The joy of the Lord is my strength.
The preteens is really a definite joy in my life.
In a series of unforeseen events, I became the “default” teacher for the preteens (age 12-13 years).
At first, I was very apprehensive and doubtful about the whole idea of me teaching again. And not just teaching, but teaching an age group that I never imagined ever being able to relate to (ah, the age-old “when you grow older, the younger generation seem to be more spoilt” mindset kicks in).
However, the past month with these wonderful people has been really rewarding to me personally.
It has taught me to look to God to believe that regardless of their age, they can have a true, intimate relationship with God and know God’s will for their lives. It has also taught me to look at the whole parent-child issues and learning to address it properly (I’ve already had a few blunders here and there, but by God’s grace, I am learning!)
Since coming back from the UK and settling back in Malaysia, I’ve buried this teaching gift so deep, that sometimes, I wonder if I’ve forfeited myself out of my teaching gift (like the parable of the servant who hid his talent on the ground – even what he hid was taken from him!).
And it was not just the gifts that God has placed in me that I felt I have forfeited myself out of, but even more deeply rooted, I felt as if I left God and turned away from Him, even whilst speaking the spiritual jargon that has become oh, so familiar.
The preteens classes has helped me reignite this area of my life which I have swept under the carpet for what seems like a life time!
On the same note, some of the most important lessons I’ve learnt over the past few months that I have to continuously and actively pursue is:
1) Realign my thoughts about God to be in line with God’s word
2) To have a secret refuge where I can meet with God and hear His heart for my life and for the life of the church and the world
3) To grow in discernment as to how I spend my time and who I spend my time with, that I may not miss out on His work
4) Ultimately, I am to pursue for an intimacy with my God, my Creator; and to be able to communicate and pass it on to others, that they may also in turn impart to others around them (basically, intentional disciple making!)
I finally believe, that God has taken out the old wineskin that surrounds my heart, and replaced it with new wineskin, so that He can pour in the new and fresh wine into my heart.
The youth committee has started on Masterlife book II. Personally, I was looking forward to doing this book for ages, since my mum mentioned it many months ago… [My mum is in the leader's accountability group and they are doing the book way faster than us in the youth committee, cos they are suppose to do it first and then move on to the next phase, which is to teach it to the rest of the church. Our committtee is the second tier.]
The first book talks about the foundation that we need to have in Christ and the spiritual disciplines required of us, which will ground us as God’s people.
The second book however, talks about more tough issues – our personality and our character. This is not just a “do-a-quiz” and grade who you are in terms of your personality and character. This book delves into deep issues and forces us to articulate what and who our personhood really is.
Also, this class acts as a support and accountability for me with other peers. In Leeds, I went to the Leadership Cell, where we uphold each other and encourage each other in our walk with God. So, when I came back, it was more difficult to find a group of people as like-minded as when I was in the leadership cell.
So I thought, or presumed, anyway.
However, the masterlife classes, to me, act as an accountability group where I find like-minded people, with the heart and the burden for the youths/worship/church/nation. It keeps me in check with my relationship with God too, as I know that if I am to also be holding accountable my fellow friends in the same group, I will need to be pure in heart, to see God. I really thank God for the people I am doing the Masterlife class with, that we can see the joy and the love of God that overflows into our hearts, as we deal with our own emotions, will and desires.
Anyway, back to the preteens. Today I gave a super duper short class cos of the church worship team meeting [which ended before I finished my class anyway! So I should have just not rushed or cut short the class]. What I did was teach them a song on the joy of the Lord. It was really an “Awww…” factor when I whipped out “Mr. Guitar” to play the old sunday school song “The Joy of the Lord is My Strength” and they all joined in too. It was just a simple awesome time of declaring God’s joy internalizing it to be our strength for today.
SO…. the theme song for now is:
The Joy of the Lord is my strength (x4)
Amen and Amen.
