SATURDAY-SHORT!

Little book with BIG truths from Scripture!

In 5 words or less. My way to help my ever decreasing memory.

....I am with you always.....(Matthew 28:20) 

THOTS--Trusting Him on this Subject!

His Presence always. Remains perpetually. 

Regardless of circumstances.

On every occasion.

God here now and even until the end of the age.

Keep focused here today, girl!

This Saturday short just got longer......

After I finished this entry, I stumbled, fell and twisted/sprained or broke my ankle.

LANGUAGE OF GRACE!

Is the language of grace a foreign language to you? 

Regardless of the translation, it is a much needed language of life for a Christian.

Grace-based. Grace-laced. Full of Grace.

Sing with me now.

Grace, Grace, God's Grace. Grace that is greater than all our sins 

Speak grace. How? Christ's example---That answer is found in God's word..

*THOTS: three types of grace: prevenient grace, which is God's active presence in people's lives before they even sense the divine at work in their lives; justifying grace, through which all sins are forgiven by God; and sanctifying grace, which allows people to grow in their ability to live like Jesus.

His Grace Is Sufficient for Every Need! 

• 2 Corinthians 12:9. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ...
• 1 Corinthians 15:10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. ...
• 1 Peter 4:10. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
• 1 Peter 5:10. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself r2 Timothyestore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

His Grace Is Sufficient for Every Need! 

"Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.? (2 Timothy 1:2b)

*THOTS--Trusting Him On This Subject

CHOOSE RANSACKING

I default to ransacking pretty often....but it's not often a joyful choice. It's usually necessary to "find" lost or misplaced items and requires much "hunting" which leaves a ransacked type trail.

This morning I ransacked my pantry in pursuit of some Werther's Caramel Chews.

No where to be found----I had to settle for the "original" hard candies for my sweet tooth.

Persistance paid as ransacking continued after blogging.
Note two twisty caramel chews between book and Werther's bag.

But God....through John Piper's meditation book on Savoring the Supremacy of God in All Your Life, (#55) I saw that ransacking the Bible for truth does indeed bring joy. Plus, it was such a follow-up for yesterdays "Meditating Monday" blog entry. Piper's points sound like meditation to me. (my THOTS below.)

1. Pray and Read. Read the Word. What a privilege. What an obligation. What a potential for seeing God. (p. 166)
2. Pray and Study. Must pray or we'll not see in the Word, the one thing esp. THE Book, needful---'the glory of God in the Face of Christ.' (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6) On knees and in books, a great combo. (p.167)
3. Pray and Ransack. Ransacking is the way to seek God in the Bible. Think Dotsy and her caramel search. (p.167)
4. Pray and think. (2 Timothy 2:7) Consider what I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (KJV) Reflect on... (NIV) Think about...( NLT) Think over (ESV) Mark well...(WNT) Combine the eye-opening work of the Spirit with the mind-informing work of the Word. (Psalm 119:18) (p, 168)

I should choose ransacking to satisfy my sweet soul rather than  my sweet tooth.

Profundi-TEA

Profundi-TEA--I'm steeping a big cuppa to share the deep (for me) insight which the Lord has shown me to aid my knowledge of John !5:1-17.

Irish Breakfast is a good strong black tea---perfect to jog "profound" thoughts!

THOTS as I have dubbed it---Trusting Him On This Subject!

This past week in response to a valid question asked by BSF friend, Jackie, I shared with her how John 15 had changed my "spiritual" life. Then, she asked me how many verses were in the book of John.  I realized that I had not a clue.

So, last Wednesday, I opened my Bible to the book of John (27 verses, by the way) and realized it was not the entire chapter that had so impacted my "first" journey into Bible study. It was the "abiding" passage in the first 17 verses which the Lord used to draw me unto Himself.

As I returned to the passage, I began to use the "precept" method of inductive Bible Study re-introduced to me by Marilyn LeBlanc in our "Summer Refreshment " study of the book of Esther.
I began to look for key words.

As I meditated (and counted # of times certain words were used) I found abide (11) love (9) & bear fruit (7) Arranging  them in descending numerical order put them in alphabetical order----which spells alb.

Alb---a white linen robe worn by a priest at mass.

