Showing posts with label Jim Reeves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Reeves. Show all posts

Thursday, June 8, 2023

To Get or to Receive...and a few other Thursday Thoughts

Happy, hope-full Thursday!
Hope-full no matter what!!
because of 
Whose Name we can call upon;
Jesus!

Acts 3:19-20
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,
 that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—
even Jesus.

***

What a peace each morning, to rest in the Giver's Hands 
whatever the day unfolds!
And when we ask of Him whatever He wills, 
then all we have we have received!!
When we neglect to ask, then all we have 
is simply what we get, 
minus the joy of the awareness of having received.
When we receive something
the receiving of it inspires thankfulness/praise
to the Giver!

***

If we ask, we receive
Otherwise we just ‘get’
The end result that ‘reach’ achieves
May seem the same, and yet

Though seizing of ‘the prize’
May share a common end
The ‘given’ and the ‘gotten’ guise
Are worlds apart, my friend

One works with wantful thought
One begins on its knees
Then, how we gained The Same Thing sought
Only the Giver sees

© Janet Martin



***

it is hard to store treasure
in heaven, 
while laying up treasure 
on earth
the measure to whom much 
is given
without heaven's store
bears no worth...

What will life be 
but a squandered
wonderful gift
groaned-grinned?
If, all we have gained
when plundered
is nothing but chaff
 on the wind

***



***

rationalism,
spiritualism,
sensationalism,
oh my!
Lord, pray these never 
overpower the sway
of three little words

***

If all I had was what I give
Oh, would it be enough
To satisfy my mouth with bread
And my longing with love?

***

And this last one inspired by my husband 
who is a truckdriver and just left the scene of a fatal accident
moments ago
(a car crushed by a gravel truck)🙏😥💔

Our life is like a flower
That someday God will fell
...and of that day and hour
not one of us can tell

***

Thursday, June 23, 2022

God's Fingerprints



Now I see His (God's) fingerprints all over this experience. '
wrote my friend as she looks back on 3 years 
filled with tumultuous tests of searching for God's will 
and waiting on His timing...

It made me think of all of us in the middle of
a finished frame...
Some waiting/hoping to find their one true love
Some who have found and married their one true love
and are weathering the challenges/disappointments
that marriage is bound to bring
and some whose marriages are broken
Couples who would love to be parents but that dream is withheld,
Parents whose wisdom, energy and patience are stretched to the max
by 'dreams' not withheld...

Many of us find ourselves in some kind of 'frame' of waiting.
What good cheer to visualize God's fingerprints
putting what looks to us like broken or forgotten pieces, in perfect place
if we trust, seek and wait on Him...




Sometimes in the middle
Of a broken heart
We can't grasp the goodness 
In God's works of art

In dark disappointment
Of dreams not come true
We can't see the glory
Waiting to shine through

Sometimes in the middle
Of 'Remember When?'
God is gently drawing
Wonder's awed 'amen'

Sometimes colors baffle
Sometimes pages crease
Living in the middle
Of the masterpiece

Sometimes God's kind whisper
Transfigures pied glints
Unveiling a picture
Of His fingerprints

Janet Martin








Sunday, July 11, 2021

To Live For Thee, Oh God


When we dissect the moments of a day, 
do we find a life lived for Self or God?

This was a sobering challenge to me recently.
Oh God, let my love be more
than an acknowledgment of Your existence,
whilst harbouring a heart of prideful resistance



To live for Thee, oh God
Affects all that we do
It keens the heart to do our part
To serve and honour You

To live for Thee, oh Lord
Is more than pious nod
To testify with mouthed reply
The existence of God

To truly live for Thee
Means self must be denied
Love’s price is always sacrifice
All else is selfish pride

To live for Thee, oh God
Nobody can ignore
For we all prove who we most love
By who we’re living for

…then when death comes to claim
Soul’s cloak back to the sod
Heaven or hell will surely tell
Life lived for Self or God

For who we love we serve
Life, not lips testify
If we believe, and thus conceive
The fruit of love's reply

© Janet Martin

Matt.6:24
“No one can serve two masters. 
Either you will hate the one and love the other, 
or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 
You cannot serve both God and money.

Joshua 24:14-15
Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. 
Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped 
beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord
15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, 
then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 
whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, 
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. 
But as for me and my household, 
we will serve the Lord.”

Gal.1:10
Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? 
 am I striving to please men? 
If I were still trying to please men, 
I would not be a servant of Christ

I posted the above post before church...
then, lo and behold, our scripture passage for 

Living to please God...
verse 1: As for other matters, brothers and sisters, 
we instructed you how to live in order to please God, 
as in fact you are living. 
Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus 
to do this more and more.




