Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts

Friday, December 15, 2023

The Best Gift (We Can Never Buy)



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.





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 

His death and resurrection purchased hope for everyone


We cannot buy pure joy or peace only God grants, through grace
His joy in us makes joy complete; nothing can take His place

How futile is the search for happiness then, without He 
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?

Friday, November 17, 2023

Gifted Gravity...

 

2 Cor.6:1-2
As God’s fellow workers,a then, we urge you
not to receive God’s grace in vain.
  2For He says:
“In the time of favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”b
Behold, now is the time of favor;
 now is the day of salvation!



Sometimes, sorrow for lost souls
is almost more than hearts can bear,
But love clings to love's sacred sorrow
and turns its tears to prayer on prayer

***

Night’s dark wave on dawn’s shoreline breaks
Shadows are drawn away
A tide of humanity wakes
To face another day
To tread the Sands of Time that brace
A very sacred Verge
Where morning thunders with God’s grace
Where slumbering masses surge

The Preacher cries in Jesus’ Name
Awake!’ where footsteps roll
Past gaping graves that soon will tame
The dust, but not the Soul
Alas, the House of Prayer, has turned
Into a den of thieves
The faith that saves obtusely spurned
For a handful of leaves/sheaves

The Son is trodden underfoot
Understanding defiled
Where wrong is right and evil good
Opprobrium runs wild
‘Repent, repent!’ The preacher pleads
While the proud crowds rebel
And poison Innocence with creeds
That lead to death and hell

The ears that hear are far and few
So too, the eyes that see
Yet, morning breaks, and stirs anew
Time’s gifted gravity
Light shines into the dark once more
Hope takes a holy breath
Where Sands of Time compose a shore
That cannot withstand death

Behold, Salvation’s Day unfurled
From greatest to the least
Life cries into a dying world
Dawn spills a mercy-feast
Again, the Patient Preacher takes
Love's post most tenderly
For lost souls, on the verge that breaks
Into eternity

© Janet Martin

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,
 as some understand slowness. 
Instead he is patient with you,
 not wanting anyone to perish, 
but everyone to come to repentance.





Saturday, June 17, 2023

Apart from What God's Grace Bestows



While works do not save, it is a person's works that ultimately bears witness
 of whether or not we are attached to the Vine!
As the fruits of the Spirit begin to grow there should be a stark/marked difference
between the old life and the new...

Matt. 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, 
that they may see your good works
 and glorify your Father in heaven.


    



Apart from what God’s grace bestows, no boast have I to claim
Praise God; where judgement’s verdict rose in condemnation’s blame/shame
Grace did abound, through Jesus Christ, the hour I believed
By the Lamb that God sacrificed, full pardon I received

Shall I then sin where grace runs through and through me; God forbid
The new man in no way should do the things the old man did
For then I mock the sacredness where Jesus Christ’s shed blood
Clothes me in robes of righteousness, but by the grace of God

How can I, who have died to sin, live therein anymore
The miracle grace wrought within ends who I was before
Through salvation, the gift God gives, the sinner is set free
Henceforth it is not I who lives, but Christ who lives in me

Apart from what God’s grace bestows, dwells in me no good thing
Praise God from whom all blessing flows, for death has lost its sting
Because the old man, crucified, wears newness in its place
Where Jesus Christ is glorified through sinners saved by grace

© Janet Martin

Romans 6: 1-4
 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus
 were baptized into His death? 
 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, 
that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Does It Not (Bid Thought to Marvel)


 


Grace and peace to you from God our Father 
and the Lord Jesus Christ,
 4 who gave himself for our sins 
to rescue us from the present evil age, 
according to the will of our God and Father, 
5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. 
Amen. 
Gal.1:3-5


Does it not bid thought to marvel
He who knew no sin became
Sin's sacrifice for all people
To redeem us through His Name

Does it not stir adoration 
For He whose blood was out-poured
Once for all, the soul's salvation
Wrought, through Jesus Christ the Lord

Does it not stun contemplation
That the Son of God should be
Humbled to death's meanest station
On a cross for all to see

Crushed beneath the weight He carries
Sinless, bearing all our sins
For we, beneficiaries
Of His holy sufferings 

Does it not undo vainglory
To view hate's presumptuousness
While love, clothed in bloodshed, gory
Wove faith's robes of righteousness

