Welcome to the online, weekly devotional just for teachers! Polishing the Apple was written for my staff devotions, and I am pleased to share the weekly teacher devotions with you. God bless you as you endeavor to make a difference in the world one student at a time.
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Teacher Devotion for the Week of January 22, 2012
KEEP YOUR HEART WITH DILIGENCE
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (KJV)
Attitudes make or break our day. One look or one wrong word can destroy a good day. What happened? What caused the dramatic change? Perhaps, without our knowledge, we have developed a "heart" problem. Unresolved issues with our principal, fellow teachers, parents, students, family members, neighbors, or with God Himself can cause this malfunction of the spiritual “heart”. Unsettled problems create rifts or division in our lives that affect the attitudes of the heart.
Scripture tells us to watch over our heart. It affects our entire day. How do we "keep our heart with all diligence"? In Jeremiah 17:9 we read The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I believe that only the Holy Spirit can reveal our true motives and the condition of our heart! David prayed, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10) He realized that only God could set his heart and attitude right again.
When things seem out of sync, emotions flair, and relationships suffer, I search for root heart issues crying out to God for help. First, I confess with my mouth that things are not right (even when I don't know the root issues). Then, I ask God to reveal to me where I have wronged my fellowman, or suffered a wound, or failed to forgive, or chose to judge, or disobeyed. I ask for understanding on how to make things right. Next, I spend time reading a related passage of Scripture--meditating on it--looking for truth to apply to my situation. Finally, when the Holy Spirit reveals truth to me and brings conviction, I repent and commit myself to do what is required to clear the offense (Matthew 5 & 18).
I know that the Holy Spirit can set my heart right again. He has done it for me time and again. My peace and joy depends upon a clean heart. A clean heart comes when I take care of offenses. We can be assured that He who began a good work in you [us], will carry it on to completion... (Phil.1:6). He's just a prayer away!
DEAR GOD, DO HEART SURGERY ON ME. TAKE MY HEART OF STONE AND REPLACE IT WITH A HEART OF FLESH (Ezek. 11:19) Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:14)
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Polishing the Apple
NOTE: Educators, who wish to use these devotions or articles to train their staff and share with other teachers, have permission to do so as long as the copies include proper citation including my name, copyright date, and website address. Written permission is required for official publication or use for profit.
SUGGESTED CITATION:
Wyrick, Elderine (2002-2011). "Article/Devotion Title" in Polishing the Apple, www.teacherdevotion.com.
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