My Tea Time With Jesus

Do you ever have a moment of thinking how you could ever have something in common with someone that is different than you? Perhaps from a different culture or different neighborhood even? Proverbs 22:2 & 6 (NLT) Verse 2 – The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both. Verse 6 – Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. We truly are ALL created by God and God alone. He is the one that breathes life into us as we are conceived on our mother’s womb. He indeed has made us all. When we come across someone in our life that is just SO different than us, and you wonder “How can they think like that?” or “How can they do that?” – the thing to remember is, that God created them too, and He loves them too. Sure, they may not be following Him and His ways – but that doesn’t change His love for them. Just like any parent, no matter what your child does, you still love them. You may not agree or even accept some ...

There are times, that the only way to “hear” a clear answer – is to be alone, by yourself, away from distractions. Mark 1:35 “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Do you have a fear of being alone? Are you addicted to “noise”? Do you need to have something going on all the time keeping you busy? Want to know a secret? This is enemy’s BIG way of getting us to NOT be still and quiet – so that we will NOT hear the voice of God! Yup, that’s right – the enemy knows he cannot get us to deny Christ, but he CAN keep us busy so that we don’t spend time with Jesus, we don’t learn to hear God’s voice, and for certain – we won’t feel the nudges from the Holy Spirit! Did you know, that there are 375 times that pray or prayer is mentioned in the bible?! Guess what… there are 365 days in a year – and the bible mentions praying MORE that there are days in our year! To me, that means, that it should be a DAILY thing we do! Actually, it...

Have you ever JUST utter a prayer under your breath, and the VERY next person you talk to says EXACTLY what you were praying about?! Proverbs 15:22-23 TPT (The Passion Translation) 22  Your plans will fall apart right in front of you if you fail to get good advice. But if you first seek out multiple counselors, you’ll watch your plans succeed. 23  Everyone enjoys giving great advice. But how delightful it is to say the right thing at the right time! I LOVE how the Lord works things out for us! He is SO creative! These two verses go flip-flop in my head. When we get advice, it is because we are seeking advice. Verse 22 also is a reminder, that when “we think” we have a ‘plan’, we need to actually seek the advice of others and not just run all willy-nilly into something without wise counsel. This is in ALL areas of life really lol Unfortunately, most of us are “stand alone” type people. We don’t want to “bother” others with our concerns. Or, we are afraid of...

Have you ever wanted to be or have more than you are or have at the moment? Have you ever pretended to be someone or something else? Proverbs 12: 9 TPT (The Passion Translation) Verse 9 – “Just be who you are and work hard for a living, for that’s better than pretending to be important and starving to death. ” Mic drop! Enough said! LOL To me, the biggest thing about following what God has for us, being in a relationship with Jesus, and just being blessed beyond measure – is we need “truth”. We need to know it, live it, say it, be it. If we have a hunger and a desire for truth, we will then seek out what God says and wants for us and our daily living. Oh yes! I have pretended to be someone I wasn’t. It was SO hard to keep up the lie! Like this verse says, we may not know what is really going on “inside” of a home verses what we see on the outside. True, we can be good hard workers, and still suffer. However, the ‘self-infliction’ brought on by living a life that is no...

Sometimes what we do on the "outside" of our home (or car) is very different from what we do on the "inside" our home (or secret place). How about you? Do you behave differently when someone is watching verses when you are alone? Proverbs 9:17 “Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!”  Wow! Proverbs 9 tells us the difference between wisdom and foolishness. This verse struck me for SO many areas of our society! Sex, food, money, work, friends… then I had a flashback of my “fat days” and how I did SO many things in “secret” that at the moment seemed really good and tasty, but in the end, hit me like a ton of bricks and were actually quite destructive. Yes, I was a ‘closet eater’. I ate most of my unhealthy choices when no one was around or looking. However the very next verse, 18, hit home: “ But little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave. ” That old saying about a skeleton in the clo...

Ever feel like you need a “promise” that just hits the right spot at the right moment? Well, with my surgical intervention (weight loss surgery) adventure, these verses came like a BIG megaphone from God right to me at just the right time! 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. When I was contemplating having weight loss surgery, I was in a LOT of prayer! Of course I cried out asking God if this was really a way to help me, and see if He had any promises for me through it. I was actually in the book of Nehemiah at the time when they were rebuilding the temple. How the Lord provided a way for them through the king with not only permission but an abundance of needed materials! Well, these two verses came up after I had a “come to ...

