Today's Devotional: The Upper Room Daily Devotion "Fatherhood" for Tuesday, 21 April 2015 - Scripture: Matthew 1:18 Here is how the birth of Yeshua the Messiah took place. When his mother Miryam was engaged to Yosef, before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Ruach HaKodesh. 19 Her husband-to-be, Yosef, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame. 20 But while he was thinking about this, an angel of Adonai appeared to him in a dream and said, “Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,
23 “The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El.”[a]
(The name means, “God is with us.”)
24 When Yosef awoke he did what the angel of Adonai had told him to do — he took Miryam home to be his wife,[Footnotes:
Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14]
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.[Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)]
Watching the church youth reenact the Nativity story, I developed a deeper appreciation for Joseph. As I viewed the scene where the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, instructing him to take Mary as his wife and name her son Jesus, I was struck by this thought: Jesus not only needed a mother, he needed an earthly father. I had always regarded Joseph as a minor influence in the birth and life of our Lord. Not so! God’s infinite wisdom ordained that Joseph serve as Jesus’ earthly father. What a significant role and an awesome responsibility!
I volunteer at a Christian ministry that serves men who are homeless and addicted. Their past lives often reveal a common denominator; they were raised in homes where their father was either absent or abusive. Their lives are in disarray, in part because their fathers failed them. One of the key courses in the men’srecovery program teaches them the biblical principles of fatherhood. The objective is that those who have children will become the fathers that God intends them to be.
Every child deserves a godly father. If Jesus, God’s son, needed an earthly father to provide nurture and give guidance, how much more do we?
The Author: Wayne W. Greenawalt (Illinois, USA)
Thought for the Day: Today I will give thanks for the godly father figures in my life.
Prayer: Compassionate God, we pray for fathers everywhere. Help them to see the importance of setting a godly example for their children to follow. Amen.
Prayer focus: Children Of Abusive Fathers
22 All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,
23 “The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El.”[a]
(The name means, “God is with us.”)
24 When Yosef awoke he did what the angel of Adonai had told him to do — he took Miryam home to be his wife,[Footnotes:
Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14]
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.[Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)]
Watching the church youth reenact the Nativity story, I developed a deeper appreciation for Joseph. As I viewed the scene where the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, instructing him to take Mary as his wife and name her son Jesus, I was struck by this thought: Jesus not only needed a mother, he needed an earthly father. I had always regarded Joseph as a minor influence in the birth and life of our Lord. Not so! God’s infinite wisdom ordained that Joseph serve as Jesus’ earthly father. What a significant role and an awesome responsibility!
I volunteer at a Christian ministry that serves men who are homeless and addicted. Their past lives often reveal a common denominator; they were raised in homes where their father was either absent or abusive. Their lives are in disarray, in part because their fathers failed them. One of the key courses in the men’srecovery program teaches them the biblical principles of fatherhood. The objective is that those who have children will become the fathers that God intends them to be.
Every child deserves a godly father. If Jesus, God’s son, needed an earthly father to provide nurture and give guidance, how much more do we?
The Author: Wayne W. Greenawalt (Illinois, USA)
Thought for the Day: Today I will give thanks for the godly father figures in my life.
Prayer: Compassionate God, we pray for fathers everywhere. Help them to see the importance of setting a godly example for their children to follow. Amen.
Prayer focus: Children Of Abusive Fathers
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