To Rich and Poor Alike

More money buys more things,

but never more hope, peace, joy, Jesus, or more Heaven-status!

The way to heaven is ever the same; a gift,

 for rich and poor alike

accessible through faith, 

by God's grace alone

through Himself,

His Son, Jesus!

Who is Jesus?

Below, the link to one of six messages on who Jesus is!

Who Is Jesus? (Part 4 of 6) - 12/16/2023

The message below begins with this statement;

'There was a time when Jesus was God but not man,

But there never was a time when He was man, but not God'

  

Matt 1:21

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS,

 for He will save His people from their sins.”

To rich and poor alike He comes

to grant to each the same

The hope that transcends time’s fleet sums;

Salvation through His Name

Where nothing but faith can esteem

the gift that makes us whole

No mortal merit can redeem

the price tag of the soul

No wealth can gain a greater grace,

nor lack a lesser part

Where man regards fine form and face

God looks upon the heart

And rich and poor alike receive

what only faith can win

To all who repent and believe,

the forgiveness of sin

© Janet Martin

Faith's Perfect Provision

In a week from today, (Christmas!)

Christians will be celebrating the birth of the Object of our faith;

our Lord Jesus Christ!

Luke 2:10-11

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: 

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

 which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David

 a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Romans 5:1

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah!!!

Yesterday morning a plea in the opening prayer at our church service

caught at my heart...'that You would find us faithful, Lord'!!

What is the use of anything else, if He does not find us faithful?!!

Matt.24:13

But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

Does this not bid us plead for Sunday morning's fire

to kindle Monday morning's desire?!!

Doesn't it bring fresh zeal/appeal to this old, cherished Christmas hymn??

Oh, Come All Ye Faithful

So this morning, no matter what composes our fears, regrets and sorrows

we may rejoice and be glad in this day He has made...

for He who promised is faithful!!

Heb.10:19-23

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence 

to enter the Most Holy Placed by the blood of Jesus, 

20by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body,e

21and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

  22let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,

 having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience 

and our bodies washed with pure water.

23Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, 

for He who promised is faithful.

***

Enough to know, though sorrow scores the garment of the soul

And the enemy of faith roars, still, God is in control

The witness of each thought and intent of the heart, is kind

His everlasting love is not a figment of the mind

But is, in every circumstance, a Present Help indeed

To all who trust in Him, He grants exactly what we need

Then, where care’s billows ebb and flow, joy and peace still console

Because, it is enough to know that God is in control

Thus, all contenders for the faith have no cause for despair

God’s full armour will keep us safe to persevere through prayer

For He is in control no matter how the Whole may bend

The Shepherd of the Soul helps us be faithful to the end

© Janet Martin

 

Marvelous Light

Isa.9:2

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

 on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned...

I am 'labouring' through the last books in the Old Testament,

 groaning through the sobering passages of God's wrath and judgment 

for everyone who turns away from Him, because they do not fear Him,

 but worship others gods, and do not keep His commandments.

But oh, wonderful grace of Jesus, always with every judgment God reminds them

of his mercy and redemption for all who repent and come/return to Him!!

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

Rom.6:12-14

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

13Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness,

but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life;

and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Part of Zacharias's song in Luke 1:76-79

And you, child, will be called

a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord

to prepare the way for Him,

77to give to His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the Dawnf will visit us from on high,

79to shine on those who live in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet

into the path of peace.”

The poem below is but a pale halo of awe, for words fail as we consider

the awesome love and mercy of God...

Into the darkness of the world that groans with scorn and spite

The splendor of hope is unfurled to pierce the dark with Light

To salvage us from death’s despair, from sin’s most cunning means

To draw us to repentant prayer where mercy intervenes

The Saviour of the world has come; Jesus, the Son of God

The Cornerstone of Christendom to bear death’s meanest rod

The Great I AM, the King of kings and Lord of lords became

The Lamb who takes away the sins of all who trust His Name

‘Ho, every son and daughter’ the Heavenly Father cries

Come, drink the Living Water from the well that never dries

Come and buy without money, eat to fulness without price

A land of milk and honey waits through mercy’s sacrifice

Into the darkness of the world in need of peace and joy

Behold, a great Light is unfurled, veiled as an infant boy

Who came to bring Justice to earth and hope to sorry strife

To pierce the fierce shadow of death with everlasting Life

…to guide our feet into the path of peace, away from sin

To satisfy God’s blameless wrath by bringing souls to Him

To soften stubborn hardness of cold hearts with mercy’s might

To call us out of darkness into His marvelous light

© Janet Martin

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, 

a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 

to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness 

into His marvelous light.

