Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2024

When Best Intentions Run Awry


This didn't go as planned!


To Grand sonny's 7 yr. old logic it made perfect sense to take a stick
 and whack the snow and ice out of this little china bird-feeder,
completely unaware that Gramma received it for Christmas
 from a family she did childcare for, 
and who thoughtfully picked out this bird and tea lover's gift .
Gramma, (as she came upon the scene of Grandson 
beating the feeder to bits after 'it was broken anyway' 
and before she heard the explanation that caused 
what appeared to be radical unreason!!) 
did not react as patiently as she should have, ahem!!
And then Gramma apologized for her quick and quite annoyed reaction,
and gave him a little 'explanation' on why she treasured it
and on respecting people's things. πŸ˜“πŸ˜…
Grandsonny was very sorryπŸ’”πŸ’—
It reminded me of how we all sometimes are part of best intention run amuck.
He was simply going to get rid of the iceπŸ˜‚πŸ˜‡
but, no matter how well-intended the objective
 if, when all is said and done
we leave someone wounded/broken or in retrospect realize
our intentions were misguided,
 we owe repentance and apology to whom it is due
however noble our initial intentions were!
The above episode may seem like a pale example,
but the principle  is the same, 
no matter what the details of the issue.
As we mature we realize even compassion can make mistakes.
Sometimes love can get a bit tangled in that fine line 
between sinner and sin!
Oh God, help us all (Whether leader or laity)
 to be humble enough always, to stand corrected!
Would that we be sorry when we should!
God is faithful to help us pick up the pieces,
and move forward by His grace,
for His glory!

Sometimes our best intentions run awry
The good-we-would misses the mark we sought
And every earnest explanation ‘why’
Cannot suffice to fix the wrong it wrought

Sometimes stumbles can test the ‘humblest’ heart
Surprising Self with startling clarity
When Noble Reason errs, (if but in part)
Wreaking havoc from flawed integrity

Fumbles can foster brutal wake-up calls
With jolts intended to open our eyes
Because no one is above pride’s pitfalls
Or too superior to apologize

Then, sometimes all it takes to get along
Rather than justify the cause so much
Is to say ‘I am sorry, I was wrong’
Then let forgiveness work its healing touch

Sometimes our best intentions run askew
The good-we-would leaves shambles in its wake
And every explanation will not do
Other than owning up to love’s mistake

© Janet Martin

Dear Lord, remind us, rather than stooping to sling stones,
to bow humbled hearts before you in prayer for one another!

John 8:2-11
Now [a]early in the morning He came again into the temple, 
and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.
 And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him,
 “Teacher, [b]this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
 5 Now [c]Moses, in the law, commanded us [d]that such should be stoned. 
But what do You [e]say?” 
6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.
 But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, [f]as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He [g]raised Himself up and said to them,
 “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 
9 Then those who heard it, being[h] convicted by their conscience, went out one by one,
 beginning with the oldest even to the last. 
And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 
10 When Jesus had raised Himself up [i]and saw no one but the woman, 
He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers [j]of yours? 
Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; 
go [k]and sin no more.”

Friday, February 2, 2024

Nothing But This...

Happy First-Friday-in-February!
F- is for Forgiveness!
***
To hold a grudge is such a heavy weight to carry through the day
Forgiveness frees us from its spite and lets it gently slip away 
Ah, life is much too brief to mar it with the bitter grief of hate
Forgiveness melts its iron bar and flings ajar love's glorious gate 

***
A friend and I decided to bring a splash of 'sunshine'
to February's dreary debut by hitting a few thrift stores
with Extreme Leisure!πŸ˜‚
I found the treasure below to hang in our kitchen dining area
as a gentle reminder of what I/we can quite quickly forget!



Have we nothing but this to bring
To God when shadows fall
To be a gift, fit for a king
Though it may seem so small

Have we nothing but this to prove
The flower from faith’s seed
It is enough. A word of love
A kind and thoughtful deed

Have we nothing to leave behind
When death its due will claim
It is enough, to love, be kind
In Jesus precious Name

Enough to see in every face
The scarred hand-print of He
Who helps us to mirror His grace
With kind humility

Lord, let the Name we utter/cherish most
Because of Calvary
Grant nothing but love's greatest boast
'Not I, but Christ in me'

© Janet Martin

This is (one of) my daily devotionals for this year.


