Intentional
Notes
Transcript
There is a statement not used in Scripture, but found in Jewish folklore - it also bares similarity to an old Persian fable:
“This too shall pass”
It comes from a Yiddish tale about King Solomon.
King Solomon wanted to teach Benaiah a lesson in humility. He told Benaiah “I have heard rumors of a fabulous ring that has a unique power. When a sad man gazes upon it, he becomes happy, but when a happy man gazes upon it, he becomes sad. Find this ring and bring it to me.”
Benaiah set out in search of the ring, but no one had ever heard of such a ring. He was about to give up when he spotted a junk shop. Benaiah approached the owner and described the object of his search.
“A ring that cheers the sad and saddens the cheerful?” said the junk dealer. “Come inside.”
They entered the shop. From a boxful of baubles the junk dealer took a plain, silver ring. He engraved some words on it and gave it to Benaiah. Benaiah read the inscription, nodded sagely, and headed back to the palace.
King Solomon was expecting an unsuccessful and humbled Benaiah. So when Benaiah strode in and handed him the ring, the king was taken aback. Inspecting it, he read the inscription and laughed, “It was I who needed a lesson in humility,” he said. “This ring has reminded me that wealth and power are fleeting things.” King Solomon removed his costly rings and slipped on the ring from the junk shop.
The Yiddish phrase engraved on the ring:
GAM ZU YAAVOR (“This too shall pass”)
I heard a College President use this phrase this week trying to encourage returning students and incoming freshmen that though it will be strange returning or starting school this year - that - This too shall pass!
We are about 6 months into a pandemic, plandemic, politicaldemic or all the above, and everyone is pretty sick and tired of life the way it is!
However, life must still go on! We may not like what we have to do to allow it to continue - but we must still live.
The real question is what are we doing with this time in our life?
One of our Deacons shared how his employer took the season to remodel the restaurant he worked at. His employees were cared for by the stimulus plan and he most likely had stimulus monies to work with so he sought to improve the situation. Instead of being closed in a peak season he could take the time profits would be low to get things done.
It is so easy to crawl along and get by, or live like victims of circumstance or we can allow these things that could bring us down to become opportunities.
The key is to be INTENTIONAL to allow these things to make us stronger!
1 During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives.
4 “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.”
5 The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.
6 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah.
7 The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abednego.
8 But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.
9 Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.
10 But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.”
11 Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
12 “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.
13 “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.”
14 The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.
16 So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.
17 God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.
18 When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service.
20 Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
21 Daniel remained in the royal service until the first year of the reign of King Cyrus.
Ok, here we see a Daniel and three Hebrew youths - In a time of destruction, captivity and loss find themselves advancing and benefiting for the purposes of God. They would not yield their faith, or compromise their commitment to God - but in a period of captivity would rise to the top! It would not be their lifetime they would see Israel restored - nonetheless - they were aware of the promise that would come to pass and would engage in growth until this too shall pass!
Intentional!!!
1. Intentional About Faith
1. Intentional About Faith
Daniel and these youths would not compromise their belief or faith in God - in fact they asked the King to put their God to the test regarding their diet.
What are you being to be intentional in your faith? What are you testing God with?
They held to their convictions of a Kosher diet - and were found to be stronger because of it.
So often we think our faith can not withstand the struggles we are in - that it will buckle under the pressure - but this is not true!
If we would press into obeying the Lord, praying to the Lord, knowing the Lord more through His Word we will find strength in our inner man has grown.
We can Netflix binge or Bible binge! We can run a Hulu marathon or prayerathon!
It won’t just happen - we have to be intentional.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
147 I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.
8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Pursuing a walk with Jesus and drawing closer requires intention...
Daniel and these youths were being called to eat the delicacies of the land - things that contradicted God’s commands to them - rather than yielding to temptation and indulging they choose to be intentional to their faith.
What can we be more intentional of in these days to make our faith stronger??? We must decide and choose!
2. Intentional to Family
2. Intentional to Family
In so many ways - being Hebrew was one giant family -
Intentionality was not only to God, but to their family.
What are we doing to be intentional to our families?
We can be using this time to fortify our marriage, invest in our children, and honor our parents!!!
One thing Covid has shown me is that when we are separated from all others - our family is what we have! Many have been able to see how much neglect, the lack of the dinner table, not working together to accomplish anything has been missing because instead of interaction with family we have given all of our efforts to friends, co workers, employers, sports teams and outside sources.
We have had to wake up and see what has been ignored!!!
The culture of the Hebrew was ignored in Jerusalem for the purpose of prosperity and pleasure, but now they were returning to their culture and roots in their choices.
Are we being intentional to invest back into our culture of family! Our relationships and traditions that bring us closer together and God?
27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.
29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.
30 And we are members of his body.
31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.
33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.
2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise:
3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Greek word ektrepho meaning giving time and care for and bring up - NOURISH in 5:29 and 6:4
3. Intentional Future
3. Intentional Future
What do I mean by intentional future???
Investing in what is ahead!
Maybe that means to be intentional about your job, further study, it may be school work or college, but what can we do to be intentional about our future!!???
How can we take this time now to invest in what is ahead, so that when this passes we can move forward with speed....
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!
7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,
8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
These are incentives to put forth all that we can to prepare for the future, do our best with what is in our hands.
Daniel and the three Hebrew youths could have easily said, we are captives, we will just be prisoners, or we will not assist this government, or we will give up, but instead they set themselves to excellence in what they were doing and rose to high levels within the land that God would use later in all their lives to bring Him glory and honor and protect His people.
This could be a time that God is preparing you through what you do to bring greater glory and honor to His name.
We say that we believe God has good plans for us and a future for us (Jer 29:11)
but will we put our own intentionality to commit whatever we do to see that accomplished!?
Not only for the future of our family and others on earth, but right now to invest in the Kingdom of God for the future to come in Heaven. If Jesus is coming back soon, we still have work to be done to invest in continuing to reach the lost and prepare those in the church to be ready for what is ahead.
How will you use your time right now to invest in the future of the Kingdom? If time is short, what will you do to ensure you and others are prepared to go through coming persecution and remain steadfast in the Lord?
Conclusion
Conclusion
God is giving us an opportunity during these days to become more INTENTIONAL
In our Faith, Family and Future — both on this earth and in heaven above --- to lay up treasure in heaven!!!
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
You see, we need to lay up our treasure by being intentional in our faith, nourishing our family, and investing in the future...
What will you do with what you are being given???