The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the

intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. (II Cor. 13:14 MSG)

Amazing God______________________

Dear Friends of Christ in Education,
I recently attended the best Christmas Eve service of my life. It was AMAZING! Should I be surprised something is amazing if
God is in control? I think boring is the last descriptive word we could ever use to describe God.
Each year I ask God what He wants me to give His Son for His birthday. This year He called me to give Jesus the last three
hours of the day on Christmas Eve. I told several others what God was calling me to do and invited them to join me. We met in a small
church not being used that evening. One person was a friend and the other was a youth missionary from South Africa (Dr. Mella Davis)
who was in town for the holidays. We were a three stranded cord that could not easily be broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
The agenda for this service was to be, Everyone has a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or interpretation.
All these must be done for the strengthening of the churchtwo or three prophets should speak. (I Corinthians 14:26-33) We also
hoped there would be a gift exchange at the gathering. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same SpiritTo one there is given
through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledgeto another faithto another gifts of healing to
another prophecy. (I Corinthians 12:4-10) Nothing was planned before we arrived. We were to simply wait on the Lord and give Him
three hours of our time.
One of us opened this gift of time with a reading from Psalm 112:2-4, His children will be mighty in the land, the generation of
the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in His house and His righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness light dawns
for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man [woman]. A prophetic word came forth for those in leadership,
Be more eager to please God than to please others and your own flesh even when it may ultimately lead to the ending of your current
position even as Jesus chose to go to Jerusalem against his friends desires knowing He would be crucified.
Another person that night received a word of knowledge regarding the downtrodden and impoverished young women of South
Africa which was very encouraging
These are the trophies of the Lamb,
The ones He has won.
This is the inheritance of His suffering.
They have come out of great suffering and tribulation
And have washed their robes in His blood.
These Lord, your bloodied Princess Warriors,
Walk through fire and blood torched fields and homes
And leave unscathed.
In this plain of desolation joy will arise
Out of the tears of ashes which now run down their faces.
A fresh carpet of fire blows across the fields of barrenness.
Out of the fire tinged nubs new growth will arise.
You feared the fire but you are a phoenix.
In addition to this we sang songs to the Lord that He put on our hearts. Several of them were original songs He had given us.
We offered prayers of confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. There were quiet times and times where we worshipped with flags.
We also personally shared things with one another from our hearts. It was AMAZING and though we were there three hours it seemed
like only twenty to thirty minutes. Wow!
This is what I love about the CEAI ministries. Within the small groups formed at the schools and at the monthly meetings,
individuals are free to share a prophetic word or instruct, sing a song God puts on his/her heart, pray, be still, or share personal
information. All these things are not usually possible in a large corporate setting. There is a special spiritual intimacy with God and
others that can be found only in small groups. I want to encourage you to pray and ask God if he wants you to start or join an existing
CEAI Encouragement group at your school or attend one of our monthly meetings in this new year. Come taste and see that the Lord is
not only good (Psalm 34:8) but come see that He is AMAZING! May you have an AMAZING new year at home, in the school, and in
your community.

Prayer: Lord, help all of us in education taste and see that you are AMAZING!
Reflections: If Jesus is your master in education, are the services you provide students, parents and staff going to be boring or
amazing? Do the scriptures, the prophetic words, and the words of encouragement in this devotion speak to you personally in some
way? Is God calling you to help form or participate in a small group at your school this coming year?
Getting Real: Help form or participate in an Encouragement small group at your school this new year.

CLASSROOM LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: Fields of Faith in Education (For info or prayer contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) WEEK 19

PRAY FOR MARY ANN IN JANUARY
(South Africa Outreach)
Mary-Ann is our resident choreographer. Although she is usually full of giggles and
silliness, when it comes to dancing, she is all business. She lives in this house with
her father and sister. She is fourteen years old and also attends Breede Valley
High School close to the Avian Park shanty town. She is small for her age as most
of the girls are generally because of malnutrition or fetal alcohol syndrome. My
major concern for Mary-Ann and the older girls is that they remain pure and
graduate from high school. Without doing so, they cannot break the poverty cycle.
You can pray for her to have a gentle, willing, and teachable spirit.

For Christ In Education,

Donald Clark
CEAI-Houston Director