Eyes on Jesus – Day 14

What a great time with my wife the past couple of days as we attended a marriage conference together. Putting God first and allowing Jesus to be the center of our relationship and then making sure to spend time together and invest in our relationship, just works to make us better Christians, better spouses, and better parents. So let’s put God first, our wives second, and our kids third and allow God to help us take care of the rest as it says in Matthew 6:33 when it says: ‘“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’ Matthew 6:31-34“.

Scripture from Today’s Devotional:

God’s Word never returns void! God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. Let’s make sure to spend time in God’s Word so that we can receive the wisdom and discernment, the direction and instructions we need to make it through today! Let’s lean in on God and put all of our hope and trust in Him! Let’s trust God over our own understanding so that He is able to show us which path to take as we acknowledge and pursue Him!

Let’s be the dads who believe that God created us on purpose, with purpose, and for a purpose! Let’s be the dads who prioritize God first! Let’s be the dads who grasp the reality that God knew it wasn’t good for us to be alone! Let’s be the dads who know God created us to be the priest of our families, to be the provider of our families, and the protector of our families! Even in the garden, God spoke that into being with Adam:

‘Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.’

Genesis 1:26-31

Let’s be the dads who put our wives second after God, loving them as Jesus loves the church, humbly and sacrificially! Let’s be the dads who realize God’s plan for our marriages and His perfect design:

‘This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.’

Genesis 2:4-25

Let’s be the dads who put our kids third after God and our wives and realize that no matter what has gone on, it is important for us to be the dads our kids need us to be! For those who may not have wives, it is still important to be the dads your kids need you to be! For those who may have been removed from their families for some reason, it is still important to be the dads your kids need! Just like how God gave Adam the opportunity to name all the animals, our words have the power to speak life and love and power into and over our kids! Let’s be the dads who tell our kids how much we love them! Let’s be the dads who tell our kids how proud we are of them! Let’s be the dads God created, planned, and purposed for us to be!

Today’s devotional has been provided to us by Tim Ferrara (Discerning Dad) | Twitter, Instagram, YouTube | Linktree!

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://linktr.ee/discerning_dad

Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Are you in chains? Imprisoned?”

• Are you physically in chains or imprisoned because of the decisions or actions you have made?
• Are you spiritually in chains or imprisoned because of the decisions or actions you have made?
• Did you do something that has caused you to be taken away to deal with the consequences?
• Are you stuck and not even realizing it because of the decisions or actions you have made and not even realizing the consequences?
• Today’s devotional starts off with a question and story about how things we did as a kid speaks to us as we grow up when it says:
  • “Jesus has come to break chains, but if we purposely sign up for sin, we are putting the shackles on our spirit.  The Bible even says we are worse off than before we knew the saving power of Christ! Why? I believe because we should know better. As Christians we know the saving power of Christ but then reject a relationship with Him. This passage is not about salvation; it is about relationship!“
• Spiritually, God made a way for us to be freed. God gives us the opportunity to choose and be set free!
  • “‘Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.‘ John 8:34-36“
• Where are you today?
• Let’s be the dads who choose to admit our mistakes and seek forgiveness!
• Let’s be the dads who choose to give them all up to Jesus who came that we might have life and life to the full!
• Let’s be the dads who in our newfound freedom through Jesus are able to speak love, truth, and hope into the lives of our families, no matter where we find ourselves!
• Let’s be the dads who are able to speak hope, life, and truth into the lives of our loved ones, even from behind bars just like Paul did while under house arrest to so many churches!
• Let’s be dads who have been transformed through an encounter and relationship with Jesus!
• Let’s be the dads who care more about our wives and kids than our own selfish desires and behaviors!
• Let’s be the dads who realize it is all about relationships! Relationship with God! Relationship with our wives! Relationship with our kids! Relationships with others!
• When I went from knowing about God to discover that it wasn’t about knowing about God but rather having a relationship with God, my life was transformed!
• Let’s be the dads who realize that “sin clouds our judgment and our discernment“!
• Let’s be the dads who realize that “if we are enslaved to something, it means we do not have the freedom to move away from it“!
• Let’s be the dads who realize that “Godly discernment requires that we cultivate a relationship with Jesus through prayer and getting to know His Word and The Spirit“!
• Today’s devotional closes with the following thought and challenge to reflect upon:
  • “As you move forward in discernment, ask what you are enslaved or imprisoned by.  Often, we do not even realize what has a hold on us before it escalates. Are you slaves to sin and the flesh or slaves to Jesus Christ? What’s amazing that when we are slaves to Jesus, we find our greatest freedom!“
  • “Reflect: What are you bound to that you need freedom from?  What sin in your life do you need to give an eviction notice to?“
• I thank Tim Ferrara for allowing me to blog about his devotional and wanted to pass along that if this devotional about keeping our eyes on Jesus interested you that you can find the full 30-day version here: eyesonjesusdevotional.com!