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

Meg33, The Mayor, Trisham, JustAmy

[luvie]

Providence~Lord Feed Your Children

Glad~Before the Throne Of God Above

Cathedrals~Wonderful Grace of Jesus

Glad~Be Ye Glad

Gaither Homecoming~Heaven's Joy Awaits

Ray Walker~Master The Tempest Is Raging

Vocal Majority~Deep River

Have a blessed Sunday
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!

[left that other site]

SPAM is the Official State Dish!

[MEG33]

Thank you for your lovely scripture, comments, quotes, music and graphics.
I Wish You A Beautiful Palm Sunday Afternoon

[mylife]

Goodbye Blue Sky

[mylife]

I am in a silly moody mood... This production was a HUGE FAILURE, But I liked it.

Consequences Pt 3

[mylife]

Can’t Teach Ducks to Dance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmVwecWD4xM

Have GREAT week yall

[mylife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLLDcd7OH_8

[mylife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6_epvTHhXo

[mylife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RcuayRO0d4

[The Mayor]

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

The Point of Being Alive

March 26, 2018

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Luke 12:15

Lately, as I’ve been skimming financial advice books, I’ve noticed an interesting trend. While almost all such books have good advice, many imply that the primary reason to cut costs is to live like millionaires later. But one book offered a refreshingly different perspective, arguing that living simply is essential for a rich life. If you need more or fancier stuff to feel joy, the book suggested, “You’re missing the point of being alive.”

Those insightful words brought to mind Jesus’s response when a man asked Him to urge his brother to divide an inheritance with him. Instead of sympathizing, Jesus dismissed him abruptly before warning sternly about “all kinds of greed”—because “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:14–15). He then described a wealthy person’s plans to store his crops and enjoy a luxurious lifestyle—the first-century version of retirement planning—with a blistering conclusion. His wealth did him no good, since he died that night (vv. 16–20).

Our hearts should be focused on pursuing God's kingdom.

Although we are responsible to use our resources wisely, Jesus’s words remind us to check our motivation. Our hearts should be focused on pursuing God’s kingdom—knowing Him and serving others—not on securing our own futures (vv. 29–31). As we live for Him and freely share with others, we can fully enjoy a rich life with Him now—in the kingdom that gives meaning to all of life (vv. 32–34).

Lord, thank You for all You’ve so generously provided. Teach us how to enjoy what You’ve given and to share it with others. Help us to rest in You.

We don’t need to wait to enjoy a rich life in God’s kingdom.

INSIGHT

God already lovingly rules. Yet in a fallen world, believers also pray for His kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10), for evil to be gone forever. How do we live in that tension?

Instead of living in fear of loss, Jesus taught His followers to live as if God’s kingdom was already here in full. Worrying is powerless, but courageously seeking Him leads to priceless, eternal riches (Luke 12:31–34).

[luvie]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YORKIE!
Miss you! (((hugs)))

[The Mayor]

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

Glory to the Grower

March 27, 2018

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7

One day, I noticed an unexpected splash of yellow to the right of our driveway. Six stalks of daffodils, sandwiched between two large stones, bloomed bright and tall. Because I hadn’t planted, fertilized, or intentionally watered the bulbs, I couldn’t figure out how or why the flowers had sprouted in our yard.

Jesus illustrated a mystery of spiritual growth in the parable of the growing seed. He compares the kingdom of God to a farmer scattering seed on the ground (Mark 4:26). The one who scattered the seed may have done what he could to care for the soil. But Jesus said the seed sprouted whether or not that man slept in, woke up, or even understood the growth process (vv. 27–28). The land owner benefited from the harvest (v. 29), though its development didn’t depend on what he did or his understanding of the workings beneath the surface of the soil.

God deserves the glory for the growth of His people and His kingdom.

The maturing of the seeds in Jesus’s parable, like the blooming of my daffodils, occurred in God’s time and because of God’s growing power. Whether we’re considering personal spiritual growth or God’s plan to expand the church until Jesus returns, the Lord’s mysterious ways aren’t dependent on our abilities or understanding of His works. Still, God invites us to know, serve, and praise the Grower, reaping the benefits of the spiritual maturity He cultivates in and through us.

