Behold the Lamb, High and Lifted Up - Morning by Morning, April 10, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 10 - Behold the Lamb, High and Lifted Up

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. On this Good Friday, I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day, because this day is called Good only because You are a good God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- who gave Your life as my Sacrifice on the Cross that I could live forgiven and free, forever with You. ...

 

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself" (John 12:32).

 

You were lifted up from the earth on the Cross. And from that day, people in every generation and every nation have been drawn by Your Holy Spirit to look up to You and all You have done for us. "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the word" (John 1:29). "You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9).

 

Before that day came, You prophesied for all to hear, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me" (John 8:28). And when that day came -- as You suffered well to die for our sins in the mercy and love of our Father for us -- even the Roman soldier who stood in Your Presence to witness Your death on the Cross saw the truth and declared that truth to the world for generations to come: "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:39) Surely we can do no less.

 

Worthy are You, Lord Jesus Christ! "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:12)

 

Worthy are You to be welcomed into our hearts as Lord and Savior. Worthy are You to be high and lifted up in our praise. Worthy are You to receive the full measure of Your reward -- the hearts and souls of all who live, of all who choose to humbly bow and lift You up as Lord of all. "For all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). "Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all!" (Acts 10:36)

 

In three days, we'll remember and celebrate Your resurrection. Throughout the earth, we will acknowledge You as our Resurrection and Life, as the Risen Christ and Lord of all! Be today I take time to behold You as the Lamb of God, who died on the Cross for me. All that should have been upon me was laid upon You in Your sacrifice of love I can't even begin to fully comprehend.

 

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6, fulfilled in Matthew 8:17).

 

As I behold You, high and lifted up, all I can really say in this moment is, "Thank You. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for loving me this much." ... In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you take time to look up and behold the Lamb, high and lifted up on the Cross for you, with a heart full of thanksgiving and praise for the One who is worthy of it all, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

"This Cup" of Our Salvation in the Garden of Gethsemane - Morning by Morning, April 9, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 9 - "This Cup" of Our Salvation in the Garden of Gethsemane

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. On our journey to the cross this Holy Week, I seek to follow in Your steps and learn from Your ways. ...

 

"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.' And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.' And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.' ... Again, for a second time, He went away and prayed, 'My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.' ... He went away a prayed for the third time, saying the same words again" (Matthew 26:36-44). 

 

"This cup" of Your sufferings was the cup of our salvation. "This cup" was the offering of Your body and Your blood as the eternal Sacrifice in complete trust and surrender to the will and purposes of God. And in Your prayer of surrender and Your choice of complete trust, You drank of "this cup" for us -- that we could be forgiven and free, healed and whole, restored and redeemed to live forever with You in deeply personal relationship with God through His mercy and love.

 

"This cup" was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah almost eight hundred years before, of the Servant of God who would suffer and die for us, in humble obedience and faithful surrender to the will of God:

 

"He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. As we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him.

 

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

 

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken... Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief When You make His soul an Offering for our sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

 

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:3-12).

 

"This cup" cost You more than we can comprehend. Yet as You wrestled in prayer with our Father in the Garden, You chose the path of obedience, the path of the faithful Servant -- "Nevertheless, not as I will but as You will."

 

In choosing to drink of "this cup" You were showing us the way -- the way of intimacy, humility, obedience, surrender, and trust. Your prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane prepared the way of the Lord for Your victory on the Cross at Calvary.

 

On this day of Holy Week, on a day we remember the Passover and Your journey to the Cross, as we remember so much of what happened that holy day long ago -- the Last Supper, the washing of Your disciples' feet, Your betrayal by Judas, Your arrest by the soldiers -- we remember Your prayer of complete surrender and trust in the perfect will and purposes of God. 

