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More intention, less obligation
A new year, a new decade, a new beginning. A clean canvas to fill. 358 days to paint within. What colours and word are you going to choose for the painting of this next chapter? What will you make space for within the framework of this year?
Beginnings hold potential; potential to transition you into a new trajectory in life; potential for blooming. It often takes boldness to begin, for beginnings can feel both bare and brutal, big and beautiful, blurry and bright all at the same time.
Whether your beginning to this new year feel beautiful, blurry, or brutal (or something completely else), I pray you're awake to your heart's desire.
One of my desires for the new year, and even decade, is to live more out of intention than obligation.
An obligation is defined as a duty, a debt (of gratitude for a service or favour) and being bound morally and legally to someone or something. Obligation is not all bad. The bible speaks about how we are obligated to:
- Take care of our families (1 Tim 5:4 AMP talks about it both being a religious duty and a natural obligation).
- Speak in a manner that reflects our fear of God and profound respect for His precepts (James 3:10 AMP).
- Walk and conduct ourselves just as Jesus walked and conducted Himself if we claim Him as God and Saviour (1 John 2:6 AMP - moral obligation).
- Follow the Spirit's promptings instead of the flesh's demands (Romans 8:12 AMP).
- Walk in His ways, His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies (1 Kings 2:3 AMP).
- Righteousness (Romans 6:20 TPT).
Obligations keep us accountable to the ones we love; to our God and our families.
Where obligation gets unhealthy is when the vision for our own life is altered and others' agenda instead get to dictate our days. It affects our fruit and our freedom. Focus and effectiveness is rarely evident in our lives when we are dragged in different directions due to the pursuit of pleasing others:
"But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!" Romans 13:11 MSG (my emphasis).
It's so easy to live unintentionally with no aim and just do what's demanded of us each day - to go about our errands, stay long for that birthday party because you feel obligated to, keep meeting up with a friend because you always have done it and so on. It's beautiful wanting to delight others. But when these above examples are done to earn approval or acceptance, you wear yourself out. God cares about the motive for our actions, though they look good on the outside:
"Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them [because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience]" (my emphasis).
God doesn't wants dreadful, dutiful, dulled actions with no heart in it. He wants our loving obedience to the assignment He is waiting for us to steward. He wants our hearts, our all, surrendered before Him. He wants us focused and awake, not sidetracked by others' agendas, demands and expectations of you:
"Since we are approaching the end of all things, be intentional, purposeful, and self-controlled so that you can be given to prayer" 1 Peter 4:7 TPT (my emphasis).
He has an assignment for you this season which takes prioritisation. He wants to partner with you to give your dreams legs.
If you're up for that shift in life, I believe 2020 can be the year where you’ll live more out of intention and less out of obligation. Jesus' death marked the transition from the old plan to the new one, canceling your old obligations once and for all (Heb 9,16 MSG). Therefore you can resist and refuse those who try to tie oppressive burdens of religious obligations on your back (Matthew 23:4 TPT).
Instead, by your beautiful intentions you can continue to do what brings pleasure to him (1 John 3,22 TPT). You can finish what you started last year without intentions growing stale. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't (2 Corinthians 8:10 MSG).
As you're intentional with your time, treasure and talent this year, you'll make space for new births. It will move you out of being stuck in transition and into the trajectory for your life.
You've got what it takes to finish it up, so get to it. Your heart's been in the right place all along.
Whether you intentionally begun this new year or you have stumbled into it, the matter of fact is that it has begun! And though what you have intended to build into this year seem insignificant, know that the Lord delights in small beginnings and asks us not to despise them.
Remember the promise that “[...]Though your beginning was insignificant, yet your end will greatly increase” Job 8:7 AMP (my emphasis).
More intention, less obligation in Jesus' name.
Walk in His liberty.
All the best,
Sandra Hultén.
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Picture: Sophie Vestergård (instagram-handle: @sophvest).
Endless energy
Endless energy, boundless strength (Ephesians 1:15 MSG) Doesn't that sound attractive, appealing and plain amazing?
Well, endless energy is not normally the first thing that comes to mind when describing a new mum as I am. Quite the contrary, sleep deprivation is often worn as a badge of honour!
Nevertheless, endless energy was what my husband recently spoke over me to describe what he believed God would do for me in this season. Clearly he possesses the spiritual gift of faith 😜 (he actually does) and I do want to claim that word 🙋♀️Anyone else?
Energy is defined as 'the capacity for doing work' and it's God-given:
"It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it!" 1 Corinthians 15:10 MSG.
We've all been given a portion of energy to steward and we're promised that "...your strength will equal your days" Deuteronomy 33:25 NIV.
Our spiritual, emotional and physical energy levels are affected by how we steward it. When we spiritually keep ourselves ablaze, emotionally guard our hearts and renew our minds, and physically choose well regarding diet and exercise, we reap energy. Our energy is also positively affected by passion for what we do and can be negatively affected by mental or physical illness.
I 'm not naturally an energetic person. Part of me is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire, as Eugene Peterson paraphrases Mark 14:37 in the Message Translation.
Therefore, it encourages me that any believer can be energised for good works by the power of the Holy Spirit:
"Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure" Philippians 2:12 MSG.
Imagine one believer living like this, and then imagine a body of believers living an energetic life of salvation. The passionate energy of the church can make hell run out of breath! ( like it says in Matth 16,18 MSG"... a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.")
We can be like Stephen who "... brimming with God's grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them" Acts 6:8 MSG.
We can be like Jesus who felt energy discharging from him when people came to him for healing and restoration (Mark 5:30 MSG).
We can spend our energy to get along and encourage one other as the apostle Paul encourages us to (Romans 14:19 MSG).
Practically, we can choose to fill ourselves with His living Word which will fuel us: "For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy" Hebrews 4:12 MSG.
Are you ready for a Winter full of endless energy?
Then I pray that God will make you fit for what he's called you to be, and that He'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so it all amounts to something (2 Thessalonians 1:11 MSG).
Endless energy, boundless strength (Ephesians 1:15 MSG) is your portion in Jesus' name.
Picture by Sophie Vestergård.
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