Colossians 3: Some actions words and phrases for 2025

Dear Legacydads,

Some action words/phrases from Colossians 3
Set (x2) Set your heart and mind on things above (Turn your eyes upon Jesus)
Put to death your earthly nature, things that take your heart and mind away from what matters to God.  Some may refer to this as the things of your old sinful nature.
Rid yourselves from joy stealers:  Anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language
Do not Lie to each other.  James 5:16 Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other.
Put on the new self that you were given.  Your true identity is found in Christ for which you were fearfully and wonderfully made.  
Clothe yourselves therefore with the things that come directly from the fruit of the Spirit:  Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Bear with each other - this goes without saying.  If we are being honest, than we know that we are all jerks on a journey.  
Forgive one another - Jesus is pretty clear on this:  Forgive one another as I have forgiven you.  He tells us that vengeance is God's, not ours!  
Put on Love - 1 John and 2 John are very direct in that if we lack love and forgiveness then do we really belong to God?
Let - when we submit and obey Jesus's commands in our lives (the 49) then we can let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.  It is no longer about us - it is about the things of God's Kingdom.  If we struggle with this, then confess.  Count your blessings and choose joy.  
Do it - all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  Remember that Jesus is our propitiation.  Without Him, there is no hope for us and those in this world.  

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As we are 13 days into the New Year, how are things going?  How is your walk?  Are you being accountable to other brothers?  Are you in the word daily and in prayer?  Are you just checking boxes or are you nurturing your relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?  

Let's do this together.  Join us at Legacydads

All the best,
Dante.

Choose Wisely

Let's Ring in the New Year with God First in our lives

Choose to be a disciple

Dear Legacydads,
Happy New Year to every one of you.  We hope and pray that everyone is healthy and looking forward to this New Year.  That being said, we hope to comfort, encourage, and urge you to strive to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ. 
Some things we hope that you are trying to put into your daily regiment:

• Time Management (Be a good steward of your time, talent, and treasure)

• Read and Pray Daily (God's word and be in daily relationship with God)

• Telling others about Jesus & Call/Text a brother 

Sometimes, we feel like we need to be a "check the box" type of Christianity, that is not what we are asking you.  Instead, we ask that you seek God daily and understand His word and call in each of our lives.  This is not a "program" type of discipleship that we are asking, rather, discipleship done God's way is based on a relationship.  

Jesus shows us that on the Road to Emmaus (just under a 7-mile walk), the human mind's capacity can understand the scriptures in that timeframe.  To walk 7 miles today would be around a 2.5 to 3-hour walk, depending on your stature.  We read that at the end of that work with Jesus (these two disciples did not know at first that it was Jesus that they were walking with) these two disciples' hearts were burning for more time with Yeshua.  This is not the discipleship model that Jesus walks and talks and does with his 12 disciples.  For 3 years he taught (they learned), for 3 years they ate and drank and did life with the Master (they lived) and for 3 years these disciples were equipped to lead others to Jesus (they lead).

Look at the multiplicity in Jesus's discipleship teaching.  He met with the twelve and they learned, lived, and led and as a result, we saw multiplication as God's way.  As we read further in the New Testament, all of a sudden there were 70 disciples of Jesus.  Doing the math (minus Judas Iscariot) there were likely 5 to 7 men per disciple of Jesus:  They learned from Jesus, they lived with Jesus and they led after Jesus equipped them to lead.  In turn, they did exactly this with the 70 that followed, and so on, and so on, and to what we have today.  

There is a reason that the Bible is still the most actively sold book in the world today.  That is because it is the Graphe (the very written word of God).  2 Timothy 3:16-17 says this,  "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Jesus does not want you to check boxes and just do it out of a place "because I have to".  Instead, he wants to have a relationship with each one of His believers.  When we surrender our will to God's will listen to the words of Jesus and obey his commands, then we can see and hear the word and voice of God working in our lives daily.  

Choose wisely, my friends.  To God Be The Glory!

