For those of us who claim to be Christ-followers, does that fact stand out in any significant way to the “watchers?” Is there and discernable difference between what they see in us and what they would see in anyone else? Should there be? All true Christ-followers know the answer to that question is a loud yes! Of course it should matter that Jesus lives in us. Of course His values should not only guide us but lead us to a lifestyle that is based on His example and teaching. If that is true, our lives today, as His did then, will contrast to the lives of others in a way that is pretty obvious. We will be light and salt. Are we?

Jesus asked some of His followers, “Why do you call me Lord Lord and don’t do the things I say?” Were He to ask us the same question, what would we answer?

What are some of the distinctives that “watchers” should see in the lives of Christ-followers?

Where do you think the typical non-Christ-follower would see a difference in the life and lifestyle  of the average  member of your church? Your pastor?

Jesus told some of His followers that He wished that they were either “hot” or “cold” and that to be “lukewarm” was disgusting to Him. What do you think a “lukewarm” Christ-follower might look like in today’s culture?

In the first century a non-Chris- follower, Artstedes, described Christ-followers to his Emperor this way: 

 They love one another, they never fail to help widows. they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If they have something they give feely to the man who has nothing, if they see a stranger, they take him home and are happy as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers, instead through the Spirit, in God.

Wouldn’t it be cool if the “watchers” of our lives could say that, or something very close to it today about you and I and the Christ-followers that we hang with? It’s not impossible, but it won’t  happen by accident, it will need to be the intentional result of choices we make based on the values and priorities we hold most dear. It is our choice to make, we don’t have to guess what His would be. Why would we call Him Lord and not try to do whatHe says?

I have been asked to briefly give a couple of keys to what we have found to be a way to do marriage that works. There are so many things that God has used and is using that it is hard to pick just a few. For me, not to try to over-spiritualize, but it starts with understanding, and accepting God’s role for me in our relationship. The basic concept that I am to love Bonnie as Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it is where it all started. I had failed in marriage twice before coming to Christ. I know how to fail at marriage, and I’ve learned, I should say I’m learning, how to succeed. There are three things that we have done that have really helped us and that I would encourage others to do in some form without question.

FIRST, from the get-go we committed on our knees together that we wanted, and would strive for, God’s best in our marriage – no matter what! We knelt before Jesus and promised that divorce would never be an option. But, more than that, we said that we wanted the marriage that God wanted us to have. Not to just stay together, but to know the joy and “oneness” that He wanted for us.  We didn’t know at the time that there would be a thousand challenges that would test our commitment, and there have been, but so very often, when it has hit the fan, we are reminded, and remind each other, of our promise to Jesus and our commitment to His goals for us as husband and wife. Somehow that always breaks the problem down and reminds us that God is able to bring resolution and healing to whatever it is that we have let slip in.

SECOND, and following from the first, after about 12 years of marriage and two children, we realized that, while we were investing a tremendous amount of time and energy into their lives, we weren’t investing much at all in building our relationship. We had forgotten why we were attracted to each other in the first place and the romantic portion of our relationship had slipped drastically into “yesterday’s mashed potatoes.” After the realization and some thought and prayer, we decided to take one weekend a month and get away for at least one over-night. We found reliable sitters for the girls and committed to get away and do something “fun” every month. There isn’t space or time here to list all the benefits that this practice brought us. The planning and discussion around it brought out all kinds of issues and helped me see how I had neglected my responsibility as Bonnie’s husband to nurture the part of her that needed to feel feminine and wanted. We explored Bed and Breakfasts and “antiqued” together. (Guess whose idea that was?) I learned to enjoy Bonnie’s enjoyment, and yes, sometimes we played golf. After the girls left for college we had no “empty nest” problems, we enjoy being together.  Since then we try to have a weekly “date” for the same reason. It takes time and some money, but it is more than worth it. I’m 71 years old today and I’m still romantically attracted to my wife and she to me. Romantic love doesn’t have to die but we can kill it by neglect. I don’t do as well as I would like to, and writing this will help me to press on, but even a little effort over time is a whole lot better than none.