Lord, thank You for growing us spiritually and using us to serve Your people, as You grow Your kingdom.

God deserves the glory for the growth of His people and His kingdom.

INSIGHT

Commenting on the parable found in today’s text, Simon Kistemaker says: “From the moment he has sown the seed the farmer must leave the sprouting, the growing, the pollinating, and the maturing to God. . . . The farmer cannot explain this growth and development. He is only a worker who at the proper time sows and reaps. God holds the secret of life. God is in control” (The Parables: Understanding the Stories Jesus Told).

It isn’t that the farmer isn’t busy and simply relaxes during the growing of the wheat. He is busy weeding, mulching, and watering. But the growth is up to the Lord. We can work to encourage growth, do things that create an environment for growth and for plants to flourish, but ultimately the growth is something we see, not something we produce. The same is true in our spiritual life.

Take a moment to thank God for the growth you’ve seen in your life. How can you prepare the soil of your heart for continued growth in Christlikeness?

[MEG33]

Happy GratiTuesday To
~Amy's Place~

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward



I Am So Grateful To God For My FRiends And
All His Many Blessings

[luvie]

Grateful my roses will bloom soon!
Oh!...and it rained a bit!
Happy GratiTuesday!

[MEG33]

Beautiful rose, Luv!

[The Mayor]

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

Look and Be Quiet

March 28, 2018

Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering . . . ? Lamentations 1:12

In the song “Look at Him,” Mexican composer Rubén Sotelo describes Jesus at the cross. He invites us to look at Jesus and be quiet, because there is really nothing to say before the type of love Jesus demonstrated at the cross. By faith we can imagine the scene described in the Gospels. We can imagine the cross and the blood, the nails, and the pain.

When Jesus breathed His last, those who “had gathered to witness this sight . . . beat their breasts and went away” (Luke 23:48). Others “stood at a distance, watching these things” (v. 49). They looked and were quiet. Only one spoke, a centurion, who said, “Surely this was a righteous man” (v. 47).

Look at the cross and worship.

Songs and poems have been written to describe this great love. Many years before, Jeremiah wrote about Jerusalem’s pain after its devastation. “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?” (Lamentations 1:12). He was asking people to look and see; he thought there was no greater suffering than Jerusalem’s. However, has there been any suffering like Jesus’s suffering?

All of us are passing by the road of the cross. Will we look and see His love? This Easter, when words and poems are not enough to express our gratitude and describe God’s love, let us take a moment to ponder Jesus’s death; and in the quietness of our hearts, may we whisper to Him our deepest devotion.

Dear Jesus, as I look at Your cross, I have no words to express my gratitude for Your perfect sacrifice. But I thank You for Your love.

INSIGHT

Can you imagine being personally responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus? Luke tells us the Roman centurion saw something that led him to conclude that he had just overseen the execution of an innocent man (Luke 23:47). Matthew adds that as the officer and his soldiers felt the earth shake violently under their feet they became terrified at the thought that they had just executed “the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).

In their world, Caesar was known as the son of God. But these Roman soldiers suddenly realized the emperor they answered to was nothing like Jesus. Entrusted with all power and authority in heaven and on earth, His death revealed the loving heart of His Father.

Imagine being the centurion reading what the apostle Paul later wrote to followers of Jesus in Rome. By this time, Jesus’s death was being proclaimed as good news to everyone (Romans 1:15–17). Paul described Jesus’s suffering and death as evidence of the God who continues to groan with us in our wrongs against Him, one another, and ourselves (Romans 8).

Can we see ourselves kneeling with this Roman officer in grateful worship?

[MEG33]

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

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant"

Easter Week Blessings To All

[MEG33]

Good Morning

Amen.
Thank you, Rus, for starting our day off right every day
You are a blessing.

[TheConservativeParty]

Hi there, kind of warm here today, nice and sunny. Always fuzzy with the dog and 2 horses. And it is indeed Wednesday!

Cheers to All!

[MEG33]

Sounds like Spring has come! Good news!