Tag: A Godly Man: Devotions From Time Of Grace

‘For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. ‘ Ephesians 5:25-27(NLT)

I have a friend who studied art and design. He says, “The eye is drawn to a vertical line.” That’s the temptation men face when they meet women who are revealing a little too much of what their mamas gave them. Eye contact, gentlemen!

Women are God’s art. Men have noticed their beauty and reproduced the female form in stone, on canvas, in celluloid film, and in their minds. Sometimes it’s respectful, and sometimes it’s just plain wrong. In real time, male/female interactions can produce sexual tension. And they can test a husband’s love and honor for his wife. Where do you look? What should you think? What do you say? And what are you willing to buy if she is selling something? It all depends on where your loyalties lie.

It’s interesting that a single man gave the best advice for marriage: “Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty” (Ephesians 5:25–27 MSG). It takes a loyal husband a lifetime to extol his wife’s beauty and keep her self-image whole. God forbid any man should ever break something so beautiful. Gentlemen, it is a good feeling to have a long marriage and be able to say, “This is my wife. She’s still everything I’m looking for.”

from A Godly Man: Devotions From Time Of Grace

‘“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.’ Matthew 7:9-11(NLT)

America was a mere 50 years old when Andrew Jackson was president. The country was frontier, and the unitedness of the states was a work in progress. There were pockets of resistance to the idea of a federal system, and slavery and taxes were divisive issues. South Carolina was a proxy for what a confederacy of southern states would do later. It declared the authority of Washington D.C. null and void. But Andrew Jackson felt about his young country the way he felt about his family. It was his responsibility to hold it together. He threatened military action to preserve the United States. He sent a declaration to the people of South Carolina explaining what he was prepared to do. He said he was writing to them “with the feelings of a father.”

Inescapable responsibility is the feeling of a father. Fathers know the buck stops with them. There is no holiday from their duty to be their children’s providers and protectors. Jesus referred to fathers as proxies for God: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9–11). We can depend on God because he cares for us with the feelings of a father.

from A Godly Man: Devotions From Time Of Grace

‘Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.’ Ephesians 6:4(NLT)

I have a confession. It’s hard to be a man. I’m sure it’s hard to be a woman too, but I can’t speak to it. Maybe one of my female colleagues could cover that topic. I’m just glad I never had to give birth. Most of the things God says about men and women in the Bible apply to both no matter which one he is addressing. And when God gets pointed with men, he is often tailoring a message toward our weaknesses. Fathers are more likely than mothers to exasperate their children because they are men. And it’s hard to be a man.

The script for manliness is bent toward brutishness because men wrote it. We get a pass for being crude and smelly that women don’t get. We would like to think we are bigger, faster, stronger, but most ladies I know are tougher than I am. They would never start a fight or a war nor believe they have a mandate to finish it. Men have a history of thinking it is the order of the universe that we should dominate everything. And we can struggle to be cooperative when we don’t.

And then there is the God-man, Jesus Christ. Men have profaned his name too often and failed to seek real manhood in him. Religion is for women and children, right? Not at all.

I have grown to admire the men who have patterned their lives after Jesus.

from A Godly Man: Devotions From Time Of Grace