Monday, March 23, 2020

Trustworthy and True


Most of us in this area are inconvenienced rather than suffering...
With limited supplies at the grocery stores
and with social distancing due to COVID-19

...but grand-sonny after a week at home has had ENOUGH 
of no seeing his friends at Sunday School or other 
church programs, no play-dates. 
Even the library is closed.
Twice yesterday he referred to the 'the wost day evoh!' 
Cheer up Grand-sonny!
We are all learning to appreciate more with less!
And what sometimes seems like 'the wost' is often teaching us The Best.
Big hugs and prayers to all the moms and dads
navigating these uncertain times!
Treasure the gift of extra together-time that we often wish for
in those too-busy days

(p.s. Grand-sonny's 'wost day' remark provoked after they dropped a baby-swing off
on one of his best friends porches but they couldn't stay)

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Rev. 21:5

It's a new week. 
For whatever lies ahead that we know not, this we do;
Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together 
for the good of those who love Him, 
who are called according to His purpose.

Dusk's bare bones...


are mantled in white this morning...


To find the courage for the fight
To fit us for the charge
Bids us believe in more than sight
The battle is the Lord’s

From surrender flows strength and pow’r
Such as we never knew
He ushers to the darkest hour
Words trustworthy and true

To find comfort in suffering
We first must yield our will
Beneath the shelter of His wing
He whispers ‘peace, be still’

For there the howling enemy
Cannot invade the heart
And there faith sets the captive free
And shields us from fear’s dart

For they who kill the body, love
Cannot destroy the Soul
And only death will fully prove
The glory of the goal

Thus, we find courage for the fight
Thus, hope will not grow dim
As we believe in more than sight
As we believe in Him

As we believe in Him we seize
Words trustworthy and true
Where only His voice can appease
Fear for what man will do

© Janet Martin



Monday, November 19, 2018

In Case This Is It!


 In case today is our final farewell...
how are we/did we do?

Suddenly splitting wood (and cleaning around the woodstove)
and starting a fire seems like a sacred chore😉


I just re-evaluated my good-byes this morning...
 (I've done better but I've also done worse)
to # 1, "Drive safe. I'll be praying for you! 
(he's back in school for part 2 of an apprentice-ship program)
to #2...highschool-girl. A prayer together and 'have a good day'
to #3 hubby/breadwinner a quick kiss see ya' and 'have a good week'!
(among other conversations too 30-year marriage-like to bother you with the details-wink-lol!)
This poem was inspired by something in one of those door-way conversations...




In case this is the last time
We jump out of bed
Butter bread
Pour coffee, 
or bow our head to pray
Or pick a tie
Or wave good-bye
Or watch the rosy sky 
wake up the day

In case this is the last time
They see our face
Feel our embrace
Hear our voice, 
did we scowl or laugh?
Did we take love’s chance
While time still grants
Its song and dance 
to make life a beautiful autograph


In case this is it
No more stubbing toe, o-h-h-h!
Or second cuppa joe,
Or splitting wood, 
Or dream or plan
Did we do our best
So richly blessed
To make the most
With what we have while we still can


© Janet Martin


Oh! you wanted to know what that doorway conversation was?!😊😉
Well, it was something like
"I almost have more than I can carry!" says he
to which I replied mischievously on purpose, 'more than you can carry!!! SO richly blessed!'
Though I knew he meant before he said 'a good wife would put on her boots and help her man'
(even if I thought it appeared he was managing just fine!)
(even if I just took them off after loading up the garbage and he didn't say anything😐)
(even if I think I'm entitled to a gi-r-r-l-growl now and then!)
even if...whatever the excuse!
... as he drove away I thought, h-m-m!
 if that was our last good-bye I would wish I had put my boots back on and 'helped' him

"In Marriage; it is the little things that are the big things."
When we got the above quote in a wedding card I didn't 'get' it like I do now!

Calls for a re-run of this song!

Monday, October 8, 2018

True Thankfulness


How truly thankful am I 
For gifts that life bestows? 
How truly thankful am I?
Only the Giver 
Truly knows!

 Listening to this song is a Thanksgiving tradition!




The things we have and hold and love
Stirs thankfulness a bit (a lot:)
The things we give, ah, here we prove
The holy whole of it

True thankfulness bids us to reach
Beyond our mouthy flare
To prove the opulence of speech
By what we give and share

True thankfulness is more than noise
Of blessings that we count
True thankfulness spills into joys
That fills another’s fount

True thankfulness tunes hearts to heed
The cries of fellowmen
For we are all creatures of need
Needing help now and then

True thankfulness can never cloy
Life’s goodness in clenched fists
But overflows love’s humble joy
With more than tallied lists

The first response of thankfulness
Bids us praise and applaud
The second response seeks to bless
And share life’s gifts from God

© Janet Martin

I'm so thankful to be part of a church family that gives and gives!
I am part of a team that helps prepare Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas services.
I was impacted yesterday with how many people give of their resources, talents and time to make one simple service happen, all to say simply, humbly, fervently
  'thank-you God'!

  ...and a little Thanksgiving humour😃

While teaching a class of lovely, lively grade one to three boys yesterday morning
we discussed what we are thankful for...
One said life
another family and friends, 
another God, and so on
and one mischievous lad said 'my butt'
I rebuked him with a simple 'let's keep this respectful, not rude' and he nodded.
However, a few minutes later when we moved to mats for Large Group story time
This One Mischievous Lad was soon lying on his back and rolling around 
so I couldn't resist whispering into his ear,
 'remember what you said you were thankful for?
Now use it'
He is only six years old but he got a BIG grin, 
and sat on 'it'.
lol.