Character – Another Intentional Season

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

Alethea's Mind

We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. ~ Oswald Chambers

At the start of the year, my family went through a season of intentionality. It was one of the best times we have had together. We spent more physical time together, we prayed more together, we played more together, we had more laughs, we forgave much easily, the Word of God burned ablaze in our hearts and even our silences had more meaning. I enjoyed every bit of it and have looked forward to another experience. As the Lord will have it, in this month of my birth, we’ve been given another opportunity to live intentionally, and I’m already loving every moment of it and it’s only the first day.

I stumbled upon the quote above this morning, as it is typical for Facebook memories to remind me of things I have shared years ago. I’m excited about this one because it helped form a foundation for my season of intentionality. In this season, God wants me to form habits that will shape my character going forward because, besides sharing the things He teaches, He is more interested in how His teachings shape me.

As if to confirm what I felt in my heart, the verse for today in the YouVersion Bible App popped up, and I knew for sure that God approved the curriculum:

Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].
Colossians 3:12 AMPC

There are 3 areas of my life that need shaping by God’s Spirit, and I want to share these areas here just because of accountability. I have a wonderful community of brothers and sisters on WordPress that genuinely care and would want to see me grow, so I trust you all to keep me accountable to these areas that the Lord wants to touch:

  1. My Parenting: The Lord is calling me to a more gentle approach in parenting. He wants me to study my children and allow His Spirit lead me in handling them individually with a gentle spirit. Throughout my years of being a parent, I have trusted the Lord to lead me in every step, but many times I have allowed my flesh get in the way. I’m very prone to raise my voice and lose my temper with them, even though you’ll never catch me raise my voice at another adult nor lose my temper. This is something I’m called to be intentional about. I don’t think it will be easy, but I trust the Lord to enable me. I saw a verse this morning in the book of Ezekiel that caught my attention: He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. Ezekiel 2:1-2. When Ezekiel saw the Lord, he fell facedown and there would have been no strength nor ability in him to rise before the Lord. But God wanted him to stand, and for that to happen, God, Himself had to raise Ezekiel up by His Spirit. So whatever I need to achieve in this season cannot be done with any power I possess, as I possess none anyway. But the Lord Himself will empower me.
  2. My Physical Wellbeing: Without using many words, this girl needs to honour the Lord by getting in proper shape. So there is a compulsory 30-minutes exercise routine that must be adhered to, so help me God. The ‘chasing-the-children-around’ exercise routine just doesn’t cut it anymore.
  3. My Spiritual Wellbeing: During our previous intentional season, I would wake up at 5am, certainly not by my power, and spend some quality time with my Lord. I could feel the strength in my spirit as the desires of my flesh weaned. At that time I was reading ‘How You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God’ by Kenneth Hagin. I was alert. I was bold. I was fearless. I still am. But you know how sometimes you begin to feel the extra bulge on your waistline? It’s time to pull some weights again and build up those spiritual muscles. What better time than now!

So in this month of my birth (this year, I’ll turn an age that’s a special one for me and I’ll write about it), I embark on another Intentional Season. I know there’ll be highs and there’ll be lows, but I trust the Spirit of God for enablement to see this through.

This morning, I was reminded of a song that has now become the soundtrack for this season: New Wine by Hillsong

 

Have you ever had an intentional season? It’s worth the go!

17 thoughts on “Character – Another Intentional Season”

  3. Wow – you go, Girl! Those are impressive aspirations; I have no doubt that they are God-led and God-inspired; I perceive you have some kind of background in goal-setting, in that your goals are concrete, measurable, and attainable; and I commend you! Godspeed!
    Please do post, as I’ll be looking for your progress and praise reports, and I’ll be praying along the way.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you for cheering me on, Kathy. I really appreciate this. I’m excited about this and I really trust the Lord all the way. Thanks for praying for me too, and I’ll share the journey as I’m led to 🤗🤗🤗🤗

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Tosin, I loved this! I loved your transparency. Yes, we all need to be intentional. If we are not, then we will fall back to operating in the flesh and not in the Spirit. I, too, have been working on being more intentional in all areas of my life. I suggested to my husband that we share a calendar on Google and that we get intentional about our time and what we do with it, and about our need for physical exercise, too. And, the calendar is helping us to do that.

    So, we joined the YMCA, and we are scheduling for ourselves specific times to go there. And, we joined a local seniors group through our Parks and Recreation so that we would be intentional about getting out with people and doing stuff with them, being physically active, but also building relationships with people in our community. And, after not driving much at all for the past 3 years, since my husband retired and we went down to one vehicle, I am being more intentional, too, about making sure that I keep up my driving skills and that I don’t let that get behind. And, I am having to be intentional about how I spend all my time, not to get too structured, but that I don’t get too lax, too.

    So, thank you for sharing this, for it encouraged my heart about being intentional, too. And, thank you for sharing the 3 ways God is working in your life so that I know how best to pray for you and for your family. Not one of us is perfect, and we won’t be perfect until we go to be with our Lord. So, while we live in these flesh bodies, daily we have to keep putting that flesh to death by the Spirit, and we have to keep putting on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s tricks and his evil schemes against us, and we have to pray in the Spirit for one another, too. And, what you shared here has helped me to get more focused, too. So, thank you so much! Sue

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You know you spur me, Sue. I always think of you and those thoughts help me want to be better at being intentional because I know that’s how you are, and I admire that. Thanks for sharing with me the ways you have been intentional, it just buttresses my feelings 🥰
      And thank you for praying for me too. I’ll do the same for you in the areas you gave shared. Love you, Sue.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Tosin, thank you! But, all glory to God! And, God is still working on me, too. So, we are in this together. Together, as the body of Christ, we will grow in him to spiritual maturity and in our walks of faith as we encourage one another, and as we pray for one another. So, thank you for this encouragement and for your prayers.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  7. Pingback: After October’s Intentional Season and Understanding Sanctification – Alethea's Mind

Leave a comment