Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts

Monday, December 18, 2023

To Rich and Poor Alike

More money buys more things,
but never more hope, peace, joy, Jesus, or more Heaven-status!
The way to heaven is ever the same; a gift,
 for rich and poor alike
accessible through faith, 
by God's grace alone
through Himself,
His Son, Jesus!

Who is Jesus?
Below, the link to one of six messages on who Jesus is!


The message below begins with this statement;
'There was a time when Jesus was God but not man,
But there never was a time when He was man, but not God'

  

Matt 1:21
And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS,
 for He will save His people from their sins.”


To rich and poor alike He comes
to grant to each the same
The hope that transcends time’s fleet sums;
Salvation through His Name


Where nothing but faith can esteem
the gift that makes us whole
No mortal merit can redeem
the price tag of the soul


No wealth can gain a greater grace,
nor lack a lesser part
Where man regards fine form and face
God looks upon the heart


And rich and poor alike receive
what only faith can win
To all who repent and believe,
the forgiveness of sin


© Janet Martin







Saturday, December 16, 2023

Marvelous Light


Isa.9:2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
 on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned...


I am 'labouring' through the last books in the Old Testament,
 groaning through the sobering passages of God's wrath and judgment 
for everyone who turns away from Him, because they do not fear Him,
 but worship others gods, and do not keep His commandments.

But oh, wonderful grace of Jesus, always with every judgment God reminds them
of his mercy and redemption for all who repent and come/return to Him!!






Rom.6:12-14
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.
13Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life;
and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.
14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Part of Zacharias's song in Luke 1:76-79

And you, child, will be called

a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord

to prepare the way for Him,

77to give to His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the Dawnf will visit us from on high,

79to shine on those who live in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet

into the path of peace.”


The poem below is but a pale halo of awe, for words fail as we consider
the awesome love and mercy of God...


Into the darkness of the world that groans with scorn and spite
The splendor of hope is unfurled to pierce the dark with Light
To salvage us from death’s despair, from sin’s most cunning means
To draw us to repentant prayer where mercy intervenes

The Saviour of the world has come; Jesus, the Son of God
The Cornerstone of Christendom to bear death’s meanest rod
The Great I AM, the King of kings and Lord of lords became
The Lamb who takes away the sins of all who trust His Name

‘Ho, every son and daughter’ the Heavenly Father cries
Come, drink the Living Water from the well that never dries
Come and buy without money, eat to fulness without price
A land of milk and honey waits through mercy’s sacrifice

Into the darkness of the world in need of peace and joy
Behold, a great Light is unfurled, veiled as an infant boy
Who came to bring Justice to earth and hope to sorry strife
To pierce the fierce shadow of death with everlasting Life

…to guide our feet into the path of peace, away from sin
To satisfy God’s blameless wrath by bringing souls to Him
To soften stubborn hardness of cold hearts with mercy’s might
To call us out of darkness into His marvelous light

© Janet Martin


1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, 
a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 
to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness 
into His marvelous light.


Isa.55:1-9
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;
 come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? 
and your labour for that which satisfieth not? 
hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,
 and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live
; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, 
and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God,
 and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
 and let him return unto the Lord, 
and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Monday, December 11, 2023

Status Beyond Comprehension

 Who Would Have Dreamed?!


 

Today's post was inspired in part by our message yesterday at WBC


But when the set time had fully come,
 God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 
5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b]
 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
 the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 
7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; 
and since you are his child, 
God has made you also an heir.



What a joy to begin each week, freshly aware
of who/how we serve, not as slave-servants
 but as sons and daughters of Christ!
What sacred reason to rejoice, 
not only at Christmas but every day!

Rom.12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy,
 to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—
this is your true and proper worship. 
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, 
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—
his good, pleasing and perfect will.


