Morning by Morning, January 5 - Experiencing the Presence and the Voice of God
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
"Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of Someone speaking" (Ezekiel 1:28).
You opened Ezekiel's eyes to see with the eyes of heaven. As he tried to describe it with human words of heavenly visions--living creatures and spinning wheels in gleaming amber, shining crystal, and radiant fire--the limitations of language keep us from fully grasping all he was experiencing. But his response to Your revelation was to fall on his face, embraced in glory of Your manifest Presence. And it was there--there in his heart humbled before You and there in the heavenly realm of the glory of God that he could hear Your voice and respond to Your word.
You said to him, "O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you" (v. 2:1). And when his body and spirit came to attention to listen and respond to Your voice, "a Spirit entered into (him)" and he was able to hear You speaking to him (v. 2:2). You gave him instruction, encouragement, and guidance for the days ahead and the mission before him (v. 2:3-5). And You even prepared him for what might seem like failure from an earthly perspective, but would be accounted to him as righteousness, obedience, and faith from Your heavenly perspective (v. 2:6-7). Regardless of how others responded to him and the words of spirit and life You would speak through him, "they (would) know that there has been a prophet among them"--they would know they had been in the presence of one who had been in the Presence of God (v. 2:5).
I thank You that I have the gift of coming into Your Presence every day--the gift of Your grace for every one of Your children (Hebrews 4:16). Whenever I draw near to You, You draw near to me (James 4:8). I'm one of Your sheep; and You know my name; and I can hear Your voice (John 10:3). I'm a child of God, filled and led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14). As I bow down to fall on my face in humility of heart before You, You lift me up to stand firm on my feet as You stand firm within me (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).
I may not necessarily see with open visions into the heavenly realm of living creatures and spinning wheels in gleaming amber, shining crystal, and radiant fire, but I can look with the eyes of my heart and reach out in the yearning of my spirit to encounter my living God every day (Ephesians 1:17-19). According to hope and promise of Your Word, through "Christ Jesus our Lord ... (I) have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in Him" (Ephesians 3:11-12). In the mystery of faith and the power of the grace of God, I can "be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).
By Your mercy and grace, You remove every barrier between us and purify my heart through the blood of Christ (Colossians 1:20; 1 John 1:9). You promised the blessing of Your Presence for those who seek You--"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:6-8). So every moment of every day I can embrace Your desire and heart for the spiritual intimacy of Your every-abiding Presence with me and within me, as You invite me, "Abide in Me as I abide in you" (John 15:4). Lord, let it be so. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friend, I pray you experience the Presence and the voice of God, as you passionately pursue Him with an ever-increasing spiritual hunger and thirst for Him, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend!
Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Please share this word to encourage a friend!