For the first time in 40 years, when I was first introduced to this passage by Bible teacher Kay Arthur, I saw those words becoming my personal "alb" as the white robe (Psalm 51:7) of His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10) of "my high priest" (Hebrews 4:14) covered me as I worshipped!

I'm not sure the "steeping" is complete in my cuppa profundi-TEA as there still seems to be a few thoughts "brewing" in my head. But....I decided to pour out what I've learned so far. (before I forget it) 

SaveSave
SaveSave

TEA WITH THEE Finali-TEA: a farewell cuppa

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, (1 Timothy 1:12, NASB)

This year, "Tea with Thee" has been my way of sharing my quiet times with blog readers. Thine and Mine. He and me. I know a blog isn't typically seen as service or ministry but for me it was just that. 

From His hand to mine. His strength---because it was wearisome at times. He was faithful to keep me going.

Today, 12/31/14, is the end of that endeavor. 

It doesn't mean that I will quit having quiet times. It just means that folks will no longer be privy each day to all my foibles.

A year ago when I sensed God's prompts to blog daily, I began with a "way out" proposition, of sorts. "Lord, I will blog as long as I sense your leading." 

But God.....continued to provide THOTS (Trusting Him On This Subject), ideas, words, "tea words," verses, and WiFi, (many times "iffy, especially on trips") so......

....here I am 365 days later---sipping a cuppa finali-TEA. Farewell to daily "tea" blogs----hello to sporadic blogs of varying topics. 

It's been a year of stretching for me and I hope someday to edit the entries for a tea type book for my Lucy----so that she might know this--- her grandmother loved the Lord, loved her and loved tea!

Sharing Thee and tea with Lucy is this Shug's delight!

"La-TEA-tude"

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35, ESV)

God has given us choices in our walk with Him. He guides and encourages but He doesn't dictate.

He has given us la-TEA-tude---that freedom to choose how to act or what to do.

 IF the word "if" is translated καθώς ἠγάπησα then it can be taken as "seeing that," you love one another. To me it shows the choice made. In "my" words, the actions of love toward others is seen by man and God as actions of a disciple of God. (Dotsy THOTS, as I'm Trusting, Him, On This Subject)

The coordinates are there running north to south and east to west. (latitude and longitude) From God in heaven to us on earth. His love to us comes down and our love to him goes up and out. When it spreads out to others horizontally, the coordinate /intersection is at the "cross."

In my head I might have this wrong; in my heart, I have it right!

Some of my views as I gratefully sip my cuppa of la-TEA-tude with the Lord this morning.

Routine for a “New Dance”

4/22/10     I am a Daddy's Girl! 

During"back in the day" college years my phone rang every Wednesday, as Daddy could call long distance "free" from Clarksville Livestock Company,

For years, my daddy has been “routine” personified. He ate grapefruit for breakfast everyday. He walked every day. Had Wednesday lunch at Mama Davenport’s in Clarksville, TN every week. You could plan your days by him---and really down to the hour and sometimes even the minute. We often joked about him being the “man to set your clock by.”

• 6:14 am wake-up
• 7:15 am “library time.”
• 8am out the door.
• 10:15 post office run.
• 3:15pm front step Hopkinsville Livestock Company (originally Altsheler and Payne) with an ice-cold 6½ oz. bottled coke---the ones in the bottle with the light green tint and embossed at the bottom with the name of the local bottler. He chose that time to watch his granddaughters, Polly and Allyson, come by on the school bus.
• 9 pm his orange that he ate every night in front of the TV---a dish towel over his lap to catch the drips.
• Bedtime 10:14.

As he aged, the routine changed somewhat and his coke became a 12 0z. can b/c the little grocery in Trenton, KY where he got his “bottle” supply finally ran out. He eventually changed to the canned “diet Coke” variety. His orange became a ½ an orange. Lunch at Roundies remained a daily routine and any of the waitresses could get his order w/o writing it down b/c it rarely varied---salmon patties on Monday, always beets on his Tuesday plate, chicken and dumplings for Thursday and ending his week with his Friday fish. They always brought his jello with fruit about 2/3 through his meal. A nod from him was all it took. Sat. lunch at the VFW was a given b/c for his “big” dollar in the jar donation, he was fed---a lunch this World War II “purple heart recipient” deserves.

That routine gave him security---it’s what he hung his hat on. Plus, when Mother was living, she supported his routine and kept it running smoothly for him. Now he hangs his hat and coats and clothes all over everywhere---although there seems to be a system to that too, I just don’t always understand it.
In the last 6 mos. Daddy really began to fail---maybe even the past year but I was not with him as much b/c of my treatment/surgeries in Texas. He still walked at the mall, though slower and not as far, and in the past month, not at all. More and more his confidence is deteriorating. His memory is fleeting and too much of the time he won’t even try but just say, “I can’t remember anything.” I hear him talking to himself trying to remind himself of what is next and even his speech falters some. What I am seeing is that Daddy is desperately trying to hold on. Trying to hold on to life as he once new it. I want to hold on for him---to hold on to the healthy Daddy, still walking his mile. Daddy, working at age 88. Daddy, only taking 1 aspirin a day Daddy and reading The Upper Room daily.

Daddy---the way I’ve always known him.

Daddy, my first dance partner---the one who danced with me standing on the top of his feet as a child----danced with me at my wedding and even at my 45th high school class reunion. There won’t be any more of those dances with my earthly father. That makes me very sad!

How do I handle this new struggle in unfamiliar territory?
I, who just 2 nights ago encouraged others to “dance,” am going to have to apply those same principles to new steps needed for this unfamiliar dance---a dance to a new tune with my heavenly Father.

Discovering that I need new revelation from God’s word or maybe it’s new application of truth I already know---THOTS---Trusting Him On This Subject as I begin to seek

Accepting that aging of a parent and its physical difficulties are for the most part out of my control and accepting (trying) my emotional pain

Noticing God’s hand in the provision of 2 brothers who are the best and the one who is closest in distance never waivers in attentiveness to Daddy’s needs

Celebrating last night’s phone call---Daddy sounded good and even told me he got some chili at Roundies for lunch b/c it was the daily special---but he said “it wasn’t that special” and he wouldn’t order it again.

Extending hope to others in this type struggle as I learn from it---but hoping others will extend to me their stories of “long distance” care for parents and how it’s worked for them

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Selah

10/26/09 Meditation started early this Monday morning in Psalm 3, a psalm of David. I was using my New American Standard translation but my heart was remembering the good ole King James version from my grandmother’s Bible. Psalms and KJV equal comfort for me. I was in need of a little old fashioned comfort this past weekend. Though my grandmother’s Bible is too fragile to travel, I’m staying in a preacher’s house where Bibles abound and the internet is at my finger tips. http://www.biblegateway.com/ (a great source for different translations)
Psalm 3, according to my Bible notes, is a morning prayer of trust in God. Perfect! The first 2 verses deal with the problem but in verse 3, the focus shifts from the problem to the problem solver.

But Thou, O LORD, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. (Psalm 3:3)

THOTS: As a shield, He is my protector. A biopsy report looms. Time is a critical factor today in scheduling both an infectious disease regimen and hopefully keeping my pending surgery on the docket. Of course, if diagnosis is cancer all recent plans go by the wayside. Regardless, He is my shield! My marginalia says, "to adorn" beside the word glory. Glory is perhaps the hardest word for me to wrap my finite mind around, so I am Trusting Him On This Subject today. Does He adorn me? Does my trust in Him adorn Him?? As the lifter up of my head, He is my encourager. No “happy pills” needed. (Yet!)

I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. (Selah) I laid down and slept: I awakened; for the Lord sustained me. (Psalm 3:4-5)

Those verses pretty much describe last night and my “new beginnings” this morning.

THOTS: Selah. Bible dictionary says there are different interpretations of this word---silence or pause is given.

I think I’ll pause to think on these verses. Won’t you join me!

GOODNESS: "FRUIT TRAIT” #6

8/27/09
Discipleship Tools taught me that goodness is the engagement of love! I think most of these qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are an overflow of love, His love. Cole taught me that the Greek word for goodness is the same as for virtue. Virtue is moral excellence and is the character trait that is valued as being good. What does it look like? People of goodness display integrity, honesty and compassion to others. Goodness compels/allows us to do the right thing---even when we don’t feel like it. The opposite of virtue is vice. Interestingly enough, the definition of vice lists everything from an immoral habit i.e. prostitution, gambling and drugs to mild failing in character. Hm-m-m a vice is a vice just like a sin is a sin---no real degrees of sinning even though our human nature tends to “rank” our sins. Obviously the more our lives are filled with goodness/virtue, the less room there is for those vices. So then the more we are filled with Him…..well you get the idea. Move over Self!
So, how do keep from wandering away from His goodness. One of my all-time favorite hymns, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” holds a reference to His goodness in the last verse.

O, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

It’s His goodness that keeps me from wandering, His goodness that restrains me from SELF. In my flesh, I’m so prone to wander. And it’s His goodness that keeps us merciful and scrupulous as we deal with others. Goodness is virtue in action and endears us to others. Ah but for the grace and goodness of God………
Tonight just “goodness facts” but next time it could get personal. That’s what God does every time I Trust Him On This Subject (or scripture)---He brings it on home to my plate. So I’m going to “serve” those THOTS up to you. Hope it won’t be too hard to digest.

BATTLE FATIGUE

5/29/09 Battle weary............
Up since 4:15 a.m. with anxious thoughts whirring in my head. How’s that for a confession from someone others have been extolling lately because of her faith in hard situations. It’s a battle folks. I know many people prefer to read my dance and tea type entries---they’re usually more fun to write too. But today the dance that is looming seems to be the old avoiDANCE. I’m not quite out there dancing on my own yet but I have been assuming the “wallfower” position---just not even wanting to get on the floor. That dance floor is slick with reality. I don’t want to stumble. I don’t want the world to rate me and thus rate the Lord because I miss a step. This isn’t “Dancing with the Stars” but I feel as if there’s an entire world out there watching. I don’t want to be relegated to the “So You Think You Can Dance” segment of life either---the cynics jeering and thinking, it wasn’t real after all. It is real---God is always faithful. I’m just the one struggling at the moment. In my head I know I can dance because I know Who has chosen me as His partner. I’m just having some heart difficulties right now.
After tossing in bed with prayers turning every which way but upward (mainly inward), I went to my prayer chair and began to pour out to the Lord. For me, that meant writing a list. I wrote “Dreads and Worries.” The list was long. I looked at it and thought about it and tried to ask the Lord about it and my stomach just churned and I even felt shaky. Finally---I “chose” to fret and stew far too long---I wadded up said list to throw it away. I walked all the way out to the curbside trash (Herbie Curbie, my mother used to call it) and deposited my list very glad our pick-up day is Friday----that’s today. I need instant “pick-up” to keep me from going back and physically retrieving THE list and focusing on it again---maybe even checking off items taken care of. This was a list I really didn’t need to “stew” over any longer.
The hard part was going to be not mentally retrieving the list. That’s were most of my battles are---in my mind. I need to take the good thoughts captive and regard the other thoughts as the enemy seeking to rob me of my joy. First line of defense began as I returned to my prayer chair and opened my grandmother’s Bible to Jeremiah. That’s where my summer connections group will be studying this summer. The first thing I noticed was the tidy 52 chapters----great for a chapter a week study for a year. It’s also home to one of my all time favorite verses, chapter 15, verse 16. Since that deals with eating God’s word, I began to nibble. I didn’t get very far---just chapter one---but that’s all I needed.

I’m not sure how theologically sound my interpretations are but God---did you hear that, But God………met me right where I was and these are words that jumped off the page along with ideas I gleaned from His word----mostly THOTS right now as I Trust Him On This Subject. Jeremiah Chapter 1

• “To whom the word of the Lord came”----my marginalia, 52x that is mentioned—I highlighted 4x in chapter 1, not sure if "came also" counts---that’s a THOT

• “Before formed in womb, I knew you---before born, I consecrated you, I appointed you” (God knows me too and has set me aside---just for a different purpose.)

• “Go where I send, speak what I command” (feel not qualified, He qualifies and provides the message)

• “Put my words in your mouth…..to build and to plant” (His word is power, not mine)

• "Gird up loins….arise….speak all I command. Do not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them.” (I’m typing, I’m typing.)

• “They (my thoughts) will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” (verses 17-19 sound like “fighting” words. I told you it was a battle.)

I can dance! I can dance when I “choose” to join Him in the dance of life, even though the floor is slippery!

I can dance!!

BLOGGLE

5/28/09 Blog + Boggle = BLOGGLE A game we always take to the beach each summer is Boggle------it’s a game where you try to take the jumble of letters and create words before the sand runs out in the hour glass (3 minute glass) Tonight’s blog is similar to that. You, reader, have to try to take the jumble of words here and try to make coherent thoughts out of them. This is a peek at my random thoughts as I have continued to think on subjects/ideas jogged by earlier blogs. Good luck.

Journal Jottings---relevant to breath --- Liking holding breath when big boys fell on me at the Kiwanis Pool one summer and I struggled to untangle from their weight and BREATHE--- felt desperate to break the surface of that water and gulp the air----or at the Duncan’s home where I learned to swim with other girls in my brownie troop and we tried to see who could hold their breath the longest.---- ---no other thought but wanting to win but..... SO needing that air---felt that way the night my mouth was sewn together and my nose was stopped up---am I that desperate for Him, yearning to be filled and quenched by Him, my living water? Filled with the fullness of Christ.

THOTS--- Breathe on me O breath of God---how do I know that phrase----hymn, maybe? 

Journal Jottings---relevant to “self” entry Love is conscious acts of self-giving, self-sharing, self-sacrificing and self-abandonment. Opposite =selfishness (source unknown, but taken from old Sunday School class notes) Affirms my earlier thought. 

THOTS---Do I hunger and thirst after rightousness? 

Journal Jottings ---relevant to a “real meal deal” blog My notes from John Piper’s, Taste and See, entry #65 “Faith feeds on the Word of God.” No steady diet of God’s Word----you get weaker and weaker---(like Grandaddy’s heart when it isn’t pumping that life giving blood w/ oxygen through his body) If your walk is getting weaker, check what you’re feeding on. Compare it (eating God’s word) to way you eat---one gulp of juice in the am while reading paper and packing lunches at same time won’t last very long. If such an eating habit continues, you won’t last very long---neither will your faith---you’ll starve it. What does starving faith look like---not much like faith/hard to recognize it (DAL) hard to trust, worship and rejoice in the hard times and lots easier to embrace sin, sometimes even “justifying it.” A starved faith walk is more of a stumble. God’s Word fosters faith. God’s Word is within us so that “your (my) trust may be in the Lord.” (Proverbs 22:18-19) If one really want to feed his/her faith night and day, he/she needs to meditate on the Word of God. We need something of substance (meat of truth) to bite into---that’s the nature of faith. “Faith exists by what it trusts. It has no life but what it gets from the truth it believes.” 

THOTS---Meditation and memorization helps feed our faith hourly, day by day. God’s Word is the best nutrition for a healthy faith walk. “Put faith food in the pantry of your mind”…and walk in faith.

To Mask or Unmask

5/18/09 A “Smile on a Stick” can be a good thing---it hides scars and wounds but lets people see your “smiling eyes.” Talking with high school chums this past week, I was reminded (by them) that the yearbook had dubbed me, “Merry, vivacious and always smiling”. I think they were giving me permission to take my mask off. 

It was my “self” that was keeping it on. Of course, I do need it for sun protection (doc’s orders) and to keep flowing bodily fluids hidden but…..I can take it off---it’s just hard. Hard because the lips are so noticeably crooked when I smile---and I have trouble not smiling, sometimes. It reminded me that SELF was an area where I still needed work. My friends accept me. Why can't I accept myself,

My meditation verse has already convicted me that it’s not about me, it’s about Him. Not me, but Thee. "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts, boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things says the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:23) 

THOTS---let not an overly sensitive gal boast that she once she had a smiling countenance. 

Comparison is not from the heavenly realms. If we compare we despair! I know I am fearfully and wonderfully made---how about remade? I KNOW how bad it could have been, I KNOW things change daily but I also know it’s not what I’m used to seeing---do I sound ungrateful? Forgive me Lord. I’m still struggling here. Thank You that I am rich in blessings from this “event” in my life. Thank You that You can teach me wisdom in this that I can share with others. Thank You for Your lovingkindness to me as I heal. I have come to KNOW thee in a deep way through this struggle—and I wouldn’t trade that for anything, not even a straight mouth. 

Thank You that I have a safe haven like Houston High School where I was able to go "unmasked" today---they accept me scars and all!! Those are my THOTS—What are yours as you meditate on this verse?