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TEA WITH GODTea with God is like tea time with a friend. The preparations are similar and the anticipation of being together to have time to share with each other is there. Every week I will try to have a verse for you to meditate on and memorize. I really hope you will make a cup of tea and sit down to have "tea with God" as you read the weekly devotional. These verses will reflect on God's heart and what He wants to do in your heart. God is in the heart changing business and He loves you and wants to have a heart relationship with you. My prayer is that when you sit down to have tea with God, you will come to know His heart. August 14, 2008 Psalm 118:19-20 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it. Cross reference this verse with the following: Isaiah 26:2-3; Psalm 15:1-2; Psalm 24:3-4; Psalm 140:13; and Isaiah 35:8-10. Open the gates. . . the one that remains faithful may enter. Who may enter? He who walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and not sworn deceitfully. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Thy name; the upright will dwell in Thy presense. And how will we reach this gate? On a highway, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way. And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; these will not be found there. But the redeemed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy; sorrow and sighing will flee away. Our road ends when we come into His glory and we can worship King Jesus. The road is a happy way, don't get discouraged or weary. The Holy Spirit encourages us and God's grace is sufficient. Don't look around, don't look back, just keep your eyes on Jesus. August 6, 2008 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. There is a new phenomenon that is happening in the church. It is called the emerging church. Pastors are claiming that the Word is outdated and needs to be updated and the church needs to be marketed like big business today to fit the needs of the now enlightened people. In effect, the Word is being watered down so that it is palatable for everyone--no one is offended by its message and everyone leaves church happy. The word sin is not even used anymore. Big named preachers want all religions to come together and form one church, "after all, we all serve the same God, we only get there on a different path up the mountain." You know from the Word that this is not true, but even believers are being deceived into believing it. My encouragement to you is to read the Bible and study it so that, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Also, that you may not be deceived. Everytime you hear the word preached, make sure it lines up with what scripture says and the only way you will know what scripture says is to study it. May God richly bless you in your study today and always. If any of you are living in the Reno area, I am going to lead a Precept Bible study on Isaiah starting Wed. Sept. 17. If you are interested, email me here and I'll send you further information. August 1, 2008 Read Malachi. I know I usually only give you a verse or two, but God has impressed upon my heart to have you read the book of Malachi. Pay particular attention to what He says about the priests. If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ you are part of a kingdom of priests unto God. What kind of priest are you? List what God says about the priests that "despise My name" and another list of what God says about those who fear Him. Malachi 1:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Do you give others instructions according to God's word or do you make God's word fit into today's current philosophy?
July 30, 2008 Acts 12:8 And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands. This chapter of Acts talks of the miracle of Peter being rescued from jail, just before he was to be executed, by God. This chapter is a prime example of the fact that God is in control of the universe. That would include you and me. God controls everything in my life and He has spent the past year showing me this. Believing this and letting God have every part of your life, is what faith is all about. I have had to trust Him even when I didn't get any feedback from the situation. Even when I thought that nothing was happening and this was the hardest part because I didn't think He had the situation in control. Just because I couldn't see what was happening didn't mean God wasn't at work. I had to trust that He would answer my prayers and I had to give Him time to work. God did work and is still working. God is in control. Praise the Lord! Will you take that step of faith and let God work in your life? July 16, 2008 Forgive me for taking so long to update this page. God has been working in me and changing me and I would like to share with you my journey on learning what faith really is. In this world where the church has become seeker-friendly and world-market-oriented, God is still interested in those who are truely His. 1 Kings 6:16 So he answered, "Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Fear is mediatating on the lies of Satan. Faith is meditating on the Word of God. By faith we need to take God at His word and move on from there.
