I am One with the Force - End of the Year Devotion for Teachers

Well, the school year is over and summer is almost here!!
Teachers everywhere are wiping a tear, closing the doors of their classrooms, waiting a few seconds, and then shouting, "Whoop, whoop!!!"
However, this school year as I said good-bye to some of my preschoolers, I left school slightly depressed.

During the last week of school, among my fellow teachers, there was a burden in our hearts to impart the Salvation message to these little ones. We’d shared all about Jesus throughout the year, especially with the Easter message and Christmas story, but there was some driving need in us to make sure they didn’t leave our preschool without Jesus in their hearts.

Some may read this and think, “Isn’t preschool a little young for them to get it?”
Years ago, I watched the testimony of a man who had nearly died on the operating table. In those moments between eternal life and death, he was given a terrifying look at hell. He experienced utter darkness and torment. While living through a nightmarish experience, he felt the absolute devastation of rejecting Jesus his whole life. As he lay in darkness sobbing, he remembered a memory of himself as a child in a Sunday school classroom singing, “Jesus Loves Me” and he recalled believing in Jesus as a child. In that moment, Jesus reached down and rescued him from that pit. God honored the decision a child had made to give his heart to Jesus. You are never too young to commit your heart to Jesus. He will honor that commitment for eternity.

The reason I got a little depressed as I was leaving school was because I left thinking, “Jesus, did some of my little friends get it?”

One of the last preschool skits my co-teacher and I did for our classroom was an illustration of the Armor of God. The day before we had tried reading a book about a little boy putting on the armor but our kiddos didn’t seem to understand why God wants us to put on His armor. So, Miss Yolanda figured they needed a little demonstration. As my beloved co-teacher read the scripture Ephesians 6:11-17 I acted it out. The skit proceeded to illustrate how Miss Yolanda had woken up in a very bad mood. She stubbed her toe on the way to make coffee and then was running late for school so she threw a big fit. Then, God reminded Miss Yolanda to put on her armor. So, as I proceeded to put on each piece of God’s armor, my attitude changed from bad to good by the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, I held up my shield of faith while my co-teacher shot pretend arrows at me from the wicked one. As arrows of bad attitude, anger, selfishness, and lies flew at me, I was able to fight them off with my shield of faith. It was pretty cool if I say so myself. They laughed and sat enraptured by our story.

However, as the day progressed, I continued to wonder, “LORD, did they get it?” I really wanted this class to get it, because I know the challenges facing these little ones growing up in the world today. I want them protected and shielded by the Armor of God.

I left the school with my head down feeling a little mopey. A few hours later, I realized I left my keys at work so I had to go back to school. As I walked through the parking lot, I saw two of my little ones heading to their cars. One gave me a big hug and said “I love you, Miss Yolanda.” And my other feisty one, said, “Mrs. Yolanda, pretend to throw arrows at me.” I noticed that she was holding up her little shield we’d made in class. I laughed and proceeded to throw arrows of “bad attitude”, “anger”, and "selfishness". She held up her little shield and fought them off  with gusto. I gave her a big hug and said, “That’s right! Fight them off with your shield of faith. You got it!”

Ephesians 6:13Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, STAND!

As I walked away from school, my mopey spirit was gone, the burden on my shoulders lifted ,and I said, “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you that I forgot my keys and had to come back to school. Thank you for letting me see that they got it. I needed that!”

God’s Word says, “My Word will not come back to Me void. It will successfully accomplish the mission I have sent it to complete.” Isaiah 55:11

So, teachers, job well done. Mission accomplished. It may not have been an easy year for you. Every year has its challenges, but if you are a Christian then your classroom is your mission field. For the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Teachers, we need to be armored up for the mission field, because I have a feeling its not going to get easier, it’s going to get harder. It's just a sign of the times. As the world gets darker with violence, hatred, and evil, we have to shine brighter with the love of Jesus, showing His goodness, mercy, and light.

The other day, I was in the car with my hubby and he was in a terrible mood. He was nagging, grumbling, complaining, and all of a sudden I quoted a line from one of his favorite movies, Rogue One:

“I am one with the force and the force is with me. I am one with the force and the force is with me. I am one with the force and the force is with me.”

I said it over and over again until he started to laugh and I started to laugh. I told my husband that this movie line has become my life motto. I am one with the force [Holy Spirit force] and the force is with me.

In the movie, Chirrut is blind and he relies on the “force” to fight the enemy. My favorite scene is when he’s walking through gunfire saying, “The force is with me and I am with the force. And, I fear nothing for all this is as the force wills it.”

That’s how we have to be everyday. Without the Holy Spirit force in us, we are blind in a very dark world. And when the fiery arrows come from the evil one, we are going to go down. Maybe it’s being overcome by depression, stress, worry, anger, or impatience. We need to armor up every morning before we come to school because all these little ones in our classroom are beloved by God. God has placed us there for such a time as this. We're not just getting them ready for the next grade level, we are training them to be recruits in the Lord’s army ready to battle the evil one. Spiritual warriors for God, full of the Holy Spirit, with the knowledge of how to pray, planting seeds of God’s Word in their hearts, and sending them on their way where we entrust God to water and have those seeds take root.

So this summer, I’m going to pray up, armor up, and train up so that I’m ready for the next class of recruits. How about you?

