God Loves to “Give Good Gifts” Nov 18, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King and Lord of my heart and thoughts, my choices and actions, my words and will, now and throughout my day. … “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Mark 7:7-11) O Lord, my God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—You are my Father in heaven; You are my Best Friend on earth. You’re my Constant Companion, my Closest Comforter, my Steadfast Supporter. You’re more than the most perfect father or mother, more than the most unfailing, faithful friend. You know everything about me; and yet, You still love me, You’re still for me, You still want the very best for me. What a great and awesome God You are! And it’s astounding to me that one of Your ways of expressing Your faithfulness and love is to “give good gifts” to Your children. You know every need—to be safe and secure, to have protection and provision, to be challenged and fulfilled in our purpose, calling, and destiny, to be encouraged and loved, to share that encouragement and love with others, and everything else we don’t even know we need. And then You lead us to ask. There’s something in the humility of asking, something in the faith of expecting, something in the desperation of needing that seems to be important in our spiritual development and maturity. Just as there’s something important in the celebration, thanksgiving, and joy of receiving the good gifts that shower our lives every day from our Father in heaven who loves to give good gifts to His children. I admit there are things I’ve asked for that it doesn’t yet seem like I’ve received; there are things I’ve searched for that it doesn’t yet seem like I’ve found; and there are doors I’ve knocked on that it doesn’t yet seem like have opened. So as You move in my heart to persist in prayer for those things, I’ll keep on asking, keep on searching, keep on knocking. But at the same time, I want to praise Your holy name for every awesome and amazing gift You’ve already poured into my life by Your grace! I want to be one who’s so much more focused on praising You for all You’ve done, instead of complaining for all I think You haven’t. I want to be one who’s so much more full of joy and thanksgiving for all You’ve given that I could never deserve, instead of letting any sense of my unworthiness steal a moment of the joy or any measure of the abundance of Your blessings You choose to shower down on my life. You love to give good gifts to Your children. And I believe You love for Your children to joyfully, gratefully, unashamedly receive them. And so by the grace of God, I do. Thank You! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!" Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night Nov 19th at 7PM, the 3rd Friday Night of every month, for our Messiah Ministries monthly city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Led by Messiah Ministries and hosted at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of Living Waters as we worship Jesus in the freedom of His Holy Spirit. Jeff Green will be leading in worship this month. All are welcome and please spread the word! Contact Marilyn Walker, our Dir. of Ministries for details 859-317-1591 or DirOfMinistries@aol.com Dear Friends of Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries, We are changing email servers for Morning by Morning, my daily prayer devotional. To continue receiving Morning by Morning, please fill in your email and click Subscribe on our brand new web site (Golden Banner, lower left-hand side of Home Page): www.messiah-ministries.org (Only if you have not already subscribed through AWebber.com to the new server). And please check out our new ministry web site while you're there. Please forward this note on to anyone who may be interested in Messiah Ministries or my daily prayer devotional. If you can, come join us Friday Night, December 10th for our Celebration Dinner & Christmas Party to celebrate together all the Lord is doing through our ministry at home and abroad. Thank you for being a part! God bless you! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Founder & Spiritual Director Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com