July 9,2007 1 Sam. 2:27, 30 For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Our God is a covenant-keeping God. He promises to honor those who honor Him. Each generation must decide: 1. Do you believe God? 2. Would you remain faithful to the covenant God made with you? 3. Would you bring your life into the covenant relationship that you have entered with God? 4. Would you listen to God, hear His voice, and obey Him? 5. Do you now expect God to do mighty works through you, as He had done with your fathers? This is the message Samuel delivered to Eli. He was telling Eli he had a choice. So do you. We each have 24 hours in a day. Useage of time is the key. Will you use your time to honor God in your relationship with Him? It is not a matter of activities but you heart relationship with Him and your obedience to all God in Christ has commanded you. May God richly bless you this week while you have your tea time with Him.
June 13, 2007 Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do Thy will for Tou art my God; let Thy good Spirit lead me on level ground. Faith is obeying in spite of consequences--resting on God's faithfulness. Learning to trust God only comes when we grow into a deeper relationship with Him. We can only do His will if we know what it is. To find out what it is requires discipline on our part and getting into the Word daily. Reading the Word and having a cup of tea are both soothing to the soul.
May 22, 2007 Psalm 143:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Thy faithfulness, in Thy righteousness. Having tea with God is your quiet time with God. It is your time to pray and listen to what God has for you. True prayer means that we serve God, not that God serves us. Tell him what your needs are and praise and worship Him and let Him work out His perfect plan for your life.
May 9, 2007 Psalm 116:7-8 Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For Thou has rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. Are you anxious? God promises to give us His peace if we will just trust Him. He wants our all. Today, let His Holy Spirit guide and direct you and you will experience His peace. Over your cuppa tell God what your anxieties are and let Him have them. He can then give rest to your soul.
April 28, 2007 Luke 6:12 It was at this time Jesus went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. Are you making time for God? Are you letting Him talk with you? He can still your fearful heart. Are you afraid to let go? Why? Because we don't want to lose control. That's pride in its rawest form. We are afraid God cannot handle or understand the situation we are in. We think God won't love us enough to meet our needs. He can and He will and He loves you more than you can ever imagine. Take time to sit quietly with Him over your cuppa tea.
April 19, 2007 Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. Fear and faith (trust) cannot live in the same heart. If the enemy can make you afraid, he has almost won the battle. The battle field is in the mind. God is in control of the whole universe, which means He controls everything that happens to one of His own (you if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior.) When we are afraid we are not trusting Him to take care of us as He promises He will. When fear enters your heart, turn it over to God and tell the enemy he has no control over you because you belong to Jesus and He has control of your life. Learning to trust God completely is a life long process. May God richly bless you today.
October 25, 2006 1 Kings 10:9 Blessed be the Lord your God who delights in you. God created the world for us to enjoy and to enjoy it with Him because the Lord delights in us. Spend time with God. Learn His character. Get to know Him deeply. Ask Him to give you new insights into Himself. Delight yourself in Him as He delights in you.
October 18, 2006 Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart is life to the body. Tea time is intimate and makes you feel safe. In this age of chaos, we find a sense of safety as we turn to Jehovah Nise, our banner, our rock. The calmness of tea is a picture of what God wants your life to be as you take time to know Him. He wants to give you His peace that passes all understanding.
October 11, 2006 Take time to thank God for the blessings He has given you and for what He is going to do for you today. And then you heart will be glad and you will be singing His praises.
October 4, 2006 God is a refuge for us. He wants you to share your heart with Him. He wants you to tell Him about your husband, kids, jobs, work, church, and your feelings. Don’t think that God doesn’t already know all of this. He wants to hear it from you. Voicing your feelings and cares and everything that goes on in your life has the affect of de-stressing you. God listens like on one else. He listens to our words and listens to our unspoken words—those you have buried deep within your heart. God listens to our hearts when we have run out of words. You see when you begin to open up to God—you allow Him into your heart. God can begin working in your heart to make it totally His and begin to change you into the image of His Son. A heart that is totally His. That’s what God wants. Allowing God into your heart allows Jehovah Rapha to heal any of the wounds and pain that you have buried there. God will work as you trust Him and let Him have His way. Your hope is in the power of God. Tea time with God is sharing your heart with God. When tea time with God is over, it is time to whisper a quiet thank you.
