Morning by Morning, January 2 - Going Through the Gate this New Year!
"Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, 'See your Salvation comes; His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him!' They shall be called, 'The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord'; and you shall be called, 'Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken'" (Isaiah 62:10-12)
With the eyes of my heart open, with the ears of my spirit listening, I believe I see a gate set before me. It's large and arched, with no doors. And it's up high. It's not fancy, but it is beautiful. It's simple and strong. I would say it's ivory-colored, ancient with age. ...
As I look and listen, it seems I hear in my heart: "Go through! Go though! Go through the gate I have prepared for you. But first, and always, prepare they way in your heart. Prepare the way of the Lord. For I am the Lord and I am the Gate. Clear away the stones. Remove every barrier. Lift up what is broken down. Make straight what is crooked. Bring low what has been lifted up to be set in the place that I alone am to have." ...
Yes, Lord. As I wait on Your Spirit to confirm what I believe I'm seeing and hearing in my spirit, Your Word comes to mind: "Very truly, I tell you, I Am the Gate for the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I Am the Gate. Whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:7-10).
Yes, Lord. You are "the Gate" (John 10:7). You are the "the Ancient One" (Daniel 7:9). You are "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through (You)" (John 14:6).
To know You is to know my Father. To see You is to see my Father. As You said, "If you know Me, you will know My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.... Believe Me that I Am in the Father and the Father is in Me" (John 14:7-11). As You said, "The Father and I are One" (John 10:30).
My Father God, dear Lord Jesus, You've sent Your Holy Spirit to "abide" in me "forever" as "the Spirit of Truth" (John 14:15-17). You never "leave (me) orphaned" because You are always with me -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- always with me, always abiding within me, always leading me into all Truth, through the Gate of the One who is the Truth -- the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:18). As You said, "You will know that I Am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20). As Your Word says, "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).
You never called me to merely understand the Truth or mentally assent to the correct doctrinal statements and creedal affirmations about the Truth. No, You've called me and invited me and drawn me to "know the Truth" (John 8:32). To "know" You is to love You in response to Your love for me, to "abide" in You as You abide in me (John 15:4). It's to "go through the Gate," to "go beyond the veil," to "enter in" to the intimacy of most deeply personal relationship of life with You every moment of my life and throughout every moment of my day.
Through this Gate is the place where I can freely and faithfully "come in and go out and find pasture" as one of Your sheep who hear Your Voice and know Your Truth (John 10:9). It's the place of "rest" -- of embracing Your promise and invitation to intimacy in You: "Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest is still open, let us take care that none of (us) should seem to have failed to reach it" (Hebrews 3:1).
Yes, Lord. I know You are speaking so much more to me in my spirit that I can bear to hear in the moment. But I believe You are inviting me into a deeper place in You than I've ever known. You said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I Am, there you may be also" (John 14:3). That "place" is so much more than just going to Heaven when I die. It's having Heaven in me now. It's having "the Kingdom of Heaven" in me now, because "the King" of Heaven, the "King of Glory" abides in me now and every moment of every day (Matthew 3:2; Psalm 24:7).
So by the power of Your grace and Your Spirit, abiding in You and Your Word, living more fully in You and Your Truth, I will go through! I will enter in! I will embrace and "proclaim the Good News, 'The Kingdom of Heaven has come near!" (Matthew 10:7)
Let every stone and barrier be removed! Let all that's exalted in pride be brought low and all that's weary and worn be lifted up! As best as I can and all by Your grace, may I be one of Yours preparing the way of the Lord and going through the Gate You've set before me!
My spirit cries out to Your Spirit, "deep calls to Deep!" (Psalm 42:7) "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God. When shall I come and behold the Face of God?" (Psalm 42:1-2)
With the heart of David in the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, I'm crying out to You with all that I am and all You've put within me to desire to be in You:
"Lift up your heads, O gates!and be lifted up, O ancient doors!that the King of glory may come in.Who is the King of glory?The Lord, strong and mighty,the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates!and be lifted up, O ancient doors!that the King of glory may come in.Who is this King of glory?The Lord of hosts,He is the King of glory!" (Psalm 24:7-10)
Yes, Lord. "Such is the company of those who seek Him, who seek the Face of the God of Jacob" (Psalm 24:6). They "ascend the hill of the Lord" and "stand in His holy place" with "clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false" (Psalm 24:3-4). "They will receive blessing from the Lord" (Psalm 24:5). You and Your ever-abiding Presence is that Blessing we receive from the Lord! "I keep the Lord ever before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoice; my body rests secure.... You show me the Path of Life. In Your Presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore!" (Psalm 16:8-11)
Ancient One, my ancient and strong Gate, You remind me of Your invitation from Your Word: "Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16).
Lord, I'm looking and I'm asking. Lord, I'm seeking and pursuing, because Lord, You know I'm needing Your mercy and love, Your grace and truth, Your abiding-Presence in every area of my life and every moment of my day. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the Kingdom of Heaven.... 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 5:3-8). May Your Holy Spirit prepare the way of the Lord in me to encounter and experience the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven in You.
With all the faith and passion You've given me, this New Year I'm going through this Gate -- all in Your time, all in Your way, and all by Your grace! Teach me how and lead me through! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, I pray you go through the Gate of all the Lord is and has for you this New Year, deeply abiding in His Presence, rejoicing and resting secure in Him with all the fullness of joy He has for you, in Jesus' name! And may the blessings of the Lord overtake you, as the love of the Lord overflows in you and through you! May you experience and embrace and proclaim this Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Morning by Morning, Daily Devotional Book. One's year's worth of a selection of my daily prayer devotionals -- written fresh every morning from the communion of prayer to begin your day embraced by your Father, centered in Jesus, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Join me on the journey and share this with a friend who's longing for a deeper, more intimate relationship with God.
Register for the Healing Academy.
Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today: Healing Academy
Keynote Speaker in Shropshire, England for March Conference "Release for the Captives!"
Friends, I'm excited to be invited as Keynote Speaker this year for the European Conference of the Holy Spirit through Aldersgate Renewal Ministries in Shropshire, England in March. The theme this year is "Release for the Captives!" Come join us!
Register: European Conference on 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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