July 8, 2020 – Click here to listen
I love the mornings. I’m an early riser and really enjoy watching the sun come up in the mornings. There is a song based upon Psalm 118:24 that I enjoy and in part its lyrics are actually the verse, “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I catch myself spontaneously singing it on many mornings, especially on those with spectacular sunrises that nearly take my breath away.
Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us. Jesus told us that each day is a valuable gift from God. We should make the most of it and enjoy it and rejoice in it. Despite our woes and dilemmas God made this day which means it is good and beautiful.
As most of you know I love the outdoors. I feel like a little kid at Chucky Cheese when I get out on the beautiful ocean or walk through the forest or sit high atop a mountain just to stare, or gaze at a desert that looks like it’s painted, or even watch black clouds and lightening or fog rolling in like a blanket. It makes me feel glad just to be alive.
My routine is to walk outside early in the morning and watch the morning begin to unfold. Then I come in and get a glass of sweet tea and an oatmeal cookie and read and study my Bible. It puts me in a great mood and prepares me for whatever is coming. The rest of my day might start going downhill and not go so well, but my mornings start out great.
Many of my friends begin their day by reading the news. Ugh . . . I used to do that – What a bad idea. It puts us in a sour mood which doesn’t usually get better as the day wears on. For the most part spiritual warfare is fought between our ears. It is our minds that Satan attacks. He hates us because we are loved by God and nothing pleases him more than someone to be despondent, discouraged, and without even a shred of hope for a brighter day which incidentally is his fate forever.
The Bible has a remedy for “stinking thinking” as Zig Ziglar coined it. Don’t listen to him!
Phil. 4:8
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.