Wear Your Worship Inside and Out

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.  Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.                -Psalm 126 NIV

Hi educator friend!

I just wanted to remind you this week of your assignment to be God's change agent in your school! You are His beloved, cherished and highly favored child.  

Your worship... our worship... draws us closer and closer to Him. This loving relationship that we develop with God not only pleases Him and us, but it overflows into the lives of those around us. Through our times with Him we hear and see His desire to call others to that same love that we experience.  

It's such a blessing to be saved and filled with His Holy Spirit. It's unexplainable  peace and joy in the midst of  test and trials.  It's perseverance well after the human spirit feels like giving up. It's favor in conjunction with the creativity you were born with.  It's wisdom welding the sledge hammer to break up that wall that your back is against.  It is His love deep within us and there is nothing on this earth that equals or surpasses it. 

Psalm 126 reflects on God's goodness from this liberated side of salvation. It is sung by people who are so exuberantly filled with joy that "the [gentile] nations", people who previously were oblivious to the very existence of God, now acknowledge not only His existence but His goodness to His people.    It is a song of Ascents, a song sung while going up God's mountain to worship Him.  Thankfully, we do not have to trek up a specific mountain to worship before the Lord!  We can actually do it right where we are by praising Him and acknowledging our love for Him.  Hallelujah Jesus!  We love you!

So together, we'll trek up this mountain of worship.  As we head up, let's stop and smell the flowers. Let's pick a few and create a garland to place around our head or neck. Don't worry about your allergies, you'll be just fine. Trust Him.

This beautiful garland that we will  wear is going to be so strikingly beautiful and creatively intertwined that others will ask, "Where did you get that?" "How did you make that?" "Where can I get one?"   This garland is our salvation testimony and each flower represents every triumphed test and trial bound together with the True Vine. Wearing this give credence to the saving power and grace of God.

Dear educator, do you wear your testimony so that others may marvel at it? Are you willing to allow others to see and smell the saving grace of God in your life?  This is the essence of you being a Change Agent. While the bible says that it rains on the just and the unjust, our outcome should be different from those who do not believe in God.  We all may experience budget cuts and financial burdens, but God's educators come out on the other side laughing and singing His praises.  We all may experience difficult working environments and annoying people in which we have to interact with, but God's educators come out on the other side laughing and singing His praises.  Why, because although we may cry, we sow seeds of righteousness in the midst of (Hosea 10:12) and reap the fruit of His unfailing love.

We are the evidence of His love. Confidently speak of His goodness and live (as Joel Osteen would say) your best life now. Be God's evidence of provision in your patience, comfort in your calling and help in your hardship.

Romans 10: 14 But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? 

Wear this...

 to show them this.

They won't believe unless you show them the evidence.

Dear Grace giving God,

Thank you for loving us so much that it overflows in our speech.  Thank you for giving us so much joy that it is heard in our laughter and songs. Thank You for blessing us with garments of praise and the oil of gladness.  We bless You and honor You and say "Hallelujah" for creating beauty out of the test and trials of our lives.  Help us to confidently and boldly display the splendor of the saving power and grace of Jesus Christ to those we encounter on a daily basis.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

Please enjoy this week's song:  "Something Within Me" by Take 6

Imitations of Life

 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

Ephesians 5: 1, 2

My mother was good for making my sister and I watch classic movies, musicals and plays (to broaden our horizons - she said).  One such theatrical delight was entitled, Imitation of Life (She made us watch both versions). My favorite version, the 1959 film, centered around the undying friendship between two women through the advancing career of one, the devotion of the others and the varied lifestyles of their daughters. The catch to this movie was that the two daughters, while both living together and looking Caucasian, were  from two different class systems and race. One daughter was white like her rich and famous mother, while the other daughter was biracial and her black mother worked as the maid for the other woman.

 The biracial daughter, Sarah Jane, grows to be a lovely but bitter woman who has spent most of her childhood trying to blend into her surroundings and pass for white. Her frustration at not being successful is poured out in poisonous words and bitter encounters with her mother who always seems to unconsciously blow her cover.   

In the end she   ...... well, I won't tell you, you'll just have to see the movie (with a box of Kleenex) to find out.

Anyway, have you ever acted like Sarah Jane?  Was there ever a time when you tried to blend into the crowd and not declare who you are in Christ?  "What does that look like", you asked?  It's listening to the gossip, joining in to derogatory and demeaning conversations and not removing yourself . It's not offering prayer as the solution for a coworker's anguish or concerns. It's even not praying over your food before you eat so as to not offend someone else.  However, Ephesians 5: 1 tells us to, " Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example],..." 

Now, I'm not saying that you need to holler out "He's risen!" in the middle of a staff meeting or put on the biggest pair of cross earrings or tie lapel you could find to wear at every PLC.  I'm talking about being an unafraid, unashamed imitator of Christ Jesus; walking, talking, living as He would and treating those around you with love.

Here are some things that Jesus did that we can imitate:

• treated the rejected people with kindness and made them feel significant
• praised God openly
• loved children
• healed others
• prayed for others
• taught with patience
• honored those in authority over Him regardless of His position

Back to the movie...

Sarah Jane's mother would search for her and try to get her to accept who she was by explaining how much she loved her and letting her know how beautiful she was just as she was.  The words hardly seemed to penetrate Sarah's ears at all as she stewed in self hatred of her race which she perceived had doomed her from receiving the best things in life even as a child.  

Sometimes we can think that becoming a "Jesus follower" can label us as a fanatic or religious nut in the eyes of others.  We act just enough like everyone around us so as not be perceived as a goody goody two shoes and labeled holier than thou. Jesus still pursues us, loves us and speaks words of affirmation through His holy promises in the bible.  But our problem here is this, "Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]..."  we sometimes forget how much we're loved by Jesus. You see, children who know they are loved by their Father need not be ashamed to have His name, wear His clothes or be seen with Him in public regardless of how outlandish it may make them seem.  

You do know He loves you right?  Here are a few reminders:

• He gave His only begotten Son that we may have everlasting life with Him
• He daily loads us with benefits
• He makes Himself available all of the time
• He intercedes on our behalf
• He protects us from dangers seen and unseen

So...since I can't tell you about the end of the movie, I'll just leave you with this thought right here: Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you...

Here's my charge to you on being an educator of God; 

Don't be ashamed to know and love Jesus.  It is in Him, through Him and by Him that we live, move and have our being.  So let your being be like Him. Find the value in those around you.  Practice empathy and compassion this week.  Seek the best for others without any selfish gain on your part. Forgive and give as Jesus has done for you.  You will become the better educator for it.

Have a blessed work week. Please enjoy our weekly song, "Like You Jesus", by CeeCee Winans and remember to share this blog post with an educator friend or coworker.