This is a call for continuous prayer throughout this school year. Our children go to school every day and the parents wonder, are they going to be safe. Being safe was not a daily consideration earlier in the decade or in times past, but now it seems people are intent on harming and killing children in schools. We all need to pray for school safety this year.
Dear Lord,
We are praying that you keep all school children and schools under your protection this year. Don’t let any hurt, harm, or danger affect them. We know you are our refuge, our shield, and our strength and our ever-present help in times of trouble. We come to you know in prayer, asking for your blessings.
Please protect our children, and allow them to remain children with gleeful eyes, always questioning and believing the best about people. We know you can turn anything around, and we pray that if it is within your will, let no instances of school shootings occur this year. We praise you for who you are. We thank you for a violence free school year. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. (L. Blair)
God, thank you for being a mighty warrior and a strong protector. You call us to stand firm, not in our own strength and might, but in Yours. Your power has no end and your authority demands even the demons to obey Your will. Help us, O God, to rely on your matchless power to stand firm. Grant us victory rooted in Jesus. (Paraphrased, City Life Church, Standing Firm In The Faith, August 15, 2022)
Many years ago, God impressed upon me that our children begin life reflecting on Bible stories as just that, stories. Over the many years, I served as a K-8 principal and a Bible study teacher, I learned that our children are eager to learn more than the character traits and behavior told in school and at home. Once exposed, they want to emulate Christ-like behaviors. They want to apply the Word in their day-to-day living. This blog will assist you in developing your child’s application season of living by the Word of God.
I have two sites. My first website, Youngchristianwarriors.com, initially focused on our children, answering the question parents often posed – when should we begin training our children to live like Christ? Below is a partial list of posts I wrote in 2017, focusing on Christian child development. The later posts mirror lisasdailyinspirations.com posts and are still worth perusing. I hope all parents find the posts beneficial.
As Christians we* should always be alert. Selfish ambition and vain conceit are traps. ~ Lisa Blair
When we focus on others and not ourselves, we are the servants Christ encourages us to be.
The world promotes ‘it’s about you’ in every arena. Everywhere you look the focus is on the individual. The Internet is replete with Instagrams, TikTok, Facebook and many more. We have been indoctrinated by the evil ones ploy to separate us from God pushing the ‘me first’ philosophy.
K-Love, Susie Kalous, Pinterest
God is all knowing and alerts us of the ploy of self righteousness and vain conceit through the inspired writings of Apostle Paul, the author of Philippians 2:3-4. I am inserting various versions to clarify, evil is always lurking and we must stay alert and dedicate our lives to making the world a better place by living like Christ.
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/php.2.3-4.NLT
“Let nothing be done out of strife or conceit, but in humility let each esteem the other better than himself. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 MEV https://bible.com/bible/1171/php.2.3-4.MEV
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/php.2.3-4.NKJV
Each version is clear – like Christ, we should esteem ourselves as servants. Servitude in this instance is not waiting for instruction by the world, it is knowing that we were created to build our personal and public lives with humility. We don’t have to daily announce our greatness or victories. We possess greatness and victories as part of our DNA.
Our DNA proves we are part of the bloodline of Christ, part of the Trinity. Our DNA began before the beginning of time, before God created the earth and everything on it, including us.
Jeremiah 1:5 and Ephesians 1:3-6 informs us that God made us and therefore knew us before we were born.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart…” Jeremiah 1:5 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.1.5.NLT
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love; He predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:3-6 MEV https://bible.com/bible/1171/eph.1.3-6.MEV
* When I use the plural, we, I always include me. My posts are not written excluding me from the discussion. I am also struggling to live life exuding Christlike behaviors, by applying His attitude as Christians. It is not always an easy path, we are in the battle of good and evil and often find ourselves lured by the bright lights of this world. The scriptures in the Bible is the only thing that can point us to Christ, especially in our weaker moments. The Holy Spirit is the only person that can redirect us, though our Christian friends, as the scripture informs, can pull us aside and talk truth without offense-in short help set us back on the path.
Remember, we are not our own.
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.6.19.NLT
In closing, please know that every time I think about you (my readers), I thank God for you. God knew us before we were born and knows the challenges that lie before us. I pray that He keeps you covered and places a hedge of protection around you.
Do you live according to the Word? What do those around you see?
~ Lisa Blair
I am sharing a video from Grace for Purpose. It is a great reminder about the path we must travel. As we travel the path, do we exhibit a Christ-like character in all that we do? Will the witnesses report that we faced challenges but throughout it all reflected a Christ-like character?
The witnesses are those in heaven who observe us during our life on earth.
Daily Inspiration - Lisa's Thoughts 