F A T H E R SSample

Faith, Accountability, Trust, Humbleness, Eternal perspective, Righteousness, Submission

Although the title of this devotional is Fathers it’s not subject to Fathers only, and absolutely is not a list of do’s and dont's for father’s or a new “how-to” guide for parents. The title Fathers is an acronym for some of the qualities we should refine and display as we reflect the character and nature of our Heavenly Father. In doing so, we automatically become better parents and people as we mirror our Creator. 

-Faith-
If you’re a father (parent/guardian), you probably have a lot of responsibilities; especially when it comes to providing for your family and being the head of the household. But no matter how much is on your proverbial laundry list of fatherly duties, there’s one essential part of your life that has to take priority over everything - and that’s your faith in Jesus. Faith is the currency in which God’s economy operates. God always responds to the act of faith pointed in His direction (in other words, faith activated in God's will not our own). Notice I said the “act” of faith; because as you might have read or heard in a sermon “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
(James 2:17)
Many instances during Jesus’ ministry, He moved in a mighty way as a response to someone’s faith.
-Take the woman suffering from blood discharge for 12 years who, in faith, knew that if she’d just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment she’d be healed. (Mark 5:21-43) (Matt 9:18-26) (Luke 8:40-48)
-or the ten Lepers who were healed in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 17:11-19).
-and the restoring of sight to Bartimaeus, the blind man in mentioned in Mark and Luke just to name a few more (Mark 10: 46-52) (Luke 18:35-43).
What is evident in each scripture is that Jesus acted upon each person’s faith because, after bestowing a miracle upon them, Jesus said, “Go in peace, your faith has saved you.”
This reveals to us that if we want God to move on our behalf or with a miracle, we need to show our faith in Him as a requirement.
But to many, that’s much easier said than done.
The issue many of us struggle with is that we’d rather place our faith in “things” over our sovereign, omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent (everywhere) Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The type of father we are or aim to be is contingent upon where the priority of our faith is. 

*Self assessment:
Think about what “things” you may have prioritized ahead of God, then make the commitment to place God above all things as your number-one priority.