September 15, 2006 Jeremiah 24:7 I will give them a heart to know Me. Tea nourishes our bodies as God nourishes our soul. Reading His word while we sip our tea gives us a renewed strength, refocusing our priorities, realigning our life to match God’s purpose for our life. God reminds us of His great love for us. He sits on His throne and He is in control and we can find freedom in that fact and feel our troubles slipping away as we smell the fragrance in the cup and then taste the tea that we have been waiting for. You will begin to see your life change over the teacups. When you do sit down with a friend to have tea, you begin to share your hearts with each other. You talk about husbands, kids, jobs, work, and church, everything that you are involved in. God wants this same kind of intimacy with you. September 6, 2006 Psalm 28:7 My heart trusts in Him and I am helped; therefore, my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him. When we take tea with God we draw away from the world and unwind. We soak up the serenity of being in God’s presence, aware of the beauty of creation around us. The author Gail Greco once penned “Somehow taking tea together encourages an atmosphere of intimacy when you slip off the timepiece in your mind and cast your fate to a delight of tasty tea and listening to the voice of God as He delights in you.” Trust God with your problems and let Him work out the results. Turn them over to Him and let Him give you the "peace that passeth all understanding."
August 30, 2006 1 Samuel 16:7 Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. When we look into the tea liquor after the leaf has agonized, we see a clear liquid unspoiled by any impurities. That is what God is looking for in our hearts when we allow Him to refine us and make us like Jesus. Steeping tea = preparing to meet with God There is no hurry with tea. The water must boil, the tea leaves must steep. It is the same way with God. We must come to Him without hurry. We must let Him fill our hearts with His presence. When He does, our minds relax and we can learn to enjoy our time with Him. All this slowness takes so little time. But once you do slow down you will begin to see God’s blessings in your life. When we view the little things with thanksgiving even they become big things.
August 23, 2006 Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. There is an interesting “tea term” that is used in relation to Chinese teas. The term is known as “the agony of the leaf” and refers to the time in which the leaf is unfurling in the heated water and releasing its precious oils into the liquor. Observing this “agony” is very important to the Chinese tea lover. It is by observing the leaf’s “agony” that the experienced tea drinker is able to tell that the leaf was properly and caringly folded, flattened, rolled or twisted—therefore the “agony” predicts the quality of the liquor. The leaf is “agonizing” over giving up its precious cargo of aromatic and flavorful oils. Its sole job to this point has been to keep these oils safe. This is similar to what God does for us. It is part of the refining process of our hearts. The refining process God puts us through to release the past allows Him to heal our hearts and change them. He is in the process of making us more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
August 16, 2006 Jere. 17:10 I, the Lord, search the heart. While tea is steeping you can be steeping yourself in His word. Steeping is like coming into His presence, waiting for the brew to be made, knowing it is going to be exquisite. It is like waiting for God to speak to you knowing it will be such a sweet, peaceful moment. Give your day over to the Lord and rest in Him, knowing that He has everything in control.
August 9, 2006 1 Thess. 5:16-18 Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you through Christ Jesus. Just as our bodies need a hearty breakfast to start the day, our spirit also needs a hearty breakfast in the word. A regular time of prayer, especially in the morning hours, prepares your heart and makes you sensitive to the ways and things of God. During the day, with the pressures and stresses that we face, our bodies as well as our spirits need a lift. What better time to stop and have tea with God. Having tea literally forces us to slow down. As we find beauty in our surroundings, in the flowers, in our friends, stop and praise God for His creation. August 2, 2006 Psalm 84:2 My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Take the time to pray to bring His peace into your heart before returning to the hustle and bustle of the rest of your day. Sit quietly and let God speak to you through His word. Let this time become a ritual--a time you have set aside to share your heart with your Savior. Give thanks to the Lord for sharing this tea time with you. Turn the rest of you day over to Him and let Him have it, thanking Him for your ability to succeed. You can also use this time to rejoice over everything that He has given you today to help you through the day.
