migh-TEA cuppa re-brew

So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11, NIV)

Why do you start each of this year's "Tea with Thee" blogs with a scripture?
A mighty backbone for a Christian's blog is God's Word. For His word does not return unto Him void. Though I will pass away, His words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35) His words will be there for my grands & great grands. Thus, I start each blog entry with a scripture---as His word not only saves us, it instructs us. (Titus 2:11-12)

What's with the "tea" wordplay?
Part of who I am is a hot tea aficionado.....so that makes it fun for me. It's what all my grandkids know about me. But also it gives me something to hang my hat on and jog my memory. Any memory jogging is useful at this age. I know some of them are a real stretch but emails and comments form folks have let me know that they too have amused themselves by coming up with tea words and sharing them with me. A connectivi-TEA in more ways than one.

Will you continue the "tea" theme next year?
Possibly, but only on occasion.  Frankly, I'm  hoping for a respite from the compulsion to post daily entries.  I do have a few "dance" ideas still floating in my head and friend Beth recommended that approach. But God....usually has His own ideas. I rarely know which way an entry will go as my fingers start typing.

God's word is the only "constant" so I keep blogging, and each entrywill be based on His truth that never fades. As Peter wrote, "people are as transient as the withering grass". (1 Peter 1:24)

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

Another cuppa of His word, which is migh-TEA to save and is from everlasting to everlasting.

migh-TEA BIG cuppa

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6, NIV)

Why blog? 

Maybe because it will have lasting value for my grandchildren. Tweets, Instagram and even FB seem more ephemeral. Tweets evaporate almost instantly and Instagram and FB too follow into an almost black hole within a month. I want my "grands" and great grands to know of my faith---after I'm long gone. A faith that anchors my soul.

Why blog daily? 

Certainly not to add more cobwebs to the "blogosphere." But God seemed to "compel me" to daily blogging this year.

Is blogging hard work? 

Yes......Though it's not as hard as building a temple would have been for Zerubbabel in the above verse, it's beyond my own strength. If my blogging is not Spirit led, it is rubbish with no lasting value. Often, I wonder if the time to quit is drawing nigh, especially when I don't "feel" His power and and the writing seems "toilsome." (Ecclesiastes 2:26) 

How does one know if her blogging pleases God?

The other day I asked myself the same question. And tho the "drop and plop" method is not spiritual, recently I did just that---finding 1 Corinthians 10:13 and a Harriet Beecher Stowe quote that I hope explains my purpose.

I did not write it. God wrote it. I merely did His dictation.

Stowe's writing coupled with God's word would be a "migh-TEA BIG cuppa to digest....but hopefully even my small blog is sincerely written in wholehearted service to the Lord in order to glorify Him.

"migh-TEA to Almigh-TEA" : a transfer

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6, NIV)

“Have you ever had one of those days boys, have you ever had one of those days?  When nothing goes right from morning 'til night, have you ever had one of those days?" Those old Elvis (?) song lyrics whirred in my head recently. Did you ever......?

Have you ever felt crummy from the "get-go?" You awake feeling "down" and that feeling continues throughout the day. Edges of His Ways (April 26 entry)

No matter how hard I try---my (mental) strength gets me no where. I cannot change this mindset.

Carmichael's entry helped me understand why this is so.
It (trying in one's own psyche) is useless. Trying to feel different does not "touch" feelings. One can't even argue with self because feelings elude arguments.  In psychology 101, I learned that feelings follow action.
Prayer is an action.

But now, I pray let the power of the Lord be great..... (Numbers 14:17)

Turning to the Lord is an action.
Even waiting on Him is an action. Especially if patience is involved.

One chooses to turn and to wait on the Almighty.

Not my might but His.

The Almighty serves up a cuppa migh-TEA to everyone who turns to Him.
Almighty might!