Showing posts with label Labor Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Labor Day. Show all posts

Monday, September 4, 2023

A Very Personal Thing (Life's Labour of Love)

 Happy Labour Day!

Some fruits of labor/harvest are easy to recognize...
like onions!

Some harvests are far more subtle, 
so subtle, in fact, that if we are not careful/prayerful
we might trick ourselves into thinking (for better or worse)
 they will be forgotten!

1 Cor.15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

***
As much as we are able we may encourage and influence each other
as we labor and love side by side, until the Great Divide.
Then, 'each of us will give an account of himself to God.' Rom.14:12

***
2 John 1:8-9
Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for
,a but that you may be fully rewarded.
9Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ
does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching
has both the Father and the Son.

***
None can be and none can do
(Not you for me or me for you)
Though we need each other, none
None can smooth talk into place
The fruit of God’s saving grace
It is personal; the laud
Between living soul and God

None can learn God’s word for me
Nor my prayer’s substitute be
Faith’s relationship maintained
Is not, by default sustained
Each, by thought and deed will prove
Who or what we dearly love
Thus, life's account each will bring
Is a most personal thing

None can thwart what is at stake
Through the choices that we make
For how we influence who
By all that we say and do
Each, in our own hand will bring
(A very personal thing)
Before He who is not mocked
Love-letters of how we walked

© Janet Martin


 

  1. O land of rest, for thee I sigh!
    When will the moment come
    When I shall lay my armor by
    And dwell in peace at home?
    • Refrain:
      We’ll work till Jesus comes,
      We’ll work till Jesus comes,
      We’ll work till Jesus comes,
      And we’ll be gathered home.
  2. No tranquil joys on earth I know,
    No peaceful, shelt’ring dome;
    This world’s a wilderness of woe,
    This world is not my home.
  3. To Jesus Christ I fled for rest;
    He bade me cease to roam,
    And lean for comfort on His breast
    Till He conduct me home.
  4. I sought at once my Savior’s side;
    No more my steps shall roam;
    With Him I’ll brave death’s chilling tide
    And reach my heav’nly home.


Monday, September 5, 2022

Life; a Rollercoaster Poster

Happy Labour Day!
(Here's hoping mine will soon taste like tomato soup, salsa etc.! )


For this Labour Day I chose these two passages below to remind us to
serve with gladness while letting patience have its perfect work!
SO much easier said than done!!

Psalm 100:2
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!
2Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

James1:4
... let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Oh! The labor pains of patience
before we are perfectly complete and lacking nothing🙏😥💔🙏

Jim's patience is being tested right out of the gates this week!
His high hopes for Happy Labour Day 
 have already taken a plunge; truck troubles
changing 'early start' to 'turn back' !! 😓

If life had to be portrayed with one image 
it would have to be a roller-coaster, right?!
(an image used in yesterday morning's message at WBC)
We can go from being on top of the world to a spiraling plunge in an instant!
and SO many unexpected twists, turns and tunnels!
Aren't you thankful God is steadfast, changeless and faithful no matter what?!




The ups and downs and smiles and frowns of love and life persist
The ebb and flow of boon and blow and high and low repeat
The perfect work of patience lurks at every turn and twist
To teach us how to reach and bow and ‘wash each other’s feet’

Where faith and fear, laughter and tears, dismay and cheers conflict
Where serving God with humble laud makes every task esteemed
Where thick and thin of loss and win and groan and grin’s edict
In due time earns wisdom’s returns in ways we never dreamed

The fruit of toil and root of spoil in close proximity
Tests vim and verve and who we serve; The Apple of our eye
With age-old art reveals the heart with startling clarity
No trick or fence thwarts consequence; no truth can ever lie

Hope and defeat clash and compete; bittersweet battleground
Love’s push and pull not beautiful when felled in broken dreams
Where faith refined appears unkind, where bold doubters abound
Where ‘to serve God with gladness’ is madness to most, it seems

Where ups and downs and smiles and frowns of love and life repeat
Where ebb and flow of boon and blow and highs and lows persist
To teach us how to reach and bow and ‘wash each other’s feet’
The perfect work of patience holds refined gold in its fist

Do not despair; the work of prayer is oft invisible
While we who see in part and He who sees the heart entreat  
Until the awesome consummation of Love's Miracle 
So brutally refined, bows heart, soul and mind at God's feet 

© Janet Martin







Saturday, September 3, 2022

Happy Labor Day Rest

Harvest season; the most wonderful, wearying time of the year!
Aren't you so thankful for God's design/example/command?!
Six days labor, 7th day rest!


Ex.20:8
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Isa.58:13-14


Observance of the Lord’s Sabbath quickly becomes obsolete
if it does not spring from the sense of sanctity
generated and nourished by the fact 
that God set apart this day for our good.
It’s not irksome.
It is not a punishment.
It’s a phenomenal liberating privilege.

(one quote from messages below)





I began to save profound thoughts from the above messages;
below are a few more but there are too many to keep up with so
I just re-listen to the messages
 to be reminded, rebuked, re-challenged and recommitted!

The recognition of the distinction of the day
is indispensable to its observance.