Let us serve, but not in bondage as slave to a master must
Never. But in adoration with a meek and child-like trust
Knowing our Heavenly Father, who we are called to exalt
Loves His earthly sons and daughters without shortcoming or fault

What great reason for rejoicing as our lives are sacrificed
We, our Heav’nly Father’s children, (thus heirs and co-heirs of Christ!)
By God’s grace received redemption through salvation’s plan unfurled
Where by nature we were all slaves to principles of this world

Therefore, without reservation, because we are humbly awed
Let us cherish our station, as beloved children of God
Through the marvelous adoption repentant sinners receive
Status beyond comprehension from the moment we believe

For God who is rich in mercy, with his great love set us free
From the law of sin and death that once held us captivity
By His grace He has redeemed us; through His Son He paid sin’s price
Let us then offer our bodies as love’s living sacrifice

...because, beyond comprehension, we through Christ's atoning blood
Are forgiven and adopted into His royal priesthood 
Filling us with Perfect Purpose through this divine unity 
We no longer slaves or servants, are part of God's family 

© Janet Martin

1 John 1:3
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, 
that we should be called children of God! 

1 Pet.2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 
a holy nation, His own special people, 
that you may proclaim the praises of Him 
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;


John 1:12
But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, 
He gave the right to become children of God--

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.


Thursday, November 30, 2023

Only The Best Will Do or Perfect Best

This is the time of year
we start wracking our brains for perfect gifts
because only the best will do when it comes to saying
'I love you'

When considering our efforts of finding 'the best'
doesn't it evoke a picture of God, 
before that first Christmas morn,
looking down on the world, 
His heart shattered with love as He wept,
for He knew 'only the Best will do!'
when it came to proving His love
 for me and for you!

Matt.1:21
And she will bring forth a Son,
 and you shall call His name JESUS,
 for He will save His people from their sins.”

I LOVE the lyrics to the song below



This is the time of year
Unlike the whole year through
When we choose gifts for loved ones dear
Only the best will do

In this season of love
Boxes and bags become
Vaults filled with motley treasures of
Socks, books, toys, candy, gum

Presents are squirreled away
In unsuspecting nooks
A kind of game that parents play
Lest Curious Youngster looks

Reason softens its stance
As love and prudence wrest
As budgets and hearts spar and dance
To find The Perfect Best

The Perfect Best is love
Therefore, love longs to show
The best it can, reflections of
First Christmas, long ago

When Heaven’s Perfect Best
God’s equal, put on man
Knowing the cost, did not contest
Salvation’s perfect plan

Because God loved us so
On that first Christmas morn
Into this sin-cursed world of woe
A Redeemer was born

For God looked from above
And He saw me and You
And said, as His heart broke with love
Only the Best will do

So, God gave us a King
A gift beyond all ken
His only Son, Jesus, to bring
Peace and goodwill to men

A gift that saves the soul
And flings ajar a Gate
That leads to faith’s ultimate goal
Where God and heaven wait

Then pray, this time of year
We rev’rently recall
The Reason for the season, dear
The gift that says it all

For things are only things
Love is the Perfect Best
The gift that only Jesus brings
Makes perfect, all the rest

© Janet Martin


John 3:16
For God so loved the world that
He gave us His only begotten son,
that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life

Phil.2:5-8
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
6Who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,a
7but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross.

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.





Monday, November 6, 2023

Getting to the Root of the Problem...

 PAD Challenge day 3: For today’s prompt, write a problem poem. 

Below an excerpt from Peter Marshall's sermon-
Keeper of the Springs
(and this was in the 1940's!!)



One cannot fix a problem until one pinpoints the source
But one ought to note symptoms that should trouble you and I
For epidemic-proportion-populace on a course
Of Ignorance to Truth, where empty churches testify
A somber lack of reverence and interest and care
For the Great Certainty for which we all ought to prepare

...and so tis no small wonder that things go from bad to worse
 In laws of twisted logic of confusion gone berserk
Where right is wrong and wrong is right and God, a name they curse
And well-intended master-plans of Fix-it just don't work
In a world doomed to madness as they seek but cannot find
Hope's everlasting gladness that yields joy and peace of mind 

When truth is seen as lies and lies are heralded as truth
It is because the Word of God is trodden underfoot
Then darkened understanding errs and bears pitiful proof;
Denial of the problem that yields problematic fruit
And gross incomprehension of the sad state we are in;
Because they/we do not recognize the root problem of sin 

