Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... January, February and March, 2018

Meg33, The Mayor, Trisham, JustAmy

[JustAmy]

Welcome To....


'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets
and those who enjoy poetry.
'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.
Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepers
your thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*.

Enjoy! :)









Never Forget!





Bad Penny



Amy's personal guardian ~
the ever charming, lovable, huggable,
LouieWolf




Many thanks for stopping by. : )

[MEG33]

~Welcome To Sunday At Amy's Place~

***
Revive us again
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above. -Mackay
~Blessings To All Who Enter Here~

[The Mayor]

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

Joy

January 28, 2018

I sing for joy at what your hands have done. Psalm 92:4

I’m fast approaching a new season—the “winter” of old age—but I’m not there yet. Even though the years are galloping by and sometimes I’d like to slow them down, I have joy that sustains me. Each day is a new day given me by the Lord. With the psalmist, I can say, “It is good to praise the Lord . . . proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night”! (Psalm 92:1–2).

Even though my life has its struggles and the pain and difficulties of others sometimes overwhelm me, God enables me to join the psalmist in “[singing] for joy at what [His] hands have done” (v. 4). Joy for blessings given: family, friends, and satisfying work. Joy because of God’s wondrous creation and His inspired Word. Joy because Jesus loved us so much He died for our sins. And joy because He gave us the Spirit, the source of true joy (Romans 15:13). Because of the Lord, believers in Him can “flourish like a palm tree . . . [and] still bear fruit in old age” (Psalm 92:12–14).

No matter our circumstances or season of life, we can be examples of His love.

What fruit is that? No matter our circumstances or season of life, we can be examples of His love through the life we lead and the words we say. There is joy in knowing and living for the Lord and telling others about Him.

Dear Lord, thank You for the joy that is ours through the Spirit.

God is the giver of joy.

INSIGHT

The psalmist proclaims that the righteous—the faithful—will flourish like a palm tree and grow like the cedars of Lebanon (Psalm 92:12). The palm tree was associated with value—both ornamental and economic—and palm fronds were already being used in worship (Leviticus 23:40). The cedars of Lebanon are almost always used in Scripture to illustrate strength, stability, and majesty. When this psalm was written, magnificent evergreen (cedar) forests graced the mountains of Lebanon. With low branches and expansive canopies, these trees can reach up to 100 feet. The psalmist prays for the righteous to increase like the cedar and blossom like the palm tree; this fruitfulness can then spill over into the lives of others.

[MEG33]

What a wonderful message, Rus...Amen
I Am So Grateful To You For Our Daily Bread

[left that other site]

Good Morning!

A Blessed and Peaceful Lord's Day To You All.

HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

God Bless America!

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[luvie]

Daniel O'Donnel~Church In The Wildwood

Waylon Jennings/Jessi Colter~Precious Memories

Cathedrals~Wonderful Grace of Jesus

Glad~Arise My Soul, Arise

Gaither Vocal Band~Heaven's Joy Awaits

Ray Walker~Master The Tempest Is Raging

Vocal Majority~Deep River

Have a blessed Sunday
God bless our troops!

[trisham]

A Prayer for the Forgiveness of Sins.

My Jesus, I place all my sins before you. In my estimation They do not deserve pardon, But I ask you To close your eyes To my want of merit And open them To your infinite merit.

Since you willed To die for my sins, Grant me forgiveness For all of them. Thus, I may no longer feel The burden of my sins, A burden that oppresses me Beyond measure.

Assist me, dear Jesus, For I desire to become good No matter what the cost Take away, destroy, And utterly root out Whatever you find in me That is contrary To your holy will. At the same time, dear Jesus, illumine me So that I may walk in your holy light.

St. Gemma Galgani

Peace and joy to you all this glorious Sunday!

[MEG33]

Eastern Bluebird

Thank you LTOS and LUVW for sharing your lovely words. music
and graphics.
~Wishing Everyone A Blessed Sunday Afternoon~

[MEG33]

Beautiful, trisham! Thank you.

