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! Even though it is kind of gloomy out, I think every morning I can get up and out of bed and breathe and move is a good morning! I thought we were through with the rain for awhile, but guess God had other plans!
While I was driving yesterday, I saw a large osprey perched on the wire spanning Turner's Creek at Gateway Mall. Probably the same one that has the nest near CVS and Publix. I have seen it there before, so it is living in the neighborhood. I went to the park the rainy day Friday,, on my way to get the car serviced, and only five cars were there , so someone was out in the rain! It was wet, drippy and peaceful. No animals in sight. Speaking of animals, we have two feral kittens hanging around the backyard again. I just saw them last night in the hedge between our yard and the neighbors. Same two cats are interbreeding white and black kittens. My neighbor across the street said they were over at her house, so if these are the same ones, they must have crossed the street! Oh, well. I have enough to do without chasing the kittens!
We had a good Annual Meeting at church last night with sweet unity on most items and short discussions. God is good!
From HYMNS FOR THE FAMILY OF GOD...
We remember how Jesus said, "...I have finished the work which Thou gavest me do do" (John 17:4) That statement reveals that God had a definite plan for Jesus' life, that He could and did know what that plan was, and that it was possible for Him to accomplish it. That was true for Christ, it is also true for each one of us. No one of us is here by accident, nor by chance. God has a plan for your life--of that you can be sure.
However, God gave to each person power of choice and freedom of will. We remember how our Lord prayed, "...nevertheless not my will but Thine be done"( Luke 22:43) That prayer teaches two important truths: first, one might have a will for his own life that is contrary to God's will for him, Second, it is possible to follow your own will and turn your back on God's will for you. Were those two facts not true, then Christ's prayer would have been mockery.
-Charles L. Allen
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
1 Corinthians 13
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! We really had a rainstorm roar through last night, with loud thunder and pouring rain, but no damage was done around here, and we thank God for that! Rain is still dripping off the roof and trees, but the wind is still and quiet. I picked up lots of twigs and big branches that broke off the oak trees..the yard is always a mess after a strong wind.
Yesterday, I shopped at Walmart and just about got blown away going in and out! Surprisingly, there were few people there, and when I checked out, I walked right to a cashier with no customers in line! God is good!
As I drove through the park in the wind, leaves and sand were blowing everywhere, but the squirrels were not bothered and the turtle sunning on the bank paid no attention to the wind. Across the borrow pit lake, almost to the interstate, I saw a great white heron standing on the bank and reflected in the lake. What a beautiful, typical Florida sight! It was an awesome glimpse of God's beauty!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear.
It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is impartial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.
There are three things that will endure--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 15:58
So, my dear brothers and sister, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Yesterday, I shopped at Walmart and just about got blown away going in and out! Surprisingly, there were few people there, and when I checked out, I walked right to a cashier with no customers in line! God is good!
As I drove through the park in the wind, leaves and sand were blowing everywhere, but the squirrels were not bothered and the turtle sunning on the bank paid no attention to the wind. Across the borrow pit lake, almost to the interstate, I saw a great white heron standing on the bank and reflected in the lake. What a beautiful, typical Florida sight! It was an awesome glimpse of God's beauty!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear.
It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is impartial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.
There are three things that will endure--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 15:58
So, my dear brothers and sister, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
1 Peter 4:7-13
Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! Happy December first! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! Not many shopping days until Christmas...just a reminder. :o)
Yesterday, I went to the Park and saw a beautiful peacock in one of the yards outside the park, and then on the bank of the canal lots of turtles enjoying the warm sun. On the bridge was a strange sight. An anhinga was swallowing a fish which was not the strange sight. What was strange was that the bird was out of the water crouching on his ungainly legs, I have seen them many times swallowing fish while in the water. It was kind of comical, because a great blue heron was standing right beside him. I wonder if the heron dropped the fish and the anhinga picked it up? Hmm, guess I will never know, but one thing I do know...God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
1 Peter 4:7
The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever.
