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.

Yesterday morning I left home (n.GA) at 7:30am to catch an 11:15am flight. At 9:00am my car overheated and changed my plans in a significant way and I got a chance to experience what I teach and try to live by, Romans 8:28 “God will work all things together for good for those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose.” I am so grateful for this truth! It can even help when standing next to a steaming car knowing that you can no way make your flight and wondering how in the world to put things back together!

A few calls on my cell and a pleasant ride in a wrecker to my friendly Nissan dealer who informed me that I could have my car back two days and $700 later and rebooking to a evening US AIr filght that would get me into San Diego at midnight and I was back on my way. Just another day at the office!

I had reflected a bit as I leaned on my car waiting for the wrecker. All I could think of was how glad I was that it hadn’t happened the day before! Tuesday was total rain! It would have been a mess. Wed. was perfect, clear sunny and warm. Thank you Father! How much was all this mess going to cost? I really had no idea but if God chose to redirect some of His money that I was holding for Him to a wrecker anda Nissan dealer and an airline that was His business, I wasn’t going to let it spoil my day. I knew that I didn’t have the stamina to do what was ahead of me but I knew that He did and since He has always provided all I needed to do all He has asked me to do in the past, I knew He would again. He did!

This isn’t my best writing, I’m really tired now but it doesn’t matter – job done, and I just want to encourage any of you who might need to hear; God is, God cares, His strength is more than sufficient, and He will always provide all you need to do all He asks. Take it to the bank! Press on!

Oh yeah, we are in a storm right now buckled up tight and bouncing like crazy! He’s here, I say storm be still in Jesus Name and even now there is peace in my soul! Press on!

Would you like to see God show Himself mighty in your life and on your behalf? Can you believe that, as much as you or I might want that, He wants it even more? It’s true, He does. It is His deal, His choice, and His plan. He gave us Jesus to make a relationship with Him possible, sent His Spirit to live in us to empower and guide us, and has chosen us as His vessels to show Himself to the world. There is, by the way,  no “plan B.”

God’s only real requirement is that our hearts be “wholly His.” So, that’s the start point, an undivided heart. Do you have one? Do I? Unfortunately, if we are honest, most of us will have to answer “No, not really” or “Sometimes”, or” some of the time” . Most of us have been so subtly yet deeply influenced by our modern, multi-cultural, pluralistic, and  relativistic world that we have compartmentalized our hearts and thus marginalized our faith. We are classically lukewarm. We feel free to move in and out of involving God in our lives and, because we do, we prevent Him from showing His reality and power through us to a world that needs nothing more!

What can we do? If we realize that our hearts are schizophrenic and want to refocus and make them “wholly His”, can we? Of course we can. But we never will unless we are willing to change.” If nothing changes, nothing changes.” Without change our futures will simply be a reflection of our past.

Exactly what will we have to change? That will be different for each of us depending on which idols we are presently giving our hearts to and how strong our commitment to them is. He will show us what our deal is if we ask Him to. It’s our call, He will never play games or hold back from us. If we simply pray “God, show me where my heart is not wholly Yours and what I need to do to make it so” He will respond in ways that we will recognize and ask us to respond. The choice will be ours, He has already made His.

This post will begin a series called “A Life God Can Bless.” We’ll do at least one post each week and hope that you will make a visit to the site a part of your life each week. Feel free to leave questions or comments or contact me directly. Let’s change the world from the inside out.

As leaders who are called and appointed by God we are eternally and constantly responsible and accountable for for promoting His agenda in the context of the environment in which He places us. (More on this at a later time.)

I am a constant and voracious reader, have been for many, many years. Over the last 35 years my primary focus in addition to Scriptures has been predominately on leadership, spiritual leadership, Christian leadership .  The book that I want to suggest today was first published in 2001 and I don’t believe that it has ever really been appreciated for the quality and scope of its content. As I scan the landscape of all that I have learned and experienced in working with Christian leaders of leaders for 35 years this book truly stands out as way best! It is Spiritual Leadership by Henry and Richard Blackaby, published by Broadman & Holman. I have no idea why this book didn’t gain more attention and traction than it did, perhaps 9/11 smothered it or perhaps it is too convicting for those seeking to promote private agendas and personal success, but in my opinion it is the best so far. I strongly recommend it especially for young leaders who truly want to make a lasting difference.

I am committing to reread Spiritual Leadership and would love to have you join me and share your thoughts. There has never been a time when true Christian leadership is needed more or in shorter supply!