As today’s devotional comes to a close with day 3 of 3, it is amazing how God chooses to speak to us. It is amazing how great His love is for us! It is amazing how far He is willing to go to get our attention! It’s just a matter of where we are and how we will respond. Will we allow our hearts to be softened and recreated? Will you allow our minds to be receptive to His instruction and wisdom? It’s a choice that we will all have to and get to make!
What a great word to see as my next devotional topic AGAPE – agape (/ɑːˈɡɑːpeɪ, ˈɑːɡəˌpeɪ, ˈæɡə-/;[1][2] from Ancient Greek ἀγάπη (agápē)) is unconditional love, “the highest form of love, charity” and “the love of God for man and of man for God”. What a way to kick off a Sunday and consider how it is a 3-day devotional means we will need to find another one for Wednesday! What a way to kick off the calendar week with the topic of the highest form of love! What a way to kick off the calendar week with the topic of unconditional love! Let’s be the dads who love unconditionally! Let’s be the dads who love our wives unconditionally! Let’s be the dads who love our kids unconditionally! Let’s be the dads who love others unconditionally so that they may experience God’s presence in and through our lives! Let’s dig in to get all this devotional has to offer! In the description from Bible.com we read about how “Vance K. Jackson leads readers in this heart-transforming message. God is Love. There is no comparison to the Love of God. Let His Love fill every void. There is nothing that can replace His Love. There is nothing that can compete with His Love. Let the Love of God serve as the foundation of every area of your heart as you read this timely message.” Such an intro makes me so excited to read and learn and share what I find with each of you.
Let’s check out our scriptures for today’s devotional:
‘Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. ‘
Matthew 18:21-22
‘In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. ‘
Isaiah 10:27
‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ‘
1 Peter 5:7
God’s Word never returns void! God’s Word isn’t dead on dusty old pages of an old book but rather God’s Word is alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword!
Do you realize how important it is to forgive? It was one of the most powerful moments in my life when I finally was able to let go of the anger, the bitterness, the frustration, the sadness, and the loneliness and replace them with forgiveness that filled my heart with love, hope, and joy! Let me share a quick video with you on the subject before we continue to our next scripture!
Let’s be the dads who are ready and willing to forgive! Let’s be the dads who choose to forgive! Let’s be the dads who aren’t keeping count of the offenses because we are too busy forgiving! Let’s be the dads who aren’t causing ourselves more pain by not forgiving others! Let’s be the dads who can forgive our wives! Let’s be the dads who can forgive our kids! Let’s be the dads who can forgive the people with whom we live out this life! That’s right, not just 7 times but keep forgiving!
Let’s be the dads who receive Jesus into our hearts! Let’s be the dads who have the yoke broken by the love of Jesus! Let’s be the dads who are able to receive the yoke and burden Jesus is offering us and giving up the one we have been carrying! Let’s be the dads who accept the offer to allow Jesus to bear the burdens of this life with us and not have to go it alone! Let’s be the dads who accept the offer to allow Jesus to exchange the yoke of this life with us for His yoke that is easy! Let’s be the dads who will give up on trying to do enough, be good enough, etc. but instead receive the gift of grace by faith in Jesus! Let’s be the dads who produce good fruit because of the overflow of God’s love from our hearts and our faith in Jesus! So rather than doing to receive we are doing from the overflow of our hearts in faith for we know that faith without works is dead! Let’s be the dads who give up and give over to Jesus “The “yoke of the Pharisees” is the burdensome yoke of self-righteousness and legalistic law-keeping.” Let’s be the dads who trade yokes with Jesus because we realize that “Jesus was saying that any kind of law-keeping is burdensome and amounts to a “heavy yoke” of oppression because no amount of law-keeping can bridge the gap between our sinfulness and God’s holiness.” Let’s be the dads who will ask questions and dig deeper to understand God’s Word! I found this commentary on “What makes Jesus’ yoke easy and His burden light” and it says:
What makes Jesus’ yoke easy and His burden light is that in Jesus’ own active obedience (i.e., His perfect fulfillment of the Law of God), He carried the burden that we were meant to carry. His perfect obedience is applied (imputed) to us through faith, just as His righteousness was exchanged for our sin at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our obedience to Jesus then becomes our “spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Furthermore, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who works in our lives to mold us into the image of Christ, thereby making the yoke of Jesus easy and His burden light. The life lived by faith is a much lighter yoke and a much easier burden to carry than the heavy and burdensome yoke of self-righteousness under which some continually strive to make themselves acceptable to God through works.
What does it mean when Jesus says, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)? | GotQuestions.org
Let’s be the dads who do not allow anxiety and worry to weigh us down! Let’s be the dads who when anxiety or worry comes our way, choose to cast all of it (not a piece, not a part, not some, but all of it) on God! Let’s be the dads who pray without ceasing because we want to be walking out our entire life in a relationship with God! Let’s be the dads who choose to cast all our cares and anxiety on God because we know that He cares for us!
Today’s devotional has been provided by Vance K. Jackson (http://www.VanceKJackson.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, please visit http://www.VanceKJackson.com (About The Publisher).
Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Love Breaks Cycles.“
- Let’s be the dads who lead with love and so in doing:
- Let’s be the dads who grab hold of and pass on God’s love for we know that God’s love:
- Let’s be the dads who invite Jesus into our hearts and allow His love to:
- Today’s devotional uses the AMPC version which I think we should be the dads to receive God’s Word from today when it says:
- Let’s be the dads who trust God at His Word and so when we read and reflect on scriptures like 1 Peter 5:7, we are able to prevent or stop
- Let’s be the dads who trust God at His Word and can read and reflect on scriptures like 1 Peter 5:7 and grab hold of the reality that:
- Let’s be the dads who “Choose to completely surrender to the Father’s Love“!
- Today’s devotional closes with a reference link with additional resources from Vance K. Jackson:
- “We hope this Plan encouraged you. Explore Other Resources from Vance K. Jackson.“
