REBORN 2 WRITE: Writing my IMPERFECT life to share God's PERFECT Love. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:5
This devotion is dedicated to my fellow teachers. Our jobs are harder than most people realize and more rewarding then we sometimes fully comprehend.
OK teachers, take a deep breath, the school year
is winding down. We have been diligently working to ensure little Johnny can
grip his pencil correctly; little Suzie can hold her scissors properly; we have
done our best at getting little Bobby to sit quietly on the carpet; and we have
worked with little Mary to concentrate during centers to learn her ABCS and
123s. But every year, there is always
that ONE child who is just like Dolly from Family Circus. She marches to her own drummer, dances to
her own tune, and wants to draw a flower when everyone else is practicing his
or her letters. With classrooms filled
to capacity and multiple responsibilities, that ONE child seems to drain our
energy and test our patience. But
recently I have been reminded by one of my favorite movie characters, Uncle
Buck, that ONE child is in our classroom not for us to teach them
how to be more like us, but to teach US how to be more like them. You see, those Dollys in our classroom are
the ones that have visions of God’s Heavenly realm and paint what they see,
they take trips to Heaven and see angels, they talk to Jesus and have prophetic
dreams, and God entrusts them to change the world for His kingdom sake.
Matthew
5:8 Blessed are the pure at heart for they will see God.
One day while Jesus was busy teaching the
multitudes, children were brought to Him and they surrounded Him. The disciples wanted to keep Jesus on
schedule without unnecessary distractions so they tried to remove the children, but what did Jesus say to them?
Luke 18:17 (MSG)
People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When
the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these
children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s
pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of
a child, you’ll never get in.”
You see the Twiddlers, Dreamers, and Silly Hearts
in our classroom are actually there to prevent us from becoming dried out,
brain dead teachers. They have the
secret to seeing God and my prayer lately is that I may recapture my preschool
eyes, ears, and heart. In order for us
to nurture these qualities in our preschoolers, God desires that we recapture
them in ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:23-24(NLT)
Instead, let the Spirit renew your
thoughts and attitudes.Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and
holy.
TWIDDLERS
Twiddlers are those students who we describe in
“academic” terms as those who can’t sit still.
They are the children that play, twirl and spin in complete
abandon. The children who go right when
the rest of the class is going left. What can we learn from these children? We can learn to praise our God
without inhibitions so that we can fully experience the power of the Holy
Spirit. How do you think God sees these
children? Maybe like He saw King David when he returned the ark of God to the
City of David leaping and dancing, praising God without shame and inhibition (2
Samuel 6:12-22 MSG). Even David’s wife was ashamed of him but David said, “In
God’s presence I’ll dance all I want! He chose me over your father and the rest
of our family and made me prince over God’s people, over Israel. Oh yes, I’ll dance to Gods glory – more
recklessly even than this. And as far
as I’m concerned… I’ll gladly look like a fool”
I read a great article by Dr. Dale A.
Robbins “The Power of Praise and Worship” where he states:
“The Bible says that God inhabits in the praises
of His people (Psalms 22:3). In other words, God “dwells” in the atmosphere of
His praise. This means that praise is not merely a reaction from coming into
His presence - Praise is a vehicle of faith which brings us into the presence
and power of God! Praise and worship is the “gate-pass” which allows us to
enter the sacredness of His glory. The psalmist writes, “Enter into his gates
with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and
bless his name” (Psalms 100:4).” (http://www.victorious.org/praise.htm)
I have recently embraced the joy of praising God
in the Spirit, raising my hands in complete abandon, reaching up to Heaven so
that I can feel God’s presence fully. I
was baptized in the Spirit in December and I felt God’s love tangibly for the
first time. It was the most amazing
experience in my life. Now my soul
longs and craves for more of His presence and love. I realize praising Jesus is my gateway into His presence. So as a preschool teacher, my job when it
comes to my “Twiddlers” is to see in them as potential Davids and to encourage
and nurture that Holy Spirit gift of worship in their lives.
Psalm
8:2(CEV)
With praises from children and from
tiny infants, you have built a fortress.
It makes your enemies silent, and all who turn against
you are left speechless.
