Morning by Morning, September 22 - "Prepare the Way of the Lord"
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me hear Your voice and sense Your leading to walk in Your steps, now and throughout the moments of my day. ...
"In the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, 'See, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight,' John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.... He proclaimed, 'The One who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I have baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit'" (Mark 1:1-8).
Come, Lord Jesus. Just as John was preparing the way of the Lord before Your first coming, Your Holy Spirit is preparing the way of the Lord for Your second coming. He's making Your paths straight into our hearts and into our homes and into our land. He's stirring us to repentance, cleansing us in forgiveness, and drawing us near in spiritual hunger, that we can fully embrace "the Lord God, Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).
Repentance is returning to You -- in humility and faith, seeking to trust You and entrust our lives to You as the only Source of our salvation. This is "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ" (Mark 1:1).
But there's so much more! The more we know You and trust You, the more we want to surrender and entrust our lives to You. As we decrease in our will, You increase in Your will. As we decrease in our control and our lordship of our lives, You increase in Your control and lordship of our lives (John 3:30).
Thank You for the baptism of water that marks our repentance. Our lives will never be the same. And by the power of the grace of God through the good news of Jesus Christ, we'll live forever with You! (John 3:16) But at the same time, there's more. You don't only want us to go to heaven when we die, You want the fullness of heaven in us now. You not only want to baptize us with water, You want to "baptize (us) with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:8)!
Come, Holy Spirit! Prepare the way of the Lord! Let the "Spirit of Christ" rule and reign in my heart, taking more control and more lordship of more areas of my heart and my life than I've ever entrusted to You before. I want to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). I want to "be baptized with the Holy Spirit" in deeper measures of surrender and trust than every before (Acts 1:5). I want to come to the place in my heart where I can truly say, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). It to be God's honest truth that by the power of grace at work within me I passionately and persistently "love the Lord (my) God with all (my) heart, and with all (my) soul, and with all (my) mind, and with all (my) strength!" (Mark 12:30)
This day and every day, let me hear Your voice crying out to my heart, "Prepare the way of the Lord!" One day soon, You'll be coming again in the clouds of glory (1 Thessalonians 4:16). But every day between now and then, You want to come in Your glory into my heart (1 Peter 3:15).
Come, Lord Jesus! "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let everyone who hears say, 'Come!' And let everyone who is thirsty come!" (Revelation 22:17). "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled!" (Matthew 5:6) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
I pray the Lord will stir up a deeper hunger and thirst to be filled with the Spirit of Christ in deeper measures of your heart every day, that you may display His nature and move in His power, fully baptized in His Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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