Forever Thankful...

It is Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada!

Happy Thanksgiving 

Wherever in the world you are!

Because every day ought to be a 'give thanks' day!

With less people living at home I have (reluctantly)

scaled back the traditional Thanksgiving Weekend bake-blitz!

Like this and this and this!💖😋

But!!! not totally😅!

One of our dinner-guests today does not eat dessert/sweets.

I am going to do my best to make him wish he did!!

All in good grace and fun!

Col.3:15

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

 since as members of one body you were called to peace. 

And be thankful. 

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.

For seasons as they bloom then lie

Like fallen leaves beneath blue sky,,,

For seasons as they bloom then lie

Like fallen leaves beneath blue sky

For overflowing flower-smiles

And autumn’s gold and auburn isles

For little girl with little kitten

For mother-hearts so dearly smitten

By beauty’s wonders, duty-wild

That seem to haste to woo the child

From innocence, to dreams to cares

Beneath an umbrella of prayers

For privilege to bear the smart

Of pangs love’s fond farewells impart

For harvest’s air of urgency

Mingling with awed humility

For melodies that slip and sweep

In leaf-shaped notes that none can keep

For health and strength, though should both fail

For hope beyond this troubled vale

If we repent, trust and obey

He who will guide us through each day

For toil’s common ingredients

And spoil that authors reverence

To God, for earth’s fulness thereof

To we, below, from He above

As planted furrow overflows

With bounty His goodness bestows

Through every good and perfect gift

We pluck and thresh, chop, stir or sift

To awe us as we recognize

What mercy daily bread supplies

For comfy chairs and cozy nooks

For cups of tea and love of books

For hands to hold through life’s distress

To fine-tune fervent thankfulness

With joy, much sweeter than before

The test of trouble that we bore

For faith, established in God’s word

For His promises undeterred

May we never forget to raise

A hymn of holy, humble praise

For comfort to rush mortal frame

With truth no scorner’s tongue can maim

For Zion’s precious Cornerstone

That will never be overthrown

Where, though bold foes may boast and lure

Justice and righteousness endure

Through the salvation of the Lord

Therefore we rejoice in His Word

Forevermore; worship resounds

With gladness that transcends all bounds

For reason to review God’s grace

Until nothing is commonplace

Until the best we have to bring

Is love’s breath-by-breath offering

Of adoration and delight

Until desire’s appetite

Hungers and thirsts for things above

(Not cursed with lucre-kindled love)

Until that great and glorious day

When praise will never lose its way

© Janet Martin

From our House to Yours

Happy Thanksgiving...

Most Humbly Thankful

as we gather

orchards and gardens

into pots and pans

baskets and bowls

it woos a hymn

that overflows

most humbly-thankful 

hearts and souls

Janet~

Ps.100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, 

and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:

 be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

 and his truth endureth to all generations.

Foretaste of Forever

Because this is the week leading up to Canada's Thanksgiving Weekend

I've been pondering various angles and expressions

of true thanks-living...

1 Tim.4:1-11

Now the Spirit [a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,

giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,

3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods

which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

4 For every creature of God is good,

and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;

5 for it is [b]sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

6 If you instruct the brethren in these things,

you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ,

nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine

which you have carefully followed.

7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.

8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things,

having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.

10 For to this end [c]we both labor and suffer reproach,

because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men,

especially of those who believe.

11 These things command and teach.

Here it is again!!

God's renewed mercy! 

Lam.3:22-23

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Thank-you, thank-you, Lord

May Thy renewed mercy 

kindle faith's renewed delight!

***

Not with begrudging acquiescence

Or forced generosity

May more than pious performance

Emulate sincerity

Not to soothe heart-parts still stony

By fulfilling duty's bid

Or to balance testimony

On an ‘invisible grid’

Nor for the sake of appearance

Earning holy brownie-points

Through meticulous adherence

To religious do's and don'ts   

But with unpretentious pleasure

And with unaffected praise

Storing treasure over treasure

Beyond mortal’s measured gaze

With devotion’s willing labor

May life's unfeigned gladness be

To love God first, then by neighbor

Because of God’s love for me

May Motive's earnest endeavor

With genuine fervor brim

In earth’s foretaste of forever

Bringing all glory to Him

© Janet Martin

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

Awed Conclusion

 

I’ve come to the conclusion that each season is the best

That beauty knows know bounds and that it never takes a rest

That the best things in life are free; tis up to you and I

To not miss out on happiness, that money cannot buy

…but, treasure the fleet measure of each season as it skims

The place of our existence with a host of worship hymns

…tucked into nooks and crooks and splashed sky and countryside-wide

No matter where we look God is impossible to hide

…and, I’ve come to the conclusions as the seasons run and run

If wonder cast a shadow, we would never see the sun

© Janet Martin

Eccles. 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

 Fear God, and keep his commandments:

 for this is the whole duty of man.

 For God shall bring every work into judgment,

 with every secret thing, 

whether it be good, 

or whether it be evil.

Where Unholy Thoughts Could Play...

Ps.86:5&10-13

For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,

rich in loving devotion to all who call on You...

...For You are great and perform wonders;

You alone are God.

11Teach me Your way, O LORD,

that I may walk in Your truth.

Give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear Your name.

12I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify Your name forever.

13For great is Your loving devotion to me;

You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

A few glimpses at what helped to inspire today's poem...

From the book George Mueller of Bristol

and The Building of Character by

Rev. J.R. Miller D.D.

