Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... October, November and December, 2017

October 1, 2017 | Meg33, The Mayor, Trisham, JustAmy

[The Mayor]

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Helicopter Seeds

November 21, 2017

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24 

When our children were young, they loved trying to catch the “helicopter seeds” that fell from our neighbor’s silver maple trees. Each seed resembles a wing. In late spring they twirl to the ground like a helicopter’s rotor blades. The seeds’ purpose is not to fly, but to fall to earth and grow into trees.

Before Jesus was crucified, He told His followers, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. . . . [U]nless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:23–24).

Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.

While Jesus’s disciples wanted Him to be honored as the Messiah, He came to give His life so we could be forgiven and transformed through faith in Him.  As Jesus’s followers, we hear His words, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me” (vv. 25–26).

Helicopter seeds can point us to the miracle of Jesus, the Savior, who died that we might live for Him.

Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.

Jesus calls us to give our lives in serving Him.

INSIGHT

Our passage today occurs shortly after Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On that day Jesus rode into town on a donkey’s colt as a large crowd, who had traveled to the city to celebrate the Passover, threw palm branches on the road before Him shouting, “ ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (John 12:12–15). Though Jesus came as a king, He knew that the people cheering Him on were expecting a savior to free them from Rome, not a savior who would suffer for their sins. He was the kernel of wheat who must die so His kingdom could grow (v. 24).

[luvie]

Grateful for
Hearth and Home
during this Holiday.🦃
Personally grateful for having
my MIL with us at this time!🙏🏻
Happy GratiTuesday!

[trisham]

First Snow

Snow makes whiteness where it falls
The bushes look like popcorn balls
And places where I always play
Look like somewhere else today

Beautiful feathery flakes of snow
Over the woodland and field they go
Making a blanket so warm and deep
Over the flowers that lie asleep

Mary Louise Allen

A Happy GratiTuesday to everyone here at Amy's Place!

[The Mayor]

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Make a Joyful Noise

November 22, 2017

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music. Psalm 98:4

Back when I was searching for a church to attend regularly, a friend invited me to a service at her church. The worship leaders led the congregation in a song I particularly loved. So I sang with gusto, remembering my college choir director’s advice to “Project!”

After the song, my friend’s husband turned to me and said, “You really sang loud.” This remark was not intended as a compliment! After that, I self-consciously monitored my singing, making sure I sang softer than those around me and always wondering if the people around me judged my singing.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music. Psalm 98:4

But one Sunday, I noticed the singing of a woman in the pew beside me. She seemed to sing with adoration, without a trace of self-consciousness. Her worship reminded me of the enthusiastic, spontaneous worship that David demonstrated in his life. In Psalm 98, in fact, David suggests that “all the earth” should “burst into jubilant song” in worship (v. 4).

Verse one of Psalm 98 tells us why we should worship joyfully, reminding us that “[God] has done marvelous things.” Throughout the psalm, David recounts these marvelous things: God’s faithfulness and justice to all nations, His mercy, and salvation. Dwelling on who God is and what He’s done can fill our hearts with praise.

What “marvelous things” has God done in your life? Thanksgiving is the perfect time to recall His wondrous works and give God thanks. Lift your voice and sing!

Lord, thank You for who You are and for what You’ve done.

Worship takes the focus off us and places it where it belongs—on God.

INSIGHT

Psalm 98 is jubilant in its invitation to praise God. In verses 4–6, the psalmist exalts God as King. He enlists the harp, trumpets, and horn to accompany the human voices lifted in praise and adoration of the sovereign King. In verses 7–9, God is praised for being the righteous Judge. Marvelous word pictures are used to magnify His justice. The fullness of the sea is to roar, the rivers are to clap their hands, and the mountains are to be joyful together. Voice, instruments, and nature join in to praise God. We too can enter into this same spirit by joyfully worshiping the Lord for His mighty power and holy character.

Today ponder how you can worship God who is both our Creator and righteous Judge.

[MEG33]

*Happy Thanksgiving Preparation Day*
To Amy's Place

*O Give Thanks*
Wishing Thanksgiving Blessings
And Safe Travel To All

[luvie]

....To Everyone At Amy's Place!

Chris Botti~The Way Home

[TheConservativeParty]

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Meg!

I am making the mashed potatoes for our gathering at my parent’s house tomorrow. Potatoes for 15 or so guests, no big deal! Ha Ha!

Cheers to all!

[TheConservativeParty]

Hi there! I enjoyed the horses in snow picture! Would like it if my horses were not in any snow for a while.
It’s cold enough here without that! We are certainly “due” for a large snowfall.

[The Mayor]

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Harvest and Thanksgiving

November 23, 2017

Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Exodus 23:16

Several thousand years ago, God spoke directly to Moses and instituted a new festival for His people. In Exodus 23:16, according to Moses’s record, God said, “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.”

Today countries around the world do something similar by celebrating the land’s bounty. In Ghana, the people celebrate the Yam Festival as a harvest event. In Brazil, Dia de Acao de Gracas is a time to be grateful for the crops that yielded their food. In China, there is the Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival. In the United States and Canada: Thanksgiving.

Gratitude is the memory of a glad heart.

To understand the fitting goal of a harvest celebration, we visit Noah right after the flood. God reminded Noah and his family—and us—of His provision for our flourishing existence on the earth. Earth would have seasons, daylight and darkness and “seedtime and harvest” (Gen. 8:22). Our gratitude for the harvest, which sustains us, goes to God alone.

No matter where you live or how you celebrate your land’s bounty, take time today to express gratitude to God—for we would have no harvest to celebrate without His grand creative design.

