Everyday Discernment: The Importance of Spirit-led Decision Making – Day 4

Let’s be prepared by leaning into the Holy Spirit so that we can walk out our day with discernment. Let’s walk protected with the Holy Spirit giving us the discernment to navigate through today! Let’s jump in and see what we can learn on Day 4 from this great devotional written by Tim Ferrara.

Life demands we make critical choices, but how can you do so effectively? Your ability to discern can make all the difference in what your future looks like. As you read, you will discover how to measure what you are taught against the truth of God’s Word, how to develop a life-giving connection with God, and the path to finding clear direction from the Holy Spirit.

Everyday Discernment: The Importance of Spirit-led Decision Making | Devotional Reading Plan | YouVersion Bible

Scripture from Today’s Devotional:

God’s Word is powerful! God’s Word can meet us right where we are at! God’s Word can speak volumes in simple words! Let’s be the dads who commit our actions to the Lord! Let’s be the dads who work as unto the Lord! Let’s be the dads who know that by committing our actions to the Lord, our plans will succeed! Let’s be the dads who know that by trusting God rather than leaning on our own understanding, God will show us the path to take! Let’s be the dads who know that we can make the plan but God will lead our steps! Let’s be the dads who realize that the only way for this to work is by praying without ceasing, praying all the time, and praying about everything so that we don’t have to worry about anything! Let’s pray aka be talking with God all day!

Today’s devotional has been provided to us by Helping you make better decisions that honor God (discerning-dad.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: https://discerning-dad.com

Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Discernment with Time“

• What’s a priority to you? Ever heard the saying “First Things First“?
• Do you have your priorities straight? Do you know what your priorities are?
• Are you choosing to live in alignment with your priorities?
• Are you investing your time, money, and effort into those priorities?
• Remember how I spoke that mine are God, Wife, Kids, and then everything else?
• Today’s devotional shares how Tim’s mom said “that we “make time for what’s important to us.”“
• Sounds simple right? Makes sense right?
• Let’s be the dads who use the minutes and hours we have with the right prioritization!
• Today’s devotional asks how you would rank the following list: (if they apply, consider your priority ordering)
  • “Family, Work, God, Hobbies, Children, Church, and Spouse”
• Today’s devotional is very clear when it calls out that “If God is not number one on your list, your list is wrong, bottom line.“!
• If you think of it as more of a building a triangle and need to have a strong foundation on which to put the other items, by doing so, then we are able to prioritize and invest in the other things!
• Today’s devotional speaks to it this way:
  • “If God is not number one on your list, your list is wrong, bottom line. This does not mean that work and family are not important. Quite the contrary, only by God being the number one priority in your life are you able to fully and properly devote yourself to all the other things on the list. A husband or father filled with the Holy Spirit and in communion with God throughout the day is able to be the man he is called to be for his family and lead them properly. Knowing that we do not have unlimited time, it is all about a matter of priority.“
• Let’s make sure we are putting first things first because they are priorities not because of a feeling.
• Will you do it because it is a priority or can “not feeling like it” win out?
• Will we prioritize what is right, what is good, and what is important over how we feel in the moment?
• Let’s be the dads who “follow through on what we know is right instead of listening to our feelings“!
• Let’s be the dads who “don’t let your feelings control your faith“!
• Let’s be the dads who “incorporate routines into our life that help us achieve our goals“!
• Let’s grab hold of today’s scripture from Proverbs 16:3 and ‘Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.’
• Let’s be the dads who make time to spend time with God and in His Word, set apart from the noise of the world!
• Let’s be the dads who know that wherever we are, we can spend time with God and in His Word because God’s Word tells us to “Never stop praying” that’s right to “pray without ceasing“!
• Today’s devotional reminds us that “We can take time during our day to pray, stop, and pray again later“!
• Today’s devotional closes with the following thought and challenge:
  • “Having discernment with our time we can cognitively, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, decide in advance where we should spend time daily based on what is a priority in our life. “
  • “Where have you not been spending enough time in an area that you would consider a priority? “
  • “What are some practical steps that you can spend more time in the above area?“