God’s Power Tools – #1
The Holy Spirit is our teacher and He is the one who opens our minds to the truth we will be teaching. He is the only one who can take our meager efforts and make something eternal out of them in the lives of our children. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (Net Bible) “He who calls you is trustworthy, and He will in fact do this.”Prayer is our communication with Him before, during, and after the teaching process. Our number one power tool is prayer!
Children are the future generation of Christianity. We are commanded to teach our children the truths of God’s Holy Word in Deuteronomy 6:5-7. (Net Bible) “You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road,as you lie down, and as you get up.”
Not only is teaching the truth to our children essential it can be powerfully productive. It has been determined by various polls that the Gospel is more readily received between the ages of 4 to 14 than any other age. 85% of all professions of faith is believed to happen during these developing years. Yet it has been stated that children are the largest neglected mission field on earth. Why is that? I don’t think it is because we are not teaching but rather because we are not powerfully communicating. As teachers dedicated to reaching our children we need to understand the tools God has given us and how they can be effectively used to enhance and empower our teaching time.
Above all teachers must be people of prayer. We need to pray for each of our children that their hearts will be receptive. We need to pray for ourselves that we will live what we teach. We need to pray for God to protect us from teaching our agendas instead of His truths. As the Spirit leads we need to pray. I can’t emphasize this enough that prayer or the lack of it can make or break a ministry.
Suzi Ciliberti
Suzi Ciliberti works for Christar, a Missions Agency that plants churches among least-reached Asians worldwide. She served in Japan for two years as a single missionary and another nine with her husband and two children, then the family returned to the states. She and her husband have been serving in the US Mobilization Center since 2000. As a part of the Member Care Department, Suzi is consultant to families with children. She has been working as a children’s teacher since she was 17 and began her training under Child Evangelism Fellowship. She has taught in the church, as a school teacher for two years in a Christian elementary school, and as a speaker for adults training to work with children. She has also trained children, who are a part of families that work overseas, in their identity in Christ. She brings 44 years of teaching experience to her work. She loves creative writing as well as teaching and has found great fulfillment in combining the two as she blogs for Heartprints. She finds it a great privilege and joy to serve the Lord and His people. One of her favorite verses is Deuteronomy 4:10b, "Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children."
One Comment
Filemon
Very Nice Msg
Very Nice Msg