Christian Education Europe - Weekly Blog #focus

All About Jesus in 2021

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 13:30:00 +0000

Reset your Focus

We are exposed to so many confusing and frustrating things on social media and through the news. It’s so easy for our attention to dwell on the melting pot of current events and be overwhelmed with thoughts like, “I need to keep up to date with this, I NEED to have answers for everything that is going on, I NEED to find a way out of this situation.” The truth is the only thing you do NEED to focus on is Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.”

He is literally telling us that He is an all-in-one solution.

So, how do we focus on Jesus?

Well, a big reason why we easily focus on the mainstream ‘Debbie Downers’ of the world is because we get blasted with their obnoxious reports and opinions as soon as we pick up our phones and start scrolling.

So here’s an idea—have a cull on your phone.

Get rid of the apps that tend to take your focus from where it should be (on Jesus). OR do one even better, tweak those apps so that you get blasted with content from creators and trusted sources that are sensitive and honest in how they share news. Follow sites that uphold Biblical principles and that share information that would build your confidence, not knock it down.

This is not to say you shouldn’t be ‘in the know’ about current events or whatever else is going on, but you can control how you receive it, and you can control who you hear it from.

Try and adjust the way you see the world according to the ways of Jesus, His character, His words, and His example. Try to see Jesus in everything that is going on (kind of like when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fire and weren’t afraid, because they knew that they weren’t alone).

As you begin this year, try not to be distracted by the dumpster fire of current events. Reset your focus to be on Jesus. He is there; sometimes you just have to refocus to see Him.

Exercise your Trust

Once you have committed to focus on Jesus, you need to remember to trust Him.

Our free will enables us to make decisions in this life, and sometimes we don’t make the right ones. Take time, as often as you can, to entrust your decisions to Jesus. Ask him to help you in your decision making, and also trust that if you make wrong choices, He can make things right.

Actively exercise your trust in Him, so that it becomes second nature.

Trust in Jesus allows positive traits to flow into your heart. It allows you to have joy, even when things are tough. It allows you to have hope, when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

If you do not strive to trust in Jesus, you can easily stop focusing on him and fall back into drowning in the mire of doubt and hopelessness that tries to close in around us every day.

How can we exercise trust?

A great exercise to enhance your trust muscles is to look back and be thankful.

Look back at all the different situations the Lord has brought you through. Gratitude is a powerful tool in conquering anxiety and is a balm for soothing worries. Try and take some time daily (or weekly, or however is best for you) and write down a few things that you are thankful for. Try and do this in the morning as it will help you start the day with a brain that is reminded of the goodness of God in your life. It’s amazing how much of a difference this can make.

Your trust in Jesus is a guard against ideas and feelings that will try and convince you that there is no hope. Don’t forget to exercise it!

Plan to be like Jesus

With your focus on Jesus, and a trust that is strong, you can start making plans with confidence. Of course, we like to make practical plans for ourselves at the new year, to push our creativity, grow our businesses, get healthier—all that good stuff—but here is another challenge for you, from us.

The Character Trait Challenge –

For the past few years, the staff at CEE have sat together and assigned one of the 90 Biblical character traits to each month of the year to be our monthly focus.

If you don’t know what these character traits are, here’s an explanation:

ACE has compiled a list of 90 character traits that Christ exhibited throughout the Bible. This list a great tool, because it can help us learn more about each individual trait and then figure out how to put it to use in our own lives. Ultimately, as Christians, we want to be like Jesus, so implementing and putting these traits into practice is a step in the right direction!

So here is a challenge for you! Using the list of Character traits below (click the button to download), choose a trait for each month this year, try and learn more about the trait, and have a go at putting it into practice throughout the month. Keep a diary of what you think about the character trait, how difficult (or easy) it was for you to implement, and what you learned through the practice of it—How did it make you feel? How did it affect others? What resulted from your actioning of this characteristic?