FINALLY, and simply, the most important thing we do, is to have quiet time with the Lord each morning and to finish it by holding hands and praying aloud together for our family, friends, ministry, and each other. There are many other things we do, but none more powerful, meaningful or helpful. It’s really hard to have a hard heart toward someone you pray with every day. And somehow hearing my wife pray tells me more about what’s going on in our lives than tons of general conversation. We spend about an hour at it each day, the last 10 minutes or so, depending on what’s going on, in prayer. We also hold hands and close every day in a short prayer of thanksgiving before we go to sleep each night. We’re not really Bible students or prayer warriors by any means, but we do a little everyday. There is nothing that I know of that helps more, and, if all Christians would do just this one thing, the statistics concerning Christian divorce would change dramatically.

There you go – three simple things. I hope that someone who reads this might just give them a try and, if they do, that they will be as blessed as we have. God is more than good. He’s the source of all that’s good. And marriage was His idea in the first place. Committing to His best, nurturing our love in His, and talking about it all with Him all the time really helps!

And, we are here to do special things that He had in His mind before He even made the Earth. (Ephesians2:10) Ultimately how we understand and apply this truth will determine our success or failure as Christian people. So many are deceived to believe that God has us here to “enjoy” this life. This is a totally false paradigm. That there are joys and some enjoyment in this life is a reflection of God’s loving nature and His grace, but we are here to work. We are here to serve Him and to produce a return

The way it all works is this: If we live as God intends us to, He will provide all we need to sustain life in the place in the world He intends for us. This place, and by place we mean the combination of location, station, vocation, and reputation, is the place where our unique blend of gifting and calling will be maximally fruitful in His Kingdom, which means to produce the highest return. This place is our “eternal sweet-spot.” This place is where we are able to return the greatest measure on His investment in us. For each of us there is that one true place and what is exciting is that any of us can find it. God will not hide it and tease us; He wants us to be and to function in our eternal “sweet-spot” far more than we can imagine.

There are a couple of keys we need to mention: First, remember that we said that “IF we live as God wants us to live?” Well, that’s a big IF. We have to choose to do so. We can all do it but we all won’t. It will only happen as the result of a conscious choice. Not choosing to live as God wants us to live is the same as choosing not to. Choosing to live the way God wants us to live will mean that we choose not to live the way the world tells us to live. It means that we will choose to accept God’s values and priorities for our lives and reject those of the world. Only if we see life through the lens of an eternal perspective will we choose God and His way in life. A godly life will by definition be a counter-cultural life. Not all of us are or will be willing to make the choices that we are called to make in order to live as God wants us to.

Let’s go back now and talk about investment opportunity. Remember we have said that IF we live as God wants us to live that He will provide all we need to sustain us in that place which we have called our eternal sweet spot. That sweet spot can be anywhere. It can be found in the very highest places of society or the very lowest.  Our sweet spot is, for us, the place where the highest return can be found. God will keep us there if we are willing. Remaining in the sweet spot requires no effort on our part in terms of provision, God will always provide all we need to do all He wants. Living in God’s sweet spot is His responsibility if we are willing to live there. Living anywhere else becomes our responsibility and that is where we find the stress and struggle in life. If we knowingly or unknowingly stray from our eternal sweet spot God is honor bound to try to guide us back into it. He has designed us to be nowhere else and, because of His love for us, will do all He can to encourage us back to our sweet spot if we move away from it. His correction is what the Bible calls chastening and it increases in intensity in proportion with our deviation from His highest and best for us. It manifests in an inner tension and the loss of the fruit of His Spirit in our lives. (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) Chastening is always designed to correct our orientation back to our sweet spot.

 A biblical example of living in the sweet spot is found in the parables of the Minas in Luke and the Talents in Matthew.  In both the returns that the faithful servants earned was measured and the servants with the highest return were commended. The master in the parables represents Jesus and we are the servants. In Luke Jesus used the mina to represent the equal opportunity we all are given to seek and live in our sweet spot. In Matthew our Lord used the talents to represent the different packages of gifts, talents, resources, and opportunities that we individually receive that are designed for creating the maximum return as we live in our eternal sweet spot. Both parables tell us that our Lord is extremely interested in the return He receives from His investment in us. His investment in us is death on the cross in our place. When He did that He invested Himself for us. Our investment opportunity begins with giving ourselves back to Him and it continues as we live for Him in the sweet spot that He has designed for us. As we live in the sweet spot we produce much fruit (His return on His investment) and prove to be His disciples. If we live out of the sweet spot our fruitfulness diminishes to the degree we err and His return is lowered.

