Father Like The Father – Day 7

Today brings our reading and learning from the devotional Father Like The Father to a close.

I appreciate God’s leading and sorting of articles so that the topics and instruction we can get around be the dads are on point and speak the truth in love. I have been blessed with my interaction with them as they gave guidance and support for my posts. Bible.com introduces the devotional like this:

Throughout Scripture, God is called Father. Yet how does He father His children? What parenting principles can we learn by observing His interactions with humanity? This seven-day study will examine key Scriptures which will help you to father like the Father.

Father Like The Father

Today’s devotional is connected with the following scripture Deuteronomy 4:31.

‘For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath. ‘

Deuteronomy 4:31

Today’s Word from God brings an incredible perspective on who our Heavenly Father is. Today’s Word along with the title of today’s devotional brings to mind what it would look like and what would it take for us to be the dads God created us to be. Let’s be the dads who are merciful! So that means we need to be forgiving, compassionate, gracious, lenient, clement, pitying, forbearing, humane, mild, softhearted, tenderhearted, kind, kindly, sympathetic, patient, humanitarian, liberal, easygoing, permissive, tolerant, indulgent, generous, magnanimous, beneficent, benign, benignant, benevolent, show mercy to, have mercy on, have pity on, spare, pardon, forgive, let off, be lenient on/to, and deal leniently with. Let’s be the dads who stick with it and will not abandon or do things that would destroy our kids. So that means we have to be the dads who won’t desert, leave, leave high and dry, turn one’s back on, cast aside, break (up) with, jilt, strand, leave stranded, leave in the lurch, throw over, or forsake our kids. It also means that we have to be the dads who won’t demolish, knock down, pull down, tear down, level, raze (to the ground), fell, dismantle, break up, wreck, ruin, smash, shatter, crash, blast, blow up, blow to bits/pieces, dynamite, explode, bomb, torpedo, spoil, disfigure, blight, mar, blemish, impair, flaw, deface, scar, injure, harm, devastate, damage, lay waste, ravage, wreak havoc on, waste, disfeature, disrupt, undo, upset, play havoc with, make a mess of, put an end to, end, bring to an end, put a stop to, terminate, prevent, frustrate, crush, quell, quash, dash, scotch, vitiate, sabotage, upset someone’s apple cart, cook someone’s goose, bring to naught, annihilate, wipe out, obliterate, wipe off the face of the earth, wipe off the map, eliminate, eradicate, liquidate, extinguish, finish off, erase, root out, extirpate, kill, slaughter, massacre, butcher, exterminate, decimate, defeat utterly, beat hollow, win a resounding victory over, vanquish, drub, trounce, rout, crush, give someone a drubbing, overwhelm our kids. Let’s be the dads who will build up, preserve, restore and raise up our kids. Let’s be the dads who will stick by, claim, and keep our kids. Let’s be the dads of integrity and stand on our words, say what we will do, and do what we say. Let’s be the dads who will live our lives with honesty, uprightness, probity, rectitude, honor, honorableness, upstandingness, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, nobility, high-mindedness, right-mindedness, noble-mindedness, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, and trustworthiness. Let’s be the dads God created, purposed, and desires for us to be.

Today’s devotional has been provided by Carlos Santiago and FamilyLife (more details can be found http://www.familylife.com)

Reading through today’s devotional, here are some takeaways for me:
(check out the devotional on your own too to see if you pick up other nuggets, and please share your findings in the comments)

For more information on communicating with your kids listen to, Blessing Your Child Through Your Words on FamilyLifeToday.com.

Keep Promises

• How important is your word?
• Do you realize the value of words?
• If you say something, is it as good as done?
• If you say something, can someone take that to the bank?
• Are you able to get it done when you say it will be done?
• Are you able to get it done how you say it will be done?
• Can someone trust what you say?
• Let’s be the dads who keep our promises!
• Let’s be the dads whose words can be trusted!
• Let’s be the dads whose reputation is good!
• Let’s be the dads who keep our promises to our wives and our kids, not just our workplaces!
• Let’s be the dads who can be trusted by our wives and kids, not just our workplaces!
• Let’s be the dads who have a good reputation at home in addition to the workplaces!
• Have you ever caught yourself in the midst of a busy day saying “in a little bit” and then get to the end of the day and realize that you dropped the ball and never made the time for your wife or kids?
• Are you ready to take a stand putting first things first so that you not only set commitments or give promises that can be met but that you put God, your wife, and your family ahead in the prioritization queue to everything else. In the list, everything else can only have as high of a priority as 4. God gets first place. Your wife gets second place. Your kids/family get third place. Everyone and everything else starts at fourth place.
• Consider the example of our Heavenly Father when we read Deuteronomy 4:31:
  • ‘For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath. ‘ – Deuteronomy 4:31
  • God “doesn’t forget“!
  • God’s “Word can be counted on“!
  • God “is trustworthy to the core“.
• Let’s be the dads who are promise keepers!
• Let’s be the dads who are promise keepers at home and at work!
• Let’s be the dads who realize it may not be easy but it is definitely worth it!
• Let’s be the dads who do whatever is needed to get it done!
• Let’s be the dads who aren’t so focused on our careers that we forget about our families!
• Let’s be the dads who make the same commitment to keeping our promises at home as we do at work!
• Let’s be the dads who keep our word when we set a timeline or a deadline with our wives.
• Let’s be the dads who keep our word when we promise to spend time with or play with our kids.
• Let’s be the dads whose family knows we can be trusted!
• It’s never too late to make things right!
• And like the lyrics of the song Believe For It by CeCe Winans, let’s be the dads who when we say it people believe it.
• It’s never too late to make things right and apologize for the delay!
• Let’s pray today’s prayer”
  • “Pray that God help you to be a father who keeps his word.”

With the song stuck in my head, I wanted to include it here so that as we close out on this devotional series we can pause and be encouraged.