INTENTIONUALLY KINDER --- A LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT…
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
I have asked many people what is their purpose in life? They always say: I DON’T KNOW? Then I ask them what is GOD’S PURPOSE FOR GIVING US BREATH? I receive the same answer? Ask them a year later? They still don’t know?
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
If we know God has a purpose for us --- and we do not know what His Purpose is? HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW? We must have INTENTUAL PLANS!!!
**FIVE WORDS WE MUST UNDERSTAND FOR THIS LESSON:
**EFFORT: work done, energy, serious attempt, exertion, spent, --- elbow grease.
** INTENTUALLY: the thing you plan or achieve, a clear aim, on purpose, determined, value, important.
** KIND: gentle nature, desire to help, wanting to do good, make others happy, forbearing,
Every person you talk to knows what’s wrong with the world. Few care?
**DIAGNOSIS: identifying problem or sickness, tell what is wrong, see the signs or symptoms…
**PROGNOSIS: OPINION IN HOW TO OVERCOME, PROSPECT OF RECOVERY, a plan.
IF WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE IN A THERMOMETER AND A THERMOSTAT IN THE ROOM? WHY DO WE REFUSE TO ACKOWLEDGE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPIRITUAL THERMOMETERS AND SPIRITUAL THERMOSTATS?
**Thermometer: measure
**Thermostat: automatic to regulate, control, control
ARE YOU A THERMOMETER OR A THERMOSTAT?
EXPERT? Did you know we go to the WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY TO KNOW? 1996 edition of WEBSTER has 315 words misspelled.
GOAL/PURPOSE
**BETTERING THE HUMAN SPIRITUAL CONDITION IS THE GREATEST GOOD ANY INDIVIDUAL CAN ACHIEVE.
PRETEND WITH ME? WHAT KIND OF MOOD? WHO TAKES OWNERSHIP OF MY MOODS? WHAT IS MY PERSCEPTIVE?
Mark 11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
There were two donkeys walking along the streets of Jerusalem. The one donkey said to the other. You are not going to believe this, but just yesterday I was walking coming into Jerusalem. The crowd was going wild for me. They were screaming and yelling and clapping. They were cutting down branches and laying them down for me. Some of the people took their cloaks and laid them down for me. Wow, what a day it was. I was a “star.” Everybody loved me. TODAY, NO ONE SEEMS TO RECOGNIZE ME.
The other donkey was so amazed that his friend failed to see. The second donkey then replied: WITHOUT JESUS YOU ARE NOTHING!
THERE HAS BEEN A PLAN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD…
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
NOTE: We call this the 7th entry to Jerusalem the TRIUMPHAL VISIT. Jesus riding on a donkey. A PRINCE RIDES A DONKEY. But next time it will be much different. Do we know JESUS 8TH ENTRY TO JERUSALEM WILL BE JESUS RIDING A WHITE HORSE AND HE WILL COME THROUGH THE EASTERN GATE?
Pretend a little more? BE REAL HONEST?
Pretend you are 85 years old? Pretend you are now in the rest home? Your food is placed in a grinder to make it easier to swallow. You roommate screams and talks to people that are not there. You hear someone yell, MOMMA, MOMMA? The nurse will get to you when she has the time?
WILL YOU WISH YOU HAD BEEN A LITTLE KINDER? As you lay there in your bed you might think, I NEVER PLANNED ON BEING HERE? What will you think about looking out the window when you are 85?
If you could come back to today from that rest home room and change something what would you change? Well, at 85 there is not much you can change? But if we could think ahead today, we might want to change something that would help with our regrets? We might DESIRE TO BUILD A BETTER ME? WE MIGHT WANT SOMEONE TO COME AND VISIT US? We might hang a card on the wall someone sent to look and remember?
I LOVE THE WORDS: INTENTIONALLY KINDER. Intentionally kinder today. Some day we will wish we had turned off the computer, we will wish the kids came to see us? We would love to have a phone call? Most rest homes don’t have phones in the room?
WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE?
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:5 (NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
CAN WE RECOGNIZE SPIRITUAL REALITY?
I read where some well-known stars were traveling in their days. In his travels CHARLIE CHAPLIN just happened to come
upon a CHARLIE CHAPLIN LOOK ALIKE CONTEST. So he decided to enter the contest. He lost!
I read where years later DOLLY PARTIN ran across a DOLLY LOOK ALIKE CONTEST. She lost!
I read where CHET ATKINS, the great guitar recording artist had vacationed on a tropical island and there were little cabins along the shore. The last night there was a large cook out and all the guest came together for a celebration. There was a cheap guitar, someone had tried to tune it and the guitar was passed around the campfire. Finally the guitar made it to the hands of the World known guitar artist. Chet tuned the guitar and began playing. One of the guest said to him: SIR, YOU MAYBE GOOD BUT YOUR ARE NO CHET ATKINS. The man frowned real big. CHET shook hands with the man and said: SIR, LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF TO YOU, and MY NAME IS CHET ATKINS.
INTENTUALLY KINDER… WILL NEVER ACCIDENTTALLY OCCUR…
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:2 (NIV) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:2 (NLT) Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Colossians 3:2 (MSG) Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
WE NEED TO FEEL NEEDED. WE NEED TO FEEL WANTED! WHAT DO I REALLY LOOK LIKE? WHY DO WE NEED MIRRORS? Have you ever noticed a BIRD OFTEN RETURNS TO THE NEST?
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT) Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
THE TRIANGLE?
IT TAKES 3 PEOPLE TO HURT YOU.
THE PERSON THAT SAID IT.
THE PERSON THAT HEARD IT AND PASSED IT ON…
AND YOU TO ACCEPT IT.
Did you crucify a person today?
Did you murder someone with your words?
Did you destroy some person’s testimony with negative talk?
Did your tongue nail a friend to a tree?
ENDURANCE TEST? ---
I HEARD A STORY ON THE RADIO. A group of young men were hiking on a wilderness mountain. They paid an expert guide to lead them and teach them to become SURVIVALIST. The young men were raise in a city and knew little of the real outdoor world. These young survivalist camped and lived off the land. After two weeks in the mountains one young 22 year old man DIED. He thirst to death. There was a good pool of cool water about 39 feet from the young man’s body.
He never saw it. The expert survivalist had an emergency water container in his back pack. The young man was trying to prove something. The men were trying to TEST THEIR LIMITS.
Conclusion: Life is but a journey. Seems we want to focus on the destination? Life is much more than a destination. We must focus and BE INTENTIONAL… We must see the plan of God. We must know the plan of God. WE MUST INTENTIONALLY DEVELOP A STRATEGY … strategy --- PLAN. We must do more than drift with every wind and current that brings us to AIMLESS, NO PLAN, NO PURPOSE…
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:1 (MSG) Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com I would love to hear from you.
