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Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:16

“A gracious woman gets honor, and violent men get riches.” Proverbs 11:16

Compare the vehemence. An woman of grace will pursue and protect an honorable stature with the same persistence and strength that a wicked man pursues wealth. Often Solomon expresses the reality of what he sees. This proverb is no exception. Through this observation he puts the violent man; ruthless man (in the original) as a comparison to the desire a woman has for/and to be honored. It is easy for us to conceive a pirate (if I may), hunting down treasure, but perhaps we (especially as men) don’t understand that there is such drive in a woman. It is just, often, in a completely different direction than men would think.

Lord God, I struggle between not being my wife’s instructor/teacher and leading/guiding her sanctification. When I read a proverb like this I think so much about her… what are You saying to me? … Lead me, so I can lead her in Your grace. Strengthen me to honor her, and defend her; fight for her. Teach me how to build-up and defend her honor even when she’s wrong. Bless us today. Bring us back together stronger.

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:15

“Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.” Proverbs 11:15

Stewardship of our blessings not only honors God. Even as we have been given blessings, we are also given wisdom on how to best glorify God with those blessings. While we are often blessed so that we can bless others, there is wisdom in discerning between actually blessing someone and “casting our pearls before swine.” Knowing someone’s character before taking up their debts is wise. In fact, it seems that Solomon insinuates that, with the exception of close friends or family, pledging your guarantee on someone else’s credibility is not wise… and it will benefit you in the process.

Father God, I praise You for an upbringing that aligned with this wisdom. You have blessed our family in so many ways because of it! I praise You that, though much of my adult life we have lived meagerly, we have sought to live by this ideal and sought Your glory in it. Abba, I praise You for the blessings that I am now beginning to feel. You are faithful. Bless my socks off with a supernatural shift, LORD, that points only to You. Bless me at the Restaurant that my co-workers would see a marked difference in Your blessing on me , that I may speak more of You!

Responsibility Is A Key

Think about the first time someone ever trusted you with a key.

Perhaps you can remember the first time you got to carry your own key to your house, and the feeling that flooded through your body was probably one of pride because you had your own key. The subconscious of that young person recognized, that with the possession of a key came responsibility, and the fact that someone trusted you enough – or thought you had the responsibility that it took – to allow you to have a key to the house, made you feel good.

When teaching our children responsibility, we use the following definition:

RESPONSIBILITY: The courage to take something the way it is, and to TAKE CARE OF IT according to its good.

CharactersofCourage.com

Each word in the Code of Conduct taught to my children has an object and an animal that represent it. Responsibility is a key. Think about it this way, as I personify a key using its natural responsibility:

THAT’S THE KEY!
A key has the ability to take care of things in your possession. It turns just as well securing things that are borrowed, as with your own belongings. And it doesn’t abandon its duty because its feelings are hurt, nor does it neglect to secure its objects from a desire to protect itself. It doesn’t stray from its responsibility because of an outside distraction – be it other keys, a more exciting treasure chest, or something shiny. A key’s whole purpose is to take care of the objects that are placed, left, or chosen to be in its possession.
Responsibility – “Take Care of It!”

CharactersofCourage.com

If you look closely at the words of that ‘poem’ you will see aspects of life that are real issues when it comes to responsibility. Hopefully it is apparent to you that it would be appropriate for a key, if it had the ability to choose, to do (or not do, depending on the line) exactly what is stated there.

Don’t look at responsibility as a chore. It is a privilege. Remember feeling a sense of pride because someone thought that you had what it took to be given the responsibility of a key? Well guess what? Someone thinks you have what it takes to be given the responsibility of a child. And that Someone doesn’t make mistakes!

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:14

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14

Listening to wise counsel is in itself wise. A leader must lead, and his followers need him to lead. So too with a father. His children and wife are looking to him to lead. They want him to do it. We can see around us, right now, the condition of a society where the leaders don’t lead. However, a man cannot do this on his own. Wisdom says, rather than shrink back from that reality, a man should lean into it and surround himself with advise from many wise men. In their presence there is safety and a profitable plan.

Lord, surround me with faithful counselors. The men that come to mind are Eric & Josh … Chris, Jody, Mike & Dale. Lord let me rely/lean on them. Give me priorities that glorify You and edify my family. Help me to set them, and make them clear. Give me wisdom on those decisions. God, bless my family. Give Steven wisdom. Give Wesley discernment. Give Alana identity in You. Give Lucy diligence. Give Heidi a heart of forgiveness. Give our President an abundance of faithful counsel, and let him listen to them. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:13

“Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” Proverbs 11:13

There is a time when love and wisdom guide to privacy. Covering information, in love, is not wrong. Though the adversary may tempt with the idea that it is deceitful, Solomon clearly says, here, that there is a time to wisely keep things from the public eye. Solomon speaks further on this, in Proverbs 17:9, how the covering of an offense is seeking love. Too often we have a sense of duty to talk about something simply because we know about it, especially if we know it to be true; that it actually happened. “I was just telling the truth,” is a common excuse. Peter also speaks on this in the New Testament (1 Peter 4:8) commending that love covers a multitude of sin. This alludes to the blood of Christ who has covered all of our sins, and washed them white a snow.