Lord, where unholy thoughts could play

And tempt ‘the good I would’ to stray

Where dark despair could defeat joy

And bait worship with cunning ploy

Where judgement could bar/mar gentle grace

And would make me forget my place

Where pride, could with subtle disguise

Deceive good intention with lies

Where I am often boldly prone

To pursue int’rests of my own

Rather than do the best I can

To encourage my fellowman

Where opportunity abounds

And oft humility confounds

Where self-indulgence could creep in

And blind me to its crafty sin

While wisdom calls out in the streets

While excuse grooms its masterpiece

Where unholy thoughts could conceive

A religion of make-believe

Lest by imagination’s whim

The light that I could be grows dim

Lord, let Thy mercy hear my plea

Restore my zeal and love for Thee

Fain and vain is the good I would

Save through the power of Thy blood

Thus, may my utmost longing be

Love’s thankfulness for Christ in me

Lest, where unholy thoughts could play

I slowly, surely go astray

Bind round my neck, write on my heart

These precious words; how great Thou art

© Janet Martin

How Great Thou Art

An oldie!!

Alone With God

Lyrics by Johnson Oatman, Jr

1. When storms of life are round me beating,
   When rough the path that I have trod,
   Within my closet door retreating,
   I love to be alone with God.
   • Refrain:
     Alone with God, the world forbidden,
     Alone with God, O blest retreat!
     Alone with God, and in Him hidden,
     To hold with Him communion sweet.
2. What though the clouds have gathered o’er me?
   What though I’ve passed beneath the rod?
   God’s perfect will there lies before me,
   When I am thus alone with God.
3. ’Tis there I find new strength for duty,
   As o’er the sands of time I plod;
   I see the king in all His beauty,
   While resting there alone with God.
4. And when I see the moment nearing
   When I shall sleep beneath the sod,
   When time with me is disappearing,
   I want to be alone with God.

Love's Purest Harvest

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Thank-you, God, for the toil of rakes,

of pruning shears and petal-tears

and garden tours where farewell aches

with every tug and turn. As years

accumulate with searing ease;

sheaf upon sheaf

of memories

Thank you, God, for beggarly bliss

where happiness and hunger meld

where no morrow can cool the kiss

that weeps with joy at having held

and borne the sting of thorns to smell

the rose before

its petals fell

Thank-you, God, for the tender task

of tending graves; no cruel grief

is this; to linger thus, to bask

in the fullness of fallen leaf

and listen to the eulogy

that weans the whisper

from the tree

Thank-you God, for each little slice

of Heaven on earth’s dust-to-dust

season-altars of sacrifice

-es kindling utter wonder-lust

And humbler gratitude, to crown

Love’s tender teardrops

slipping down

© Janet Martin

A few more 'slices' 

of Heaven on earth’s dust-to-dust...

(Precious) Pearl-Storm...

Once more, moments, like precious pearls, mete morning’s gilt-edged gauze... 

Once more, moments, like precious pearls, mete morning’s gilt-edged gauze

Fresh opportunity unfurls its thunderous applause

For better or for worse, dawn’s river rushes earth and sky

Where we will bless or curse the Giver by how we reply

And we will surely influence some soul we touch today

With kindness or indifference, by what we do and say

Soon blush and bronze of daybreak dons workaday shoes and hues

Moment-pearls spill and roll and bounce through prayers, hopes, dreams and dues

Through thought, through lips and fingertips, pearl-pulsed payoff impends

As time’s fleet treasure-measure slips to profound dividends

A wonder-storm of glints and swirls; we groan and grin and gasp

Ah, life; a subsequence of pearls that glimmer through our grasp

Before the torrential downpour of moment-pearls subsides

And silence tempers the uproar of morn-to-eventides

Let’s live as if today were love’s final pearl-spending spree

Before God unveils troves that prove the heart's fidelity

Let’s pay more earnest heed to the accounting that awaits

Our words and deeds when life’s precious moment-pearl-storm abates

© Janet Martin

Luke 12:34
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Today's workaday shoes are about to get gloriously garden-dirty!😊

Joy Unspeakable

Today's Sunday School lesson

 for my Gr.4-6 class was the parable of the talents from Matt.25:14-30

My prayer is that these little weekly gettogethers will help to

grow their love for God into a joyful, living faith,

wakening their hearts to many opportunities to serve Him every day,

with what He has given,

no matter who or where we are...

that our daily prayer may be at every age

to be good and faithful stewards

Below are a few questions and verses from the lesson...

(good questions and verses to meditate on at any age!)

What are some ways you can use 

what you’ve been given to love God and serve Him?

Why is it worth it, to use what we’ve been given to serve God?

Why was the evil servant wrong to hide the talent?

Rom.11:35-36

“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”[a]

36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever!

 Amen.

Rom.14:17-18

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, 

but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 

18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God 

and receives human approval.

1 Pet. 4:10-11

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, 

as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 

11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. 

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,

 so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

 To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.

 Amen.

To the true follower of Jesus

there is nothing sweeter on earth

than gathering with fellow-believers 

to worship our Saviour!

Here we renew reverence and encouragement

to be faithful stewards!

All that Thrills My Soul is Jesus

What joy to gather together

To be drawn in one embrace

With love’s invisible tether

Of communal hope and grace

Of humble, glad expectation

To be overcome once more

By devotion’s celebration

To the Savior we adore

To be filled with wordless wonder

As our hearts and souls are wed

In reverence as we ponder

He who died in our stead

What a friend we have in Jesus

Oh, what joy His love bestows

The power of the cross frees us

From the debt each sinner owes

What a beautiful reminder

As we join to praise the Lord

To determine to be kinder

To love and obey His word

To find in worship’s communion

Inexpressible delight

At the glimpse of a Reunion

When at last faith turns to sight

© Janet Martin

1 Pet.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, 

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.