If you face the day with guidance from God, your life will change

How do you face the day?

When your alarm goes off and your eyelids grudgingly struggle open, what's the first thought that comes into your mind?

"Oh, no. Another day at a job I hate."

"I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night."

"My life is such a disappointment."

If you're like me, you don't leap out of bed like you were shot out of a catapult, hit the floor with a bounce, flash a huge neon smile and shout, "Howdy do, Lord! It sure is a pleasure to be me!"

I'm somewhere in between that and the first couple of reactions. But over the years I've learned that what we do in the morning and how we face the day can set the tone for how we handle whatever the world throws at us. Some people feel lousy until they have their first cup of coffee. For others it's a hot shower.

For me, it's reading the Bible.

Easy when you're single...

Many years ago, I got into the habit of reading the Bible as I eat breakfast. That's pretty easy to do when you're single. No one's demanding sparkling conversation from me--and I wouldn't be able to come up with any at that hour anyway.

Some Christians might consider that sacrilegious, but I believe that my food is a gift from God, so I've never felt that I'm taking away from the Bible's importance because I'm eating while I read it.

Reading the Bible before you face the day is a great way to put your problems into an eternal perspective. We learn that even though it was 2,000 or 3,000 years ago, people in the Bible had the same kinds of troubles we have today. We learn how they successfully--or not so successfully--dealt with them. We also learn that the Bible's principles are timeless, because they're really God's principles, and he is timeless and unchanging.

Besides the wisdom you can get from reading the Bible in the morning, it also settles you down and reminds you that God is with you as you face the day. When your life gets hectic, it's easy to forget that.

Usually, there's only time to read a chapter or two during breakfast. I'm a slow reader. I also like to think about what I've read, and my Life Application Bible has terrific footnotes that help me put a passage to use in my own life. It opened a whole new world for me and made the Bible relevant in a way I'd never experienced before.

If you're sincere, God will guide you

I don't follow a set plan. I'm not trying to read the Bible in a year. I believe that if you're sincere, God will guide your Bible reading. I don't mean that you should stick a butter knife between the pages hoping to come up with a divinely directed passage that will help you face the day.

When I have trouble seeing God working in my life, I reread the story of Joseph. When I need to remind myself of Jesus' love and forgiveness, I go to the Gospel of John. When I need a booster shot about God's power, I'll read the story of Israel's Exodus from Egypt.

If you approach the Bible as God's personal instruction book for your life, you'll discover something that almost knocks you off your kitchen chair.

You may read a passage a dozen times, but every time you do, it has something new to say to you, and it bears directly on your situation.

It's true. God does speak to us through the Bible!

Honestly, can you think of a smarter, better way to face the day?

(How to obtain a FREE Bible!)

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