Love,
Miss Yolanda

This post dedicated to all my beloved co-workers and teachers.
"Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition you believe more in His love than in your own weakness." Mother Teresa

Watch this very powerful testimony.
Video testimony of Howard Storm's near death experience

His Mercies Are New Every Morning

Prayer of Repentance

Isaiah 55:6-11 (NLT)

Seek the Lord while you can find Him.

Call on Him now while He is near.

Let the wicked change their ways

and banish the very thought of doing wrong.

Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them.

Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.

“And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine."

Thank you, LORD, that Your mercies are new every morning.

When I mess up - which is often -You are near. 

With just a whispered word of confession I'm back in Your Presence.

Help me to change my ways and to banish every thought that is not glorifying to You. 

When I turn back to You, Your mercy covers me and You forgive generously.

Thank you that Your thoughts toward us are not like our thoughts and Your ways are far beyond our ways.

Today, help me to comprehend the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ Jesus which surpasses knowledge.

Help me to be rooted and grounded in His love, filled with the fullness of God, so that I am more like Him and less like me.

To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask and think, to Jesus, be all glory and honor and in His mighty name I pray. 

Amen.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:19

Jesus is the Gate

Jesus said, "I am the gate. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved."

PRAYER FROM PSALM 118:19-29
LORD, open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
and I will go in and thank the LORD.
These gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there.
I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!
The stone that the builders rejected [JESUS] has now become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD'S doing, and it is wonderful to see.
This is the day the LORD has made.
We will be glad and rejoice in it.
Please, LORD, please save us.
Please, LORD, please give us success.
Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is GOD, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice [of my praise, gratitude, and love] and bind it with cords on the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!


Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door [gate]of the sheep. I am the door [gate]. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep....I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep....My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."  John 10:8-15; 27-30

Scripture Prayer for Protection and Blessed Hope

How great is the goodness You have stored up for those who fear you.
You lavish it on those who come to You for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
You hide them in the shelter of Your presence, safe from those who conspire against them.
You shelter them in Your presence, far from accusing tongues.
Praise the LORD, for He has shown me the wonders of His unfailing love.
He keeps me safe when my city is under attack.
In panic, I cry out, "I am cut off from the LORD!"
But You hear my cry for mercy and answer my call for help.
Love the LORD, all you godly ones!
For the LORD protects those who are loyal to Him, but He harshly punishes the arrogant.
So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD! Psalm 31:19-24 (NLT)

Jesus said, "Those the Father has given Me will come to Me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent Me, not to do My own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given Me, but I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father's will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day." John 6:35-40 (NLT)

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!
1 Corinthians 15:52-57 (MSG)

Your church and bride pray, "Come, LORD Jesus, come."
In Jesus Name. Amen.

Prayer for America from Psalm 80

O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display Your radiant glory to America.
Show us Your mighty power.
Come to rescue us!
Turn us again to Yourself, O God.
Make Your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers?
You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
Our enemies treat us as a joke.
Turn us again to Yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make Your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
You brought us from England like a grapevine; and transplanted us into Your land.
You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land.
Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars.
We spread our branches west to the Pacific Ocean;
our shoots spread east to the Atlantic Ocean.
But now, why have You broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?
The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it.
Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Take care of this grapevine that you yourself have planted, these sons and daughters You have raised for Yourself.
For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of Your frown.
Strengthen the men and women You love, the sons and daughters of Your choice.
Then we will never abandon You again.
Revive us so we can call on Your name once more.
Turn us again to Yourself, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make Your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
For we long for the day when you will reign as KING and LORD of Lords, here on earth as it is in Heaven.
For You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things and by Your will they exist and came to be.
Your church and bride say, "Come, LORD JESUS, come."
In Jesus Name. Amen.

National Day of Prayer 2017 - It's Time to Storm the Gates of Heaven Through Prayer

May 4th, is the National Day of Prayer.
And, man, do we need some serious prayer!
We need a few good men and women willing to pray fervent prayers for America!

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

On April 22, 2017, over one million people gathered in South Africa to pray for their nation. I know that Jesus was there in their midst because Jesus said, “Where two or more are gathered in My Name, I am among them.” (Matthew 18:20)

Can you imagine the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit that is flowing over South Africa blessing and healing their land?
Miracles of Biblical proportion.
Jericho walls falling, red sea parting kind of miracles.
Because here is God’s promise, "If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14

America needs that kind of Holy Spirit outpouring and healing in our land.
Let's do this!
Whether you're alone in your car, living room, or gathered with friends at the flagpole, school lunch table, or work lunchroom, or you're attending one of the large prayer rallies taking place throughout the nation...
Let's call out to the LORD
One people
One voice
One nation
United
Under God
Seeking His face and mercy
In humility
Asking for His forgiveness
And implore His healing and blessing on our land.
Not because we are worthy
But because of His unfailing love towards us.
In Jesus Name. Amen.

Malachi 3:16-18 (NLT)
The LORD’s Promise of Mercy
Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.
“They will be my people,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

God is not only calling South Africa, He is calling all nations of the world to come to know Him as LORD. God's Word says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." Psalm 33:12

Psalm 117

Praise the Lord, all you nations;

extol Him, all you peoples.

For great is His love toward us, 

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Love,

Yolanda

Watch IT'S TIME - A DAY TO REMEMBER Angus Buchan Prayer Day for SA

Watch Angus Buchan - It's Time