The problem is not war or poverty, but hate and greed
A proud and unrepentant heart, thinking, utterly flawed
A negligent apathy to sin's subtle, deadly seed
In seeking first this world rather than the kingdom of God
Where empty churches gape and children/people traipse toward a Goal
Ignorant of Love's problem-solving Saviour of the Soul 

Sad problem this; too many homes where God's Word has no place
And homes where the Bible is but a book upon a shelf
Ignoring that apart from God, there is no saving grace
Apart from the Vine the branch is a Dead Thing by itself
Revealing that the culprit in this problem's quandary
Until we surrender to God, is always you and me 

© Janet Martin

Rom.1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 
because it is the power of God 
that brings salvation to everyone who believes: 
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e
just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f]

So many do not know
or believe or care
about the day of redemption 
and reckoning drawing near...

Malachi 4:1-3
The Day of the LORD

1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, 
when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble;
 the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,”
 says the LORD of Hosts.
 “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness 
will rise with healing in its wings,a 
and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
  3Then you will trample the wicked, f
or they will be ashes under the soles of your feet 
on the day I am preparing,” 
says the LORD of Hosts.




Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Praise Him Praise Hymn

 

Yesterday I enjoyed the sheer delight of being a guest 
at the beautiful home of someone who was a friend,
mainly online, as we connected through mutual loves and interests.
As she took myself and two more guests on a tour through her home, 
filled with so many loving and thoughtful touches that spoke 
so completely to my domestic, love-of-old-things soul...
I felt a little like I was in heaven-on-earth...so happy!

Photos used with permission




The loving hospitality of the hostess
And the face-to-face fellowship of friends was the crowning joy.

Now she is a friend, beyond a computer-screen connection💖
She blogs  here- at Homespun Musings
(Through her latest post  you too
can be a guest of sorts in her beautiful home!)

Yesterday's comfortable visit contrasts sharply with
the love spoken of in my Scripture reading today-Isa. 53;
the ending of that chapter steals my breath every time!!
(and makes me weep for joy to think through Christ alone
my hope, my home in heaven with Him has been secured!)

Yet it pleased the Lord to [q]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 [r]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the [s]spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

With whatever fills our day, hands, arms, let's praise Him!!
because someday, because of Calvary, all believers
will enjoy face to face fellowship with Him,

Praise He, whose relentless goodness is enough to satisfy
He whose tender, loving kindness never dwindles its supply
He whose judgments, just and righteous, ever point to Calvary
He whose agony delights us with the hope that sets us free

Praise the Author of salvation with a broom, a spade, a cart
Praise the Father of creation with a glad and humbled heart
Praise Him for His Word that never lies and never leads astray
He who moves faith’s prayers through frontlines that no enemy can stay

Praise The One who never gives us more than He can help us bear
He whose faithfulness delivers us from evil’s cunning snare
Praise Him with a limp, a stumble, with a flying leap of faith
With croak or voice of an angel, Praise the Lord with every breath

Praise Him in the thick of labor with motives of love alone
Love for God first, then our neighbor, love that makes Satan’s ranks groan
Praise He who, scorned and rejected by His own, disowned, despised
Bore death to be resurrected; for our peace He was chastised

Praise Him with devotion’s stutters; who can worship’s wonder spell?
He who draws us from sin’s gutters and saves us from death and hell
Never leaves us or forsakes us; He, well-versed with grief and loss
For His righteous pleasure breaks us in the shadow of the cross/into the shape of the cross

Breaks the pride that authors error, for the sake of faith’s increase
Takes the fear that authors terror that salvation turns to peace
Then wherever, with whatever tool of trade we wage and wield
Praise the Lord, now and forever, for by His stripes we are healed

© Janet Martin



Hitting-snooze-button accountability-I hit snooze, more than once!!😟


Wednesday, June 28, 2023

The Depth of Man's Depravity (when fear of God has died)


There are no words for the depth
of aghast horror, pity, and sorrow we feel over
exploitation and applause of gross evil!


Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. 
Who can understand it?

For this people's heart has grown callous;
they hardly hear with their ears, 
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn,
and I would heal them.'

Rom.1:24-25
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts
 to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, 
and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—
who is forever praised. 
Amen.

Psalm 19:9
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.

For His judgments are true and just.
He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality.
He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand."





The depth of man’s depravity when fear of God has died
When Self becomes the deity worshipped and gratified
When Ignorance is mired in the sludge of disregard
For God, the righteous Judge; when sin becomes master and lord
How piteous and dire are the depths of man’s demise
When lust feasts on desire and yet nothing satisfies

How holy is the God of love, of salvation and grace
His workmanship, without words, proves what infidels debase
The fear of God is pure, altogether righteous and true
His judgements will endure; nothing can His purpose undo
Incomprehensible the thoughts and ways of God’s control
All who believe adore and praise the Saviour of the soul

How ruthless the depravity of darkness of the mind
How heinous, the grim gravity of hellbent humankind
That we all are until by faith the soul’s curse is undone
Belief receives God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ, His Son
Who died Once and For all sinners, to crush the serpent’s head
So all who, through faith, call on Him are saved from death’s/hell’s dark dread

The depth of man’s depravity when fear of God departs
Exposes vile desperately deceitful, wicked hearts
When Indolence and Indulgence applauds the profligate
And fruits of disobedience proudly proliferate
Then, from we who by God’s grace have been saved, rises a cry

© Janet Martin

Rom.11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
 How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!


Monday, May 1, 2023

The Best News the World's Ever Heard

 

This poem was inspired in part by this message
and in part by a broken heart for those
who don't know or simply don't care about
The Best News the World's Ever Heard

"Isn't this the best news the world's ever heard?!!"
Alistair Begg from the message/link below




Here is the best news that the world’s ever heard
Sealed in sacred script of God’s eternal word
That shines in the darkness to give faith insight
To guide and direct, to rebuke and advise
To keen our conscience, lest sin blinds our eyes
To reprove excuses for commands we shirk
To train and equip us for every good work
To walk in a manner worthy of the call
From He who shed his own lifeblood once for all
So, all who believe in Him will never die
Saved from the curse wrought through the serpent’s first lie

Here is the best news that this world’s ever heard
Hope anchored in truth of God’s eternal word
His counsel to help us to trust and obey
To guard us from pitfalls on charming display
Because the law of the Lord is love’s delight
Awe’s sweet meditation by day and by night
To quicken the prayer for bold scorners that laugh
In the face of He who will sift them like chaff
When the day of grace that runs wild through each breath
Is severed as life’s silver cord yields to death
And it is to late to be suddenly stirred
By salvation’s best news this world’s ever heard

© Janet Martin

Psalm 1 KJV
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
 nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; 
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, 
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
 and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
 nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: 
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.









Monday, April 10, 2023

A Hope-Hug



Heb.11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Earlier this week a commentator for The Masters remarked how
there are far more games being played than the one we see on the greens;
the games of the mind!
We can all relate to that comment, can't we?!
But above all that fuels the duels of the mind
there is faith, hope and love. (1 Cor.13:13)
These are no game!
These equip us for what waits after life's/faith's grueling duels are done!
Images like the ones below can't help but rouse a sort of reflection
and stir a sacred anticipation for That Day
when by the grace of God for His eternal glory, believers, faithful and true
 celebrate the Victory of all Victories!
When it will be our arms lifted in unceasing praise to the One who made triumph possible!




Dear Christian, are you discouraged, weary beyond words, with love's cares and prayers?
Press on. A Heavenly hug awaits!