Isa.55:1-9

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;

 come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? 

and your labour for that which satisfieth not? 

hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,

 and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live

; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, 

and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God,

 and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:

 and let him return unto the Lord, 

and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Because a Person Could Get Lost...

 

The older we grow the swifter years fly!!

This poem began to niggle yesterday evening, on a sunset walk, alone

on a lane that over the years has seen many a youngster racing ahead of me...

A person could get lost while wandering backward through the years

While tracing moments embossed on a tide of smiles and tears

Where seasons slipped through fingers of sunrise and shadow-fall

Till, commonplace we realize, is not common at all

Duty and beauty interlace, weaving life’s aftermath

A person could get lost while grieving bygone’s joy-worn path

Where if we are not wary, we could miss the moment gold

That no miser can bury and no wishful thinking hold

Rather than ruminate about a world that is no more

This day the Lord has made is rolling west from eastward shore

And just as surely as the rest it will slip out of reach

So then, I want to try my best to learn what it would teach

…because a person could get lost in fond futility

While wand’ring backward through a world of glossed imagery

Better to focus on Today, because it is a gift

That all too surely slips away to yester-worlds adrift

© Janet Martin

a few 'wandering backward' shots...

The Best Gift (We Can Never Buy)

Because He Lives- David Crowder

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee-Carrie Underwood

We cannot buy the things that only God grants, through His love

The pelf and pleasure of this world can never satisfy

No bag or box or bank account is ever big enough

To hold or purchase happiness, no matter how we try 

We cannot buy the hope that only God grants through his Son

For Jesus Christ, who knew no sin became sin's sacrifice

His death and resurrection purchased hope for everyone

Who repents and believes and receives everlasting life  

We cannot buy the truth that only God grants, through His word

His word will fill all who hunger and thirst for righteousness 

Therefore we ought to trust more dearly the things we have heard

'He who is just and faithful, forgives the sins we confess'

We cannot buy pure joy or peace only God grants, through grace

For by grace we are saved; not of works lest any should boast

His joy in us makes joy complete; nothing can take His place

His peace, not of this world endures unto the uttermost 

How futile is the search for happiness then, without He 

Who gives us all things richly to enjoy, through salvation

Who became flesh and made His dwelling among us so we

By faith, may see His glory too, the glory of God's son

The things that truly satisfy, cannot be bought or sold

No matter how we try we cannot purchase happiness

Only God grants The Gift that transcends this world's transient hold

Silver and gold can never buy His precious promises

The best gift we can never buy and only God can grant

Is free to all who call on Him; the Saviour of the soul

Though we may gain the whole world, without God's best gift we can't

Find hope, truth, peace or joy; these come through faith that makes us whole

© Janet Martin

Ps.146:5

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, 

whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Juxta-precision (or Dust-to-Dust-pendulum)

In one week three friends from my church family

have bid their final, earthly farewell to a parent!

While still in the stage of going to friend's parent's visitation

it also serves as a solemn reality-check

 that our generation is surely, swiftly, subtly

 approaching the oldest-generation status; if God wills,

(Three-score-year and ten 

or by reason of strength four score years)

reminding us how fleet and short life 

is no matter how old we become!

The older we become, don't we tend to wring from today all we can

rather than looking back too long in longing, etc.

or looking anxiously ahead to what may or may never be?

Treasuring ever more dearly truths like these...??

2 Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, 

so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, 

you will abound in every good work.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We are enjoying a stretch of sunny days,

always treasured more after a stretch of unsunny ones!

Dusk shots from the past few eves...

both curtain close...

 and curtain rise have been stunning...

Twilight’s taking charged with giving, 

as dawn defeats death with living...

Swift each season rearranges 

common scenes with constant changes

Moment-momentous pendulum 

measures morn-to-morn momentum

Beauty’s buffet always laden, 

for today’s trek, always maiden

Twilight’s taking charged with giving, 

as dawn defeats death with living

Certain and Uncertain freshens 

curtain-rise-and-fall successions

Reaching, the ladder to earning, 

Teaching, the scaffold to learning

Greed, the gutter of temptation, 

Need, the flutter of salvation

Love, awe’s open arms embracing 

Today, flushed with God’s kind gracing

Time, a fluorescent wing beating 

a clime of farewell and greeting

Hope, faith’s undiminished flower 

In a yes-nope garden-bower

...where each season rearranges

common scenes with constant changes

Where a moment-ous pendulum 

Measures dust-to-dust's momentum 

...ere that last breath will deliver

Deathless Soul back to the Giver

And what remains is The Reck'ning

For what sustains today's beck'ning

© Janet Martin

More than It (December Dawn) Seems...

