An Early Morning Meal

I got this in my email from my A.W. Tozer daily devotional called "Insight for Leaders":

October 28

Failure and Success: The Things That Matter

..that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be
sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with
the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory
and praise of God.
--Philippians 1:10-11

In life there will be found certain great fundamentals, like pillars
bearing up the weight of some mighty building....

The wise man will simplify his life by going to the center of it. He
will look well to the foundations and, having done that, he will not
worry about the rest.

Life as we know it in our painfully intricate civilization can be
deadly unless we learn to distinguish the things that matter from
those that do not. It is never the major things that destroy us, but
invariably the multitude of trifling things which are mistakenly
thought to be of major importance. These are so many that, unless we
get out from under them, they will crush us body and soul....

Every believer as well as every minister of Christ must decide
whether he will put his emphasis upon the majors or the minors. He
must decide whether he will stay by the sober truths which
constitute the beating heart of the Scriptures or turn his attention
to those marginal doctrines which always bring division and which,
at their best, could not help us much on our way to the Celestial
City. The Next Chapter After the Last, 11,14.

"Oh God, we are so inundated with distracting things and clamorous
voices. Deliver me today from the trifling things and help me to
spend every minute of the day on 'the things that matter.' Amen."

Then as I was doing my daily reading I came across wonderful nuggets like this:

Psa 16:11
(11) You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

and

Psa 19:7-14
(7) The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
(8) the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
(9) the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
(10) More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
(11) Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
(12) Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
(13) Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
(14) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Reading these Psalms makes me wonder how I ever manage to read God's Word without feasting. But I know that it's easy enough to do. I'm so glad that God refocuses me so clearly when I call to Him.

Today is one full of potential. I actually woke up before my alarm. I got my run in, though it wasn't spectacular. Amanda and Lily are going to be away for at least 5 hours this afternoon and I can get some serious work done on my paper in that time. Lily and I are going grocery shopping this morning after breakfast. All in all, I'm looking at a great day. I need to prayerfully maintain my focus through it.