My Tea Time With Jesus

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭135:3, 5-7 Vs 3: “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to His name, for that is pleasant." Vs 5-7: "I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses."      Wow! These verses are in living color here lately! We are to praise God in all of this strange weather too, it is pleasant to His ears. To think, the 'wind' is kept in a 'storehouse' - wow! I wonder if it is like a wild horse in a barn? Rattling the doors, waiting to burst forth as soon as the door breaks open?? Then with strength and might, when the door is opened, it bursts full force out in to the world! That has to be one BIG storehouse! I see His blessing on us, as something busting at the seams! He has SO much in store fo...

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:13-14 “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins."      How many of us dreamed of a Knight in Shining Armor swooping in to rescue us as little girls? How many of us dreamed of being a Princess treated like royalty by a Prince? Or having a King & Queen for parents? Well, I'm not sure any of our 'younger selves' could even come close to imagining the actual kingdom of darkness that our True Prince rescued us out of!! If we could actually see the tar-pit of death and destruction that we once were in, in our sins.... we'd see the REAL rescue Jesus did for us! Yes, sometimes we recognize it, but I feel like I for one, sometimes forget and take it for granted, that I'm saved.      Today, the MEF (minds eye flash) of the true depth and darkness of utter loss, pain, fear, shame, hate, crime, drugs, .... the picture of being weighed d...

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:13-14‬ "So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then." Wow! This hit about my health, weight, and life! Our mind is a wonderful thing! Yet, it is the one thing that can build us up, tear us down, keep us on the right path, or cause us to stumble. And, we cannot run or hide from our mind. It is always with us! I have learned, that the mind IS "controllable"! Yes it is! The mind can NOT think TWO different thoughts at the same time! It can only think of and address one thing at a time. Its focus can be redirected and trained, and therefore controlled. How? By following these verses: preparing and exercising your mind and thoughts, which either come from or lead to feelings. Then,...

Psalm‬ ‭150:1-2, 6‬ Vs 1 “Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens." Vs 2 "Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness." Vs 6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."      How do we do this? How can we praise Him in His 'sanctuary' or in the 'heavens'? By sincerely praising Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength! When we truly look at things around us, people, circumstances, things, nature... - there IS something to praise God for! Even if it's just that we woke up breathing after a hard day/night the day before. He shows His 'acts of power' to us EVERY day, but I think we don't see it, because we are too busy and we don't look for it. His heavenly seat, is RIGHT in front of us! We can enter His throne room ANY time day or night 24/7 - no waiting, no judgment, no denial to go crawl up on our Fathers lap and spend time with...

Psalm 148:13 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens."     The whole chapter is only 14 verses, read it. I've read in the Bible before 'even the rocks cry out' - but this Psalm, shows ALL of creation, everything on earth and above in the sky - EVERYTHING has a way of praising God! What?! Well, my minds eye went to animals. Even tho they don't have the same mind and soul as we do, they have an understanding of the circle of life. Respect. They know night and day..... I'm thinking, when they eat, something in them is thankful. Because, then they relax, and care for their young. Now trees - hmmmm, they bend and sway and produce its fruit. They thirst for water. When they get it, I imagine they do something that produces something than can be considered praise. It knows the seasons. How? By God!! Maybe that's their way of praising Him. Wow! A totally different way of looking at ever...

1 Timothy 1:19 “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked."      This instruction is for us. How do we 'cling to our faith in Christ'? First, like clinging to anything - we hang on to it for dear life! Reading our bible, listening to sermons, meeting in a small/life group, listening to praise music, going to church.... hanging on the promises of God in ALL circumstances. How do we 'keep our conscience clear'? By prayer. Confessing to God what He already knows. Also, confessing to another person, your prayer partner, spiritual sister, someone walking life with you that will keep you focused on Jesus. When we deliberately don't do these things, and go against our internal 'right/wrong' - that is going against our conscience. This causes our faith to be 'shipwrecked'. Have you ever run out of gas on your way somewhere? ...

