Start the day with God. This is your best preparation. This is the best part of the day because it is the beginning of the day. Appointments have yet to assault your calendar. Interruptions are blocked from your schedule. Each day is a new day full of opportunity, challenges and problems.

Because each day is unique, we need a daily dose of God. We need His wisdom, His forgiveness and His perspective. Just as our body needs exercising and bathing, so our mind, soul and heart need God’s cleansing and renewal. Time with God feeds our soul like a nice meal nourishes our body. A malnourished soul will lead to a sick life. You can fast from God, but this is not a healthy fast.

Your fasting from God may be as result of moving too quickly. Slow down your pace or He may slow it down for you. Assuming you have rested well the night before, your mind and body are the most receptive in the morning.

Therefore, it makes sense to use this pliable time of the day to recalibrate with God. First in, first out is a good description of what happens in the morning. If the worries of the world consume our beginning of the day, then worry will come out first during the day. If trust in God fills our day’s beginning, then trust will come out first during the day.

Jesus modeled this for us as He rose before the day began to spend time quietly with His heavenly Father. You may need to find a quiet spot with the fewest distractions so that you can listen intently to your heavenly Father. Wake up with God while the world sleeps. Then, when the world awakes, you can greet it with grace and truth.

Your time with God need not be complicated. Converse just as you do daily with certain friends; keep the dialogue honest and open. God already knows our heart, but we forget and we need a reminder. My heart deceives me, but God cuts through the deception and gets to the core of the matter. My anger may cause me to sin by not letting go of a person or a situation. Sometimes it is hard to let go and trust God with the matter.

You cannot blame another for your bad attitude; this is between you and God. Ask Him to do an attitude check and to fill your “gratitude tank” before you run out of gas. If gratitude is not motivating your living, you will burn through energy like dried out firewood on a blistering cold winter night. Without daily doses of divine gratitude, your enthusiasm will be sucked away like smoke up a chimney. The morning is an ideal time to lay our requests before our heavenly Father.

These can be requests that flow from the desires of our heart. When you walk close with God, the desires of your heart will align more closely with His wishes for your life. This is reassuring. As you walk with Jesus each day, ask Him by faith for a pure heart. Request from Him the right spouse and a new career opportunity in His timing. Look to Him for courage to walk away from a relationship or a deal, or request that same courage from Him to accept a new challenge—one that forces you out of your comfort zone. Ask Him for the trust and the patience to accept His timing with all of the issues that are crowding your mind. There is no better way to start your day than with God!

Taken from the Dose 3 reading in Boyd Bailey’s Infusion. This 90-day devotional book is a compilation of the reader’s favorites from Wisdom Hunters daily devotional. Andy Stanley says, “I have walked with Boyd for over 20 years and I am definitely wiser for it. You are going to love this book!”

How do you keep your mind free from the clutter of conformity to the world? This is tricky because Satan’s scheme is to substitute truth with subtle half-truths and not so subtle blatant lies. There is a battle for your mind that never ceases. However heaven has equipped you to stand against the enemy’s deceptions. “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil” (Ephesians 6:12, NLT).

“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth…” (Ephesians 6:14a, NLT). We know without a belt on our clothing we are exposed to outside elements. It is the same in your spiritual life. You dress for success when you start out your day, clothed in the principals of Christ’s teaching. Lies grow limp when there is no entry point into your life. For example, you reject the fear of man and you trust in Christ. You accept the fact that, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper…” (Isaiah 54:17a). Truth triumphs over lies.

Reject the lie that you are not loved and accept the truth that God loves you unconditionally. Reject the lie that you have to defend yourself, and accept the truth that the Lord is your defender. Reject the lie that you have to make it happen, and accept the truth that Jesus is working on your behalf in His timing. Reject the lie you have nothing to give, and accept the truth that God has gifted you to serve in your unique way.

