As today ramps up and we reflect on yesterday, did things go as you had hoped or planned or expected? How did you respond? What did the light on the dash show the status of your heart to be? We know that from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks! Are you willing and able to cast your cares upon God because you know that He cares for you? Are you letting things pile up rather than offloading them? What are you allowing into your heart? What are you allowing into your mind? How is that impacting your mood and attitude? How is it impacting the way you respond and speak to your wife and kids?
Words have the power to heal! Words have the power to change lives! Words have the power to influence! Words have the power to inspire! Words have the power to create! Words have the power to destroy! Words have the power to build up! Words have the power to tear down! Words have the power of life! Words have the power of death! So let’s remember this and consider the warnings and warning signs we need to be aware of.
Scripture for Today’s Devotional:
‘ WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [I John 3:15.]’
James 4:1-2
God’s Word is good! God’s Word is useful! God’s Word teaches! God’s Word rebukes! God’s Word corrects! God’s Word trains us to become more like God! Let’s be the dads who do regular checkups on the state of our minds and hearts! Let’s be the dads who realize the triggers of strife and conflict in our lives! Let’s be the dads who dig into the things that trigger discord and feuds! Let’s be the dads who dig into the things that trigger quarrels and fighting! Let’s be the dads who take it to God’s Word for wisdom and discernment and with hearts that are willing to wait upon the Lord to find answers! Let’s be the dads who guard our hearts and minds against sensual desires that are ever warring in our bodily members! Let’s be the dads who take captive every thought and desire to keep us from hate, jealousy, and coveting! Let’s be the dads who resist the lies and the temptations that could cause us to go to the dark side and to hate which Jesus warns is equivalent to murder! Let’s be the dads who invite Jesus into our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to help keep our hearts clean regularly! Let’s be the dads who want to make sure what overflows from our hearts is good and loving! Let’s be the dads who resist the temptations of envy and anger because it is rare that the anger that would come out of us would be holy anger like God’s! Let’s be the dads who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness rather than finding ourselves in the trap of envy and anger because we find ourselves unable to obtain or meet the expectations of the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek that triggers us to misbehave and strike out in fights and wars! So let’s pause for a moment and remember that Jesus taught us that we need to ask, seek, and knock and that we have not because we ask not! Let’s check our motives and desire God’s will! Let’s check our motives to ensure we are asking from the right position in our hearts! And once we have the right motives then let us ask, seek, and knock because we know that when we Keep on asking and it will be given to us; keep on seeking and we will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to us. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)
Today’s devotional has been provided to us by Think Eternity!
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: https://thinke.org
Takeaways from Today’s Devotionals:
“What causes our anger?“
- Let’s be the dads who are in a relationship with God and don’t allow “our emotions to pile up throughout the day“!
- Let’s be the dads who are careful in not allowing “our emotions to pile up throughout the day” because we know that if we do, “we can let them out on people closest to us“!
- Let’s be the dads who pause and reflect upon the “sorts of things that can get us frustrated or stressed out“!
- Today’s devotional provides us with some to consider:
- “Men often love to take on more work than they can handle, causing them to be stressed out and short-fused.”
- “Reading the news can get me angry, frustrated or anxious.”
- “When I am over-worked and over-stressed it is easier for me to get angry about silly things.”
- “When I don’t give myself margin in life, it is easier to be short and rash with my kids.”
- “Dads often expect a lot from their kids, and this discipline and expectation can sometimes come out in the wrong ways.”
- Let’s be the dads who are walking with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to sift thru the things that come our way so that we don’t take on more than we can handle!
- Let’s be the dads who are walking with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to sift thru how we spend our time during the day so we don’t get stuck focusing on the bad news that is being reported and published all over the place!
- Let’s be the dads who lean in and trust God and seek His wisdom and discernment so we don’t get all wound up, pushing things to the limits that cause us to become short and rash with our kids!
- Let’s be the dads who turn to God to help us have realistic and godly expectations for our kids so that we can train them up in the way they should go rather than with unrealistic expectations that cause us to act or speak out in the wrong ways!
- Today’s devotional closes with the following thought and challenge:
