Your life is fast paced and demanding. It’s hard to get into God’s Word, let alone apply it. But you want to know God and grow closer to Him. Intentional Living helps you manage your super busy life with God’s Word by giving you tools, resources, actions steps, and fresh ideas. Quick and easy help. You can do this. Partner with God.
Brenda Wolfe
Founder and Director of Intentional Living
My latest book just arrived back from the publisher! e-Pistles for an i-Generation. I’m excited to share it with you!
I want to tell you about the cover (directly below). Notice the title: e-Pistles For an i-Generation: Relevant in a Digital Age . Your generation. Our digital age. The front picture portrays that 1st and 2nd Corinthians can get from an ancient scroll into your i-pad (and then into your heart). The back cover is an i-pad with a critical message.
A handful of people went through the devotional book before I sent it to the printer . . . and they loved it! They said each day provides relevant, brief, inspirational interaction with a Scripture portion. Once you finish e-Pistles, you also finish both 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and you see how relevant those e-pistles are to this i-generation you and I are part of.
Will 2020 be a 666 year or a 777 year for you? Numbers mean things. You can put them together in various ways to increase meaning. They measure things, identify patterns, and organize systems. Numbers point to specific events. For example, 2020 not only points to the new year, but also to a new decade. 2020 can mean excellent vision (2020 Vision for the New Year: Setting Goals).
The number 2 often means a companion. 3 can be a trio or a triangular endeavor. It also makes a sturdy stool on uneven terrain. 12 can refer to a dozen. 6 and 7 mean things, too.
Are you thinking 2020 yet? 2020 can mean lots of things. Often, 20/20 refers to good vision. Right now, it means a New Year. In fact, it means a new decade!
With a New Year around the corner, you need 20/20 vision – and that means setting goals for your life.
Christmas has so many wonderful moments. Unfortunately, strands of loss and grief alter Christmas joy for many people each year. Approaching Christmas is hard when your heart is breaking. Depression in the holidays is a real thing.
Depression is experienced by many people during the holidays. If you 
are one of them, you are not alone. Life is hard. You may have had a terrible loss, a deep disappointment, a health issue, or something else that has pierced your heart this past year. It’s possible the painful life event even happened some years ago. You are not unhealthy for still feeling the sting, but you may need to find some healthy responses to move forward and be a balanced, hopeful person.
Encouragement is always easier to receive than rebuke. Yet, we all need both. Truly we do. Unfortunately, most people put all their energy into defending and protecting themselves instead of opening to whatever truth is being presented. That’s a sign of insecurity, and possibly pride. A secure person who is humble doesn’t worry too much about their defense. Maybe a little. But they rally with courage, receive an honest message, pray through it, filter out whatever is irrelevant, and apply whatever is helpful. It’s as if they are saying, “It is what it is. And that’s OK, because I’m aiming for more of Christ.” They are willing to accept the bottom line: we affect each other.
I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. We have so much to be grateful for even when life is difficult or painful. The blessings co-exist alongside the difficulties.
As I developed today’s article, an alarm triggered inside me – “How ever will I write anything to encourage people to love God more deeply? How ever will I develop credible thoughts to accurately present God’s new fresh love to readers? Love is a wonderful concept, and at times, almost impossible to carry out! I fail more often than I’d like to admit when it comes to loving God and others.”
You may have been privileged to receive some kind of honor or award for a significant accomplishment. Perhaps you gained scholarship recognition. Maybe it’s been a military medal or a sport-related achievement. Perhaps you are an esteemed author, speaker, or political leader. You may be one of many of us who have simply made it through required levels of school, kissed your diploma, moved your tassel from right to left, and landed a job worthy of supporting daily living. That, too, is a worthy honor and accomplishment.
You know what it’s like to wake up in the morning, look out your window, and see heavy fog. Sometimes it’s so thick you can’t see anything. Trees are barely visible. The street is out there somewhere. Probably the first thing going through your mind is, “How am I going to see the road and other vehicles to drive?” Still, the view is captivating. The veil silently lingers over everything. In fact, it changes the landscape perspective. You are left to fill in opaque spaces with memory or imagination. Lines are no longer clear. Outlines barely visible. Boundaries blurry. And everything seems unsure. If only you could unveil the view.
Have you ever been wrongly judged? Falsely accused? It can be pretty painful. Equally difficult is to be correctly judged and appropriately accused. These scenarios create burdens to carry. God didn’t intended these burdens. He intended you to live in freedom. So how do you think and respond in such a situation when it’s your move?
Many life trials will not be properly addressed on this earth. Perhaps some will. But some issues are so tangled, too complicated to unravel. God helps people apply strategies in thinking – His wisdom – to work through difficult problems. God helps when it’s your move.
