Christian educator, have you ever found yourself trying really hard to stay connected to Jesus?
You start the morning with Him. You pray on the way to school. You want to hear His voice and carry His presence into your classroom.
But then the school day begins.
A student needs you.
An unexpected conversation happens.
Your lesson doesn’t go according to plan.
Emails pile up.
Your patience gets tested.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, you realize you’ve slipped back into a familiar way of operating:
I have to figure this out.
I need to fix this.
I have to hold everything together.
I’ve been noticing this tendency in my own life lately, too.
Through my ongoing physical healing journey, growing Kingdom Educators, working, serving students through literacy therapy, and caring for my family, Jesus has been teaching me again and again:
I was never meant to be the Source.
And neither were you.
What If Connection Isn’t Something You Have to Manufacture?
Jesus says something remarkable in John 14:20:
“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
Read that again.
You in Me.
I in you.
Then, in John 15:4–5, Jesus gives His disciples the picture of the vine and branches:
“Abide in Me, and I in you… for without Me you can do nothing.”
I’ve taught from John 15 before.
But lately, I’ve been sitting with a different question:
What if abiding isn’t another thing I need to get better at doing?
What if we’re turning connection with Jesus into another item on our Christian to-do list?
Pray more.
Read more.
Listen better.
Be more peaceful.
Produce more fruit.
But Jesus doesn’t tell the branch to manufacture life.
He invites the branch to remain.
The life comes from the Vine.
Jesus Has Already Done the Work
This is where the finished work of Jesus matters so much.
As Jesus hung on the cross, He said:
“It is finished!”
John 19:30
Jesus accomplished what we could never accomplish for ourselves.
Our life with Him doesn’t begin with our ability to reach Him.
It begins with what He has already done.
And that changes the way we think about being a Christian educator.
We’re not walking into school each morning trying to manufacture enough patience, love, wisdom, peace, kindness, or goodness to get through the day.
We’re invited to receive from the One who is our Source.
Receive His love.
Receive His peace.
Receive His wisdom.
Receive the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Then give away what you’ve received.
That’s a very different way to teach.
You Can’t Give Away What You Haven’t Received
We’ve been talking about this recently in the Kingdom Educators community:
You can’t give away what you haven’t received for yourself from Jesus.
We want our students to experience His peace.
But are we receiving His peace?
We want to respond with patience.
But are we allowing Jesus to meet us in our frustration?
We want to bring wisdom into difficult situations.
But have we stopped long enough to ask Him what He sees?
We want students to know they’re loved.
But are we living aware of how deeply we are loved?
First John 4:19 reminds us:
“We love Him because He first loved us.”
He initiates.
We receive.
And then what we’ve received can become overflow.
Teaching Connected Doesn’t Mean Teaching Perfectly
This is important.
Teaching connected doesn’t mean you’ll never become frustrated.
It doesn’t mean every prayer will be answered according to your preferred timeline.
It doesn’t mean every difficult student situation immediately changes.
And it certainly doesn’t mean you’ll always know what Jesus is doing.
I’m living this right now.
My physical recovery hasn’t followed the timeline I would have chosen.
There are still things I’m waiting for.
There are still questions I can’t answer.
There are still places where I’m learning to trust Jesus with the outcome.
But perhaps that’s exactly where connection becomes more than an idea.
I can’t manufacture healing.
I can’t manufacture provision.
I can’t manufacture the perfect strategy for Kingdom Educators.
And I can’t control every outcome.
But I can turn my attention toward Jesus.
I can listen.
I can receive.
I can trust.
And I can take the next faithful step with Him.
A Simple Way to Teach Connected Tomorrow
So what does this actually look like at school?
It can be much simpler than we make it.
The next time something interrupts your plan, pause before responding.
Turn your attention toward Jesus.
You might simply pray:
“Jesus, You are my Source. What do You want me to receive from You right now?”
Then listen.
Maybe you need His peace before responding to the email.
Maybe you need His compassion before correcting the student.
Maybe you need His wisdom before entering the meeting.
Maybe you need His courage to have the conversation you’ve been avoiding.
Or maybe you simply need to remember:
I am not alone.
Then ask:
“Jesus, what are You doing here, and how can I partner with You?”
Thirty seconds.
That’s it.
You haven’t added another task to your day.
You’ve simply turned your attention back toward the One who is already with you.
That’s Teach Connected in real life.
The Connected Educator: A New Kingdom Educators Podcast Season
These are the questions I’ve been wrestling with personally, exploring with the Kingdom Educators Collective, and now bringing into our new season of the Kingdom Educators Podcast:
The Connected Educator: Abiding in Jesus, Teaching from His Victory
Throughout this season, we’re going to explore what it actually looks like to receive from Jesus in the middle of a real teaching day.
We’ll talk about abiding in Jesus and His love, what His death and resurrection mean for the way we live and teach today, His presence within us, Kingdom thinking, receiving His peace, expecting Him to move in difficult situations, and more.
And we’ll hear from educators who are learning to live this out in their own schools.
Because I don’t want Teach Connected to simply be a phrase we like.
I want us to learn how to live it.
Start Here: Listen to the Season Trailer
The new season trailer is available now, and our first full episode releases Sunday, September 27.
LISTEN TO THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR TRAILER
And as you head into your next school day, carry this with you:
You don’t have to teach in your own strength.
You don’t have to manufacture the fruit.
You don’t have to be the Source.
Jesus is your Source.
Receive.
Remain.
And give away what you’ve been given.
Let’s learn to Teach Connected—together.