His Beloved

The kitchen table in America was once a place where families gathered, and memories were made. Nowadays, the table serves as a mail collector, tablescape display, and piece of mere furniture. We use our table. In our home it is where our children school daily. It is the place where we read the Bible and pray. Our table is also the place that I get extreme joy in inviting people to come to. There is something about inviting people to come and sit with us at our table that just puts my heart on joy overload. Not because the meal is incredible, but  because we get the opportunity to slow down and enjoy getting to know people. I love serving others. I am certain that hospitality is a gift that God doles out those who understand that all they have is meant to be used and shared for His glory, and that apart from Him your guests leave empty. When our children or guests come to dinner do we tell them to go wash their hands before the meal? How presumptuous would it be to assume someone ...

I've come to accept some colloquial phrases, being from the south. Let me expound on a few. "Bless it.." " help it", "let go and let God", "hey y'all", and the ever popular " Jesus loves you." We usually proclaim this one from a high and mighty horse. I must admit that some of these phrases crack me up every time I hear them exclaimed. The typical scenario is that so and so requests prayer for so and so. The typical response will be a casual "bless it", said with a low and soft southern draw in the voice. There is one phrase I feel we hide behind and neglect to expound on it's heavily weighted words. "Jesus loves you." We casually throw this phrase out to the hungry man we buy a meal for. We sling this phrase at children when passing out food for growling tummies. Yes, it's true- Jesus loves me, you, ya mama-n-them. But what does it mean?? If I walked up to you with a pill and said take this and yo...