Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... October, November and December, 2018

October 1, 2018 | Meg33, The Mayor, Trisham, JustAmy

[MEG33]

Pretty pup!

[MEG33]

Love your quote, trish, and that’s a darling pup picture.

[luvie]

The coral bits are part of the rock. The little purple ones are asters. They were on the bike trail in Wyoming.

[TheConservativeParty]

We had way more rain than usual this year. I like it when we are a little dry so the bugs don’t get out of control. We had a bad drought a few years ago and no mosquitoes. Of course it was also hard to find hay that year.

The Trump rally is going now but no one is broadcasting it, not even cspan.

Maybe at the top of the hour someone will have it on .

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you for our Beautiful New Thread, Dear Amy!
(((((Hugs, and God Bless)))))

[The Mayor]

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

Asking for Help

October 3, 2018

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. Mark 10:51

Her email arrived late in a long day. In truth, I didn’t open it. I was working overtime to help a family member manage his serious illness. I didn’t have time, therefore, for social distractions.

The next morning, however, when I clicked on my friend’s message, I saw this question: “Can I help you in any way?” Feeling embarrassed, I started to answer no. Then I took a deep breath to pause. I noticed then that her question sounded familiar—if not divine.

That’s because Jesus asked it. Hearing a blind beggar call out to Him on the Jericho Road, Jesus stopped to ask this man, named Bartimaeus, a similar question. Can I help? Or as Jesus said: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51).

The question is stunning. It shows the Healer, Jesus, longs to help us. But first, we’re invited to admit needing Him—a humbling step. The “professional” beggar Bartimaeus was needy, indeed—poor, alone, and possibly hungry and downcast. But wanting a new life, he simply told Jesus his most basic need. “Rabbi,” he said, “I want to see.”

For a blind man, it was an honest plea. Jesus healed him immediately. My friend sought such honesty from me too. So I promised her I’d pray to understand my basic need and, more important, I’d humbly tell her. Do you know your basic need today? When a friend asks, tell it. Then take your plea even higher. Tell God.

Lord, I am needy. I want to share my heart with You now. Help me to humbly receive the help of others also.

God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5

INSIGHT

Today’s story is a beautiful picture of the compassion of our Savior. Even to those He initially refused to help (see the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28), He stretched out a merciful and loving hand. All of His actions proved the claim He made at the beginning of His ministry—He was anointed by God and came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18–19).

But while Jesus is the epitome of mercy, He didn’t heal everyone. In the stories recorded in Scripture, we are told He healed all who came to him (see Matthew 8:16). But that’s the qualification—they came to Him. He healed all who admitted their need of something only He could provide.

Jesus still welcomes everyone who comes to Him. He may not always heal in the same way He did while He was here on Earth, but He still offers forgiveness and salvation to anyone who asks.

[MEG33]

Thank you for starting our day off right every day, Rus.
I Appreciate You

[MEG33]

Happy Warm Fuzzy Wednesday

CURIOUS KITTENS

We are curious, flat faced, fuzzy, blue eyed Kittens
Looking for a place to play and keep safe our mittens
From the many things that are spread across this table
Fighting the urge to explore and get messy as best as we
are able

Oh, it was an uphill struggle as you might guess
With twins Penelope and Nicole making themselves a pest
Batting around the small round things called Cherries
While snowball Misty and I climbed inside our short,
protective aeries

Not to be outdone in their cocaphony of fun
The twins spied towers twice as tall as Misty's and mine
For them, Bigger is Better and always a find
Like silvery springs, they stretched and suddenly unwound

Slipping into their tall towers amidst triumphant sounds
Only to be fooled by the Humans who had set the table
By cups that stack to form two taller Towers of Babel
Now the twins' folly will be the stuff of Feline Fables!

Jack Deth ~ 10/23/10.

I Wish You A Wonderful Warm Fuzzy Day

[TheConservativeParty]

Hi there! We are back to 80 degrees today but going back to 50 tomorrow. Weather channel says tornado chances this afternoon. Never like to hear that!

Warm yes
Fuzzy yep got the fuzzy dog
Wednesday check!

All systems go!

[MEG33]

It’s warm here! 84 Degrees at 7:30pm!
Thanks for coming by, TCP!
(((HUGS)))

[The Mayor]

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Courageous Stand

October 4, 2018

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world. Ephesians 6:12

Teresa Prekerowa was just a teenager when the Nazis invaded her native Poland at the dawn of World War II. This was in the beginnings of the Holocaust when her Jewish neighbors began to disappear—arrested by the Nazis. So Teresa and other Polish countrymen risked their lives to rescue those neighbors from the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi purge. Teresa would become one of the premier historians of the war and the Holocaust, but it was her courage to stand against the tide of evil that would list her with the Righteous Among the Nations at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

Courage is needed to stand against evil. Paul told the church at Ephesus, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). Clearly this unseen opposition is more than any of us can face alone, so God has given us the necessary spiritual resources (the “full armor of God”) to enable us to “stand against the devil’s schemes” (v. 11).

What might that courageous stand involve? It may be working against injustice or intervening on behalf of someone you know who is vulnerable or victimized. Whatever form the conflict may take, we can have courage—our God has already provided what we need to stand for Him and against evil. 

Listen to the Discover the Word program “Brave Enough” at discovertheword.org/series/brave-enough.

God enables us to stand for Him.

INSIGHT

The “full armor of God” in Ephesians 6:10–17 is God’s provision for us as we seek to live for Him in this world. Paul was under house arrest in Rome as he wrote the letter to the Ephesians, so the armor imagery would have been forefront in his mind. He had been under the close guard of Roman soldiers (the palace guard, see Philippians 1:12–14) for more than two years. With long experience in the presence of Roman soldiers, Paul’s description of their armor was a useful image and an accessible word picture for his first readers.