July 26, 2006 Psalm 119:2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their hearts. God wants to spend time with you. Invite Him to tea. Seek Him with all your heart. Having tea, by its very nature, is a slowing down process. Waiting for water to heat and tea to steep causes you to slow down because you have to wait on this process. You can’t hurry it. This is a time when you can begin to prepare your heart to meet with God. What better time to stop and have tea with God. Having tea literally forces us to slow down. I’m not talking about a 45 second dunk of a tea bag in microwaved hot water. I’m talking about brewing a pot of tea and sitting down in a quiet spot and enjoying it. (45 sec. = average amount of time people steep a tea bag) During this downtime, our spirits are longing for time with our Savior. Time to be in His presence and drink in His love and strength. Like tea that revives our energy, quiet time with God revives our spirits.
July 19, 2006 Psalm 19:8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Elizabeth Knight wrote in her book Everything I Know I Learned Over Tea, “Preparing your heart for God allows those times when you are together to be rich, meaningful, warm and flavorful.” What keeps friendships alive and well? Spending time together. If we don’t spend time in the word how can we learn to know who God is and what His character is? One must take time in the preparation of tea in order to enjoy the tea. It is the same way with God. One must take time in reading the word and in prayer to enrich our friendship with God.
July 12, 2006 Psalm 23 Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. When we spend time with God He fills our cup to running over. It is being in God’s presence that fills the heart to the brim with joy. Before your guest arrives for tea, you prepare a place where you can take tea. A place where you can talk without being disturbed. When you set out your teacup you can set one out for God. You will also need to have your Bible, a pen, and your journal. One of the lessons we learn in life is that we should always take care of the things we love. If we want friendships to last than we must invest time and energy into that friendship. We need to invest time and energy into our relationship with God. If we don’t, the still whisper of the Holy Spirit in our hearts soon grows almost too dim to hear.
We must spend time in the word and tuck it away in our hearts so we will recognize when God is speaking to us.
July 5, 2006 Deut. 4:29 Seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. All it takes is an invitation. Listen to the quiet whispering of the Spirit. Seek God with all your heart and you will find Him. God is asking to spend time with you. Inviting God to tea is inviting God into your heart. The most beautiful part of tea time with God is the sound of His voice, the feeling of His presence, and the friendship He is developing with you as He changes you into the image of His Son. Ancient Proverb: The path to heaven passes through the teapot. I think this is because of the ceremony of making and sipping tea. Special time of closeness begins with putting a kettle on to boil and pulling out the tea tray. It's not tea itself that speaks to the soul, its sharing your heart with the Lord. When we feed on God's word and make time for Him, what fills the cup is irrelevant.
June 28, 2006 Psalm 105:3 Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. When you take the time to invite a friend for tea, you make preparations even before that person arrives. You issue an invitation—either formally, over the phone, by email, or in person. When you invite God to tea, what you’re really seeking is time alone with him and this makes your heart glad. So much in our culture can be done without really being there—without being mentally and emotionally tuned into the people around us or the task at hand. We can go to entertainment events or even to church and sit side by side without truly connecting with one another. Even today you may not really be here. When we offer tea to someone, we are also offering ourselves. This is what we do when we ask God to tea. We are offering ourselves—all of ourselves to Him. You see, having tea is slowing down—the process cannot be rushed. A Loving Recipe for a Perfect Cup of Tea 1 willing friend who loves to sit and share 1 grateful heart to have a friend that cares 1 beautiful garden to show us God is near Many wonderful memories of times shared through the years Lots of smiles and laughter to brighten up our days Many prayers that we prayed for each other along the way Author Unknown God is always there whenever we want to have tea with Him. He is only waiting for us to ask. Return to Tea With God top of page. Return to Tea Business Guide home page. |