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To Dance as a Father:
Tonight, I had a date with my 14 year old sister Gabrielle.
We went out for ice cream (root beer floats) to talk about life and love and
God…and well, that’s about all one can talk about actually. ;)
I keep thinking about meaning of what it means to live as a
Godly man. To be a man who starts His household in God-ordained order. (1 Tim
3:1-7) My home is at present still that of my mother and father, so I my
household is still their household.
Since my Dad died of cancer 6 years ago I have essentially
been a father to my sister over the years. I am basically an older brother that
fills in for the role of the father she is missing. A tough transitional time
is about to ensue with my family and I don’t know how things are going to turn
out. My brother and I are graduating this May. My Mom is gonna probably move
somewhere else (not sure where) and Gabby is going to go with Mom wherever she
goes. I may be living in Texas
next year and my younger brother will also graduate and be working in the DC
area. Craziness.
There is no Moses to lead my family down the narrow path of righteousness.
I feel like at times, my family is a ship without a rudder. We are without a
leader and yet I find myself on a near daily basis stepping up and being that
leader…at least to my sister.
I keep finding myself wishing I had a truly Godly man as a
father. Someone who puts the Lord before others, before himself. A man who is a
powerful example of the fruits of righteousness God is always willing to pour
out on he who humbles himself before Him. As
a child, no one showed me the narrow path. I never knew what it meant to
look at women without lust in my eyes, or to seek council in the Word instead
of things that depreciate with time.
Biblical knowledge will never become wisdom until it flows from the
head to the heart.
My prayer is that of thanksgiving. God has graciously given
me just enough strength in this world to surrender it all to Him. I’m not
praying for riches, or fame…I’m praying that God would do the changing in my
life, however He sees fit. If He wants me to stand up and talk to my family
about a tough sensitive issue, I ask that He grant me the strength to do so…yet
I know that He has already instilled that in me by the power of His Spirit.
“Ignoring what they said, Jesus told
the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." (Mark 5:36)
One day if the Lord wills, I will be a leader of my own
household. I will have the opportunity to initiate, by faith, a culture of
loving God and His kingdom first and foremost. I want to teach my children what
it means to be strong and determined and full of faith and trust and dependence
on the Lord….yet all the while displaying gentility that can only come through
a heart that has been submitted…and broken…by God.
So few men are willing to say “I will go” in the face the
world’s standards. So few are able to confidently claim the words: “I will love
others before myself.” (Mark 12:31) “I
will be faithful to my wife in both heart and flesh because I honor God with my
obedience to His Word.” (Matt. 5:27) “I will rise early each day to work by the
sweat of my brow for the sake of providing for my family, in order that I might
give to those in need.” (Eph. 4:28) “By His strength I persevere because have
fallen 9 times but
STILL …. I …. RISE. (Prov. 24:16 - paraphrase)
Being a good provider, a dutiful worker, a faithful church
goer, or a gracious husband means absolutely nothing to God when those things
are sought with a focus on pleasing men instead of God. He could care less
about your degree if it’s not done for Him. He could care less about boundaries
in premarital relationships if they are not done out of love for Him.
My mission in life is to represent God in all that I do.
Why? Because He died for me and to be honest, that truly means something to me.
I am not content to be merely a hearer, to soak it in and sit on it because
knowing Jesus feels like a nice hot bath at the end of a long day.
There is no greater cause than that of the eternal glory of God.
Men have forgotten what it means to be like God. We were
made in His image, to be warriors, leaders, …and lovers…in this world. That
means something. God designed us to mean something in this world.
I am so hurt by what I see both in the world and even among
my family. The pain and the struggles that take place on a daily basis that are
so clearly rooted in a lack of adherence to His Word…which is the essence of wisdom.
God didn’t write the Bible to point out the evil in our lives. He wrote it in
HOPE, as a tool for use by man for His purpose of redemption. The Bible was
written for us, by God, for the purpose of showing us the truth that lies
UNSEEN to the eyes of fallen man.
Godly men are desperately needed in this world.
“Many a man claims to have unfailing love,
but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 17:27)
I ask myself this question often, “John, are you faithful in
all that you do or is it just to the girl you like, or the classes you’re
freaked out about failing, or the church you attend, or the porn you refuse to
watch?” If they are only the ones you find are easy to check off the check list
of faithfulness, you have yet to experience the gift of unfailing love.
Without stain or blemish, is a man who actually lives
unfailing love. As depressing as this sounds, it is impossible for us to have
truly unfailing love…but faith we CAN discover! Love feels so fickle, so
temporal, but faith is so much more concrete.
Jesus had unfailing love for each of us because he had unfailing faith.
At the garden of Gethsemane
Jesus asked God if He could avoid suffering, but
by faith, a tremendous faith because Jesus Himself was God, He persevered
onward with towards fulfilling His mission for all of mankind.
How brave is he who lays down his life for His friends?
How faithful is he who lays down his life in unfailing
faith-driven love for his enemies?
Such is the life of a Godly man who claims Christ as his
treasure. He seeks not the riches, blessings, power, nor glory….but the instead
the heart of the Lord.
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