As we continue to dig into the lessons and the truths, let’s hold tight to God and seek Him with all of our hearts. I found this new devotional from Michael W. Smith, published by K-Love that sounds like it will be a great thing to help us be the dads. Today’s devotional will help us to consider our perspective and see how God sees us and as such how to be the dads who live our lives with the same perspective towards our kids. Today’s devotional tells us how “Because of your relationship with Jesus, your Abba Father looks at you and says, “That’s my child!” God’s first thought is of you as His son or daughter, all from a heart of love.” Today’s devotional is “K-LOVE Books’ inaugural release from artist, actor, and author Michael W. Smith, The Way of the Father, offers this five-day study to encourage and inspire every Christ-follower in a personal journey of faith with the Father.” So let’s get into it and learn more about the way of our Father and the truths of God!
Today’s devotional gets us started with the following verses: Acts 20:34-35.
‘You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” ‘
Acts 20:34-35
God’s Word is so powerful and alive! God’s Word knows where we are right here and right now and what wisdom and direction we are in need. God’s Word today shows up at the right time for me to receive it. Let’s be the dads who are generous and givers! Let’s be the dads who provided not only for our own needs but the needs of our wives and our kids and our community! Let’s be the dads who are dedicated to the work God has given us to do and work hard as unto the Lord rather than just for man and a paycheck. Let’s be the dads who help the weak! Let’s be the dads to look and work to receive the blessings that accompany being generous and giving to others! Let’s choose today to work and to give so that we can be the husbands our wives need! Let’s choose today to work and to give so that we can be the dads our kids need! Let’s choose today to work and to give so that we can be the dads this world needs!
Today’s devotional has been provided by K-LOVE books (more details can be found here: About The Publisher)
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://www.klove.com/books.
Take-Aways from Today’s Devotional
- Today’s devotional kicks off pointing out how Jesus provided us with “a blueprint for how to live and love“:
- ‘Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ‘ Matthew 22:34-40
- Let’s be the dads who choose to love God with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our mind!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to love our neighbors as ourselves!
- Do you understand yourself?
- Do you know who you are?
- Do you accept who you are?
- Do you accept who God created you to be?
- Do you live out your life in alignment to who God created you to be?
- Are you ready to take hold of who you are in order for you to be able to love God the way you should?
- Are you ready to take hold of who you are in order for you to be able to love others like God wants you to?
- Are you ready to love yourself?
- Are you ready then to love yourself like God wants you to?
- Are you ready then to love others like you love yourself?
- Let’s be the dads who serve with excellence!
- Let’s be the dads who have a drive to serve with excellence for the glory of God!
- Let’s be the dads who have a joy to help others!
- Let’s be the dads who have a joy even in the midst of trials because of the truth of Jesus!
- Let’s be the dads who have a joy in the midst of trials because we know the suffering is temporary!
- Let’s be the dads who cling onto James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-9 and can persevere for the glory of God!
- Let’s be the dads who remember that what we are going through is for our good and for God’s glory!
- ‘Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.’ 1 Peter 4:12-19
- ‘Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ‘ Romans 5:3-10
- Let’s be the dads who dig in and read and learn from scripture!
- Let’s be the dads who absorb and take hold of the principles about the blessings of hard work from scripture!
- Let’s be the dads who absorb and take hold of the principles about the blessings of seeking excellence from scripture!
- Let’s be the dads who take hold of the warnings from scripture too and how we aren’t to be lazy, apathetic, having unreal expectations, and even feeling entitled!
- Let’s be the dads who spend time digesting and absorbing the truths found in Proverbs!
- Let’s be the dads who spend time attaching ourselves to the truth from scripture!
- Let’s be the dads who attach ourselves to Jesus’s teaching from scripture!
- Let’s be the dads who grab hold of and choose to live out our lives in alignment to Jesus’s teaching as well as the teaching provided to us through so many books of the New Testament from Paul’s letters!
- Let’s be the dads who do the right thing!
- Let’s be the dads who do things the right way!
- Let’s be the dads who do things for the right reasons!
- The Bible gives us a clear mandate “to do the right thing in the right way for the right reasons”
- Put another way: “Doing God’s will in God’s ways for God’s purposes.“
- Let’s be the dads who lead by example!
- Let’s be the dads who shine the hope, the love, and the light of Jesus into the world for as the old saying goes: “More is caught than taught.”
- Let’s be the dads who teach our kids!
- Let’s be the dads who teach our kids through our actions!
- Let’s be the dads who pass on a legacy because our kids have been observing, watching, and catching our work ethic and constant desire for excellence in every area of our lives!
- Today’s devotional makes a great call out into how these truths are for all of us, no matter our past when it shares:
- ‘Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ‘ Matthew 22:34-40
- Today’s devotional closes with a question for us to ponder:
