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

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

[The Mayor]

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Naming God

August 28, 2016

I have now seen the One who sees me. Genesis 16:13

In his book The God I Don’t Understand, Christopher Wright observes that an unlikely person is one of the first to give God a name. It’s Hagar!

            Hagar’s story provides a disturbingly honest look at human history. It’s been years since God told Abram and Sarai they would have a son, and Sarai has only grown older and more impatient. In order to “help” God, she resorts to a custom of the day. She gives her slave, Hagar, to her husband, and Hagar becomes pregnant.

God sees us with eyes of compassion.

            Predictably, dissension arises. Sarai mistreats Hagar, who runs away. Alone in the desert, she meets the angel of the Lord, who makes a promise strikingly similar to one God had made earlier—to Abram (see Gen. 15:5). “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count” (16:10). The angel names Hagar’s son Ishmael, which means “God hears” (v. 11). In response, this slave from a culture with multiple gods that could neither see nor hear gives God the name “You are the God who sees me” (v. 13).

“The God who sees us” is the God of impatient heroes and powerless runaways. He’s the God of the wealthy and well-connected as well as the destitute and lonely. He hears and sees and cares, achingly and deeply, for each of us.

Lord, You didn’t sugarcoat the story of Your people in the Bible and yet You loved them—as You love us—in spite of all the dirt and drama. You are the God who sees us, and yet we can still run to You.

Read about some of the names that Jesus is given. See The Amazing Names of the Messiah.

God sees us with eyes of compassion.

[The Mayor]

Absolutely beautiful! You got me so curious I search out that rock and found the history of it and the village. Beautiful seaside town, Thank you Meg!

[luvie]

Casting Crowns~Praise You In The Storm

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir~How Great Thou Art

Daniel O'Donnel~Church In The Wildwood

Statler Brothers~Amazing Grace

Gaither Vocal Band~Heaven's Joy Awaits

St. Olaf Choir~When Peace Like A River

Providence~Sweet Beulah Land

GOD BLESS YOU THIS LORD'S DAY!

[left that other site]

Happy Sunday!

May Your Day Be Filled With Blessings.

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[MEG33]

Amen! A wonderful devotional, Rus.
I Am So Grateful To You For Our Daily Bread

[MEG33]

I loved finding this, thank you! God does marvelous work!

[left that other site]

Hagar’s Name for God (Elroi-The God Who Sees) is one of my favorite Names (of the many, many names for God in the Bible).

Hagar, the outcast, foreign, pregnant, slave girl in the middle of the desert is saying that God SEES her suffering, and will work it out.

[The Mayor]

He sure does!

[The Mayor]

Amen!

[left that other site]

I read your column every day.

It always resonates, but every once in a while, it hits one out of the park.

Thank you for faithfully posting ODB! :-)

[The Mayor]

Thank you

[ConorMacNessa]

HAPPY SUNDAY TO
AMY'S PLACE!



"Abide In Me"
Kings College Choir, Cambridge
(Click)

Clan MacNessa Wishes
A Blessed Lord’s Day To You And Yours!

[The Mayor]

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The Ultimate Road Trip

August 29, 2016

In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3

Madagascar’s National Road 5 offers the beauty of a white sand coastline, palm forests, and the Indian Ocean. Its 125 miles of two-track road, bare rock, sand, and mud, however, have given it a reputation for being one of the worst roads in the world. Tourists looking for breathtaking views are advised to have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, an experienced driver, and an onboard mechanic.

John the Baptist came to announce the good news of the coming Messiah to those traveling on rough roads and through barren landscape. Repeating the words of the prophet Isaiah written centuries earlier, he urged curious crowds to “prepare the way for the Lord” and to “make straight paths for him” (Luke 3:4–5; Isa. 40:3)

God, we need You to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves.

John knew that if the people of Jerusalem were going to be ready to welcome their long-awaited Messiah their hearts needed to change. Mountains of religious pride would need to come down. Those in the valley of despair because of their broken lives would need to be lifted up.

Neither could be done by human effort alone. Those who refused to respond to the Spirit of God by accepting John’s baptism of repentance failed to recognize their Messiah when He came (Luke 7:29–30). Yet those who saw their need for change discovered in Jesus the goodness and wonder of God.

