The Bible.com (or Bible App from YouVersion) has so many great plans to go through and read. As I continue through the list of dad devotionals using their search capabilities, I have come across today’s devotional which is a 12-day devotional titled 10 Challenges Every Dad Must Conquer. Checking out the publisher’s information and signing up for their newsletters as well as getting to download their survival gear, I am excited to get better connected with them as I believe they have many resources that will be helpful and useful for men who answer the call to step up and step into being the dads God has called and created them to be. Looking into this devotional and trying to better understand the purpose of Manhood Journey, I discovered they are “a ministry who helps dads become disciple-makers. We do this through various tools. Things like blogs, eBooks, Field Guides, Bible studies, digital courses, and live events“. I am so excited to get to go through this devotional with all of you and see where God will take us. I am excited to have gotten to communicate with Kent and to have found their resources as I believe it will be of great help to dads.
The Bible.com site describes this plan as follows:
“Feel overwhelmed—or worse—like a failure? We took your most-pressing challenges and matched them up with battle-proven, busy leaders who also happen to be dads—to give you theologically deep and super-practical help. You CAN be the dad God calls you to be. This plan will help.”
10 Challenges Every Dad Must Conquer
Today’s devotional points us to Ephesians 4:26-27 and Ephesians 4:31-32.
‘“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. ‘
Ephesians 4:26-27
‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’
Ephesians 4:31-32
It’s an interesting theme we get from God’s Word. It is interesting that it comes from the same chapter of the same book and yet excludes some verses in the middle. Let’s focus on the verses for today but not neglect the connecting pieces, the connections between them both. Ever been in a situation where what happened made you angry? Ever been in a situation while being the dad where someone did something that hurt your child and it made you angry? Ever responded in a way that you shouldn’t have? Ever been able to manage the anger in order to keep yourself from sinning? Let’s be the dads who can get angry when something bad happens and yet also be the dads who don’t slip into sinning because of that anger. Let’s be the dads who are able to bring the anger before God and deal with it before we go to sleep so that we don’t go to sleep angry. Let’s be the dads who won’t give the devil a foothold because of anger or bitterness in our hearts and our lives. Let’s be the dads who take it to God and address it so that God’s answer, God’s peace, and God’s love can give us wisdom and direction which will prevent us from falling into sin because of our anger. It is interesting that even while I commented about the anger I included bitterness because our second scripture for today calls for us to rid ourselves of it. Let’s be the dads who get rid of bitterness! Let’s be the dads who get rid of rage! Let’s be the dads who get rid of anger! Let’s be the dads who get rid of brawling and slander! Let’s be the dads who get rid of every and any form of malice. Let’s be the dads God created and called for us to be by being kind! Let’s be the dads who get rid of every and any form of malice. Let’s be the dads God created and called for us to be by being compassionate! Let’s be the dads who get rid of every and any form of malice. Let’s be the dads God created and called for us to be by being forgiving! Let’s learn from the example of our Heavenly Father and be the dads who forgive just as He has forgiven us through Jesus. God is calling us to a higher standard! Jesus took the bar found in the 10 Words or Decalogue or 10 Commandments and raised the bar when He spoke to us. Let’s be the dads He created and called us to be. Let’s be the dads our wives need us to be. Let’s be the dads our kids need us to be!
Before jumping into today’s devotional, I wanted to circle back and take a quick look at the connecting verses between the two scriptures from today’s devotional. Let’s check out verses 28-30 to see what they have to say:
‘Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ‘
Ephesians 4:28-30
Today’s devotional has been provided by Manhood Journey (more details can be found https://www.manhoodjourney.org/fieldguides/)
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 Manhood Journey: https://www.manhoodjourney.org/fieldguides/.
Day 6 You’re always angry.
- Ever been the dad who hears people say “you’re always angry”?
- Ever been the dad who sees people and ask them why are you always angry?
- Ever been the dad who notices people who are mad at the world?
- Today’s devotional speaks to what anger is when it shares the following:
- “anger can be a surprising source of frustration and bondage.“
- Ever found yourself with the view or the response to anger where you see “The shame of a raised voice, over reaction or patched hole in the wall is covered with promises to do better next time, and a resolve to keep this struggle quiet because “good Christian parents don’t lose their temper.”“
- Today’s devotional gives us advice into what we should do when it comes to anger:
- “See your anger”
- Are you able to see your anger and admit you are angry?
- Are you able to experience anger when something matters to your heart?
- Are you able to experience anger when something really matters to you?
- Do you express the anger on the outside when something matters to you so much?
- What does anger look like on the outside of you?
- Are you able to spot yourself getting angry and keep yourself from losing it, blowing up, causing damage?
- Today’s devotional wants us to realize that the goal of SEEING OUR ANGER is to keep us from causing damage!
- “Source your anger”
- Are you aware what is the source of your anger? Is there a trigger from your past that causes it?
- I remember breaking free from an anger that would get triggered whenever someone hit me in the face, it took me going through Cleansing Stream and then at the retreat going up for prayer, even when I didn’t think it applied and then learning it was from my childhood and having a lady who didn’t know me growing up being filled with the Spirit and asking me to forgive her as she was my grandmother. Once I forgave that anger never comes up anymore. God is able to help break those soulties if we are willing to give them over Him and get Him to search us and cleanse us and purify our hearts.
- Today’s devotional tells us how we need to do “the hard work of investigating what is making us feel so deeply.“
- Anger is like the lights on the dash of your car to let you know there is something wrong.
- “Anger is like a diagnostic tool” to help you know there is something that needs to be taken care of.
- “When anger erupts, it’s a signal something is wrong.“
- Let’s make sure we are taking as good of care of our health as we can!
- Let’s be the dads who eat right and at the right times so we don’t get hangry.
- Let’s be the dads who get enough sleep that we don’t live tired and with a shortened fuse.
- Let’s be the dads who exercise in order to work off the stresses and strains of life.
- Today’s devotional tells us: “Don’t skip the obvious things“
- Submit your anger
- We learn in today’s devotional what submitting our anger means:
- We learn in today’s devotional the benefits of submitting our anger:
- “Jesus is powerful enough for your anger problem.“
- “applying that gospel to the sources of your anger is an honest confession to Him that you need a new heart to surrender to His control.“
- Jesus is the antidote!
- With Jesus all things are possible!
- He is the answer!
- “See your anger”
- Today’s devotional closes with the following set of questions:
