Good Morning!: Keys to Living Your Life with Significance, Purpose, and Joy

By Alphonso Scott

Get Ready To Have a Great Day!Your body needs healthy fuel to run well. So does your spirit! The inspirational insights shared in these pages will be like vitamins for your soul! In these pages you will...• Discover unseen power that is just waiting for you to access• New ways to approach people, problems and personal challenges• Find wisdom to help you true live as “ more than a conqueror” • Keys to dealing with difficult people• Lessons on how to fight the enemy of your soul and WIN!• Realize just how relevant and practical God' s Word can be• Secrets to “ go the distance” and experience joy even when things aren' t going your wayTo finish strong, you need to start strong. Start your morning on the right path the path that leads to a life of purpose, significance and joy.Get ready to have a Good Morning!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lively Stone Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781958211519

Book preview

Week 1

Ninety Percent of Friction Is Caused by the Wrong Tone of Voice

Sunday: As It Has Been Done for You

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)

GOOD LEADERS ARE, first and foremost, stewards—people who reinvest in others the good that was first invested in them.

Leaders worth following understand that everything they have—resources, time, skills and abilities, leverage and access, experience and expertise, influence and authority, their own lives—are not really things they have at all.

Stewards view these things from a life-is-bigger-than-just-me perspective. That perspective helps them see advantages, strengths, and resources not as possessions earned, but gifts entrusted. Gifts that are not to be used in self-serving pursuits, but are to be stewarded for the good of others.

The privilege and responsibility to speak is also an entrusted gift that leaders must steward well. Words are crucial. By these, a leader may rise or fall. By words, a leader can also lift or deflate their people. How we speak to our people—the words we use and the way we use them—should flow from a heart of humility and an earnest desire to sow into our people the good we ourselves have received.

Imagine if every sentence you spoke today first passed through those two filters: humility and selflessness.

How might those two filters refine the quality of your words and shape the tone with which you speak them? How might those two filters shift the atmosphere in your organization and the narrative in your people’s minds?

Imagine, and then do. Steward your words well today.

Monday: Whose Eyes Are You Looking Through?

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (2 Corinthians 5:16)

A TONE OF voice can be influenced by many things. People, experiences, memories, faith, relationships, moods, family traditions. We must, however, make intentional decisions. We must notice how we sound and how we look and realize what message we are sending before presenting our case.

The eyes we see through can impact the tone we speak with. Our vision can change our voice. Our perspective can influence our performance. Friction can result from perception.

What is called a worldly point of view can be a glance toward defeat. It could sometimes offer temporary applause and achievement. It could temporarily present pleasure. But wise people see through those momentary thrills.

Don’t live by looking through the eyes of momentary gain. Change things by shifting your view, your tone, your mood, your character, your presentation, your attitude, your heart. Live by looking correctly, carefully, and courageously.

So, ask yourself, whose eyes are you looking through today?

Choose the right point of view. See through that lens. Make it obvious for yourself and your loved ones. Goals and results will follow.

Tuesday: Salt and Fresh Water

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (James 3:11–12)

FRICTION ORIGINATES FROM the inside. Results are noticed externally, but the cause is within.

You’ve seen it, haven’t you? You’ve heard it, haven’t you? You’ve experienced it, haven’t you?

Think of a business or a family or a church which endured unnecessary but damaging friction. Go back into the story. Find the cause. It is likely that somewhere in the story you can find inner struggles which finally resulted in external conflict and division.

Choose to bring good fruit instead of friction. Yes, it is a choice to make. It is a decision. Provide the right water for your life’s spring. Let it flow smoothly and naturally with the rhythm of kindness and care.

Bear the right fruit by planting good seeds.

Research the story of your garden. Investigate the history of your spring. What is there? What should be removed? What should grow and develop?

A world is waiting for people who offer what is truly needed, not what is incorrectly assumed to be wanted.

Wednesday: The Heart’s Overflow

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (James 3:9–10)

YOU KNOW THE times you can tell a heart of a person, don’t you? Whatever they say and however they say it, their true motives come forth. Kindness is revealed because their heart overflows with it. Compassion is shared because their heart is full of it.

