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Posted on 04/01/2019 6:53:58 PM PDT by JustAmy
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Penny and I like to take “the road less traveled”. Unfortunately, wherever one lives on the South Shore, one is near Rout 3. It is a necessary, but very noisy, road.
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 10–12; Luke 9:37–62
Many who are first will be last. Matthew 19:30
Perhaps the most preposterous, spellbinding moment in the 2018 Winter Olympics was when the Czech Republic’s world champion snowboarder Ester Ledecka won an event in a completely different sport: skiing! And she took the first-place gold medal even though she had the unenviable position of skiing 26th—a feat believed to be basically impossible.
Amazingly, Ledecka qualified to race the women’s super-G—an event that combines downhill skiing with a slalom course. After she won by .01 of a second on borrowed skis, she was just as shocked as the media and other contestants who had assumed the winner would be one of the top skiers.
This is how the world works. We assume the winners will keep winning while all the others will lose. It was a jolt, then, when the disciples heard Jesus say how “hard [it is] for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23). Jesus turned everything upside down. How could being rich (a winner) offer a roadblock? Apparently, if we trust in what we have (what we can do, who we are), then it’s not only hard but actually impossible to trust God.
The kingdom of God doesn’t play by our rules. “Many who are first,” Jesus says, “will be last, and many who are last will be first” (v. 30). And, whether you’re first or last, everything we receive is purely by grace—by God’s unmerited favor.
Consider how you view people, or how you view your own life. How does Jesus’s way of seeing so-called losers and winners change your perspective?
A Drop fell on the Apple Tree
A Drop fell on the Apple Tree
Another - on the Roof
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves
And made the Gables laugh
A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls
What Necklaces could be
The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads
The Birds jocoser sung
The Sunshine threw his Hat away
The Bushes - spangles flung
The Breezes brought dejected Lutes
And bathed them in the Glee
The Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the fête away
Emily Dickinson, 1830 - 1886
Happy Monday, Everyone!
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Love it, left that other site!
Beautiful, LUV W!
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 13–14; Luke 10:1–24
Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. Acts 8:35
“What’s your name?” asked Arman, an Iranian student. After I told him my name is Estera, his face lit up as he exclaimed, “We have a similar name in Farsi, it’s Setare!” That small connection opened up an amazing conversation. I told him I was named after a Bible character, “Esther,” a Jewish queen in Persia (present-day Iran). Starting with her story, I shared the good news of Jesus. As a result of our conversation, Arman started attending a weekly Bible study to learn more about Christ.
One of Jesus’s followers, Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, asked a question that ignited a conversation with an Ethiopian official traveling in his chariot: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). The Ethiopian man was reading a passage from the book of Isaiah and seeking spiritual insight. So Philip’s question came at the right time. He invited Philip to sit next to him and in humility listened. Philip, realizing what an amazing opportunity this was, “began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35).
Like Philip, we too have good news to tell. Let’s seize the daily occasions we encounter in our workplace, at the grocery store, or in our neighborhood. May we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our steps and give us the words to share our hope and joy in Jesus.
How will you prepare yourself to be more open to speaking to others about Jesus? What encouragement do you gain from Philip’s example?
Spring Can't Come to the Phone Right Now . . .
Spring can't come to the phone right now...
She's flown to distant hills
to dabble speckles on a fawn
and fling out daisy spills.
When she re-mosses forest floors
and pulls back Winter's pall,
she'll batten down the daffodil
and then return your call!
To teach the wren her little song
will take an hour or two-
Striping birches lasts awhile,
so wait and she'll call you.
You'll know when April comes again -
She'll cause your heart to leap.
Just close your eyes and listen
to her message at the "beep".
Charlotte Partin
A Happy GratiTuesday to everyone here at Amy's Place!
Awwwww...it’s dismal here today! My dogs are staying inside. :)
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Thanks for your lovely pings today.
Had nice warm weather today.
Supposed to be windy and rainy Thursday.
Up north they might get a foot of snow.
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 15–16; Luke 10:25–42
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4
Hae Woo (not her real name) was imprisoned in a North Korean labor camp for crossing the border into China. The days and nights were torture, she said, with brutal guards, backbreaking work, and little sleep on an ice-cold floor with rats and lice. But God helped her daily, including showing her which prisoners to befriend and share her faith with.
After she was released from the camp and living in South Korea, Woo reflected on her time of imprisonment, saying that Psalm 23 summed up her experience. Although she’d been trapped in a dark valley, Jesus was her Shepherd who gave her peace: “Even though it felt as if I was literally in a valley full of the shadow of death, I wasn’t afraid of anything. God comforted me every day.” She experienced God’s goodness and love as He reassured her that she was His beloved daughter. “I was in a terrible place, but I knew . . . I would experience God’s goodness and love.” And she knew she’d stay in the Lord’s presence forever.
We can find encouragement in Woo’s story. Despite her dire circumstances, she felt God’s love and leading; and He sustained her and took away her fear. If we follow Jesus, He will lead us gently through our times of trouble. We need not fear, for “[we] will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (23:6).
When have you experienced God’s presence in a dark valley? Who can you encourage today?
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Hope you’re having a Warm Fuzzy Wednesday!
Cold and cloudy today, rain and possible snow on the way.
Weather channel is showing the forecast, looks great. Not!
Howdy! Hope you are staying warm too! Sounds like you’re in for a bit of a “bomb cyclone”. *rolling eyes*
Hope the hype is worse than the reality. it’s supposed to get colder here, too!
Went to walk the dog, huge snowflakes started falling! Biggest of the whole winter. Snow blobs still falling now. The ground is warm so it probably won’t accumulate, maybe. Unless it’s gonna snow all day. It’s kind of neat anyway, those big flakes and lots of them.
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