My New Heart

In Ezekiel 36:26-27 God promised to restore Israel not only physically, but spiritually. It says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." I believe this verse is meant for me too. Whether I am in a classroom, with my family, or enjoying the solitude of communing with my Lord, I have his Spirit living in me. It is that Spirit that shows love to students, family, or strangers. I can't do it alone but need the grace of my heavenly Father to work in me. Use this power or gift or grace to guide you today; to follow where you're led and love like only God can love. He's just doing it through you. Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Meditate on This

I'm taking a class called, "Solitude, Meditation, and Prayer." Our pastor is an awesome teacher and I respect his interpretation and appreciate his delivery. We are encouraged to meditate on several verses of Scripture each week, finding some time of solitude to do this. This week I chose Psalm 119:10-16. Several years ago I chose these same passages as memory work and while it sounds very familiar and I can fill in many phrases, I can't say as I totally memorized it. Our goal in meditating is not memorizing but I find myself in my daily walk, wishing I could pull some of God's Words out of my head and actually use them; for myself or for others. So this week my meditation has been dual purposed. What I found was the same premise I used in my classroom. Repetition Repetition Repetition. As I read and reread and reread and tried to connect the words so I could remember them, I began to develop so much more meaning to the verses. Here they are. I hope they bless you today.
"I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in  my heart
    that I may not sin against you.
Praise be to you, O Lord;
    teach me your decrees.
With  my lips I recount
    All the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes
    as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
    and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
    I will not neglect your word."
Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Hold the Rod

Do you know the story in the Bible about Joshua fighting Amalek? The only way Joshua could prevail over Amalek was when Moses was holding his rod above his head. When his arms got tired and the rod was lowered, Joshua would begin to lose. Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold his arms up under the weight of the rod until Joshua finally defeated Amalek.

This story made me think of life's battles today. We can't really fight them alone. We don't have the strength. If we're lucky we have friends or colleagues that will help us fight the battles; friends to pray with us and support us. As teachers, we all face common problems and battles and having a "team" to lean on is a blessing we don't want to be without. Go to your "Aaron and Hur" today and thank them for helping you hold up the rod. May you be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Keys of the Kingdom

I wish to share with you an idea I got from God's Best for My Life, by John Ogilvie. He based his idea on Matthew 16:19. It says, "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Ogilvie goes on to say that Jesus has given US the keys of the kingdom and we use these keys to unlock the various kinds of doors we meet in other people. There is a key of listening, a key of discussion, a key of witness, prayer for another, and the key of unchanging love. We can use these keys to admit people to the kingdom or we can block them if we don't share what we know or have found.

My favorite sentence says, "We have the power to forgive in His name and to assure people of His love." What an awesome responsibility! What will you do this week with the keys that have been given to you? Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Hangin' On

It's the middle of September and I managed to get sunburned at the beach yesterday. The sun doesn't care what the season is. It still burns.While I was there I was reminded of the water show I watched a few weeks ago from the same spot. I sat fascinated while three men danced and sped all over the waves on small boards the size of skate boards. The difference was they were attached to long ropes that were then attached to sizable sails. Maybe sailboarding? I don't know the term but during this two hour performance, I noticed how effortless they made it look. They held on, they followed the direction of the wind, they jumped and somersaulted in the air, landed on their feet, breezed into shore, turned and sped back out towards the deep, and started all over again. All the while they seemed carefree and safe. Never having seen this kind of "sport," I was mesmerized. Then it came to me. These men were at the mercy of the wind and their sails. They probably were exerting a lot of energy but their level of expertise made it seem simple. It's like us. In life, we are at the mercy of a Holy God, connected to us by His Son, Jesus. God does all the controlling while we speed, jump, turn, expend energy, and try to act like we're in control. But if our wind shifts or dies down or we get in over our heads, we find we are really not in control at all. I want to remember every minute of every day, who really provides the ropes and the sails in my life. I'll hang on for safety, mercy, and goodness. Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Overwhelmed?

Isaiah 43:2 says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when  you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;" We heard this in church this morning as the pastor was addressing the topic of being OVERWHELMED, and what we can do when this happens.

My guess is there are several of you who are already feeling overwhelmed and you've completed only a few days of school. The advice we heard was the path Mary, the mother of our Lord, took when the angel told her she was going to have a baby. ( Her feelings might be similar to what you might be feeling now; specifically in your job. Not to say there are no other areas that are overwhelming in your life.) What I heard was this: let go of the need to control the situation...we live in a broken world and don't always know ahead the path we walk because we walk by faith; let others help you out...we as teachers rely on each other all the time, and let God give you strength...we know we don't have enough for the job anyway so why not ask He Who is Most Powerful to be your strength?

My prayer for you this week is that while you acknowledge those times when you feel you are overwhelmed, you seek the face of Jesus, knowing He is ultimately in control and it is in Him you will find your rest. And the reprieve from feeling "overwhelmed." Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

It's All New

Greetings to all teacher friends and others! I took the summer off from writing and from everything really, and loved every minute of it. But all of a sudden it's almost September and while I am not setting up a classroom, fall does bring a bit of "new." I know the trees shed old leaves, the grass needs no more attention, I will get rid of annuals in my pots, but for us Christians, there is newness. The newness comes in more than new school clothes, new shoes, new pencils, or even new classroom assignments. Our "new" comes in a "new heart and new spirit," (Ez. 18:31), in a "new life," (Rom. 6:4), "new birth into a living hope," (1 Peter 1:3), and God's compassions which are "new every morning," (Lam. 3:23.) The good news is that we can claim all this "new" every day of our lives, not just when a season changes or a new semester begins. Blessings to all of you as you start your "new" school year. Remember whose child you are and be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb