Of mothers cooking suppers for fresh-air keened appetites

Of pussy-willow ‘kittens’ and brook-song’s restored delights

Of puddles where paper boats sail, where little children ‘fish’

Of pebble-pennies lobbed, kerplunk, laden with Dreamer’s wish

And the wild rush of freedom as temperatures start to soar

And coats are tossed and cheeks are flushed with sun-kisses once more

Of last year's pup sprawled on south-facing deck for mid-day snooze

Of fantasies of feet freed from time-thieving socks and shoes 

Of picnic-baskets trundled to a perfect place to sit

On blankets spread a world away, as far as rules permit 

Of blue, blue rafters crowning girths, heady with birth, bud-rife

Of laughter, rising, falling on the carousel of life

Of scents, woodsy and pungent, kindling an impatient urge

For violet and forget-me-not and dandelion splurge

Or, countryside at sunset, swaddled in gold-embossed scrims 

Where silky dust-scarves waft from furrows stoked with planting hymns

Or the certain return of frantic, plaintive killdeer's cry 

Or whack! as baseball bats find sweet spots and outfielders fly  

Or muddy boots, where pastures were not wander-ready yet

Or bucket-garnished maple-trees snaring sap-pirouette

Or new-found loot, like sparkly stones, or shells where oceans roar

Or pop bottles to cash in for treats from the corner store

...and willow-wand's first feathered fronds before its sighing sheen

And prickly perches on creeks banks before stiff thatch turns green

Where ragged cattail-paupers wait for warmer streams to wade

But cheered by the shrill ripple of spring-peeper serenade 

I’m glad, when earth starts dancing with first fragrances of spring

I realize for all the changes life is bound to bring

The keepsakes that I treasure no modern progress can claim

Because children and nature are still very much the same

© Janet Martin

(a few tidbits from last year...because we're not quite there yet)

Thank God For Truth

 Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Thank God for faithful fathers

Who steadfastly uphold

The truth that does not falter

From age to age retold

Thank God for faithful mothers

Who teach children to pray

To love God and each other

To trust Him, and obey

Thank God for faithful children

Who love Him in their youth

Seeking firstly, His kingdom

Of righteousness and truth

Thank God for faithful foll’wers

Who do not doubt and stray

But bear truth’s torch so others

May find and know the Way

Thank God for Truth abiding

Divine and absolute

For those, rightly dividing

The word that yields good fruit

© Janet Martin

2 Tim.2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,

 a worker who does not need to be ashamed,

 rightly dividing the word of truth.

Gift-awareness

 

“What you are is God’s gift to you, 

what you become is your gift to God.”

 ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar

...as He rekindles skies with molten gold and rose

The rose glow was brief, soon snuffed by a shroud of impending spring showers

This life we live is like a gift we open every day

To glorify the Giver by the things we do and say

To solemnize the prize that God’s renewed mercy bestows

With praise, as He rekindles skies with molten gold and rose

This life is like a race that teaches runners to endure

For joy still set before us that this world cannot secure

And no one knows how near or far the finish line is set

Before we cross into Yon Incomprehensible Yet

This life composes testaments we should not overlook

Each day a sacred page we fill and God seals in a Book

Where we all hold a precious part in His heart and His plan

And all are called to love Him first and then our fellowman

This life is like a gift we open every morning, oh

Then pray we seek to honor He who grants Time’s fresh ‘hello’

And live as if today could be the final gift, before

We pass over the finish line into Forevermore

Oh, what a dreadful pity if, too late we recognize

The gift of day-to-day was but the prelude to the Prize

But what a joyful morning it will be for all who saw

Beyond faith's frond and humbly esteemed each new dawn with awe 

© Janet Martin

Rom.11:33-36

O, the depth of the riches

of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are His judgments,

and untraceable His ways!

34“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been His counselor?”j

35“Who has first given to God,

that God should repay him?”k

36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever! 

Amen.

Worship Invitation

Isa.25:1

O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You,

I will praise Your name,

For You have done wonderful things;

Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Sometimes I'm kind of sad when a Sunday morning worship service ends...

but though corporate worship may conclude, 

never the worship offered in spirit and in truth.

Happy Worship Day!

Come, Now Is the Time to Worship- Official Music Video

Brian Doerksen 

Not the building nor the vesture

Not in the visible part

Worship swells to our Creator

From the altar of the heart

Not in rigid duty, dire,

Not in pious, performed rite

Worship is devotion’s fire

Burning morning, noon and night

Not by flawless execution

Nor by engaging façade

But of spirit and truth’s fusion

Poured in humble praise to God

To the Author of salvation

Through the faith that makes us whole

Worship is pure adoration

To the Lover of the Soul

Worship He who never leaves us

Worship He who beckons 'come'

The name above all names, Jesus 

Cornerstone of Christendom

Come and join hope's celebration

Universal hymn unfurled 

Worship the God of creation

And the Saviour of the world 

© Janet Martin

But the hour is coming, and now is, 

when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; 

for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

John 4:23

Forever God is Faithful

Redemption-wrought Renewal

Surely all the suffering of sorrow, sickness, loss

would get the best of us without God's comfort through the cross

Praise Him; the best this life affords is free to one and all

Salvation through the sacrifice that saves us from The Fall

and breaks the curse of death and hell the hour we believe

renewing faith's hope day by day, through life yet to receive

John 3:16 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world 

that He gave His only begotten Son,

 that whoever believes in Him 

should not perish 

but have everlasting life.

2 Cor.4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. 

Even though our outward man is perishing, 

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 

is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

 while we do not look at the things which are seen, 

but at the things which are not seen. 

For the things which are seen are temporary, 

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Renewed day by day

Where challenges we face

Would draw hope’s anchored joy away

Without God’s love and grace

Without His promises

To cheer our mortal clay

Without His perfect no and yes

To comfort as we pray

Without the confidence

Of Him, in full control

Without Calvary’s Providence

To save the deathless soul

...till the dark glass between

Faith and Sight melts away

The glory of what/Who is Unseen

Renews us day by day

© Janet Martin

Standing on the Promises of God

Because He Lives- David Crowder