Psalm‬ ‭130:3-4, 7 Vs 3-4: “If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve You." Vs 7: "Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption."      We, would NEVER be able to stand with the weight of our sin on us. The punishment too - is hell - we would NOT be able to endure or last. ONLY by Gods grace thru Jesus are we even able to 'live' now!! We are Israel. Here is both a promise and command - put our hope in Him, and He WILL redeem us!! We are all in need of Jesus! WE really cannot succeed on our own. Sure it can seem like it in our society, but not really. There is a big empty hole, that ONLY Jesus can fill! The "need" rund deep in to our very soul.      Our pastor this past Sunday, lead us all in to a special 'exercise' where he asked us a couple of questions, and we raised our hands if it was true ...

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭128:5-6‬ “May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children— peace be on Israel."      This is my pray for YOU today! We as daughters of the King, we are "Israel" and this prayer is for us! Yes, we are to pray for ourselves too, and this is a good one. To be blessed from Zion is like being blessed from the very lips of God! To see/have the prosperity of Jerusalem, is to have it from the place where you see someone that is joyful, content, and at peace in all they have and do. Riches are more than just money. To have joy, kindness, peace, love.... all around - THAT is someone that is prospering! Then, of course, to live to see your children's children is to live a long life. As well as to be able to share in the lives of your children and grandchildren. To have these gifts from God, will cause us to be at peace. With others and ourselves. Be blessed today in all...

Psalm‬ ‭127:1-2‬ “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for He grants sleep to those He loves."      "The house" - what is that? Yes, it is our actual home and yes, Jesus needs to be in the center. However, 'the house' can actually be anything or anyplace we spend a lot of our time invested in. Activities, events, places, even people. If the Lord is not in 'them', then any blessing we might be praying and asking for, well, it is in vain! So, that craft we do, investing tons of time in, but let our minds wander to ungodly stuff - in vain! Those movies or tv shows we watch that feed our sinful nature - in vain! That friend we hang out with and 'witness' to, but get caught in bad habits - in vain! The bills we have that are piling up, we worry and fret over, not including Jesus in - in vain...

Colossians 1:9 “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding."      What an encouraging way to be told you are being 'thought' of, more importantly, being prayed for! And what a gift to be given of 'spiritual wisdom & understanding'! But how do we do this? Really. For all of our family, friends, people we do life with, neighbors, people we meet.... how can we practically do this for others? Well, we can keep a prayer journal and refer back to it daily... We can spend some time devoted to each person on our list... But, with our busy lives, and time constraints we have nowadays, how can we do this?      For me, my heart believes with everything in me, that our loving and good Father, knows it all and has it all in His hands already. We don't need to be wordy and lengthy or even over detailed. I believe in praying for each...

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:3-5 “In Him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong."      Verses 3 & 4 are our truth, that reading Gods word, is where we find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! Then the truth, that outside of Gods word and people - we are susceptible to deceit by well-crafted words and speech of others. Then verse 5, is pretty much how I pray. Expectantly. Confident in the outcome. Trusting that in Jesus, it WILL come to be! I rejoice too, in advance, for His answer to prayer.      How can we live as we should? How can our faith be strong in Christ? By searching and digging for treasure!! Today, put on your Pirate hat and get out your metal detector (our concordance) and start 'searching' for His hidden nugget...

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭147:3-5‬ “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit."      Each verse has a powerful truth in this whole chapter! The promise in verse 3 of being healed, is one we can all relate to and need to hang on to. Verse 4, the stars....have you ever been in a place where you look up, and see tons and tons of stars? Not only, are we descendants of Abraham and the number of saved Christians like the number of stars (can't even count them!) but God KNOWS EACH star!! He has a name for EACH one! I can hardly remember a class full of names.... billions of names? Wow! Verse 5, Gods power and understanding: great, unfailing, no limit! He created us. Every part of our being, is known by Him. He doesn't love like us people love. His understanding of us and our whole being, is even better than we know ourselves! Deep and intimate. E...

Psalm 146:4 “When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing."      Most of this Psalm is a song we sing. This verse. Well. Jumped out with such a visual! My MEF (minds eye flash): Someone, human like us, lives a big grand life. Makes all sorts of plans! Some for good, some maybe not so good. Then, they die. Suddenly. In the middle of them 'living life'. Instantly, their spirit departs from them. Their body returns to dust. Then, up pops someone under them, living in their place. Someone that watched their life. Someone who thought they could do things better or different. Well, ALL of the plans of the first person - GONE!!      I believe this is why scripture warns us over & over, not to store up treasures here on earth, but to enlarge the kingdom of heaven! THAT kind of treasure will NOT be a bad or wrong investment! What are your plans for today? Tomorrow? Next week, next month, next year? Where ...