This morning kicked off its tick-tock shaped sun-kissed socks and shoes

before I was able to complete the poem 

that burst into wanting-to-be shortly after waking...

The beauty of meditation 

and the duty of obligation

 always com/posing stiff competition!

Sometimes a poem culminates best 

not pressed/suppressed by sheer determination

but by releasing its fragments until they return

in whispers begging to be penned.

So it was today...

I began dipping chocolate bars and maybe because my

fingertips were chocolatey and my mind at ease

lines teased and flickered,  begging me to wash my hands

and capture them before they waft irretrievably away 😂🙏

On Saturday's post I forgot to flip over the recipe card 

for homemade Chocolate Bars, to show dipping instructions.

I am sharing the dipping instructions instead,  from Jim's (husbands') aunt.

(who makes perfect chocolate bars every Christmas)

Melt your preferred variety of chocolate (I used semi-sweet blocks)

over LOW heat. 

(put water in a pot and set another pot on top and let  the chocolate melt at 

around 3 or 4 temperature on the burner.)

(add a bit of shortening or Paro-wax for glossier finish.)

Dip and cool!

This morning showcased a most welcome sunrise after a stretch of unsunny dawns!

Dawn seems to wear a prayer-like solemnity where new mercies spill

As heavens pale and lift the veil that yester-dusk lowered until

We couldn’t see December’s close-cropped lea, the dark and leafless copse

Etched in stark magnificence against brilliant, westerly backdrops

That dimmed and disappeared; earth’s tiered sweeps shrouded by a sea

That drew away Today laden with ample opportunity

Dawn seems to sing! Every morning the old is reborn and made new

As mercy grants rekindled chance to learn to love as we ought to

Humbly aware of He who cares and helps us bear our shares of Must

Before we pass through that last door of Soul-to-God and dust to dust

And thus, because life is precious and Time a Very Fleeting Flow’r

Dawn seems to wake an urgent ache to make the most of every hour

….each moment rife with unlived life becoming lived; the untouched, touched

And often we forget what we beget as dawn is crudely crushed

By hands and feet; demands compete and how we meet them will become

Without disguise, the ink that dries in a Book tabling each day’s sum

While ticking clocks keep kicking off the shoes and socks at dawn reborn

And sometimes we are prone to see nothing at all but 'morn-to-morn'

…and often dawn seems here and gone without a second thought or prayer

A gift from God we barely nod at as it drifts, not to thin air

But to a page, where age to age is recording daily reply

Its telling proof spelling the truth that will be futile to deny

Then, pray that want may be subdued by gratitude as mercy streams

Renewed; where dawn is like a glimpse of Heaven bursting at its seams

© Janet Martin

And, let we forget!!!

As true now as in the days of Jeremiah's lament...

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Lam.3:22-24

O Morning Star

Status Beyond Comprehension

 Who Would Have Dreamed?!

 

Today's post was inspired in part by our message yesterday at WBC

from Gal.4:4-7

But when the set time had fully come,

 God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 

5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b]

 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

 the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 

7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; 

and since you are his child, 

God has made you also an heir.

Yet Not I, But Through Christ In Me

What a joy to begin each week, freshly aware

of who/how we serve, not as slave-servants

 but as sons and daughters of Christ!

What sacred reason to rejoice, 

not only at Christmas but every day!

Rom.12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy,

 to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—

this is your true and proper worship. 

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—

his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Let us serve, but not in bondage as slave to a master must

Never. But in adoration with a meek and child-like trust

Knowing our Heavenly Father, who we are called to exalt

Loves His earthly sons and daughters without shortcoming or fault

What great reason for rejoicing as our lives are sacrificed

We, our Heav’nly Father’s children, (thus heirs and co-heirs of Christ!)

By God’s grace received redemption through salvation’s plan unfurled

Where by nature we were all slaves to principles of this world

Therefore, without reservation, because we are humbly awed

Let us cherish our station, as beloved children of God

Through the marvelous adoption repentant sinners receive

Status beyond comprehension from the moment we believe

For God who is rich in mercy, with his great love set us free

From the law of sin and death that once held us captivity

By His grace He has redeemed us; through His Son He paid sin’s price

Let us then offer our bodies as love’s living sacrifice

...because, beyond comprehension, we through Christ's atoning blood

Are forgiven and adopted into His royal priesthood 

Filling us with Perfect Purpose through this divine unity 

We no longer slaves or servants, are part of God's family 

© Janet Martin

1 John 1:3

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, 

that we should be called children of God! 

1 Pet.2:9

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 

a holy nation, His own special people, 

that you may proclaim the praises of Him 

who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

John 1:12
But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, 

He gave the right to become children of God--

Romans 8:14

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:16

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.