MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
April Fools! It’s not Christmas! I just needed to grab your attention and have some fun at the same time! 🙂
Reflections from Week Four
I cannot believe four weeks have gone by already. Can you believe we’ve been intentionally living for 28 days?
One thing I know, whether we would have done this intentional living or not, those days would still have gone by.
Did you realize so far we’ve intentionally been focusing to live in 56 different ways? When is the last time you’ve personally accomplished that in a month? Truthfully, I’m not sure I have ever done that before.
It’s actually quite amazing! I truly want you to ponder the positive impact this has probably had on not just your life, but anyone who has spent time with you over the last 28 days.
Now multiply that by the number of you who have joined the 40 Days of Intentional Living. We seriously could have positively impacted thousands of people in the last four weeks. Exponential positive impact is astounding to me.
Biggest Take Away This Week
This week, I’ve poured over many Scriptures each day. I searched for ones that I felt really helped support what God is asking from us each day. Some days I had a hard time choosing which verses to use because there are so many good ones to choose from.
As I looked back over the week’s posts, I noticed I provided a lot of Scripture with you.
As you know, sometimes I’ve referred to the ungodly behaviors we’re to refrain from as the nasty list, while those behaviors we’re to embrace are the nice list.
Okay, I know this may seem elementary or surface, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I believe keeping it simple may just be what we need.
So today, I’m going to keep my reflection simple.
Naughty or Nice List
I’m not sure which behaviors have been easy for you to embrace and which behaviors have been hard to refrain from, but I do know we’re all human and we all struggle. We don’t all struggle with the same things. We also don’t all find it easy to embrace the same things.
I encourage you to go back, review the list of behaviors and ask yourself, “Which ones did I struggle with either refraining from or embracing? Be honest with yourself.
Now ask yourself, “Which ones did I find it easy to refrain from or embrace?”
It’s okay to admit when we find it easy to refrain from or embrace behaviors. In my opinion, that’s just evidence that you are already intentionally living out the way God wants you to live.
Nevertheless, those behaviors you struggled with, those are the ones God wants you to continue being intentional about. I’m sorry if I’m bursting your bubble, and you thought after the 40 days is over you wouldn’t have to live refraining from and embracing certain behaviors intentionally any more. I’m here to tell you, God wants you to continue on this journey of intentional living.
We only have 12 more days of this 40 Days of Intentional Living. Let’s keep it simple. Live one day at a time. Listen to what God is speaking to us. Then let’s obey His instructions.
We can do this. I believe in us. I’m confident God is watching us too.
“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good” (Proverbs 15:3, NIV).
So, let’s press on. Stay in the race. Don’t quit. We have good things to do to bless others and bring God glory. May we each continue on this intentional living journey so that we don’t live unproductive lives.
“Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives” (Titus 3:14, NIV).
Michelle, I appreciate your keeping it simple approach and the practical question to help focus my energy where I struggle. I’ll have to go back through the whole list again and think about that. Maybe you’ve already made one, but I think it’d be great at the end of the series to have a graphic of all the refrains on one side and the embraces on the other. 🙂 (And/or you could use it as a free gift to anyone who subscribes to your blog?)