16-9: December 2015

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Happy New Year!

I've never written a New Year's post before. I guess it's because New Year's resolutions in themselves never seem to work, but it is certainly a great idea to pause before our God and look at our blessings before we pass the threshold of a new year and all it's new adventures. Two of my favorite verses are:

Lamentations 3:22-23 - Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Daniel 4:2 - It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

Beginning a new year is a lot like the sunrise picture above that I took at Deerfield Beach, FL this November. Each new morning is full of mercies and new beginnings. Each new calendar year is the same. We serve a merciful God Who forgives and forgets. I love the first day back after Christmas break because it is as close as we can get to the attentive behavior on the first day of school. Our students and colleagues come with new hopes and dreams, with behavior and personal goals for a better 2016. Just as we begin each new day with a prayer, let's begin 2016 with a prayer for the remainder of the school year.

Dear Father, Almighty God,

We love you and are in awe of what You have done for us. Thank you Lord for this high calling of being an educator. Guard our mouths and protect our hearts and minds as we return to the students in a few days. Help us to have a heart like Yours to see them as fearfully and wonderfully made. Give us eyes to see that they are image bearers in Your likeness and to encourage their uniqueness as You have designed them. O Lord, bless us with your favor and grace that we may be an ambassador for You each and every day of the remainder of the school year shining Your light of love on our campus. Help us to be quick to confess and to harbor no ill will. Thank You Lord, for the students in our care and help us have a heart for our colleagues. Bind us together Lord in a way that only You can design. We love You, adore You and want to stand for You in our public schools in a gracious and contagious manner. We ask You for all of this in the perfect Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

This second verse, Daniel 4:2, is a great way to pause and give thanks everyday. Do you keep a list of blessings? It is a small change to make for this new year, but the benefits are outstanding. If you have a prayer journal or any other means by which you write down thoughts and ideas, go to the back of the journal and begin jotting down one-liners as you feel blessed: Here are just a few of mine for 2015 as I wrote them.

Protection from Jackie's accident
Honor the Grads - St. Johns
car paid in full
Hawaii! Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Big Island
The Daniel Weekend
STEM Camp
Back to School Prayer Breakfast Acts 2:42
Park Ridge Elementary
Pathology report - no cancer!
TIM coaching at 11 schools with admin teams
Pay it Forward at HHS

I could go on and on because I had over 80 entries. The trick is to try to jot down a short reminder of a blessing, favor, mercy, healing, joy or goodness bestowed upon you by our gratuitous Lord. When I come to the end of the year, I have a much better chance of thanking God specifically for the "miraculous sign and wonders that He has done for me."

My friends, I encourage you to begin a list of blessings for 2016. Get a brand new notebook just for blessings or add this upcoming year's blessings to the back of your present journal. You will be richly rewarded and you can pray a prayer of thanksgiving with specificity instead of generalities. May God be given all the glory.

Happy New Year!

Prayerfully yours,

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

• Go to www.one16pray.com and www.aw180days.com for more information.

• Visit, "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

• Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools. CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Day 12 of the 12 Days Until Christmas in Sacred Word and Song - Christmas Eve

Getting ready for Christmas includes getting ready spiritually. Each day one section of the Bible will be given. Here are some ways to enhance your experience.

• Read the scripture from your Bible.
• Listen to the verse by clicking the play bar under the picture
• Read the words of the selected song for that reading.
• Listen to part of the song. (Only 30 sec. of the song are included to honor copyrights and intellectual properties of the artists).

• View it the CEAI app under the Media tab or Home tab > 16-9 Movement

Most of all, give thanks for what God has done through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

John 14: 27-29

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

December 24, 2015

Listen here:

For a reading of this Scripture

Day 12 Song excerpt

Hallelujah Chorus

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world

Is become the kingdom of our Lord,

And of His Christ, and of His Christ;

And He shall reign for ever and ever,

For ever and ever, forever and ever,

King of kings, and Lord of lords,

And Lord of lords,

And He shall reign,

And He shall reign forever and ever,

King of kings, forever and ever,

And Lord of lords,

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

And He shall reign forever and ever,

King of kings! and Lord of lords!

And He shall reign forever and ever,

King of kings! and Lord of lords!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

Thank you so much for joining us in this preparation for tomorrow's celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas.

With Christian love,

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

• Go to www.one16pray.com and www.aw180days.com for more information.

• Visit, "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

• Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Day 11 of the 12 Days Until Christmas in Sacred Song and Word

• View it the CEAI app under the Media tab or Home tab > 16-9 Movement

Most of all, give thanks for what God has done through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Matthew 2:13-23

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”[b]

The Return to Nazareth

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

December 23, 2015

Listen here:

For a reading of this Scripture

Day 11 Song excerpt

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Written by Isaac Watts,1719; music by Lowell Mason, 1848

Sung by Anoited, God With Us - A Celebration of Christmas

Merry Christmas!

With Christian love,

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

• Go to www.one16pray.com and www.aw180days.com for more information.

• Visit, "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

• Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Day 10 of the 12 Days Until Christmas in Sacred Word and Song

• View it the CEAI app under the Media tab or Home tab > 16-9 Movement

Most of all, give thanks for what God has done through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Luke 2: 21-40

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Jesus Presented in the Temple

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss[c] your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[d] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

December 22, 2015

For a reading of this Scripture

Day 10 Song excerpt

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Words by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, 1847. Music by Adolphe Charles Adams, 1847

Sung by Out of the Grey, God With Us - A Celebration of Christmas

Merry Christmas!

With Christian love,

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

• Go to www.one16pray.com and www.aw180days.com for more information.

• Visit, "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

• Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Day 9 of the 12 Days Until Christmas in Sacred Word and Song

• View it the CEAI app under the Media tab or Home tab > 16-9 Movement

Most of all, give thanks for what God has done through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Matthew 2:3-12

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.