Does it not renew surrender
Does it not steal our breath
To behold the soul's Defender 
Obedient unto death

Look, where love's manifestation
Suffered voluntarily  
Does it not stir adoration
From the likes of you and me

Jesus Christ gave Himself for us
Bearing Pardon's Albatross 
So that we we may be victorious
Through the power of the cross

Does it not bid thought to marvel
At the hope the cross affords
Through sin's sacrifice so royal-
King of Kings and Lord of lords

   © Janet Martin















Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Lord, When I Think About Your Love or Awed Impetus



 




Lord, when I think about Your love
And what it bid of You
May it revive awed impetus
To be faithful and true
Thou, King of kings and Lord of lords
Author of earth and sky
Led like a lamb ‘neath slaughter’s swords
On a cross lifted high

Lord, when I think about Your Son
Who died so I could live
Who, during His crucifixion
Cried out, ‘Father, forgive’
I pray that Your love would pour through
My redeemed edifice
To amaze, humble and renew
Devotion’s impetus

Lord, when I think about Your love
The Lamb that took my place
I cannot comprehend the trove
The spills grace upon grace
Or the breadth of Thy treasury
From which mercies abound
To satisfy each earthly plea
With purpose heaven-crowned

Lord, when I think about your love
Words fail to intercede
Redemption’s ‘Infinite Enough’
Supplies infinite need
Where blood drenched altars made of stone
Could never satisfy
What only Christ’s blood could atone
The sins of you and I

Lord, when I think about the breath
That rent the temple's veil
And broke the curse that authored death
All other wonders pale
The love that frees, and bought for us
Not punishment, but Prize
The blood of Jesus wrought for us
The right to Paradise

Lord, when I think of who You sent
Spite’s sword falls from my hand
Redemption seals a covenant
I cannot understand
You gave Your Son to take my place
Though You know me full well
Still, I receive grace upon grace
Instead of death and hell

© Janet Martin

John 1:16-17
From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
 17For the law was given through Moses;
 grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 


Wednesday, January 11, 2023

How Awesome is This Place

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,
 “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 
And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! 
This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 
Gen.28:16-17

Echoing Jacob's words today 'how awesome is this place'
of God's redeeming grace




How awesome is this place
Where grace and mercy meld
To bring hope to a sin-cursed race
Through Jesus, not withheld
But, for glory’s increase
He suffered in our stead
The punishment that brings us peace
And triumphs death’s dark dread

How awesome is this place
Of grief, joy, love and hate
Where some believe with humble faith
And some doubt and debate
The way, the truth, the life
The hope that sets us free
Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ
And the grave’s victory

How awesome is this place
This is the gate of heav’n
Where, by the goodness of God’s grace
The sinner is forgiv’n
Not in part, but in full
Redemption’s torrents pour
To work in us the miracle
Of sins recalled no more

How awesome is this place
Eternity’s threshold
The darksome glass, ere face to face
His beauty we behold
Where no more tears will be
When all will be made new
Together forever with He
Who so loves me and you

How awesome is our Lord
Where His grace tarries still
While prophecy fulfills His Word
According to His will
Where earth is heaven’s gate
Then call upon His name
Before it is too late, too late
Salvation’s gift to claim

© Janet Martin

Rev.21:5
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.”

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Like Velvet Tulle

Below is a paragraph from the study page for the leaders
of last Sunday's Sunday School lesson...
sound encouragement/wisdom to live by
as we dwell on the theme of faithfulness!

'We can’t undo the past, but we can be decisively committed to the next step, 
the next moment, and the next opportunity.
What if you committed to faithfulness one day at a time?
 And what if your faithfulness marked the people around you in significant ways? 
Then I would imagine that your faithfulness 
will lead to future opportunities for greater influence.
Don’t waste today.
Be faithful to your purpose 
to live as the salt of the earth 
and the light of the world.
And God will use you today and, Lord willing, 
multiply your efforts and opportunities tomorrow.' -The Gospel Project

Since last Thursday our area is an ice-and-snow castle!!



