Excited to continue into day 2 of our devotional written by Tim Ferrara. Excited to get to see how God will use it to help build up dads right where they are at today. Let’s lean on God rather than our own understanding, trusting Him to help us discern what we are to do. In case you missed the kick-off message, here is the description of this devotional:
Life demands we make critical choices, but how can you do so effectively? Your ability to discern can make all the difference in what your future looks like. As you read, you will discover how to measure what you are taught against the truth of God’s Word, how to develop a life-giving connection with God, and the path to finding clear direction from the Holy Spirit.
Everyday Discernment: The Importance of Spirit-led Decision Making | Devotional Reading Plan | YouVersion Bible
Scripture from Today’s Devotional:
‘Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. ‘
Psalms 119:105
‘Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. ‘
2 Timothy 1:14
God’s Word never returns void! God’s Word is a light source for us in this dark world! Let’s be the dads who choose to walk in the light produced by God’s Word! Let’s be the dads who allow the light of God’s Word to be a lamp to guide our steps! Let’s be the dads who allow the light of God’s Word to shine to illuminate the path we are to take! Let’s be the dads who walk with and trust the Holy Spirit in our walk! Let’s be the dads who allow the Holy Spirit to be our power source for guarding the truth God has entrusted to us!
Today’s devotional has been provided to us by Helping you make better decisions that honor God (discerning-dad.com)
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://discerning-dad.com
Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“How Discernment is Acquired“
- Let’s be the dads who realize the difference between wisdom and knowledge and discernment!
- Wisdom:
- the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment
- the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment
- Knowledge:
- facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject
- what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information
- awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation
- Discernment:
- the ability to judge well
- perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual guidance and understanding
- Wisdom:
- Today’s devotional speaks to discernment as follows:
- Let’s be the dads who realize discernment isn’t about checking stuff off a list!
- Let’s be the dads who realize discernment isn’t just about what you know!
- Let’s be the dads who realize that “Discernment takes practice, and it takes development“!
- Let’s be the dads who realize discernment comes from the Holy Spirit and is available to us all the time!
- Let’s be the dads who realize we need to keep trying to become more and more like Jesus!
- Let’s be the dads who spend lots of time in God’s Word, the Bible, so that God can speak to us and help us answer the questions or get prepared for what life is about to send our way, giving us the discernment we need to move forward to accomplish the good works God has prepared in advance for us to accomplish!
- Let’s be the dads who like Jeremiah hunger and thirst for the Word of God!
- “‘When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. ‘ Jeremiah 15:16“
- Let’s be the dads who don’t try to go it alone but allow God to use other people to provide us with the discernment we need!
- Let’s be the dads who have good quality connections who are able to speak over and into our lives like pastors, parents, mentors, friends, and our wives!
- Let’s be the dads who are looking for advice from others because we know that we don’t know it all!
- Let’s be the dads who can receive the various inputs and then allow the Holy Spirit to help us sift through it in order to take the right actions!
- Today’s devotional speaks to it this way:
- Let’s be the dads who allow God’s Word, other people, and the Holy Spirit to help us become better at discernment!
- Let’s be the dads who receive from Jesus’ words like in Luke when He says:
- “‘ “And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.” ‘ Luke 12:11-12“
- Let’s be the dads who capture the wisdom from God’s Word like when Paul is speaking to Timothy:
- “‘Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. ‘ 2 Timothy 1:14“
- Let’s be the dads who are living our lives subjected to the will of the Holy Spirit so that we will live and walk out our lives in alignment with the will of God!
- Today’s devotional closes with the following thought and challenge:
- “The Holy Spirit was given to us for God’s purposes and not ours. Jesus, in the book of John, also calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Truth” (v. 16:13), and we are told that Jesus will be glorified through the Spirit’s work (v. 16:14). The Holy Spirit is not subjective to our will; we are subjective to His. Since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, we can use the Spirit to discern what is true versus what is false.“
- “Which of these three areas (The Bible, Godly relationships, and The Holy Spirit) do you need to utilize more for your growth in discernment?“
- “What are some practical steps in how you can develop discernment in the above area?“
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