Monday, October 07, 2019

Morning by Morning, October 7 - "Surrender Your Pride and Power"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin this day embraced by My Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
 
"Plow up the hard ground of your hearts. Do not waste your good seed among thorns. O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord.... O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart that you may be saved!" (Jeremiah 4:3-14 NLT).
 
In the days before judgment in the days of Jeremiah, You called Your people to turn to You. Their acts of rebellion were bringing judgment, but their acts of repentance would bring mercy (v. 18). For Your heart is always for mercy, for good and not for harm, for Your blessings and not Your curses, for Your plans and purposes to establish securely in our identity to fulfill our destiny (v. 29:11).
 
But we must "surrender (our) pride and power" (v. 4). We must open up our hearts in trusting faith and lay aside our insistence on our own way, in our own wisdom, in our own power. You oppose the proud but give grace to the humble (James 4:6). Then with humble hearts, trusting in You, willingly choosing to be desperately dependent upon You alone, Your "mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).
 
I know words like "surrender" and "repentance" and "judgment" are no more popular today than they were in the days of Jeremiah. But trusting surrender from repentant hearts turning from our own pride and power is forever the only way to fully embrace all Your mercy and grace.
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Plow up the hard ground of my heart. Plow more deeply each day. Sow Your seeds of righteousness, water them in Your Word, and bring forth the "harvest of righteousness" You long to produce through my life (James 3:18 NLT). "For surely (You) know the plans (You) have for (me), says the Lord, plans for (my) welfare and not for harm, to give (me) a future with hope. Then when (I) call upon (You) and come and pray to (You), (You) will hear (me). When (I) search for (You), (I) will find (You); if (I) seek (You) will all (my) heart, (You) will let (me) find (You), says the Lord...." (Jeremiah 29:11-14). 
 
Restoration comes through repentance (Jeremiah 29:14). And a repentant heart is one that surrenders all pride and power to You alone as Lord of all. This is "the repentance that leads to life" (Acts 11:18) -- the fullness and abundance of life we can only have in You alone (John 10:10; Acts 4:10).
 
Your Spirit continues to say to Your people who are called by Your name of every generation:  "I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me. To the one who overcomes I will give a place with Me on My throne, just as I Myself overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches" (Revelation 3:19-22).
 
By the power of Your grace, I hear Your voice and open the door and welcome You in! In trusting surrender and repentant faith, I turn to You as Lord of all! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, 
Tommy Hays


My friend, may you surrender all pride and power to the One who longs to come into every area of your heart and fulfill all His good plans for your abundant life in Him, 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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