 

As You prepared the way of the Lord for us, in intimacy, humility, obedience, surrender, and trust, may Your Spirit prepare the way of the Lord in us. You show us the way, for You are "the Way and the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6). May we pray as You prayed, "Nevertheless, not as I will but as You will." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My Friend, may you come to the place of deeper intimacy, humility, obedience surrender, and trust in the perfect will and purposes of God, yielding to His will, in response to all He has done for us, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

        

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Preparing for Passover - Morning by Morning, April 8, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 8 - Preparing for Passover

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Passover begins tonight at sunset; and I thank You that You are my Passover Lamb, that You are the ultimate fulfillment the Passover event, the Passover meal, and the Passover remembrance. It's Your blood over the doorposts of my heart that causes the power of sin and death to pass over me, for You are the Lamb of God who has taken away my sin and the sin of the world (John 1:29). ...

 

"Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.' They asked Him, 'Where do you want us to make preparations for it?' 'Listen, He said to them, 'when you have entered the city a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks you, 'Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.' So they went and found everything as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal" (Luke 22:7-13).

 

As I watch and wait for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, I sense You are saying in my heart, "Prepare for the Passover. Passover is more than an event of the past. Passover is a living and intimate encounter with Me every moment of your life. By the power of My blood, sin and death passes over you and all who humble themselves to trust in Me and turn to Me as their Lord and Savior." ...

 

Yes, Lord. I thank You for the sacrifice and the power of Your blood. I thank You for all You have done for us -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. As I remember the Passover, when the Angel of Death passed over the children of Israel in the land of Egypt, I remember that sin and death passes over me by the power of Your blood as I trust in You, my Lord and my Savior (Exodus 12:1-28; Colossians 1:20).

 

"Through (Jesus Christ) God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20). As You said, "Unless you repent, you will all perish" (Luke 13:5). "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). "The Lord is patient toward (us), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

 

Today I prepare my heart for Passover -- not just to remember and celebrate an event that happened long ago -- whether the supper of unleavened bread in Egypt or whether the Last Supper You shared with Your disciples in Jerusalem during that Holy Week on Your way to the cross. But I prepare my heart for a fresh encounter with You now -- a living and intimate encounter with You every moment of my life. Because of Your eternal sacrifice as the Lamb of God, my sin is forgiven and You are with me always (Matthew 28:20).

 

In that last Passover meal, the Last Supper You shared with Your disciples, You called them to prepare a place for communion with You in an upper room. You shared with them Your heart and called them to remember that Your heart would always be with them through the living Presence of the Living Christ.

 

My Father, I thank You for the Sacrifice of Your Son for me and for the sin of the world. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17).

 

Holy Spirit, come and prepare my heart in the upper room of prayer for a fresh encounter with the living Presence of the living Christ -- today and every day. As I take time to remember the body and the blood of Christ in the intimacy of this deep communion with You in humility, surrender, and trust, I honor and celebrate the mercy and love of my Passover Lamb -- the Lamb of God who has taken away my sin and sin of the world. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you prepare for a fresh encounter with Jesus -- with the living Presence of the living Christ -- in the upper room of your heart in remembrance, repentance, and thanksgiving to the Lamb of God who has taken away your sin and the sin of the world, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

        

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Behind the Masks - Morning by Morning, April 7, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 7 - Behind the Masks

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to make me more like You today. ...

 

During that Holy Week on Your way to the cross, You didn't back down from speaking the truth. You didn't shy away from calling out the hypocrisy and self-righteousness You saw. It was like an infectious disease spreading its sickness to everything it touched.

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:25-26).

 

Those religious leaders and cultural influencers -- they wore their masks. On the outside, they looked beautiful and righteous, but on the inside they were full of death and filth, full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. You weren't fooled and You didn't fail to stand up and speak out, though it would cost You Your life.

 

But before we're so quick to judge, do we do the same thing? Do we put on our masks to fit it with the crowd, to cover up our sin, to bury what's inside like the bones of the dead? Do we excuse ourselves while judging others? Do we exalt ourselves in self-righteousness while cursing and controlling and condemning those around us who are not living up to the self-projected image we portray?

