Autumn in The LOFT

Autumn in lower Alabama doesn’t look starkly different from summer. The temps do drop for a portion of the season. Mornings do get crisp and evenings do get a chill. In fact I have a pot of vegetable beef soup simmering right now for this semi cool morning. Lets see what is the temp at this writing? Oh well . . . 69. It was cooler this morning and I’m gonna enjoy my soup imageanyway :)

I do get a thrill seeing Autumn’s Artist at work and looking closely I found some Fall colors right here in our own yard. See.

This is our elm tree; well, a close up of our elm tree so you could see that color I found. image

 

 

And these are the marigolds in our front bed. It’s not their aroma that endears them to me.  :)image

And if you look closely here you will see our Umbrella tree’s leaves are turning yellow; she will eventually loose them all. image 

Pumpkins! One of Autumn’s fruits (vegetables). Traveling from lower Alabama to Georgia last year we found these. IMG_1329Beautiful aren’t they?  Well, that about covers Autumn’s colors for me.

And now that it is Autumn, I’m already having thoughts of Winter and Christmas; but that’s another post. Perhaps . . . 

For more Autumn Thoughts, please follow this link and visit The LOFT. The Loft: A weekly Hangout and Link Up for Christian bloggers
Graphic by Kerry Messer

You will find some dear friends with many good things to say and some REAL Fall Colors.

Enjoy.

Until Next Time ~ ~ ~ Kathie

 

Protection and Safety

I see a theme in my praying today for family and friends. Protection and safety from the evil one and those who do his will. Yes, satan has a will too. And a plan for each soul. Many are in his ranks, some I believe by conscious choice; most, I think, by default. Either way it seems good and right to cover people with prayers for protection and safety as we move about our lives doing our best to do the will of GOD. 

1 Peter 5:8 (CJB)

Stay sober, stay alert! Your enemy, the Adversary, stalks about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

John 10:10 (CJB)

10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.

Life in the fullest measure. Yes, that’s our GOD. He means to give us life eternal and life temporal to the fullest measure.

Blessings! Until Next Time ~ ~ ~ Kathie
Lord willing and the Church don’t rise :)

Shepherd

What would it be to be sheep with no shepherd?

16 Then he said, “I saw all Isra’el scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd; . . . [source]

Today, I gathered with a few friends and we took a closer look at Psalm 23. David penned: The LORD is my shepherd. We noted he said MY shepherd. David the shepherd had a Shepherd. [source]

David must have had an unmistakable understanding of what it meant to be a sheep and a shepherd. All he had to do was observe his very own sheep to identify with them. Their propensity to wander; their timidity of quick-moving water; their desperate need for a safe pasture to feed on; their many enemies, those without and those seeking to get inside their heads. And then to equate his own love and tender care of his sheep as their shepherd to The Shepherd Who loved and cared for him. The LORD is MY Shepherd he said. He understood! (I highly recommend the book A Shepherd’s Look at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller.)

In Keller’s book he parallels sheep and people sheep in fears, head strong temperaments, mortal enemies, parasites, wanderlust, feeding requirements; the whole gamut of what it means to be sheep and Shepherd.

As you now read Psalm 23 read it with two avenues in mine. The Sheep who follow The Shepherd and the soul who doesn’t.
ABBA, show each of us clearly The Shepherd Who loves the sheep and we the sheep who desperately need the Shepherd. HOLY SPIRIT, seriously for each one that reads Psalm 23, I ask You to vividly reveal The Shepherd Who loves the sheep and the ways of we the sheep that make it so necessary for us to have The Shepherd, shepherd us. Amen and amen. 

Psalm 23 (CJB)

 (0) A psalm of David: (1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,
I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;
your rod and staff reassure me.

You prepare a table for me,
even as my enemies watch;
you anoint my head with oil
from an overflowing cup.

Goodness and grace will pursue me
every day of my life;
and I will live in the house of Adonai
for years and years to come.

 See you Next Time ~ ~ ~ The LORD willing and the Church don’t rise, Kathie 

Below are two links to the podcasts we watched today. Each is nearly 30 minutes.

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

LIGHT

Early in the morning I will celebrate the Light. 

Lyrics to a song. Good counsel. 

Early in the morning, I will awaken and celebrate the LIGHT. 
Celebrate that again I have awaken. Awaken to the light, awaken to the LIGHT Who made the light. Awaken to the LIGHT Who brought me from Darkness to celebrate in the light with the LIGHT.

And if you know this is more than a play on words, and you got this LIGHT that made light, that’s good. Very good! :)

Early in the morning or late in the evening, I will celebrate the LIGHT.
I like this. :)

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  [source]

Until Next Time, LORD willing and the Church don’t rise ~ ~ ~Kathie