DREAMERS
The Dreamers in our classroom are those children
who stare at a blank piece of paper in front of them for 5 minutes while the
other children have already moved on to the next project.We tend to think of them as being lazy or
disobedient.Our first impulse is to
rush them through their work.But
wouldn’t it be cool to be able to see into their minds and know what they are
daydreaming about?One of my favorite
artists, Akiane, has painted million dollar masterpieces of Jesus, angels, and
Heaven.She started drawing at age 4
and painting at age 6. Her website states that she had a “life-changing
spiritual transformation” at age 4 that brought her entire family to God. (http://akiane.com/life)Now that is awesome. Recently, she was on the Katie Couric show
and she described how at age 4 she started hearing God’s voice and having
visions of Jesus and Heaven.Because
she was too young to describe it in words she began to draw and to paint her
visions.What an extraordinary gift
from God that she has used to impact her family and the world for God’s Kingdom’s
sake.So the next time you see your
Dreamer staring at a blank piece of paper, give them some crayons and engage
them in conversation. Ask them to draw what they are dreaming about. You may
have the blessing of nurturing the next prophetic artist.
Acts 2:17 (NLT)
‘In the last
days,’ God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will
dream dreams.
SILLY HEARTS
Lastly, the best part about teaching preschool age
children is that they are all Silly Hearts. Silly hearts are described as optimistic, positive, kind and soft-hearted. They are still young enough
that life has not hardened their hearts.
When God says that the pure in heart will see Him, He doesn’t mean that
we have to work on being pure by our own actions. Pure in heart means that we have put our trust in His son
Jesus. When we do, God gives us a new,
pure heart that is receptive to His love and because He loves us so completely
we can’t help but love him in return. The bible says God is actively seeking
Silly Hearts to strengthen them so that He can do a mighty work in and through
their lives.
2 Chronicles 16:9 (NLT)
The eyes of theLordsearch the whole earth in order to
strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Recently, I heard a sermon about the Apostle John
who called himself the apostle Jesus loved.
This always seemed arrogant to me until the Pastor explained that John
was the only apostle that truly understood how much God loved him. You see other apostles, like Peter, were
constantly saying how much they loved Jesus but when times got tough they
deserted Jesus because they were relying on their own strength. John understood how much Jesus loved him so
God strengthened his heart and gave him the courage to come back and stand by
Jesus while He died on the cross. God
then blessed John giving him visions of the Heavenly realms. He saw Jesus in His glorified state, and he
received the Revelation of what is to come in the end times.
That is why as teachers of preschoolers it is our
job to nurture their Silly Hearts. How
do we do this? I think the only way we can do this is by having our own silly
hearts softened and fully dedicated to God.
Not because we can quote the memory verse of the week but because we are
filled with God’s love by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have come to realize that you can’t really
love God without the Spirit leading you.
You can intellectually know about Him, which I have tried to do, but loving
Him completely has to be our Spirit connecting to His spirit.
John 4:23-24 (MSG)
“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your
worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of
people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestlythemselves before him in their
worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out
of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”
Romans 8:15-16 (MSG)
15-16 This resurrection life you
received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike
“What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we
really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And
we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance!
Last year, I had a really bad day. The night before I could not sleep and I
woke up feeling like I was having a panic attack. I was full of irrational fear.
I tried to call a substitute but there was no one available. I think God knew that I needed to go to work
that day. Once I was surrounded by my preschoolers, the panic and fear began
to diminish. During recess, one of my
favorite 4-year olds wanted to sit on my lap because she was cold but I’ll tell
you something, God used her hug to warm my heart and comfort me. Her pure love and joy was a balm for my
soul. These preschool children are a
blessing to us from the Lord.
Close your eyes and put yourself in Jesus’ place
for a moment that day when He was teaching the multitudes. He was probably hungry, tired,
fatigued. Now picture the moment when
he is being embraced and loved upon by Twiddlers, Dreamers and Silly
Hearts. How their genuine love and joy
must have renewed his Spirit. No wonder he told the apostles to back off when
they tried to take those precious children from His presence. That is why God desires that we love him
with pure, uninhibited, child-like faith and when we do He calls us the
Kingdom’s pride and joy.
So thank you precious Preschool Teachers for
pouring your lives into God’s pride and joy.
He sees all your hard work, He records it in His book, and on that day
when you stand before Him He will pull it out and say, “Well done, My child. I entrusted my little Silly
Hearts and Dreamers into your care and you did not let me down. Here is your very own princess crown of
righteousness for you to wear throughout eternity."
