Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... January, February and March, 2016

January 2, 2016 | JustAmy; Meg33, The Mayor; Trisham; St.Louie1, Friends, MamaBear

[JustAmy]

Welcome To....


'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets
and those who enjoy poetry.
'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.
Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepers
your thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*.

Enjoy! :)









Never Forget!





Bad Penny



Amy's personal guardian ~
the ever charming, lovable, huggable,
LouieWolf




Many thanks for stopping by. : )

[MulberryDraw]

Thanks Amy. Your kind words mean a lot. Looks like a nice place you have there. :)

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

Starting Upstream

January 7, 2016

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6:8

My home sits along a creek in a canyon in the shadow of a large mountain. During the spring snowmelt and after heavy rains this stream swells and acts more like a river than a creek. People have drowned in it. One day I traced the origin of the creek to its very source, a snowfield atop the mountain. From there the melted snow begins the long journey down the mountain, joining other rivulets to take shape as the creek below my house.

It occurs to me, thinking about prayer, that most of the time I get the direction wrong. I start downstream with my own concerns and bring them to God. I inform God, as if God did not already know. I plead with God, as if hoping to change God’s mind and overcome divine reluctance. Instead, I should start upstream where the flow begins.

Thanksgiving & praise should be our natural responses to God's amazing handiwork.

When we shift direction, we realize that God already cares about our concerns—a loved one’s cancer, a broken family, a rebellious teenager—more than we do. Our Father knows what we need (Matt. 6:8).

Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. We begin with God and ask what part we can play in His work on earth. With this new starting point for prayer, our perceptions change. We look at nature and see the signature of the grand Artist. We look at human beings and see individuals of eternal destiny made in God’s image. Thanksgiving and praise surge up to Him as a natural response.

Dear Lord, I praise You for loving and caring for me so much. What would I ever do without You?

Prayer channels God’s supply to our needs.

Insight:

In Matthew 5:21–48, Jesus deals with the burdensome teachings of the Pharisees and in 6:1–18 with their hypocritical practices. They were showcasing how spiritually pious they were through an ostensible display of their religious duties: charitable giving (vv. 2–4), praying (vv. 5–15), and fasting (vv. 16–18). Jesus calls them to move away from such showmanship and to pray in the privacy of their homes (v. 6). Desiring the praise of others, they forfeited their reward from God (v. 5). Elsewhere, Jesus warned that those who “for a show make lengthy prayers . . . will be punished most severely” (Mark 12:40). Instead of babbling with pretentious empty words (Matt. 6:7), we are to pray with simplicity and sincerity (vv. 9–13).

[left that other site]

Amen!

I love that analogy.
:-)

[cyn]

Hi, everyone! Hi, {Kitty Mittens!}

Well done! That video is priceless! She so cleverly put together those five unique but typical personalities & expressions — she really nailed it! Thanks for linking.

[cyn]

That video

[MEG33]

Good Morning Everyone

I am thankful for birds and red berries to brighten a winter day.
Foggy now but will clear to a sunny and warm 60s day,
I Wish You A Thankful Thursday

[left that other site]

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Wishing you all a perfect day!

((((HUGS))))

ML/LTOS

[luvie]

I'm Thankful for the beauty of the season.
HAPPY THANKFUL THURSDAY!

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

The Best Kind of Happiness

January 8, 2016

If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:31-32

“Everybody's doing it” seemed like a winning argument when I was young. But my parents never gave in to such pleas no matter how desperate I was to get permission to do something they believed was unsafe or unwise.

As we get older we add excuses and rationalizations to our repertoire of arguments for having our own way: “No one will get hurt.” “It's not illegal.” “He did it to me first.” “She won't find out.” Behind each argument is the belief that what we want is more important than anything else.

The best kind of happiness comes from the salvation we receive through Jesus Christ.

Eventually, this faulty way of thinking becomes the basis for our beliefs about God. One of the lies we sometimes choose to believe is that we, not God, are the center of the universe. We think we will be carefree and happy only when we reorder the world according to our desires. This lie is convincing because it promises an easier, speedier way to get what we want. It argues, “God is love, so He wants me to do whatever will make me happy.” But this way of thinking leads to heartache, not happiness.

Jesus told those who believed in Him that the truth would make them truly free (John 8:31-32). But He also warned, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (v. 34).

The best kind of happiness comes from the freedom we find when we accept the truth that Jesus is the way to a full and satisfying life.

Lord, we confess our tendency to rationalize everything to get what we think we want. Guide us today so that we choose to obey Your commands instead of pursuing our own desires.

There are no shortcuts to true happiness.

Insight:

Jesus’s confrontations with the religious establishment became increasingly combative as the time of His death drew near. In John 8 the leaders of Judaism implied that Jesus’s birth was illegitimate (vv. 40–41). When Jesus affirmed His Father and, with that, His deity, those same leaders attempted to stone Him to death for the sin of blasphemy (v. 59). Some say that Jesus never claimed to be God, but it is clear from John 8 that the religious leaders, scholars, and experts of Israel saw Jesus’s words as nothing less than a claim to be God.

[luvie]

Chris DeBurgh~The Lady In Red



Video--Eagle and American Flag

[MEG33]

Good Morning To Amy's Place

Every Day And By Wearing Red On Friday

*Wishing You A Great Weekend*

[lonestar]

LOL!

[luvie]

Very cute and patriotic Betty Boop!

[left that other site]

Happy Friday!

Now don't take this wrong...I have to get new strings for my guitar as I have a gig Tuesday and my G String is frayed and about to snap any second!

No more walking around the corner to the Guitar Center. Now it involves driving on Route 3 (I95 Extension to Braintree.) In The Snow! Eeeek!

ML/LTOS

[ConorMacNessa]

In this weather you’re going to need the fur-lined G-string.

[left that other site]

I got the one wrapped in Bronze!

However, as it sits around my house next to Lynn-Dah, it will be fur lined in no time at all.

[trisham]

Happy Friday, everyone!

May you all have a wonderful weekend!

*=*=*=*=*=*

[Kitty Mittens]

Its So Good to See you, Dear Cyn!

(((((Hugs and Blessings)))))

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you, Dear FRiends, for the Daily Pings & Posts.
(((((Love to Everyone)))))

Goodnight, and God Bless.

[luvie]

What a little sweetheart!

Always good to see you! (((hugs)))