Morning by Morning, August 7 - Treasure the Word

 

"With my whole heart I seek You; do not let me stray from Your commandments. I treasure Your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You" (Psalm 119:10-11).

 

Is Your word truly a treasure to me? Do I treasure Your word in my heart? Or is it some kind of obligation, some list of all the dos and don'ts of a legalist, religious life?  Is Your Scripture my treasured authority to judge right from wrong, what is good and what is evil, how to live a life that honors You and delights in You? Are the words I hear in my heart, as I seek You with my whole heart, to welcome Your Spirit to guide my steps like precious jewels more valuable any treasure this world has to offer me? ... Or am I just pretending to believe You and follow You?

 

Come, Holy Spirit. May I truly treasure the word of God. May God's word be "spirit and life" to me (John 6:63). May it be like the kingdom of heaven to me -- "like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44). May it be like a precious pearl to me -- "like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45-46). "For where (my) treasure is, there (my) heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).

 

You have blessed me as Your very child. You've called me by name and told me I'm Yours. You've given me Your written Word as the authority for my life, and every day, You speak to me Your living word to lead me and empower me to live it out in the mercy and love of Your grace. May I truly treasure what I have and never take it for granted. By the grace of the One who is the Word made Flesh, now living in me to live out Your word through me life, may I "guard the good treasure entrusted to (me), with the help of the Holy Spirit living in (me)" (2 Timothy 1:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you are stirred by the Holy Spirit to treasure God's word in your life today and every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, August 4 - Morning Mercies

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and throughout my day.  ...

 

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.... The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:22-25).

 

There's something about the morning. No matter the troubles of a challenging day before or even the anxieties of a restless night before, there's something about the dawn of a new day. When the sun comes up, my spirit lifts up. When my heart opens up to You to wait for You in my morning prayer, when my soul seeks You to worship You in spirit and truth in the offering of my first fruits of the my morning, it seems all is well with my soul.

 

You use the freshness and quietness of these morning moments alone with You to simply remind me that Your mercies are "new every morning," that "great is Your faithfulness," that Your "steadfast love ... never ceases," that Your "mercies never come to an end." These are my morning mercies. And I'm so thankful for them. 

 

No matter how hard the day before, no matter how hard today or tomorrow may be, no matter that sorrow or anxiety may have lasted for the night, Your joy and mercy and peace come with the morning in my morning mercies of God! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray all is well with your soul, no matter what you may be going through, as you begin this day revived and refreshed in the morning mercies of God, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, August 2 - Standing Firm in Faith and Moving Forward in Action

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You and I need You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. So I welcome You here in my heart, here in my thoughts, here in every dimension of my life and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord.... But Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground' " (Exodus 14:10-16).

 

You told the Israelites to "stand firm" but also "go into the sea." Your Word says it would be "the deliverance that the Lord (would) accomplish" for them, but You told Moses to "lift up (his) staff, and stretch out (his) hand over the sea and divide it." At one level, my heart wants to ask, "Which is it, Lord? Do we stand still and see the deliverance of God or do we move forward? Do we trust You to part the waters or do we lift up our staff and stretch it out over the waters to divide it?"

 

And as soon as I ask the question, this answer comes to my heart:  "Apart from Me, you can do nothing. But hear the good news, you are never apart from Me. I am with you always. I lead you forward, as you stand firm in Me. I part the waters, as You lift up the staff of your faith to believe Me and trust Me to move mightily on your behalf. Faith is not passive, but active. Faith is obedient to move with action as you boldly trust Me with a stillness in your soul and a steadiness in your heart."

 

Yes, Lord. You defeated Pharaoh and the Egyptians that day. You alone were their Deliverer. But You moved mightily on their behalf as they actively participated with You in response to Your commands with the faith You supplied -- the Israelites as they chose to go forward and Moses as he chose to lift up his staff.

 

The battle belongs to You. And so do all glory, honor, and praise. But at the same time, You call us to actively participate with obedience and faith. And when we do, we can look back one day by the power of Your grace and know that all that pursued us to destroy us, we will never see again. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you stand firm in faith, trusting God alone as your Deliverer, and moving forward with obedience and action in the power of His grace to see the enemy of your soul defeated, as you cross over into all the Lord has prepared for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

  

Friends, I'm excited to be sharing a message of hope and healing at the First Wednesday Service of Worship and Prayer Tonight, August 2nd, in San Antonio at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus, pastored by Max Lucado at 7pm. All are welcome! Please come join us in the South Room Worship Center. God bless you!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, August 1 - God's Words in My Mouth

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be Lord of my life and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"Listen to Me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord.... I have put My words in your mouth, and hidden you in the shadow of My hand" (Isaiah 51:1-16).

 

Before I step out into my day, I first want to come away with You in the intimacy of worship and the communion of prayer to seek Your face and listen for Your voice. Give me a heart that pursues You first, above all else. Remind me to seek first the kingdom of God and Your righteousness. Then everything else, then all that I need and all You've place in my heart to desire will be added unto me (Matthew 6:33).