 

Father, forgive us. Convict us and lead us to true repentance. Give us courage to call it out in ourselves, to be willing to look and see behind our masks, to bring it out of the darkness and into Your light, to the foot of Your cross and under Your blood. Your heart is not to condemn us, but to forgive us and free us. Your passion is not to shame us, but to save us and cleanse us. "If we confess our sin, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

 

I went to the grocery store yesterday and I've never seen so many masks! Some were black and some white, some very colorful and some plain, some fancy and some home-made. But they all were covering up our faces and making it harder to breathe. While they were serving their purpose of self-protection and hopefully protecting others, they were also separating us (about 6 feet if you went by the red tape hash marks on the floor of the store in the checkout line).

 

But as it is in the physical realm, isn't it also true in the spiritual realm? Don't we wear our masks? Don't we self-protect? Don't we hide our faces of who we really are and bury inside what we're really like? At least to some degree and at least every now and then, if we're really honest with ourselves? Don't we even tend to save our harshest judgments for those we see who are exhibiting the very things down inside of us that we despise so much? Don't we act just a little hypocritical and self-righteous and try to hide from the truth of the Word of God that "none is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10)?

 

And when we do, doesn't it make it a little harder to breathe? Don't our filters, no matter how fancy or plain, make it a little harder to take in the fresh air of Your Holy Spirit?

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Remove our masks. Let our faces shine with the Spirit of Truth -- not covering our sin and shame, not pretending to be something we're not, but humbly giving our hearts to You, completely surrendering our lives to You, repenting of all that remains in us that is not yet like You to fully embrace Your mercy and love. Then we can truly speak and share Your mercy and love from true hearts with true words, forgiven and free in You.

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill our lungs with fresh air. Fill us afresh with the holy Breath of God this Holy Week, as we follow Jesus to the cross, through death to the world, and to the empty tomb of resurrection life in Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be courageous in humility and surrender to let the Lord get behind the mask to forgive you and free from all that's not yet like Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. May we all be filled afresh with the fresh breath of God with faces shining like Jesus to a hurting and lost world around us! God bless you, my friend!

     

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Fearless and Relentless like Jesus - Morning by Morning, April 6, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 6 - Fearless and Relentless like Jesus

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch and wait to see what You're doing, to hear what You're saying, in the communion of prayer with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"Then Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and He said, 'It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers.' Every day He was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill Him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard" (Luke 21:45-48).

 

On Your way to the cross for us, You were unafraid to confront the powers that be and unafraid of what they could do. You were fearless in the face of death and in the face of their threats. While they were looking for a way to kill You, You were relentless in Your mission.

 

Lord, let it be so with us.

 

These are unprecedented times for us in our world right now, just as they were unprecedented times for You in Your world during that last, Holy Week of Your life on earth as the Son of Man and as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 

 

As You were, so are we to be in our world (1 John 4:17). We're to "follow in (Your) steps" (1 Peter 2:21). We're to have "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). We're to be filled with "the Spirit of Christ" (Roman 8:9). And we're to continue the ministry of Christ, with Your character being formed in our hearts and Your power flowing through our lives -- just as the Father sent You, so You send us with the character and power of Your Spirit in us (John 20:21).

 

May we be fearless in the face of death. Much of our world around us is dying of sickness and disease, dying to our sense of economic security, dying to our sense of peace and hope, dying to our sense of life as normal with a nagging angst that things may never get back to normal. May we not give in to the fear of death, but look to the One who overcame death with all its fears by the power of the resurrection. "So that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15).

 

May we be relentless in our mission -- to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our world overwhelmed by fear and sickness and death, as "the body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:27). May we be relentless in our mission -- to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). May we be relentless in our mission -- to "proclaim as (we) go, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons" all in the authority of Your name, the power of Your Spirit, with Your nature in our hearts (Matthew 10:8; Romans 8:29).

 

You were fearless and relentless on Your way to the cross. May we be fearless and relentless as we walk in Your steps, filled with Your heart, as we "take up (our) cross daily and follow (You)" (Luke 9:23). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be fearless and relentless in your mission, like Jesus -- living like Christ in your world, being the message of Christ and filled with the Spirit of Christ, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!