The negative side of that is also true. Hate hurts deeply, even when someone attempts to cover it up. It shows. It comes in tone of voice and facial expression.

Stop the fake praise and applause.

Be genuine.

Let love come from deep inside.

Not praise one minute and cursing the next. Ongoing, regular, consistent positivity.

Speak it. Speak it clearly and intentionally and sincerely. Let it be seen.

Let it be heard. Let it be believed.

Thursday: Speak Slowly

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1:19–20)

PEOPLE OFTEN GET in a hurry. We see so much that needs to be done and we get tired of waiting. That is how many of us are wired. See a need, meet a need. Find a problem, find a solution.

Those are good traits. That drive, however, can turn into voices which speak too quickly, hands that push ahead too suddenly, and feet that step forward too rapidly.

These three reminders should be on your to-do list:

Be quick to listen.

Be slow to speak.

Be slow to become angry.

Are those on your list? If not, place them there.

Do those you love see those three practices in your life? If not, change.

Begin today, begin now, to speak slowly and listen well. Refuse to let anger reign. Let words wait for their turn. After you are ready, and after your listener is ready, then speak slowly. By speaking slowly without anger, you can face forward and live well.

Friday: Your Tone, Their Takeaway

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

YESTERDAY’S THREE KEY points need to be remembered. In fact, those three goals should be key components which help us live well as we face forward in this life adventure.

Are you quick to listen? Do you listen well enough to be able to repeat what the other person said? Why or why not? What should you do to become better?

Do you speak slowly? After—maybe long after—listening well and paying close attention? What should you do to become better?

Are you slow to become angry or quick to get mad? Do you lose your cool often? What should you do to become better?

Your tone can influence how others follow you. Their takeaways are affected by your method of speech, not only the words you speak. And today’s emphasis carries this even further:

A gentle answer—turns away wrath.

A harsh word—stirs up anger.

Your tone and your words influence what others get from your comments. Your words lead, but do they lead well? Be sure that they do.

Let today’s words be gentle, not harsh.

Let today’s words be kind, not callous.

Let’s today’s words make a positive difference, not a negative difference.

Today, use the right words said the right way.

Saturday: Two Powers at War

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21)

WE DO NOT like seeing news reports of war. Lives taken. Cities destroyed. Regions demolished. Nations attacked. Just watching clips online or on television feels depressing. I think of the families and the individuals.

But we must also pay attention to the ways we bring war through words. There is the war between life and death. Leaders know that. Leaders do something about that. They notice battles. They choose ways to fight the correct battle and fight it correctly.

As we have emphasized this week, the tongue causes friction. We have also said that our words have power to bring freedom. Which will you choose this week? Life or death? Good fruit or bad fruit? Friction or freedom?

The words we choose to say and the tone we use to say those words can make our world a place of war or a place of peace. That is what can make our team a family at war or a family at peace.

End this week with the strength of positive words. Lead through your statements of faith and kindness and encouragement and hope. Lead by giving assurance and confidence and trust and declaration.

Week 2

It’s Not What’s in Your Pocket That Makes You Thankful, but in Your Heart

Sunday: What the Heart Pursues

An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels. (Proverbs 18:1)

REMEMBER THOSE TIMES as a child when you saw something you wanted and suddenly decided to start running after it? Whatever it was and wherever it was, whatever was in the way—you saw it. You wanted it. You ran after it.

Maybe the adults said, Slow down. Or, Why are you in such a hurry? Or, Where are you going? But you were probably too busy finding that toy or that snack to answer their questions.

Over time, though, we learn to chase what is best for us. At least, that is what we should learn. But we can see through the news and the stories that people continue chasing unhealthy desires.

Why? Why do people pursue those things? And how can you be sure to chase what is best and lead others to chase what is best?

It is all about the heart. What the heart—the true self, the inner self—desires most is what the person pursues. You know the outcomes. Disasters arrive. Division appears. Disruption interrupts progress. Distractions lure leaders and their teams off course.

Quarrels begin when people pursue selfish ends.

Unhealthy hearts make unfriendly people.

Let your heart desire and pursue what is best, which is not always what seems best. Not always what others might say is best. Determine what is best and pursue it with all your heart.

Lead others with your heart as it is traveling in the right direction.

Monday: To Desire Understanding

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. (Proverbs 18:2)

OPEN THE BOOK. Turn the pages. Notice all those words and paragraphs. Observe all that information. What should you do—just glance through the pages and then close the book? Or slow yourself down and actually read the pages?

You know the answer. You should read. You should study. You should learn. You must obtain information to gain transformation. You cannot be a leader if you are not a reader.

This is not about degrees and diplomas. This is not about a title or a status. This is about a desire to understand. This is about becoming wise.

Fools, the Bible tells us, find delight in airing their own opinions. They find no pleasure in understanding. They just want to be noticed. They just want to be seen.

Lead differently. Lead as a learner. Lead as one desiring understanding. Face forward with eyes open to read and study, and the mind open to needed information.

Move the books off the shelves and let them enter your mind. Find pleasure that way. Set the atmosphere so your teams will find pleasure with you as they open the books and turn the pages.

Tuesday: The Problem with a Wicked Heart

When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes reproach. (Proverbs 18:3)

MANY PROBLEMS COME from a wicked heart. Those hearts hurt people. They damage teams. They shift atmospheres from positive encouragement to negative discouragement.

Contempt and reproach arrive with wicked hearts.

Defeat them. Not by becoming wicked yourself and behaving just as the others behave. No, that isn’t facing forward. That is glaring backward.

Open your eyes and see a better way. Then, open your mouth and speak about that better way. Choose a better heart rather than a bitter heart. Display a heart of grace instead of a heart of wickedness.

Those harmful hearts push people aside to pursue selfish goals. That isn’t leading. That is destroying. That isn’t guiding. That is seeking to control.

Start living with a heart of kindness. Start living with a heart which sets an example to all who follow. Let how you live create a climate which defeats and destroys wickedness.

Do you remember a poor example of leadership? That person who sought control and led with a wicked heart? That person who hurt many people along their way to the top? Unfortunately, we all remember them.

Give your loved ones a new example to remember. Lead with a good heart. They will learn your way. Their hearts will become like yours.

Wednesday: Deep Waters

The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream. (Proverbs 18:4)

A FOUNTAIN OF wisdom is like a rushing stream. Words might be deep waters, but a fountain can bring a stream of water with consistency. That is how you must live—with a heart not full of deep hurt, but a heart rushing the fountain of wisdom to all who are there.

Through your words spoken, be that fountain.

Through your words written, be that fountain.

Through your ideas offered, be that fountain.

Through your vision cast, be that fountain.

Many of our daily readings of leadership begin with passages from the ancient Book of Proverbs. It is the Book of Wisdom. That is what we must carry with us as we face forward and lead others to join us in this journey. This is how we must invite others to follow. Wisdom must be the ongoing nutrition continuing to bring the needed nourishment.

How are your words? How are your deep waters? How is your fountain? How is your rushing stream?

Ask yourself those questions today. Ponder and find answers.

Make wise decisions about how to obtain and distribute wisdom. Pursue the fountain of life.

Thursday: Reshaping Preference

It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice. (Proverbs 18:5)

WE ALL HAVE our favorites. Teams we cheer for. Meals we order more often than any others. Songs we smile whenever we hear them. Places we never have to think twice about going whenever we are invited. Cities and towns and states and nations. Oceans and mountains and stadiums and cathedrals.

Learn to love what is best. Learn to reshape what your loved ones prefer—not to control them, but to help them live the best life they can possibly live.

Don’t select favorite people and be partial to the wicked ones. Don’t make up your mind too soon. Don’t miss a chance to have a new favorite, a new friend, a new follower, a new team member. Don’t keep those favorite possibilities in your pocket of hopes. Get them out. Put them there for all your team members to see. As you speak, show them with a reshaped tone. As you stand, show them with a reshaped look. As you listen, show them with a reshaped willingness to listen.

