I memorized this verse when I was a college student (back then, it was the King James Version):
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
Lately, I’ve turned it into a prayer for students I know and love.
Lord, may their study habits
and the content they study
meet with your approval.
I know it takes the verse out of context. Even so, I think God’s OK with it.
I’m back! Family fun time is a sweet memory. I’ll soon be back to work.
I work part-time with special-needs students. My thoughts and prayers wander back to the classroom.
The Bible offers this memorable prayer for Jerusalem, and I apply it to my school.
Psalm 122:7 (ESV)
Peace be within your walls and
security within your towers!
I pray as I pull into my parking space. I pray as I drive by neighborhood schools. Pray with me:
May there be peace within these walls,
Lord, and safety in these buildings.
Praise.
Per Merriam-Webster. “the attribution of perfections.”
“Perfections.” Plural.
Hebrews 13:15 (NASB)
Let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.
“Continually.” All the time.
Perfect in every way, every day.
“Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship . . . it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others.”
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Be blessed — bless God and bless others.
God told Moses,
“This is how I want you to bless my people.”
Deuteronomy 6:24-26 (AMP)
The Lord bless you, and keep you
[protect you, sustain you, and guard you];
The Lord make His face shine upon you[with favor],
And be gracious to you
[surrounding you with lovingkindness];
The Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon you
[with divine approval],
And give you peace [a tranquil heart and life].
Blessed: protected, sustained, guarded, favored, loved, approved.
Beautiful words.
Psalm 66:8-9 (ESV)
Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
Pray with me:
Here I stand, Lord, alive and grateful. Bless You!
“Ah . . . choo!”
“Bless you!”
What does that mean?
Might be an automatic response.
Means nothing.
Some trace the tradition back to the Middle Ages, when a sneeze was an early symptom of the bubonic plaque. ‘Twas a polite version of “Don’t die.”
Not very cheerful.
Others say it comes from an ancient belief that a sneeze forced your soul out of your body for a moment. “Bless you” kept the demons from moving in.
Creepy.
Maybe it comes straight from the Bible.
Psalm 115:15 (NLT)
May you be blessed by the Lord.
Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
We bless God. God blesses us.
The Hebrew word translated as “blessed” is eulogétos, meaning to speak well of, to praise.
We speak well of God. We speak well to God. God speaks well of us. God speaks well to us. Good words all around.
And that’s something to think about.
“It is not that we bring God into touch with our minds, but that we rouse ourselves until God is able to convey His mind to us.”
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Prayer connects us to the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NRIV)
(also Isaiah 40:13)
It is written,
“Who can ever know what is in the Lord’s mind?
Can anyone ever teach him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
“The mind of Christ” — best thoughts ever.