[trisham]

Thank you, MEG!

[Kitty Mittens]

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

[The Mayor]

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

Like a Little Child

January 29, 2018

Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

One evening many years ago, after saying a goodnight prayer with our two-year-old daughter, my wife was surprised by a question. “Mommy, where is Jesus?”

Luann replied, “Jesus is in heaven and He’s everywhere, right here with us. And He can be in your heart if you ask Him to come in.”

Our faith in Jesus is to be like that of a trusting child.

“I want Jesus to be in my heart.”

“One of these days you can ask Him.”

“I want to ask Him to be in my heart now.”

So our little girl said, “Jesus, please come into my heart and be with me.” And that started her faith journey with Him.

When Jesus’s disciples asked Him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He called a little child to come and join them (Matthew 18:1–2). “Unless you change and become like little children,” Jesus said, “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. . . . And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (vv. 3–5).

Through the eyes of Jesus we can see a trusting child as our example of faith. And we are told to welcome all who open their hearts to Him. “Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (19:14).

Lord Jesus, thank You for calling us to follow You with the confident faith of a child.

Help the children in your life come to know Jesus. Introduce them to Our Daily Bread for Kids at ourdailybreadforkids.org.

Our faith in Jesus is to be like that of a trusting child.

INSIGHT

Jesus likens greatness to childlikeness. Anyone coming to Him must come in childlike dependency, expectancy, receptivity, and humility (Matthew 18:2–4). While on earth, Jesus lovingly embraced His disciples as “my children” (John 13:33), and the apostle John affectionately addressed us as “dear children” (1 John 2:1, 12, 18, 28). Used negatively, however, children or “infants” denote weak or immature believers (1 Corinthians 3:1–3; Ephesians 4:13–14; Hebrews 5:13). “Don’t be childish,” Paul warned us (1 Corinthians 14:20 nlt). Christians are to be childlike, not childish (1 Corinthians 13:11).

When have you needed to trust Christ with childlike faith?

[The Mayor]

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

Able and Available

January 30, 2018

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

My husband was at work when I received news about my mom’s cancer diagnosis. I left him a message and reached out to friends and family. None were available. Covering my face with trembling hands, I sobbed. “Help me, Lord.” A resulting assurance that God was with me comforted me through those moments when I felt utterly alone.

I thanked the Lord when my husband came home and support from friends and family trickled in. Still, the calming awareness of God’s presence I sensed in those first few hours of lonely grieving affirmed that God is readily and faithfully available wherever and whenever I need help.

God is always able and available to help us.

In Psalm 46, the psalmist proclaims God is our sanctuary, strength, and steadfast supporter (v. 1). When it feels as if we’re surrounded by chaos or everything we thought was stable crashes down around us, we don’t have to fear (vv. 2–3). God doesn’t falter (vv. 4–7). His power is evident and effective (vv. 8–9). Our eternal Sustainer gives us confidence in His unchanging character (v. 10). The Lord, our secure stronghold, remains with us forever (v. 11).

God created His followers to prayerfully support and encourage one another. But He also affirms He is always able and available. When we call on God, we can trust Him to keep His promises to provide for us. He will comfort us through His people as well as through His personal presence.

Lord, thank You for assuring us You’re always accessible because You’re always with us.

God is always able and available to help us.

INSIGHT

Being a member of the kingdom of God brings a sense of personal security. In Psalm 46, God’s sovereignty is eloquently compared to a mighty fortress against which the waters of chaos and death can do no harm (vv. 1–3). This brings a response of worship in a troubled world (vv. 4–9). What relief it is to follow the admonition “Be still, and know that I am God,” for God “will be exalted among the nations, [He] will be exalted in the earth” (v. 11). God’s power and presence give an inner stability to the believer that nothing else can. Our righteous God of grace is ready and available wherever and whenever we need help.

How does this passage bring a sense of calm to your situation?

