Night Light for Couples - The Renegade Male

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

Author Derek Prince has described the “renegade male” as one of society’s biggest problems. The word renegade actually means “one who has shirked his primary responsibilities.” It is an accurate description of those husbands and fathers who pour every resource into work or pleasure, leaving the child‐rearing task entirely to their wives. Both boys and girls desperately need their fathers, who have a specific role to play in their lives.

Research in the field of child development has confirmed that the absence of positive masculine influence plays a key role in adolescent rebellion, sex‐role identity, and cohesion within the family. Conversely, those who accept their God‐given responsibilities at home have a fleeting—and golden—opportunity to shape the little lives entrusted to their care.

Just between us…

• (husband) Do I ever resemble a renegade male? How?
• (husband) In what ways have I been a good father? (For couples without children: What kind of father would I be?)
• (wife) How have our own fathers been good or poor examples of fulfilling their responsibilities at home?
• (wife) How, as a wife, can I help you be a better father?

(husband) Dear God, thank You for the responsibility and opportunity to impact my children for good. I want to be faithful. Help me to celebrate— not resent—my fatherly duties. Through my sometimes inadequate efforts, accomplish great things in the lives of my kids. Amen.

From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Readings for August 10, 2016

Judges 13:15-24
Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Allow us to detain you, and prepare a kid for you." The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "If you detain me, I will not eat your food; but if you want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?" But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful." So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to him who works wonders. When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these." The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

Acts 6:1-15
Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word." What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us." And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

John 4:1-26
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John" -- although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized-- he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband' for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."

Morning Psalms

Psalm 101 Misericordiam et judicium
1   I will sing of mercy and justice; to you, O LORD, will I sing praises.
2   I will strive to follow a blameless course; oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.
3   I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the doers of evil deeds; they shall not remain with me.
4   A crooked heart shall be far from me; I will not know evil.
5   Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.
6   My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.
7   Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.
8   I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the LORD.

Psalm 109 Deus, laudem
1   Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; for the mouth of the wicked, the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.
2   They speak to me with a lying tongue; they encompass me with hateful words and fight against me without a cause.
3   Despite my love, they accuse me; but as for me, I pray for them.
4   They repay evil for good, and hatred for my love.
5   Set a wicked man against him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand.
6   When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his appeal be in vain.
7   Let his days be few, and let another take his office.
8   Let his children be fatherless, and his wife become a widow.
9   Let his children be waifs and beggars; let them be driven from the ruins of their homes.
10   Let the creditor seize everything he has; let strangers plunder his gains.
11   Let there be no one to show him kindness, and none to pity his fatherless children.
12   Let his descendants be destroyed, and his name be blotted out in the next generation.
13   Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and his mother's sin not be blotted out;
14   Let their sin be always before the LORD; but let him root out their names from the earth;
15   Because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy and sought to kill the brokenhearted.
16   He loved cursing, let it come upon him; he took no delight in blessing, let it depart from him.
17   He put on cursing like a garment, let it soak into his body like water and into his bones like oil;
18   Let it be to him like the cloak which he wraps around himself, and like the belt that he wears continually.
19   Let this be the recompense from the LORD to my accusers, and to those who speak evil against me.
20   But you, O Lord my God, oh, deal with me according to your Name; for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.
21   For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
22   I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.
23   My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.
24   I have become a reproach to them; they see and shake their heads.
25   Help me, O LORD my God; save me for your mercy's sake.
26   Let them know that this is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
27   They may curse, but you will bless; let those who rise up against me be put to shame, and your servant will rejoice.
28   Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.
29   I will give great thanks to the LORD with my mouth; in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;
30   Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save his life from those who would condemn him.

Evening Psalms

Psalm 119: Ayin Feci judicium
121   I have done what is just and right; do not deliver me to my oppressors.
122   Be surety for your servant's good; let not the proud oppress me.
123   My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation and for your righteous promise.
124   Deal with your servant according to your loving-kindness and teach me your statutes.
125   I am your servant; grant me understanding, that I may know your decrees.
126   It is time for you to act, O LORD, for they have broken your law.
127   Truly, I love your commandments more than gold and precious stones.
128   I hold all your commandments to be right for me; all paths of falsehood I abhor.

Psalm 119: Pe Mirabilia
129   Your decrees are wonderful; therefore I obey them with all my heart.
130   When your word goes forth it gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
131   I open my mouth and pant; I long for your commandments.
132   Turn to me in mercy, as you always do to those who love your Name.
133   Steady my footsteps in your word; let no iniquity have dominion over me.
134   Rescue me from those who oppress me, and I will keep your commandments.
135   Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.
136   My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

Psalm 119: Sadhe Justus es, Domine
137   You are righteous, O LORD, and upright are your judgments.
138   You have issued your decrees with justice and in perfect faithfulness.
139   My indignation has consumed me, because my enemies forget your words.
140   Your word has been tested to the uttermost, and your servant holds it dear.
141   I am small and of little account, yet I do not forget your commandments.
142   Your justice is an everlasting justice and your law is the truth.
143   Trouble and distress have come upon me, yet your commandments are my delight.
144   The righteousness of your decrees is everlasting; grant me understanding, that I may live.

