Morning by Morning, June 4, 2025 - Look Up! to the One Who is High and Lifted Up
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit, be high and lifted up in my heart and throughout the moments of my day (John 12:32). ...
All that happened in the Old Testament in the experiences of the children of Israel were examples for us to learn spiritual principles and applications of the Kingdom of God in our lives: “These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). And all the Scriptures, all the Law, all the Prophets, are spiritually pointing to You and ultimately fulfilled in You: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, (Jesus) interpreted to them the things about Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). As You said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
As I begin my prayer today speaking of lifting You up in my heart and my life, Your Holy Spirit is reminding of the scene from the Old Testament in the journey through the wilderness of the children of Israel when many were suffering and even died through the attacks of poisonous serpents (Numbers 21:4-9). They had complained “against God and against Moses,” becoming “discouraged on the way,” doubting the goodness of God and the leadership of Moses. Their sin of grumbling and complaining, fueled by an attitude of ingratitude, forgetting and minimizing their salvation and deliverance from the bondage of their past, opened the door to the judgment of God and consequences of their actions (v. 4-6).
But despite their sins and hardened hearts, You reached out in Your mercy and love to deliver them from their distress and heal them from their afflictions, when they repented and turned back to You (v. 7). You told Moses to make “a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, that person would look (up) at the serpent of bronze and live” (v. 9).
There was nothing magic about the “serpent of bronze.” It was simply a means of Your grace, an example in their journey that points us to the You in our journey. When You are “lifted up from the earth, (You) draw all people to (Yourself)—when You were “lifted up” on the Cross and when You are lifted up in our hearts today (John 12:32). When we “lift up (our) eyes to the hills”—when we lift up our eyes to the One who died on the Cross on the hill of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins, the healing of our wounds, the deliverance from our bondage—we remember “(our) help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2; Isaiah 53:4-5, fulfilled in Matthew 8:17).
As David cried out in a day of his trouble and affliction:
“Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God.’ Selah But You, O Lord, are a Shield for me, My Glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill! Selah” (Psalm 3:1-4)
Thank You for reminding me to keep looking up to You—My Savior, My Healer, My Deliverer, the One who grants me Your “mercy to find grace to help in (my) time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Today and everyday, I am looking up, for my redemption, my Redeemer, is drawing near! (Luke 21:28). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you be looking up to Lord, your Shield and your Help, your Redeemer who is drawing near, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!
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Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
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