Steeped in the Word

 

...his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

 Psalms 1:2

Iced tea or hot tea? Sweet tea or herbal tea? The truth is they are all made the same way. It's just the way you choose to sip them that makes them seem different. They all need to be made with hot water and steep time. Tea is not fast food. Most teas take about five minutes of steeping time. Then it needs to be strained. When I was a child my mom had to pour the tea through a strainer into a pitcher with sugar and water. Even today we often use tea balls for our hot teas. It takes time to make good tea. 

It takes time for things to soak into my mind and then drip down into my heart. Studying God's word is one of those things that I need to allow time to soak. Devotional time is not a fast food. Join me as I  make devotional tea today. 

• Measure out the amount of tea I want to make. 
• Decide how much scripture I want to read. Personally, one chapter is about all the scriptural tea I can drink at a time.
• Place the tea in a cup.
•  Find a quiet spot.
• Pour boiling water over the tea.
•  Pray before I read, allowing the Holy Spirit to flow over me.
• Let the tea steep for five minutes. 
• Read, listen, soak, let the word diffuse in my mind and heart.
• Remove the bag carefully, squeezing or dripping the tea into the cup. 
•  Let the richness of the words reach into my heart
• Add the sweetener and stir.
• Allow time for God's word to sweeten my heart, bringing the joy of the Lord to my day.
• Sip quietly, peacefully,  noticing my surroundings. 
•  Quietly, prayerfully meditate, journal Jesus's words to me, notice how to apply them in my surroundings. 

I am prepared, ready to start my day, or perhaps to rest from today equipped to face tomorrow. 

Blessings, 

Gail

Hey Kids:

Do you like to have tea parties? Even you guys can have your own type of tea party.

• Make a hide-out - with a blanket in your bedroom, in an appliance box on the porch, or use a hidden spot in the woods.
• Gather cups from camping equipment.
• Have dad or mom help you gather herbs for tea from the garden. Almost any herb will make a tea from sage to bee balm but some of the most common are spearmint and lemon balm.
• Have an adult help heat the water then pour it into an old fashioned coffee pot or teapot.
• Place a tablespoon of fresh herbs in each cup and cover with hot water.
• Let the tea steep for 3-5 minutes and strain (herbs can be added to the coffee pot or tea pot for easier straining.
• Sweeten with honey or sugar.
• Enjoy hot or add an ice cube.

Maybe you and your friends could challenge each other to memorize a Bible verse while the tea steeps or have a sword drill challenge (someone calls our a scripture reference and use your sword of the Lord (your Bible) to find the verse and read it out loud. Will you be the fastest?

Congratulations to Terrie Johnson, winner of Refresh Your Prayers by Lori Hatcher. Terri, please PM me your address and Lori will send you free book directly to you.