Finding My Father – Day 5

Today we will close out this 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:

‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ‘

Psalms 139:14-16

God’s Word is a love letter to let us know how much God loves us! God’s Word is an instruction manual to help us be able to live life in a way that will allow us to live an abundant life to the full!

Let’s be the dads who receive the truth of our creation by God and the plans and purposes He created us with! Let’s be the dads who know God created us, our wives, and our kids on purpose, with purpose, and for a purpose! Let’s be the dads who know God is detail oriented and as such built us just the right way to be able to accomplish His plans and purposes for our lives for our good and His glory! God’s Word shows us how God knows the past, the present, and the future!

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 Devotionals:
“Hello Healing”

• Let’s be the dads who are looking to forgive and be forgiven in order to allow for healing!
• Let’s be the dads who are making decisions that will glorify God and be good for our wives and kids!
• Let’s be the dads who realize that our actions and words impact our wives and kids and so we need to ask God to help us speak life and love and truth in a way that builds up rather than tears down, strengthens, encourages, and heals!
• Let’s be the dads who realize we live in a broken world and how broken people hurt people and so we need to help point people to Jesus and also make sure we aren’t putting the actions and words of people on God!
• Let’s be the dads who realize that Jesus is the healer and so let’s go to Him when we are broken and point broken people to Him for healing!
• Today’s devotional speaks a very powerful truth:
  • “Today I want us to delight in the truth of who God says we are. The “more in me” was found the day I gave Jesus all my broken pieces AND truly forgave my earthly father. I realized that it’s a process and not a moment. This revelation helped me to accept what the Heavenly Father was trying to give. “
• Today’s devotional shares a poem the author had received and heard from her mother:

“As children bring their broken toys in tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dream to God because He was my friend, but then instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own. At last I snatched them back and said, “How can you be so slow?” He said, “My child, what could I do? You never let it go.”

–unknown author

• Today’s devotional brings us back to the list we were to create on day 1, did you finish it?
  • “It’s time to take out your ungodly belief list I asked you to make on day one. Some of you weren’t able to finish yours. That’s okay. Forgiveness is a process. When you are ready you will know. It took me 30 years. Over my healing process, I have made some huge mistakes, costly ones. Choosing to heal privately can be dangerous. Accountability is imperative on your spiritual journey. If you don’t have a church, find one, get plugged in, and find a mentor to walk this out with you. For today, it’s me and I am happy to be alongside of you.“
• Let’s be the dads who realize that forgiveness is a process!
• Let’s be the dads who are willing and able to ask for forgiveness when we mess up!
• Let’s be the dads who are willing and able to forgive when others mess up!
• Let’s be the dads who don’t try to walk through life on our own and in our own strength!
• Let’s be the dads who lean in and trust in God!
• Let’s be the dads who have others from the body of Christ who we can lean on and trust to help keep us on track and accountable!
• Let’s be the dads who have a church body we are a part of!
• Let’s be the dads who have a church body that we don’t just attend but get plugged into!
• Let’s be the dads who have a church body where we can find a spiritual mentor to help us walk thru life!
• Today’s devotional now challenges us to write a companion list to go along with the ungodly belief list that is a godly belief list for each item on your original list:
  • “Beside every ungodly belief I want you to write a Godly belief. For example, if you wrote, “You are ugly,” I want you to counter it with scripture, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Then mark out the ungodly belief. After you are done, hang it on a mirror or someplace where you can read it every single day. You will begin to replace the lies with truth and change your negative mindset about yourself. God will see you through your bitter days to your better days.“
• Let’s be the dads who are working to replace the ungodly beliefs with Godly beliefs in our lives!
• Let’s be the dads who are living to transform and be transformed from a negative mindset to a positive one!
• Let’s be the dads who are living to transform and be transformed from a hopeless mindset to a hopeful one!
• Today’s devotional closes with this challenge – to live a transformed life – when it says:
  • “In reading this devotional, I pray you will daily choose adoption over abandonment, restoration over retribution, and compassion over contempt. God forgave you so that you may forgive others. Do not let those around you remind you of who you used to be. You are a daughter of the King. As I wrote these days, I prayed for you. I prayed you would be open. I prayed for this very moment. When you truly find your Father, you’ll know.“