Mind renewal requires intentional acts of exposure to matters of eternity. This involves reading, learning, meditating on and memorizing Holy Scripture. Coupled with prayer you are able to transfer truth from the hothouse of your head to the playing field of your heart. The Holy Spirit marinates God’s word in solitude and reflection, so the outcomes become tender morsels you are able to consume by faith in obedience to Him.

Determine daily to dredge out the accusations of the world and refill your mind with the transforming truths of the Bible. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). Think on these things and you will begin to think and act like your Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. What are ways I can regularly renew my mind with God’s wisdom and insights?

Related Readings: Psalm 63:6; Zechariah 7:10; Mark 2:8; Romans 12:3

Transformational Living
What did I learn from the Lord in today’s Bible reading?

How will I respond?

Why is it necessary for the follower of Jesus Christ to focus his faith on daily bread? One compelling reason is it defines our dependency on Him. It is the intuitive need to keep our soul empty of sin’s enticements– lies, laziness and greed, and our body full of food– daily bread. Jesus taught His disciples to pray this way, “Give us today our daily bread. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:11, 13).

Can we really make it successfully through life without the Lord’s loving leadership, compassionate comfort, and wise rebukes? Of course not! A life left un-tethered from holy reliance is aimless and only interested in fulfilling fleshy desires the world’s way. In contrast, a man or women with an appetite for the Almighty “hungers and thirsts for righteousness” (Matthew 5:5). There is an innate passion–born at regeneration– to engage everyday with a prayerful posture of dependency on your Provider in heaven.

Your dispenser of daily bread is totally trustworthy with a track record of giving to His children all that they need. Are you content with Christ’s daily provisions? Or do you still struggle with wanting to prescribe to Providence your wants and wishes? Peace comes when we receive His prescriptions for living and leave the unknowns in His hands. His part is to give daily bread and our part is to gratefully receive His daily bread.

When you live in-between affliction and riches you live in an authentic position to serve others. Most people can relate to your life when you are transparent about your own struggles, fears and successes. Leverage your dependency on the Lord as a model to lead others to love the Lord more than their life. Daily bread is an excuse to engage others.

It is your need for His daily bread that deepens your faith and broadens your influence. Therefore, wake up each day grateful for God’s goodness and the glory of His provisions. Am I satisfied with His daily bread? Do I feed off of faith in Jesus and faithful living? “I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:10). His daily bread deepens your dependency on Him.

Related Readings: Genesis 28:20; Psalm 119:29-37; Luke 11:3; 1 Timothy 6:6-8

Transformational Living
What did I learn from the Lord in today’s Bible reading?

How will I respond?

Today is the only time we have for certain. ‘What can I do today to further God’s plan for my life, both professionally and personally?’ Perhaps you pray a similar prayer each day to recalibrate what Christ wants for you. This is how Jesus taught us to pray, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come… Give us each day our daily bread…” (Luke 11:2-3). Daily bread is God’s reminder of our desperate need for Him.

If we only dream about tomorrow then the realities of today lose their attraction, even to the point of becoming irresponsible. Future ambition cannot abort taking care of my current commitments. Today you can trust the Lord. You can love family and friends. Today you can serve a stranger, meet a deadline at work, babysit for a neighbor, go to the doctor, or plan your next special time with your spouse. Focus on today and you’ll find fulfillment, obsess about tomorrow and you’ll become sick with discontentment.

Presuming on tomorrow can put us into a predicament. This is why debt is deceptive and dangerous. Aggressive borrowing can bring down our financial house. We cannot expect to expand our business on the uncertainty of credit. We cannot promise ourselves ease of life and entitlement of affluence. Christ is our provider, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:15). Faith is our filter for future opportunities.

God’s activity is not easily discerned; by design He invites dependence. Therefore, focus on today by faith and feel the assurance of His activity on your behalf. “Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things” (Ecclesiastes 11:5). What current commitment needs my undivided attention? Do I need to replace any future presumptions with present prayer and planning?

Related Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:22; Isaiah 56:12; Matthew 6:34; James 4:13-15

Transformational Living
What did I learn from the Lord in today’s Bible reading?

How will I respond?