These beautiful prayers were written by the Family Life Pastor at my church, Louie Murillo. Even though I don't have students this year (other than my 14-month-old son) these prayers touched my heart and I hope they touch yours.
Lord, I pray that You will grant our educators wisdom as they deal with an ever-changing society. Help them to remember that every effort is an opportunity to change a life, to inspire, to energize, to bring out that special gift You have blessed to each and every one of us. We thank You for providing schools and teachers so our children will have the opportunity to reach new levels of understanding and knowledge. May each classroom be free from disruptions, distractions, and from anything that is detrimental to learning, concentration or personal well-being. Fill each classroom with the joy of discovery, praise for every good and honest effort to master each lesson and words of encouragement to try again on difficult subjects.
Free our students from the stress of peer-pressure. Give them the wisdom to ask for help when they need it. Draw their hearts and minds to their own special subject area that in the future will lead into something useful for the good of the world. Help them to make new and lasting friendships, and teach them compassion, patience and how to get along with others. I pray that when results are not apparent, they may be reminded that they must press on and find strength in You. Lord, I pray that in school they will be challenged to grow and learn and accomplish all they could ever dream. May they be the salt and light on their campuses.
Lord, I lift up our parents. May they be parents of prayer, lifting up their children daily to You. May they find peace and comfort in You. Please be with the parents of our students. Help them to create home atmospheres where children have the rest, nutrition, structure, love and the encouragement they need. Give the parents a deep interest in their child’s well-being and help them teach their children how to consistently live out at school the moral and faith values learned at home.
We thank You for the promise and excitement that comes with a new school year. Thank You that You make all things new and You give us fresh starts in life.
May Your love and grace fill all students, teachers and parents today and always.
Amen.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Rebel With a Cause
Me? Rebellious? I've never been accused of that, but recently I sure do feel like a rebel. I'm resisting against society's influence over me and my family. Romans 12:2 (NLT) says, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
I'm taking a new direction with this blog. It's sole purpose is to dig into God's word, share my heart about what I'm reading and learning, and provide food for thought for my readers. And I would love for discussion to take place- I want feedback from you!
Let me make one thing clear: I'm not a Bible scholar. I'm a Christian that has grown up in church hearing Bible stories and attending Bible study my entire life (literally since birth!) and I've come to a point in my life where I just need more. More understanding of what Scripture is truly saying to us. More understanding of the story of the Bible as a whole book- instead of broken pieces and references here and there. I will be utilizing these resources to help me on this journey:
1. The Complete Idiot's Guide for the Bible (Bell & Campbell)
2. The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People (Max Lucado and others)
To learn more about The Story and the movement it has started in churches across the nation, see the link below:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/47129-zondervan-launches-story-campaign-with-lucado.html
The CAUSE:
I truly believe that our generation and culture is in dire need of a Savior! Our foundational beliefs, morals, and lifestyles have become more and more worldly, less and less Godly. This is breaking God's heart, and it has begun to break mine. I am choosing to take a stand for our Lord's Kingdom. For myself, for my family, and with loving gratitude for Jesus Christ's sacrifice. I would love for you to join me.
Please join me in this effort, LIKE my Facebook page, and tell all your friends about it! Together we can learn, grow, and pray that future generations will know our God and His TRUTH.
I'm taking a new direction with this blog. It's sole purpose is to dig into God's word, share my heart about what I'm reading and learning, and provide food for thought for my readers. And I would love for discussion to take place- I want feedback from you!
Let me make one thing clear: I'm not a Bible scholar. I'm a Christian that has grown up in church hearing Bible stories and attending Bible study my entire life (literally since birth!) and I've come to a point in my life where I just need more. More understanding of what Scripture is truly saying to us. More understanding of the story of the Bible as a whole book- instead of broken pieces and references here and there. I will be utilizing these resources to help me on this journey:
1. The Complete Idiot's Guide for the Bible (Bell & Campbell)
2. The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People (Max Lucado and others)
To learn more about The Story and the movement it has started in churches across the nation, see the link below:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/47129-zondervan-launches-story-campaign-with-lucado.html
The CAUSE:
I truly believe that our generation and culture is in dire need of a Savior! Our foundational beliefs, morals, and lifestyles have become more and more worldly, less and less Godly. This is breaking God's heart, and it has begun to break mine. I am choosing to take a stand for our Lord's Kingdom. For myself, for my family, and with loving gratitude for Jesus Christ's sacrifice. I would love for you to join me.
Please join me in this effort, LIKE my Facebook page, and tell all your friends about it! Together we can learn, grow, and pray that future generations will know our God and His TRUTH.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Purify Your Water
How many Americans actually drink water from their tap? I feel like a water snob sometimes, but it's just so much better if it has been filtered or bottled. Am I right?
Purified water is just better.
How pure are you?
I recently searched the word "pure" in the Bible, and a very long list of verses popped up - too many for me to count. Here are a few of my personal favorites, with food for thought regarding each:
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. (1 Cor. 1:30)
Do you feel pure and holy? Did you realize that you were made pure and holy? You were born innocent (or pure/holy) at birth. What happened along the way? Sin entangles all of us, and our lives take turns that lead us down different pathways. How much of your life's pathway do you have control over?
Who can say, "I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin?" False weights and unqual measures- the Lord detests doubles standards of every kind. Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right. (Prov. 20:9-11)
Is it possible to be pure and free from sin? We're often reminded that we've been cleansed and made free by the blood of the Lamb, and that His blood covers/forgives our sin. That's why it's called grace - a free gift that is undeserved. However, if the gift is not appreciated and we take advantage of it, how good is it? Can you ask someone for forgiveness 77 times over the same transgression and keep doing whatever pleases you? That's one sure-fire way to trample a heart if you ask me.
Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend. The Lord preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous. (Prov. 22:11-12)
I recently made a resolution to live with the highest standards of virtue and purity. (Thanks to "The Resolution for Women" by Priscilla Shirer.) This is also known as integrity. Shirer states that "external strength alone can be enough to handle some of the simpler, less demanding situations, but when the stress builds to a certain weight and downward force, when it's more than our surface assets alone can carry, the person lacking depth of integrity will SNAP. Fall to pieces. Implode." (p. 159)
I've actually experienced an implosion of self. Not fun! Anxiety can get the best of me, and I'm just now learning how to properly deal with it. To assist you in living a life of integrity, Shirer suggests making these commitments:
1. Have no tolerance for evil. Don't engage in activities that could progressively cause you to be desensitized to sin.
2. Closely monitor the type of people you allow to influence you.
3. Recognize your need for divine help. "Never expect that you can recalibrate the frequency settings on your life without lots and lots of God's help, grace, and shepherding. He will be sure to alert you to changes that need to be made and then will eagerly empower you to carry them out." (Shirer, p. 150)
Purified water is just better.
How pure are you?
I recently searched the word "pure" in the Bible, and a very long list of verses popped up - too many for me to count. Here are a few of my personal favorites, with food for thought regarding each:
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. (1 Cor. 1:30)
Do you feel pure and holy? Did you realize that you were made pure and holy? You were born innocent (or pure/holy) at birth. What happened along the way? Sin entangles all of us, and our lives take turns that lead us down different pathways. How much of your life's pathway do you have control over?
Who can say, "I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin?" False weights and unqual measures- the Lord detests doubles standards of every kind. Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right. (Prov. 20:9-11)
Is it possible to be pure and free from sin? We're often reminded that we've been cleansed and made free by the blood of the Lamb, and that His blood covers/forgives our sin. That's why it's called grace - a free gift that is undeserved. However, if the gift is not appreciated and we take advantage of it, how good is it? Can you ask someone for forgiveness 77 times over the same transgression and keep doing whatever pleases you? That's one sure-fire way to trample a heart if you ask me.
Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend. The Lord preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous. (Prov. 22:11-12)
I recently made a resolution to live with the highest standards of virtue and purity. (Thanks to "The Resolution for Women" by Priscilla Shirer.) This is also known as integrity. Shirer states that "external strength alone can be enough to handle some of the simpler, less demanding situations, but when the stress builds to a certain weight and downward force, when it's more than our surface assets alone can carry, the person lacking depth of integrity will SNAP. Fall to pieces. Implode." (p. 159)
I've actually experienced an implosion of self. Not fun! Anxiety can get the best of me, and I'm just now learning how to properly deal with it. To assist you in living a life of integrity, Shirer suggests making these commitments:
1. Have no tolerance for evil. Don't engage in activities that could progressively cause you to be desensitized to sin.
2. Closely monitor the type of people you allow to influence you.
3. Recognize your need for divine help. "Never expect that you can recalibrate the frequency settings on your life without lots and lots of God's help, grace, and shepherding. He will be sure to alert you to changes that need to be made and then will eagerly empower you to carry them out." (Shirer, p. 150)
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
A Hunger Games Analysis
What an amazing story! Have you read it? Normally not a genre I would pick up off the shelf...until all the good reviews, hype, and sis-in-law finally convince me that it must be really good. (Much like Twilight.)
So I dove in head first and loved the first book in the trilogy...and it reminded me so much of the Old Testament. I didn't make this connection until I read Hebrews 12 recently. The two subtitles in this chapter are 1) God's discipline proves His love, and 2) A Call to Listen to God. Here's an excerpt:
You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling." (Heb. 12:18-21)
Suzanne Collins' mythical Capitol, albeit harsh and domineering, is like the God that struck fear into the Israelites until they obeyed Him. The main difference in this analogy is the fact that the Capitol is only looking for selfish power; they are NOT set out to show their love for anything but themselves. Like the old saying goes- absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Do you sometimes feel like God's power is too absolute for you? Maybe you reject some of His laws that don't suit your lifestyle. What is "lifestyle" anyway? I've never seen that word in scripture. Should humans really get to choose what style they WANT to live their life? As Americans, we sometimes think this is a God-given right. But let me tell you friends - it is a privilege. Our freedom was not free. It was bought with a price - a sacrifice made by American soldiers past and present that originally earned it and continue to defend it today. They fought for YOU and ME. And our children. (Does this sound like some other characters you know? Katniss Everdeen? Jesus Christ?)
Allow me to show you the next 3 verses of Hebrews 12:
No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
The Hunger Games revolves around Katniss, an amazing young lady of courage that makes the ultimate sacrifice for her younger sister, whom she dearly loves.
Consider Jesus Christ as your main character. He's an amazing man of courage that made the ultimate sacrifice for you, whom he dearly loves.
When God sent His son, the Old Testament God was gone and a new covenant was made. Instead of speaking audibly to His people, the Lord spoke through Jesus. Now He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. He wants to be your Abba, your Father, your Savior. His power- that seems domineering at times- is present because of His amazing love for you.
And like any good trilogy, I'm hoping that Collins' next two books live up to the expectation I have in my mind for them. (Am I the only one that hasn't even started the 2nd book yet?) I'm off to "catch fire" now...
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