As the year draws to a close I have 5 days remaining and so did a search for a 5-day devotional that we could use as dads. When I consider topics like modern-day knights and how can we be the dads who can identify our dragon and then be able to slay it.
Today’s devotional is described as:
You can pretend it’s not there. You can call it weird. But the supernatural realm is very real. Daniel Kolenda shows you how to slay the demonic dragon behind your every struggles.
5 Days to Slay Your Dragon | Devotional Reading Plan | YouVersion Bible
So let’s dig into the scripture and see what we can learn from today’s devotional.
Scripture from Today’s Devotional:
‘So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God]. Because of these [sinful] things the [divine] wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience [those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts], and in these [sinful things] you also once walked, when you were habitually living in them [without the knowledge of Christ]. But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self— ‘
Colossians 3:5-10
‘ “Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it also be with this wicked generation.” ‘
Matthew 12:43-45
God’s Word is our instruction manual for our spiritual battles! God’s Word is the Sword of the Spirit! God’s Word will never return void! God’s Word will help cut through the noise and the distraction and get to the core of the matter!
Let’s be the dads who put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body with its sensual, self-centered instincts immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is a kind of idolatry because it replaces your devotion to God! Let’s be the dads who don’t fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts! Let’s be the dads who are obedient to God so that these sinful things the divine wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts, and in these sinful things you also once walked when you were habitually living in them without the knowledge of Christ! Let’s be the dads who rid ourselves completely of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene abusive, filthy, vulgar language from our mouths! Let’s be the dads who do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new spiritual self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self!
Let’s be the dads who get rid of and reject unclean spirits when they try to come back! Let’s be the dads who lean on Jesus so that when the spirit tries to come back and even bring in reinforcements they can’t get in! Let’s be the dads who are walking with Jesus so that we won’t end up being in a worse situation than when Jesus cast the evil unclean spirits from us!
Today’s devotional has been provided to us by Daniel Kolenda through Charisma House.
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://danielkolendabooks.com/.
Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“What’s Your Dragon?“
- Do you believe in the spiritual realm?
- Do you realize there are good and evil spirits?
- Do you realize that “everyone battles a dragon at some point in their life“!
- Do you realize the impact of the demonic spirits on this world, “sometimes the demonic spirit produces great evils that take millions of lives“?
- Let’s be the dads who put on the full armor of God so that we can defend ourselves and even attack when demonic spirits attack!
- Let’s be the dads who turn to God and ask Him for wisdom so that we can identify the dragons of our times!
- Today’s devotional calls out some dragons for our generation: “racism, false religion, persecution, corruption, and terrorism are a few of the dragons my generation is currently battling.“
- Let’s be the dads who realize and can identify the dragons who are battling inside of us!
- Today’s devotional calls out how “in reality, most of the dragons we face are not the type that exists outside of us“!
- Let’s be the dads who ask Jesus to help clean up our hearts and remove anything that goes against His will!
- Today’s devotional calls out the reality that “Most of the dragons that threaten us are ones we have incubated, nurtured, and raised in our own hearts“!
- Let’s be the dads who use God’s Word to help us identify the dragons that try to destroy us like: “lust, pride, greed, selfishness in all its forms, hatred, the abandonment of responsibility, lack of self-discipline“!
- Let’s be the dads who fight against these internal dragons before they have the chance to “become the huge external ones mentioned earlier“!
- Let’s be the dads who put on the full armor of God so we can stand firm against both the small battles as well as the much bigger wars!
- Let’s be the dads who lean in and trust God so that we can understand “where we fit in God’s strategy will help us to take our individual assignments more seriously“!
- Let’s be the dads who turn to God’s Word in order to be able to understand “what our enemy is trying to accomplish” so that we can “recognize his devices and resist him with wisdom“!
- Today’s devotional closes with a prayer for us “that through this devotional you will be equipped to slay every dragon you encounter—not only in the world but also in your life“!
