Good Morning, dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! No sunshine this morning, because of fog, but that usually means a very warm day, later on.
Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I went to the park and walked out on the bridge to check on the gators. Sure enough, they were hanging in the water...the three footer and the smaller one closer together and at the other end of the bridge the small one was almost invisible in the lily pads. I watched an anhinga swallowing a fish, which was very visible going down his long neck. I have often wondered is the fish tickles when it gets to the craw or wherever it goes inside the bird. Probably it is better not to think about the eventual demise. But God means for everything in creation to have a purpose and I guess the fishes is to feed the anhinga. I saw a lot of ripples, but could not tell if they were turtles or something else. It was a very warm afternoon, so I avoided the sun as much as possible, and walked a ways in the shade. It was a good walk and God is good!
From the little devotional book Knowing God:
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
Micah 7:8 HCSB
Doubts come in several shapes and sizes: doubts about God, doubts about the future, and doubts about our own abilities, for starters. But when doubts creep in, as they will from time to time, we need not despair. As Sheila Walsh observed, "To wrestle with God does not mean that we have lost faith, but that we are fighting for it."
God never leaves our side, not for an instant. He is always with us, always willing to calm the storms of life. When we sincerely seek His presence-and when we genuinely seek to establish a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Him--God is prepared to touch our hearts, to calm our fears, to answer oiur doubts, and to restore oiur confidence.
-Great Thoughts-
Struggling with God over the issues of life doesn't show a lack of faith-that is faith.
Lee Strobel
Doubting may temporarily disturb, but will not permanently destroy, your faith in Christ.
Charles Swindoll
-Today's Prayer-
Dear God, sometimes this world can be a puzzling place, filled with uncertainty and doubt. When I am unsure of my next step, keep me mindful that You are always near and that you can overcome any challenge. Give me faith, Father, and let me remember always that with Your love and Your power, I can live courageously and faithfully today and every day. Amen.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Good Morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! It is another beautiful day in a string of cool, warm days. Good for the visitors and good for us natives!
I visited the park yesterday and it was packed! Some group was having a meeting under the shelter and I waited for a three wheeled motorcycle to back into a space. It was really packed with a lot of traveling equipment, but I couldn't see the tag to see where he was from. John, the Ranger, was holding court under the first shelter talking to patrons, which is what he likes to do. He is a real people person. The squirrels were hanging out by all the cars parked in the circle, looking for handouts, which they have gotten used to. I think they wouldn't need much encouragement to hop in the cars, if invited. :o) God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
Psalm 112:1-5
Happy are those who fear the Lord.
Yes, happy are those who delight in doing what he commands.
Their children will be successful everywhere;
an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
They themselves will be wealthy,
and their good deeds will never be forgotten.
When darkness overtakes the godly,
light will come bursting in.
They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
All goes well for those who are generous,
who lend freely and conduct their business fairly.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! Brrr! It is finally chilly! The wind is blowing, making the fifties seem a lot colder. When I went out at daylight to put the flag up, the wind caught it before I really had it in the holder! People are wearing coats at the outdoor services commemorating Veteran's Day today.
Well, I have more information about the incident that brought out the Sheriff's Deputies to Sawgrass Monday. It seems that a couple of patrons got into a shoving match, because one was feeding the gators (illegal) and the other objected. I have often wanted to say something , but kept quiet because you never know what the reaction will be!
Also, Dave C. the Park Ranger who does my yard, said there were about ten complaints of squirrels biting people who didn't feed them, so he and another ranger took a walk with traps and got about six to relocate them to Weedon Island. It always seems such a peaceful place on the surface, but much is going on behind the scenes, so to speak. God is good!
Psoaring thru Psalm 82 NLT:
God presides over heaven's court:
he pronounces judgment on the judges:
How long will you judges hand down unjust decisions?
How long will you shower special favors on the wicked?
Give fair treatment to the poor and orphan;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
Rescue the poor and helpless;
deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
But these oppressors know nothing; they are so ignorant!
And because they are in darkness,
the whole world is shaken to the core.
I say, "You are gods and children of the most High.
But in death you are mere men.
You will fall as any prince, for all must die.
Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to you.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Good morning, Dear friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! Today is another beautiful day with the cold front creeping closer, so we will probably have a reason to wear sweaters in the next couple days.
I hope many of you stepped outside or had occasion to see the gorgeous full moon and Jupiter right beside it in the night sky last evening. It was just awesome! No one can outdo God when it comes to putting on a heavenly show! I am thankful for eyes to see!
I drove out to Bay Pines Cemetery yesterday to visit Louis' grave and was surprised to see a lot of construction going on. I read in the Times that a program will be held there tomorrow, but I was wondering how that will be handled, because the entrance road is torn up and the old office building is torn down and a new one being built. There is a substitute road made for a new entrance and exit, so I was able to go back to the section I was headed for. Everything was so peaceful and the grass was freshly cut. I was the only one there for a few minutes, until some people drove up saying they were having a funeral later that afternoon and asking directions as to where they should go. I directed them back to the temporary office, so I hope everything went well with them. I arranged the flowers I brought and put them in the container provided, so they should stay fresh for several days. It was a good visit. God is good!
This is from Hymns For the Family of God:
Prayer of Concern for Others
Father, help me to talk like a Christian:
to speak in such a way that I build up another person's confidence in himself, instead of tearing down his reputation.
