Don’t be running on empty as you step into today! Choose to be filled by the Holy Spirit so that you can walk out today in truth and with power. As we prepare for today, let’s lean into God and invite Him to fill us with His Spirit. Let’s ask God to fill us with His love, His wisdom, His discernment, and His power to be able to accomplish all that He has prepared in advance for us to accomplish so that we will be able to overflow into the lives of our wives, kids, and world with His love, His wisdom, His discernment, and His power.
Filled by Surrendering to the Spirit’s Overflow
In Ephesians 5:18, Paul urges believers to be filled with the Spirit, emphasizing not just a one-time filling but a continual state of being filled. This filling is not just for personal edification but also for the overflow into the lives of others. When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us to overflowing, we are empowered to fulfill our roles as husbands and fathers effectively.
Key Takeaway:
By surrendering to the Spirit’s control daily, dads can experience a continual outpouring of God’s love, wisdom, and power, enabling them to lead and nurture their families in alignment with His will.
Application:
Start each day with prayer, asking God to fill you afresh with His Spirit and guide your thoughts, words, and actions throughout the day.
Filled by Leading with Love and Wisdom
Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 16:14 to do everything in love. As fathers, we are called to lead our families with love, mirroring the sacrificial love of Christ for His church (Ephesians 5:25). This love is not merely an emotion but a deliberate choice to prioritize the well-being and growth of our spouses and children. Coupled with wisdom from above (James 3:17), this love enables us to make decisions that honor God and bless our families.
Key Takeaway:
Love infused with divine wisdom is the cornerstone of effective fatherhood.
Application:
Seek God’s wisdom through prayer and meditation on His Word, allowing His love to flow through you in all interactions with your family.
Filled by Cultivating a Spirit-Led Home
In Acts 2:17, the prophet Joel speaks of a time when God will pour out His Spirit on all people, resulting in sons and daughters prophesying and young men seeing visions. As fathers, we have the privilege and responsibility to cultivate an environment in our homes where the Holy Spirit is welcomed and active. This involves fostering an atmosphere of prayer, worship, and openness to the Spirit’s leading, allowing each family member to grow in their relationship with God and operate in their spiritual gifts.
Key Takeaway:
A Spirit-led home is a place where God’s presence is tangible, and His will is sought and obeyed.
Application:
Intentionally create opportunities for family prayer, Bible study, and worship, inviting the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts and minds of each family member.
Embracing Spirit-Filled Fatherhood
Conclusion: As fathers, let us commit to walking in the fullness of the Spirit, not relying on our own strength or wisdom but surrendering daily to God’s guidance and empowerment. By allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us to overflowing, we can lead our families with love, wisdom, and spiritual discernment, creating homes where God’s presence is palpable and His will is paramount. Let us remember that our role as fathers is not merely biological but spiritual, and by cultivating a Spirit-led home, we have the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy of faith for generations to come.
Today’s Devotional:
This year, I am utilizing the 365 Daily Devotions book I received for Christmas, applying its teachings specifically in the context of fatherhood. It’s called WALKING WITH GOD by DAVID JEREMIAH. It’s exciting to learn from a new resource this year as we have tried different options the past two years and will keep working through this for 2024. For more information about the author and his ministry, visit DavidJeremiah.org.
Topic: OVERFLOW OR RUNOFF
Verse: Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV)
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Today’s Devotional kicks off speaking of a fountain that “never diminishes” and as such provide a “never lacking water” supply. It continues to ask us to imagine there being a man “deliberately ignoring the fountain.” We need to be the dads who realize that Jesus is the fountain of life and He never diminishes and as such we need to stay with Him so that we will never lack. Imagine if we as dads were to ignore what we are being offered and as today’s devotional puts it “with illogical obstinacy prefer to dig a hole in the ground for runoff water, which quickly seeps out of the broken cistern, leaving us nothing but mud.”
Today’s Devotional speaks to this type of activity as detailed in the Bible is of people looking for love in all the wrong places. It speaks to how “the world is filled with broken cisterns.” We need to be the dads who choose Jesus and receive the “satisfying joy” He provides and then be filled to overflowing so we can pour it into the lives of our wives, kids, and world. We need to remember what Jesus taught in John 4:13-14 which says:
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Today’s Devotional closes with this thought and something we as dads need to pick up: “True happiness can be found only in Christ, the living water.”
“I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.”
HORATIUS BONAR
