Jean Fleming - Pursue the Intentional Life: Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90: 12)

Because we as believers will soon see Jesus face-to-face, we need to live intentionally for Him. Pursue the Intentional Life has stimulated me to think and act more intentionally so I can serve Him with my best until He calls me Home.

DAVID RAE , president, Cables and Kits; former president, Apple Canada

No one is better qualified to write Pursue the Intentional Life than Jean Fleming. Her single-hearted quest of becoming the person God had in mind when He created me is exemplified in her life and writings. Over the years, Jean has kept an Old Woman File, and it is out of her rumblings and stirrings as she pondered life on earth that we have this rich compilation of profound insights and lessons learned. In her words, the book is a collection of mooring cables attaching me to my Anchor. You will find strong mooring cables here to challenge and encourage your relationship with Christ no matter where you are in your journey with Him. Jeans underlying theme addresses the question What does it look like to live Christ to the very end? Read this priceless book to discover the answer.

CYNTHIA HEALD , author of the B ECOMING A W OMAN O F ... Bible study series and Intimacy with God

This book is vintage Jean Fleming. Its message addresses my recent reflections about finishing well, maximizing spiritual fruitfulness, and living for the glory of God in the fourth quarter of life. The biblical wisdom Jean shares in these pages would be profitable for anyone, regardless of age, who fears spiritual drifting and wants to pursue an intentional life.

DON WHITNEY , associate professor of biblical spirituality and senior associate dean, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; founder and president, The Center for Biblical Spirituality

Jean is a gifted writer and a passionate lover of Jesus. Her artistry shows clearly in her compelling word pictures that remind us of the joy of living our lives to the fullest and for Gods glory at any stage of life and even into old age. You will be blessed and spiritually energized as you follow Jeans journey of reflection that prepares you for the future.

MARY WHITE , coauthor of Unfinished

Pursue the Intentional Life deals with a critically important life principle that deserves much more literary attention. This book is not only timely but also succinct, biblical, well referenced, practical, and often profound. That Jean Fleming is such an unusually gifted author gives this book value not only for the ideas expressed but also for the expression of those ideas. These words will not wear out.

RICHARD A. SWENSON , MD, best-selling author of Margin and The Overload Syndrome

Do you want a book that is not so much a teaching book as it is a searching, asking, walk-with-me book that encourages you to ponder your life? Then this book is for you! Like Jean, I celebrated my seventieth birthday this year. I loved reading Pursue the Intentional Life as an older woman but would also have delighted in it at age thirty. I highly recommend it to you and believe that these pages will encourage, motivate, and inspire you just like they did me!

LINDA DILLOW , author of Calm My Anxious Heart; coauthor of Passion Pursuit

NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical.

For more information, visit NavPress.com.

Copyright 2013 by Jean Fleming. All rights reserved.

A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

NAVPRESS and the NAVPRESS logo are registered trademarks of NavPress, The Navigators. Absence of in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks.

TYNDALE is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

ISBN 978-1-61291-097-0

Cover design by Faceout Studio, Tim Green Background image by Shutterstock

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, ( NIV ). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Other versions used include: the Holy Bible, New Living Translation ( NLT ), copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation, used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, all rights reserved; the New American Standard Bible ( NASB ), copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, used by permission; the Amplified Bible ( AMP ), 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation, used by permission; The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ( ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved; The New English Bible ( NEB ), copyright 1961, 1970, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press; The Living Bible ( TLB ) copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fleming, Jean.

Pursue the intentional life : teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12) / Jean Fleming.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-61291-097-0

1. Christian life. I. Title.

BV4501.3.F583 2013

248.4dc23

Build: 2021-10-22 16:38:19 EPUB 3.0

For the generations that come from usto the glory of God

The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you. Psalm 102:28

Matt and Lashawna

Beth and Lyle

Graham and Yasuko

And our grandchildren

It is early March in Colorado when I meet with Jean Fleming for the first time. Were sitting at Backstreet Bagels near First and Townsend. She sketches a tree on a paper napkin, putting heart-shaped leaves on the branches and writing CHRIST down the trunk. I know this tree; its the one she wrote about in chapter 3 of Between Walden and the Whirlwind. This is our first face-to-face meeting, but I first met Jean through her writings. Now fourteen years into motherhood, I keep returning to A Mothers Heart (where the applications go beyond parenting). Ive been reading and studying the Bible daily for some time, but Feeding Your Soul: A Quiet Time Handbook still guides me. Her Open-Heart Bible Study (in Discipleship Journals online archives) is an article I routinely distribute in my Bible-study groups. And I could never adequately express how much