Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... July, August and September 2016

July 1, 2016 | JustAmy; Meg33, The Mayor; Trisham;

[GailA]

Good luck on your cataract surgery. Been there twice. Doesn’t take the surgeon long these days. Worst is all those eye drops to be used. Expect a film to form and a laser YAG to take it off, quite normal. They’ve improved a lot. Hubby popped 1 lens out of my glasses so I could still see out of the other eye. You will still need glasses as lenses are mono vision no astigmatism correction.

[The Mayor]

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Something I Should Know?

July 13, 2016

He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Matthew 14:23

During a concert, singer-songwriter David Wilcox responded to a question from the audience about how he composes songs. He said there are three aspects to his process: a quiet room, an empty page, and the question, “Is there something I should know?” It struck me as a wonderful approach for followers of Jesus as we seek the Lord’s plan for our lives each day.

Throughout Jesus’s public ministry, He took time to be alone in prayer. After feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, He sent His disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee by boat while He dismissed the crowd (Matt. 14:22). “After [Jesus] had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone” (v. 23).

Lord, speak to me by Your Spirit and Your written Word

If the Lord Jesus saw the need to be alone with His Father, how much more do we need a daily time of solitude to pour out our hearts to God, ponder His Word, and prepare to follow His directions. A quiet room—anywhere we can focus on the Lord without distractions. An empty page—a receptive mind, a blank sheet of paper, a willingness to listen. Is there something I should know? “Lord, speak to me by Your Spirit, Your written Word, and the assurance of Your direction.”

From that quiet hillside, Jesus descended into a violent storm, knowing exactly what His Father wanted Him to do (vv. 24–27).

Taking time to be with God is the best place to find strength.

INSIGHT:

Prayer was the essence of Jesus’s relationship with the Father. He often withdrew to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 9:18). Sometimes He spent long hours communicating with His Father (Luke 6:12; John 17) and other times He prayed short, quick prayers (Matt. 14:19; Luke 23:34,46; John 12:27).

[Kitty Mittens]

Prayers for a Quick Recovery, Dear Amy.
(((((God Bless, and Hugs!)))))

[The Mayor]

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From Mourning to Dancing

July 14, 2016

He has sent me . . . to bestow on [those who grieve] a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning. Isaiah 61:1, 3

“We’re cutting your job.” A decade ago those words sent me reeling when the company I worked for eliminated my position. At the time, I felt shattered, partly because my identity was so intertwined with my role as editor. Recently I felt a similar sadness when I heard that my freelance job was ending. But this time I didn’t feel rocked at my foundation, because over the years I have seen God’s faithfulness and how He can turn my mourning to joy.

Though we live in a fallen world where we experience pain and disappointment, the Lord can move us from despair to rejoicing, as we see in Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of Jesus (Isa. 61:1–3). The Lord gives us hope when we feel hopeless; He helps us to forgive when we think we can’t; He teaches us that our identity is in Him and not in what we do. He gives us courage to face an unknown future. When we wear the rags of “ashes,” He gently gives us a coat of praise.

God can bring times of growth out of our times of heartache.

When we face loss, we shouldn’t run from the sadness, but neither do we want to become bitter or hardened. When we think about God’s faithfulness over the years, we know that He’s willing and able to turn our grief to dancing once again—to give us sufficient grace in this life and full joy in heaven.

Father God, You turned Jesus’s pain on the cross into our best gift ever. Deepen my faith that I may welcome Your life-changing love into my life.

God can bring times of growth out of our times of heartache.

 

INSIGHT:

Having warned the Israelites of exile in Babylon (Isa. 39:6–7), Isaiah now offers comforts that God will restore them (chapters 40–66). Isaiah 61 speaks of God’s grace as He delivers His people from bondage (vv. 1–3) and of God’s glory as He blesses them (vv. 4–11). In today’s passage, Isaiah writes about the identity and ministry of the Deliverer (vv. 1–3). At the start of His public ministry, Jesus read from this passage (Luke 4:18–19) and publicly affirmed that He is the Messiah Isaiah spoke of (v. 21). Already anointed by the Spirit (3:21–22; 4:1), Jesus came to preach the good news, to heal, to deliver, to restore, and to bless (Isa. 61:1–3) so that we can live holy lives that display “his splendor” (v. 3).

[luvie]

Thankful for God's creation!
Happy Thankful Thursday!

[The Mayor]

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Unexpected

July 15, 2016

Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39

In the midday heat of summer, while traveling in the American South, my wife and I stopped for ice cream. On the wall behind the counter we saw a sign reading, “Absolutely No Snowmobiling.” The humor worked because it was so unexpected.

