Be Intentional

This is the greatest advice I can give myself.  I have found much joy and much contentment in the last few weeks by purposing to be intentional in everything I do.  What are my intentions, you might ask?  To glorify God.  Wow, Sunday School answer, right?  Wrong!  I have a terrible habit of meandering through life half awake, blindly doing menial tasks with no purpose other than the fact that they need to be done.  I am guilty of not taking pride in my roles, and when I do take pride in them, it's the selfish, self-exaltation kind of pride- the kind the God of heaven abhors.  Not the pride a blood-bought redeemed child of God ought to take in serving others and serving her Lord- so that others will glorify my Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).  So, I have tried very hard lately to not just do what I have to do because it needs to be done, but do it all as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:17 & 23, 1 Corinthians 10:31)  Scripture doesn't suggest this principle, it commands it!

I have awakened to a joy in doing what I was made to do.  Not just as a human: to glorify God.  But as a wife: to serve my husband, to be his helper, to submit and trust him, as he submits and trusts our Lord; and as a mother: teaching Dylan about the Lord, homeschooling her, caring for Lennox; as an employee: serving my family, my father- who is my employer; as servant of God's Church and even very important as one who keeps a home organized and resourceful. 
When I know these are my God-given roles to fulfill and I am either being a false witness of His grace in me or I am being a purposeful servant of the Lord- it matters greatly!  If I will only begin a task with the mindset, "What I do matters greatly today- it matters to the Lord where my heart is when I complete this task and when I do this I am bearing His name,"- I can find great joy and contentment in even the smallest thing!  Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

 So, why then, is it so easy to fall back into walking my blind little circles, just milling around completing tasks (or sometimes not even completing them!!)? It's. That. One. Word. Sin. Sin. Sin.  My old nature likes to fight hardily with my new identity.  We will fight this fight until we are with the Lord in glory.  I can not wait for that day!  In the mean time, being mindful, intentional and being self-aware and brutally honest with myself- that I can easily fall into that rut- is the best way for me to fight. I have written about the same thing here. I can't kid myself- and neither can you.  We have to be on guard against the ease of sin, the ease of idleness, and the ease of letting ourselves run on auto-pilot.  I think we can soundly say that if we are meditating on God's Word, meeting with him regularly in prayer, and surrounding ourselves with brothers and sisters that would spur us on to good works (Hebrews 10:24-25), and actually listening and taking care to meet the needs of others- as in our spouses and being careful to seek out ways to serve those in our body and in our community, we can beat this thing with the strength and power of the Spirit that lives in us.  This is the God of the universe- he made me, and he deserves to be the center of everything I do.  I am purposing the make that the truth in my life.  How about you?

"...but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done."

I returned home from my first "Children Desiring God" conference last week. Wow. I received so much information, but by far, the most beneficial for me was ALL of the preaching and a particular seminar. The theme Scripture for the conference was Romans 11:36:

"For by him and through him and to him are all things, to him be the glory forever. Amen."

There were two convicting and convincing sermons on that subject in particular that truly set the stage why anyone would or should set out to minister the Gospel to anyone, most importantly in my case, to my children. The chunk of Scripture that was brought out that has stuck with me most, and I hope it doesn't leave is Psalm 78:2-11

"I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them."

We are to tell our children of the glorious deeds of the Lord so that they might tell their children and the generation yet unborn may know the Lord! We are to do all this, first and foremost for God's glory. Why for His glory? Because we are to be what God is about- The glory of His Name! What are the consequences to our children? Well, we would not want them to be like the Ephraimites, 'armed with the bow, but turning back on the day of battle.' There is a real battle going on and it is our responsibility as parents and the body of Christ to arm the coming generation with the "sword of the Spirit- which is the Word of God." I will enclose links to the sermons at the end of this blog entry, I urge each one of you to listen to them and heed the call that is there in the Scripture. How do we equip our children? By teaching them the Word of the Lord. Which leads me to my favorite seminar I attended at the conference: "Scripture Memorization" They made the comment at the seminar how important it is to have a full arsenal of scripture to be equipped on the day of battle. Say you lost a loved one, you were cut off in traffic and you reach for your quiver of arrows and all you have to choose from is a "John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, and maybe "Jesus wept." What do you do then? Well, of course the Holy Spirit can work with what you have, but it is better to gird up the loins of your mind and be prepared with God's word hidden in your heart! We have started church-wide Scripture memory to equip the saints with the Sword! Why as a parent should I memorize scripture? Well, firstly, to know God more fully. Secondly, to be equipped more fully, and thirdly, because when Dylan sees Jim and I reading our bibles, memorizing Scripture, she sees that this faith thing is for real, it's serious, and it's important to us. Dylan can memorize pretty much anything with ease, and if we do small sections at a time, she can generally memorize a large chunk of verses together! Our prayer is that with memorization of Scripture, the 10 Commandments, and her catechism questions, that God's glorious grace might be imparted to her one day and that His Spirit would apply all the truths in her head to her heart. Well, I will close for now. I am sure I will come up with more to write on this subject as it has really engaged my heart. One of the other things that was mentioned by David Michael of Desiring God was the Scripture that calls children "arrows" in a father's quiver. If they are arrows, they will be aimed at something, and as believers we want them to be aimed at Christ and His glorious Truth! I am so thankful to have a godly husband that desires not to keep these stories of old a secret from our child(ren) and that they might be armed and ready for the coming battle.

Here are the links to my favorite sermons, resources, etc from the Conference:

John Piper "The God-centeredness of God" (This sermon can be summed up beautifully in the first chapter of Piper's book,"Let the Nations be Glad!"
Bruce Ware "There is none besides Me"
Paul David Tripp "His story or your story? Who Reigns supreme in your heart?"
David Michaels "A God-centered hope for the Joy of the next generation"

Dr. Bruce Ware, a professor of Theology at Southern Seminary, recently wrote a book, "Big Truths for Young Hearts" and it is basically a devotional for fathers and mothers he put together based on the bedtime Theology lessons and Hermeneutics he taught his daughters growing up.