What March Madness Teaches Us About Intentional Living

NCAA BB TrophyMarch Madness has begun. Most college basketball teams are playing in their conference tournaments determining which teams will move on to the national “dance” – The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. College basketball is a big deal…and even bigger deal in March. All of the “hoop”-la to win that big ol’ trophy.

No NCAA Championship team began the season without a vision of how they would win enough regular season games, win the conference championship, and win their way through the national tourney to be crowned champions. No championship is won accidentally; champions win on purpose. No team just shows up to play, tosses the ball around, and plays to “make the best” of each game as it comes. Champions work hard for their championship, and they play a full season with (here comes my word again)…intentionality. From the opening practice until the buzzer of the final game they work hard with a singular goal: win the trophy.

Sadly many believers drift through life without a game plan for a successful spiritual journey. Consider the sense of purpose Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Corinthian church:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

“So run,” he says. “I do not run aimlessly,” he testifies. “I discipline my body,” he demonstrates. Purpose. Intentionality. Vision.

What is your game plan? What are you doing to win in the important areas of your life? Your spiritual development? Your marriage? Your relationship with your kids? Other important facets of you life? What is the game plan?

Let me encourage you to answer four questions for yourself today.

  1. What are the most important relationships in my life?
  2. What would “winning” look like in each of those relationships?
  3. What’s the score right now in each of those relationships?
  4. What are one or two things I can do today to start running better in those areas?

Ask God to give you honest insight into your own life and ask Him to give you wisdom and strength to make the necessary changes to begin living intentionally in those areas. Run to win. Run with purpose. Run with self-control.

Did You Do That on Purpose?

Whether in our Christian development, our marriage, our relationship with our kids, our jobs, or any other facet of life, we live in one of two ways. Either we react to things as they come or we proactively live with intention in these important life areas. We either respond to what life throws at us, or we approach life with purpose and intention. Consider a lesson from a Bible hero named Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs… Daniel 1:8-9

When faced with a decision to capitulate and conform to others around him, Daniel “resolved” to maintain his character. The word translated into the singular word “resolved” is actually a Hebrew phrase literally rendered “set his heart.” Some translations render the phrase “purpose.” I like that.

Daniel would be challenged by the threat of the lions’ den and his three friends by the threat of a fiery furnace. All four at their moments of decision resolutely chose character over capitulation. Why? Not because they took a moment to pray about and weight the pros and cons, but because they had made the decision long ago – well before the pressure moment. They had a plan; they lived INTENTIONALLY.

Intentional living worked out really well for Daniel. He went from the lions’ den to Vice-Emperor. His three friends found favor among their leaders and rose to positions of responsibility in the kingdom. They did it not by chance or luck, but by intentionality in the Hand of God’s providence.

How are you living the most important accounts in your life? Do you have an intentional plan to grow spiritually? To enhance your marriage? To lead your children? To use your job and other activities for God’s glory? Or…do you just leave it all up to chance, trying to “keep the plates spinning,” “tread water,” “take it one day at a time as life comes,” or any number of other reaction-centered clichés? Things do not improve accidentally. You can’t wait on someone else to do “their part.” You must choose to take the necessary steps to live intentionally.

Here is my challenge to you for today.

Choose 1 thing you will begin doing immediately and intentionally…

  • to delve into deeper intimacy with Jesus,
  • to enhance your marriage,
  • to positively affect your kids.

That’s a pretty good start right there. Do it… INTENTIONALLY.

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” – Jedi Yoda

Sunday Sermon – When It All Comes Together

What does the church look like when she functions the way Jesus designed?  Here is a look at four “snapshots.”