 If He chooses to give us excess to what we need to stay in our sweet spot we have the additional investment opportunity of releasing it to the use of His Kingdom. This is the kind of investment Jesus meant when He told us not to lay up treasures on Earth but to lay them up in heaven. In fact, the definition of  mammon might be the excess of what we need to keep us in our eternal sweet spot. What we need to keep us in our sweet spot can be properly called sustenance; it isn’t mammon it is just utilitarian to God’s purpose in our lives. Jesus told us that we couldn’t love God and mammon. And if we define mammon as what we have been given beyond what we need to do all God asks the best thing that we can do with it is invest it in God’s business by releasing it to do Kingdom work. The returns are eternal when we do. Keeping for our own use that which God gives us in excess of what is required to live in our sweet spot is actually hoarding. When we hoard something we love it in a sense and we hoard it only because we don’t believe that God will give us enough more of it to sustain us or keep us where He wants us to be. (Hoarding should not be confused with appropriate savings that are a necessary part of out sweet spot.)

 In light of all this we can see the tremendous need to know what our sweet spot is and to stay in it. Truthfully our eternal destiny depends on it. We have each been created by God to do specific and important things in very important and strategic places. When we live in those places and do those things we fulfill our eternal destiny and provide to our Father the highest return on His investment. This truly represents our investment opportunity and His.

 If you are confused concerning your sweet spot or any of the concepts of this segment, the place to get clarity is in intimate questioning of God. Intimate questioning can only be a part of an intimate relationship so begin there. Ask Him. No wise person wants to experience a poor return or miss an investment opportunity.

 Check yourself. In a quiet time ask yourself:

1. Is my investment opportunity being fully realized?
2. If your answer is yes, ask what you need to do to maintain or increase it
3. If your answer is no, begin a process of change by asking God why.

 Are you living in or heading surely toward your eternal sweet spot?

1. If your answer is “Yes,” press on!
2. If your answer is “No” or “I don’t know” begin to ask God where it is and how to get there.

 Is your relationship with God intimate enough for you to believe that you can truly answer these questions?

1. If your answer is “Yes”, press on and don’t let it slip!
2. If your answer is “No” or “I don’t know”, are you content to continue as is?
3. If your answer is “No” or “I don’t know”, what might you change that could change the answer?
4. When will you make the change? 

I want to talk to you today about the need for  exercising all three parts of our being — the body, the mind, and the spirit. All three parts are interconnected and influence each other.  To have a powerful body and a weak mind and empty spirit is totally counter-productive in reality, and physical health is most important in terms of how it supports mental and spiritual wellness.

Building ourselves in body, mind, and spirit is the key to a meaningful, fulfilling, and fruitful life. take a look…

“What one generation tolerates, the next embraces.”

“What we do in moderation our children will do in excess.”

“ Our tolerance and silence has given silent permission for morality and common sense to be abdicated!”

“Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority of elitist snobs, and rabidly promoted by a corrupted and unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t–d by the clean end.”

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”– Gerald R. Ford

“Calling an illegal alien an ‘undocumented immigrant’ is like calling a drug dealer an ‘unlicensed pharmacist’.”

“Some things are so foolish that only intellectuals will believe them.”

Facts are not a problem for the intellectual elite, they simply ignore them and ask for more money to apply to problems that their half-baked ideology has failed to solve. They refuse all responsibility for the failure of their ideas and simply get louder and nastier  in shouting at common sense. I.e. our educational system that has been in their hands for over 50 years has “progressed” from the finest in the world to off the list of the finest! Way to go smart guys!

Just a few simple words to start your week!

There are several primary contributors to this common condition. Today we will focus on just two or three.

First, the force of the consumer culture we live in and the “more stuff is better” mentality of materialism. Because of the pervasive presence of our advertising-driven materialistic culture we are constantly bombarded with messages that what we have isn’t good enough and that something that is available “out there somewhere” is better, and that it is that new “something” that will bring us what we really need to be happy. This force is so much more powerful and destructive than most of us recognize! The key to a good and healthy perspective of life is contentment, and contentment is the polar opposite of what our culture promotes. The saying “If you can’t be happy with what you have, you will never be happy with what you are trying to get” is profoundly true, and living in a state of deferred contentment is at the heart of our common problem.

