Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Al and I already saw our first robin on the Paul Bunyan trail! Today Al is going to Pine City to get our taxes done and I hope to clean all the blinds and windows while he is gone. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I have been reading about intentionality in Just Between Us” magazine, and I am wondering what that means for me and maybe for you too. If we live intentionally, we live with purpose and with an aim or plan. Like Paul writes in Eph. 5:15-17, “So then, be very careful how you live. Don’t live like foolish people but like wise people. Make the most of your opportunities because these are evil days. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord wants.”

How do we live like the Lord desires for us, with intention and as wise people? Too many times in our Christian walk we can go on auto pilot rather than having purpose in each day. Katy Boykin writes, that “Intentional livings is co-authoring your life with the Creator of the universe (God) to make your highest contribution to yourself and the world.”. We are to pay attention to how we live and make the most of the opportunities the Lord puts before each of us. How we do that may be quite different for each of us, as He has a unique purpose for each of our lives and gifted us accordingly. The closer we come to Him as we read the word, worship, spend time in prayer and listening to Him, the more we will be able to accomplish His purposes in our lives.

Living intentionally will help us live each and every day with purpose as we make progress in choosing His will over our will and learning to trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives. It means dying to self and our desires, but it is replaced with choosing God’s ways and for His pleasure. He will show us the areas in our lives that need His attention and free us to be our true selves and live with purpose. We all have spiritual gifts given us and as we recognize and know how we are gifted we will find that we can live more purposefully. One person with the gift of mercy will find opportunities to go along side another to bring help; the one with the gift serving will spend time pouring out for others in ways of meeting their needs etc.

Let us not be lethargic and selfish but rather live whole heartedly for the Lord and bring much glory to Him.

Challenge for today: Surrender your daily schedule to the Lord each day and live with intention.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

 

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