 

  1. Members are involved in ministry – vs 11-12
  1. Members are growing in more like Jesus – vs 13
  1. Members are grounded in sound doctrine – vs 14
  1. Members living Christ-centered lives – vs 15-16

 

 

Flashback Friday – March 4

Articles and Blogs

7 Reasons We Old People in Church Need to Be Willing to Change – Chuck Lawless

Gotta Serve Somebody – Brian Hedges of Life Action Ministries

Embracing Truth – R.C. Sproul

Why We Must Earnestly Desire Spiritual Gifts – Jon Bloom

 

Worth Repeating

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.” – Thomas Paine from @GregPotts

“People lose their way when they lose their why.” – Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy

“It is not enough to believe the Gospel with your head. It must become operational in your heart.” – Tim Keller @timkellernyc

“The benefits of the word of God are greater than the benefits of anything else in the world.” – @JohnPiper

“As God is exalted to the right place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved all at once.” AW Tozer  Twitter feed @TozerAW

“Racism isn’t a bad habit; it’s not a mistake; it’s a sin. The answer is not sociology; it’s theology.” – Tony Evans from the Twitter feed of @EricGeiger

“To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men.” A. W. Tozer

 

Another Look

TheBibleWillChangeYourLife

 

The Way and the Why

I started reading a new book this past week titled Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy. (Click here to read about the book and its authors). In chapter three I came across a quote that has captured my attention since I first read it.

“People lose their way when they lose their why.”

I also read a book sometime back by Simon Sinek titled Start with Why (here on Amazon) in which the author’s premise was that understanding the “why” of the things we do most of the time produces more inspired effort to a task. The authors of both books recognize that people will be more committed to those things in which they sense a greater purpose.

For the believer, our lives should be lived for the greatest purpose of all. Consider the following Bible verses:

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. – Romans 11:36

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24

What great purpose in life, what greater “why,” than to draw attention to the Lord Jesus. Our family roles and responsibilities take on greater significance when we realize that we can make God look good by the way we fulfill those roles and discharge those responsibilities. Our jobs become less mundane and more missional when we recognize we are strategically placed in that position to serve God’s greater purposes, not just draw a paycheck. We can view shopping, waiting in lines, traveling, vacations, civic duties, etc. in a different light when we consider that we are God’s representatives in those situations.

Living Intentionally means that we recognize that God establishes our daily steps, and, therefore, we take delight in them (Psalm 37:23). You are where you are now and you will go where you will go today so that God can – THROUGH you – make Himself known to others.

Meditate to today on the greater “why” of your life – God’s glory. If you maintain your WHY, chances are you will maintain your WAY.

The Tool Box

Often, we use what we DON’T have as an excuse not to offer what we DO have for God’s use.  God has already given us everything He needs us to have for Him to use us.

 

Don’t Be Fooled by the Illusion of Time

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Monday marked a unique occurrence in our keeping of time; it was Leap Day. Many people do not realize that we have the extra day because our standard calendar only accounts for 365 of the 365¼ days the Earth revolves around the sun. So to even things out, we tack on a day at the end of the already shortest month.

In reality, our calendars present an illusion of time to us. Cosmologically speaking, we do not actually have an “extra day.” Similarly, we celebrate the New Year on January 1st when in reality that day on any given year is nothing more than the day that followed the day before it. We reset our calendars, and make resolutions to live the next 365 days (or in this year’s case, the next 366) differently; seemingly “better.”

Our measurement of time within our days can also be illusory as well. In 13 days we will begin a standard of time measurement we call “Daylight Saving Time.” (Pet peeve alert: the word “saving” is not meant to be plural. It is not Daylight Savings time, as in a Savings account). I once heard a prominent Atlanta radio personality explain that we observe DST so that we can give the farmers an extra hour of daylight. Apparently, he never worked on a farm. Farm work is pre-dawn to post-dusk regardless of where the hands on the clock are positioned.

As we think about the supposed “extra day” we were given, let me present a question for your consideration.

For the most part, did you SPEND the day or INVEST the day?

All of this “extra day” and “extra hour” talk has stoked the burden in my heart for intentional living. Life is precious. At any moment any of our lives could be snuffed out. I choose not to live in fear of my life suddenly and unexpectedly ending, but I do, however, choose to live what days I have with purpose, meaning, and intentionality.

Consider the wise words of Moses and Paul:

So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12

…making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. – Ephesians 5:16

Not just on leap day and not just during DST, but EVERY DAY and in EVERY SEASON, are you living with intentionality toward the things that matter for eternity? Do you devote your heart to spending time with God? Do you invest the best of yourself in your family? Are you building your life out of the proverbial gold, silver, and precious stones that will withstand eternity’s testing fire?