As you consider the different elements of Roman armor, consider the practical way each piece protected the soldier. How is Paul using those ideas to express how God enables us to stand against evil?

[luvie]

Thankful for all the butterflies
here at the lake where I’m visiting!
Happy Thankful Thursday!

[The Mayor]

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Better Than Ever

October 5, 2018

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:12

The story is told of a group of salmon fishermen who gathered in a Scottish inn after a long day of fishing. As one was describing a catch to his friends, his arm swept across the table and knocked a glass against the wall, shattering it and leaving a stain on the white plaster surface. The man apologized to the innkeeper and offered to pay for the damage, but there was nothing he could do; the wall was ruined. A man seated nearby said, “Don’t worry.” Rising, he took a painting implement from his pocket and began to sketch around the ugly stain. Slowly there emerged the head of a magnificent stag. The man was Sir E. H. Landseer, Scotland’s foremost animal artist.

David, Israel’s illustrious king who penned Psalm 51, brought shame on himself and his nation by his sins. He committed adultery with the wife of one of his friends and engineered the death of that friend—both deeds worthy of death. It would seem his life was ruined. But he pled with God: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (v. 12).

Like David we have shameful acts in our past and the memories that accompany them, recollections that taunt us in the middle of the night. There’s so much we wish we could undo or redo.

There is a grace that not only forgives sin but also uses it to make us better than before. God wastes nothing.

Lord, I’ve failed You again. Please forgive me again. Change me. Turn me around. Teach me to follow Your ways.

>God has both an all-seeing eye and all-forgiving heart.

INSIGHT

David wrote Psalm 51 in repentance for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba; his deliberate actions that led to the death of her husband, Uriah; and ultimately his sin against God (v. 4). Psalm 32, also penned by David, is similar in that here too he writes from his own experience on the pain of unconfessed sin and of the blessing of repentance. Even as Christians we will sin—and sometimes again and again. At such times, if we stubbornly refuse to confess our sins, we feel the effects of the sin eating away at us spiritually, mentally, and physically (vv. 3–4). Why? Not because we’ve lost our salvation, but because we’ve driven a wedge between us and our holy God. When we come to God in sorrow for our sins and receive His forgiveness, the “joy of [our] salvation”—the joy of being in an intimate relationship with God—is restored (51:12; see 32:1–2). In both psalms, David illustrates that confession and repentance lead to God’s forgiveness, which leads to a restored relationship, which leads to great joy—and enables us to sing! (32:11).

When have you experienced restored joy after confession?

[MEG33]

Good Morning Everyone

Amy's Place Wears Red On Friday To
*Support Our Troops*
Wishing You All A Great Weekend
Photobucket is down for everyone...I had to download this into IMGUR
to get a link that displayed.

[left that other site]

Happy Red Friday!

Have a Beautiful Autumn Day!

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[TheConservativeParty]

Happy Friday!
Rainy here. Was very nice yesterday.
More pennies from heaven today.

Cheers

[luvie]

Chris DeBurgh~The Lady In Red

[The Mayor]

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

Twinkle

October 6, 2018

Shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2:15–16

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is an English lullaby. Its lyrics, originally a poem by Jane Taylor, capture the wonder of God’s universe where stars hang “up above the world so high.” In the rarely published later stanzas, the star acts as a guide: “As your bright and tiny spark lights the traveler in the dark.”  

In Philippians, Paul challenges believers in Philippi to be blameless and pure as they “shine . . . like stars in the sky” while offering the good news of the gospel to all around them (2:15–16). We wonder how we can shine like stars. We often feel inadequate and struggle to think our “light” is bright enough to make a difference. But stars don’t try to be stars. They just are. Light changes our world. And it changes us. God brought physical light into our world (Genesis 1:3); and through Jesus, God brings spiritual light into our lives (John 1:1–4).

We who have God’s light in us are to shine in such a way that those around us see light and are drawn to its source. As effortlessly as a star hanging in the night sky, our light makes a difference because of what it is: Light! When we simply shine, we follow Paul’s directive to “hold firmly to the word of life” in a world in deep darkness, and we draw others to the source of our hope: Jesus.

Dear God, may Your light shine out of the very cracks of our beings as we hold out the Word of life to others.

Jesus brings light into our life.

INSIGHT

Paul’s words here—“Do everything without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14)—remind us of the Israelites during the Exodus. Soon after the people had experienced their miraculous deliverance from slavery, they “grumbled against Moses and Aaron” (Exodus 16:2). They even said, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!” (v. 3). God hated their murmuring. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he alludes to that generation of Israelites: “Do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel” (1 Corinthians 10:10).

We’re all prone to complain; it’s the norm in this world. That’s why doing things “without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14) will set us apart in this world. When we live our lives in grateful obedience to God, we will shine “like stars in the sky” (v. 15). Our quiet and humble service will stand in stark contrast to the dissatisfied world around us. Living a quiet and peaceable life of gratitude is the real countercultural movement.

Do people avoid us because we’re always complaining? Or are they drawn to Christ because they sense His Spirit working in us to give us a grateful heart?

[trisham]

Miao

I put down my book, The Meaning of Zen, and see the cat smiling into her fur as she delicately combs it with her rough pink tongue.
"Cat, I would lend you this book to study but it appears you have already read it."
She looks up and gives me her full gaze.
"Don't be ridiculous," she purrs, "I wrote it.”

Dilys Laing


Happy Caturday!

[luvie]

Happy Foxurday!
[We like cats...
...as buddies, not food!]