We live for the next “thing!” The “thing” can be a promotion, a new house, some more shopping to buy “stuff” we can’t afford and don’t really need to impress people we don’t really like, a new relationship, a child, a net worth, a new church, another drink, a better high… anything that we don’t have but think we need to be “happy.” Of course, since we don’t have it now, we can’t be content or happy – now. We will be happy then. But then…

This “more stuff” syndrome is subtly, though hugely, exacerbated among Christians by the mostly unseen or acknowledged presence of the “prosperity gospel” in our churches. While there are relatively few “name it and claim it”, “Faith” proponents their message has been co-opted by that vast majority of contemporary churches and has “leavened” many who would be horrified if they were confronted with the charge. The perverted message is basically this; if we do everything just right, i.e. commit our lives to Jesus, read the Bible daily, pray, tithe, attend every service, go on short term mission trips, and maybe teach Sunday school, that God will make our lives perfect! That He will give us health, wealth, and prosperity. Everyone will like us and be kind. Every disease will be healed. Every relationship will be fulfilling. All our debts incurred in the restless acquisition of useless “stuff” will be covered, etc… It’s a lie friends, but most of us have been led to believe it. Listen closer to what you hear from the pulpit or latest popular Christian guru. It’s there in spades. And, it is heresy. God’s purpose for us is not a life filled with an ever increasing bunch of “stuff”, perfect health, perfect relationships… not in this world. His will is a life of joy and dependence in Him in the midst of a world that is a never ending cycle of trial and respite, challenge and rest.

And that leads us to the third contributor to our frustration with unmet expectations; the vain hope that life in this world can be permanently ”fixed.” We strive to gain or overcome whatever need or trial that we find ourselves confronting in the moment in the hope that whatever it is will “fix” our lives. The problem is it never works, not for long anyway. There may be a temporary lift from accomplishing a goal or acquiring a new toy or relationship but inevitably what we have proves to be less than we hoped for or circumstances change and we look to something else with hope that it will be the final “it” that will finally “fix” our lives. The truth is that life will never be “fixed” here on Earth. It will only be ‘fixed” in the New Earth in heaven. Until then we will live in a series of trials, disappointments, and painful changes, mixed with periods of rest, comparative peace, and grace. Life is cyclic and can’t be “fixed.” This is a reality check friends. The Bible says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Living in the constant state of unmet expectations creates unbelievable stress leading to all kinds of illness and disorder.

So what to do? My best take is this; Christian, accept life for what it is, a series of ever-changing seasons and challenges designed or allowed to conform us to the image of Christ, and trust in the total truth that God is good and loves us perfectly. Trust in His promises that He will cause everything to work together for good in the lives of those who love Him, be confident in this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the Day of Christ, because it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.* No, we can’t fix life, but we can fix our hope on He who has, and step off the treadmill of our culture’s vain striving for what it promises but can never deliver. We can reject the “stuff is enough” culture and the lie of the prosperity gospel and embrace life in reality. We can simplify our lives and focus them on what is eternal and truly important. The choice remains with us. God has made His and He will always provide all we need to do all He wants. What He wants is Truth and faith in reality.

* (Romans 8:28; Philippians 1:6, 2:13)

We are in a unique condition as we read this material, a condition that is temporary but very significant, a condition that, in all of eternity, we shall only experience once. We are as we are because God has created us to be so. He has chosen to create us to be, at this moment, spirit beings that temporarily inhabit a human body. We will not be forever as we are now. A day will come when each of us will end this human life experience and we will go on to another experience of life called eternal life. But, for the moment, we are living in the human experience of life.

During our human experience we have spiritual experiences because we are spirit beings in our essence. The part of us that really matters is our spirit.

There is now a part of us that says with God, “I AM.” We could go on, but our point today is not to do deep theological exposition on the subject, although we pray to have piqued some interest along the way that may lead to deeper study, but to lay the groundwork for establishing a different way of seeing the mundane of life. After all most of what we do appears to be mundane. Perhaps by lifting our eyes to the infinite we can learn to see the mundane differently. And if we learn to see the infinite in the mundane, then the mundane will never be truly mundane to us again.