The rest which God has ordained is a rest from labor and a rest to Him.
The Day of Rest is a day which has a positive dimension and focus
towards the Lord, our God.
It is not simply kept from our every day routine
but it is kept for the Lord.
It is a rest of another kind of activity.
We rest from the ordinary activity of the other six days.
Why?!
Because we might be released into the worship and contemplation 
of the glory of God!! That's why!!!
...so, the principle stated is such that we might enjoy
the privilege of God's presence,
the study of God's Word,
the fellowship of God's people
uninterrupted by both employment and leisure,
which draws from us a devotion to Christ
in a singular way...


Thy delight Lord, who can measure
What kind goodness for man’s best
Is the wise and wondrous treasure
Of Thy ordained Sabbath rest

Reprieve from workaday stresses
Rest from toil to honor Thee
To worship the One who blesses
All who seek You truthfully

Six days for mankind to labor
Six days for mortal employ
One day set apart with favor
To laud the believer’s joy

..with attentions undivided
With hearts wholly fixed on Thee
To reflect and be reminded
Of Thy love at Calvary

What a gladdest invitation
To go to Thy house, oh Lord
To celebrate the salvation
That no labor could afford

Thou, oh God of all creation
Didst found the fourth command first
One day for rest’s consecration
Even before man was cursed

What a sweet and sacred priv’lege
After six work days are through
One day to pay humble homage
To One God, faithful and true

What relief Sabbath releases
As we worship and applaud
Thy name above all names, Jesus
With the family of God

What unparalleled refreshment
As we listen to Thy Voice
As Devotion's fond commitment
Rests from labor to rejoice

© Janet Martin

Heb.10:19-25
Therefore, brethren, having boldness[a] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 
20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, 
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience 
and our bodies washed with pure water. 
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 
for He who promised is faithful. 
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, 
but exhorting one another,
 and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Monday, September 6, 2021

Of the Wonderful Worth of Work

Happy Labour Day!

Every good and perfect gift is from above..
James 1:17
even the humble spud!
Which was the fruit/gift of Saturday's toil!

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

All over our country we can find Help Wanted Ads and Signs! 
Some today, prefer a government cheque and idleness to
the incomparable worth of work!
If we are blessed with health and strength we are fitted for toil!

Some today strongly push an agenda where hard-working
labourers should give the government power over the proceeds
to dole and divvy, with discretion that seems to have rejected God's Word
and is devoid of His pinnacle of wisdom!

There is much in scripture to condemn idleness/laziness
and praise hard work!
Below is only the tip of the iceberg on 
what God's Word teaches about working and idleness.

Eccles.2:24-25 NIV
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink
and find satisfaction in their own toil.
This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?


Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness 
and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command:
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
For we hear that some among you walk in idleness,
not busy at work, but busybodies.

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, 
and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 
so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold,
 it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles,
 and its stone wall was broken down. 
Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.
 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 
All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

Col.3:23
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, 
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

The high calling of labour is a call we dare not shirk
To toil for God and 'neighbor' is life's greatest, worthwhile work
For the spoil of our toil, as we try to do our good part 
Will satisfy us with the joyful wealth of thankful heart
Where if we are so able by the health that God so grants
We ought to set the table through the work of our own hands
And give to those who have not because they are sick and poor
And live with the awareness of who we are working for
Then, with glad gratitude work hard and give the Giver laud
A servant in a vineyard whose Master is Holy God

Janet Martin

Monday, September 4, 2017

Thank God For Work...Happy Labour Day



 Though to-do lists this time of year can seem over-whelming,
 Thank God for work!
Everything tastes better after a good day's work...whether food or sleep!




Thank God for work to fill with worth
The hand; pray, idleness we shun
Lest lack of cause for pure applause
Robs us of joy for jobs well done

Thank God for chores where Want implores
The idle mind and hand to lust
Look; what began as Curse to man
Works for our good…tilling of dust

For nothing breeds unholy deeds
Like hands set idle in the lap
So love, if you have work to do
Pause for a bit and clap and clap

Thank God for toil and labor’s spoil
Trust Him for strength to see us through
The commonness and loveliness
Of having lots of work to do

© Janet Martin





Monday, September 5, 2016

Labour of Love...Happy Labour Day!





Lord, bless the hope of our labour
In all that we say or do
May it prove love for our neighbour
And above all, love for You

Lord, bless the fruit of our labour
To love You first, then our neighbour
Thus grows a flourishing land

Lord, bless the heart of our labour
Let us not forget your Son
Lest in vain we seek Thy favor
In pagan wasteland undone

© Janet Martin

Monday, September 7, 2015

In Praise of Work...Happy Labor Day





Work makes us weary
Oh, but work makes us wise
And fits in the fingers
Of most any size

Work is a blessing
Though sometimes it feels
Like survival’s albatross
Biting our heels

Work is a wonder-full
Wonderful thing
Work makes time worthwhile
And work makes time sing

Work builds a nation
Out of wilderness-stubble
Work is the laughter
In life’s minor trouble

Work is the hub
Of earth’s wheel that God turns
Pity the one
Who its provision spurns

Work is a cure
Idleness, a curse
No matter its title
Work gives a man worth

Pray to God daily
That we do not shirk
The beautiful, beautiful
Blessing of work

© Janet Martin


If you have a job
Thank God for it! 

Have you ever asked a small child to help you? 
Have you noticed how happy and important it makes them feel? 
We are not so much different, are we?:)

My heart aches and breaks for the millions who would give anything and everything just to get up in the morning and go to work!

Work gives us something that a holiday never will!
A holiday is special, only if we have work to return to.

Crank this tune up to celebrate work!!