Are we LIVING Intentional?
Alright. Raise your hand if you believe this next statement: The Bible is 100% TRUE!
Hands up!
Mine is up. Is yours (your hand) up too?
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, . . .”
[Then we receive ALL THE MANY WAYS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DEMONSTRATED “this attitude” & this “humility of mind” to each of us.]
[Then we come to verses 12-15.]
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, . . .”
(Philippians 2: 3-5 & 12-15 NASB)
Time is a precious commodity, and amazingly, every person alive is gifted daily with an equal amount. We are all rich—in our time. Consider that a moment. No one alive is wealthier with more time than anyone else. Whether a person earns six figures a year and is able to balloon his bank account—OR—whether a person earns nothing a year and is unable to even make ends meet, each person is equal in his precious allotment of time within a 24-hour day.
TIME.
Are we Intentional with our time?
- Are we intentional in our prayer, asking God for the opportunities to engage others in spiritual conversations?
- Are we intentional in our walk with God?
Are we?
To help illustrate this better, allow me to tell you a small story, one that you may already know.
Many years ago, there was a wrestling match, one between a man named Jacob and “a man,” who had been sent by God. During the match, where Jacob was “wrestling” with a task the LORD had given him to do, “a man” who was wrestling with Jacob reached out &
“he touched the socket of his thigh, so that the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”
“But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
“So he said to him,
[“a man” wrestling with Jacob said to him.]
“What is your name?”
And he said, “Jacob.”
He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel;
[Israel means “God strives.”]
for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
[Once the name of Jacob had been changed, this once Jacob/now Israel named the place where the wrestling match occurred: “the face of God”
& then the sun arises as the daybreak arrives.
Amazingly, as Israel arose—]
“and he was limping on his thigh.”
(Genesis 32: 25b-28 & 31b NASB)
Raise your hand if you believe this next statement: The Bible is 100% TRUE!
Hands up!
Mine is up. Is yours (your hand) up too?
As I read the biblical account of Jacob who wrestled during the night, immediately my mind returned to a wrestling match I had been having with the LORD since last semester. Over & over, the Holy Spirit spoke to my being, whispering, “There’s more for you to do than just teach.” Like everyone, I am quite busy, and like most, I like to be the “boss” of my own daily agenda. Over & again, the voice of the LORD continued to speak.
Then, this weekend, the LORD reached out and touched my right shoulder blade.
When I arose on Saturday morning, a day filled with a full-agenda of numerous calendar items “I wished to do,” the LORD spoke to my soul and encouraged me to not go but to stay.
So, I did.
Throughout the entire Saturday, my top right shoulder blade ached, just as if I had been touched.
Now, I know, you may be saying, “Yeah, right.”
Clearly, I was too, until I stopped doubting God & began listening to God’s voice instead.
As I said, God had placed a directive on my heart, and yesterday, I said, “Yes, LORD.”
In retrospect, as I look back to Friday night’s wrestling match & to Saturday’s agenda change & to Sunday’s reckoning day when I accepted God’s will, TODAY, I SEE CLEARLY HOW GOD LED ME TO THIS NEW PLACE OF FAITH!
Time is a precious commodity.
Every person alive is gifted daily with an equal amount.
- Are we intentional with our time?
- Are we intentional in our prayer?
- Are we asking God for the DAILY opportunities to engage others in spiritual conversations?
- Are we intentional in our walk with God?
The words for today: Do Something!
The truth for today: Step out in faith!
The TRUTH of GOD’S WORD for today & every single day—
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
(Philippians 2: 12-13 NASB)
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Time is precious.
May we be—LIVING for GOD—Intentional in this day the LORD has made!