Joyce Meyer - Starting Your Day Right: Devotions for Each Morning of the Year

Unless otherwise noted Scriptures are taken from the Amplified Bible. Copyright 1954, 1962, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scriptures noted NKJV are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Copyright 2003 by Joyce Meyer

All rights reserved.

Warner Books, Inc.,

Hachette Book Group, USA, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

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ISBN: 978-0-7595-1026-5

First eBook Edition: November 2003

My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.

PSALM 62:5

God wants you to enjoy your life. Jesus said, I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows) (John 10:10). Your days can be filled with an overflowing joy that will spill into the lives of others. You can experience this joy all day if you learn to start your day rightby spending time with God, reading His Word, praying, and listening for His direction.

Listening to God each morning fills you with expectancy and favor for a better day, and those days add up to a better life. The Lord wants you to have Him clearly in sight in order to follow Him. He is willing to wake you in the morning and make your ear alert to His instruction. If you will seek Him with all your heart, He will renew your strength and make clear your path (see Isaiah 40:31; Proverbs 3:6).

I have written this book to remind you of the benefits of starting your day with God. It is not written to replace your personal time with Him, but simply to enhance it and to point you to your own daily encounter with Him so that you will enjoy every day of your life. He will teach you to balance out your extremes, gain self-control, and live in a way that has a positive impact on others. I encourage you to seek God early each morning and to wait on Him to write in your spirit direction for the day. God will fill your heart with knowledge that will enlighten you at the right time. Once you experience the empowerment of beginning your day with God, you will never want to start your day without Him.

Start Your Day Right

When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.

PSALM 94:18

Some people seem to start their day on the wrong foot. They feel all right when they wake up, but as soon as something goes wrong, they lose their footing and walk with a losers limp the rest of the day. Once they are off to a bad start, it seems they never catch up.

If someone offends us early in the morning, our anger can keep us defensive all day. If we start the day rushing, it seems we never slow down. But today our feet can be firmly planted in Gods Word. There will be no bad day when Gods Word supports, strengthens, and directs us.

Get Up and Get Going

I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping... Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping (emphasis mine).

PSALM 6:6, 8

Even before we are totally awake, Satan is bidding to deceive us and is ready to plant defeating thoughts in our mind. He wants us to be hopeless, faithless, and negative. He definitely doesnt want us to be positive when we get up. He wants us to have a bad attitude and be selfish and self-centered, full of hatred, bitterness, resentment, doubt, unbelief, and fearto be mad at everybody.

But thank God, through Jesus Christ, we have been redeemed from all of those negative patterns. We can resist the devil and trust Gods power in order to live victoriously today.

Keep in Touch with God

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes]... But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

PSALM 1:1- 2

Keep in touch with God today; stay tuned to His voice. You may have a plan for the day, but God may lead you in a totally different direction if you are sensitive to the Holy Ghost. Be brave enough to flow with what you feel in your heart God wants you to do.

Today is going to be a good day. Listen for the voice of God to lead you. Be determined to walk in the Spirit and stay in the flow of Gods leading today.

Avoid the Slingers

O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You... in a dry and weary land where no water is... I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.

PSALM 63:1- 3

There were people in the Bible called slingers who defeated their enemies by slinging stones and throwing dirt into their wells, contaminating their life source of water (see 2 Kings 3:25). We all know people who sling accusation, judgment, criticism, and faultfinding at others. We certainly dont want slingers in our life, and we dont want to become slingers either.

Dont be a slinger who contaminates your own faith or the faith of those around you. Spending time with God will fill you with living water (see John 7:38). You will be edified and become a source of encouragement for others all day long.

Get in the Flow

You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart.

PSALM 36:8- 10

I have never been much of a swimmer. I may not be the best at fighting the current, but I can float. It is wonderful just to trust the water to keep us up and go with the flow. We can trust God to keep us afloat through the rapids and lead us to still waters.

The Bible says Gods mercy and loving-kindness are new every morning (see Lamentations 3:22- 23). His mercy isnt just there waiting for us; it is new, fresh, flowing, and powerful every new day. We need to get in the flow of Gods river of life early each day and learn to float on the power of His presence.

Get Rest

As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

PSALM 17:15

Each evening the sun sets on all of our problems and on all of the mistakes we made that day. But something marvelous happens to us as we sleepthe Lord gives us rest physically, mentally, and emotionally. We are renewed and rejuvenated to face the next day.

Today we may wake up with the same problems we had when we went to bed, problems that yesterday we felt we just couldnt take anymore. But somehow today, after proper rest and sleep, we think, I can do it; I can face it again. God promises to renew our strength when we rest in Him.

Rejoice Today

Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength; yearn for and seek His face and to be in His presence continually! [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds which He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered.

1 CHRONICLES 16:10- 12

Many people dont realize how important the morning is, especially those first moments of time that we are awake. God calls the sun to rise for us. He is eager for us to wake up and talk to Him again.