Captivi-TEA

A cuppa captivi-TEA is needed if I'm to serve a little positivi-TEA to others. I have to live it before I can serve it.

Yea, yea, I know----tea blogs were for last year ----but cut me a little slack because "tea thinking" is a part of who I am. And a cuppa captivi-Tea is about one's thought life.

If I'm concerned about thinking positive thoughts about Memphis town, surely I can work on eliminating negative aspects about my self.

Replacement thinking. Sounds like something one would hear from a therapist's couch. Replacing my thoughts with His thoughts is from the "good book" not a psychology book. My thoughts are not His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8) so I need to "bring every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5) out of obedience to the Lord.

This week, partly in response to my husband's request to "quit being so hard on my wife," I have tried "replacement thinking."

• ADD Reality---Always Distracted Dotsy---(similar to my often "Ditsy" typo-label) Replacement Response---God knows me by my "real" name---(Exodus 33:17)

"Dotsy(s)" on the cuppa mark it as really mine! CF knew that!

--Reality (what I think)---It's so-o-o hard being me.

**Replacement Response--I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

--Ineptness Reality---What I think when unable to conquer my PowerPoint for upcoming Exodus lesson.
**Replacement Response--God's power is made perfect in "my" weakness. Go God! (2 Corinthians 12:9)

--Most common self-inflicted diatribes---I haven't a clue and I can't remember squat.
**Replacement Response--To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, (Ecclesiastes 2:26)

WHOOPS---how pitiful are those diatribes for one whose desire is to please Him---God gives wisdom to those who please Him. 

My "personal pursuit" for 2015 is to please GOD. I'd better bring that reminder front and center---a cuppa Captivi-TEA of thoughts and actions to please Him.

Pa-TEA-o Ponderings

Unseasonably cool temps. A hot cuppa. A quiet patio. 

Contemplation......more like a mishmash of thoughts. Meshed with scripture. 

So begins a time of meditation.

Sa-TEAs-fy---How did I miss the verse from Psalm 145:16 last week? Maybe because I needed it this morning to pray for D.W. in NY, knowing God can lift the bowed down and "satisfy desires" of those who are near to Him and call on Him.

Proverbs 3:7-8, another miss---nourishment. It's that fear of God....reverential love and respect that nourishes (fer-TEA-lizes) our growth, all the way to our bones....bringing great refreshment. 

Drought conditions in the west---wildfires so dense that darkness prevails even in the middle of the day. Physical darkness akin to spiritual darkness. A captivi-TEA of sorts, when one can't see beyond the darkness.

How about in a "dark" room of depression? Is it just physical when one can't see hope for a better tomorrow? How does light penetrate a heart darkened by despair? Does she know that the Lord is with the lowly and crushed in spirit? (Isaiah 57:15)

How do I pray about the invasion of darkness in Ukraine? Against the darkness of a Russian leader's heart? How do I encourage "my" Ukraine girls to know that God is there even in the darkness? God is there....for even the "darkness is not dark to Him." (Psalm 139:12) 

My prayer---

May His light dawn in the darkness and (Isaiah 58:10) and penetrate thru the darkness of wildfires, depression, wars and hearts of evil men.

A cuppa "tea" ponderings, served on a pa-TEA-o, that prompted prayers for others. 

"Med-TEA-tation"

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love, 

(Psalm 107: 7, 15, 21, 31,  NIV)

Psalm 107 begins the PRAISE section of the 44 psalms in this section of the psalter. It is FULL of praise in spite of difficult circumstances.

The psalmist seeks to motivate Lord’s redeemed to praise Him by remembering / recalling / reviewing His mighty acts. I’ve been camped out here for several days with several different teas in my speckleware cuppas, as God has used Psalm 107 to prompt prayers.

Med-TEA-tation is the primary tea. Using this psalm for meditation and prayer, I transitioned to praying specifically for a few friends. I began to seen reasons to praise the LORD---to serve him a cuppa gra-TEA-tude on their behalf.

Captivi-TEA---The Lord delivers his own from captivity---God sets each one free by providing liber-TEA for those held in captivity, first from the Babylonians and later from their own afflictions and iniquities.

Liber-TEA continues to be needed in our own lives. Many cry out to Him for release from the distresses of fears, family concerns and even chronic physical illnesses. Others need for Him to break the chains of depression that they might be brought out from the mental darkness and deep gloom of emotional despair. 

Med-TEA-tation easily led to a cuppa gra-TEA-tude. A cuppa gra-TEA-tude for both God’s goodness and His enduring love as Psalm 107 proclaims.