My Tea Time With Jesus

Psalm 29:11 (NLT) " The   Lord   gives His people strength.  The   Lord   blesses them with peace." I like this "address 29:11" it is another promise from God for us!! One that we can pray back to Him just like we can and do Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you,” says the  Lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  The bible is FULL of hopeful verses! Full of promises! Full of the very words, the breath of God - that we can cling to and hold on to just as we would those of any wise father. Only, God is far wiser and unconditionally loving than any earthly father we could have.  Have you had a time where you just needed 'strength' to go on? Just one more step, or crawl, at a time? Where you felt and thought, there is NO way you can make it through this circumstance/situation? Did you cry out to God? Did you ask Him to help you make it through each step? Each hour? Shoot, each minut...

John 6:28-29 28  They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” 29  Jesus told them,  “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.” Funny how we all want to “work” for things. And we actually know how to do it pretty well. The thing that jumped out at me here, is that the “work” God requires of us, is to ‘believe in Jesus’ – that’s it. Well, in order to believe, we need to know Him, right?! In order to know Him, we have to spend time with Him. Right?! If you are married, or were married, or ever dated someone… you know that the only way to find a connection with that person is to spend time with them. If you are around married people at all, you will hear them say, “Marriage is hard work.” What is the hard work? Well, it is putting the other person and their needs above your own. Trying to out-do OR out-give kindness and love towards them. Spending time with this person 24/7 at times. Well, the same is tru...

Today, in my quiet time, I read a daily devotion from Pastor Greg. Wowzers! Hit the nail right on the head!! This is totally how I believe too! We DO have time to pray - we just need to make it a priority ;-) Start by making a New Choice at least one time today. Set a timer if you have to, and instead of looking at your phone or the computer - pray for a few minutes. Then just start talking to Jesus. Maybe you need to "text" it out to Him. Make a New Contact in your phone: Jesus - and then text Him. Or get a notebook and pen, and do it the old-fashioned way lol  The point is, just give some sort of time to Him, you'll be glad you did!! I'm praying that you "find" time today to pray, talk to God, share your heart with Jesus. Circumstance may not change, but your heart will. Be well, be safe, and be blessed in all you put your hands to today! <3 Time to Pray You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you...

A Song of Thanksgiving 67  God, be merciful to us and bless us;      look on us with kindness, 2  so that the whole world may know Your will;      so that all nations may know Your salvation. 3  May the peoples praise You, O God;      may all the peoples praise You! 4  May the nations be glad and sing for joy,      because You judge the peoples with justice      and guide every nation on earth. 5  May the peoples praise You, O God;      may all the peoples praise You! 6  The land has produced its harvest;      God, our God, has blessed us. 7  God has blessed us;      may all people everywhere honor Him. What an amazing passage!! This is one of those passages of scripture, that we CAN pray back to God! This is something that we can have hope for, that ALL the earth will ...

Romans 8:15 NLT - 15  So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.  Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” MSG - This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. See this promise?!?! We are children of God! Not grandchildren, nieces or nephews, step-children… but His CHILD, we are adopted, chosen, wanted, bought and paid for!! We are NOT to be afraid in things – we have His Spirit in us – so we can be confident in the things He leads us to and through! That is just so stinkin’ amazing to me!! AND – that we get to call Him Father, Papa, Daddy, Abba… whatever term you use for endearing Dad – THAT is who God is to us! Yes, to you, me, everyone that calls on Him and believes in Jesus! Wowzers!! Even bet...

Psalm 117 1  Praise the  Lord , all you nations.      Praise Him, all you people of the earth. 2  For His unfailing love for us is powerful;      the  Lord ’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the  Lord ! Short and simple today. What we are to do, and what His promise is. His love for us is SO powerful! He moves mountains to knock on the door of our heart. He waits patiently for us to open that door and invite Him in. The power that raised Jesus from the dead, lives IN us – through us, for us, because of us!! Amazing!! Today, I pray that you hear that knock on your heart’s door, and you open that door. If you have already, then I pray that you let Him into EVERY room in your heart (including in your home/body/mind). May you truly feel His love for you today! Be well, be safe and be totally blessed!!

Psalm 119 Vs. 11 (MSG) I’ve banked Your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Vs 15 (NLT) I will study Your commandments and reflect on Your ways. Now that I am back in school through an online course, I realize how much I have forgotten in how to “study” LOL Reading the beginning of Psalm 119 again, these verses jumped out at me. They are just so vivid in what I believe needs to be ALL of our first ‘study’ – God’s word. Banking God’s promises in a vault of our heart – struck me and made me think, “Why do we save money? What is it for?” Well, for our future – but ‘what in our future’ is it actually for? According to these verses, when we have God’s word in our hearts, and we pull from that vault – we get to use the promises ANY time they are needed! For comfort, direction, guidance, helping… for ourselves as well as for others. Like our savings accounts, we want to be able to provide for ourselves as well as others in our future. God’s word is an...

Psalm 119:71 “My suffering was good for me, because it made me learn Your commands.” Well, Psalms 119 is like a roller coaster in a life! It is also one of those chapters, that follows the ABC’s. Each little stanza is a part of the original alphabet. Hmmm, maybe this is where I got the idea of praising God through the ABC’s ;-) This verse jumped out at me today, because the words “suffering” and “learn”. When I/we am going through a test, trial, circumstance… how I/we come out on the other side, depends on me/us and my/our attitude. Our heart really. Our attitude is like the ocean and changes with each wave, but our hearts usually keep on track wanting to do what God wants and what will please Him. I know, I know – I have prayed MANY times for “healing” of something, or for Him to ‘remove’ things – but sometimes, it is the lessons we learn going through it, that are way better than being saved from it. If you are suffering today, please draw closer to Jesus. Seek Him out ...

