Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... January - December, 2022

1-01-2022 | The Mayor; Luvie; JustAmy

[The Mayor]

Our Daily Bread

Wednesday,
September 28, 2022

Out of the Heart

Read: Matthew 15:12–20

Out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Matthew 15:19

A rescue mission nicknamed “Operation Noah’s Ark” might sound fun for animal lovers, but it was a nightmare for the Nassau Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. After receiving complaints about the noise and the horrid stench coming from a certain house, workers entered the Long Island home and found (and later removed) more than four hundred animals from their neglected conditions.

We may not be holding hundreds of animals in filthy conditions, but Jesus said we might be harboring evil and sinful thoughts and actions in our hearts that need to be exposed and removed. 

In teaching His disciples about what makes a person clean and unclean, Jesus said it isn’t dirty hands or “whatever enters the mouth” that defiles a person, but an evil heart (Matthew 15:17–19). The stench from our hearts will eventually leak out from our lives. Then Jesus gave examples of evil thoughts and actions that come “out of the heart” (v. 19). No amount of external religious activities and rituals can make them clean. We need God to transform our hearts.

We can practice Jesus’ inside-out ethic by giving Him access to the squalor of our hearts and letting Him remove what’s causing the stench. As Christ uncovers what’s coming from our hearts, He’ll help our words and actions be aligned with His desires, and the aroma from our lives will please Him. — Marvin Williams

Why is it important to take frequent inventory of your heart? How can you seek God’s help?

Loving God, my heart is desperately wicked. Only You can fully know it and remove the evil that’s in it.

For further study, read The Forgiveness of God.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 5–6; Ephesians 1

[luvie]

A Whole Lotta Fuzzy!
Happy Warm & Fuzzy
Wednesday!

[left that other site]

Happy Warm & FuzzyWednesday!

Alert! Alert! Warm And Fuzzy Overload!My Result in Paroxysms of Adorableness!

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[luvie]

Oooooo....more very, very fuzzzzzzzy!

[left that other site]

:-)

Samoyeds ate at the top of the Fuzzy Chain.

[luvie]

They sure are. Lovely dogs, but I’d hate to have to keep one groomed. LOL! My toy poodles were bad enough.

[left that other site]

I had one 50 years ago. Huge tumbleweed-sized balls of white fluff rolled around the house.

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you.

[The Mayor]

Our Daily Bread

Thursday,
September 29, 2022

The Coffee-Bean Bowl

Read: John 12:1–7

We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15

I’m not a coffee drinker, but one sniff of coffee beans brings me a moment of both solace and wistfulness. When our teenage daughter Melissa was making her bedroom uniquely hers, she filled a bowl with coffee beans to permeate her room with a warm, pleasant scent.

It’s been nearly two decades since Melissa’s earthly life ended in a car accident at age seventeen, but we still have that coffee-bean bowl. It gives us a continual, aromatic remembrance of Mell’s life with us.

Scripture also uses fragrances as a reminder. Song of Songs refers to fragrances as a symbol of love between a man and a woman (see 1:3; 4:11, 16). In Hosea, God’s forgiveness of Israel is said to be “fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon” (Hosea 14:6). And Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet, which caused the house of Mary and her siblings to be “filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3), pointed ahead to Jesus’ death (see v. 7).

The idea of fragrance can also help us be mindful of our testimony of faith to those around us. Paul explained it this way: “We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15).

Just as the scent of coffee beans reminds me of Melissa, may our lives produce a scent of Jesus and His love that reminds others of their need of Him. — Dave Branon

How can you be “the fragrance of Christ” to someone today? How has your life caused others to sense the presence of the Savior?

Dear heavenly Father, help me to pass along an aroma of life that makes others know I represent You.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 7–8; Ephesians 2

[luvie]

I can only imagine! LOL! I hope you had an industrial strength vacuum cleaner!

[left that other site]

A Shop-Vac! :-)

[luvie]

Thankful for the Coast Guard
Who are rescuing people
in Florida today
Happy Thank-The-Troops Thursday!
🇺🇸 I Salute Them! 🇺🇸

[luvie]

That’ll work. :)

[left that other site]

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Thank You to Our First Responders in The Wake of This Devastating Storm.

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[luvie]

They are the BEST!

[left that other site]

Indeed.

Fort Myers and Sanibel Island are two of my favorite places on the entire planet. The losses are devastating.

[pollywog]

That is awesome news. I know there are many that are so happy to see their rescuers!

[pollywog]

Thank you Mayor.

[pollywog]

Ahhhhhh lookie at those eyes!

[left that other site]

:-)