love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or career
This week’s blog is dedicated to one the sweetest, most loving, and devoted mother I know…
Josie Bencivengo.
Josie left this earth and has entered God’s Kingdom of heaven this past week.
As a teacher coach and administrator for 34 years I have rarely experienced a more devoted parent than Josie Bencivengo.
She daily displayed her devotion through her love, loyalty and enthusiasm for her precious family! She never left any doubt what mattered most in her life.
Here is one thing that made Josie so special…she “got it.”
She understood with a mother’s love exactly what devotion means.It’s so crazy. I love to share my vision for Suit Up Ministries with anyone who will listen.
Whenever I get to share in a mixed crowd of men and women to talk about the importance of dads…guess who "gets it" usually immediately?
The WOMEN!
I believe it’s because whether married or not, they have sometimes been directly/indirectly affected too by the absence of a father or found themselves standing in the gap for a husband that is not a devoted dad!
Men on the other hand, often retreat as we do sometimes, into our defense and justifications for the many reasons that may take us away
at times from being the Daily Active Devoted dad God has created us to be.
So how do we as DADs or DAD figures “practice” devotion like a mom who gets it?
DADS all too often we can be devoted to... Our career.Our teams.Our hobbies.Almost anything NOT eternal.
When is our devotion…of love, loyalty and enthusiasm for THOSE thingsNOT eternal, become a barrier from the people in our lives?
Specifically, a barrier in our devotion needed towards our children?
Is splintered devotion really devotion?
Wow. That is a question I need to point right back at me.
Here is the ultimate example of devotion found in the Bible.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So devotion is really all about sacrifice. God our DAD in Heaven, was and is so devoted to His children…us, that He gave up His one and only Son to give us life!
On this first Wednesday after Easter I challenge you to deeply reflect upon our creator's sacrifice. Unconditionally giving of His love, loyalty and enthusiasm…devotion for each of us.
Men. Fathers. DADS.
What are the sacrifices we need to MAKE today? What are the sacrifices allowing us to be the Devoted DADs God has called us to be?
So, like God…Nothing…Nothing, will separate our love and devotion from our children, leaving a legacy like a mom named Josie.
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game"
Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 04:30 am
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DADS…the first "D" in DAD does not stand for Done!
It stands for “DAILY”
The secular world in may cases will tell us “done" is the reality.
Unfortunately in many cases…we as fathers of children “live" into that description.
Statistics say we are “done" too. Many men right after or even before the birth of their own children, mentally, physically, or both decide they are done.
To combat the done definition…we can choose to be the DAD God has actually called us to be!
Here are 4 ways DADs can DAILY practice, and dismiss the “done” label for good with our children and family:
#1 - Engage
Definition of ENGAGED
1: involved in activity : occupied
2:greatly interested : committed
3: involved especially in a hostile encounter
4: being in gear : meshed
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
The first step is to ENGAGE our kids and family. Where can you take the initiative to be more ENGAGING?
#2 - Empathize
I Corinthians 12:26
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
The second step is to EMPATHIZE with our kids and family.What needs in your family are you not acknowledging?
#3 - Encourage
Galatians 6:9–10
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
The third step is to ENCOURAGE our kids and family. Who needs ENCOURAGEMENT today to push through?
#4 - Elevate
The best way to influence your children is to set an example before them.
Remember, the majority of children acquire the characteristics and habits of their parents.
DADs…the Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” - Proverbs 22:6
The fourth step to ELEVATE is a culmination of the steps 1-3. How can you put these steps into practice TODAY?
DADs…we are NEVER “done”
DADs…we DO NOT retire!
DADS…we NEVER graduate!
Engage. Empathize. Encourage. Elevate. TODAY!
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…
get off the bench…
“get in the game”…
Today is game day…and so is every day…
God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 08:43 am
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DADs…words sometimes fascinate me... take the word “margin” for example.
In the secular world margin is a laser focus for many. It represents a level of importance leading towards what the world labels as success.
In our personal lives margin does not always carry the same urgency.
Let's consider two definitions of margin:
1. One definition for margin is an "amount by which a thing is won or falls short."
2. Another definition is the "amount of something included so as to be sure of success or safety."
Margins for your career...may be important to us as we look to climb the professional ladder.
Margins in your day...may allow extra time as we schedule our check lists of things to do.
Margins in our spending and saving...may lead us to create a budget.
In the business world margin can equate to profit and sales.
So what does margin mean to your family?
To your wife?
DADS…to your children?
Lets go back to the two definitions shared…
1. an amount by which a thing is won or falls short.
Do you as the dad ensure enough margin to secure a victory for your family?
2. an amount of something included so as to be sure of success or safety.
Do you as the dad ensure enough margin to secure success or safety for your kids?
When I was a young dad I was consumed with the yesterdays and tomorrows! In my present life-stage as a granddad my focus has become on the immediate and today! I look at my 18 month old granddaughter…project out her life, and see the reality of my margin is real! And it is diminished with the passing of each day!
The question is what am I going to do with my margin? Am I making room for the right things in my margins?
Making room for your margins begins with making room for God...
Psalm 46:10 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Today I see that my margin is limited for making difference in my granddaughter's life, and for all those God places in my path daily. Finding time to be still and feel God’s presence will amplify your margin.
DADs when it comes to your family and children…we cannot treat them like a savings account, storing up to one day use.
One day is Today!
Do not wait…seize the margin. Maximize the margins of this precious life God has given you. Live the whole picture of your life…without borders taking the margin to the very edge today.
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 04:15 am
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In loss you can either become embittered or enlarged.
Why must we sometimes experience a painful life changing event to get over ourselves?
To have the ah ha…or the realization that we are not the first OR only one to experience this pain or sorrow or life stage?
Because we live in world all about us!
When I took my daughter to college…I called my dad…and asked him..."how did you do this?" When I gave my daughter away in marriage…I called at my dad…and asked..."how did you do this?" When I realized how important it was to live close to my new granddaughter…I called my dad…and asked..."how did you do this?
When my dad died…this past September 3. In the darkness of my dad’s absence I became suddenly more empathetic…One of the first persons I apologized to was my wife…who had lost her dad the year before. I asked her..."how do you do this?" I just thought she was ok. Was strong. In my pain I felt her loss.
God feels our pain too. He gave His one and only son for us. For you and for me. He knows the depths we sometimes travel. He hears our crying out. He wants us to reach for HIM.
As we have read the last six weeks...Every day God gives us a...
New Song
New Self
New Covenant
New Vision
New Start
New Spirit
Six packages wrapped. One size fits all! Will you unwrap them TODAY?
If you go back and study the 6 scriptures I gave you, (and I challenge you to do so) and you put together the first letter of each book…Revelation; Ephesians; Matthew; Acts; Deuteronomy; Ezekiel…it spells REMADE!
My brothers…my precious brothers…DADs...YOU HAVE BEEN REMADE.
Final stanza of my favorite old hymn #707:
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
Victory to you my brothers!
DADs…open your gifts and receive the victory God has already won for you and for me!
#6words…I love you. I need you.
#vcl…you are Valuable. Complete. Loved.
To God be the Glory!
Amen. Amen.
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 04:15 am
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DADS…as I have shared the prior four weeks, there are Six gifts that God has laid on my heart to share with “us” over what is now the next three weeks.
(Go back and read weeks 1-4 to catch up).
Six gifts that God gives to us all freely to receive unconditionally daily.
In week 1we talked about the gift of a “New Song”God gives us.
Week 2we shared God’s gift of a “New Self.”
Week 3we read about the “New Covenant.”
Last week we learn about this “New Vision” God gives us in Acts!
This week we get a “New Start"
Deuteronomy 10:1-5
10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first,and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood.
2 And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’
3 So I made an ark of wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.
4 And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.
5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”
v1 Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first: Moses broke the tablets of the law, not only out of anger, but also as a powerful visual representation of Israel’s breaking of the law of God. Now God commanded that they restore the law by bringing forth two new tablets of the law.
v4 He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing: God wanted His written word to be the starting pointfor Israel’s “right" walk with Him. Therefore, He restored the tablets, even writing on the second tablets with His own hand.
*This is a powerful picture of the inspiration of God’s word; though God did not literally write the Scriptures with His own hand, He perfectly guided the minds and hands of the writers, so that the Scriptures are “God-breathed” inspired by God.
v5 And put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are: Getting “right" with God after a time of rebellion must always begin and center on God’s word. In the days of Josiah, King of Judah, repentance and revivalcame to the people of God when they focused on God’s word again.
With God we get a “do over”every day!
Have you rebelled enough…is it time to “get right?”
Start with God’s word.
DADs a Fifth gift God gives us Todayand EVERY DAYis a “NEW START”
Which day will you set your course and focus your “New Start” on God’s word?
DADs...Today...You Have Been Remade!!
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 04:29 am
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DADS…as I have shared the prior three weeks, there are Six gifts that God has laid on my heart to share with “us” over what is now the next three weeks. (Go back and read weeks 1-3 to catch up). Six gifts that God gives to us all freely to receive unconditionally daily.
In week 1 we talked about the gift of a “New Song” God gives us. Week 2 we shared God’s gift of a “New Self.” Last week we read about the “New Covenant.”
This week 4 we learn about this “New Vision” God gives us in Acts!
Acts 22:13-15
13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
One of my all-time favorite Christian artists is Brandon Heath. Brandon wrote the song “Give Me Your Eyes”
Meditate on these first two stanzas:
Give me Your Eyes!
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
What is it that you need to see differently today?
Where do you need to use your New Vision?
DADs is it time…To see your wife in a new light? For you to see your own children within your walls in a different light? For you to see yourself in a new way? The way God sees you? The precious child of God that you are!
DADs a FOURTH gift God gives us Today and EVERY DAY is a “NEW VISION” God gives each of us His eyes…
Which set of lens do YOU choose to look through?
DADs...Today...You Have Been Remade!!
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 04:30 am
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DADS…as I shared beginning the prior two week’s, there are Six gifts that God has laid on my heart to share with “us” over what is now the next four weeks (Go back and read week one to catch up).
Six gifts that God gives to us all freely to receive unconditionally daily.
In week one we talked about the gift of a “New Song” God gives us.
Last week we shared God’s gift of a “New Self.”
Today we read in Matthew about the gift of our “New Covenant” in Christ!
27Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave
it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins.
29I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now
on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
DADs…can you imagine what the disciples were thinking around that table that night, when Jesus was literally offering Himself and what was to come as a covenant for them and for all believing in Him?
What does that New Covenant mean to you?
A “covenant" can be defined as a contract, agreement, undertaking, commitment, guarantee, warrant, pledge, promise, bond, indenture;pact, deal, settlement, arrangement, understanding.
When Jesus says,"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” you can replace the word “covenant” with any of those definitions listed above, but to be one of the “many”we as men and DADs must receive and open the gift.
DADs a THIRD gift God gives us Today and EVERY DAY is a “NEW COVENANT”
DADs, we all have the same opportunity to enter into this new “covenant” with Christ.
Let’s open this gift like a little boy on Christmas morning quickly opening his presents.
Then through Jesus Christ and His covenant with us, we can walk confidently daily remembering...
Today...You Have Been Remade!!
DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…
God gives you!
So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up!
Posted by: Jeff Springer AT 04:30 am
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