January's 'pathway' focused on God's will

February's pathway focuses on Forgiveness








Monday, April 3, 2023

A Meek Appeal


“I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh
and give you a heart of flesh. 
And I will put my Spirit within you . . . 
and you shall be my people, 
and I will be your God”







Forgive my apathy
My soul, not wholly awed
Forgetful, where a blood-drenched tree
Extolled the Lamb of God

Forgive my wayward eye
From Cal’vry’s silhouette
Where grief does not compose a cry
Of true repentance yet

Forgive my easy loss
Of sorrow for my sin
Forbid, I gaze upon the cross
Yet bar the Door within

Forgive my errant whim
Desires, prone to pride
Unshaken, as I gaze on Him
With Self, not yet denied

Forgive my lack of zeal
For Your sufficient grace
Draw me back to the cross to feel
Your blood drops on my face

Forbid that I should bow
O Christ, beneath thy Blood
Only to return to sin’s slough
Like a pig to the mud

Remove my heart of stone
Break through my ache of skin
With renewed awe for You alone
Who takes away my sin

Forgive me when I seek
The willing ways of men 
Lord, enter in where flesh is weak
And make me strong again 

© Janet Martin






Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Oh, That We All Would...

Inspired in part by Luke 7
It was so neat; Luke 7 was yesterday's Dec. 7th reading
and this portion of that chapter was also part of last night's small group study!
Oh, that we all would identify with the woman
 in this beautiful account of Jesus' love for sinners...
Luke 7:36-50
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[c] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”




‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace’
Oh, that we all would hear
Love’s blessed verdict of release
As joy fills sorrow’s tear
As we receive forgiveness from
The One who knew no sin
But calls to everybody ‘come’
A new life to begin

Oh, that we all would hear Him say
‘Your sins have been forgiv’n’
To feel guilt’s shackles fall away
Replaced by hope of heav’n
No longer who we once had been
As we confess sin’s score
God washes our rap sheet clean
Rememb’ring it no more

Oh, that we all would be transformed
By the gift faith receives
Through Jesus Christ, of death unarmed
The hour one believes
The gift of God, eternal life
Where once sin’s wage condemned
His peace prevails amidst the strife
By His promises hemmed

Oh, that we all will hear some day
‘Well done!’ and this because
We all would find The Only Way
The Truth, The Life; Jesus
Oh, that we all would be a part
Of hope and joy’s increase
As God transforms the human heart
With righteousness and peace

Oh, that we all would wash His feet
With tears of gratitude
Not trembling at the Judgement Seat
Save with wonder renewed
Oh, that we all would cling to this;
 Redemption's gift, so good
'Your faith has saved you, go in peace'
Oh, but that we all would 

Monday, June 28, 2021

Heart-sick

From The Dying Thief- Charles H. Spurgeon
The fact is, there is nothing so good but men can pervert it into evil, if they have evil hearts: 
the justice of God is made a motive for despair, and his mercy an argument for sin. 
Wicked men will drown themselves in the rivers of truth as readily as in the pools of error. 
He that has a mind to destroy himself can choke his soul with the Bread of life, 
or dash himself in pieces against the Rock of ages. 
There is no doctrine of the grace of God so gracious 
that graceless men may not turn it into licentiousness.




Sometimes the heart gets sick
The evils of this world
Can cruelly cut us to the quick
So shamelessly unfurled

Debauchery and greed
Pay no heed to the cost
But dark and dangerously feed
On lost leading the lost

The troubles that we face
Would crush and overthrow
But for the fountain of God’s grace
That washes white as snow

Beware of the soul’s foe
The craft of finite pow’r
Who seeks while roaming to and fro
All who he can devour

Dear soul, be on thy guard
Take up thy Spirit-sword
Lest, by a lie you should discard
The armour of the Lord

Lest, by sin’s sleight of hand
We lose sight of the Prize
Without God’s armour, who can stand
Against satan’s disguise

Sometimes, the heart is sick
Of evil’s hellish sway
Oh God, when life cuts to the quick
Hear the tears that we pray

...and let Belief's increase
Be more than idle talk
Lest faith is shattered piece by piece
Against the Solid Rock

© Janet Martin

Psalm 62:1-2

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Friday, May 7, 2021

Even If...



'We give relationships our best efforts because we love the Lord.'

...and that's the crucial element; if/because we love the Lord! 
It/He helps us forgive even when it seems it doesn't change anything.
When we put Love/God first it changes everything!
First and foremost, our focus.
Wow!
seemed to speak directly to me,
feeling a little/ a lot guilty at my less than loving response
to someone this morning which set the fur flying
(I won't bore you with all the juicy, dirty details)😁
and while we did sincerely apologize
for losing our 'cool', two people in their mid-fifties
are not miraculously changed just because we say
"I should not have said what I did, I'm sorry, (but)" 
But, by the time we reach our mid-fifties
 we also realize how vital reconciliation is!
(I'm sorry without the 'but'!!)

