Showing posts with label power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power. Show all posts

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Blessing In Disguise


'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. 
For the battle is not yours, but God's.
2 Chron.20:15

his daughter, powerfully and beautifully sang this song...




The battle is the blessing 
Not by trophy’s reward 
But by our hearts confessing 
All honour to the Lord 

How oft the battle pains us 
Yet it is not for naught 
For when life’s struggle drains us 
We find the strength we ought 

Not by our faulty merit 
Do we gain victory 
But by the Holy Spirit 
Christ works through you and me 

If we put on God’s armour 
Then we will be equipped 
To withstand Evil’s Charmer 
And wiles, 'luringly-dipped 

So do not fear the terror 
When foes of faith increase 
But rather fear the error 
If the battle should cease 

Dear Soldier, fight Faith’s rival 
For He who remains true 
The battle is the channel 
That Christ’s power flows through
  

© Janet Martin 









Saturday, November 16, 2019

Free Reign/Rein




 PAD Challenge day 17: For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Free (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

When thought breaks bounds of order and is given full, free rein/reign
It finds our greatest weakness glaring like a crack of light
The lure of feeling’s fancy trolls a dark and dangerous vein
Craving's belly growls with an insatiable appetite

When want, the author of Excuse’s Fine Soliloquy
Stamps longing with approval, driving discernment amuck
The mastermind of mayhem, dressed in fool’s-gold finery
Seduces us with images of opulence and luck

When thought, ungoverned roams footloose and feckless as the dust
It leads us into places even angels fear to tread
The idle mind, a playground for the lawlessness of lust
The hunger in its hollow raving mad, though fed and fed

When thought, not taken captive wanders where it should not go
It falls prey to the enemy bent on ruin and loss
Where we all would be finished, but for He who loves us so
And guards thought through subjection to the power of the cross

© Janet Martin


 The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world.
 Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
 We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God;
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Cor.10:4-5

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Power Struggle to Joy





My head and heart know the perfect order
Of how things ought to be done
But oh, it seems my hands and feet
Bear a stubborn will all their own

© Janet Martin

When I was a child we learned this jingle to the tune of Jingle Bells;
J-O-Y, J-O-Y
J-O-Y must be
Jesus first and yourself last
and others in between (repeat)

It's message still whispers to me...often.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Honey or Vinegar?





They have the power
To build or destroy
They can sweeten the hour
Or rob it of joy
With them we bind closely
Or tear apart
The beautiful fellowships
Of the heart
They may leave us cold
Or deeply stirred
The power we hold
In the form of a word

© Janet Martin

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Until We Are Weak





Until we are weak, we cannot be strong
Perfect strength is not reserved for the young
But through One whose promises agelessly speak
We cannot be strong until we are weak

His grace is enough for all mortal despair
Our infirmities never exceed His care
Nothing on this earth over-powers His love
For all mortal despair His grace is enough

The darkness is great, it cannot comprehend
A love that has known no beginning or end
Though the Light shines on it, darkness chooses hate
It cannot comprehend; the darkness is great

Love is so abused; often misunderstood
Thus, we are confused when we hear ‘God is good’
Love appeared weak; He answered not, though accused
Often misunderstood; Love is so abused

Love proved its power as the cross bore His blood
The Lion, a Lamb shedding redemption’s flood
From ancient Calvary to present hour
As the cross bore His blood Love proved its power

Until we are weak, what we cannot truly know
Is His perfected strength; He has promised it so
God, give us courage then, to surrender and seek
What we cannot truly know until we are weak

© Janet Martin

 Poetic Bloomings invites us to attempt a Swap Quatrain




The Swap Quatrain was created by Lorraine M. Kanter.
Within the Swap Quatrain each stanza in the poem must be a quatrain (four lines) where the first line is reversed in the fourth line. In addition, line 2 must rhyme with line 1, and line 3 must rhyme with line 4 and so on, BUT not repeat the same rhyming pattern on subsequent stanzas.
Rhyming pattern: AABB, CCDD, and so on.

