Monday, January 01, 2007

Purged and Cleansed, Forgiven and Freed 1-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I celebrate the beginning of this new morning of this new year in the communion of prayer with You. ... "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:7-10). I woke up this morning with the desire to be purged and cleansed of all unrighteousness -- to begin this new year with clean hands and a pure heart. Almighty Father God, Creator of heaven and earth, by Your grace that comes through the cleansing of the Blood of Jesus and the purging of the Fire of the Holy Spirit, I commit and commend, I dedicate and consecrate my spirit and soul and body, my family and friends and relationships, my hopes and plans and dreams, my gifting and calling and destiny, my finances and possessions and resources, my past and present and future, my generations past and my generations to come, every dimension of every realm of my existence to You -- my Lord, my Savior, and my God. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I entrust myself to You and Your Lordship of my life in complete submission and trusting surrender. I confess and repent of all my sins. I want to be purged and cleansed, forgiven and freed, as I begin this year in the journey of faith. I pray for and I receive Your forgiveness and grace, Your healing of all wounds and deliverance from all evil -- that my flesh would be crucified with Christ, that my heart and soul would be purged and cleansed, that I would be filled with the fullness of Your Holy Spirit. I bring to the foot of the Cross and under the Blood of the Lamb all levels and layers of selfishness, self-centeredness, self glory, pride, presumption, insecurity, fear, doubt, unbelief, stubbornness, rebellion, rejection, self rejection, condemnation, shame, lust, impurity, immorality, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed, jealousy, laziness, sloth, gluttony, addictions, perversions, deviations, complacency, passivity, manipulation, control, deception, confusion, criticism, idolatry, excuses, self righteousness, self deception, defensiveness, hardness of heart, dullness of conscience, weariness of spirit, and everything else that Your Holy Spirit brings to mind now or in the days of this new year ahead. I choose to hold nothing back, but freely submit all that I am and all that I have to You. I renounce in the name of Jesus everything that would hold me back from being holy and whole by the power of Your love and plan for me and my life. And I choose to embrace Your will and Your ways by Your grace. You are worthy of my trust and I willing commit my life and this year into Your hands -- Your nail-scarred hands. This is my desire: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). "May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do this" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (v. 4:3). Yes, Lord. I ask You to do this and keep giving me the courage to keep asking -- step by step, layer by layer, morning by morning. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I invite you to continue to come along with me on the journey again this year, as I begin my fourth year of Morning by Morning. I pray these morning prayer will be a blessing and encouragement to you. Please forward these along to anyone who might be interested in starting off each day centered on Jesus in contemplative prayer. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com . Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794