Father, help me to drive like a Christian:
to be watchful and careful lest I cause harm to someone else on the highways.
Father, help me to give like a Christian;
without thought of return, without anyone knowing what I do, and with Your approval as sufficient reward.
Father, Help me to dress like a Christian:
by not attracting attention to myself for being too fashionable or too casual; and help me to show by my appearance that I want people to know me for what I am inside myself.
Father, help me to sleep like a Christian
at peace with myself because sin is forgiven; and at peace with others because I do not allow my anger to last through a day.
Father, help me to eat like a Christian;
to eat healthily, to eat moderately, to eat gratefully, giving thanks to you who provide my food, and for the one who prepares my food.
Father, keep me from being so pious that I keep You out of the practical areas or life. Be with me when I am alone, and when I shed my inhibitions, lest in those moments I cancel out all that I seem to be when I'm on my best behavior.
Father, I ask this because I follow a Master who was never guilty of the slightest wrong doing, and who always showed His love in the small details of living. Amen.
Bryan Jeffery Leech
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, with thanksgiving, joy and Love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Good morning, Dear friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! This will be a day like yesterday....cool start and warm finish, but then comes another cold front, so tomorrow night we will finally have a big change and I may have to turn the furnace on for the first time this year!
I got some good walking yesterday when I visited the Neighborhood Walmart store. All in all, it was a good shopping experience. Not many people in the store and they had everything I wanted and then some! I had seen a segment on the local news yesterday of some of the weird things and people that happen in Walmart stores, featuring the manager of the local superstore. Unbelievable what some people will do in public!
So, after that I put away the groceries and drove to the park to see what was going on. On the way there, I saw the ever present woodstorks and ibis around Lynch Lake. But just as I got through the gate at the park, a crowd of people, with cars parked along the road, were gathered at the lake on the right, looking at a large gator. He hasn't been there in quite a
while, but, until he sank from all the onlookers, he really thrilled a lot of people. I can't blame them, because I never lose my excitement over seeing them in the wild. God is good!
From the devotional book Quiet Moments with God:
Genesis 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
Thomas Edison, probably the greatest inventor in history, once said, "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun."
He changed the lives of millions with his inventions of the electric light and the phonograph. He also helped perfect the motion picture, the telephone, and the electric generator. Edison patented more tha 1100 inventions in sixty years.
What was the secret of his success? He defined it himself as "1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration," Perhaps Edison's greatest contribution to modern society was his attitude toward work.
Have you ever thought about the fact that God worked? After He had completed His Creation work in six days, He rested on the seventh. Some people think work was a condemnation upon human beings after Adam's sin. But work was part of Adam's life from the very beginning. God created Adam in His image, and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate His creation.
Work has its rewards and laziness its consequences. The ant is a good worker. It busily gathers food for the winter without anyone giving a command. In like manner we are to initiate work ourselves and do our best. Paul reminds us not to grow weary of doing good. Work may not always be fun, but it is essential and gives us a sense of accomplishment that nothing else can bring.
Now I wake me up to work,
I pray thee, Lord, I will not shirk.
And if You should come tonight,
I pray You'll find my work's all right.
It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think he must prefer quality to quantity.
Gordon MacDonald
I always give thanks for you, remembering you with joy, thanksgiving, and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! Another bright sunshiny day with cool temps now, but warming up again this afternoon. Just perfect weather!
I did laundry yesterday and still have closets to clean out..seems like I have a lot more clothes than I really need, and I have already eliminated bags and bags of clothes. It takes time..
But I took time to go to the park after running a few errands, and saw just one black turtle sunning himself on the bank of the weir. Not many people were out in the middle of the day, but a flock of ibis, and a beautiful egret fishing were admired by me. I think the egrets look so Florida when standing against the greens and grays of the woods and muddy banks. They look like a postcard. The young gators are still hanging around the entrance bridge. They seem to like it there.
I don't know what was going on at the park, but two sheriff's deputy cars were parked outside the office and the Ranger's SUV came in just as I was leaving. Guess I will hear about it from Dave, the yard man. But, God is still in control and He is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
Romans 8
For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying , for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Good Morning, Dear friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! Another cool, sunshiny morning in a string of beautiful days! The weather was perfect for the airfest at MacDill over the weekend. At one time, it sounded like one of the jets flew directly over the house, but was going so fast, it only lasted a few seconds and then the sound was gone I should have gone to Gandy beach to see if I could catch sight of the Thunderbirds as they flew over the air show. Oh, well, maybe another time...
For the first time, I saw a woodstork standing in the water in Lynch Lake. They are always standing on the bank, looking sad, but this time, he was in the water up to his ankles. Well, I guess he has ankles. I hardly ever see any at the park, for some reason, but maybe they are not fast enough to escape the small gators.
I had to stop and wait for several ducks to cross over the street, because, as numerous as they are, people still protect them. We had two of them hanging around this meighborhood for a week or two, but they finally moved on. God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
2 John (written to the chosen lady and her children)
May grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God our Father and from Jesus Christ his Son, be with us who live in truth and love.
How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.
And now I want to urge you, dear lady, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward. For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will not have fellowship with God. But if you continue in the teaching of Christ, you will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son.
If someone comes to your meetings and does not teach the truth about Christ, don't invite him into your house or encourage him in any way. Anyone who encourages him becomes a partner in his evil work.
I allways give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
