Our Prayer...and Life as Incense

You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.  

 Exodus 30:35 NKJV

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 

Revelation 8:3-4 NKJV

I truly believe if God kept a logbook of prayers rendered by educators in these final weeks of test preparations, testing, and maintaining sanity, He would run out of pages.  Folks who haven't prayed aaallll year, somehow find the time to bow their heads or look up to the ceiling in desperation.  

"Jesus, please help this child pass this test."

"Lord, give me strength."

"Jesus take the wheel!"

"God, I can't take this anymore!"

"Lord, are You SURE I'm in the right profession?"

The bible often associates incense and prayer together.  King David said, "May my prayer be set before You as incense, the raising of my hand as the evening sacrifice."- Psalm 141:2  He knew that to God our prayers are a sweet aroma that come from the blended spices of our faith, trust, obedience and reverence in Him.  In the Old Testament, God gave Moses the specific ingredients to blend the incense which would be placed on His most holy altar.  Because of its sacredness, the entire list of ingredients has never been written down, but passed on from one generation of selected priests to the next.  God also directed that this incense be salted, pure and holy.  

We, as Christian educators are to give off a pleasing aroma not only to God through our prayers, but as the Apostle Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4, this aroma, whether good or bad, will be released to those around us. "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life."  Therefore, His Old Testament directive for the incense to be salted, pure and holy is nothing new from what He's asked from us as His New and Now Testament believers.  He's called us to be the "salt of the earth".  He's told us to "be holy as He is holy".  More importantly, He promised that those of us who are "pure in heart" having received Him as our Lord and Savior, will see Him.

This kind of lifestyle, the salted, pure and holy lifestyle, directs the intensity and depth of our prayer life. It leads us to pray, not just for the student who is giving us trouble, but for their parents. It calls us to seek God for how to pray for a specific situation. It strengthens us to pray without ceasing for things others have long given up on as hopeless causes. Ultimately, it creates its own special aroma of love and compassion that others cannot emit.  

While the incense making procedure involves a lot of plucking, pounding, grounding and sifting...

and the burning outlook isn't too pleasing either...

our God will use the situations of this school year to develop a one of a kind scent generated from our attitudes and actions.   Truthfully, in my classroom, on many a day I am greeted with the pungent "tang" of little bodies blooming into puberty.  With my left eye twitching and my nostrils flaring, I press through to the end of the day. This permeating smell is real and offensive, but so is the smell of  our disrespect, arrogance, and unbelief (and the list could go on) to God. 

                                              Soooooooo...

How's YOUR scent?

             or

Have blessed school week and stay fresh! lol

The Lord is with you and you are loved,

Toni

Afraid...Yet Filled with Joy

He is not here; He has risen, just as He said... He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee...So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them.

Matthew 28: 6-9

Whelp!!! We are nearing the end of our school year is some shape, form, or fashion.  Some of us are heading back after a puff of smoke Spring Break, some are falling into their much needed Spring Break and others are pushing headlong into statewide testing.  Because a plethora of emotions run throughout school systems at this time, I just wanted to give you an encouraging word today.

The women who followed Jesus so diligently throughout His time here on earth are found here in Matthew 28 verses six through nine as meeting God's angel and hearing the astonishing news that Jesus has risen from the dead.  Following the angel's directions, they ran away from the empty tomb, "afraid...yet filled with joy". 

Afraid...yet filled with joy...

This is a combination of emotions familiar to those of us in the teaching profession.  Many of you are feeling this right now as you are apprehensive of the strenuous testing season that we're entering, yet you're keeping a countdown calendar of the days until summer break arrives at home, at work, in the car, tacked on the garage wall, and layering the bottom of each one of your dresser drawers! 

If you set yourself to follow directions like those women and go tell His disciples the marvelous news that He is risen, you too will be blessed with the opportunity to be met by Jesus and worship Him.  How?  God ALWAYS has a remnant.  You are not the only Christian in your school.  Seek out others and encourage each other with His word.  Remind each other that you serve a risen King who has all power in His hands.  Remind each other that your King has given you authority to speak those things which are not as though they were.  Remind each other that your King has blessed you to set the declare an atmosphere of peace and understanding in your school and classroom.  Remind each other that your King has placed His Spirit in you to declare His authority over any rebellion, stupor, dissension, and defiance that arises.  Your King is all powerful, has all wisdom, and more importantly, He loves us with an everlasting love. 

Chin up, shoulders back, eyes to the heavenly throne, and heart fixed on King Jesus!

Go run and tell that!

The Lord is with you and you are loved!

Toni