 

As I seek You, I'm also aligning my heart with Yours. As I behold You, You're changing my thought and my desires, my character and my nature, my perceptions and my attitude -- making me more like You, "transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

 

And as You put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, You're also putting Your words in my mouth, as You hold me in the shadow of Your hand (Isaiah 51:16). Then You send me out into my world to speak Your words of spirit and life and truth. 

 

So with all my heart, I want my words to be Your words -- purified in Your fire and sanctified by Your Spirit, to speak life and not death, to speak blessings and not curses (James 3:9-10). You have high standards and high expectations for every word that comes out of my mouth. As You said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.... I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:33). And as Your Word confirms:  "The words of the mouth are deep waters.... From the fruit of the mouth one's stomach is satisfied; the yield of the lips brings satisfaction. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits" (Proverbs 18:4-21).

 

By the power of Your grace, may I be a faithful servant and good steward of all the power of my words You've entrusted to me as a child of God and disciple of Christ. "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. The Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever!" (1 Peter 4:10-11) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray the Holy Spirit stirs you with a passion to pursue God and His righteousness, as our Father holds you in the shadow of His hands and fills your mouth with His words to speak His spirit and life and truth into your world today, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

  

Friends, I'm excited to be sharing a message of hope and healing at the First Wednesday Service of Worship and Prayer tomorrow night, August 2nd, in San Antonio at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus, pastored by Max Lucado at 7pm. All are welcome! Please come join us in the South Room Worship Center. God bless you!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 31 - "Think On These Things"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes upon You, as I still my soul and listen for Your voice.  ...

 

I believe I hear You saying in my heart:  "Think on these things" (Philippians 4:8 KJV).

 

Yes, Lord. I can't choose the certainty of all my circumstances or predetermine the parameters of all my challenges, but I can choose -- by the power of Your grace -- the focus of my thoughts. And Your Word encourages me to think on the good things, to focus a little more on the best things, on the things that help me look up instead of down, to look forward instead of backward, and to start off my day on the right path, with my best foot forward, with a good attitude and a healthy perspective:  "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.... Then the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8 NLT).

 

There will be plenty of time to deal with the daily stuff, but right now I'm going to take a little time with the Holy Spirit. I can gird up and go out into battle in a minute, but right now I'm going to settle in for some quiet time in the communion of prayer, centered in You, and surrounded in Your Presence. I'm going to open up my spirit and lift up my heart and welcome You into every thought in my mind, every desire in my heart, and every moment in my day.

 

I'm going to think on You and all You've done for me. I'm going to think on Your love for me, Your power within me, Your plans before me, and Your grace to sustain me through whatever comes. And then, when I have to start thinking about all the other things that will become a part of my life today, I'll not forget these good and precious things that You've sealed in my heart, here at the start of my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray the Lord will fill your mind an your heart on the good things of God in your life, as you begin your day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 28 - Love and Obedience

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice.  ...

 

"If you love Me, obey My commandments.... All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn't love Me will not obey Me. And remember, My words are not My own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent Me. I am telling you these things now while I am with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as My Representative -- that is, the Holy Spirit -- He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you" (John 14:15-26 NLT).

 

Does loving You also include obeying You? Or does loving You only include receiving Your mercy and grace and the freedom to do what seems right in my own eyes to follow the leading of my own heart in the logic of my own reasoning? Will Your Holy Spirit lead me in love without leading me in obedience? ...

 

I sense there is something You want me to hear about love and obedience.  ...

 

It seems I hear You speaking in my spirit:  "My son, your desire to obey Me is a mark of your desire to love Me. It's a matter of the nature of faith -- faith that trusts Me to know and to desire what's best for you. To love Me is to trust Me, and to trust Me is to obey Me. This is the nature of love and obedience I want you to come to understand. Seeking to love Me without the desire to obey Me is loving some idea of Me that is crafted by human minds, not by My sovereign will."

 

Yes, Lord. Help me understand this more deeply. Help me test what seem to be Your spoken words against Your written Word. "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. I have said these things to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:8-11).

 

There is a connection between love and obedience, between living in faith that trusts You and Your Word and the complete joy we're created to experience in our loving relationship with You and one another.

 

A Scripture that comes to mind now is from Galatians 5:3-6:  "For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love." And this:  "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.... those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:13-21).

 

Truly loving You will lead me to seek to obey You because I trust You. And You've given me Your Spirit who is at work in me, changing my heart to love You more, trust You more, obey You more, and become more like You every day (Romans 8:29).  "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT). As the old song says, help me "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray your joy will be made complete as you grow in the desire to love and obey the Lord our God in ever-increasing, trusting faith in Him, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 27 - Growing Faith, Increasing Love

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day in the deep communion of prayer -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering" (2 Thessalonians 1:3-5).

 

With growing faith and increasing love, we can endure all things by the power of Your grace. We shouldn't think it strange or get stuck in self-pity or confusion when we experience persecutions, afflictions, and suffering for Your sake. But rather, we should embrace Your Presence as You bring us through every challenge as an opportunity for You to increase our steadfastness and faith, making us "worthy of the kingdom of God." 