Like velvet tulle the crepuscule of night dissolves; it falls
Like paper from a gift that lifts the darkness from earth’s halls
Like whispers of mercy and love brushing shadows awry
Like a fresh sheet beneath our feet that reaches to the sky
Like smiles across the miles that toss barges of want and need
Like little boats or music notes that bob and press and plead
Like melodies in symphonies where seasons rise and fall
Like music bars or shooting stars or like a madrigal
To fill that cast of Almost Past with what none should ignore
Today; the place where by God’s grace it spills from shore to shore
To set the stage, where age to age the fruit of choice becomes
At that last breath the life and death of very sacred sums
When, like soft tulle the crepuscule of time and grace will fade
Like mist upon the Sealed Bygone of choices we have made

© Janet Martin

Psalm 51:15-17
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.


Tuesday, December 13, 2022

A Get-Rich-Quick-Forever Gift!

 

Inspired by the riches of Ephesians 1&2, Phil. 2, and so many more scriptures
All hinged to the Reason for the Christmas Season
Oh may we desire the wealth of spiritual blessing
possible only if we receive The Gift. God's Gift of grace

(Note: this is not a wealth of ease and material opulence,
because this wealth was bought with a great price!
But the price gives us access to all the priceless promises of God)





Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms 
with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Eph.1:3

God’s gift of glorious grace
In meanest cradle lies
The riches of redemption veiled
In baby’s newborn cries
The hope of humankind
Descends from Heaven’s throne
To mercy’s masterpiece designed
Death’s sentence to atone
Through the shed blood of Christ
God trumps Lucifer’s schemes
From His Own Offspring sacrificed
Pardon’s profusion streams

…to lowly sons of earth
The holy Son of God
Suffered the pains of human birth
To bear rejection’s rod
…and suffer unto death
Even death on a cross
The King of kings offered Himself
To be a Lamb for us
The Son of God became
The Name believer’s hail
He suffered crucifixion’s shame
To rend the temple’s veil

So, all may freely come
Hope’s riches to embrace
The Cornerstone of Christendom
God’s gift of glorious grace
No more to be enslaved
By doubt, greed, pride and fear
But through faith, by grace we are saved
We, once far off brought near
To taste death's sweet release
Where Jesus took our place
His blood, the purchase price of peace
God’s gift of glorious grace

Ah, here all praise begins
Death falls like shackles spliced
We, who were dead in our sins
Are made alive with Christ
God, who is rich in love
Forgives this sinful race
Through the exceeding riches of
Jesus, God’s gift of grace
That in ages to come
His kindness might be known
Through we who benefited from
The kindness Christ has shown

© Janet Martin






Sunday, September 18, 2022

The Masterpiece of Grace



I began writing this poem early this morning without any idea what today's message would be!
But the passage for the inspiration of this poem was part of this morning's message at WBC!

1 John 4: 11-12
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 
12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, 
God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.

I have been reading a lot in Ephesians and 1,2&3rd John recently!
So, the 'message' in the message reiterated a lot of what has been on my heart!
Thank-you God (and Gary)



Oh! Pray that most stunningly profound moment takes place
when we are utterly awed by God's unfathomable grace
that His love bestows on all who call on Him,
in repentance and belief,
and then, our only possible reply can be




Love leaps with joy’s sweet poses and in sorrow weeps and mourns
It awes us with its roses, and it pricks us with its thorns
It uplifts hearts with gladness, and it weighs hearts down with care
The utmost happy sadness that mortal will ever bear

It soothes and stuns; it sears and cheers and wounds and heals, oh my
It binds and frees and finds its knees beneath its weighted sigh
It satisfies our deepest need but cannot succour Self
It is an enemy of greed and miser’s hoarded pelf

Daily it dies unnumbered deaths yet is life to the full
Of priceless worth and yet to keep it is impossible
For until it is given, none its merit can applaud
A mirror made in Heaven to reflect the proof/love of God

Love suffers long and it is kind no matter what the price
The crown jewel of blessing lined with constant sacrifice
The tally of its treasure reckoned in regions above
On ledgers beyond measure because who can fathom love?

Love yields, yet clings to what is right, often misunderstood
Love is a peacemaker that fights with all its might for good
Love lends a helping hand and walks a second mile or ten
Because love, the greatest command is God in us, amen

No flesh can force, form or plan love from matter, tangible 
The divine mesh of God in man is unfathomable
Where without love/God no one can set the building blocks in place
On The Cornerstone that begets The Masterpiece of Grace 

© Janet Martin



Saturday, March 26, 2022

Above, Beyond and Over All

A lone dove coos...

In spite of, amidst, into life's lease of woes
To take the sting from the its biting blows
God's grace and glory and goodness flows...

Sometimes it would be easy to be overwhelmed by
the darkness of this world,
 the hate, the wars,
the grief this brings to loved ones,
 the spiteful critic's tongue,
the constant arguing, 
finger-pointing, fault-finding, failure
 (because we are human)
but for the glory of God's love 
that still spills in more ways
than hate could ever infringe upon!
Thus we are overcome with love and hope
 rather than hate or despair.
Hallelujah!

 And from its labyrinth of limbs, a hymn of happiness...


...this 'finch-hymn' filled the snowflake-filigree-ed March morning!



this poem was going to be a quick four-liner due to a long to-do list today,
then it became an eight-liner, then twelve, 
then I decided to just let go of Time's restraints 
and let the ink flow🙏💗😊 

Amidst the misery and mayhem of this troubled world
A snowflake falls, a lone dove coos, a sunrise is unfurled
The bloom undoes the casing of a bud, a bulb, a seed
And stuns us with the loveliness that God alone can breed

Into the brokenness that ended Eden’s paradise
A dewdrop gleams, a flower beams, a newborn baby cries
Winter yields to the woo of spring, the tree redons its tress
And from its labyrinth of limbs, a hymn of happiness

Among love’s thorns that prick and pierce with fierce and bitter sting
Kindness still smiles and walks a second mile; brooks laugh and sing
And where it sometimes seems the earth is a showcase of death
God proves His faithfulness with birth; wonder still steals our breath

In spite of sorrow’s agonizing, unrelenting ways
The wind still whispers in the willow; humble faith still prays
A child still melts the heart where Innocence its Hour wills
Mercy renews its vows and rends night’s veil; God’s glory spills

Above, beyond and over-all, where sinful boast runs bold
The divine faithfulness of God prevails ten-thousand-fold
In spite of mortal misery, God's love still never fails
The greatness of His majesty in victory prevails

Beyond the scope of what we see a better morning waits
Where hope will turn to jubilee beyond time's tear-stained gates
Thus now, though we are wearied by faith's foe, redemption flows
Still, still amidst the misery and mayhem blooms Love's Rose
 
© Janet Martin

1 Chron.29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory,
 The victory and the majesty; 
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
 And You are exalted as head over all.




Tuesday, December 28, 2021

While Love, Not Hate Flings Wide Dawn's Gate

While love, not hate flings wide dawn’s gate; 
life’s wonders wait to steal our breath


The hand that threads the wand that weds 
dawn’s bronze and reds to night undone
Cannot be swayed;


Love does not fail but rends night’s veil 
and tips dawn's grail of grace instead


Without love's promises 
in the Word of God
to anchor hope
and secure joy
We are prey 
for dread's deadly demons
set to loot frail soul-vessels
with brute fear 

This morning in the dark before dawn
the immense sense of impending gloom and doom
fell away in the light of God's Word 

Jude 1:20-21
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up
 in your most holy faith
 and praying in the Holy Spirit, 
 keep yourselves in God’s love 
as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 
to bring you to eternal life.

In the face of so much hardship all around us
may we never lose sight of the joy of
faith's glorious, flawless facts
 'bringing us to eternal life'.



In time’s showcase of doubt, we brace ourselves to face forecasts of doom
While mercy swells from ancient wells to toll hope’s bells with joy, not gloom
Deathtraps to happiness seem set to collapse ‘perhaps yes’ with ‘nay’
While God attends the rod that rends night’s veil and bends the dark with day

Dread’s demons lurk; their doleful work of woe berserk with throes of death
While love, not hate flings wide dawn’s gate; life’s wonders wait to steal our breath
For we are not by God forgotten; we, so rotten to the core
Still sole heirs of His grace and love; guilt’s trove spoiled with goodness galore

The hand that threads the wand that weds dawn’s bronze and reds to night undone
Cannot be swayed; this day He made both field and Reaper’s blade in one
Do not despair, but be aware; life’s care is but the thoroughfare
That leads back to, not what but Who offers true joy beyond compare

Who can afford God’s love ignored and the reward that Truth exacts
While skylines brim with proof of Him where none can dim Faith’s flawless facts
Of God in charge, though World at Large may barge where angels fear to tread
Love does not fail but rends night’s veil and tips dawn's grail of grace instead

© Janet Martin

Friday, July 30, 2021

Prime of Grace


As I opened my eyes after
bringing before the Lord my fears, cares, gratitude and hopes
the sun burst over the horizon to crown new day 
with the declaration of God's glory!