Or… are you living your life as a consumer? Spending your time and energy making money to accumulate more of Earth’s transient offerings? Do you spend your days (frustratingly so) trying to make things come out to suit you, go your way, or benefit you?

I challenge you today to take a fresh look at your priorities, aspirations, and ambitions. Even if you achieve all you are seeking here on Earth, what will be of it when you are gone? The most important investment of time and resources are in those priorities that matter for eternity.

Sunday Sermon – The Hardest Work in the Church

Jesus said the world would know we were His disciples NOT by our fancy buildings, tags and bumper stickers, cross jewelry or Christian t-shirts.  He said they would know we were His by the love we demonstrated for each other.

Maintaining a unity among a body of believers in Jesus Christ is work – hard work, but worthy work.  Today’s message takes a look at both the threats to unity and the attitudes necessary to maintain unity.

Unity and Unanimity are not the same thing.  We don’t always have to agree, but we have to always come to agreement.

The unity Jesus is looking for is not centered around a person or group of persons in the church – not a preacher, leader, or even the majority of the congregation itself.  Unity is established only in discerning and obeying the Holy Spirit.

Church Members have BOTH A PASSIVE and ACTIVE RESPONSIBILITY for unity.

Passive – don’t be a source of division
Active – be “eager to maintain”

Threats to Unity:

  1. GOSSIP – (whisperer) – Romans 1:29-31 – Gossip is saying anything about person that they would not want publicly declared.
  1. NEGATIVITY – Philippians 2:14
  1. LYING – Ephesians 4:25 – misrepresenting the truth or manipulating facts to achieve one’s own agenda. We can also lie when share something that we have decided is true when we have not carefully validated it.
  1. CRITICISM – Ephesians 4:29 – words that tear down and not build up “corrupting words”
  1. ARGUING – Ephesians 4:31–combative words, tones, and gestures; stirring up strife,
    discord, and dissension.

 

Maintaining Unity: – Ephesians 4:2

  1. Humility
  1. Gentleness
  1. Patience
  1. Bearing With One Another

Friday Flashback – February 26

Articles and Blogs

12 Benefits of Getting Up an Hour Earlier on Monday-Friday – Chuck Lawless

Phubbing ruining relationships – study says. – FoxNew

How Do I Live the Authentic Christian Life – John Piper

 

 

Worth Repeating

“The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His presence.” – A.W. Tozer  Tweeted by @VancePitman

“We harvest only what has been planted.”  – James MacDonald

“Early Christians didn’t attend church. They were the church.” – Carey Nieuhof

 

Another Look

3 ways to fail

How to Have a Life of Abundance

For several years now, at least once a year, I spend one of the months with 31 days reading through Proverbs one chapter a day. So I have read the verse several times, I am sure. Last week, however, the Lord applied the weight of Biblical authority to this work He was doing in my heart to more efficiently order my life. No longer could I weasel out of this longing by claiming it was flesh. God’s Word had now spoken. And it wasn’t even in a month with 31 days nor was it on the 21st day. Here is the verse and my challenge to you through it.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. – Proverbs 21:5

Funny how mathematical the verse seems. Plans + Diligence = Abundance. I want my life to be an abundant, overflowing life – not necessarily financially, but in joy, influence, and especially spiritual fruit. A joyful, influential, fruitful life, however, does not happen accidentally. It happens intentionally. Plans. Diligence.

If I want the various roles of my life to yield joy, influence, and fruit, I have to be intentional. If I want a great attitude, well-managed finances, or growing spiritual walk, I have to be intentional. I will never drift into that kind of life, I must pursue it by design. Things that truly matter in life require intention.

Here is my challenge. Choose ONE area of your life that you would like to be more fruitful. Honestly assess where you are, then where God would want you to be in that area. Work diligently in that area until you feel you are where you need to be, and then choose another area to do the same. Step by step you will find yourself closer to the life of joy, influence, and fruitfulness.

What specific, intentional steps will you take to get from where you are to where God wants you to be?

 I press on toward the goal
                for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:14