The enemy in his own old-as-dirt conniving ways, determined a way to wreak havoc on a perfectly fine evening. I hate him. Can I say that again? I just hate him. He knows where to attack, how to attack, and he will take extreme measures to attempt to have us at his mercy. One more time. I absolutely hate him. So, after spending at least 2 hours on edge over a particular overly dramatic and unnecessary situation, I have found myself exhausted, downhearted and regretful. One of those mulligan-things would sure come in handy right now. Yes, a life mulligan. Then again, I could assess the situation, think through everything I should have/could have done differently, and pray to Jesus that I will deal with future situations in a more worthy-of-the-Gospel manner. Ugh. Why do we put ourselves through such pain?
All of this got me thinking about the need for intentional living. To be intentioned means to be determined to act in a certain way. If that happens, I resolve to act like this. Pre-determined. We have all been around people who when conflict arises, they impulsively act like 5 year olds. Like they never have been in the midst of distress in all their adult lives. Then there are those who are as calm, cool and collective in the midst of a storm as they are in their moments of bliss. Do we think they were born naturally able to handle stressful situations? No, there is intention behind their actions. Pre-determined. Intentional living.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 says, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business ..."
In a world of facebook status updates, blackberry's practically glued to our palms, and endless efforts to "be seen" all around town, the challenge in the verse above is probably one, if not the most foreign concept in our current society. Our generation has taken the idea of privacy and thrown it out the window.
The Bible on the other hand - the inherent and infallible Word of God - instructs us as believers to lead a quiet life and to mind our own business. Moreover, we are to pursue this type of lifestyle - to strive after it, to strongly desire it. To be ambitious is to have a strong desire to achieve a particular goal. Pre-determined. Intentional living.
The Word of God also instructs us to, "Avoid godless chatter" (2 Timothy 2:16). Now, I'm just going to be point blank: This is hard for us as women and you know it! The Bible is very clear that we must avoid this type of behavior - Meaning, we actually make an effort to prevent the occurrence of. We refrain from godless and mindless chatter. Again ... Pre-determined. Intentional living.
I have decided that I am going to perform a little test on myself. The Intentional Living Test. Making every effort to be pure in my words and actions, to lead a quiet life, to mind my own business, and to avoid godless chatter and gossip. Even when I feel it is well-deserving, almost asked for. How does the Word of God ask me to respond to this situation? NOT: What Facebook status update would really tick her off?
Let's try it God's way. 1 Thessalonians 4:12 closes out the following way: "So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." May we desire the respect of outsiders for the Kingdom of God ... and may our lives strive to be intentionally dependent on the Almighty and nothing or no one less.
Intentional Living ...
Ambitious about God's Way.
1 comment:
Great blog Heather..
Keep up the great work.
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