 

As Your Word encourages us, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when His glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.... Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.... Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good" (1 Peter 4:12-19).

 

There's suffering that comes from choosing to stand firm in Your truth by Your Spirit. There's often mockery, ridicule, judgment, and resentment. Somehow it even gets turned around that we are the "haters" who love You, Your Word, Your truth, and Your Spirit. Somehow it gets turned around that the ones seeking to be changed and transformed into the image of God in accordance with Your plan and Your power for every one of us are wicked and cruel because we're not willing for things to just remain the same when there's the power of Your grace to be changed. And somehow it gets turned around that seeking to live in trusting submission to the authority of Your Scripture and the conviction of Your Spirit is self-righteous, arrogant, and mean-spirited instead of seeking to be humble, faithful, and true disciples of Jesus Christ sent to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

As You prophesied long ago:  "Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight! Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights!" (Isaiah 5:20-23)  Yet, You said, as the very Personification of love and faith, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.... Those who love Me will keep My word, and My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words" (John 14:15-24).

 

You saw it all coming. You are not surprised at this turn of events. And you don't want us to be surprised either. 

 

By the power of Your grace -- growing our faith and increasing our love -- Your Word continues to encourage us:  "But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; for they said to you, 'In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.' It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies. Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of His glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you continue to grow boldly in your love and your faith, as the kingdom of God advances mightily in you and through you, growing up to maturity, steadfast in obedience, through every struggle and overcoming every challenge, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 26 - "Where Righteousness is at Home"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my heart, Lord -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- as I listen for the leading of Your voice to begin my day in the communion of prayer with You.  ...

 

"In accordance with His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.... Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now to the day of eternity" (2 Peter 3:13-18).

 

One day -- at "the day of eternity" -- righteousness will be "at home" on this earth and throughout the heavens. You will set things right -- right with God, right with one another, right within ourselves. At the time You have ordained since before the foundation of the world, there will come a day of "the final restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21 NLT).

 

Between this day and that day, I want to have a heart that welcomes Your righteousness to be at home here in my heart. I want to grow in grace, grow in peace, grow in the knowledge and the nature of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I thank You for Your patience with me.

 

In my own nature, apart from Your nature at work within me, righteousness is not yet "at home." That part of my heart not yet sanctified and softened by Your Spirit, that part of my heart that still remains hardened to Your will and Your ways would like to tell righteousness to "Go take a hike." Like even the Apostle Paul confessed of the inner conflict in his own soul, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.... For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.... For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members" (Romans 7:15-23).

 

But in humility, Paul acknowledged his daily condition; and in faith, Paul acknowledged his daily need of his Savior. "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25). That's a prayer and proclamation that You answered in the power of Your grace for him every day. Living in the power of the grace of God every day, he encouraged us to rely upon You and Your righteousness to be at work in us:  "Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For it is God working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.... Hold firmly to the word of life" (Philippians 2:12-16 NLT).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Every day, I need the mercy of my Father and the power of the blood of my Savior. Keep crucifying my flesh. Keep softening and sanctifying the hardness of my heart. Keep giving me the desire and the power to let You be at work within me until I come to the place "where righteousness is at home" in my heart. "For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

May righteousness be at home in your heart, as you allow the Holy Spirit to keep softening and sanctifying your heart every day in the power of the blood of Jesus, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 25 - "In the Days of His Flesh"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I invite You into my thoughts and desires and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchilzedek" (Hebrews 5:7-10).

 

Though You are eternally, fully God, You are also eternally, fully Man. You are "the Son of God" -- in the nature of God; and You are "the Son of Man" -- in the nature of Man. Though You dwelled with the Father in the heavens in Your glory, You also chose to dwell with us on the earth in "the days of (Your) flesh" in Your humility. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14 NKJV). As Your Word explains, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with god as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, begin born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11).

 

"In the days of (Your) flesh," during those thirty-three years You walked this earth, You taught us Your ways as You lived out Your life before laying it down as a living Sacrifice on our behalf. You shouted and cried. You passionately prayed. You sought the mercy of God and yielded to the will of God. You modeled for us a life of joyful obedience and steadfast faith, even to the point of death on a cross. You trusted in the ultimate sovereignty and goodness of God, even as You "learned obedience though what (You) suffered" and You were "heard because of (Your) reverent submission." 

 

In the days of my flesh, give me the power of Your grace to live out my life that way as well. According to Your Word and in the mystery of faith, I am both a son of God and a son of man. "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are" (1 John 3:1). Help me grow in the graces of learning obedience, even through what I suffer, and the reverent submission that willingly, humbly chooses to yield my will to Your will and my ways to Your ways, trusting Your sovereignty and Your goodness. 

 

As You were in "the days of (Your) flesh," so are we to be in the days of our flesh in this world -- as best as we can and all by Your grace (1 John 4:17). "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). "His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Thus He has given us, through these things, His precious and very great promises, so that through them (we) may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:3-4).  In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

May you live out the days of your flesh in the power and grace of God, learning obedience and reverent submission, as you become a participant in His divine nature, being conformed into the image of the Son of God, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

       

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!