Philippians 3:1
Whatever happens, dear friends, be
glad in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you this, and it is good
for you to hear it again and again.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
When I was teaching, my
school district participated in something called PET…Program for
Effective Teaching. PET training was intense, and consisted of actual
classroom instruction in this method for all teachers…followed by
exercises where we taught lessons using this method while we were
observed and critiqued by those trained to determine if we were
implementing the concepts correctly. So there was a lot of
repetition…and some “trial and error” involved.
In PET, the
concept is that each lesson has three components…the “set” – or quite
literally, the set-up for the lesson…the lesson itself…and closure. In
the “set”, the teacher provides an activity, a relatable analogy, plays a
game, or does something to engage the students and provide
relevance…and then he/she explains what the students will be learning.
In the lesson, obviously the instruction and practice occur until the
teacher is sure that the student understands the concept. Finally, the
closure reviews what was learned. The objective is repeated during the
closure to ensure that students remember it.
Studies have shown
that people best remember the first and last things they are told, so
in order to remember that middle “lesson”, repetition on the front and
back end is necessary. Personally, I LOVED the PET method of teaching
and have applied it to other areas of my life…from teaching a Sunday
school lesson to writing these devotionals!
If you are still
reading, you may be wondering what this has to do with the Apostle
Paul’s letter to the Philippians – and feeling God’s presence in your
life. TV celebrity Dr. Phil and others like to say that “People don’t
care what you know…until they know that you care!” And this is what I
want you to remember today…that God loves you! He sent Jesus to die on
the cross for you!
God cares about every single thing that is
happening in your life…from that test you struggled to pass to your
relationship breakup to how the waiter mixed up your order at the
restaurant! He cares about your wayward child, your disagreeable spouse or aging parent(s), your health, your daily
ups and downs – and even your struggle to lose a few pounds. God
numbers the hairs on your head…whether they are blond, brunette, red,
grey or purple…long, short – or fairy sparse!
Until we understand
how much God loves us – how much He cares for us – we will never fully
understand how much He is involved with each and every detail of our
lives. We will miss out on blessings, comfort, wisdom, and peace,
because we do not trust that God really IS with us…listening and loving
us through every single experience of our lives. But we can change
that! We can remind ourselves continually that “I am a child of God.
He loves me as I am. God is always available to me…He is only a whisper
away!” And we can begin today!
Are you ready to fully recognize
God’s presence…to understand how much He cares for you? Will this be
the day that you begin to operate differently…more completely in His
wisdom and peace? Don’t you think it should be? Have you said “Hello”
to God today? Isn’t it time you did?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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