As you are reshaped, they will be also.

As all are reshaped, the larger climate will shift.

Isn’t that exciting? Your team will be your favorite team. That will show as you lead. That will show as you listen. That will show as you speak.

Friday: Words Spoken from a Good Heart

The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. (Proverbs 18:6)

FOOLISH TALK IS unfortunately too common. You have heard words declared by insecure, unpleasant, harmful people. They argue and state their cases. They disregard those around them. They give little worth and value to those they should encourage.

Their words bring damage. To each individual. And to their teams.

Live differently. Live with words spoken from a good heart. Live with words which bring smiles, which inspire followers to glance with courage at whatever is facing them, which help teams stay close and work together for the good of the whole, which invite rather than reject.

Lead like you want to be led. Lead with words given at the right time, in the right way, with the right tone. Live with faithfulness rather than foolishness. Live with a view toward people in which you see the value and importance of others.

Every word you say can display that heart.

If your words display such a heart, you will lead with the very attitude others want to follow.

Remember to put yourself in their place.

What words inspire you to follow? What heart is the one you want to help make the world a better place?

Live like that.

Saturday: Words Speaking to a Heart

The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives. (Proverbs 18:7)

THIS WEEK WE have talked about talking. We have talked about words. We have talked about the heart.

So, now I should ask you: How are your words? How is your heart?

And I must also ask you this: What lessons have those you love learned about your heart?

Followers notice what we might wish they didn’t. They can tell when something isn’t right. They can feel when something goes wrong. They might not say it or ask us about it. They might not run away immediately. But if our poor leadership continues and if our unneeded words regularly bring harm, our team will no longer be our team.

They will leave.

If they don’t leave geographically, they will at least leave relationally, mentally, and emotionally.

Choose today to not let that happen.

Believe today that your words are speaking life rather than death.

Assure someone today of their importance.

Encourage someone today of their worth.

Words—healthy words from healthy hearts—can create healthy teams. What is said today will make this week end well and help next week begin well. So, my friend, how will you end this week? How will you prepare for another week? What words are bringing life from your heart to the hearts of others? Start now.

Week 3

Keeping Your Mouth Shut Is the Better Way

Sunday: Seeking the Best Path

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts. (Proverbs 18:8)

WE ALL LIKE the better paths. We prefer the best route possible to a location. Getting directions, and keeping directions, helps us stay confident in reaching our destination.

Unhealthy comments and unneeded remarks take people down dangerous paths. Keeping your mouth shut just might be the best goal to pursue for today, and for this week. The best path is the road of fewer words, the street of safe statements, the highway of healthy remarks, the boulevard of calm conversations.

Today, take that route. Refuse to let damaging words come from you. Hurtful statements cause long-term impairment. Individuals, families, groups, churches, businesses, and countries are affected by words which take terrible turns.

Seek the best path today. The path of kind words, peaceful words, encouraging words, inspiring words. What can such statements provide? What can such conversations bring? Healing and hope and assurance. Deep, lasting, genuine relationships. An environment where people trust one another. A city where kindness is the climate.

Seek that path. Lead toward that path. Live in that path. It is the best path, the lasting path, the needed path. Do not miss it. Do not let those who follow you miss it.

Call it your home.

Monday: Leading without Words

One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9)

SOMETIMES WE NEED to say the best words possible.

Sometimes we need to say no words at all.

Sometimes it is best to lead by example—without words. Too much talk can cause problems. Those conversations often go on and on and on. Criticism. Competition. Condemnation. Refuse to let those describe your mood, your tone, your life. Face forward by using positive, powerful, and kind words. And, often, face forward with no words included.

Remember times in your life when someone voiced statements which harmed a person or a family or a church or a business. Imagine how much pain could have been avoided if that person had said nothing at all.

I am not suggesting avoiding confrontation when it is needed. If it is needed, discuss sensitive topics at the right time, in the right way, with the right motives, and in the right mood. But, other times, you’ll need no words at all. You keep from saying the wrong words by saying no words at all.

