5 Days to Slay Your Dragon – Day 4 – Smash it before it gets too big!

We need to smash it: the bad, the toxic, and the wrong thoughts, words, actions, and habits before they impact our character and destiny! Ever heard “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny” by Lao Tzu. So let’s choose to smash our bad, wrong, and toxic thoughts before they can become words that have power and cause damage. Let’s choose to smash our bad, wrong, and toxic words before they hurt and tear down others by becoming actions! Let’s choose to smash our bad, wrong, and toxic actions before they hurt others and become habits in our lives! Let’s choose to small our bad, wrong, and toxic habits before they impact our character and destiny!

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

Scripture from Today’s Devotional:

Wondering how to smash it? Wondering what “it” could be that requires smashing? Turn to God’s Word!  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 break free from sin and the temptations of the devil and find victory by the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimony.

Let’s be the dads who are attentive to God’s wisdom! Let’s be the dads who Incline our ears to God’s understanding! Let’s be the dads who exercise discrimination and discretion which is good judgment, and our lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely to temptation! Let’s be the dads who realize the lips of an immoral woman drip honey like a honeycomb and her speech is smoother than oil; nut in the end she is bitter like the extract of wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword, her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol the nether world, the place of the dead so that she does not think seriously about the path of life; her ways are aimless and unstable; and you cannot know where her path leads. Let’s be the dads who let our way in life be far from her, and do not go near the door of her house to avoid even being near the places of temptation!

Let’s be the dads who hold marriage in high honor, and are regarded as something of great value! Let’s be the dads who choose to live our lives with the marriage bed undefiled by immorality or by any sexual sin! Let’s be the dads who cling to God and cling to our wives for we know that God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous!

Let’s be the dads who have common sense and so keep ourselves from committing adultery! Let’s be the dads who have sound judgment and so keep ourselves from committing adultery! Let’s be the dads who have an understanding of moral principles and so keep ourselves from committing adultery! Let’s be the dads who are clinging to God and our wives to avoid falling into the temptation of adultery because we know that will destroy our souls!

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:
“Get Rid of Your Dragon While It’s Young“

• Ever considered the stages of reptiles from egg to baby to full size?
• If you wanted to try and get rid of the dragon early it would be easiest “to kill a dragon is to smash it while it is still inside its egg“!
• Let’s be the dads who avoid allowing the seed of sin to take root in our hearts!
• Let’s be the dads who pull out the seeds of bitterness before they can take root!
• Let’s be the dads who replace the seeds of bitterness with forgiveness!
• Let’s be the dads who pause long enough to see what is taking place and before allowing the seed into your heart or your mind, you can cast it away and smash it before it can start to wreak havoc in and through your life!
• Let’s be the dads who avoid the sins by preventing the small seeds from taking root and starting to grow!
• Let’s be the dads who see the seed of sin and choose to smash it rather than allowing it to take root and impact our lives and the lives of our families!
• Today’s devotional provides an interesting example for us to consider and ponder:
  • “For instance, I have always hated haircuts. But years ago I started going to a salon where things changed. The lady I was assigned to was very attractive and interesting to talk to. When she cut my hair, the time flew by. I went to that salon for about two months and enjoyed my interaction with this lady each time.“
• If you see the seed of sin will you choose to smash it immediately?
• Let’s be the dads who when we spot that a seed is trying to take root and take up space in our hearts and minds, we uproot it and smash it immediately!
• Today’s devotional shows us how even something as simple as a haircut can open the door when it shares both the realization and then the response:
  • “One day I woke up and saw that I had a haircut scheduled for that day. I felt a flutter of excitement inside. I was excited at the thought of seeing that woman. Now, I should mention that I was married at that time with two or three children. So I called the salon, canceled my appointment, and never went back.“
• Let’s be the dads who learn from the experiences of other men so as to avoid falling into temptation!
• Let’s be the dads who stop while we are ahead and don’t allow a look to cause us to act out sinfully!
  • When David saw Bathsheba, he was lustful and could have stopped while he was ahead but …
  • When David sent someone to find out more about Bathsheba, and learned she was married and could have stopped while he was ahead but…
  • When David sent for her and then slept with her and was now caught up in adultery because he didn’t stop while he was ahead.
• Let’s be the dads who are prudent men who see evil and hide ourselves and avoid it! (Proverbs 27:12)
• Let’s be the dads who aren’t naive and who are easily misled and thus continue on and are punished by suffering the consequences of sin. (Proverbs 27:12)
• Let’s be the dads who smash it early so that we don’t become the cause or the reason for bad things happening to good people!
• Let’s be the dads who stop it at the “innocent flutter of excitement” in order to prevent the serious problems that could arise!
• Today’s devotional closes with the following:
  • “If you can kill a dragon in its gestation period, you will never have to battle a monster. Realize when you are coddling a monster in the making and kill it quickly!”