Soul Sister Time

            Everyone should have the chance to stand before a judge and feel completely condemned.  You become powerless to defend yourself because some facts are true and others are not.  In Revelation 12:10 we learn: Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down .  This fact has never brought more hope to my soul!             I have had a taste of what I will feel when I stand before the ONE TRUE JUDGE and I am so grateful that the accuser has been hurled down on that day because I have accepted His Son as my defender.  The accuser will have many true facts to choose from when he accuses me.  The truths that I fear most are the words I have spoken.  The most frequent conscio...

            The phrase, stepping over your pain, was part of a devotion written by Henri Nouwen.  I read the devotion at a time I was being asked to move beyond a wrong and painful situation.  I have never forgotten this phrase and it helps me process other situations where I feel the Lord calling me to forgive and never mention it again.  This is easier to say than to do, but I have found it necessary to learn the art of stepping over my pain in order to gain the ground I need to live freely in the world.             I am a very matter-of-fact person.  I speak the truth and value the truth even if it is hard to take.  I’m sure there are many people who must step over their pain after talking with me because I value truth above being tactful—it’s something I am working on.  It is more natural for me to confront the truth head-on than to back d...

            The greatest mystery of all is why God puts so much emotion, energy and effort into the lives of us humans.  In the month of January we celebrate the sanctity of life.  It causes us to ponder; Why is life so important ?  There is a universal sigh of relief when just one living person is dug out of a destruction zone after a major disaster.  Some place deep inside each person that knows instinctively that human life is a rare jewel although as common as trees in the forest.             This month we will gather to remember the life of my father-in-law, Danny Newman.  We celebrated his 85 th birthday in April.  He loved his Auburn University hat and other gifts as he was very much connected to living his life even two years after the death of his wife.  His life is always an example for me that God is the designer of life and th...

            In my previous Tea Time for Your Soul, I told how my word for 2015 was miracle and about the miracle that stood out among the rest was my marriage on the last day of the year.  Many wrote back and suggested that Joy might be my word for 2016!  I am sure the joy I experience in the overflow of God’s generous miracles is evident.             The word our Sweet Father granted to me for this year is prayer !  It is a joy to pray.  Psalm 16:11 says: You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand .  There is much joy in the presence of the Lord and there is much extravagance also.             I’m writing this week’s Tea Time from the balcony of my honeymoon on an island paradise viewing a cloud covered volcano...

            I expected God to alert me to miracles in 2015 when He gave me the word Miracle and James 5:13-16 as my year’s verse:   Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.   Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective . I set out into the year writing down a miracle for each day.   Most were small occurrences—yet something only God could do.               I noted miracles that happened to people I cared about, l...

            It’s the fourth week of Advent.  Our waiting is nearing an end because Christmas will come again as promised on December 25.  The Feast of the Nativity is one of the immovable holidays.  It always occurs on the 25 th Day of December.  Advent prepares our souls for the true celebration of indescribable hope, love, peace and joy!  God became one of us.  He was born through a virgin.  He grew in wisdom and knowledge and in favor with God and man.  He explained the mystery that the prophets, feasts and creation had been seeping out—that God would take on human nature, live, teach, die and rise again to secure the promise made to Abraham.  A mystery revealed that continues to remain too complicated for human minds.             Hebrews 6:13-20 reviews the promise .  God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no ...

            The spiritual life is about patience.  The season of Advent draws us into an attitude of patience.  When enduring patiently, it is helpful that you are not the only one who must wait.  It is even comforting to know that others have waited before and perhaps even longer than you. James 5:10-11 draws our attention to the patience of the prophets who foretold the events God would bring about in the world He created.  Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.   As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. When I take the patience of Isaiah who walked around naked for three years (Isaiah 20:3) as an example, then I don’t feel so bad about the patience God is asking of me.  There is Jeremiah who never ...