"Tea for Two"

Do to others as you would like them to do to you. (Luke 6:31, NLT)

Lucy and Alice have been "friends" since birth. Now at age two they are beginning to "explore" the ends and outs of friendship, namely sharing. What an adventure to watch these two exert independence while learning to practice the "Golden Rule" from the Bible. Sharing is a difficult concept. For a toddler it usually means, she has it and I want it---"she won't share."

These two have already gotten a handle on it---beyond their age, I think. They even watch out for one another and sometimes their conversations are similar to listening in on a conversation between "little old ladies."

"Lucy could you hold my hand, while I rock and then it will be your turn."

Okay Alice, now it's my turn. You hold my hand now."

Even while serving each other tea, they were polite (for awhile) and poured each others cuppa---even putting their napkin in their lap.

Ah-h-h the joy of sharing tea with a friend at such a young age. "Tea for Two" who are not quite 2 ½.

"reciproci-TEA" : a Re-Brew

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another,...(1 John 1:7)

"At every turn in life, we are reminded of the importance of friendship," Donna T. included in the Taylors' monthly newsletter.

Donna said it well. "Friendship holds out 2 hands---one is the giving hand and the other is the receiving hand--both of which are important. One stands in the gap and offers help to another, while the other is filled with love and support from another."

Reciprocal Friendship---shared, felt, or shown by both sides. For me the best example of a faith relationship begins and ends with reciproci-TEA. It's a 2-sided friendship.

Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Not sure who said that, but I get the idea. For me, friends in the faith have the added dimension of fellowship. Reciproci-TEA at its finest. It's a lot like sharing a cuppa---intimacy over a cup of tea.

Friendship with fellowship is the real superglue of the Christian faith.

I'll sip that cuppa reciproci-TEA anytime.

"securi-TEA": a Re-brew

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9, NIV)

Having a cuppa T2 provided by our New York guest house "host" gave me a warm, secure start to what was to become a fun day with our Lucy. "All's right with the world".....at least our little corner of it.

But, both a phone call from our daughter and an early morning email from sister-in-law, Susan, questioned our security. It seems that yesterday while we were treating Lucy to strawberry pancakes at Tom's Restaurant in Brooklyn, there were 2 "explosions" in Harlem. Folks 1100 miles away heard of the shock waves before we did.

How fleeting security is. How fleeting life is. (Psalm 39:4)

Security in our culture often refers to at least a "semblance" of protection for us and our assets. I say, "semblance," because reality can be so different from the outward appearance.---it's still only perceived security. Our only real security doesn't come with wires, alarms or even fat bank accounts. Our security rests only in Him.

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)

That's the "focus" needed to walk the pathway of real securi-TEA!

"mo-TEA-vators"

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.                                           (1 Thessalonians 4:1, NIV)

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, (1 Thessalonians 4:1, NIV)

Who or what motivates people these days? Who or what motivates me is the better question?
A recent Sunday sermon by Jason Seville, coupled with the reading of gods at war by Kyle Idleman, kept that question whirring in my head. Maybe a rephrasing of the question would give more insight into one's character or theology. Who or what mo-TEA-vates me to living right?
Christians, like all people, need encouragement and exhortation for "right living." A tandem. A duo that seems to go together. Seville calls them "A pat on the back and a shot in the arm." Encouragement. Attaboy! Attagirl! Dr. Scott Morris, Director of Church Health Center said his father taught him, "Everybody wants a pat on the back---I want it, you want it, a dog wants it." (Commercial Appeal, 3/3, M1)
In the letter from Paul to the church in Thessalonica, we see his encouragement. He encourages them as he relates what he is seeing in their lives. A life style that pleases God. A love for all of God's family. But Paul doesn't stop there. We read Paul's exhortations of these good and godly acts which are already a part of there lives, as he urges them to do more and more. Finally, Paul commends them to "encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:18) A shot in the arm.

"Grands" mo-TEA-vate grandparents to "live right."

We also need to dispense encouragement and exhortation to others.

"Mo-TEA-vation" is a cuppa we need to share.
"Mo-TEA." More and more!

Battlefield "tea-ology" : a Re-Brew

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law
(Joshua 1:7, NIV)

Marching orders were  given to Joshua. (3x in v. 6-9)

Be courageous.

Be careful.

But God.....doesn't leave Joshua and his people there alone. He reiterates time and time again----"I will be with you; I will never leave your nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5, 9)

Recent sermon by son, Buddy, on the leader, Joshua, pointed out that God's most repeated command in scripture is, "Do not fear, or don't be afraid or to be courageous, the inverse of fear." Obviously the Lord realized how much fear would factor in to the lives of all humanity. Knowing how vulnerable mankind, even His own people, would be to fear,  His "don't fear-type" commands number 366, more than any other command in the Bible. That's one for each day of the year, even if there's a Leap Year. Thus, promises of His Presence and the reassurances that He would never forsake His own, seem to go hand in hand with those commands. Promises that do more than assuage their fear, are available for all who trust the Lord.

