Intentionality and Trusting God for Results – Purity 1382
Purity 1382 06/22/2024 Purity 1382 Podcast
Purity 1382 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse at Sunset comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography as Roco Saya shared this scene on social media back on May 1st to honor a departed fellow Oswego photographer, Dave Clark, and to raise funds for a memorial park bench dedicated to his memory (https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10228484962702380&set=a.1091870750274). I’m sharing the link to the original post on the blog today for any generous souls who would like to contribute to the cause.
Well, It’s Saturday and as we are on the other side of the first run of our recovery ministry work at Starpoint Church as the Celebrate Freedom Support Group is on hiatus until July 24th, I am reflecting on how the first six months of the year has gone and am busying myself with the busy work of data management as I am not sure what to do with myself. So currently, I am preparing resources for possible future use by myself, my current life coaching clients, or possible future clients. When you don’t know what to do, do something that may prove helpful someday rather than something that is selfish or indulgent – is the rationale, I guess. The work I do today may or may not prove to be helpful in the future, but if I don’t do it, there’s no way it can be helpful to someone in the future.
Just like I really don’t know what the current or future impact of our work in ministry over the last six months has been, I know that if the Celebrate Freedom Support Group wasn’t there over the last six months, the positive changes that have occurred through the group wouldn’t have happened and the future results that will come as a result of the work we have done, wouldn’t be possible without us.
Seeds of change can’t grow unless we plant them. So even though we can be frustrated by a perceived lack of results in ministry work at times, God plays the long game and moves everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose and so we should continue to do the things we feel called to do for the possibility that it will be used by God for His glory and someone else’s, and may be our own, benefit.
Intentionality is defined as the fact of being deliberate or purposeful. As children of God, we should be intentional about what we are thinking about and what we are doing and steer our mental states and behaviors into activities that will further our journey of personal sanctification and in doing “good works” for others as an expression of our faith and as an evangelistic means to point people to Jesus Christ and the reality of God’s kingdom.
Of course we can’t be certain of the outcomes of our best efforts for God, but we can be fairly certain that living for ourselves and being consumed with selfish or sinful desires will probably not bring God glory, as the word of God describes such as activities as what we need to repent of. Loving God, loving others, and doing good is antithetical to looking out for number one. So even though I don’t know if what I am doing today will prove to be useful, I still am going to do them with the hope that they will be rather than doing nothing or doing things that will temporarily entertain myself or satisfy my flesh.
This is living in the Spirit doing what we need to for each day and making plans and doing actions that could be used for good in the future, while never knowing if we will see good results from our efforts, because we trust that God will use some if not all that we do for His purposes.
Roco’s Saya’s efforts to honor his departed friend with a memorial bench may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things but something like that can have unexpected and unseen results. Roco’s gesture could inspire us to remember our departed loved ones, cause us to appreciate the friends we do have, and may move us to do something similar for departed loved ones, or to do something with loved ones who are still with us because we appreciate the fact that won’t always be. Memorial park benches give people a place to rest and to appreciate God and man’s cooperative efforts to enjoy His creation. Parks are nice places and benches allow us to stay there a while. Memorial park benches can give us pause and cause to question our own mortality or our course through life and those philosophical ponders could cause us to reach out and to search for answers to the questions of meaning and purpose that could lead to someone finding the Lord!
We are all interconnected in God’s creation, with one life touching another, and so as we go into the first weekend of Summer, let’s enjoy our lives and the things and people God has brought into our path, and let’s be intentional about doing things that could be used for good as an expression of our faith and our appreciation of the gift of life that God has given us.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Divorce.
Matthew 18:15-17 (NLT2)
15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.
16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
Today’s verses are the third of three passages of scripture that fall under the ninth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Divorce.
9. The believing spouse must seek reconciliation when trouble arises.
Today’s verses highlight the process of “church discipline” and reconciling ourselves to one another and to encouraging others to get right with God. Confronting others for their sinful actions, when done in the context of loving relationships, can be the means to make peace – but we have to communicate our concerns and show we care in order to possibly avoid relational separation.
In our marriages, we have to communicate our displeasure but need to do so with love and in a way that will bring us closer together, and to God, to be at peace.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 9
“I buffet [bruise] my body, and bring it into bondage:
lest by any means, after that I have preached to others,
I myself should be rejected.” – 1 Corinthians 9:27 ASV
The apostle presents a dreadful possibility in this verse by way of warning. The possibility is to preach to others (i.e., run in the race) then be rejected for a reward. The great danger is implied in the words, “I bruise my body.” In other words, the supremacy of the flesh can disqualify a man in the race of service. The flesh – that I, or self – the great enemy of every believer.
“I bruise my body,” he says. To bruise is to sap the life out of anything. My blessed Lord was bruised for me (Isa. 53:5) on the cross of Calvary. And that is just where this body must hang by faith, if it is to be crucified.
May my testimony be that I have been
crucified with Christ.[1]
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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