On this blog I try to keep life and love real!
Love is hard, often hidden work, but
vital work, so worth the effort, 
because it affects so many more people
than just ourselves!

So, by God's grace we forgive
and try again...





So, here's to love, even if...

Even if we feel neglected,
rejected, 
misunderstood
Love is patient
kind and gentle
Not angry,
vengeful
or rude

Even if, when disappointed
by the twists 
and turns
of life
Love protects,
considers others
does not wield
a verbal 
knife (oops!!)

Even if, we feel that our
frustration
is justified
Love requires
meek repentance
of self-serving
stubborn pride

Even if it feels lopsided;
 scales of loving's
give and take
Love respects,
lest we,
misguided, think
Self is love's
highest stake 

Even if we lose our tempers/mercy
Love apologizes,
then
Prays when he/she
pushes our buttons
we learn how to
count to ten
πŸ˜πŸ˜“πŸ˜Š
and try, and try
and try again

Janet Martin~

Love never quits

Love never fails
1 Cor.13:8

Speaking of pushing buttons...

If we were push-button machines
we could 'order-up'
and all would be well
in Love of Self's little world...
but, since we are people
for better or worse
feelings and opinions come into play
and our only saving grace is,
'if we love the Lord'
If we don't then long-term 
happy, healthy relationships
are hard! 

...even if for just a bit
we want to sit and
nurse
'poor me'
Love makes us strong 
enough
to get up
and serve
with humility

Love is patient, 
love is kind...
1 Cor.13:4



Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Let's Leave Allowances (for a miracle!)

Due to the explanation here (Poem Tango) I am extending (Love willing)
  the lease on love poetry,
because after all is said and done/won
Love is poetry clamouring to be written!πŸ’—πŸ˜Š

This poem applies to marriage or
Love's Common Carriage called 'us'

"Let's keep in mind, storms never stay
the sun will shine again..."

Last week's sunshine-soak-spotπŸ˜€
(side note; looks like our snow dugout in the background needs digging out!)
Weather is one way of reminding us how swiftly life's landscape can change,
and the only abiding Anchor is Love!

Let’s leave allowances, my love, for fumbles, slips and such 
And smooth out shouted wrinkles with a kinder kind of touch 
Let’s be good friends and not give up where cups of grace ran dry 
Let’s weather life together and give love another try 

Let’s be to one another what we wish others to be 
The golden rule is not a rubric of antiquity 
But is a foolproof principle for people, young and old 
And able to work wonders in a badly broken mold/world 

Let's keep in mind storms never stay, the sun will shine again
Let's not get so caught in the moment we forget the 'Then'
As much as we are able let's soften often harsh tones
And prove that we are grateful by not hurling verbal stones

Let’s forgive one another and release the bitter grudge 
Let love be of sound judgment, then, not quite so quick to judge 
What good is pointing fingers when we all bear part of blame 
Let’s remember Life’s Author and the love from whence we came 

…and leave allowances because we are all learning still 
Then let’s love one another on life’s road, often uphill 
Instead of clenching angry fists let’s join our hands until 
The love of God has worked in us His greatest miracle 

© Janet Martin 

Heb.13:1 NKJV
Let brotherly love continue

or NIV
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters..



Friday, November 20, 2020

Confession is Good For the Goal

 PAD Challenge day 19; write a confession poem

Oh look! He fills dawn's gleaming stair
with Mercy's 'try again'



I am not always meek and kind 
I sure wish I would be 
I hate the shells I’ve strewed behind 
In verbal mutiny 

I am not yet a model of 
Wisdom’s perfected clay 
I am still a student of love 
Learning what not to say 

The tongue is not like ink and page 
A mouth cannot back-space 
A word, when it has fled the cage 
No technique can erase 

One would think after all these years 
Of practice I would know 
What not to say, but oh, my dears 
I fear it isn’t so 

God, rich in kindness hears my prayer 
He makes forgiveness plain 
For look, He fills dawn’s gleaming stair
With mercy’s ‘try again’ 

Thus, I press t'ward the Goal once more
And ask God to renew
His watch to guard the Sacred Door
That all my words pass through

© Janet Martin

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.

James 1:26
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, 
he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.


