The Beauty of Brokenness 5-3-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my spirit to see Your hand in the moments of my life. ... The Palisades are the beautiful cliffs that rise high above the Kentucky River that runs along the edge of our county and down through the heart of Kentucky from Ohio to Tennessee. The fault line of ancient earthquakes runs along the rivers bed and these wondrous Palisades are really just the jagged edge of the brokenness of the past. Even brokenness can be beautiful in Your hands. You love to release the waters of the River of Life along the jagged edges of our past. Sometimes we would like to bury our wounds to be covered up by the yours, but You often use those very places of pain or shame to be lifted high for all to see. This is not to hurt us but to heal us, not to shame us but to share us with others in their suffering when they need to see Your power to bring beauty out of brokenness. You don't waste a moment of our suffering. You don't forget our pain, You redeem it. You don't change our past, You change the effect of past, as You transform us and then use us to transform others through the redeeming power of Your love. But it's only when we welcome Your living waters to come running through the pain and shame of the past that we can look up and see the beauty of our brokenness. "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3). As best as I can and all by Your grace, I entrust my wounds and hurts, my shame and sin, my past and my present and my future to You. Lord, bring Your beauty out of my brokenness. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, Thursday May 4th is the National Day of Prayer for our nation. If you are in our area, please join me at noon at the prayer tower at my home church, Centenary United Methodist at 2800 Tates Creek Road in Lexington, where I will lead our prayer time. All are welcome. Then at 7:30 pm please join us in a city-wide gathering in front of the Fayette County courthouse. If you can come to the Capitol in Frankfort, my friend Carol Koebel will be leading our state-wide observance at the Capitol steps at noon. Please join those who are praying in your community and I ask our friends of other nations to pray that America would honor God in humility, repentance, faith, and praise in prayer this day. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com