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for August 10, 2016

From Forward Day By Day

John 4:24 (NRSV) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Sometimes I think I am the center of the universe. I mean, here I am and everything else is all around me, right? Then I think the feeling must be felt by everyone else too. When I peel this onion of an idea to the core, I come to understand that God is the rightly placed center, the Alpha and the Omega, no corners or edges, no boundaries, and no bottom. I am humbled. I worship this amazing God from the depth of my humility and smallness in the face of such incomprehensible bigness and love.

Jesus tells us today that we “…must worship in spirit and truth.” Since God is Spirit, we can only worship in spirit. Since God is Truth, we can only worship in truth. This is the way we can be truly in prayer—not just be at prayer. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the king is at prayer, not in prayer, and arises with, “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” Today, may I be in prayer, knowing my place—and God’s.

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Laurence, Deacon, and Martyr at Rome

Today the church remembers Laurence, Deacon, and Martyr at Rome, 258.

One of the ancient and sacred duties of a deacon is to distribute food and to care for the poor. Laurence was one deacon who certainly took that assignment seriously. He was the trusted right-hand man of Bishop Sixtus II of Rome. When the Roman emperor, Valerian, had Bishop Sixtus jailed, the bishop entrusted the whole treasury of the church in Rome to Deacon Laurence. Laurence gave it all to the poor and sick. When Valerian learned that Laurence had been given the treasury of the church, he hauled the deacon into court and demanded that he turn over that treasury" the funds of an illegal organization.

Laurence responded by assembling a mob of infirm and impoverished persons and presenting them to the ruler, saying, "These are the treasure of the church!" Valerian was greatly angered by this and had Laurence publicly executed. Tradition says that Laurence was roasted alive, slowly, on a skewer. We have no nobler testimony to the faith and character of the third-century Christian church than that of Laurence, deacon and martyr.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy Deacon and martyr Laurence triumphed over suffering, and despised death: Grant, we beseech you, that enduring hardness, and waxing valiant in fight, we may with the noble army of martyrs receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read the Wikipedia article here.

Almighty God, you called your deacon Laurence to serve you with deeds of love, and gave him the crown of martyrdom: Grant that we, following his example, may fulfill your commandments by defending and supporting the poor, and by loving you with all our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

His Princess Every Day - Good Confidence

Devotionals for Women - Inspirational author and speaker Sheri Rose Shepherd imagines what a letter written from God to you would look like.

My Princess Warrior,

I am asking you today to surrender your confidence to me. Don’t give the power to build your self-confidence to other people. This world has nothing to offer you that will build you up and keep you strong when times get tough. I am the only One who can water your thirsty soul and give you assurance about who you are. I want you, my beloved warrior, to walk in the a confidence that cannot be taken or shaken by anyone or any circumstance. Now is the time to trade your insecurities for security in Me. Together we will be unstoppable and conquer much during your Life!

Love,
Your King, your Confidence

They do not fear bad news;
they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
They are confident and fearless
and can face their foes triumphantly. -Psalm 112:7–8

A Prayer for Confidence

Princess Warrior! I pray that you will seek your confidence and praise only from your Father in heaven, who created you. May you knock down the lies the enemy has told you about who you are with the Truth of who God says you are! I pray that you will be confident and secure in your calling, and that no circumstances or people or doubts will shake you from your confident stance that you are a daughter of the most High King.

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there. - Psalm 146:3 (NLT)

This devotional is written by Sheri Rose Shepherd. All content copyright Sheri Rose Shepherd 2015. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Visit HisPrincess.com for devotionals, books, videos, and more from Sheri Rose Shepherd.

Girlfriends in God - Rerouting Wrong Ways

by Gwen Smith

Today’s Truth

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:3-4, NIV)

Friend to Friend

He had no idea that he was moving in a dangerous direction. The cute, little box turtle was just trying to get where he was going. Doing what turtles do. Thinking what turtles think. The fact that he was crossing a busy road that is paved for fast moving cars, not slow crawling reptiles, wouldn’t have even entered his tiny turtle brain.

I’m a fan of turtles. Always have been. Maybe it’s because they look tough on the outside, but are really softies on the inside. Maybe it’s because they seem shy and vulnerable when they retreat into their shells and pretend that nobody’s home. Maybe it’s because for a brief time as a kid I had a pet turtle named Raspberry… because I found him when I was picking raspberries… {I’m a clever pet-namer.} Not sure that there is one reason in particular, but I do like turtles.

And I had to do something.

If I didn’t help him out, there was a high chance that his field trip to the pavement would’ve ended disastrously. I cared about his cute, little shelled-self so I quickly, and safely, pulled over to the side of the road and intervened. He wasn’t able to see the danger of his actions, so I picked him up and moved him to a safe place; to the grass near the swampy area.

In the days of the early church a man named Saul was full of murderous threats and was moving in the wrong direction. Like my turtle friend, he had no idea. Saul, a Pharisee, sincerely thought he was doing the right things, acting the right ways, and following the right rules. But he wasn’t. His behaviors and convictions were actually opposed to the very God he believed that he was representing and defending.

So the Lord intervened one day as Saul walked along a road in Damascus on his way to arrest some people who didn’t believe as he believed. (Acts 9:2) He couldn’t see the danger of what he was doing, so Jesus paid him an illuminating visit that struck him blind so that he might know and see the truth.

In order to save him.

To reroute his wrong ways and point him in the direction of life.

Saul’s personal encounter with Jesus changed him. All of him. Even his name! (Which was eventually changed from Saul to Paul.) From the time of his rerouting, Saul humbled himself before the Lord and worked hard to go where God wanted him to go: to help reroute other wandering hearts toward the salvation and hope of Jesus Christ.

One of the evidences that someone has a genuine relationship with the Lord is the willingness to search their heart and ask God to show them what needs changed. Sometimes in life we can move in the wrong direction, away from the will of God, and not even realize it.

You might be blinded by an anger that you feel justified hanging onto. Perhaps you think that flirting with that guy on social media isn’t hurting anyone. Maybe you need rerouted from unhealthy eating patterns, addictions, insecurities, or maxed out anxieties. Know this, Jesus wants to reroute every wrong way and move you to the safest place: the center of His will.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, Please show me the ways that my heart needs rerouted and give me the courage, desire, and determination to move in the direction that you lead.
In Jesus’s Name I pray,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

Read the story of Paul’s conversion: Acts 9:1-19.

Might there be a way that God wants to reroute your heart today? Spend some time in prayer and ask Him to help you see His will clearly. Then move in that direction.

NEED PRAYER? Click here to visit my blog community and share your prayer needs in the comments section. Then pause to pray for the needs of others that have posted.

More from the Girlfriends


Are you ready for God to reroute your faith in real, meaningful ways? Gwen Smith’s new book, I Want It ALL, gives you practical help that will connect your struggles to the solutions and strength of God found in the Bible. Order yours today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com or your favorite retailer.

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Standing Strong Through the Storm - THE SOURCE OF PERSECUTION

Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. Esther 3:8

Today we feature the first in a series from a house church pastor’s sermon in China:

The Bible is written to persecuted communities, and we must learn from each community the peculiar blessings and dangers of persecution. I would like to draw your attention to some lessons from the persecuted community in the time of Esther.

Esther was Queen of Persia sometime after 483 BC. She was a beautiful woman with a secret—no one except her adopted father knew it. It was her racial origin. She was a Jew.

There came a great persecution. In Esther 3:8, we read that the king of Persia’s advisor says he should not tolerate a certain group of people. The king agrees, and issues a decree calling for the extermination of all Jews.

The Jews are devastated, including Esther. How they got into this situation, how they get out of it, and what happened afterwards all reveal great truths about suffering churches—of which we are one.

Where does persecution come from? What is its source? The text shows us clearly. Persecution is the result of pride. Pride on the part of the persecutor.

Haman is the culprit. He is humiliated because a Jew called Mordecai refuses to bow low enough to him. We are not given the reason why Mordecai would deliver such a calculated snub, but it makes Haman see red. Instead of just trying to get rid of Mordecai, though, he has to project his personal humiliation into something grand. He won’t admit it’s all just a personal grudge, but concocts an elaborate plan to get rid of all Jews because they are in breach of the king’s laws.

His plan is a good one. The Jews are different, he says. True. They are so different, they are not good citizens, he adds. False, but the king is right to be suspicious of any group that seems to have other loyalties than just to him. It’s the same in China. Our government persecutes us because we are different. We are honest, separate, and we have greater loyalties than just to the state. That makes us an object of suspicion.

But the root of it all is pride. The cause of the persecution was simply that Haman was angry. I have read that in Russia, the terrible persecutions that were visited upon the churches there came from the fact that Lenin’s brother was shot by the Tsar’s forces, and what galled him in particular was that a Russian Orthodox priest blessed the proceedings. He carried his personal hatred with him…It’s a pride matter. It always is. The source of suffering is always found in human pride.

RESPONSE: Today I will check my pride at the door and realize that God is still in control!

PRAYER: Pray that prideful leaders will humble themselves to acknowledge the God of the universe.

Verse of the Day - August 10, 2016

Psalm 46:1 (NIV) [ Psalm 46 ] [ For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song. ] God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Read all of Psalm 46