"Good Morning, Lord Jesus" 3-10-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name and open upon up my heart, my spirit always seems to awaken and arise to enter in to our morning communion of prayer together. Thank You for always being here to hear and embrace my morning greeting of love and respect, honor and surrender. … "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22, NKJV). As I look to You in worship and prayer, I honor You and submit to You; I bow down before You and lift up my heart to You. I acknowledge that You are God and there is no other. I worship You in every dimension of Your Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- with every dimension of my being -- spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). And I am saved -- forever safe and eternally secure by the grace of God that draws me and empowers me to continue to call on Your name, embrace Your love, and surrender to Your will. You always give me freedom to turn away, but I choose by Your grace to turn to You. You always give me freedom to look to myself as my own savior and lord, but I choose by Your grace to look to You. As I have come to know You more each day, I continue to find Your Word and Your ways to be faithful and true. It's only in Your embrace that I am truly free. It's only in Your power that I am truly strong. It's only in Your love that I am truly loved. I know I'm not yet and far from it; but I really do want to be more like You -- all by the grace of our Father and the power of Your Holy Spirit. So I try to begin each day looking to You, calling on Your name, welcoming You into my day, and opening my life to be filled with Your Spirit. That's what I mean by "Good morning, Lord Jesus." And according to Your Word, as I look to You, I become more like You: "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). As I continually come to know You, worship You, and surrender myself to You, You are making me more like You each day, conforming my nature to Your nature, enmeshing Your life in mine (Romans 8:29). By the mystery of Your grace and the power of Your Spirit, all who look to You and submit their will to Your transforming power actually "become participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Together in You, we are growing up "to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). So thank You, Lord, for waking me and leading me to come seek Your face and embrace Your grace in these first moments of my morning and throughout my day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'm excited to be the Keynote Speaker at the annual Lay Witness Mission retreat at St. Simon's Island, Georgia this coming weekend ( Lay Witness Mission ). I'll be preaching four times to encourage law witnesses from across the United Methodist Church and other denominations and traditions in their ministry of evangelism, and I would appreciate your prayers for us. I know I'll be inspired by their stories of God's glory, love, and power. And I pray they'll be inspired by mine. Find out more about having LWM teams come to your church through Aldersgate Renewal Ministries( www.aldersgaterenewal.org/events/lwm/index.html ). God bless you! Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling to the Kingdom of God through Messiah Ministries On-line at http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/