DAD'S DAILY BREAD

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:9–21

John MacArthur says that this passage is a comprehensive and mandatory list of traits that characterize the Spirit filled life. So much good stuff that I have been reading it everyday for the last few weeks. I will be memorizing it. Just going through these verses daily I’m reminded of so many practical ways I can live out my faith. First it hits our responsibilities we have personally then it moves into our duties for our family. After that it covers our duties to others and then at the end it talks about how we are to treat our enemies. All of life is covered in those few verses. I want to embody those verses and teach them to my kids. It’s like a battle plan with everything you need to fight your daily battles. Black or white with no middle ground. Your living out your faith by doing all these things and your choosing to put the Lord first. Your choosing to put the love of God over the love of stuff. Serving others instead of serving yourself!

When you think about how wretched we are without Christ and how amazing the gift of salvation is, it makes it a whole lot easier to say no to yourself and want to give back to the one who gave it all. There is freedom in just giving up and letting go of the “American Dream” with all the world says is success and turning to God. Laying down at His feet and just submitting to Him and letting Him have your life! I want to have the hopes and dreams in sharing the Word of God just like I had the dream of owning my own home and truck. I mean if you sit back and think what one is going to give you more lasting peace and joy? Letting God take over or signing yourself into debt and then working every minute of your life trying to pay it off right up to the cancer that kills you. Your whole life is gone and most of your time was spent at work. I kinda feel like that’s my life right now and I’m not even in that much debt. Just trying to survive in a world where everything depends on the amount of money in your bank account. Lord please give me the faith to be different! I want a spirit filled life so I’m going to memorize these verses and start putting them all into practice! Thank you for Your Word! Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to change the things I need to change!

APPLICATION:

Read my Bible and pray out loud with my family. Start teaching the scriptures to my kids. Keep my filter locked into place. Memorize this passage. Use it to check myself. Pray Pray Pray

IN HIS NAME