Amen.
Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad--because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displaced to all the world.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Yesterday, I went to the Park and saw a beautiful peacock in one of the yards outside the park, and then on the bank of the canal lots of turtles enjoying the warm sun. On the bridge was a strange sight. An anhinga was swallowing a fish which was not the strange sight. What was strange was that the bird was out of the water crouching on his ungainly legs, I have seen them many times swallowing fish while in the water. It was kind of comical, because a great blue heron was standing right beside him. I wonder if the heron dropped the fish and the anhinga picked it up? Hmm, guess I will never know, but one thing I do know...God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
1 Peter 4:7
The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever.
Amen.
Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad--because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displaced to all the world.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Monday, November 30, 2009
Psalm 121
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! Well, it is another cool morning and we have had the heat on, but the days warm up rapidly and no heat or A/C is needed...the best part of this time of the year!
As part of my thankfulness for this past year, I am thankful for dear friends who always unexpectedly give of themselves and their material things and always joyfully! I am thankful for the help that comes from dear ones and the encouragement.
We were able to go to church yesterday and it was good to be there as I saw quite a few faces I was not familiar with. Hopefully, Louis will get up early enough for us to go several times in the coming month. God is good!
Yesterday, on the way home, an osprey was flying very low in front of the car as it headed for its nest high on a pole at Sawgrass Elem. School. They are huge in their wingspan! I also went by two sad looking woodstorks by the lake , on my way to church and a mama duck with a row of her ducklings paddling across the same lake. God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
I look up to the mountains---
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth!
He will not let you stumble and fall,
the one who watches over you will not sleep.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never tires and never sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your
protective shade.
The sun will not hurt you by day,
nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all evil
and preserves your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you
come and go
both now and forever.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
As part of my thankfulness for this past year, I am thankful for dear friends who always unexpectedly give of themselves and their material things and always joyfully! I am thankful for the help that comes from dear ones and the encouragement.
We were able to go to church yesterday and it was good to be there as I saw quite a few faces I was not familiar with. Hopefully, Louis will get up early enough for us to go several times in the coming month. God is good!
Yesterday, on the way home, an osprey was flying very low in front of the car as it headed for its nest high on a pole at Sawgrass Elem. School. They are huge in their wingspan! I also went by two sad looking woodstorks by the lake , on my way to church and a mama duck with a row of her ducklings paddling across the same lake. God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
I look up to the mountains---
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth!
He will not let you stumble and fall,
the one who watches over you will not sleep.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never tires and never sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your
protective shade.
The sun will not hurt you by day,
nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all evil
and preserves your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you
come and go
both now and forever.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Whose Strength?
Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the rainy day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! Well, I was thankful for the rain yesterday, which we needed, but the Lord has brought it again today, and I have to go out to the store for a little more shopping for thanksgiving dinner, I hope I can be thankful for rain then! I took the trash can down to the curb this morning for pickup today rather than tomorrow. Thankfully, the rain had paused long enough for me to do that!
We did not go out all day yesterday...just stayed off the roads, reading and doing chores around the house. But I saw a tiny wren hopping about on the grass-the first one I have seen this winter! They have brown wings and a lighter tan body, and are very hard to see on the ground, but really cute! God is good!
From Quiet Moments with God:
When I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 NKJV
In the springtime it's fun to watch tiny baby birds with downy crowns begin to find their way around. They make their way to the edge of their nest and take a peek over to view the very large, unexplored world around them.
At first they may look into the abyss and then shrink back to the familiar security of their nest. Perhaps they imagine the strength of their own untried wings is all that will save them from a fatal fall--and they know how weak and unproven those little wings are! Yet, when they are either pushed out of the nest or gather courage to launch oiut on their own to try that first flight, they find the air supports them when they spread their wings.
How often do we allow unfamiliar situations and circumstances to loom large and threatening in our imaginations? Sometimes when we look at circumstances that lie outside our familiar "nest" we may feel just like a baby bird. We take a look at our own weakness, and we may want to turn around and head back to safety.