Proverbs 13:3
He who guards his mouth protects his life, 
but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.


Psalm 34:13
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.


Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.

Psalm 19:14
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart 
be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Well! I wrote this post
then turned to read today's Daily Bread Devotion...
(a very-worth-one's-while-read)
This: Eph.4:29-32
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, 
but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, 
that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 
with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 
 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, 
brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 
 Be kind and compassionate to one another, 
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Thank-you Lord!

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Journey to Deeper Love and Gratitude


The older I get the more real and dear this cry of David becomes:

Psalm 130:1-4

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.




Life can be mean when left to means that seem to make first-impulse-sense 
When we react without weighing the impact of the consequence 
We tend to think after the chink in faulty armour is exposed 
Rather than first examine best and worst outcome scenarios 

To test the measure of time’s treasure that slips through us breath by breath 
Is an awak’ning undertaking that could scare us half to death 
Because the laws of cause and effect are not tricked by time or rank 
Where the reaping is in keeping with the kind of seeds we plant 

To think that we can wink at wisdom and somehow not pay the price 
Or that desire is no liar when it ignores sound advice 
Is but to play the fool most truly no matter how cool it seems 
For consequence compensates duly what conscience and choice esteems 

If God kept tally of our folly who could stand and who could pay 
But to repentance he grants pardon and His strength to face the day 
Love incomparable makes bearable the harvest, not subdued 
Obedience, the evidence of love and humble gratitude 

© Janet Martin 





Monday, October 5, 2020

So Often This Sinner Marvels!

 Romans 3:22-24

This righteousness is given through faith in h Jesus Christ to all who believe. 
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
, 24and all are justified freely by his grace 
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 





So often misinterpreted 
So often misunderstood 
So often, not loved but hated 
Still, God is love, 
God is good 

Ignored or doubted, so often 
Rejected, scorned and despised 
So often unthanked, forgotten 
Still Mercy’s goodness 
Abides 

Constant is His kind extolment
While mortal inhales, exhales 
Often blind to Guilt’s atonement
(yet) God’s forgiveness 
Never fails 

So often refused with boldness 
Man befriends gods cold and base 
So often, still He defends us 
Undeserving of 
Love’s grace 

So often He longs to save us 
From pride’s folly and its fall 
Where so often hunger blazes 
Trails right through 
A miracle 

© Janet Martin 

Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, 
nor angels nor principalities nor powers, 
nor things present nor things to come, 
39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, 
shall be able to separate us
 from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.





Sunday, August 9, 2020

On Learning To Learn...

Life is full of bumps, dints, scraps and scrapes...
that take the shape of lessons to learn

😟

No quick-just-fix-it buttons
When what is done is done
No technique to turn backward
Moments beneath the sun

Only onward and forward
We learn most from mistakes
Life-lessons are important
In spite of its headaches

The best that we can muster
From things we would undo
Is to forgive each other
And learn its lesson too


© Janet Martin



Friday, July 17, 2020

Hope (No Holds Barred)




Where we tripped over stumbling blocks we laid
And plans we made succeeded to our shame
And choice now bears the price we blindly paid
And we have no one but ourselves to blame
When deeds, meat for repentance, proved The Fall
Our God so rich in mercy forgave/forgives all

When consequence abounds in bitter fruit
(For root of pride can yield no goodly/godly gain)
And if repentance is not absolute
We weep and beg upon our knees in vain)
But if we have surrendered, no holds barred
God reaches down with hands, redemption-scarred

When we groan ‘neath the weight of Wisdom earned
Through what we yearned for, long returned to dust
While Thought by human nature too oft spurned
Kind admonition contrary to lust
When we with contrite spirit make amends
Then God so rich in forgiveness defends

When we battle with demons, dark with doubt
And eyes are drawn from Hands, still grace engraved
Then call on the Him, for no one is cast out
Whoever calls on Jesus will be saved
There is room at the cross for everyone
Where God so rich in mercy gave His Son

When we are tempted to despair, press on
For all we bear for Christ in not in vain
And ought we not to suffer for the One
Who bore our debt so that to die is gain
Now then forget what lies behind, instead
Press on toward the Prize that lies ahead

…for when we trust in He who keeps His Word
Engrossed in more than subjects sight-defined
Then we can live with passion undeterred
Vision no longer blurred with double mind
And when at last we pass through death’s cold gates
God who made Heaven possible there waits

© Janet Martin

 Phil. 3:13-14 (BSB)
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. 
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind 
and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize 
of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.