Thursday, February 16, 2006

The Joy of Giving 2-16-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You gave Your all for me. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I give my all for You today. ... Father, You are the ultimate Giver: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son...." (John 3:16). Because You are One as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You did not give a sacrifice of someone else for us to be restored in relationship with You, You gave Your very Self in the humility and sacrifice of the cross, in a mystery too deep for us to fully comprehend on this side of heaven. "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Today, You are sending me to the Regional Generous Giving Conference in Lexington to learn more of Your principles of giving generously of all I am and all I have for You, because You have given generously of all You are and all You have for me. You call each of us to give of ourselves to You and Your Kingdom in "the privilege of sharing in this ministry" with "eagerness" (verse 8:1-15). This is the "abundant joy" of giving that "overflows in a wealth of generosity" (verse 8:2). You call each of us to give the same, no matter how much we have -- out of the abundance of the gift of life You have given us, "according to what one has -- not according to what one does not have" (verse 8:12). You call us each to give our all, as You lead. And all that we have belongs to You anyway. We are blessed to be Your stewards of Your resources to give and to receive as You lead for Your purposes of Your kingdom. "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work" (verse 9:7-8). Lord, make me a cheerful giver. Remind me of the abundance that You have given me and let that abundance overflow in generosity to others. I want to experience the joy of giving and I want to share abundantly in the ministry of Your kingdom in every good work as You lead. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, part of the regional ministry calling of Messiah Ministries is to work in ministry and prayer with the Kentucky Christian Foundation (www.kentuckychristianfoundation.org) to gather the resources of God's kingdom and help distribute them to the front lines of ministry as He leads. Many of you gave generously to our fund for Katrina disaster relief and over $200,000 was collected and distributed by our team in a short time! We are forming another team focused on the needs in Eastern Kentucky. Please let me know if you could help introduce me to generous givers and ministry leaders with a heart for the ministry of God's kingdom in Kentucky and our region. Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. We hope to have some students for the Asbury Revival join us Saturday night to release impartation for revival. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on inner healing, deliverance and spiritual transformation, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. www.messiah-ministries.org Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com