Proverbs 25:23 (NLT) As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger! Have you ever been around someone that likes to “talk about others”? Or, have you been around someone that shares “secrets” that they SAY is between the two of you? How about someone that says they have a “prayer request” and they give way more information then necessary to pray for someone? There are at least 32 verses in the bible that talk about gossip. Which means, if we need to have a “reminder” to NOT gossip, we can have a new one EVERY DAY, plus a few to spare ;-) I have been on the other end of gossip a few times in my life, and it stinks! The anger and hurt it causes, especially when it is repeated, actually causes anger. However, I have been around people that have chosen to gossip, and as I look around, I notice ‘other people’ having the angry face. I think as a follower of Jesus, it is very important what comes out of our mouths! Especially when we are in the presen...

Have you ever been to a “live event” like a concert, or special speaking engagement, or even a religious event? How was your excitement level BEFORE you went? What about after? Well, here in 1 John, we get to experience what it was like to actually live, breathe, eat, and walk right alongside of Jesus! I really like the way these two versions express what and why John writes to us… 1 John 1:1-4 NLT – 1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.   2  This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.   3  We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jes...

We have troubles, this is true. However, we have permission to ask for and receive gifts from God! Isaiah 40:29 NLT: He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. MSG: He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. GNT: He strengthens those who are weak and tired. ESV: He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. These verses are promises from our amazing God, our heavenly Father, our Daddy! I counted on this verse many of times! One was right out of my weight loss surgery. I wondered “what have I done?!” and was SO tired and drained (which is actually normal at first). But I cried out this prayer to my Daddy, and He answered it! No big long prayer needed. Just simply repeat this verse to Him. Asking for Him to bless you with it. That’s the amazing and interesting thing to me about my relationship with Jesus – when I find verses that are EXACTLY what I need in that moment of time – I repeat...

We can NOT make “light” dark. We CAN make darkness light. John 3:19-21 (MSG) “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.” Had a bit of a MEF (mind’s eye flash) on this. The world zoomed in and surrounded me. My space, my little spot here on the earth. I look around, and there is “light” – the light of day, a new day. It is light in weight, fresh, new, beaming with expectation of the day. Joy and peace seem to be like a blanket over and around me. I look up to the sky, and try to see where the switch is to make it “dark” – there isn’t one. Then flash – it is night....

Have you ever looked at a natural catastrophe and actually seen beauty? Or in the middle of a storm, looked out and listened to the sounds whirling all around? Psalm 29:3-9 (NLT) 3  The voice of the Lord  echoes above the sea.      The God of glory thunders.      The  Lord thunders over the mighty sea. 4  The voice of the Lord  is powerful;      the voice of the Lord  is majestic. 5  The voice of the Lord  splits the mighty cedars;      the  Lord  shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6  He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;      he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. 7  The voice of the Lord  strikes      with bolts of lightning. 8  The voice of the Lord  makes the barren wilderness quake;      the  Lord  shakes the wilderness of ...

Lord, set me free from negative emotions. Psalm 34:17-18 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. I have this little book written by Stormie Omartain, she has a whole series of books on The Power of Praying - they are really good!! Well, this little book I got this out of is called A Book of Prayer - 365 Prayers for Victorious Living. Hubby and I are experiencing something, from someone near and dear to our hearts - that is just SO hard to accept, or explain. Sitting down with Jesus, He has touched our hearts, that this person is hurting and has lashed out due to the pain they are going through. Yet, here we are stuck with negative emotions that keep flooding into our mind and heart over and over. It is doubly hard to witness, because it affects one of our children. Our hearts are broken at this loss of friendship. Yes, I feel it is part the ...

Do you wish you were smarter at making decisions? Do you ever wish you had just the right answer for things? Do you ever try and "fix" things on your own and not ask for help? James 1:5-6a is the perfect answer ;-)  NLT - If you need wisdom, ask your generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. MSG – If you don’t know what you are doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get His help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. GNT – But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, whi will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all. But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. If, when , we/I need wisdom (or anything!), we/I am just to simply ask God, our/my Father! He LOVES helping and giving us things! He will NEVER put us down, or get mad at us for wh...