How Intentional Are You?

Originally posted 2015-12-07 14:35:44.

Hi!

Do you want to move forward in your life?  Do you want to stop worrying about everything?  Do you want to stop feeling bad about yourself?  Do you want a new job or career?  Do you want to earn a college degree?  Do you want financial security?  Do you want good credit?  Do you want broken family relationships repaired?  Do you want to know how to serve God?  Do you want to know how to love God?  Do you want to know about becoming ready for what God has for you?  Do you want to stop feeling empty?  Do you want to stop feeling uncomfortable when you are in a conversation with others who can freely talk?  Do you want the ministry that God has placed in you to spring forth?  Do you want to know how to make disciples for Christ?  Do you want an overall shift for better to take place in your life?  Do you want to be happy?  Well… How intentional are you?

What is intentional?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines intentional as: done in a way that is planned or meant.  It also defines intentional as; done on purpose, deliberate, done by design.

We often say that I did not do something on purpose; but what about when we need to do something on purpose?  Everything does not come by accident.  I believe God allows situations to present themselves to us to push us into being intentional.  Ask yourself a question.  How deliberate are you in your everyday life?  If someone is in their right mind and able to walk approaches a stop light and their destination is on the other side of the light; they need to walk at the green light.  They will never get to their destination if they don’t intentionally go.  Their destination won’t uproot and come to them.  Think about it.   Are you intentionally trying to do better with your life?  Are you intentionally contacting loved ones just to say hello?  Are you researching those colleges or universities to seek their requirements for admissions?   Are you working on your appearance, your vernacular, your attitude, your prayer life or anything in you that has an opportunity for enhancement?

What hinders being intentional?

Sometimes we fail to clean out the excess?  We need to clean out the garbage that is in our minds and our memories.   We need to become intentional about doing some pruning in our lives.  Think about it.  What is in our lives that needs pruning?  Is it being a sloth?  Is it over indulgence?  Is it fear?  Is it disobedience?  What’s the excess?  Are you intentional about cleaning out the excess?

Are you in prayer asking God for the cause of you feeling bad about yourself?  You’ve listened to the enemy, and despite your education, experience and knowledge, you still feel bad about yourself.  Perhaps you feel that you are not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough, or not thick enough.  Perhaps you are comparing yourself with others because you grew up in an environment that was not stellar.  …I heard a message about blind Bartimaeus, and the preacher talked about how this person came from a dirty decent.  It made me think about how I felt about where I grew up; of my parents leaving the church and of my mother’s legal dilemma before she passed away.  The Lord spoke to me and said, “Rochelle you have to intentionally rebuke the words of the enemy that cause you to feel bad about yourself.  Don’t let your past and your family history cause you to miss who you are in me now.  Don’t abort your destiny.  You are called and chosen by God, and you love Christ Jesus.”  Those words sparked me to intentionally rebuke self-defeating words with what the Words of God says about me.

How intentional are you?

Are you intentionally trying to do what God has called you to do?  Are you intentionally seeking God?  Are you intentionally reading your Bible and seeking the purpose of God for your life?  Are you intentionally trying to go ye therefore and make disciples of all people groups?  (cf. Matt 28:19)  Are you intentional about trying to see what God is saying to you in this day and age?  Are you intentional about seeking God?  Are you intentional about loving God?  Are you intentional about spending time in prayer?  Are you intentional about loving your family and building relationships with your family?  Are you intentional about doing what God told you to do?

How does being intentional affect you?  Why is intentional necessary? 

Do you have multiple dreams?  Have you set goals?  Are you continuously asking God to do something, and He has already given you the means to do that thing?  Have you sought Him to see how you need to go about what you need to do?  Are you taking the initiative to get started or to move forward?  Being intentional is the springboard to catapult you into your next.  Intentionally seeking wise counsel, researching, and taking action will override bad feelings.  Intentionally reading God’s Word, praying and praising God will drive out empty.  Intentionally serving God will lead you to the place in God where you can “think yourself happy.”

I recently read an article that indicated that some of us are in the dressing room of our lives.  That topic sparked something in me.  The spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said, “Rochelle, are you in the dressing room of your life?  Are you trying on different situations and ideas to see which one fits?  How long will you be in the dressing room of (different situations that you have asked me about)?   It’s time for you to boldly intentionally make decisions and move forward in me.”

My friends, are you in the dressing room of your life?  Are you trying on different situations and ideas to see which one of the outfits works?  Which one is long-lasting?  Which one is temporary?  Which one makes you look your best?  Which one is the most comfortable?  There comes a time when we need to get out of the dressing room, decide on the outfit, pay for it, and wear it?

I’ll leave you with two of my intentional driving scriptures that I meditate on especially when pushing forward and serving God through helping others.  Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (NRSV)  Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  (KJV)

And the question is, “How intentional are you?”  What are your thoughts?  Join me in conversation.  I’d love to hear from you.  We’ll talk soon.

Blessings

Rochelle