Morning by Morning, Thursday 3-18-10 – Get Up and Look Forward Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift my eyes to seek Your face and open my ears to hear Your voice. … “But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen Me and to those in which I will appear to you” (Acts 26:16). When we stumble or fall, You call us to get up and to look forward. To see You as You are, to see ourselves as we are, but also to look forward to who we will become and where You will send us. You move us to ask You, “What’s up ahead?” It seems You’ve created us with a deep sense of excitement and anticipation of things to come. Much of Your Word is written prophetically in the present of things to come in the future—speaking to us as we are, but also speaking to us of who we are to be. Even the nature of Your covenants are promises made, but not yet fulfilled. Such is the nature of faith—not limiting our vision to what we see, but trusting in the hope of what will be seen. In the paradoxes of Your Kingdom, You call us to be content, but never complacent; thankful for what we have, but always hungry for more; grateful for all You have done, and excited to see what more You will do. “What’s up ahead?” is the stirring of our spirit for adventure. It’s the yearning to become more than we are, to look beyond ourselves and where we’ve been with eager longing to be an active part of Your unfolding plans to come. It’s growing in knowing our identity and also our destiny. It’s believing You’ve created us with gifting, calling, and purpose; that You’ve created us for significance; that You’ve created us for greatness. We are sons and daughters of the living God. So our lives have meaning. Our sufferings have purpose. And even our failures are preparation and training for assignments and alignments that yet lie ahead in the journey of our lives. There are some things up ahead it’s best not to know. It would only bring fear or dread. There are other things clearly revealed in Your Word that will come to pass whether we fear them or dread them or not. But there are other things up ahead that are beyond our comprehension, too wonderful to imagine, that we can believe it until we see it. Those are the things to come that stir our spirits now, encouraging us to get up and look up and keep pressing on. “But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him’ ” (1 Corinthians 2:9). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep us in prayer and come join us if you can This Friday Night for our Celebration Evening March 19th in Lexington and bring some friends to learn more about all the Lord is doing through Messiah Ministries. Come and See! Come and Celebrate! Come and Be a Part of What God is Doing! This year will have many exciting gifts contributed to our Silent Auction to raise funds for our ministries. I will be sharing stories of God's glory from my ministry trips to Pakistan, Israel, Estonia, the Philippines, around the world and here at home. We want to share our vision and calling of Messiah Ministries with all who want to learn more and may want to join with us. For more information & to RSVP please click here: Information/RSVPCelebrationDessert Please Spread the Word, Invite some Friends, and Forward this on to everyone who may want to join us! God bless you and see you there! Subscribe for free by email to me at 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