"To fear is to be human---but God says, trust me." (B. Liles, 3/2/14)

Courageous faith with careful obedience. That requires a constant cuppa trust.

"Priori-TEA Time" : a Re-Brew

O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8, NASB)

Though a "re-brew" of sorts, this morning's brew was a picture of the intimacy of my "priori-TEA time" with the Lord. 

One cup tea pot. 

A one cuppa brew. 

Personal. Private. Necessary. 

His word fills me up with more of Him. He pours Himself into the cuppa of my life. 

I can sip and savor throughout the rest of my day. 

Because first thing this morning, I chose to "taste and see that God is good."

SABBATH SNAPSHOT: battlefield "tea"-ology

3/9/14 Brother Buddy gave me Kyle Idleman's book , gods at war, and the title confused me.....until I saw the sub title, which was in all CAPS----"DEFEATING THE IDOLS THAT BATTLE FOR YOUR HEART."

CONVICTION! I had never looked at idolatry in that way! BUT GOD.....does.

Idolatry is the #1 issue in the Bible.....coming into every book. More than 50 of the laws in the first 5 books are aimed at this issue.... and in all of Judaism, it's one of only four sins with the death penalty attached. (Idleman, p. 11)

Many somewhat innocuous sounding idols are listed (food, achievement, family)----and don't seem like a problem in "my" life----until I read the Idol ID section at the end of each of the chapters and realized that I, too, kneel at said temples of worship. Choices reveal the "gods/idols" who sit on the throne of one's heart.

But, like God's word, after "hitting us right between the eyes," Idleman gives hope. Hope imbedded in scripture. Hope that is available when we "choose Jesus."

I battle so many things in my mind which are really heart issues. When I see idolatry as a "heart issue" I know I'm in a BIG battle. I need to RUN right back to the heart of God.

Guide, rear guard, tower of strength, deliverer---all positions needed in war----all provided by the one true God.

SATURDAY RE-BREW: "Liber-TEA"

Set me free from my prison that I might praise your name. (Psalm 142:7, NIV)

THe psalmist David moves from complain to confidence in this maskil. (a psalm of instruction, yet prayerful in nature) Though didactic psalms are not usually my favorites, verse 7 speaks volumes to my heart and offers comfort.

God can set me free from my "prison,"...... I have occupied several prison cells in my mind over the years. I have been a prisoner to the approval of others, a prisoner of worry and a prisoner of self-pity. Even depression, which I sense this psalm alludes to in verse 3. "When my spirit grows faint within me....." Have you ever been there? Been so imprisoned by those dark thoughts that your entire body seems weakened? David was there---in a dark cave and "brought very low." (Psalm 142:6)

That's why this psalm brings comfort---the thought of God setting me free from those anxious and self-critical thoughts. What relief.

But....the verse doesn't stop with, "God can set me free from my "prison." It goes on to give the motive. Relief is a motive that might first come to mind. But is relief a pure motive? Is there a motive that speaks to the greater good?

In all of one's life's choices, motive is key. Motive reveals our heart. ".....that I might praise His name." The conclusion of the verse states the pure motive of praise and glory to the Lord.

That's the pure cuppa "liber-TEA"---
a cuppa that  might provide warmth of comfort and relief...

BUT, it pours out in praise.

"Flexibili-TEA" " a Re-Brew

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, KJV)

Sometimes "light shining" requires a little flexibility and a lot of trust. Yesterday's letter from Shane Stanford to his congregation at CUMC bore witness to that truth. After many weeks (44 ?) of treatment at Mayo, Shane said the results were disappointing. But....he concluded his letter with the Matthew 5:13-16 exhortation.

Pastor Stanford knows what it's like to live an upside down, inside out version of life. He's dealt with an HIV-positive lifestyle since age 16. He, as all of us, had a choice to make both then and now. 

Even at that young age and through his seminary years, Shane knew he had a choice: he could feel sorry for himself, or he could live as faith-fully and boldly as possible. Choosing how to live out that grace would be the key to making his life matter. (Positive Life)

Was this most recent diagnosis what he had hoped for? Certainly not. But God....through Shane will continue to achieve His best plan for both the Sanford's and their large church family. For Shane, the new plan will be very similar to the old plan. "I plan to continue leaning on the only real source of strength I have ever known—Jesus." is how Sanford puts it.

"More importantly," he states, "I believe that God has only begun to use this journey for His Glory!"

Note the sheep which is still right-side up.

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be "bent out of shape," even when their world seems to have been turned upside-down. Not a beatitude...but at "tea-attitude" of flexibili-TEA.

"reciproci-TEA"

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:10, NASB)

There was no agenda or requirement. No pre-arrangement. Just simple give and take among believers.

I stopped by to check on a friend and she offered me a cup of tea. Then another friend dropped by to bring her lunch. Then, said friend gave us both "imported" cookies, which she had received, via mail, from Marika, her daughter-in-law. We were all blessed.

Ah-h-h a warm cuppa on a cold day served with friendship to folks in the faith.

Just giving and receiving. Conversation and cookies shared by believers.
"Rciproci-TEA" at its finest!