Why is telling the truth so important to Christians

Jesus said He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. That no man or woman can come to the father unless it is through him. Therefore, Jesus is the only way for true salvation to God the Father. As you read the story about the woman at the well with Jesus - a divine appointment found in John 4, we see that Jesus is leading her to the truth and that The Truth will set her free. Notice that she doesn’t experience true freedom from her past and present sins. When she finally tells Jesus the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Jesus (The Truth) sets her free. When we study scripture, we have to make sure that we understand the true exegesis of the text, that is, the most accurate interpretation of a passage, achieved by carefully analyzing the text within its historical and literary context, aiming to understand the original intended meaning by the author, rather than imposing personal interpretations or biases on the text. The other important point of the exegesis is to understand the setting of the text, that is, is it for that historical moment or is it intended for the universal body of believers? In this case, it is both. Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman, a jew, who is talking to a Samaritan at a public well - unheard of! Yet, Jesus engages us right where we are at. He doesn’t say to the woman or us, get yourself and your life cleaned up and when you look better and feel better and are better then I will save you, no, he meets her (and us) right where we are and offers us the spring of water welling up to eternal life - Jesus is the Way! Jesus tells the woman that Salvation is from the Jews, yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24.

Let’s look at Jesus’ testimony about himself:
John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 8:31b-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

What more do we need as brothers and sisters in Christ, but to hear from the whole Truth, the only Way and the Life that sets us free - Jesus is the only way.

He asks each of us to tell him the truth, wherever we are at in our lives. Whether we are in the thick of it (heaped in sin and shame and fear and guilt) or whether we are in a desert place (exhausted and tired and desperate) or whether we are climbing closer to Him - we all need to be honest and truthful with the Great I Am - the one who will set us free.

Discipleship is not a program. It is not a subscription-based method that I have to pay thousands of dollars to get the secret sauce and be in a relationship with the Holy of Holies. Discipleship is a relationship. For me to be serious about God’s truth in my life, then we have to begin by telling God the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Once we take that step, he meets us at that very place and offers us complete freedom to be his adopted sons and daughters.

Let me ask you this, what is holding you back? The unholy trinity of fear, shame, and guilt? Why? God has plans for every one of us. Plans not to harm us. Plans to give us the abundant life that scripture promises us. Are you willing to be set completely free? Tell God the truth today!

And let us consider...

Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

At Legacydads, Dave, Lance, and I often discuss legacy dad stuff (being a godly husband, a great dad, a disciple of Jesus Christ, what it all means, how we get more men engaged in their local communities, and whether we are making any differences). As full-time dads (Dave in the soup of it, Lance as the “empty nester,” and myself somewhere between the land of the two, we can see the fruit of our labor, and we can see when guys who plug in with us take the word of God seriously and apply what they are reading, what they are hearing and what we are saying and take a 1-degree step toward God and see unimaginable fruit in their lives in doing so. Those instances keep us grounded and willing to commit to staying with Legacydads and continuing to podcast and talk with brothers along the way.

Some questions that often arise when we are podcasting and coming up with ideas of what to talk about and how God is moving in our lives, is how can we comfort, encourage, and urge our listeners (both husbands and wives, single men and women, and the like) to live lives worthy of Jesus Christ? It isn’t a life that is focused on checking boxes and doing all the things that a Christian needs to be doing, and those things shouldn’t be neglected, but more importantly, it is about having an authentic relationship with the Author of Life.

Let us take a quick gander at our lives and genuinely ask how our words, thoughts, and actions bring glory to God or myself and those people or things we idolize more. Are they coming from a true place of worship, adoration, and genuineness to be in the right relationship with God, or are they coming from a place of self-interest and self-survival?

This thing called life was never meant to be an easy road. If you are a true follower of Jesus, then you know that Jesus, himself, tells us that if they persecuted him that the world will most certainly persecute us. How do we reconcile that with prosperity gospel or false teachers who completely miss the true mark of Christianity? We don’t, they simply do not co-exist in Gospel truth.

So, then, what? How are we supposed to do what God commands us to do?

Are you a member of a church?
Are you actively serving in that church?
Do you tell others about Jesus (those who do not know Christ)?
Do you obey the 49 commands of Jesus?
Are you in the right relationship with God?
How do I do these things? (If your church or your discipleship in your church is not addressing these important questions, then what?)