Father in heaven, we need You to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Please remove any mountain of pride or valley of despair that would keep us from welcoming You into our lives.

Repentance clears the way for our walk with God.

INSIGHT:

This passage is not a message of hope only for exiled Jews. It is for us all. Isaiah is proclaiming a universal truth: “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” For Jesus’s followers, trouble, sorrow, and exile last only for a season. The hope of the Lord lasts forever.

[Jane Austen]

Beautiful place. I reminds me of a scene I saw from Norway.

[The Mayor]

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Gentle Influence

August 30, 2016

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

A few years before he became the 26th U.S. president (1901–1909), Theodore Roosevelt got word that his oldest son, Theodore Jr., was ill. While his son would recover, the cause of Ted’s illness hit Roosevelt hard. Doctors told him that he was the cause of his son’s illness. Ted was suffering from “nervous exhaustion,” having been pressed unmercifully by Theodore to become the “fighter” hero-type he himself had not been during his own frail childhood. Upon hearing this, the elder Roosevelt made a promise to relent: “Hereafter I shall never press Ted either in body or mind.”

The father was true to his word. From then on he paid close attention to how he treated his son—the very same son who would one day bravely lead the landing of Allied soldiers on Utah Beach in World War II. 

Since Jesus came in humility, how can we withhold kindness from one another?

God has entrusted each of us with influence in the lives of others. We have a deep responsibility in those relationships, not only to spouses and children, but to friends, employees, and customers. The temptation to press too hard, to demand too much, to force progress, or to orchestrate success can lead us to harm others even when we don’t realize it. For this very reason, followers of Christ are urged to be patient and gentle with one another (Col. 3:12). Since Jesus, the Son of God, came in humility, how can we withhold such kindness from one another? 

What kind of expectations do you have of the people in your life—at home and at work? Think about the influence you might have on others. How can you reflect more of the character of Jesus?

What God does for us we should do for others.

INSIGHT:

Most scholars believe the apostle Paul wrote Colossians from a Roman prison cell around ad 60, about the same time he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. Paul seems to have had two primary purposes for writing this letter to the church at Colossae. First, he wanted the Colossian believers to know that Christ is superior to all human accomplishments, philosophies, and angelic beings. Second, he longed for these dear saints to experience freedom from the moralistic regulations and religious systems that enslaved them.

[The Mayor]

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Free Indeed

August 31, 2016

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1796) was only 11 years old when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He made the harrowing journey from West Africa to the West Indies, then to the colony of Virgina, and then to England. By the age of 20 he purchased his own freedom, still bearing the emotional and physical scars of the inhumane treatment he had experienced.

Unable to enjoy his own freedom while others were still enslaved, Equiano became active in the movement to abolish slavery in England. He wrote his autobiography (an unheard of achievement for a former slave in that era) in which he described the horrific treatment of the enslaved.

The price of our freedom from sin was paid by Jesus’s blood.

When Jesus came, He fought a battle for all of us who are enslaved and unable to fight for ourselves. Our slavery is not one of outward chains. We are held by our own brokenness and sin. Jesus said, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34–36).

Wherever such a freedom seems unheard of, His words need to be declared. We can be liberated from our guilt, shame, and hopelessness. By trusting Jesus, we can be free indeed!  

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for making the sacrifice that has secured my freedom and eternal life. May I learn to love You in a way that honors the love You have shown me.

The price of our freedom from sin was paid by Jesus’s blood.

INSIGHT:

Our Lord’s conversation with religious leaders who opposed Him reveals the contrast between man-made legalism and God’s truth. Christ says, “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). Human beings were made to have fellowship with God, but our rebellion resulted in our being enslaved by sin. Accepting the truth of God’s Word and yielding to Him breaks this bondage. The religious people who opposed Christ clung to their heritage as descendants of Abraham for their spiritual foundation, but only Christ can free us from our sinful, self-centered preoccupation.

[MEG33]

Happy Warm Fuzzy Wednesday To Amy's Place

I Wish You A Wonderful Day

[MEG33]

Good Morning, Rus
Thank you for starting our day off right every day with ODB.
I Appreciate You

[left that other site]

The Three Tenors...

...are Wishing you a Beautiful Warm and Fuzzy Day filled with Blessings!

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[TheConservativeParty]

Cute kitty photo!