Morning by Morning, January 18 - Nothing Without Love
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Faithful Friend, my Sovereign King, my Lord and Savior. And I begin my day speaking Your name and embracing Your Spirit, here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.... And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).
I'm nothing without love. And the good things I do -- even the most faithful, spiritual, powerful things I do -- mean nothing and gain nothing if I do them without love. It's all just so much "wood, hay, and stubble" that will consumed in Your holy fire on the day of Your judgment (1 Corinthians 3:12 KJV).
The only thing that has any eternal significance is what I do in love. The heart You desire in me is a heart full of love, because that's the heart of God. "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them" (1 John 4:16).
When we open our hearts to receive Your Spirit and allow our hearts to be conformed to Your nature, we are embracing the way of love as we embrace You. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5).
My Father God, I want my life to matter. I want the things I do and say during this short span of time I have in this world to honor You and have significance, even eternal significance (John 4:34-38). So by the power of Your grace at work within me, empower me to love. "Let love be (my) highest goal" (1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT).
Empower me to grow in love and sow in love more every day. "God is not mocked, for (we) reap whatever (we) sow. If (we) sow to (our) own flesh, (we) will reap corruption from the flesh; but if (we) sow to the Spirit, (we) will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:7-10). Even if it seems hard to love, even if I encounter those who are hard to love, give me Your grace to love and not give up, but to grow in love, as I "grow up" in Your nature of Your love by Your Spirit abiding in me (Ephesians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 13:11). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
May you filled with the Holy Spirit of God and conformed into the nature and His love, sowing the love of God in all you do and say and all you are today , in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Free to Be Like Jesus Teaching
Biblical Principles of Inner Healing and Spiritual Freedom
Friends, if you are in the Austin area, I am teaching a 6 week series on the Biblical Principles of Inner Healing and Spiritual Freedom at Life in the City United Methodist Church on Wednesday Nights at 6pm. You can still join us beginning our Second Week Tonight, January 18th. All are welcome. Come if you can and please keep us in prayer. It will be based on my book Free to Be Like Jesus! www.lifeinthecityaustin.org
My New Prayer Devotional Book
Begin 2017 in a Journey to Deeper Intimacy with God
Friends, I'm excited that we just published my new book Morning by Morning, Second Edition that is now available through Amazon and Kindle. It's a 365 Day Devotional with a selection of many of my favorite devotionals from the last several years of my prayer journey. Thank you for joining with me on this journey! And I pray these simple morning prayers are a great blessing and encouragement to you to start your day embraced by the love of our Father, centered in Jesus Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
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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