START YOUR DAY WITH GRATITUDE

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)

RISE AND SHINE - TWO DISCIPLINES TO START YOUR DAY RIGHT

When is the best time to set your mind on a peacefully, happy and productive day? Of course, it is either before we physically get out of bed or the first act, thereof. Ideally, the first words of out our mouths should be words of gratitude to the Lord, that we made it another day. Each day many do not have that privilege and blessing, and of course, one day, it will be our turn to transition into eternity.

But for now, the best discipline after rising is not heading for the coffee pot but towards prayer. Prayer to the Lord Most High, Maker of Heaven and earth, Who regardless of what non-believers say, made the earth six literal days - yet He has existed from Eternity Past. His goings are from long ago, the Bible says. He is the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and the End Who sees the end from the beginning.

As we progress in physical age, we do need to stretch when standing downright upright and push-ups, backstretches and more are the way to go. The best stretching, however, is the one we do in order to benefit our very souls. Here are just a couple easy yet sometimes difficult to maintain, steps to begin this process more productively. These are actually a better use of time to engage the Bible with your prayer life and not lose interest or the zeal to continue.

Most Christians who follow these disciplines will sit down and start reading a chapter in the Bible, or pick out something at random. Very few, but enough actually follow a Bible reading plan. Picking a book or passage of the Bible at random to read through and then pray sometimes only lasts THAT long for the average person.

The best way to do this is:

    -   Step 1: FIRST - RIGHT OFF THE BAT - read a Psalm in the Bible and/or start reading through the entire New Testament, one chapter at a time. The Books of the New Testament are not just shorter than those of the Old Testament, but their chapters are shorter and to the point of the Life, Ministry and Expectations of Christ. If you decide to read a Psalm, read only ONE Psalm per day, or 8 or so verses of another long one, and then, close the Bible, thereby getting ready to proceed to Step 2.

     -  Step 2: In this daily morning time, we continue in  our chair or quiet living room or study, and proceed to prayer time. What the reading of the Bible BEFORE praying does is to remove the tendency for our minds to stray off into la-la land and be easily distracted. The discipline (and it is a learned habit or discipline) engaged in here, focuses our minds and spirits right away on "The LORD says" in His Word, and no attack from the prince of darkness, who rules the air temporarily, can distract from this Truth! The other way, if you pray first and have a long list of requests for others and yourself, by the time you get to the Bible, the flesh and the mind are not in full alignment and the goal is to get this over with as soon as possible. If this is the case and a hard habit to break, it is better to continue with the Bible reading in the middle of the day at work, or during the lunch hour. This way, the Word of God is never disengaged from us, and we fulfill Psalm 1:2 where Scripture exhorts to meditate on the Word "day and night".

These two steps, when activated on a daily (preferable) or as much as possible, will not only enhance our Spiritual Maturity and Growth in Christ, but will, in very short time, become second nature. The key to enabling, activating and executing these two simple steps is Time. Each Christian can spare 5-10 minutes per morning to spend with the Lord in Bible reading and Prayer. He or she can most definitely spend that and more, during a busy day, if you and I prioritize, even if the kiddos are screaming for breakfast at 6:30 am and you are unable to find even two minutes to pray. 

Make time for the Lord, when you can. It is the best investment in your day, you can ever make. The stock market is not even a close second. Rise and shine, and give God the Glory - and watch Him grant you and I, His peace, grace, love and mercy. Amen.

THY WILL BE DONE: PRAYER - "BE POSITIVE"

God loves the Christian who appears to have swallowed a dozen lemons as much as He loves the Joyful happy warrior who approaches the Throne enthusiastically, day after day!  The former’s approach to prayer is often filled with fear and trepidation to the point where the prayer life is stunted,  fellowship stymied and active relationship with the Father, stayed. The joyful happy warrior however sees his/her waking up in the morning as an opportunity to jump at, in order to meet and greet the Lord daily!

Both conditions define Christians who pursue and those who pout. Who is God more prone to respond to? Both, because He looks at the heart and the request which the Holy Spirit reconfigures, according to Scripture. The edge that the joyful person has is abundance….joy unspeakable, joy unfathomable…and why? Because the Joy of the Lord is your Strength (Nehemiah 8:10b). The latter is the domain of the praying Christian who approaches our Maker with faith, gratitude, humility, love and respect. In other words, a combination of all of these attributes and a willingness to be in His Presence in proactive intercession brings forth fruit and fuel which are both priceless and without comparison. A positive attitude in prayer becomes the Christian as it simply glows off the countenance!  

Consider this: Moses’ brother Aaron was the first official High Priest of the Faith (Melchizedek is the first ever on earth). Aaron’s famous Aaron blessing is direct from God and the portion which pertains here is  “The Lord bless you and keep you…..the Lord make His Face to shine upon you, and give you shalom (peace): Numbers 6:26. There is no more powerfully positive blessing and prayer than this. You can’t teach “positive” we just have to come to a full realization of how great a salvation we have, what that salvation cost Jesus Christ and how incredibly blessed we are to the point that we cannot help but fall at His Feet and even at the mention of His Name. There are many who reject the Lordship of Jesus Christ and simply call Him Savior. Savior, He is. However, if Jesus is NOT the Lord of your life, then something/somebody else is and there is no way there can be a complete relationship with God.

As always, Scripture is our road map. How we pray and stay positive is to start from the foundational truths of the Word, remain in the Word, pray the Word and thereby become fully reliant on the Word.  There is something to acknowledging and praising God in prayer as soon as you set yourself to pray in His Holy Name. “Bless the Lord oh my soul, all that is within me, bless His Holy Name” (Psalm 103:1) Think of the power that underlies this statement which the Holy Spirit placed there for our instruction!

Let us begin to work from the very heart of this verse for a minute, which is “all that is within me” (Psalm 103:1a). This is pro-active sacrificial worship straight from the very depths of who we, as 100% committed followers of Christ, is foundational in having a positive attitude of prayer. When you and I approach the Lord, with expectation and when you approach Abba Father with total surrender, you and I are operating under the Scriptural Definition of Faith. This is right out of Hebrews 11:1 “Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for (expectation), the evidence of things not seen”!

Now about this “evidence” – those who are saved, redeemed, rejuvenated, born-again – we HAVE the evidence! He is the Holy Spirit! He is the SAME, the VERY SAME Holy Spirit Who raised Christ from the dead. He, Holy Spirit, IS the evidence! If this is not understand, we have more work to do to teach Him. So back to Psalm 103:a “ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME”? Well, all that is within you and I - is the Holy Spirit! 

With that in mind, how can we NOT be positive in our Prayer Life?! Impossible. The equation is simple: Holy Spirit (the Evidence within) and the Expectation equals dynamic fuel. This powers us to the state of being positive in prayer!

Next: "Be Practical"

RISING EXPECTATION - FROM EMPTY TOMB TO GLORY!

Webster's Dictionary describes the word "EXPECTATION" as an act of "state of anticipation"...something that "would happen"!
As we look at the basis of the Greatest Event in Human History - The Resurrection of The Creator of all things (Colossians 1) - we find ourselves in a paradigm pregnant with Expectation. The incredible PROVEN event of God (Who became Man), rising out of a grave would have been a stand-alone miracle in itself, were it not for the fact that this ONE single act gave us the assurance of similar rising expectations on the Glorious (yet fearsome) Day of the Lord!

This basis of my entire being- all I believe, see, feel, touch eat and sleep - is absolutely mind-blowing! The Righteous Branch of the Godly Trinity was prophesied to rise up from the dead in Psalm 16:10 but it was Hosea 6:1-2 which prophesies OUR revival or restoration into the Heavenly realms with Abba Father!  Peter confirmed it in Acts 2:25-28. Can you imagine what it would be like to look forward to the day when we sit with Isaiah; Daniel; Jeremiah and Hosea and Amos and Ezekiel and talk about the Lord and His goodness? Wow!

It is one thing to read, comprehend and believe our great prophet brothers. It is quite another to prove it by walking it out in authenticity. It was recorded that Jesus appeared to 500 men at the same time before He ascended into heaven! In Biblical terms, you can correctly assume it was then thousands because most of these men had wives and large families! Then Jesus appeared to His chief persecutor - Saul - and Jesus' own half-brother James, who doubted the Savior for most of his life growing up under Mary and Joseph! SEE 1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8 ESV

The secular historian Josephus was a good friend of this same James, the half-brother of Jesus and recorded that in his history book, which the conquering Romans instructed him to write. Josephus, a non-believer in the Way, has no axe to grind when he wrote the following in "Antiquities" ("Testimonium Flavianum"...Ant. 18.63-64) 
          
“About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man [if indeed one ought to call him a man.] For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. [He was the Christ.] When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him.  [On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him.] And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.”

Still, even without all this evidence, I still would have believed in the Resurrection...and it is because of the greatest gift God can give anyone (along with Salvation, of course). That gift is Faith! The concise yet powerful meaning of Faith is  described here in Hebrews 11:1 ""Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"

Therefore, in light of the prophesy; the actual death on the Cross of the Savior and His final victory over the death and hell...and then His resurrection from His own grave, I re-affirm my expectation on rising with my fellow believing brethren. I stand with yearning and hopeful eyes looking skyward because it is that Empty Tomb, which guarantees my eternal position in the family of the Faithful, in Jesus' Name - amen - Glory to His Name!