First Ten Days, Seeking the Glory of His Manifest Presence 1-1-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of this first day of this new year, I offer You the first fruits of my first thoughts. You are the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, and Everything in between (Revelation 22:13). Come again soon to the earth; come again now in me. … "Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up His hands, He blessed them. While He was blessing them, He withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God" (Luke 24:50-53). At the end of Your first coming, You left Your first disciples with great joy, continually in the temple blessing God. Your true temple is "a house of prayer" -- the place of seeking Your face, offering our praise, sacrificing our self will in complete surrender and trusting submission to Your perfect will, entering deeply into the holy communion of Your Holy Spirit through the intimacy of the blessing of prayer (Luke 19:46). This is the place of "great joy" in the deep peace of Your abiding Presence, with our hearts turned to You and to the people of all nations who are on Your heart. "These I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isaiah 56:7). Now as we draw nearer each passing year to Your second coming, let us be found in the place of prayer, caught up in the glory cloud of Your manifest Presence on Your holy mountain -- the high place of worship and prayer, continually blessing our God. Those first disciples obeyed Your command to return to Jerusalem after Your ascension into glory. In temple and the upper room where they were staying, "these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:12-14). For the first ten days, they kept pressing in and passionately pursuing You in prayer. And then their lives and the history of the world were changed forever. "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability…. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?' But others sneered and said, 'They are filled with new wine' " (Acts 2:1-13). But in the boldness and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, Peter arose among the one hundred twenty disciples, who had been seeking the Presence and the glory of God continually in worship and prayer, to declare this was God pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:14-21). This was a new day, a new season of time between the first and second coming of Christ, "before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day" (Acts 2:20). In this season, as Your Spirit filled Your people on the earth to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God through rule and reign of Jesus Christ as Lord, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). This is the heart of the house of prayer -- to worship and bless You continually, as we praise You and pray for the people of all nations to come to know You and call upon Your name. In these first ten days of this new year, draw me into the place of prayer, draw me in the upper room, continually seeking Your face in the temple of my heart, yearning for the Fire to fall. These ten days speak of a tenderness of heart always, continually turned to You. Lord, let this new year be a personal Pentecost for me and for Your church and for the people of all nations. Let us be a people prepared and preparing the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3; Luke 3:4). Let us be a holy people -- forgiven and cleansed, whole and free, by the power of the blood of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world -- burning with the holy passion of a holy bride, longing with eager anticipation for the coming of our Bridegroom and King. "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' … The One who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I Am coming soon!' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:17-20). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays In the first 10 days of January 2009, many of us are sensing a call to try to spend as much of these days in fasting, prayer, and worship as we can in the upper room of the presence of the Lord. Cornerstone International House of Prayer (CI-HoP) in Wilmore, Kentucky ( http://www.cornerstoneinternational.org/prayer/ ) will be joining with us to host a place for these days of prayer, starting Jan 5th leading up to our Greater Lexington Strategic Prayer Summit set for January 9-10, 2009, hosted at Church of the Savior. Flyer is Attached. Ray Hughes of Selah Ministries is coming Saturday night of the Prayer Summit to share a word for Kentucky with us!( www.selahministries.com ). Margaret Therkelsen, Tom Monroe, David Fultz, Tommy Green, Bob Hale, Rob Poindexter, Mark MacDonald, Laura Beach and other citywide prayer leaders will be speaking and leading in prayer as well throughout the weekend. Send me a note if you're interested in joining in. And please keep us in prayer and spread the word! Please Register Now for our next Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry (Level I & II) January 14-17, 2009 Registration and Information: ClickHere Equipping and Empowering Spiritual Leaders in Ministry to Proclaim the Kingdom of God, bind up the brokenhearted, and set the captives free in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit Subscribe free by email to Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.blogspot.com Please Click Here to Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute On-Line