Intentional

Intentional.  We use that word a lot.  About our personal lives and about church life.  They are very parallel.  Today we spoke of the joy of the Lord, that He is God and He bids us to enter His presence with joy.  He is good.  Now to that word:  intentional.

   I feel almost overwhelmed by how good the Lord has been to us.  Operation Christmas Child; the giving of turkeys, coats and shoes; the 12 hour fast the kids did raising over $2500; the "Do Good" flash mob and campaign giving away over $5000; visions; protection in accidents; the Road to Christmas advent cooperative effort; the new classes being offered on Studying the Bible For Yourself and Christians and Depression; and the sharing of stories of thanksgiving and God's grace.  All of these are workings of the Lord in the hearts, heads and hands of His people.  But all these things represent us "engaging every person to become a passionate follower of Jesus Christ."  We are working hard at doing only what helps us achieve that goal.

   So I was thinking about that with personal life.  How intentional are we being at doing what will help us accomplish being doers of the Word and not hearers only?  Some people tell me they are upset at God for what has happened in their lives.  We must always honestly face the fact that some of those things are the fruit of decisions we have made or actions we have taken.  Even then God stands ready with forgiveness and grace if we ask.   In other things that are not by our choice, we can either see them as opportunities to see God "show up" or for us to grow up by trusting Him.  I believe the greater question is are we being intentional in living in Him?

I want to always make sure we are being intentional in church life so that every person has time, resources and encouragement to be intentional in their personal life in pursuing Him.