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) 5  Trust in the  Lord  with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6  in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight . (MSG) Trust  God  from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for  God ’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; H e’s the one who will keep you on track. (GNT) 5  Trust in the  Lord  with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.  6  Remember the  Lord  in everything you do, and He will show you the right way.  (NLT) 5  Trust in the  Lord  with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6  Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. They saying hearing things over and over, helps it to stick. Well, I REALLY like the way the Message and the Good News Translation have these verses!! Ju...

Proverbs 24:5-6 " 5  Being wise is better than being strong; yes, knowledge is more important than strength.  6  After all, you must make careful plans before you fight a battle, and the more good advice you get, the more likely you are to win. Well, who would have thought that everyday life is a "battle"?!?! But, in reality, it is! These verses couldn't have come at a better time for me!! I MUST (we MUST) make careful plans before we go into the daily fight of our life. For me, first, it is prayer and some time with Jesus ;-) Then for my day, it is planning what foods and meals I will be having. I pack my lunch bag for the day, and then throw in a couple of extras just in case I work late, or something else comes up after work that is unexpected.  I believe strength is measured in several ways. Of course physically, but mentally, emotionally, socially, and even knowledge wise - these areas can all be strengthened each and every day. One way I am working on ...

Psalm 116:1-2 NLT   “ 1  I love the  Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. 2  Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! ” I really like the visual of God bending down to listen to us! Like a true good Father does, He does! My heart also had a strange impression – from the view of someone that does NOT feel like this towards God. They cry out and cry out, pray and pray – yet, it seems like He is NOT listening or answering their prayers. Oh my – their heart!! I can see how they would cringe at every single one of these statements. Being truly angry at God verses seeing He mercies. I have been in places in my life, where I have felt like the ugly step-child of God’s – it is not a fun place to be! However, looking back, I felt like that the strongest when I was OUT of God’s word. When I stopped going to church. I stopped hanging out with other believers that would hold me accountable and be truthful with me. Wh...

Psalm 34:5 (NIV) “ Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. ” Wow! When I think of how many times I think I need to “fix myself” before looking to God, I am surprised at my lack of… Faith? Trust? Heart? Whatever it is – it surprises me just how often I try to “fix” things on my own, in my own way, in my own understanding! This verse jumped a big MEF (mind’s eye flash): I’m sitting in the middle of a room. All around are my troubles and worries, concerns, failures, things I’m not proud of… they seem to not only be on the walls, the floor, and the ceiling, but they are floating all around me like little gnats. As I “try” to look for Jesus, I keep getting hit by the gnats of descriptions all around me. Mostly all negative and degrading. Then there is a light coming in through a teeny-tiny whole above me, it looks like a little beam of a flash light or one of those pointer light things. It shines on a gnat that is ever so close to my face. Poo...

1 Corinthians 9:3-5 “ 3  When people criticize me, this is how I defend myself:  4  Don't I have the right to be given food and drink for my work?  5  Don't I have the right to follow the example of the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter, by taking a Christian wife with me on my trips?” Well now, how many times have I read these verses, and have not seen the part about wives?!?! I totally have seen and reasoned why we pay those who do services for us, in so many ways – but to have someone go/be with them/us on the way… well, this just hit me differently today I guess. Then verse 7 got me thinking as well, really – when someone is a soldier, do they sign up or are they drafted into service and have to pay their own way for everything? NO! I see God’s plan is for man to not be alone, nor to do “it/life” alone. Then why on earth would we expect anyone that is serving the Lord to go it alone?!?! Two are better than one… iron sharpens iron...

Mark 3:5 “ Jesus was angry as He looked around at them, but at the same time He felt sorry for them, because they were so stubborn and wrong. ” The Pharisees were “looking” for Jesus to do something they could use as fuel to get rid of Him. The Sabbath is a day of rest that the Pharisees took to the extreme. Jesus was asking if the law permits to do good deeds or evil ones? If that day is to save a life or to destroy it? They were so set on finding a reason to get rid of Jesus, that they didn’t say a word to answer Him. Verse 5 struck me in that something I think for MANY years, thought was a sin, and therefore avoided it at all costs. Anger. Anger itself is not sin – but how or what we do with that anger, yes, can become sin. That Jesus looked at them angrily and yet was deeply saddened by their hearts, drove Him to do good and save a man – on the Sabbath. Being angry is not a sin. Using that anger to fuel sinful actions and behaviors – THAT IS a sin. Example of it here and ...

Mark 6:32-32, 46 (NLT)   31  Then Jesus said,  “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and His apostles didn’t even have time to eat. 32  So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. 46  After telling everyone good-bye, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. Have you ever felt like there was so much going on, or had so many people coming and going that you felt as though you couldn’t catch a breath? We are NOT supposed to live in that feeling non-stop, continually, day after day. Long periods of time doing this, will wear us down. We WILL need rest. A better word for a busy person might be needing an “escape”. I guess I ‘knew’ that Jesus got away and went to solitary places to pray… I just didn’t realize that He did it a LOT! Even when He was in high demand! He realized that time with the Father being rejuvenated and ref...