Dear Creator God, thank You so much for the wondrous way You fashioned this world—with seasons, with harvest-time, with everything we need to exist. Please accept our gratitude.

What are you thankful for? Share at Facebook.com/ourdailybread.

Gratitude is the memory of a glad heart.

[MEG33]

Thanksgiving
Blessings To Amy's Place

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you for the Beautiful Daily Pings, Dear FRiends.
(((((Hugs, and God Bless)))))

[The Mayor]

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

The Heart’s True Home

November 24, 2017

[God] has . . . set eternity in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11

We had a West Highland Terrier for a number of years. “Westies” are tough little dogs, bred to tunnel into badger holes and engage the “enemy” in its lair. Our Westie was many generations removed from her origins, but she still retained that instinct, put into her through years of breeding. On one occasion she became obsessed by some “critter” under a rock in our backyard. Nothing could dissuade her. She dug and dug until she tunneled several feet under the rock.

Now consider this question: Why do we as humans pursue, pursue, pursue? Why must we climb unclimbed mountains, ski near-vertical slopes? Run the most difficult and dangerous rapids, challenge the forces of nature? Part of it is a desire for adventure and enjoyment, but it’s much more. It’s an instinct for God that has been implanted in us. We cannot not want to find God.

Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.

We don’t know that, of course. We only know that we long for something. “You don’t know what it is you want,” Mark Twain said, “but you want it so much you could almost die.”

God is our heart’s true home. As church father Augustine said in that most famous quotation: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

And what is the heart? A deep void within us that only God can fill.

Help me, Lord, to recognize my deep longing for You. Then fill me with the knowledge of You. Draw me near.

Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.

 

INSIGHT

Ecclesiastes was written by one who calls himself “the Teacher” and identifies himself as the “son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1). In this book, Solomon shows that a life not centered on God is without meaning and purpose (1:14; 2:11). He also shows how and why God must be a part of our lives. In chapter 3, he paints a picture of a life trapped between birth and death, experiencing the mundane repetition of life’s recurring seasons and cyclical activities (vv. 1–8). Such a life is both frustrating and burdensome (v. 10). But Solomon hints that life is not supposed to be like this. We were made for far grander things—God created us for Himself “in his own image” (Gen. 1:27). And God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Eccl. 3:11). We were created for fellowship with the eternal God. C. S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, put it this way: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Without God, life will be purposeless and meaningless.

What are some ways that our culture offers false fulfillment?

[MEG33]

It's Wear Red Friday At Amy's Place

Supporting Our Troops Today And Every Day
Giving Thanks For All Who Serve Our Country
I Wish You A Wonderful Weekend
*HUGS*

[left that other site]

Happy ThanksFriday!

Bring On The leftovers!

(((And yes...I'm Wearing RED! :-)

ML/LTOS

[luvie]

THAT is hilarious! Poor doggie! LOL!

[left that other site]

It’s a Dobie.

he WILL be avenged! :-)

(((But at least he’s wearing red))))

[luvie]

Chris DeBurgh~The Lady In Red

[The Mayor]

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Being Human Beings

November 25, 2017

All of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8

When asked to define his role in a community that was sometimes uncooperative with law enforcement, a sheriff didn’t flash his badge or respond with the rank of his office. Rather he offered, “We are human beings who work with human beings in crisis.”

His humility—his stated equality with his fellow human beings—reminds me of Peter’s words when writing to first-century Christians suffering under Roman persecution. Peter directs: “All of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble” (1 Peter 3:8). Perhaps Peter was saying that the best response to humans in crisis is to be human, to be aware that we are all the same. After all, isn’t that what God Himself did when He sent His Son—became human in order to help us? (Phil. 2:7).

Humility is the result of knowing God and knowing yourself.

Gazing only at the core of our fallen hearts, it’s tempting to disdain our human status. But what if we consider our humanness to be part of our offering in our world? Jesus teaches us how to live fully human, as servants recognizing we are all the same. “Human” is how God made us, created in His image and redeemed by His unconditional love.

Today we’re sure to encounter folks in various struggles. Imagine the difference we might make when we respond humbly—as fellow humans who work together with other humans in crisis.

Father, help us to be humble as we respond to one another, human being to human being.

Humility is the result of knowing God and knowing yourself.

INSIGHT

Have you noticed that when people receive a great honor for their accomplishments they often acknowledge their humble roots? Even legendary athletes admit that they were just an everyday kid from somewhere—just like us.

Peter sees how important it is for those who know they are God’s representatives to remember who they were. In recognizing their high honor (1 Peter 2:9), Peter urges followers of Christ to remember that once they had no sense of belonging to God; once they had not received mercy (2:10). Later in the same letter he reminds those who are leaders among the Lord’s people to recognize their own accountability to God and not to lord it over those entrusted to their care (5:3).

At best we are all common folks from somewhere who have been called to love others as God has loved us.

For further study see the Discovery Series booklet The Mind of Christ at discoveryseries.org/q0209.

[trisham]

Winter Morning Poem

Winter is the king of showmen
Turning tree stumps into snowmen
And houses into birthday cakes
And spreading sugar over lakes
Smooth and clean and frosty white
The world looks good enough to bite
That's the season to be young
Catching snowflakes on your tongue
Snow is snowy when it's snowing
I'm sorry it's slushy when it's going


Ogden Nash

Happy Caturday, Dogurday and Bunnyday, everyone!

[luvie]

Come play with us!
It's OUR day...
CATURDAY!