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

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

[The Mayor]

I was so happy to see him get sworn in, great speech too.

[TheConservativeParty]

It’s true, finding the positive is good for the attitude. I sometimes have to just start thanking God for what we think of as basics, food,shelter, money to pay bills, etc. Big miracles are not common but the everyday miracles are there if we look.

Cheers

[TheConservativeParty]

I feel so bad for the whole Kavanaugh family. I hope they can get past the horrible treatment they got from the dems. It was good to see them at the ceremony. I love the pics of Clarence Thomas grinning. Good to see him so happy too.

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you for the Beautiful Pings, Dear FRiends.
(((((Hugs, and God Bless)))))

[The Mayor]

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

Singing to the Firing Squad

October 10, 2018

I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” Psalm 116:10

Two men convicted of drug trafficking had been on death row for a decade. While in prison, they learned of God’s love for them in Jesus, and their lives were transformed. When it came time for them to face the firing squad, they faced their executioners reciting the Lord’s Prayer and singing “Amazing Grace.” Because of their faith in God, through the power of the Spirit they were able to face death with incredible courage.

They followed the example of faith set by their Savior, Jesus. When Jesus knew that His death was imminent, He spent part of the evening singing with friends. It’s remarkable that He could sing under such circumstances, but what’s even more remarkable is what He sang. On that night, Jesus and His friends had a Passover meal, which always ends with a series of Psalms known as the Hallel, Psalms 113–118. Facing death, that night Jesus sang about the “cords of death” entangling Him (Psalm 116:3). Yet He praised God’s faithful love (117:2) and thanked Him for salvation (118:14). Surely these Psalms comforted Jesus on the night before His crucifixion.

Jesus’s trust in God was so great that even as He approached His own death—a death He had done nothing to deserve!—He chose to sing of God’s love. Because of Jesus, we too can have confidence that whatever we face, God is with us.

God, strengthen our faith in You so that when we face trials, or even approach death, we can sing with confidence about Your love.

How sweet is the sound of God’s amazing grace!

INSIGHT

It has been said that our songs are essentially our sung prayers. After having been severely beaten and unjustly arrested, Paul and Silas “were praying and singing hymns to God” in prison! (Acts 16:25). In Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church he exhorts them to “[sing] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and [make] music to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5:19 nlt).

Are you going through a difficult time? Ask God to encourage you as you sing your favorite hymn or song.

[MEG33]

Good Morning

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

[MEG33]

~Happy Warm Fuzzy Wednesday~
To Amy's Place

The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother
— and they'll settle for a puppy every time.
~Winston Pendelton

I Wish You A Beautiful Fall Day!

[left that other site]

Happy Happy Happy

Warm and Fuzzy Autumn Wednesday! :-)

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[TheConservativeParty]

Good morning! Rain today. Lots of rain.

[MEG33]

Love this!!

[MEG33]

We had 2 and a half inches yesterday! We need it so I was thrilled!
Today is sunny and it is a fallish 66 right now!.
A delicious change here.

[TheConservativeParty]

We’ve had way too much rain in WI this year. Very strange. A few miles north of here they got 11 inches in one day and flooded the Madison area. That was at least a month ago. Now everyone pays attention to predictions of heavy rain.

[luvie]

Happy Warm
Fuzzy
and Loving
Wednesday!
From Peaches and Me

[MEG33]

Sweet cuddle!

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you for the Cute Warm Fuzzy Wednesday Pings, Dear FRiends.
(((((Love, and God Bless)))))

[The Mayor]

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

Stories of Jesus

October 11, 2018

Jesus did many other things as well. John 21:25

As a girl I loved to visit my small local library. One day, looking at the bookshelves holding the young adult section, I reasoned I could probably read every book. In my enthusiasm I forgot one important fact—new books were regularly added to the shelves. Although I gave it a valiant effort, there were simply too many books.