In times of crisis--either real or imagined--what is it that God has called us to do? He may be trying to push us out of our nest and "stretch our wings," so we can grow in our faith.
When Peter saw the Lord Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee, he cried out, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus replied, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. It was when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the wind, that he became frightened and began to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" And, of course Jesus did! (Matthew 14:27-31.)
When you look to your resources, you may get a "sinking" feeling. This morning, look to Jesus and His resources. Then you will have courage to venture into unknown territory!
Let us not pray for lighter burdens,
but for stronger backs.
-Amish saying
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
We did not go out all day yesterday...just stayed off the roads, reading and doing chores around the house. But I saw a tiny wren hopping about on the grass-the first one I have seen this winter! They have brown wings and a lighter tan body, and are very hard to see on the ground, but really cute! God is good!
From Quiet Moments with God:
When I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 NKJV
In the springtime it's fun to watch tiny baby birds with downy crowns begin to find their way around. They make their way to the edge of their nest and take a peek over to view the very large, unexplored world around them.
At first they may look into the abyss and then shrink back to the familiar security of their nest. Perhaps they imagine the strength of their own untried wings is all that will save them from a fatal fall--and they know how weak and unproven those little wings are! Yet, when they are either pushed out of the nest or gather courage to launch oiut on their own to try that first flight, they find the air supports them when they spread their wings.
How often do we allow unfamiliar situations and circumstances to loom large and threatening in our imaginations? Sometimes when we look at circumstances that lie outside our familiar "nest" we may feel just like a baby bird. We take a look at our own weakness, and we may want to turn around and head back to safety.
In times of crisis--either real or imagined--what is it that God has called us to do? He may be trying to push us out of our nest and "stretch our wings," so we can grow in our faith.
When Peter saw the Lord Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee, he cried out, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus replied, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. It was when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the wind, that he became frightened and began to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" And, of course Jesus did! (Matthew 14:27-31.)
When you look to your resources, you may get a "sinking" feeling. This morning, look to Jesus and His resources. Then you will have courage to venture into unknown territory!
Let us not pray for lighter burdens,
but for stronger backs.
-Amish saying
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Giving Thanks
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! Looks like we may be getting rain today and then turning colder, but we really need the rain! A good day for soup and baking!
I took a trip to Walmart yesterday and realized children had no school, mostly because they were all in the store with their Moms! Lots of people buying Thanksgiving stuff, blocking aisles, and concentrating on their lists. I managed to get all that was on my list and was glad to leave!
It was good to stop at the quietness and peace of the Park, and see the wildlife carrying on as usual, instead of the wildlife in Walmart.
The turtles were sunning and a flock of ibis peacefully pecking on the ground. A friend pointed out to me that ospreys are nesting on top of a pole in the parking lot between CVS and Publix. They pick any tall spot they can find to build their nests! God is good!
This is one of my favorite songs to sing in church or anywhere...from the Covenant Hymnal Especially good at this time of year.
Give Thanks
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ, his son.
And now, let the weak say "I am strong."
let the poor say, "I am rich,"
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ, his son....give thanks!
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
I took a trip to Walmart yesterday and realized children had no school, mostly because they were all in the store with their Moms! Lots of people buying Thanksgiving stuff, blocking aisles, and concentrating on their lists. I managed to get all that was on my list and was glad to leave!
It was good to stop at the quietness and peace of the Park, and see the wildlife carrying on as usual, instead of the wildlife in Walmart.
The turtles were sunning and a flock of ibis peacefully pecking on the ground. A friend pointed out to me that ospreys are nesting on top of a pole in the parking lot between CVS and Publix. They pick any tall spot they can find to build their nests! God is good!
This is one of my favorite songs to sing in church or anywhere...from the Covenant Hymnal Especially good at this time of year.
Give Thanks
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ, his son.
And now, let the weak say "I am strong."
let the poor say, "I am rich,"
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ, his son....give thanks!
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
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