Being Fathered By God – Day 6

Coming into day 6 of this great devotional. I found this devotional: Being Fathered By God. The devotional seems very powerful and purposeful as it calls out how “Every man has had authority figures in his life, and much of what a man perceives about God was shaped by those authority figures. His earthly father is at the top of every man’s authority list.” So I took on the offer to join the journey into this devotional. Will you join me on this 14-day journey?

Scripture from Today’s Devotional:

• 2 Corinthians 5:17

‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ‘

2 Corinthians 5:17

God’s Word is active and alive and so let’s make sure we are taking time to daily be in it and hear from God!

Let’s be the dads who have been transformed! Let’s be the dads who because of Jesus have been metamorphosized into a new creation for the glory of God! Let’s be the dads who because of our encounter with Jesus are living a new life that is glorifying to God and so much better for us and our wives, our kids, and our world! Let’s be the dads who leave the old behind and press forward in the new that Jesus has done in and through our lives! Let’s be the dads who as new choose to press towards the goal God has purposed and planned for our lives!

Today’s devotional was provided by Michael Thompson where on zoweh.org they share the following: “Every man has had authority figures in his life, and much of what a man perceives about God and projects onto God was shaped by those authority figures. At the top of every man’s authority list is his earthly father. How your dad handled your heart has shaped you and contributed significantly to how you perceive God. Join us for this journey towards experiencing the heart of the Father and getting everything out of the way that is in the way of being a Beloved Son.“

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)

Through zoweh.org, you are able to download today’s devotional and many others.

For more information, please visit https://www.zoweh.org/youversion.

Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“It’s a Setup“

• Let’s be the dads who realize the plot and plan of the devil is to set us up “for a fall: disappointment, heartache, and rejection.“
• Let’s be the dads who realize God’s plan is for good and not for evil, to give us hope and a future and so the devil doesn’t think that “we are meant for such a glorious and weighty love“!
• Let’s be the dads who realize there is a battle taking place over our souls and the battle belongs to the Lord!
• Let’s be the dads who realize how the devil and God’s plans are different as we read in God’s Word:
  • ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ‘ John 10:10
• Today’s devotional speaks to this using the word “adversary” and “great villain“.
  • “It’s a setup because there is an adversary, a great villain in our story, who is hell-bent on making sure we do not know and experience unconditional love. Our stories are full of people, other image-bearers who love imperfectly and conditionally.“
• The devil wants to lie and trick us into thinking we are alone and the battle we are in is against the people around us but that isn’t the truth.
  • ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ‘ Ephesians 6:12
• That is why we are called to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the attacks of the devil and his fiery darts!
  • ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ‘ Ephesians 6:10-18
• Today’s devotional speaks to how the devil wants us to feel alone and be alone:
  • “There are dark forces in every man’s story that make sure he feels, hears, and experiences: “You are alone. Trust no one. Arrange for life and love (validation, acceptance, worth) for yourself.”“
• The devil knows that if he can get us and keep us alone then we will listen and believe the lies we wouldn’t have believed when we weren’t alone.
• God wants us to receive and understand His unconditional love whereas the devil wants us to think love is conditional and we can’t deserve it or receive it!
• Let’s be the dads who understand and receive God’s, unconditional love!
• Let’s be the dads who grab onto the words of Romans 6:23 and receive God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus!
  • ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Romans 6:23
• Let’s be the dads who receive the free gift of salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord!
  • ‘As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ‘ Ephesians 2:1-10
• Let’s be the dads who realize God’s love isn’t based on us doing more or less but rather God’s character and unconditional love!
• Today’s devotional speaks this interesting reminder:
  • “The conditional-love moments in a man’s life result in his believing: “If I could do more of this or less of that, be this or be that, then people would love me.”“
• Let’s be the dads who choose to live our lives God’s way!
• Let’s be the dads who choose to receive the gift of God through our faith in Jesus!
• Let’s lean in and turn to God, trusting in Him over our own understanding so that the devil can’t get his claws into us and cause roots to grow in our hearts that are pulling us away from God!
• Today’s devotional speaks to how when we allow the devil’s lies in we start to try and come up with strategies:
  • “Strategies form and harden in our inmost being and become the “system” a man both runs and is subject to. Repeatedly, that system attempts to create or manipulate ways in which a man can provide love for himself. The ol’ “If it is to be, it is up to me” way of life lodges deep in the heart and clouds over every opportunity to arrange for love, tipping the vote of acceptance and worth his way arrange.“
• Let’s be the dads who lean on God rather than allowing ourselves to be manipulated by the lies of the devil!
• Let’s be the dads who perform because we are loved by God rather than to be loved by God!
• Let’s be the dads who love our wives unconditionally rather than because of what they can do for us!
• Let’s be the dads who love our kids unconditionally rather than because of what they do!
• Let’s model God’s love in the lives of our family, our friends, and our world!
• Let’s be the dads who choose to not be instruments of the devil and as such point our wives, kids, and the world to Jesus and God’s unconditional love!
• Today’s devotional shares a story from the author that is pretty powerful and so I am sharing it here with you. In this devotion, we see the lessons he learned.
  • “As a boy I learned to perform in order to obtain love; validation, acceptance, and worth and to create distance in order to protect myself from the pain of not experiencing the love I was made for (we all were made for). This elaborate and pervasive “system” grows with the boy and takes its full, wretched effect years later when the boy becomes a man. Dark forces use this internal, conditional system, along with the opinions and words of others, to reinforce their lies- Life IS up to me. Conditional love and the enemy align, setting the man up for a fall.“
• Let’s be the dads who are prepared and won’t be fooled by the devil because we know that disappointment is real but we don’t have to allow the devil to manipulate us when we disappoint or get disappointed into turning from God instead should drive us closer to God!
• Let’s be the dads who choose to grab hold of and live out the truth!
• Let’s be the dads who don’t allow our own understanding but instead lean in and put our trust in God when we don’t understand things or have a wrong understanding of things!
• Today’s devotional speaks to this when it says:
  • “Someone doesn’t make us happy or we find it impossible to keep another happy—what then? Taking matters of love and life into his own hands is guaranteed to promote and perpetuate a man’s false self, which is self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-protecting, and self-promoting.“
  • “The false-self life will always obstruct the true man and real Life: Life that is abundant and full is uninhibited by expectations, opinions, and circumstances. Our Father promises another Life to us. He guarantees another Love. When we seek him, he finds us. Then, and only then, does the fall become a setup of a different kind: the setup for redemption … a man’s great and glorious comeback. I am not talking about salvation, which is the first move, or the installation of the needed new equipment—the new heart—which is what a man desperately needs in order to start learning how to Live. I am talking about sanctification… the healing from the inside out; the ability to now see what was in the way of truly seeing and experiencing Life.“
• Let’s be the dads who turn to God rather than away from God!
• Let’s be the dads who turn from the lies of the devil and towards the truth of God!
• Let’s be the dads who turn from the creator of lies toward the author and perfector of our faith and of life itself!
• Today’s devotional speaks the following:
  • “When a man turns away from the old false-self construct and its system (of wounds, coping mechanisms, and conditions) and moves intentionally toward the Author of Life for the new Life Jesus has custom-made for him, everything changes again. And again and again and again.“
• Let’s be the dads who with our free will, choose to make our choices in alignment to God’s plans, purposes, and will for our lives!
• Let’s be the dads who grab hold of a great quote I heard to turn a setback into a comeback because “A setback is a setup for a comeback“!
• Let’s be the dads who become God’s beloved son by rejecting the lies of the devil and our old system of beliefs and receiving the unconditional love of our Heavenly Father!
• Let’s be the dads who are healed, restores, and set free by experiencing the unconditional love of God, our Heavenly Father!
• Let’s be the dads who turn to God when we face a challenge, an obstacle, or a question!
• Let’s be the dads who go to our Heavenly Father every time so that we can learn and grow and become stronger in our faith!
• Let’s be the dads who listen to God to find our true identity rather than to the lies of the devil and the world!
• Let’s be the dads who walk out our lives with God so that step by step we can become more and more like Him and who He created us to be and less and less like the devil wants us to be that is who we are not supposed to be!
• Let’s pause and meditate on God’s Word and God’s Truth and receive the challenge from today’s devotional:
  • “How does the set-up for disappointment become a set-up for redemption?“
  • “What is the “weapon of choice” used most significantly by our adversary in the lives and hearts of men?“
  • “How specifically have you felt, experienced, been trained up to know conditional love? When, where…what is the story?“
  • “What are the details of your conditional love system? If you can’t see them, hear their influence operating on the inside, then it will be impossible to get free.“