New books continue to fill more and more bookshelves. The apostle John likely would be amazed with the availability of books today since his five New Testament books, the gospel of John; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation, were handwritten on parchment scrolls.

John wrote those books because he felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to give Christians an eyewitness account of Jesus’s life and ministry (1 John 1:1–4). But John’s writings contained only a small fraction of all that Jesus did and taught during His ministry. In fact, John said if everything Jesus did were written down “the whole world could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25 nlt).

John’s claim remains true today. Despite all the books that have been written about Jesus, the libraries of the world still cannot contain every story of His love and grace. We can also celebrate that we have our own personal stories to share and rejoice that we will be proclaiming them forever! (Psalm 89:1).

To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. F.M. Lehman

Let your life tell the story of Christ’s love and grace.

INSIGHT

Although the Scriptures don’t contain every story about Jesus (in fact John twice admits that he has only recorded a portion of Jesus’s life and ministry—see John 20:30 and 21:25), we have the significant parts. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we have the whole story of Jesus that is necessary for our salvation.

But what about those things that aren’t written down in John’s gospel? There have been attempts to fill the holes. Should John’s admission that “Jesus performed many other miraculous signs” (20:30) make us insecure? Should we try to “fill in the blanks”? Not at all. When John first tells us that what he recorded is only a part of Jesus’s story, he gives us full confidence that what we have is enough: “These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:31).

How can you thank God today that His story is even bigger than we know?

For more on who Jesus is, see Life of Christ at christianuniversity.org/NT111.

[luvie]

Thankful for unusual party guests!
Happy Thankful Thursday!

[The Mayor]

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

Safe in His Arms

October 12, 2018

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Isaiah 40:11

The weather outside was threatening, and the alert on my cell phone warned about the possibility of flash floods. An unusual number of cars were parked in my neighborhood as parents and others gathered to pick up children at the school bus drop-off point. By the time the bus arrived, it had started to rain. That’s when I observed a woman exit her car and retrieve an umbrella from the trunk. She walked towards a little girl and made sure the child was shielded from the rain until they returned to the vehicle. What a beautiful “real time” picture of parental, protective care that reminded me of the care of our heavenly Father.

The prophet Isaiah forecast punishment for disobedience followed by brighter days for God’s people (Isaiah 40:1–8). The heavenly dispatch from the mountain (v. 9) assured the Israelites of God’s mighty presence and tender care. The good news, then and now, is that because of God’s power and ruling authority, anxious hearts need not fear (vv. 9–10). Included in the announcement was news about the Lord’s protection, the kind of protection shepherds provide (v. 11): vulnerable young sheep would find safety in the Shepherd’s arms; nursing ewes would be led gently.

In a world where circumstances aren’t always easy, such images of safety and care compel us to look confidently to the Lord. Those who trust wholeheartedly in the Lord find security and renewed strength in Him (v. 31). 

Father, in a world where we are sometimes threatened, we are comforted because of Your gracious care for us—in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The good news is that God cares for us!

INSIGHT

We also see the shepherd imagery in the New Testament when Jesus is described as our Good Shepherd. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11) and “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep” (vv. 14–15). Just as a shepherd watched over, provided for, and protected his sheep against danger and death and even pursued them when lost (Psalm 23:1–3; Luke 15:4), Jesus laid down His life for our sins and then rose again so that we would have the opportunity to live forever with Him (John 3:16). By doing so, He freed all who receive Him as Savior from the clutches of our enemy, Satan, and from eternal misery. And in this life, our Shepherd leads and guides us along the way. We need not fear, for He is with us (Psalm 23:4). He loves us and knows us (John 10:14–15).

In what area of your life do you need the comfort of the Good Shepherd?

[luvie]

GREG KARUKAS~GIRL IN THE RED DRESS

[MEG33]

Happy Friday To Amy's Place

We Wear Red On Friday To Support Our Troops

Wishing You A Wonderful Weekend