Lord God, help me to know when love and wisdom guide to privacy. Let love and wisdom guide all that I do. You have blessed us. Thank You. You know every detail of the course of our lives, and the near-chaos, that I feel now, is in Your hand. Thank You for the peace that this understanding brings. Pour strength onto my girls. Illuminate each of them through this process of home-schooling. Draw them close to You. We need You more than ever as a family. Bind us together. Grant that we would forgive one another, and use us for Your purposes within, and without, our family. Bless my shift. Bless Luminosity (contracted writing project). Bless my writing . All of this as You see fit, because You are my all – I want more of You. These things I pray in the strong Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:12

“Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.” Proverbs 11:12

Putting others down is motivated by one’s own destitution. When we feel as if we are not “enough,” we, as humans, tend to put down others, especially if they seem to be doing better than we are ourselves. When our “neighbor” is doing well in something that we consider ourselves to be good at, or that we aspire to do well, this also seems to be a time this belittling raises its ugly head. It takes wisdom to hold our tongue, even when someone is inviting a word directed at their ignorance or foolishness. This “understanding,” that Solomon is referring to, is that our “neighbor’s” due consequences or reward will come with or without our tongue getting in the way. Most of the time an honest experience of an over anxious tongue brings more hurt to itself than any other outcome.

Lord God, thank You for the wisdom to hold my tongue and keep my peace while I listened to the true feelings on my wife’s heart. Her grievances are a consequence of my sin. You have forgiven me. I know it will take her longer to do so. Grant me the strength and the patience to walk with her through this process, and become the man she needs me to be. May we all see Your face today at church. Let all the externals fall away and show us who You are and that You, our Great God, have all of this in Your hand. Meet each one of us at our place of need and show us Your Glory that will pale all else in the beauty of Your Majesty!

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:11

“By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.” Proverbs 11:11

Blessings are not just for the righteous. A righteous man is blessed abundantly so that his surroundings may feel it too. This is true in the family as well. A man’s family being his “City,” is a common thought along the lines of the population that surrounds him. He is intended to care for them much like a superhero protects and cares for those in the city that was invented/written for him. As a king that blesses his kingdom, or the cities therein, with his righteousness, so too a father blesses his family with his character! The opposite side, however, is true as well. Wickedness needs only to be spoken of, and its destructive tendencies begin to take root.

Lord, I am convicted by how many of these talk about the righteous; the upright. I have lived so long “hugging the cliff” and presuming on Your grace. I am ashamed. Forgive me. Like Daniel, You made me to know You from an early age, so use me and strengthen me to live in a way that only You can! Do not let me consider myself more than I am, a wretch, but help me to also remember that You save a wretch like me! Praise You that my foundation is sure. Fill the cracks and make me righteous because of Jesus! “I called out to the Lord, and He heard me; He answered me” – even me, who spit in His face! You ARE good. Thank you for the blessings this week. Bring to us a clarity and conviction of what You have for us. Guide me to be the man my wife needs, and the one that she would like. You have blessed my life so greatly through her. Strengthen me to serve her as the daughter of the king that she is. Bless my time with my daughter today, and let me not neglect my wife and my duties.

Devotions for Dads – Proverbs 11:10

“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.” Proverbs 11:10

Aging wall-painting of Mussolini

Virtue is held high. No one is seeking to put a wicked man in “office,” and when men, who turn out to be wicked, die there is a sigh of relief from the masses. This was true of Nero, of Hitler, even as near as Osama Bin Laden in our own time. No matter how much society seems to disparage virtue, it is very pleased to take the blessings that a virtuous leader brings it.

Lord God, remind me of this. …and really it’s more a matter of “focus my cared on what You think and have prescribed, rather than on what others may, or do, think of me. Let me listen to Your voice and instruction over the loud mouths of this society. Praise You for the blessings You have brought this man you are making righteous and gentle. Fill this house with Your peace. Not just among us, but IN us. Bless my shift today. Bless the progress of the “have tos” , so that You may bless the “want to” time with peace and love. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11:9

“With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. ” Proverbs 11:9

taken from arkencounter.com

The righteous know Him. It is not new that godless men seek to slander those who follow the One who created all things. This has occurred since the time of Noah. However, just like in Noah’s case, the knowledge that the righteous and blameless man possessed, because of his relationship with the One he knew to be true, drove him to obedience and deliverance from a literal flood. Even today individuals that are increasing their knowledge and relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, are delivered from the trouble of this world because it will come. For those who are His, Jesus promises to carry them through.

Father, You have blessed me. You Are Good. Thank you for the children’s desire to read Your word. Praise You for the understanding of the realities of Knowing You as the foundation of the Christian life – and how it is accomplished. From worship to discipline, and from leadership to sex, to know You is the point of this life and every step to joy! Bless my family today with greater understanding of You. Edify my son through Your word that he is Yours, and you will do what You’ve called him to do. Bless my shift. Build in my girls a true identity in You. Inspire me to be still and listen. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

Devotions for Dads! – Proverbs 11: 8

“The righteous is delivered from trouble and the wicked walks into it instead.” Proverbs 11:8

There is deliverance for some. This world has many troubles. Solomon does not mean that those who are righteous will have no trouble… but they will be delivered from it. The Israelites had trouble with the Egyptians (slavery), Mordecai had trouble with Haman (hatred and seeking extermination), Peter had trouble with the Roman guards and yet God delivered out of each of these circumstances. To be delivered out of, one must be in something, to begin with. This world holds troubles for the righteous, but God will deliver them out… including completely out of this world and into His glory, through Jesus Christ’s righteousness if one has it. The wicked have no deliverance, from the present troubles or from the ones to come. Even for them, only Jesus Christ can deliver, and only if they accept His help.

Lord, You ARE Good. Thank you for Your word and that its history shows us examples over and over of how Your promises are true. Praise You for the strength to be righteous and pure. Please continue to supply that strength and the mindset to guide me (and my family) through this wretched world. You are the guide, You are the leader, savior, and advocate. Jesus Christ, Your Name be praised! Grant me humility as I lead my family – make me a good follower. You promise that You will provide – do it. You promise my deliverance from trouble – do it. You promise that Your plans are to prosper us and not harm – do it Lord Jesus, Father who set all in motion, and Spirit who guides me, heart and soul. Be glorified in my household in Jesus’ Name! Amen.