Dear Christian educators, It's all about Him. The more I come to know Him, the more I love Him. I am so grateful for His perfect patience that has forgiven me and given me eternal life in Him. We all have received mercy so that we may display His perfect patience to win others over. Do you know Him yet? He is love and He is waiting for You as He gently calls. Come and see. Taste and see what the Lord has done. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve! Day 31 1 Timothy 1:16 English Standard Version (ESV) 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. As Christians in the public schools, we have been blessed to be Christ followers. With much blessing comes much responsibility. Because of His great mercy, we are charged with displaying His perfect patience as an example to those who do not believe yet, that they too may have eternal life through Him. Now how in the world can you do that in the public schools? You walk the walk without talking the talk. We will never have perfect patience. That's reserved for our Lord, but we can ask for His patience as we deal with the numerous unsettling issues that can happen on any given school day. Pray this scripture aloud and ask Him to help you with patience. We know it's in His will because it's in His word. Dear Lord,
I am thankful for Your servant Paul who teaches us to pray. Thank you Lord that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. We hate sin, Lord, but You saved us. Thank you for Your mercy that in me, a saved sinner, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in Him for eternal life. Lord, You hold the words of eternal life. Where else would we go? Thank You for your patience and love. We ask for this in the saving name of Jesus. Amen. Prayerfully yours, Karen and the CIPE Team
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Dear Christian educators, Whoever said it would be easy to be a Christian in the public schools? I doubt anyone would claim that. Easy is not what we are looking for but instead God's transforming power. This verse admonishes us to "put on" compassionate hearts, kindness, humility meekness and patience. The putting on of these attributes are gifts of the Spirit. We are God's chosen ones and He has chosen to place us in service to the public schools. Let's go to God for the ability to "put on" these humanly impossible gifts for the sake of our students. Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve! Day 30 Colossians 3:12 English Standard Version (ESV) 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, Patience is one of those attributes of God that calls for the intervention of the Holy Spirit, for sure. In this verse, however, we are told to "put on" patience. What does that mean? Are we to muster up patience on our own? I'm not sure that's even possible. When we "put on" patience, it is with prayer. If there is a particular situation at school, that requires patience and you know you will need help, pray in the morning before you leave your home, pray the moment your arrive on campus and then pray in your classroom or office before the students arrive. He is able! If it's a situation that happens on the spot, before uttering a word, utter a short silent prayer using this verse that might go something like this: Dear Lord, help me to put on patience Your way please! Dear Lord,
Thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for calling us Your chosen ones. What a blessing. Help us to be a blessing to our students, colleagues, administrators and parents by putting on compassion hearts. When a student is hurting, be compassionate through us Lord. Help us to put on kindness. When a colleague of ours seems so discouraged, be kind to them through us Lord. When we feel overlooked or undervalued at school, help us to put on humility, dear King. Instead of always having to get our way, help us to put on meekness by Your Spirit. When the days are long and the work comes home in our book bags Lord, grace us with Your patience. Prayerfully yours, Karen and the CIPE Team Dear Christian educators, Are you patient? Is it just a personality trait? There is no doubt that some people are more patient that others naturally, yet the promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit means that we will produce the Fruit of the Spirit. I remember a very wise principal once pointed out that the "Fruit" is singular and that we don't cherry-pick the ones we are more prone towards displaying. The Holy Spirit will display all fruit when we get out of the way and let Him. Oh that it was that simple on a day-to-day basis. Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve! Day 29 Romans 8:25 English Standard Version (ESV) 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. What are some of the things we hope for in school and wait patiently for? Students who do not understand our content and suddenly the light goes on. Patience paid off. Colleagues who seem to be against what we stand for, come to us in a crisis. Patience paid off. Administrators that seem to unfairly evaluate us give us a glowing evaluation. Patience paid off. Naturally in any scenario in school, patience is undergirded with prayer. Ask others to pray for you when you are hoping for something that you just don't see happening. Patience will pay off when you issue is solved or may no longer even matter. Dear Lord,
Thank you for teaching us to wait. Waiting on You is always beneficial because when we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Help us with patience Lord, especially in this time of the year when there are plans being made for next year already. Lord, help us to wait on you for the right position, right class, the right assignment because You place us where we need to be when we wait on You. Help us when we are impatient to catch ourselves. O Lord, we love You for so many things! What a gracious God You are. We ask for patience in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Prayerfully yours, Karen and the CIPE team Dear Christian educators, We are the Lord's servants. Our duty is to not be quarrelsome and to be kind to everyone. We must also be able to teach while patiently enduring evil and correcting our opponents with gentleness. That's a big charge! However, the payoff is eternal because if we do these things, perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of truth. Isn't that our hope especially for the students we serve and the colleagues we serve with? Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve! Day 28 2 Timothy 2:24-25 English Standard Version (ESV) 24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, This verse makes me think of the grievance system between the unions and administration. When things are not going the way we think they should, we have the right to grieve the situation. Sometimes it becomes a helpful tool to bring issues to solution, but too often it's used as a weapon. What if every Christian educator modeled this verse? Would it mean that nothing evil would come our way? On the contrary, it's almost a guarantee that evil will be experienced, but if we answered our opponents with gentleness, not being quarrelsome, while being kind, there may be quite a different outcome. No doubt, it's hard to do, but this is one of the ways transformation can happen with God's love and truth. Dear Lord,
We are so grateful to Your wisdom and grace. How can we show gentleness when are opponents are accusing us? You teach us in Your Word not to be quarrelsome. You will need to help us Lord. We always want to let them know our point of view. Your way is always so different and surprising. Help us Lord to be kind to everyone (including our opponents) with gentleness so that You may perhaps grant them the repentance that leads to a knowledge of Your Truth. What a gift Lord. Have mercy on us. We ask this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. Prayerfully yours, Karen and the CIPE Team Dear Christian educators, As Christians in the public school, our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Change Maker, the Chain Breaker, the Life Giver and the One Who loves us. We do not look to convert or proselytize, but to be missional in our relationships. We are missionaries to those who are hurting and lost and by our conduct we seek to show the reason for our hope and to do it all with gentleness and respect. Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve! Day 27 1 Peter 3:15 English Standard Version (ESV) 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, Wouldn't a classroom of gentleness and respect be the goal of every school community? When we set up our rules and goals in the beginning of the year, we all seek to have a safe environment with respect and dignity. Upholding these high standards are not impossible, but improbable as the school year is in full gear. Often times we don't even see a tangible change, but attitudes and behaviors seem to slip. We need prayer each day for our students, colleagues, administration and the whole school community. Prayer for Christian educators in the public schools is never in front of the classroom, but always in private before or after school undergirding our efforts to be gentle with respect. Do you have a prayer partner at school? You can pray alone but the beauty of having a partner, triplet or group is that Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them. Let's invite Him in and you will see true transformation. Dear Lord, Let us give you all the honor and glory. You are the hope that lies within us and we can hardly wait to live eternally with you. Help our hearts that are prone to wander stay close to You, O Lord. Help us to honor You in all that we do and when someone asks why we are different or why we have such hope, show us how to be prepared to make a defense and to tell them with gentleness and respect. Lord, You are the Hope of Mankind. Help us to be contagious so that others will ask and we will be able to tell of your greatness. Blessed be Your Name. We ask for this in the gentle name of Jesus. Amen. Prayerfully yours, Karen and the CIPE Team |
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