Our great need is to see God in the mundane. Our failing is that we tend to only look for Him in the extraordinary or the obviously spiritual realms of life. Because we do, we miss so much!

God uses the ordinary circumstance of life to reveal His extraordinary glory and grace.

Where is He when we spill our coffee? He is there, telling us to laugh at ourselves, that it is no big deal. He is using the circumstance to build the character of Jesus in us, to conform us to His image. Circumstances reveal our inner selves. Our reactions to them allow God to show us our need for Him and to experience our unity with Him, if we will let Him.

Where is God in a demanding customer? Why doesn’t He just handle it when we need Him to? Why does He allow us to hire brothers-in-law who He knows won’t work out?

Can you begin to get a sense of the difference it would make if we could learn to see the glory of God in the moment?

The basis for all discontent and all unhappiness is unwillingness to be content in the present moment.

Joy, peace, contentment, love, happiness and every good thing exist only in the moment. Life in this human form is composed of a series of frustratingly variable trials and problems, interrupted by momentary respites of serendipitous glimpses of grace. No one gets a pass. The rain falls on the just and the unjust and the sun shines on wicked and good alike.  Most days are a combination of problems and trials galore with God always present, and His glory always just a choice away.

Victor Frankl was a Jewish man sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Aushwitz during WW II. He made a profound discovery during the horrible trial of deprivation and torture that he experienced there. He realized that he was helpless at the hand of his captors in all ways save one. They could take away everything material, they could torture his body, and they could kill him if they chose. But they could never take away his freedom to choose his response to what they did to him. He survived, and after the war taught others about what he learned to call the moment between action and reaction. It is in this moment, he taught, brief as it may be, that we choose our reaction. We own that moment. No one can take that moment from us.

Now, if Victor Frankl could use that moment to choose his reactions to the brutality being forced upon him and survive, could we learn to use it to see the glory of God in our moment in the midst of the tests and trials of this human life? We can, indeed we can. And as we do, life is transformed, changed in an instant from mundane to sublime.

Practice taking God into the present moment. For the next week or so, stop in the middle of something and mentally realize that, at this moment, you are One with God. You in Him and He in you. Let His glory overcome the circumstance and capture the moment. It’s all we have and He is all we need.

Many friends have agreed with the concept of journaling over the years but most have struggled to find a consistent format that helps to keep the practice coherent and on track. In the hope that some may find it helpful I will share a very simple but effective journaling practice that I have used, and that has made it work for me for years.

1- For my journal I use a simple three ring notebook with a clear cover and dividers because they are so readily available and cheap. I slip my personal Mission Statement into the clear cover where I see it every day. I use the dividers to separate my journal and prayer list which is also pretty simple. (Consistent prayer over a few things is much better than occasional prayer over many things)

2. The way I set up each page is like this:
a) The first thing I do is write the day, date, time I get up, and my weight (I have been on a diet for 40+ years!) in the upper right hand corner.
b) Next I write the chapters of scripture that I will read (minimum) on the first line – center of the page. (Always one from the gospels and another usually from the New Testament.)
c) Next I drop down to about three lines up from the bottom of the page and write Blessing #…. I started with 1 and today was #7766. I then stop and reflect on what I am thankful for that God did in my life the day before, the previous 24 hours. I list as many as I can think of. I start this list by writing “Thank You Father for…..and write them down. (You will be amazed at how quickly we forget God’s blessings and kindnesses.)
3. Then I proceed with my reading, study, and reflection, beginning always with Scripture, and always including a chapter from the Gospels as I always want to be under the direct teaching of Jesus,  but also including other works that I feel God leads me to. Some sacred, some secular that will help me develop in the calling God has placed on my life.
4. The last thing I do is write a letter to God. Mostly they are just one page and are a combination of thanksgiving and praise for His Grace and questions about what He wants me to do. Sometimes I think He answers directly and I note what I think He has said. Sometimes I ask questions, sometimes I confess sin. Nothing is off limits! I write what I think His Spirit leads me to write, period. He doesn’t seem to mind how I do it or what I ask!
5. Every Saturday I review all that I have written during the week before I write to Him. This is an awesome practice and I highly recommend it. I keep tab markers handy and when something appears that I want to remember or review I tab it and go back over the tabs at the end of each year, or earlier if I am looking for something. Each January I spend part of the time reviewing the previous year, again, an amazing exercise. We forget so much of His grace and goodness!
6. Finally friends, and again, the thing that makes it all work is that the first hour of every day belongs to Him. This is the non-negotiable commitment that I made 7766 days ago. In all the years have missed three times to the best of my knowledge. These caused by red-eye flights or other unavoidable travel intrusions.

