Enjoying the Journey
Search results for: mornings
Early Mornings
Do you love mornings? I have never considered myself a true morning person. In fact, I have always envied those people who seem to rise cheerfully “a great while before day.” Yet the older I get the more the quiet of the early morning hours means to me. This week a dear friend pointed out a wonderful but neglected passage to me. Job 34:15-17 says, “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon their bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” Before the completion of God’s written revelation the Lord often spoke…
Read MoreMaking the Most of the Mornings
I am not a morning person. The older I get I am not a night person either! That being said, I have come to realize the power of the morning hours. A few extra minutes in the morning and the right priorities can make a world of difference in the entire day. Early this morning (as I tried to get myself awake) I read a few thoughts written by Oswald Chambers on the importance of mornings. He wrote, “Specific times and places and communion with God go together. It is by no haphazard chance that in every age men have risen early to pray. The first thing that marks decline in spiritual life is our relationship to the early morning…When…
Read MoreCHAPEL » Vision Baptist College » Berlin, NJ
Pastor Charles Clark Chapel at 11:55 both mornings
Read MoreA Bible Teacher
Most Sunday mornings I am asked to address a combined Sunday School class or spend time with a particular Bible study group. This is always something I enjoy doing and is a little more informal than the preaching services. Recently I began a special meeting on a Sunday morning and the pastor asked if I would be willing to sit in a class with him. “You do not have to speak. I just want you to hear our teacher,” he said. It was one of the most refreshing and encouraging hours I have had in a long time. The Bible teacher had taken an online class with me long ago, but we had never met in person. As I sat…
Read MoreA Devotional Truth for the Morning
I am in another time zone this morning. Next week I will be in a time zone ten and a half hours different from home! It is easy for mornings and evenings to get mixed up at times. God makes a definite distinction between evening and morning in His Word. This is true from the very beginning in Genesis 1. Mornings are the first moments of a new day. When we give the first things to God He always makes the rest more blessed. Recently I was reading Charles Spurgeon’s message on “Morning and Evening Songs.” What a rich spiritual meal! Permit me to give you a little taste: Every morning is a sort of resurrection…Let us give the Lord…
Read MoreA Simple Practice to Add to Your Morning Routine
What is your morning routine? We all have one. Typically, mine begins with a trip to the coffee maker! While there are simple variations to my morning routine I try to follow the same pattern each morning regardless of where I am. The course of the day is charted in the first moments of the morning. While there is no perfect formula for everyone, there are key ingredients. The Word of God Coffee Prayer Coffee Some conversation with those you love Coffee Physical exercise Coffee Adequate time to get ready Coffee A good breakfast …you get the idea. My wife has a dish towel in our kitchen that says, “This house runs on love, laughter, and strong coffee.” She is…
Read MoreMaking the Most of the Evening Hours
Through the years I have written a number of things about making the most of the mornings. (You may read several articles about how to begin your mornings here.) In Genesis 1 we repeatedly find the phrase, “the evening and the morning.” Evening hours and morning hours serve as bookends on each day. It is vital that we learn how to both begin and end with God. Interestingly enough, the Jewish people viewed the beginning of a new day in the evening. The Jewish day began at 6 pm. It was not just the ending of one day, it was the beginning of another. Evenings should be a time to reflect on God’s faithfulness that day and prepare your heart for the…
Read MoreWill You Do This In the Morning?
In recent years I have come to realize the importance of the morning hours. There is something special about the quiet – and the coffee! – before the noise of the day. God desires, and deserves, the first. (Read more about the blessing of early mornings.) A friend once said to me that it was his practice not to speak to any man in the morning until first he had spoken to the Lord. David wrote in Psalm 5:3, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Most people look at their phones as soon as they awake. We look in the mirror. We look at…
Read MoreAn Update on Our Transition
The last few days have been filled with so many wonderful memories…and so much expectation for the future! As we pulled out of Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday I reflected on how good God has been to us in that place. We rejoice that He is not bound by geography! In fact, He is not bound by anything. I have made the drive from east Tennessee to southern West Virginia many times in the last twenty-two years, but this time was different. We were leaving home for home. Thoughts of home have consumed my mind this week as we have unloaded and begun to settle in Beckley. Permit me to share a few of my thoughts… Home is the place God chooses…
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