“Living with Purpose: Embracing an Intentional Christian Life”

Basing your happiness on your environment, or situation will make your life like a yo-yo, going up and down an emotional rollercoaster. If, however, you base your life and happiness on Christ, who is eternal and never changing (Isaiah 43:13), your path will be made straight (Proverbs 3:6), and you will be kept in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). The way to stay our focus on Jesus and rest in true peace and joy is to be intentional in our walk with Christ.

If pursuing a relationship with Jesus and doing God’s will is what wakes you up in the morning and gives you the drive and confidence to face the world, then you are probably living an intentional Christian walk and that is the goal for us all.

Living an intentional Christian life, you will find that you walk through your day with a sense of joy and peace, no matter what is going on around you.

Being intentional is defined as making deliberate choices that reflect our priorities. To be intentional in our relationship with Jesus and in our Christian walk we will need to know where we are going. Without knowing where we are going will get lost and spend time wandering in the desert. We must also know what matters most, stay focused, and keep from becoming distracted.

Know where you are going.

The Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert. They wandered in a larger circle in the wilderness not making any progress toward the promised land. If you want to read more about that check out the book of Numbers in the Bible.

The Israelites wandered for forty years because of their rebellious hearts, but it didn’t start with hard hearts. It all started with them taking their eyes off their God. If our eyes begin to wander from the goal, God’s heavenly kingdom, then we too can find ourselves wandering in circles, with hard hearts.

This earth is not our home (Hebrews 13:14-15). Our home is with Jesus. Our goals on earth need to reflect our ultimate goal, advancing the kingdom of God, not men. Like the Israelites, we are headed for the Promised Land, but we won’t make it if we aren’t focused on our Lord and King, Jesus, the one leading us to the Promised Land.

To keep our eyes on Christ’s kingdom we must know Christ, our king, and His love for us. If we truly grasp how deep and how wide His love for us is, we won’t be able to take our eyes off Him. And that is good because then we will keep moving forward toward Jesus and not get lost wandering in the desert.

                   Application

• Read or reread the gospels or start with the book of John and get to know Jesus better. The more you understand who Jesus was and is the more you will fall in love with Him and the harder it will be to take your eyes from Him.
• Memorize Hebrews 13:14-15 and repeat it to yourself when you find yourself drifting toward things of this earth instead of things of Heaven.
• Read the story of the Israelites wandering in the desert. Ask yourself if you are wondering. Have you gotten off track with your spiritual life and are wandering in the desert? If so ask God to help get you back on track to enter the promised land.

Know your priorities.

The most important law is to Love the Lord their God with all the heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5). That is what it means to be intentional in our Christian walk. We must prioritize God over all other things. He is our God and King and He must be above all else, our priority.  

Proverbs tells us “In all our way acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5). When we place our focus and priority on God our path becomes straight, and we gain clarity in our lives.

To acknowledge God in all our ways we must filter all our actions, thoughts, and beliefs through the lens of scripture and the perspective of how what we are doing affects the kingdom of God on earth. If what we are doing aligns with God’s mission to bring others into the kingdom and to strengthen His bride, the church, then we know that we are headed in the right direction. Having reassurance in the direction we are headed brings clarity, which brings a sense of relief and peace. That is what it means to prioritize God and His kingdom. Making sure all we do is for the Lord and for His glory.

                   Application:

• Is God the most important thing in your life? If not pray and ask God to help you make Him your top priority.
• Implement daily prayer and devotional, if you haven’t already, to grow your relationship with Jesus. This will also help you to know what God’s word says so that you can filter all things through the scriptures.

Avoid distractions.

Once we know where we are going, God’s eternal kingdom, and we have prioritized Jesus as our Lord and King we can now press on toward the heavenly prize (Philippians 3:14-16).

As we walk through our days there are so many things that come flying at us. Ad, social media, obligations, holidays, and school functions. It can all be so overwhelming. How can we focus ahead when so many things are flying at us from all directions.

“We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthian 10:4-5).

Paul tells the Corinthians that they use God’s mighty weapon, His Word, to make sure every thought is obedient to Christ. We must do the same. Every time something comes at us, we must stop, before meditating on it, and make sure it lines up with what the Bible says. We must make sure everything that comes into our mind is encouraging us toward our goal of walking with Jesus toward our heavenly home.

This is an extraordinary task. That is why we have the holy spirit. Jesus told His followers that the holy spirit would teach them and remind them of all He had taught them (John 14:26) and the Holy Spirit still does this today for us. He will teach us and help us remember what Jesus taught so that we can hold every thought up to the teaching of the Bible and evaluate whether the things we are hearing and thinking about are helping us stay focused on Jesus or distracting us.

                   Application:

• Be aware of what is going into your mind even in the background. Do you have the T.V. or radio on throughout the day? What is playing in the background? Even when we are unaware things can be filtered into our mind. Being mindful of what is going on and changing, if need be, to make sure what we are taking in is Godly and helps us stay focused on what matters.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to take captive every thought.
• Find a trusted friend to help hold you accountable. If you are struggling with thoughts that are not Godly, seek out Christian support that they can support and pray with you to help you take control of your thoughts and to be intentional in your thoughts as well as your actions.

Summary

To live with peace and joy on this earth we must live intentional lives with Christ. To live an intentional life, we must know where we are going and stay focused on our goals. Otherwise, we could find ourselves wandering much like the Israelites.

Also, to be intentional we must prioritize God and His kingdom over our own plans. In all that we do, we should do it unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23). All our choices should be filtered through the question “How does this add to the kingdom of God?” Intentionality brings clarity, peace, and joy to the life of a believer. I truly, pray that each and everyone can experience a life in which you can always say, “It is well with my soul.”