Hope heals many a hurt
Hope drives us from despair
Hope endorses the holy work
Of meek and patient prayer
And does not make ashamed
All who through faith, trust Him
Who once upon a cross proclaimed
Hope that no woe/foe can dim

Though oft we groan with grief
Where hell’s painted façade
Promotes the plague of unbelief
And fearlessness of God
Still, mercy is renewed
Each morn, His truth remains
Where faith keeps hopelessness subdued
Through grace His love sustains

Whoever will may come
Trust in God and repent
Before the certain, sacred sum
Of numbered days is spent
Before it is too late
To prepare to meet God
Because Last Breath has sealed the gate
With judgment’s solemn rod

Without His gift of grace
Without redemption’s stream
How can we bear to think to face
He who died to redeem
And break the curse of sin
To save the deathless soul
To anchor hope beneath the skin
Of faith that makes us whole

© Janet Martin

 In Need 



Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.

But if we choose to reject and disregard Him,
what then?!!
If we choose through unrepentance, God's wrath?!!

A somber reflection from a devotion by Charles Spurgeon 





Saturday, April 8, 2023

What The World Knows Nothing Of...


Sometimes the sorrow for those who do not believe, love and obey God
is almost more than I can bear,
and lest misunderstood, I come across as having all the answers
and everything 'right', far from it!!
but the one/only answer I have right, is by the grace of God 
through the cross of Jesus Christ;
Gal.6:14
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.







Fear, in this fallen world seeks to usurp faith, hope and trust
Without God’s Word to undergird, to guide, rebuke and cheer
How could we bear love’s cross of care or suffer what we must
But for the glory waiting in the Aftermath of here

Where the foothills of Heaven groan with sin, sorrow and strife
Where we, but brief sojourners because earth is but a vale
Need He who rolled away the stone from a tomb filled with Life
The life that will abide; even in death it will not fail

Ah, raise thy gaze above the worldly ways of wanton will
Cling to the sickle of God’s Word to keep thy conscience pure
And drink from the wellspring where Living Waters spill and spill
To sustain and refresh the soul committed to endure

…and tremble at His Word; pray for a spirit, poor, contrite
So, God will look on us and fill us with riches untold;
Green pastures and still waters to restore the soul’s delight
His perfect peace, his joy to be our strength, worth more than gold

Pray for this fallen world, mired in cesspools of despair
Ah pray for those who do not know the goodness of God’s love
That they may come to know He who laid mercy’s coffers bare
Upon the cross to offer what the world knows nothing of

By God's grace alone we are saved; a gift so none can boast
Shall we then continue in sin so His grace may abound
Shall we mock, as it were the One who gave His Uttermost
Oh, may it never be, when once lost, we are found

Surely, goodness and mercy will follow us all our days
Until we dwell with Him by whose resurrection, we live
Where we will never weary of perfecting worship's praise
As we look on Him whom we pierced, and He replied 'forgive'

© Janet Martin

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 
Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 
26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
 Do you believe this?”

Isa.66:2
Has not my hand made all these things, 
and so they came into being?” declares the LORD.
 “These are the ones I look on with favor:
 those who are humble and contrite in spirit, 
and who tremble at my word.




Thursday, April 6, 2023

Not Seeing Yet Believing...(or, See, Lifted O'er the Dregs of Desperation)


1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.



See, lifted o'er the dregs of desperation wrought by sin
The cross of Calvary, hope's resolution to begin
He who knew no sin became sin, so sinners may become
The righteousness of Christ, the cornerstone of Christendom 

See there the tree that wears the blood that turns sin's scarlet white
And bears the One who loves beyond comprehension's vague flight 
He who endured the cross, beheld, while being nailed-engraved 
Beyond the nature of love's call to all who would be saved 

See Him suffer then die, so you and I may look and live
Hear Him, while being crucified, cry out, 'Father, forgive' 
He did not hold against us a debt we could never pay
Then praise the name of Jesus who washes our sins away

See, the grave where they laid Him, it is empty, as He said
Death and hell overthrown by He who arose from the dead
See, lifted o'er the dregs of desperation, Dread's reprieve 
The power of the cross; salvation for all who believe 

© Janet Martin

Heb12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, 
the author and perfecter of our faith, 
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, 
scorning its shame, and sat down 
at the right hand of the throne of God


Philippians 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, 
He humbled Himself and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross.


that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," 
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, 
you will be saved.