Lead without words. Lead with actions. Lead with attitudes. Lead by serving in silence. Lead by loving through actions rather than phrases or promises or pledges.

Our culture needs such silence these days. Our world needs such leaders these days.

Be one. Lead with few words, but the right words.

Tuesday: Leading with Few Words

The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

AS WE CONTINUE reflecting on silence, on using fewer words, on leading without unnecessary comments, how do you feel about it? Is that difficult for you? Do you still suffer from hateful words voiced to you from previous leaders? Is it hard to let go of those words?

The Book of Wisdom in the Bible, Proverbs, offers statements which help us face forward. They offer invitations to a fortified tower, a safe place to run to.

We must find our own safe place before we are secure enough to help others. If we do not find that tower, we will continue trying to prove our own worth and value. We will battle the ongoing storms of insecurity and uncertainty. And, as we have all seen happen, those struggles lead toward too many unneeded words.

We can find our safe place.

We can stay there and be secure, no matter the storms circling around us.

Though disaster might be in orbit, we do not need to respond. We can rest. We can remain silent, staring back toward the tension with a facial expression that is calm and secure. We need not use harsh, forced, demanding words.

We can sit. We can wait. We can watch our loved ones choose to join us in our safe place.

Wednesday: Leading a Better Way

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. (Proverbs 18:11)

WHILE OTHERS WATCH you speak better and talk less, they are bound to follow you. You need not be the loudest or the meanest. You can be the best in the right ways, not based on walls too high or wealth too isolated. You can lead a better way, a best way, by welcoming others gently and silently into your land, into your heart, into your community, into your business.

Think about those you have followed. Why did you respond positively to their leadership? What welcomed you? What inspired you? What words did they use which helped you develop? How did their silence lead well?

Looking back on your leaders, consider lessons from them to apply in your own life. Glance backward and learn a few of those lessons. What would be the most important lessons you think could help you live in a better way? How can you apply them? How would those practices change the environment around you and those you love?

Put together a list as you answer those questions. Let that list lead you and guide you, as you lead and guide those who follow you along the better way.

Thursday: Management in Silence

Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 18:12)

IF WE TRULY want to face forward, refusing to stare backwards and be controlled by the past, we must remain humble. A great way to do that is to manage well in silence.

That wise way, that best way, that valued way can prove we are not seeking to prove something. We aren’t living with unneeded words and unvalued noise.

We can live with calmness and silence. We can speak and manage in silence.

Again, this week’s emphasis is not to encourage avoidance of important issues. Emphasizing silence isn’t encouraging a reluctance to address significant snags. Problems are to be talked about, heard, addressed, and resolved. In healthy ways. In appropriate ways.

But managing silence is a way to provide time and space to adapt and adjust, then to prepare better for needed conversations.

Step aside from the debate. Step back from the anxious atmosphere. Find inner peace. Rest in that. Reflect on possible outcomes and various avenues to travel. Through managing proper silence, you can better manage your team.

Such moments offer you time to be sure you are ready to accept people and circumstances, and also able to take the needed next steps. Rushing that can push you too soon.

Manage in silence and become ready. The right time and the right way are when to move forward.

Friday: Vision in Silence

To answer before listening—that is folly and shame. (Proverbs 18:13)

SOME PEOPLE SEEM to answer questions no one ever asked them. They seem to always have something to say. And some say it loudly, don’t they? And many see that as a talent, don’t they?

I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough. Noise doesn’t equal leadership. Volume doesn’t guarantee followers. It is a shame to shout a vision or a plan or goals or hopes before ever listening to the noise around you. Don’t take that route. Take time to see amid the silence.

Listen. To conversations. To questions. To answers. To discussions. To prayers. To hurts. To goals. To hopes. To difficulties from the past. To desires for the present and the future.

Take the better way, the way without words. You’ll eventually talk and have much to say. You’ll ultimately be heard and heard well. Before rushing your way to the people and through the people, before making sure they all face forward, you must yourself face them right where they are. Do that with few words