TRUE NORTH: BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU – Day 6

The new rhythm is kicking in for all the family. New classes. New team. New school. New job. New year. In and through it all we will all get to points of needing direction or determining which way to go and for that to happen we need to know where true north is in order to get oriented and be able to move on from there. So let’s make sure we have that internal compass (ala Holy Spirit) on board to help us stay on track! Put another way, let’s make sure we aren’t trying to get there without our onboard navigation system (ala Holy Spirit) to lead and guide us, comfort and correct us!

The devotional is described in the Bible App as follows: “God is so absolutely crazy about His children and wants to show His love in so many ways. It wasn’t until I was a father that I understood that crazy parental kind of love, and it gave me a perspective of how He feels for us. My perspective changed further when I began to raise a little girl, and the tenderness of my heart helped me to understand the tender side of God—a side that would do anything for us because He loves us.”

Scripture for Today’s Devotional:

‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. ‘

Genesis 2:24

‘When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ‘

1 Corinthians 13:11

‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: ‘

Ecclesiastes 3:1

‘being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ‘

Philippians 1:6

‘The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. ‘

2 Peter 3:9

God’s Word is active and alive! God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! God’s Word never returns void! God’s timing is perfect!

Let’s be the dads who only cling to one woman because we know that outside of God’s plan we create soul ties that will need to be addressed and taken care of over and in time! Let’s be the dads who choose to live our lives in accordance with God’s plan that man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh!

Let’s be the dads who learn and mature through life! Let’s be the dads who understand our calling by God to be a husband and a dad to our kids! Let’s be the dads who aren’t stuck in our childish ways but rather put the ways of childhood behind us! Let’s be the dads who can have fun and love on our wives and kids in a mature way that doesn’t cause us to fall back into our childish ways!

Let’s be the dads who live in the now! Let’s be the dads who are present with our wives and kids! Let’s be the dads who learn from the past and trust God, walking by faith for the future! Let’s be the dads who trust God at His Word and know from the wisdom of scripture how there are seasons in and through life and live in accordance to God’s will and purpose and plan to enjoy each phase or season! Let’s be the dads who trust God and grasp the seasons we are going through in life be it: ‘a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. ‘ Ecclesiastes 3:2-8

Let’s be the dads who live our lives confidently for God! Let’s be the dads who are confident that God has started a good work in us! Let’s be the dads who are confident that God will finish the good work He has started in us until the day of Jesus’ return!

Let’s be the dads who are patient and will wait upon the Lord and His timing! Let’s be the dads who are patient because we know that the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness! Let’s be the dads who are like God and be patient because we want everyone possible to turn to and receive Jesus! Let’s be the dads who realize that the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness, but instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance.

Today’s devotional has been provided by True North Ministries.

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 http://www.truenorth.live.

Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Day 6: Release”

• Let’s be the dads who are preparing ourselves for the season when our kids grow up, mature into the incredible adults we have raised them to become, and leave home!
• Let’s be the dads who are preparing ourselves for the season when our kids find that special someone and will be leaving us to cleave to their spouse as God’s Word says!
• Let’s be the dads who are preparing ourselves for the day when our daughter’s attention will be on their husband instead of us!
• Let’s be the dads who are preparing ourselves for the day when our sons step out on their own to lead their own families!
• Let’s be the dads who are preparing emotionally for the day when we give our daughters to another man as they become husband and wife at their wedding!
• Let’s be the dads who realize it does take preparation because the emotions of that day are huge!
• Let’s be the dads who realize it takes lots of preparation to be emotionally ready to see your little babies step up, step out, and live their lives outside of the reach of your arms!
• Let’s be the dads who help our kids pick good helpmates, the right spouse, and the importance of being equally yoked!
• Let’s be the dads who express and teach our kids the lessons we have learned so that they won’t have to go and learn the painful outcomes on their own but can learn how to deal with or avoid them!
• Today’s devotional shares some of this when he speaks about his daughter and says:
  • “There is so much that I have learned as an adult, and so much that I’m still learning that I want to shield her from. I want to shelter her from bad decisions. I want to step in and intervene when she’s headed toward disaster. I want to have the emergency brake when I see her headed into traffic. I want her to choose the right things, and I never want her to go through hardships.
    
    But I know there comes a time when every parent must step back and give their children the ability to make decisions on their own. There is a time when my daughter will be grown and will pursue love. There is a time when my daughter won’t see me as the smartest man in her life. There is a time when her husband will ask if I can stop calling every morning to make sure she’s up for work. There is a time when she must cleave to her husband. Unfortunately, there is a time when I have to step back and let her live with the decisions she makes, good or bad. Just like scraping her knees as a child, she will fall as an adult, and ideally, the preparation we gave her will give her the strength to stand back up. I just hope she feels that she can come running to me at any time because even though she will be free to go, I’ll always be right there.”
• Let’s be the dads who have prepared our kids for that day when we need to step back and let them live their lives!
• Let’s be the dads who have prepared our kids for finding love and getting married!
• Let’s be the dads who are prepared to step back and allow our kids to live their lives with their decisions and the associated outcomes!
• Let’s be the dads who have prepared our kids to get back up when they fall down and have the firm foundation of Jesus for their lives!
• Today’s devotional speaks to us as dads in closing with the following:
  • “God prepares us for the same release into the world by allowing us to make our own decisions. His desire is that our decisions, and the consequences that accompany them, lead us back to Him. What I mean is, that God isn’t pulling the puppet strings and making sure that we only make good decisions. Inversely, He’s not pulling the puppet strings to make some people make bad decisions. He gives us the freedom to make our own decisions, and we have to live with those consequences, good or bad. As a result of our decisions, and what we live through, both the highs and the lows and all in between, I believe God wants us to turn to Him and realize what He has done for us through His son Jesus. Once we realize that, running to Him and worshiping Him will be our only natural response.”
  • “God releases you to make your decisions, in the hope that one day you will return. Because He loves you”