All this to say, what are the next steps if I am not? Let’s start with praying to God. Asking him to reveal the things in us that need to change, that need to be repented of, that need for us to go the opposite way of what we are currently doing. Next, let’s get into a regular pattern of reading God’s word and meeting with other like-minded brothers (or sisters depending on your God given Gender). Let’s not just check boxes, but let’s be honest and accountable, raw and authentic, and open to the point that they can call us out and we can call them out when our lives are not jiving with our thoughts, and words and actions.

Join us in doing this life together. Send me an email at Dante@legacydads.org for next steps.

Blessings,

Dante

As a deer pants

Longing for God

Psalm 42, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long, people say to me, “Where is your God?”. I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God with joyful and thankful shouts. Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God. “

As we walk through the Christian life, a disciple's life, we may come to realize that there are different seasons in each other’s lives. Times of plenty and times of need. Times of gain and times of loss. Time for peace and times of war. Times of sadness and times of gladness. Wherever you are, in your walk, do not let any one minimize where you are in your journey. That is, to say, don’t let any one disgard you or disrespect your opinion. However, make sure that you have true biblical and authentic community around you as to not let those season create in you - a bitter heart or bitterness of the soul.

How can we get to a place where even in the valleys and desert places we choose joy?

Philippians 4:4: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice"

James 1:2: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds"

Romans 12:12: "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer"

John 16:24: "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full"

Proverbs 17:22: "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones"

The Bible says that joy is a fruit of the Spirit that comes from faith and obedience. It's a natural part of the Christian faith and is different from earthly pleasures. Joy is meant to be shared with others.

Here are some other things the Bible says about joy:

The devil may tempt you to choose sin instead of joy.

You can fight back against negative thoughts by hiding God's Word in your heart.

You can choose to dwell on what is good in a person or situation, even in tragedy.

Christians are called to rejoice even through painful circumstances.

Jesus is an example of rejoicing in the midst of bad circumstances.

10 Bible Verses to Help You Choose Joy - Spokane Christian Counseling

How to Choose Joy. Joy is a choice. It's a fruit of the Spirit that the Holy Spirit bears in us (Galatians 5:22-23). But we can qu...

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Choosing Joy On The Way To Grouchy-ville - Proverbs 31 Ministries

Jun 10, 2016 — Ever been there? Recognizing my sorry state, I quieted my anxiety long enough to remember a favorite family saying: Ch...

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Choose Joy in Troubled Times - NIV Bible

How can you have a “cheerful heart” in the midst of grief and brokenness? The apostle Paul admonished us to trust God even within ...

The Bible is alive and active....

In this picture, the bar chart that runs along the bottom represents all Bible chapters, starting with Genesis 1 on the left. Books alternate in color between light and dark gray, with the first book of the Old and New Testaments in white. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in that chapter (for instance, the longest bar is the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119). A single arc depicts each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect.

Hebrews 4:12 in the Bible states, "For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart".

God’s word states that we are created beings and that God has taken the time to knit us each in our mother’s womb. Think about it for one second, the God of the Universe loves us so much that he takes the time to uniquely create us with our own identity. He loves us so much that he knew there was no way on this earth that we could earn our way or found a way to Heaven EXCEPT by the love and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin, lived on this earth for 33 years and fulfilled every single prophecy about him written in the OT - the odds and probability of that are impossible, BUT GOD!!! Once crucified, laid dead and then in 3 days rose again and this Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, advocating for you and I, the ones that his sacrifice was made for. Why? Because God gave us a way, through His Son, because He loves us more than we can ever comprehend.

His ways are not our ways. His time is not bound by our time. His thoughts and holiness are immeasurable to the human mind. Yet, He gives us the Logos (The Living Word, Jesus Christ), he also gives us the Graphe (the written Word), and if that were not enough, God gives us the Rhema (the Spoken Word). God not only wants our worship, but he wants a relationship with each and every one of us that call His Son, Lord. Jesus gives us commandments to follow, submit, and obey. What should our response be? Submission, obedience, worship and relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - the Triune God.