Dig deep into what it means to be like Jesus and put it to practice!

We hope you enjoy taking part in this challenge and that it blesses and surprises you this year.

In Summary:

Reset your focus on Jesus.

Practice trusting in Jesus.

Plan to be like Jesus.

Happy new year to all our readers! 😊

Download the 90 Character Traits here!

FINDING FOCUS

Thu, 14 May 2020 09:50:48 +0000

Home can be a very distracting place. It has siblings, toys, food, television and many more things that, to a child, will seem a lot more interesting than schoolwork.

For a homeschooling student, these distractions can be quite the challenge to ignore. It’s even more of a challenge for the parents trying to encourage their children to keep their eyes on their schoolwork.

With that in mind, here are a few things that can be done in order to encourage focus in academic studies.

Explain the long-term importance of studies to your children. Although this may seem to fall on deaf ears, regularly remind your children of how learning will help them in their lives. This is not to push them forcefully into great academic accomplishments, but rather to emphasise that education is a key to many doors. Your children may not know what they want to achieve in their adult life, but they can be equipped, so that when they get there the possibilities will be open to them. Education leads to opportunity.

For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. - Ecclesiastes 7:12

Keep to a schedule. Schedules bring stability and predictability to the schooling hours, and these things are so important in keeping a child motivated to keep working. Academic work is exhausting. For a student to know when their breaks are, or when PACE time is due to finish, will make a huge difference in their performance. Schedules and time-tables will help students learn that there is a time for everything, and that if they allocate specific time to focus on their schooling and NOT let anything else push into that time, they will GET WORK DONE. This accomplishing of work then leads to feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction in completing their goals, and actual digestion of knowledge – and all that leads to motivation to get work done the next day. Scheduling shows a student that they only have to give a limited amount of time to their schoolwork, after which they can focus on their hobbies, chores, family – other life stuff – so they won’t feel bogged down. We have a recommended timetable in our TEACH handbook (download below), but there are lots of other timetables and scheduling solutions available online too. Find the one that is right for your family and try to set it in place.

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. - Psalm 104:19

Get the hard stuff done in the morning. Scientific study shows that the brain can comprehend and digest academics more in the morning. After a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast, your children will be mentally ready to take on the bigger challenges. Start the school day with all the heavy-duty subjects (usually Maths, English, and Science) that need extra concentration. If these harder subjects are left for the end of the day, you may find that your children burn out quickly and are unable to achieve their goals, which can be discouraging and deceive them into thinking that they are not capable – which is not the truth.

If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success- Ecclesiastes 10:10

Encourage a love of learning. Yeah, there probably will be a subject that your child just DOES NOT enjoy – a least favourite subject, if you will. Sometimes this one (seemingly) lackluster subject can make them think that learning/education is boring. It’s your job to show them otherwise. If one way of learning something isn’t working for your child, maybe they just need to see it from another perspective. Now, the PACEs have the academic information, but if your child is struggling, maybe find a video that supplements the topic, or do a project that will help boost their understanding of it. When they do master something they have found difficult, praise them and rejoice with them. Sometimes a love of learning comes from the fact that yes, something was REALLY hard, but they still got it in the end.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6

You are THE example. Children are watching you. If they see that you are procrastinating, they will procrastinate. You have to practice what you preach. And if you fail (which will happen, because you are human) you have to show them how to make it right again. It’s a daunting thought, but how you behave as an adult will have a huge impact on how they develop. This goes for aunts, uncles, older siblings, and friends of the family as well. Children are our legacy. It is our responsibility to imitate Godly character, so that they can learn valuable life lessons.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

As the French Proverb says, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” If you are finding there is a lack of focus in your school day, these are all really good ideas, and we encourage you to implement them. However, not everything is a quick fix. All children are different, and their needs are different. You can tweak and alter these suggestions to fit with what brings out the best focus with your children. Be encouraged.

Download the TEACH Handbook Here!