Wow, another devotional is coming to a close and so I will need to find a new one tomorrow. It is amazing to me how quickly time flies and getting to look through various dad devotionals helps me grab hold of and make the most of each day. After a week of grabbing onto Love Slows Down, I did a search to discover what the next devotional series would be and found Survival Gear for Dads | Devotional Reading Plan | YouVersion Bible. Ever found it hard to be a godly dad? Ever found it exhausting to be a godly dad? Ever found it challenging to be a godly dad? Ever found it thrilling to be a godly dad? Ever found it confusing to be a godly dad? Ever found it rewarding to be a godly dad? As today’s devotional tells us “Being a godly father is an exhausting, challenging, thrilling, dangerous, confusing, and rewarding endeavor. It’s both a place you are and a journey you’re on. It’s a destination you arrive at and a process of becoming.” I am excited to get to read another devotional from the Manhood Journey and to read that this plan “will help you gear up for the journey, get a sense of where you are right now, and what steps to take next.” So let’s get into it and see what we can learn and what tools we can add to our toolbelt to be a part of our survival gear for this journey of being a godly dad!
Let’s check out our scriptures for today’s devotional:
‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’
Proverbs 3:5-6
‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ‘
2 Timothy 3:16
‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ‘
Philippians 4:6-7
‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ‘
John 15:13
‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ‘
Mark 10:45
‘ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ‘
Luke 16:10
‘These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ‘
Deuteronomy 6:6-8
Today’s devotional captures so many scriptures to close out our study. God’s Word is active and alive and all these scriptures point us to being the dads who live our lives in a way to impact the people God brings into our lives by servant leadership and teaching and training them so that they can be disciples and pass on all God has for them and for them to share and pass along!
Let’s be the dads who don’t try to do it on our own and in our own ways but instead let’s live our lives so that our wives, kids, and the world will see that we are trusting in God with all of our hearts rather than trying to lean on our own understanding! Let’s be the dads who acknowledge and submit our lives to God so that He is able to make our paths straight and the world can see His hand working in and through us!
Let’s be the dads who study God’s Word and share God’s Word because we know that all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness!
Let’s be the dads who trust God so much that we aren’t anxious or worried about things but instead take those things and lift them up in prayer and petition to God, with thanksgiving and praise so that the world can see us living and glorify our Father in Heaven! Let’s be the dads who allow God’s peace that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Jesus!
Let’s be the dads who give, serve, and sacrifice for our wives, kids, and the world so that they see Jesus in us and will receive it and realize the love of God working in and through us! Let’s be the dads who take hold of Jesus’ example and choose to live our lives to serve others starting with our wives and kids and then those God brings into our lives! Let’s be the dads who realize how much God loves us and our wives and our kids and this world because He gave His life as a ransom for each of us!
Let’s be the dads who are good stewards! Let’s be the dads who can be trusted! Let’s be the dads who when given little show that we are trustworthy! Let’s be the dads who when given much show our honesty! Let’s be the dads who choose to be good stewards!
Let’s be the dads who choose to live our lives in ways that will glorify God and point others to Him through love! Let’s be the dads who are living by example so that others may see us and glorify our Father in Heaven! Let’s be the dads who impress God’s Word on our children both in word and by example! Let’s be the dads who train our kids in truth! Let’s be the dads who protect our kids by sharing God, God’s Word, and God’s love with them!
Today’s devotional has been provided by Manhood Journey (https://www.manhoodjourney.org).
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 About The Publisher.
Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Make Disciples“
- Let’s be the dads who wake up each morning and get ready for the day ahead because we know that today will be “more like a treacherous hike over tricky terrain.“
- Let’s be the dads who prepare each morning for the day ahead picking up “tools to help us along the way“
- Let’s be the dads who don’t just get up and go but pause long enough to pick up the “tools every godly dad needs in his pack.“
- Let’s be the dads who don’t rush into each day unprepared but rather “walk step by step, loading in each tool one at a time.“
- Let’s be the dads who don’t try to get through life alone but rather choose to walk it out with God so that “along the way, we’ll get help knowing why each tool is important and how to properly handle it.“
- Today’s devotional get us started with the second tool for our toolbelt that we need to be carrying with us today!
- “Tool 7: Make Disciples“
- Let’s be the dads who are followers of Jesus!
- Let’s be the dads who are students of Jesus!
- Let’s be the dads who help our wives, kids, and the world around us become followers and students of Jesus!
- Today’s devotional speaks to 2 places where we should be the dads who are discipline others!
- Let’s be the dads who have our priorities straight putting God first, our wives second, and our kids third, and everything else after that!
- Let’s be the dads who do not get things backward as today’s devotional speaks and “We become experts at discipling “those other” people. Yet, at home, we’re unintentional and disengaged.“
- Let’s be the dads who have our priorities straight and are discipling our families!
- As today’s devotional tells us:
- Let’s be the dads who tell our wives and kids about our life experiences!
- Today’s devotional gives us some examples of what we can and should share:
- Let’s be the dads who share our experiences with God with our wives, kids, and the world no matter if they happened years ago or today!
- Let’s be the dads who are raising up disciples by sharing how God has worked in and through our lives!
- Let’s be the dads who tell our stories not only at work or in public but also at home and over dinner!
- Let’s be the dads who grab hold of today’s verses and teach our kids diligently to our kids!
- Let’s be the dads who point people to God, starting with our family and then the world!
- Let’s be the dads who point people to God, starting with our family and then the world through our actions!
- Let’s be the dads who point people to God, starting with our family and then the world through our words!
- Let’s be the dads who take the survival tools we have been given and start putting them into action!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to grow as godly fathers!
- Let’s be the dads who grab hold of the four stages of a godly dad provided through today’s devotional:
- “STAGE 1: NEW TRAVELER > I’m just embarking as a dad and want to head in the right direction.“
- “STAGE 2: CAPABLE NAVIGATOR > I’m navigating fatherhood’s challenges, but want to be more skilled.“
- “STAGE 3: ROAD WARRIOR > I’ve learned my way around and looking to master the habits of fatherhood.“
- “STAGE 4: TOUR GUIDE > I’m discipling my own kids and helping other fathers find their footing.“
- Today’s devotional closes with some pretty powerful wisdom to help us be the dads God created, plans, and purposed for us to be!
- “Now you’re figuring out where you are and where you’re going. This reading plan has helped you see some of the tools you’ll need. Want to take one more powerful step? Take the Godly Father Assessment. It’s a quick quiz based on the seven (7) Tools and four (4) Stages you just read about. It’ll tell you exactly where you are right now and give you steps to make meaningful progress. “
- Let’s be the dads who are there for one another!
- Let’s be the dads who share resources with one another!
- Today’s devotional from Manhood Journey and the organization itself is available to help and encourage us to be the dads God desires for us to be!