Here am I, make me a fisher of men

The First Disciples

5 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.[a] 2 He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”[b]

If you are like me, reading through the advent book with your youngins, then today you are on Luke 5 and if you have the doors book you know what i mean. We read that Jesus is calling his disciples and opening their minds, hearts and souls up to a new thing - instead of fishing for fish, he is calling them to be fishers of men. When Simon trusts the Lord and casts his nets back into the sea, he realizes who is talking to him. When confronted with the Lord Jesus, Simon can only respond, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord.” What does our Lord say to Simon? “Don’t be afraid, from now on, you will be catching people.”

This is such a beautiful interchange of the dichotomy of false identity versus true identity. Jesus calls us to the truth. We read in the New Testament that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and that no man comes to the Father but through him. We also read that Jesus says that the truth will set us free. When Jesus meets the woman at the well that had five husbands and is living with the sixth, her life doesn’t change until she is willing to tell God the truth. Do you see? The moment that we tell Jesus the truth, he sets us free. And he doesn’t finish there. He told Peter not to be afraid, and he tells us not to fear.

Jesus forgives and heals. Are you willing to tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Are you finding yourself in this Advent season lacking, or sad, or depressed? Don’t be afraid. Trust in Jesus. Believe that God sent him to save us. Be confident in knowing that Jesus is, in fact, The Way, The Truth and The Life that will set each and every one of us that admit, believe and confess that Jesus is Lord. (Admit we are sinners in need of saving, believe that Jesus is the Lord and confess that we are sinners and he is Lord and Scripture tells us that we will be saved. If you do this, you will be free! As Peter learned his new identity from Jesus, God has created each and every one of us uniquely. He has given each of us our own identity. Are you living out of true identity or false identity? True beliefs or false beliefs?

Remember, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life that sets us free.

If you Love Him, then what?

“If you love me, keep my commands." - John 14:15. It seems pretty straightforward, yet many Christians seem to forget that the word command is not an option but an order. If you were a soldier in battle and you had your commanding officer give you an order (a command). You chose to disobey that order it could lead to serious consequences, including a court-martial, potential imprisonment, a dishonorable discharge, and a reduction in rank, as disobeying a lawful order is considered a serious military offense called “insubordination” under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I have to be honest here, I do not always get this right. In fact, if I am being raw and authentic, then I would have to admit that I get it way more wrong than I do right. Whether it’s pride, or lust or just a willingness to obey Jesus’s commands, I find myself getting caught up more in the things of this world than setting my mind on things above (Colossians 3:1-17).

Instead of giving you the complete list of the 49 commands of Jesus, I wanted us to take the time a focus on 7 of the majors:

REPENT - Matthew 4:17 states for us to “Repent: For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
FOLLOW HIM - Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
REJOICE - “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE - “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
HONOR GOD’S LAW - Matthew 5:17-18 states “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
BE RECONCILED - Matthew 5:23-25, “So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you’re on the way with him to the court, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, and the judge to[a] the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.”
DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY (Self Control) - In Matthew 5:29-30, we read, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Here is the thing about discipleship, a little secret that I want to share with every one of you reading this post: If we are supposed to be image bearers of God, then why are we trying to do this discipleship stuff on our merit? Our goodwill? Our own trying to get it right? So much of this can lead us to the unholy trinity of fear, shame, and guilt. Discipleship is not supposed to be easy. It is something that we have to submit our whole mind, body and soul into. Do you exercise? Do you run marathons? Do you have a craft or talent that would be considering you a Master Swordsman? Let’s put that last question in context - 10,000 hours spent on the craft of swordsmanship would qualify you to be a master swordsman with the right training, time and effort to hone in your craft to be the expert - the same is true of discipleship, until we can fully commit, submit and obey, how can we effectively try and be a disciple of Jesus Christ? We simply cannot!

Here are a couple of examining questions for you: Am I daily in the word of God? Am I applying, memorizing and eating the scripture? Am I hearing the words, or am I hearing and doing what they tell me to do? How is my prayer life? Am I praying for meals only? Am I praying only when I need, want, or desire something from God? Am I in a relationship with God (am I saved)? Am I in a right relationship with God? Can you feel me when I am asking these questions? It is about the heart of the matter. If you love Jesus, then follow his commands.