{"id":3627,"date":"2016-09-04T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3627"},"modified":"2016-08-24T16:43:54","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T21:43:54","slug":"choose-to-start-your-day-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3627","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Start Your Day with God"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another Year of Choices<\/em><\/p>\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Good<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big believer in starting the day with God. Some mornings I start by saying, \u201cGood morning, Lord!\u201d Other mornings I say, \u201cGood Lord! It\u2019s morning!\u201d Yes\u2026 I know it\u2019s an old joke\u2026 but quite frankly, I can honestly say that\u2019s how I feel.<\/p>\n

One year my writer\u2019s conference roommate was amazing! It didn\u2019t matter what time we went to bed, she got up each morning dedicated to getting at least an hour of prayer and another hour of Bible study done before starting her day. Four or five or six o\u2019clock! It didn\u2019t matter. I\u2019ve gotten to know this woman fairly well and this is still her normal routine. She\u2019s very consistent \u2013 no matter where she is in the world, no matter what her daily schedule holds, no matter what! She\u2019s truly an extraordinary person whom I admire greatly. I almost felt guilty telling her not to worry about the light shining in my eyes when she got up\u2026 I could sleep through anything.<\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t get me wrong! I really am a big believer in starting my day with God. Time with God in the morning gives us strength to complete daily tasks, brings us peace in the midst of the normal worries we face, and keeps us focused on God instead of little irritants we tend to blow out of proportion. It helps us to hold our tempers and speak words of kindness to others. So I strive for extended prayer and study time in the morning.<\/p>\n

And although I strive for it, I don\u2019t always succeed. Sometimes my spirit it willing, but my flesh is weak. At least, that\u2019s my biblical excuse and I\u2019m sticking to it. (Matthew 26:41) Perhaps you can identify!<\/p>\n

However, all is not lost! There\u2019s no need to think our day is doomed. We can still be consistent in, at the very least, acknowledging God first thing when we wake up \u2013 even while we are still in bed. It\u2019s amazing what a quick little, \u201cThank You, Lord, for that great night\u2019s sleep\u201d can do to make us mindful of God\u2019s presence all around us. If we didn\u2019t sleep very well we might say something like, \u201cI didn\u2019t sleep well last night, Lord, so I\u2019m going to need a little help to make it through the day. I still know this is the day you made, so help me rejoice and be glad in it.\u201d If we oversleep we might say, \u201cWow! Look at the time. Thank You, Lord, for that extra sleep. Now please help me get moving and stay focused on You!\u201d We can invite God to have a cup of coffee with us. We can talk to Him on the way to work in the car. We can let Him know we love Him and thank Him for His unconditional love towards us.<\/p>\n

Consider this\u2026 We don\u2019t start the day communing with God because He requires it or because He will be displeased with us if we don\u2019t. Starting the morning with God is a little gift we give ourselves. It sets the tone for the day and keeps us focused on the spiritual, not the physical. We should want each day to be sanctified, set apart for God\u2019s purpose. It\u2019s doubtful that can happen without starting the day with Him.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

Suggestions for practicing this choice\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n

When you get up each morning say, \u201cThis is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!\u201d (Psalm 118:24)<\/p>\n

Start each day thinking about all the wonderful things God has done for you instead of all the things you are worried about.<\/p>\n

Make a date with God to spend time with Him every morning and strive to keep it. If you fall short, don\u2019t give up and don\u2019t get discouraged! Don\u2019t let discouragement rob you of this special time with God.<\/p>\n

Commit to reading a verse of Scripture each morning \u2013 maybe before you even get out of bed. Yes, it would better to read a whole passage and that\u2019s what we should work toward. However, if time won\u2019t permit you can still read a verse and meditate on it while you are getting ready for the day. Psalms or Proverbs is a great place to start.<\/p>\n

Each morning, tell yourself that yesterday is gone and today is full of new possibilities. Today is the first day of the rest of your life!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another Year of Choices By Barbara Dahlgren I\u2019m a big believer in starting the day with God. Some mornings I start by saying, \u201cGood morning, Lord!\u201d Other mornings I say, \u201cGood Lord! It\u2019s morning!\u201d Yes\u2026 I know it\u2019s an old … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}