Day 15 Focus: Jesus’ Instructions bring comfort, wisdom, reverence & joy.

Level 1: (5 Minutes) As you breathe deeply today, focus on Jesus as a teacher who is merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love and relents from punishing.

Level 2: (10 minutes) Do Level 1. After Reading the scripture adaptation, take 5 minutes to discern how this description of a teacher might differ from the one you had as a child.

Adapted from Psalms 25, 32, and 143. Dearest God, Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation. Teach me the way in which I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul. Instruct me and counsel me with Your eye upon me. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. The more I trust in You, Your loving kindness will surround me, and I will shout for joy to be among the upright of heart. Amen

Level 3: (15 minutes) After pausing to breathe and reading the Scripture prayer, take 5 minutes to write about the best teacher you ever had?

Level 4: (30-60 minutes) Sometimes an improperly trained teacher can do more harm than good. This is not meant to be critical of teachers—teachers are only as good as the teachers who instruct them. However, in my research about how we learn, I was astounded by the way Dr. Amen explains how different our brains can be. One size does not fit all.

He describes a 24 year old who could never complete a class. The parents of this young man were sure he was just lazy. With proper evaluation and an established intervention plan, this same young man went on—not only to complete classes—but also to become a doctor. The rub for him was that traditional learning methods shut his brain down. His father was deeply sad when he discovered that his son had a medical problem—not a lack of motivation. (Amen, CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, p. 181) Listen again to the way the psalmist in our prayer is describing God’s teaching techniques: “Instruct me and counsel me with Your eye upon me. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. The more I trust in You, Your loving kindness will surround me, and I will shout for joy.” God’s eye is upon us, and God’s Holy Spirit will lead us to level ground. The Scripture tells us repeatedly that when we trust in God, the Spirit instructs us with loving kindness. Which teachers were masters in your life and reflected a loving kindness that helped you to learn? How do you reflect God’s loving kindness to others so that you can teach others about who God truly is?