Morning by Morning, April 24 - From the Frist Five Hundred to the Final Harvest
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today. ...
"For I handed on to you as of first importance what I had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:3-10).
Like Paul, "I am what I am." But You've appeared to me in Your resurrected power and glory in so many ways, so many times to forgive me, to heal me, to free me and empower me to be all You created me to be -- despite who I am and what I've done. Like the first five hundred, I'm also a witness to Your resurrection. I'm a witness to the One Who is alive and Who lives in me.
From the first five hundred to the final harvest of all who will experience Your love, Your power, and Your presence, we are forever changed (Matthew 13:39). And we're created to forever experience the ever-abiding presence of our Savior, so that we "might live for the praise of (Your) glory" (Ephesians 1:12). "In (You, we) also, when (we) heard the word of truth, the gospel of (our) salvation, and believed in (You), were marked with the seal of (Your) promised Holy Spirit; that is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Come, Holy Spirit. Let me live my life today to the praise of the glory of God, as one who has encountered the living Christ, living in me. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
May you live your life today to the praise of the glory of God our Father, ever-encountering Jesus, and filled with 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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