Today we continue into this day 2 of this 5-day devotional. Let’s lean in to see what we can grasp and learn to help us be the dads God created, purposed, and plans for us to be for our wives, kids, and the world around us!
The Bible App describes the devotional as follows: “A plan for those on a journey to become better, not bitter.“
Scripture for Today’s Devotional:
‘ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ‘
Matthew 5:8
God’s Word is powerful! God’s Word is purposeful! God’s Word is promising!
Let’s be the dads who choose to be in a relationship with God rather than trying to live our lives religiously! Let’s be the dads who are relational, not religious! Let’s be the dads who are pursuing and seeking God’s heart, God’s plans, God’s purpose, God’s direction, and God’s wisdom so that we can live our lives to the full! Let’s be the dads who are more interested in God’s will, God’s heart, God’s plans, and God’s purpose than what we think or what the world thinks! Let’s be the dads who are living our lives with love and faith rather than legalism and hypocrisy! Let’s be the dads who are interested in doing things God’s way than man-made ways! Let’s be the dads who are looking to raise the bar in alignment with Jesus’ teaching rather than just going with average so that the average will go up rather than go down! Let’s be the dads who are inviting Jesus into our hearts to help ensure we don’t end up with bitter roots taking hold, trash from the past, and anything else that would prevent us from overflowing from our hearts the love of God! Let’s be the dads who are so interested in allowing God to clean our hearts because we know that from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks! Let’s be the dads who desire hearts that allow us to speak words that build up rather than tear down, encourage rather than discourage, love rather than hate, hope rather than despair, heal rather than hurt, and shine the light and love of Jesus into this world! Let’s be the dads who lean on God to help us through this life that tends to be intrinsically in a state of conflict! Let’s be the dads who ask God to help us to be authentic, doing what we say and saying what we do! Let’s be the dads who aren’t looking for nor spreading gossip! Let’s be the dads who invite Jesus into our hearts because we know that without Him in there and the Holy Spirit working in and through us, we can’t have a pure heart! Let’s be the dads who realize that it is what we allow into our hearts not our stomachs that defile us and so we need to lean in and trust God, building our lives on the foundation and in a relationship that is Jesus! Let’s lean in and walk with Jesus because we know that on our own we are lost and will go astray! Matthew 15 explains some of this as follows:
‘Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ ” Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” ‘
Matthew 15:1-20
Let’s be the dads who pursue citizenship in the kingdom of God! Let’s be the dads who live our lives in relationship with Jesus so that there is evidence by the fruit produced that we are citizens of the kingdom of God! Let’s be the dads who are preparing and ready for Jesus’ return!
Today’s devotional has been provided by Brittany Shepherd.
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 Roar Church (roarchurch.org).
Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Hello Trouble”
- Let’s be the dads who are looking to help our kids and wives to become who God created them to be rather than getting stuck bad talking or mistreating who they are today!
- Let’s be the dads who give our kids and our wives the attention and time they need so that they will know and feel our love and that we support and encourage them through it all!
- Let’s be the dads who love our wives and our kids unconditionally!
- Let’s be the dads who are present for our wives and kids so that they will see and know the love of God!
- Let’s be the dads who are being salt and light, truth and love to and for our wives and kids!
- Let’s be the dads who are in a deep relationship with Jesus and showing our wives and kids how important and necessary that is for all of us!
- Let’s be the dads who install the need and benefits of an intimate relationship rather than a surface-level relationship with Jesus!
- Let’s be the dads who demonstrate and show our wives and kids that we don’t need to go somewhere to meet God because He is with us, He will never leave us nor abandon us, He is omnipresent and so we can talk to Him and walk with Him and pray anywhere and anytime!
- Let’s be the dads who show our wives and kids the benefits of being part of the body of Christ!
- Let’s be the dads who show our wives and kids the power of being in a relationship with Jesus and with one another that is the church body!
- Let’s be the dads who help our wives and kids to seek God with a pure heart!
- Let’s be the dads who help our wives and kids to seek God and receive His wisdom to help us adjust our behaviors to align with His will!
- Today’s devotional closes with a powerful set of questions that as dads we need to try and live our lives being able to avoid in some cases allowing such things to happen and be able to answer in other cases so that our wives and kids realize how important and loved they are both by us and even more so by God, our Heavenly Father!
- Today’s devotional gives us this food for thought and so let’s be the dads who will ponder it deeply:
As I read these I remember some posts I have written over the years about how unforgiveness isn’t a word (as the spell checker used to put the squiggly red line under it). As I read this I remember all the posts I have written posts about the power of forgiveness and how it is the key. As I read this I reflect upon the story slam I did for work where I shared the power of forgiveness with my coworkers and the impact it made on all of them.