If you are serious about growing in your faith and have struggled to have a consistent and quality quiet time with God and want one,  try this; make it the first hour and non-negotiable and try this format for journaling for 90 days. You’ll never regret it and you life will never be the same.

The key is to not negotiate! It is infinitely easier to make one simple decision than hundreds or thousands of difficult complicated decisions. (I’ll have just a bite this time! I’ll skip running while I’m on vacation! etc.,etc., etc.)  Been there, done that! Decide on the positive and don’t negotiate!

The one simple decision that will make you successful in having personal time with God every day is this; give Him the first hour! Let the other 23 float on the winds of chance if you like but Give the first hour of every day to God. Make it His and not an option to anything or anyone else!

I can hear the groans from many of you but look, here are some things that I have learned about the concept:

We all set our schedules by the first obligation of our day. That is; if we work, we know what time we have to get up to be at work on time, many of us to the last minute! So all we have to do is back that time up one hour and spend it with Jesus! It doesn’t matter where we are or what we are doing this WORKS! Making it the first hour of the day, every day makes it easy! It is non-negotiable.

(No, you don’t really need the last hour of sleep that you think you do and if you do you can just go to bed an hour earlier!)

It is impossible to measure how much more or less tired you or I are at the end of a day based on 1 hour more or less of sleep. How do you measure tired? We are all tired at the end of a busy day. I live by this system. Do you really think that I’m more tired than you are at the end of the day? Nonsense! If you have a “tired meter” let me know. The fact is that tired is tired and most days go so much better when we start them with God that there is a great net gain in energy that far offsets any imagined sacrifice.

No, this is not legalism. Not any more than the prescriptive truths about diet and exercise are legalism! If you want to weigh less or be stronger there are practices that you will need to do and others that you will need to eliminate. Success will depend on being consistent and for most if not all of us that means stopping some things that don’t help us and starting and maintaining others that do! If we want our lives to be better in any significant area we need to be willing to change! Change or exchange as in good habits for bad!

You CAN do this! And you will never regret it.

Here are some tips that will make the first hour easily doable;

1: Read two chapters from the Bible. Focus on the New testament.  I always read one from the gospels because I always want to be listening to Jesus. The Old testament is foundational and historical but it’s in the New that we live and learn to apply God’s way in life for us. (Obviously this is a suggestion and for those who disagree or are disinclined the Old Testament is fine. Just do it!)

2: Read from a good devotional or other book that focuses on life lessons from a Christian world-view. Books on personal spiritual development from current writers or past heroes. Pick from authors like Max Lucado, Rick Warren, A.W.Tozer, Mother Teresa, George Muller, Andrew Murray and any others you happen across. Hold what they say up against what you are reading in the Bible. practice discernment! One chapter a day.

3: Read one chapter from a book focused on helping you to grow as a Christ follower in your calling. Christian parenting, marketplace ministry, teaching school as a Christian in a public school environment, etc. One chapter a day over five years will set you far above the crowd.

4: Make a prayer list and use it for 5-10 minutes of your hour. It will come to mind through the day.

5: End your hour by writing a “Thank You” note to God. Tell Him what’s on your heart and listen for a minute or so. He will tell you what’s on His. don’t write it as if anyone else will ever see it. Make it personal. Remember, He’s you dad and He loves you.

Yes, these tips are simplistic. But they work and if you begin and apply even these God will show you a more personal way for you. I have changed bits and pieces over the years and you will too. That’s not the important thing. What is important is the practice and making it non-negotiable. The tips are just to help those of you who need them to get started. The principle in practice will change your life eternally. By the way, today is my 7761st day at this. It’s in my journal! I guarantee that if you follow this practice for 90 days, making it non-negotiable and keeping a short daily journal, that your life will never be the same and you will have established a foundation that provides great benefits now and in eternity.

