As I went looking for our next devotional about dads, I found this one named “Love Slows Down” by Joël and Jonathan Malm. In a world where we see so much of a desire or need for instant gratification the topic of slowing down is interesting. In a world where everyone is busy and always on the go the topic of slowing down is intriguing. Today’s devotional draws us in with the statement “We were made from love, made for love, and are called to live in God’s love.” Today’s devotional is based on the book “Love Slows Down” by author Joël Malm. Looking to learn more about the book, it speaks to how packed it is with truth, guidance, and spiritual wisdom. This devotional will carry us through a week as it is a 7-day devotional. Its introduction shares how it will help us slow down and trade in anger, anxiety, and hurry for life with God’s love! I’m excited to get to see where we go.
Let’s check out our scriptures for today’s devotional:
‘You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. ‘
Isaiah 26:3
‘Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.’
Psalms 1:1-3
It’s exciting to me to get to jump into God’s Word each day. My day starts with an idea and then God’s Word is able to expand, improve, enlarge, amplify, direct, and instruct me on what to do and where to go, and how to do it! God’s Word is alive and speaks right to where we are at! So let’s be the dads who make time daily to dig into the Word of God!
Let’s be the dads who are able to find peace in, with, and from God by choosing to trust in God! Let’s be the dads who keep our minds firm on the Word of God! Let’s be the dads who keep our minds focused on Jesus! Let’s be the dads who are unwavering in our walk because of our trust in God, God’s Word, and Jesus as our Lord and Savior! Let’s be the dads who are firm in what we believe! Let’s be the dads who won’t be moved even when we face trials, troubles, or even difficulties! Let’s be the dads who will defend the truth! Let’s be the dads who choose to worship God in Spirit and in truth! Let’s trust God in order that we can be the dads who are steadfast! Let’s be the dads who are steadfast in our faith because we walk out our lives in relationship with Jesus! Let’s be the dads who put our steadfast faith in Jesus on display that when others see us they will see Jesus and praise our Heavenly Father! Today’s let’s be the dads who are immovable because of our faith and trust in God, putting on the full armor of God and standing firm!
Let’s be the dads who are blessed because we don’t walk in step with the wicked! Let’s be the dads who are blessed because we don’t stand in the way that sinners take! Let’s be the dads who are blessed because we don’t sit in the company of mockers! Let’s be the dads who are blessed because we delight in the law of the Lord! Let’s be the dads who are blessed because we meditate on God’s Word day and night! Let’s be the dads who are so connected and plugged into the calling, the purpose, and the plan of God for our lives that we can stand like a tree planted by streams of water producing good fruit in season without withering because we have our deep roots planted into the solid ground of Jesus!
Today’s devotional has been provided by Joël and Jonathan Malm (http://joelmalm.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)
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Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Seek Solitude“
- Let’s be the dads who can find quiet in our hearts and minds!
- Quiet from the noise of life!
- Quiet from the noise constant movement!
- Quiet from the noise of music!
- Quiet from the noise of talking!
- Quiet from the noise taking place in our hearts and heads caused by worry!
- Quiet from the noise taking place in our hearts and heads caused by anxiety!
- Let’s be the dads who find quiet in our hearts and minds by focusing on God’s love!
- Lets be the dads who can find quiet in our hearts and minds, a peace that surpasses all understanding, by trusting in God’s love!
- Let’s be the dads who take our thoughts captive!
- ‘We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ‘ 2 Corinthians 10:5
- Let’s be the dads who are aware of what thoughts are coming into our minds and that we are allowing to play out in our minds! Let’s take our thoughts captive!
- Let’s be the dads who don’t carry around or keep thinking about things that are creating anxiety but instead cast our cares upon God because He cares for us!
- Let’s be the dads who don’t carry around or keep thinking about things that make us angry but instead forgive and allow God’s love to fill our hearts to overflow!
- Let’s shrug off and move on from things that try to irritate us or create anxiety or fear!
- Let’s realize that if or when we allow too much negativity from the noise of the world into our lives that it can bring on anxiety and anger and as such, we need to stop ourselves and take our thoughts captive!
- Let’s be the dads who are aware of what we are allowing to take space in our minds and hearts and as such take our thoughts captive rather than allowing the noise of this world to start building stress, little by little, comment by comment, post by post, news report by news report, etc…
- Let’s be the dads who fill our minds with God’s Word!
- Let’s be the dads who fill our hearts with God’s love!
- Let’s be the dads who allow us to be filled to the brim with God so that there is no room to allow the noise of this world to take up real estate in our hearts and minds!
- Today’s devotional speaks to today’s verses from Psalm 1 this way:
- Solitude doesn’t mean loneliness but rather making time to be alone.
- Today’s devotional speaks to it this way:
- Let’s be the dads who practice finding mental stillness by meditating on God’s Word!
- Let’s be the dads who practice finding mental stillness by praying always!
- Let’s be the dads who allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us on our drives by turning off the radio and spending time with God! (you don’t have to close your eyes to talk or pray)
- Let’s be the dads who take time and make time throughout our day to walk and pray!
- Let’s be the dads who read, repeat, memorize scripture while we are doing tasks!
- Let’s grab hold of God’s Word and truth!
- Today’s devotional closes out with these two thoughts:
- “If your minds starts to wander toward fear or worry or anger in those moments, shift your thoughts to God’s word. The good news is, if you can worry, you can meditate on scripture. Worrying is thinking about negative possibilities over and over. Meditation on scripture is thinking about God’s goodness and truth over and over. It’s the same mental process, but you’ll get way better results focusing on God’s word. “
- “Today, when you start to feel anxious or upset, take a deep breath, clear your mind of worry, and repeat today’s verse over and over to yourself. You’ll find peace flooding into your heart and mind because that’s God’s promise to you.“