Psalm 5:3 BSB
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice;
 at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.




 
The prime of time is blushing where Today is always new
The rhythm of Reason rushing its melodists through and through
Past’s phoenix taunts trust’s trial-run where oft we slip and slide
(So many wily ways to sun and preen feathers of pride)

The prime of life presents itself in Time’s most perfect form
Where, with crumbs brushed from yester-shelf a brand-new day is born
Soft-wafted pink and gold beguiles and fills our smiles with awe
While lofty ‘think’, oft bold, defiles, if thought rivals God’s law

The prime of hope and dream’s crescendo floods the earth with light
The clime/climb forged from bygone’s memento births morn’s maiden flight
Where all together we must weather what dawn’s spawn will bring
To test the leather of faith’s tether, oft with suffering

The prime of time is streaming through the Hand that gives and takes
Where live-and-learn is teeming with happiness and heartaches
As we proceed where want and need in fearless fathoms flow
But never can exceed God’s primal grace whereby we go

© Janet Martin








Lam.3:22-23
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Our Greatest Awe of All

 Today's Daily Bread Bible reading is one of my favorite passages of scripture;

Eph.2:4-10

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 
 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
 (by grace you have been saved), 
 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 
 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
 in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 
 For by grace you have been saved through faith, 
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 
 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.




The wonders of creation, too manifold to tell
Still pale when in comparison to Living Water’s well
A worldwide invitation to come, to taste and see
The wonders of salvation through grace that sets us free
Where no more condemnation awaits all who believe
In He who paid our pardon, so mortal may receive
Redemption, thus exemption from death’s inherent doom
The hour of repentance, the flower of the tomb
Where the grave has no power, because of Calvary
Where Jesus became our scapegoat and victory
Where all who come to Jesus, He will not turn away
He gave His life to free us from Debt we could not pay
Then come, taste and behold through faith, Mercy's miracle 
The wonders of salvation, our greatest awe of all

© Janet Martin

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

What A Love!

 

Today, for some Christians, Lent begins.
This meditation is a reflection
to remind us we give
because
we have been given!

How does one select only one,
from a vast collection of amazing renditions of this song; 


Redemption, what a word 
Released from a debt we incurred 
Forgiveness signed by blood of He 
Who authored sky and sod and sea 
And died upon a cross for us 
Redeemed from sin by Him, Jesus 

Salvation, what a gift 
Divine atonement spans the rift 
That began when Adam and Eve 
Were ripe and ready to deceive 
When doubting God, they ate the fruit 
That He forbade, and sin took root 

Grace, mercy’s uttermost 
Saved, not by works lest any boast 
But for man’s universal Fall 
He sealed our pardon once for all 
And will our every sin forgive 
To all who repent, look, and live 

Hope, what a glorious goal
Awaits faith's death-victorious soul
No one can add or take away
What Christ accomplished on that day
When from death to life He arose
Triumphant over Eden's woes

Jehovah, what a God 
Demons tremble and saints applaud 
He who is coming back again 
But not even angels know when 
We will behold heavens ablaze 
With Son of Man, Ancient of Days 

© Janet Martin 

Monday, January 4, 2021

Of Circumstance and Mercy-Grants...

 His Mercy Is More



Isa.63:7

I will tell of the LORD's unfailing love. 
I will praise the LORD for all he has done. 
I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, 
which he has granted according to his mercy and love.


Life could overload love with care 
And drain us of the strength to bear 
What circumstance and mercy grants 
To test the purpose of the prayer 

Life could rob us of happiness 
That only joy and peace possess 
Where only trust in Mercy’s Must 
Achieves its holy hopefulness 

Life could distract us from the goal 
With that which wraps around the Soul 
When we forget Mercy’s paid debt 
and the Yet, after Time’s brief toll 

Life could trick us into despair 
When lies, disguised as loving care 
Are calloused to Mercy’s kind Who 
Delivers us from evil’s snare 

Life could feel like a futile chase 
The future too fearful to face 
Without belief in Mercy’s Chief 
The One True God of love and grace 

Life would do all of this without
One greater than the weight of doubt
He broke sin's chains through Mercy's pains
To prove the love life is about

So life is more than load of care
That would drain us of strength to bear
What circumstance and Mercy grants
Through perfect Love beyond compare

© 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.