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭145:4, 8-9, 11, 13b-14, 18 Vs 4: “One generation commends Your works to another; they tell of Your mighty acts." Vs 8-9: "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made." Vs 11: "They tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might," Vs 13b-14: "The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down." Vs 18: "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth."      Wow! ALL of 145 is awesome!! It struck me, right off, that WE are supposed to be sharing with our kids and grandkids OR just any generation, what God has done in our lives! But, how are we to do this? Well, by speaking up, for one. Keep a Praise Journal. Some type of tracking, that when we have gone thru something, we can pull it up and share at the right time. Ver...

Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground."      Straight up truth right there! Easy and to the point. Question tho: how will we be able to be taught these things? Can we learn His will by just praying? How about just listening to music, Praise and Worship music that is? By talking with other Christians? By reading a 'how to' book? How can we KNOW it's HIS Spirit leading us? By any of these ways?      Well, sure these things will enhance our awareness and our connection with Him, but the ONLY way to deepen our relationship with Him is by hearing His voice as we read His words in Scripture. MEF (minds eye flash): a new born baby, comes out hearing all sorts of sounds and voices! It has NO idea who mommy and daddy are! It doesn't take long before it realizes a couple of voices are consistent in meeting its needs. As the child grows, starts interacting with others, who's voice can they always...

Psalm‬ ‭142:6-7 “Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise Your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of Your goodness to me."     Have you ever felt that a circumstance or situation you are in is WAY bigger & harder than you could handle? Or like, at every turn, it seems like someone is after you or causing things to happen? It seems like a person, or group of people, are SO strong against you? Well, you are not alone!! Verses 6-7 are a GREAT prayer to pray when this happens! Why? So that we can praise our awesome Heavenly Father!! Then, when you share this with other believers, we ALL get a blessing! We ALL get to praise God!      If you are going thru something that has you crying out this prayer, KNOW you are not alone! I'm praying for you. There is an awesome Group on FB that I think most of you are in, called Desirin...

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭141:3-4 "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies."      This is a pretty straight forward prayer that we can and should pray for ourselves! However, the last line kept jumping out at me. Then the flash in my minds eye. 'Delicacies' are normally food, however here, for us, it can be a number of things! Dictionary says: Delicacies: noun a : the quality or state of being luxurious b : indulgence c : something pleasing to eat that is considered rare or luxurious <considered caviar a delicacy> d : the quality or state of being dainty : fineness <lace of great delicacy> e : frailty <the delicacy of his health>      The Lord showed me that for us here, in this time in history, a delicacy can be anything that slips in under the guise of 'just a lit...

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭140:8, 11, 12-13‬ Vs 8: “Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord; do not let their plans succeed." Vs 11: "May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent." Vs 12-13: "I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. Surely the righteous will praise Your name, and the upright will live in Your presence."      You know, it is VERY hard for me to pray against or wish I'll towards someone....however, the Lord reminded me today, that He fights our battles for us! He is the One who can bring about change, and make a difference! With our country being split, and people causing division - this just fits.      Verses 8 & 11 are my prayer against anyone who is against Gods will and ways. Verses 12 & 13 are our promise! Today, I pray you live in Gods presence! Spend time with Him in His word, with praises thru the ABC's, by listening to praise music, by praying for...

Colossians‬ ‭3:8-10, 12-14‬ Vs 8-10 “But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him." Vs 12-14 "Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony."      Dear holy and beloved Sister, you ARE renewed in knowledge thru and by and because of the image of Christ. God has CHOSEN you! He offers us fresh, clean, beautiful, perfect 'clothes' to put on - each and every day! Clean slate. New start. A+ at the start...

Psalm‬ ‭139:4, 6-7, 11-12‬ Vs 4: “Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely." Vs 6-7: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" Vs 11-12: "If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You."      Wow! The winds are out of the storehouses today!! Verses 4, 6, & 7 are pretty straight forward, and I guess I needed this reminder (oops)! Verses 11-12 are just swirling around in my head like the wind outside. God not only has X-ray vision, but Night-vision too! When He created the earth, it was first dark. God then added the light. The same with us, before we accept His gift of salvation. We are 'dark in sin' - then Jesus enters, and there is light! However, even in our darkness (to us), God sees...