Sometimes saying the unexpected has the most effect. Think of this in regard to a statement by Jesus: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39). In a kingdom where the King is a servant (Mark 10:45), losing your life becomes the only way to find it. This is a startling message to a world focused on self-promotion and self-protection.

Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice. -Henry Liddon

In practical terms, how can we “lose our life”? The answer is summed up in the word sacrifice. When we sacrifice, we put into practice Jesus’s way of living. Instead of grasping for our own wants and needs, we esteem the needs and well-being of others.

Jesus not only taught about sacrifice but He also lived it by giving Himself for us. His death on the cross became the ultimate expression of the heart of the King who lived up to His own words: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Loving Father, teach me the heart of Christ, that I might more fully appreciate the sacrifice He has made for me and be willing to sacrifice myself for others.

Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice.  Henry Liddon

INSIGHT:

After appointing twelve men as His disciples (Matt. 10:1–4), Jesus gave them their first assignment to go and preach the good news that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” (v. 7). Jesus warned that people in the world would not want to hear about Him: “You will be hated by everyone because of me” (v. 22). We, too, may be ignored, opposed, rejected, persecuted, and even killed (vv. 16–22). It may cost us to share the gospel with others, and we may experience hostility even from our own family (vv. 35–36). To overcome these challenges, Jesus calls for a commitment to Him that is greater than any other (vv. 37–39).

[luvie]

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD~RED DRESS

[left that other site]

A Blessed Red Friday To You

Remembering All who put their life on the line for the cause of Freedom.

((((HUGS))))

ML/LTOS

[luvie]

Amen!!

[The Mayor]

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The Gift and the Giver

July 16, 2016

Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us. Luke 1:78 nlt

It's only a keychain. Five little blocks held together by a shoelace. My daughter gave it to me years ago when she was seven. Today the lace is frayed and the blocks are chipped, but they spell a message that never grows old: “I ♥ DAD.”

The most precious gifts are determined not by what went into them, but by who they are from. Ask any parent who ever received a bouquet of dandelions from a chubby hand. The best gifts are valued not in money but in love.

Jesus, thank You for Your gift of forgiveness and life through You.

Zechariah understood that. We hear it in his prophetic song as he praised God for giving him and his wife Elizabeth their son John when they were well past their childbearing years (Luke 1:67–79). Zechariah rejoiced because John was to be a prophet who would proclaim God’s greatest gift to all people—the coming Messiah: “Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us” (Luke 1:78 nlt). Those words point to a gift given with so much love that it will even “shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death” (1:79).

The sweetest gift we can receive is God's tender mercy—the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus. That gift cost Him dearly at the cross, but He offers it freely out of His deep love for us.

Jesus, thank You for Your gift of forgiveness and life through You. I receive Your gift with joy.

Jesus is both the Gift and the Giver.

INSIGHT:

Luke 1:67–79 is a great example of the complex literary structure of the Bible where poetry intertwines with prose. Luke is telling a story—actually two stories that overlap and interconnect: the angelic announcement and subsequent birth of John the Baptist and the angelic announcement of Jesus’s birth and Mary’s subsequent pregnancy. Each story includes a song (Mary’s—Luke 1:46–55; Zechariah’s—Luke 1:67–79). It is in response to the birth of his son and the coming arrival of the Messiah that Zechariah cries out, “The God of Israel . . . has come to his people and redeemed them” (Luke 1:68).

[trisham]

Step with care and
great tact, and
remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act

Dr. Seuss

Happy Caturday, Dogurday and Bunnyday, everyone!

[left that other site]

Happy Dog Days of Summer!

Pass the Lemonade.

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[MEG33]

Good Morning To Amy's Place

"Isn't It Pool Time Yet?"
Wishing You A Happy Caturday***Dogurday

[TheConservativeParty]

Hi Meg! Cute doggies, where can I get one? Hee Hee!

[TheConservativeParty]

Happy Caturday !

[MEG33]

They are Rhodesian Ridgebacks..

;o)

[trisham]

Thank you, TCP! A very happy caturday to you as well!

[ConorMacNessa]

HAPPY CATURDAY
TO AMY’S PLACE!



Moe & Sir Winston - 8 July 2015
Clan MacNessa Wishes A Happy
Caturday To All!!!

[TheConservativeParty]

Hey, that’s what I was guessing they were, but was not sure.
They look very nice, like good family dogs.

[luvie]

Y'all!!