For further study read Navigating the Storms of Life at discoveryseries.org/hp061.

[The Mayor]

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

White as Snow

January 31, 2018

Though yours sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18

Last December, my family and I went to the mountains. We had lived in a tropical climate all our lives, so it was the first time we could see snow in all its magnificence. As we contemplated the white mantle covering the fields, my husband quoted Isaiah, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

After asking about the meaning of scarlet, our three-year-old daughter asked, “Is the color red bad?” She knows sins are things God dislikes, but this verse is not talking about colors. The prophet was describing the bright red dye obtained from the eggs of a small insect. Clothes would be double-dyed in this bright red so the color became fixed. Neither rain nor washing would remove it. Sin is like that. No human effort can take it away. It’s rooted in the heart.

Though yours sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18

Only God can cleanse a heart from sin. And as we looked at the mountains, we admired the pure whiteness that scrubbing and bleaching a piece of cloth dyed in scarlet red can’t achieve. When we follow Peter’s teaching, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19), God forgives us and gives us a new life. Only through Jesus’s sacrifice can we receive what no one else can give—a pure heart. What a wonderful gift!

Father, thank You for forgiving our sins and wiping them clean.

When God forgives, He purifies us too.

INSIGHT

Sometimes we believe that once we’ve gone down a certain path in our lives, there’s no turning back. And, obviously, if it’s too late to go back, we think we might as well keep going that way. It’s easy to think this way about sin. We may believe we’ll always suffer for our sin, that nothing can heal us from its effects. If we believe this, we may sink even deeper into patterns of destructive behavior, thinking it’s too late to come back to a life of joy and peace with God.

In Isaiah 1:16–20, it’s as if God, through the prophet Isaiah, tells His people Israel, “You can go back.” The Israelites were suffering terribly because of their sin (vv. 4–5), but Isaiah pleaded with them to repent, promising them that if they turned from their sin and lived justly (vv. 16–17), God would cleanse and restore them, no matter how impossibly deep the stain of their transgression (v. 18). God makes truly new beginnings possible, not just once, but every day. His forgiving love is “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

How does God’s promise of new beginnings give you hope today?

[MEG33]

Amen
Good morning, Rus.
Thank you always for Our Daily Bread.
You Are A Blesssing

[MEG33]

*Welcome To Warm Fuzzy Wednesday*
At Amy's Place

"WOW!...Didya See The President's SOTU speech last night!?!
What an inspiration it was...I loved it!"
MAGA
I Wish You A Great Day.

[Aquamarine]

It was an awesome speech. May God continue to bless America.

[MEG33]

Amen!

[left that other site]

Happy Warm & Fuzzy Wednesday!

Indeed! I was on the FR live thread in one tab, and the live stream of the SOTU on another (Hurray for Technology!) There were quite a few prayer warriors on the thread, lifting up Our President and his Beautiful Family in Prayer.

So, along with the comments, jokes, remarks about Pelosi’s Dentures, etc, there was PRAYER going on. :-)

Although, I must admit, I made a big bowl of popcorn for myself!

As an old recovering ex-hippie, I was astounded at the pusillanimous, pathetic, cringing, sniveling, performance of what are allegedly called “Liberals” in today’s political spectrum. Even the younger members seemed old, sapped of vitality, devoid of life, and defeated. Their soullessness was on full display, especially when they sat on their hands when presented with REAL Heroes, and moaned when Our President mentioned God, Country, and our time-honored and beloved American Values. It was a display of the natural progression of the entropy of a discarded and discredited political theory.

Since they all seemed to have hearts of stone, and sat there like mute monuments to a discarded ideal, I have dubbed the Democrat side of the aisle...

here we go...

wait for it...

The Geezer Plateau.

HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Here Today!



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

((((HUGS))))

ML/LTOS

[trisham]

Thanks, left that other site. :)

[trisham]

A Happy Warm and Fuzzy Wednesday, all!
***
Winter-Time

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face,
and blows Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Robert Louis Stevenson