For the first 15 years of my life as a Christian I heard others talk about having a daily, early morning “quiet time” with our Lord. Since I am not at all a ‘morning person” I resisted the advice and tried every alternative I could think of to justify my resistance. (I do know all the reasons you can’t do it!) I did make a commitment to read the Bible for at least 5 minutes every day and involved myself in a broad variety of men’s groups and activities. I was a growing follower of Jesus and a new father and husband. There was so much to learn and so many changes that I needed to make in the way I thought about things and in life in general. I grew but continued to resist the early morning commitment.

I am a reader and over the early years read the biographies of a wide variety of heroes of our faith. Heroes like George Muller, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther, Smith Wigglesworth, Watchman Nee,  Hudson Taylor, and many others. I wanted to look for commonalities among them that I might learn from and adapt to my own life experience. One that jumped out but that I constantly rejected was that every single one of them testified to the blessing derived from, and their absolute need for, spending their first hour with the Lord in Bible reading, prayer, and quiet meditation. Each of them said one way or another that the practice of spending the first hour, or in some cases hours (Martin Luther said that “I spend the first hour of each day with the lord. Unless I have a very busy day planned. Then I spend two! Not what I was looking for!) was the key discipline that allowed them to walk in faithful and fruitful obedience and to grow in intimacy with the Father and the knowledge His will. I wanted those things for my life but still resisted.

Then in 1987 I was given the opportunity to become the Area Coordinator in Florida for the Fellowship of Companies for Christ, an organization that ministers to Christian business owners and CEOs. The work was definitely in my sweet spot and fit my background as an entrepreneur and chief executive. From my conversion in 1973 I had worked for most of the previous 14 years as VP of sales in a chemical business that used as the business model the question “What would this business look like, and how would we make our decisions, if Jesus Christ was the owner and Chairman of the board?”  What I had experienced had led me to hope to share with others the wonder of working for God in business, I still do (am)!

One day as I was ready to launch into the work I heard God speak to me. Now don’t freak out, it wasn’t an audible voice or anything weird. God has never spoken to me audibly. He speaks in my thoughts and in impressions that are hard to describe but very real. Often He speaks to me as I read His Word and sometimes in just a still, small inner voice. We can talk about this at another time but for now just accept that I heard Him say to me; “Buck, if you want to be effective in the lives of others I want the first hour of your day.” I can’t explain how, but I knew that I knew that this was real and could be a go-no go deal.

In what I look back on as my ignorance and even arrogance I said; “OK Lord I will give it 90 days. If after 90 days I can’t see any difference I’ll give it up.” (Can you imagine giving God a 90 day performance review?) I started the next morning and I must tell you that nothing that I have ever done has had the powerful and positive effect on my life that giving God the priority in my daily life that He deserves has had.

Since that first day almost 22years ago I have missed only about three days. God has taken me through the FCCI experience to starting The C12 group, LLC in 1992 and has grown it to the national presence we now enjoy as Americas leading resource for Christian CEOs and owners. I have been used to speak and write across our country and abroad and I have taught this principle in person and in seminars to hundreds of leaders. Nothing else that I have ever done has had the influence for good or been as fruitful. There is no Christian habit or discipline that I could recommend to you more highly if you desire to grow in your faith and effectiveness as a Christian. In fact I am so bold to say that without a daily quiet time you will never be ALL that God wants you to be. It is the foundation that a successful Christian life stands on and there is nothing else that takes its place.

There are two keys to having a consistent and successful quiet time that I will give you today and flesh out in a later post.

First, commit the first hour of each day to God. Give it to Him and let Him own it. And here is KEY #1 – make it non-negotiable. The first hour of each day is His every day – period. As long as it is negotiable the devil will negotiate you out of it!

Second, Key #2, write about it! At the end of each quiet time write a letter to Him in a journal. Tell Him what you think you learned. Ask Him questions. Jot down the answers you think you hear. Tell Him thanks for your blessings and tell Him that you love Him. Tell Him anything that is on your heart. Use ordinary paper like a three ring binder. Don’t be fancy just do it.

I guarantee that if you give Him the first hour of your day every day for 90 days you will never be the same and you will never stop or struggle with it again. In fact, I have a special offer that I make to those willing to try this process that I will share with any of you who write to me and ask about it. Give it a shot! You have nothing to lose except being ordinary.