Timeless Bible wisdom from renowned pastor and teacher Chuck Swindoll. Do you long for daily encouragement and inspiration? Do you wish your quiet times were filled with power and purpose? Discover the joy and ease of meeting with God each day in a meaningful way with this year-long devotional by the world’s premiere Bible teacher. Filled with daily insights from Chuck Swindoll, Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? will give you a glimpse of the living power of God in your own life―and connect you to the restorative promises God speaks in his Scriptures. Good Morning, Lord ... Can We Talk? A Year of Scriptural Meditations By Charles R. Swindoll Tyndale House Publishers Copyright © 2018 Charles Swindoll All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4143-8068-1 CHAPTER 1 JANUARY 1 What's God up to in Your Life? Romans 8:28 Our world has become a large, impersonal, busy affair. Social media and the technological age have caused us to become alienated from each other. We're connected but not in community. No longer do neighbors visit across the backyard fence, chat in the driveway, or catch up on the kids at the mailbox. Those days are long gone. Our well-manicured front lawns and meticulously landscaped perimeters have become modern-day moats that keep barbarians at bay. Hoarding and flaunting have replaced sharing and caring. It's like we are occupying common space but have no common interests, as if we're on an elevator with rules such as: "No talking, smiling, or eye contact allowed without written consent of the management." Painful though it may be for us to admit, we're losing touch with one another. The motivation to help, to encourage, yes, to serve our fellow human beings is waning. People have even observed crimes in progress but refused to help so as not to be involved! Our foundational values are getting lost in these confusing days. And yet it is these things that form the essentials of a happy and fulfilled life. Listen to God's vision for our lives: We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 Maybe you've never stopped to consider what "His purpose" is. Briefly put, God is committed to one major objective in your life: to conform you into "the image of His Son." One of the many ways I've seen Him do that is through interaction with others. He's up to something by placing you in a small group at church with a family with a special needs son, or forcing you to work closely with an office manager whose life is coming unglued. Those interactions may be awkward, even unpleasant at times, but they could be what God's up to in forming you into the image of His Son. Consider today how you might join God in that purpose. Make yourself available as a dispenser of His kindness, a giver of His grace to someone who might need both. JANUARY 2 A Servant, Not a Celebrity Mark 10:45 Ever wonder if Jesus would have agreed to star in His own reality TV show? Let's allow Him to answer in His own words: For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. MARK 10:45 No mumbo jumbo. Just a straight-from-the-shoulder response. Jesus came to be a servant. Being a celebrity wasn't in His DNA. Nothing is more refreshing than a servant's heart and a giving spirit. This is especially true when such Christlike qualities are displayed in a person tagged as celebrity. Years ago, my wife and I attended the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Washington, D.C. That year one of the main speakers was Colonel James B. Irwin, a former astronaut who was part of the Apollo 15 crew who had walked on the moon. That made him famous. He spoke of the thrill connected with leaving this planet and seeing it shrink in size. He mentioned watching "earthrise" one day ... and thinking how privileged he was to be a member of that unique team. On the flight back to earth, it hit him that many would consider him an international celebrity because of what he'd experienced. Humbled by the awesome goodness of God, Colonel Irwin shared his true feelings, which went something like this: As I was returning to earth, I realized that I was a servant — not a celebrity. So, I am here as God's servant on planet Earth to share what I have experienced, that others might know the glory of God. I love that! God allowed this man to break loose from the small cage of Earth, to reveal to and instill in him the high value of becoming a servant, not a celebrity . Caught up in the fast-lane treadmill of the twenty-first century — making mad dashes through airports, meeting deadlines, homeschooling high-achieving kids, and coping with the stress of people's demands mixed with our own high expectations — it's easy to lose sight of our primary calling as followers of Christ. But let's not forget our goal. Instead, let's focus on becoming servants, not celebrities. JANUARY 3 The Way up