Tag Archives: Teacher

The Teacher

Todorovich_SliveroflightLiving in the Spirit
August 9, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 6:35, 41-51

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. —John 6:41-45

Jesus is perhaps quoting from Isaiah here when he says “And they shall all be taught by God”.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your  children. (Isaiah 54:13)

Prior to this verse Isaiah has compared the times in which the people of Israel found themselves to the time of Noah when God become so disappointed with the peoples of the world God destroyed them all save for Noah and his family and a representation of the animals. This was not a time with which anyone would want to be compared.

Since a promise had been made at the time of Noah to never destroy the world again, God’s solution was to become the Teacher. Working through many prophets, God schooled the people of Israel but still the way was not clear. Thus, God sent God’s son, Jesus the Christ, to serve as Teacher, but only the students whose hearts and minds were opened to learning took in the lesson.

I fear, we also find ourselves in similar comparison to not only Noah but the Israelites who were exiled because of their failure to follow God’s ways. Jesus is assuring us God is God and God is working God’s purpose out. If we want to be a part of God’s purpose we must open our hearts and minds to God’s teachings. It is very easy to do but it is very hard to do. Easy because God wants the very best for us and will eagerly share truth; hard because we are very stubborn in thinking we are the holders of the knowledge of exactly what is best for us. Our prayers may be more attempts to change God then attempts to allow God to actualize us as the persons he created us to be.

 Prayer: Lord pour forth your love to us through any tiny space we might open to you. Let that love grow to open more room for your love until we are all fully yours. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

‘Who Do You Say that I Am?’

Who do you say that I amLiving in the Spirit
August 23, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:13-20

 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ —Matthew 11:23

One of the reasons I write these daily devotions is that it makes me delve into scripture in ways I would not have considered without having to face the public scrutiny of my interpretation. It forces me to be honest with myself and makes me be as honest as I possibly can be with the reader. We intuitive-introverts aren’t particularly comfortable with such openness and sometimes find it challenging to explain what we feel in our guts. Doing something outside of our comfort zone is good for us though, right?

The disciples in our scripture today clearly recognized that Jesus was someone special. He is in really good company being compared to John the Baptist and Jeremiah, but especially Elijah. Elijah was taken up to heaven and did not die. He was projected as being the forerunner of the Messiah. The disciples probably were experiencing some of those gut level reactions that said, “This man is more than that.”

Today, who do we say that Jesus is? A great role model, he is put forth by many as the example of how we all should live. A great teacher, he helped all with whom he came into contact understand better what life was all about and still helps us today. The Savior, he came to free us from our chains of separation from God and be the link that would forever bind us to God. I believe that is all well and good and accurate. But Jesus the Christ is so much more than that. He is the one who has ushered in a whole new form of governance with a foundation of love that is the hope of the whole world.

Prayer: Thank you God for a great role model, a great teacher, a Savior and most of all we thank you for the One who is ushering in your Kingdom now and forevermore. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Planting Seeds of Love

Living in the Spirit
July 9, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:105-112 

Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light to my path. — 119:105 

Psalm 119:105 is one of those Bible verses I cannot read without singing it. It is probably one of the first, of what we called memory verses when I was a child, that I learned. Teaching styles have changed over the years but I don’t think using music as a means of teaching has.

My first memory of church was at the one room school house that set on the corner of my grandmother’s farm about three quarters of a mile from the farm where I lived. These buildings dotted the prairie every three miles throughout Oklahoma and much of the land that was opened for homestead settlement. The school had stopped being used as a school when my father was a boy but it was still used as a church each Sunday until it closed when I was in the first grade. A circuit riding minister preached one Sunday a month at our church as he did at three other churches nearby. On the months that had a fifth Sunday all four of these churches came together for a fifth Sunday sing.

The wife of the minister at that church was one of the nicest people I ever knew. She radiated love to all the children, probably the adults too. She is the one who taught me those songs and taught me using flannel board characters about Jesus. She nourished the seeds of God’s love that my parents had planted in my heart and probably, more importantly, planted and nourished the seeds of God’s love in some of my little friends whose parents had not yet introduced them to God. We are all called to do that.

Prayer:  Abba, Teacher, instill in each of us the call to plant and nourish seeds of your love in all the children of the world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.