The Christian Lifestyle Magazine, Issue 12

ENCOURAGEMENT
intentional
By: Dominique Adonis
KEYS TO BEING INTENTIONAL
ASK GOD TO HELP YOU SEE THE
BIGGER PICTURE
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope
to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious
inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably
great power for us who believe.” – Eph. 1:18-19
Seeing the bigger picture helps makes sense
of the pixel that is your life. When we can see
and understand it, the distortion of frustration
and discouragement gets moved from mountain
status to challenges that can be faced and
overcome. Ask God to help you see the bigger
picture as revealed in God’s word and watch
God put your life into perspective. Nothing like
proper perspective to catapult you from where
you are to where God calls you to.
DAILY
SCRIPTURES FOR
INTENTIONALITY
Philippians 3:12-14
1 Corinthians 9:26-27
Psalm 141:3
Proverbs 21:5
Galatians 5:16
Romans 12:2
1 Timothy 4:8
“I admit that I haven’t yet acquired
was intentional
UNDERSTAND YOUR PURPOSE
the absolute fullness that I’m
when He knit
“And we know that in all things God works for the
pursuing, but I run with passion into
you together in
good of those who love him, who have been called
His abundance so that I may reach
your mother’s
according to his purpose.” – Rom. 8:28
the purpose that Jesus Christ has
womb. “For
Not knowing your purpose is not detrimental.
called me to fulfil and wants me
you created my
Unfortunately, it trips us up every time. We
to discover. I don’t depend on my
inmost being;
literally get paralyzed thinking about how
own strength to accomplish this;
you knit me
we don’t know our purpose. The truth is…
however, I do have one compelling
focus: I forget all of the past as I
fasten my heart to the future instead. I
run straight for the divine invitation of
reaching the heavenly goal and gaining
the victory prize through the anointing
of Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14, The
Passion Translation
It has been said that the road to
hell is paved with good intentions.
And while I can appreciate this
quote and the motivation behind
it, I feel the need to clarify that the
matter of heaven and hell is not
determined by intentions but by
faith (Eph. 2:8-9), so there’s that!
And that being intentional is more
than just the wishy-washy desire
to do or see something come to
fruition. Being intentional speaks of
taking deliberate action towards a
desired end or goal.
We all crave significance, we
want our lives to matter and that’s
because God created us on purpose,
for a purpose. You can say that God
together in my
mother’s womb.”
– Psalm 139:13 NIV
Your eye color, hair texture all the
way to your ethnicity, and gender
were carefully planned. There are no
mistakes with God. To your parents,
you might have been a mistake, but
you were in the mind of God long
before He created you. “Before I
shaped you in the womb I knew all
about you. Before you saw the light of
day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet
to the nations—that’s what I had in
mind for you.” – Jeremiah 1:5 The
Message
God works all things, including
your life, according to His purpose
and purpose is a powerful thing. Dr.
Myles Munroe said, “where purpose
is unknown, abuse is inevitable.”
Allow me to add.. “where purpose
is unknown or ignored, abuse is
inevitable.” Purpose determines
the function of a thing. A crystal
vase cannot be used as a cricket
bat, it will break because it was not
created for that purpose. And so we
sit with broken, hearts, minds, and
lives because we or someone else
operated outside of purpose. The
awareness and revelation of purpose
will cause us to be intentional, about
time, relationships, resources, and
opportunities.
An unintentional life accepts
everything and does nothing. An
intentional life embraces only the
things that will add to the mission
of significance.” – John C. Maxwell.
A passionate prayer life doesn’t just
happen, healthy habits can’t fall
from the sky. A successful career
and credibility will not happen
overnight and marriage is hard work.
All of life’s most important aspects
demand intentionality. God has
given us His Holy Spirit to empower
us, however, we must be intentional
about doing our part.
understanding God’s purpose is our handle on
understanding and accepting ours. Because
when we know and understand the purposes of
God we can trust His ways and His heart. Walk
in God’s purposes and watch Him entrust Him
with the details of your specific purpose.
BE STRATEGIC IN YOUR LANE
“Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.” – Prov. 4:26
It’s a mess out here as we compare the
vulnerabilities and weaknesses of our own lives
with the picture-perfect lives others are posting
on their social media platforms. Don’t get it
twisted we cannot compare apples to grapes.
The truth of the matter is that comparison is
the thief of joy. Who has God called YOU to be?
What has God blessed YOU with? What is God
calling YOU to do? Therein lies your superpower.
Once you’ve mapped out YOU.. you can be
strategic in your lane.
FULLY REPLY ON THE POWER OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the
dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ
Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal
bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” – Rom.
8:11
QUESTIONS FOR
DEEPER RELECTION
• Which key areas in your
life require you to be
more intentional?
• What small changes you
can make to ensure that
you’re more intentional
and consistent in doing so?
Nothing defeats the purpose of the life God has called us
to like self-effort and its cousin, self-reliance. Do not make
the mistakes I’ve made in this area, it is time-consuming,
heartbreaking and an expensive lesson to learn, literally. Please
learn from my mistake and take the steps needed to fully rely
on the power made available to you through surrendering your
life to God’s Holy Spirit.
24 THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE 25