Monday, March 26, 2012

I Am Strong...

I’m not that strong
The road ahead
Is fraught with the unknown
It seeks to twist
My mind with dread
And turn my joy to stone

I’m not that strong
I cannot hold
The weight of sinful seed
Or with my shallow
will unfold
the strength and hope I need

I’m not that strong
But there is One
Who takes my fumbling thought
And reminds me
that He is strong
even when I’m not

© Janet Martin

…and He said unto me;
My grace is sufficient for thee;
My strength is made perfect in weakness.



Saturday, April 9, 2011

Tool


I write and I write and I write
An insatiable appetite
Everywhere, it seems to me
A poem hovers, waiting to be

Can I grasp with humble line
The thought I seek to define?
Twenty-six letters, my tool
A pen-stroke away from the fool

Wisdom and filth are aligned
In the tip of a quill and the mind
What a privilege to hold in my hand
This powerful tool; a pen

Janet~

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Here Am I


Maybe it’s just another sunrise
In a sense perhaps that’s what it is
Beautiful wakening of deep skies
But I believe it’s so much more than this
As the glory of a new day hails from high
I hear a mighty Voice say ‘here am I’

Here am I, the Father of compassion
Holding out my offering to you
As the Light rends the dark horizon
Piercing through the veil of somber hue
His power spreads across the morning sky
Flooding the universe, ‘Here am I’

Here am I, with perfect love unfailing
Here am I, the teacher of the sun
Here am I at the glorious unveiling
Of another day of grace for everyone
Look up, look up behold the glowing sky
And the Ruler of the morning, ‘here am I’

Here am I with mercy for a new day
Here am I, oh won’t you follow Me?
Here am I, the one and only true Way
Here am I, God of eternity
Won’t you trust the Painter of the sky?
Oh can’t You hear him saying, ‘here am I’?

Janet~

Saturday, March 19, 2011

A Rich Reward


It takes courage to write the words
That perhaps we would never say
It takes courage to love when it hurts
It even takes courage to pray
It takes courage to rise above
The force that begs our retreat
It takes courage to stay and prove
We will not accept defeat

It takes courage to say ‘I was wrong’
It takes courage to make it right
It takes courage to remain strong
In temptation's dangling delight
It takes courage to stick to the truth
When it would be easier to lie
It takes courage to say hello
But more courage to whisper ‘good-bye’

It takes courage to be a man
It takes courage to be yourself
It takes courage to take a stand
Instead of following every one else
It takes courage to do our best
It takes courage to trust the Lord
But if we do we will be blessed
For courage yields a rich reward

Janet~

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Companion...........


You’re with us from the moment
We wake up at light of day
Until we’re fast asleep at night
You never go away
Sometimes you drive us crazy
And sometimes you make us sad
You torment and inspire
Leave us lonely, drive us mad

You never seem to go away
And if ever you do
Then we no longer care to live
We’re nothing without you
Sometimes you plague us sorely
And sometimes you comfort too
Our constant in the morning
Until waking hours are through

We never really see you
Yet we see you everywhere
In every little thing we do
We know that you are there
For we become what first you are
By you our hands are taught
Oh, may we keep you good and pure
For action first is Thought

Yes, Thought is with us everywhere
He is both wise and fool
But we can keep Thought healthy
With a very simple tool
To think of Jesus first of all
And other people’s needs
For action is the fruit of Thought
As Thought plants little seeds

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Friday, November 26, 2010

Word Pictures......


There are few things
Which I enjoy better
Than viewing a painting
With the art of a letter
For letters arranged
Turn into a word
And the scenes they create
Leave the senses stirred
There’s nothing comparable
To move me, I find
Like a picture that’s painted
Upon a mind

Janet~

Friday, May 7, 2010

Power


You make us do and say
Things….
To the right or left
The pendulum
Swings
Good and evil both
Have no limits
You are the beginning
Of what we do
With it….
We nurture either one
Or the other
One we indulge
While the other
We smother
Thought
You wield a mighty
Sword
We see its yield
In our deeds
And word

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin