Think on These Things" - Morning by Morning, May 8, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 8 - "Think on These Things"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and the foundation of my day. ...

 

As I listen for Your leading, I hear in my heart, "Think on these things." ...

 

Yes, Lord. Of course Your Word comes to mind from the old King James Version:  "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

 

What I sense You are saying is that I should take time to be intentional about the good things that are going on around me, even going on within me. To thank You and praise You for these good things -- these things that are true and honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report. 

 

Even if there are bad things and hard things going on, whether around me or even within me, I'm not to ignore those things, hide from those things, or play like those things aren't there or don't matter. No, but at the same time, I'm not to allow those things to control me or define me or steal my joy or take my peace or crush my hope. I'm to bring those things to You and lay them before You and release them to You. I'm to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" and then turn my thoughts back to You and "whatsoever things are true...." (2 Corinthians 10:5).

 

Your Word cautions us of the spiritual principal that "as (someone) thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7 KJV). What we give our thoughts over to begin to define who we are. They begin to define what we do, how we respond. They influence our emotional health, our physical health, our spiritual health.

 

So by the power of Your grace, I choose to take captive the bad thoughts and bring them into the obedience by submitting them to Christ -- to the name that is above every name, to the truth that is above every lie, to the good plan of God to bring good things out of every bad situation (Philippians 2:9). So then I'm free to "think on these things" that You have set before Me, that You are doing within me, that You are doing in my world around me, despite all the bad things we may be enduring.  

 

By the power of Your grace, I will "think on these things" and give You praise! I will "think on these things" and become the things You are causing me to think in my heart that are true and honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report -- not any of it by what I have done, but all by what You have done and are doing in me. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

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

My friend, may you be empowered by the Spirit of God who is working in you to give you all the desire and power you need to please Him, as you think on the good things He has set before and He is doing within you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

     

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

"I Will Guide and I Will Provide." - Morning by Morning, May 7, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 7 - "I Will Guide and I Will Provide."

 

Good Morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading, for Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:27). ...

 

"Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.' So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, 'Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.' As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, 'Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.' But she said, 'As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.' Elijah said to her, 'Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jar of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.' She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke by Elijah" (1 Kings 17:8-16).

 

Father, You didn't sent Elijah to steal the last meal from this lady and her son. All that he said to her, he spoke "according to the word of the Lord that (You) spoke by Elijah" (v. 16). He was there because You sent him there. He was there because she needed hope in her heart, food in her belly, and security for her family.

 

But You didn't sent Elijah with a hand out. You sent Elijah with an opportunity for her to stretch her hand out -- to take what she had and give it to You. You took it and You multiplied it. The jar of meal was not emptied and the jug of oil did not fail. You were saying to her, "I will guide and I will provide."

 

It's still true for us in the "famine" and "plague" of our day. We're tempted to give in to worry and fear and anxiety about our needs for provision and security. We're tempted to give in to confusion about our next steps and the choices set before us. And You say to us, "I will guide and I will provide."

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Let us hear the word of the Lord in our hearts. Let us trust You in faith and follow You in obedience -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. We may think we have nothing left, but we have You. We may think there's no way to come through what we're facing now, but You are the Way.

 

Show us how to stretch out our hands to offer what we have -- love, hope, encouragement, an offer of help, a smile (even if we have to lift up our face mask for a moment for somebody to see it). As we stretch out our hands, show us how to lift up our hearts to You, to lift up our faith in You, and trust You to guide and to provide. Just like You always have. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be encouraged in the Lord, listening for His leading, trusting Him to guide and to provide for all you need and all He desires to do through you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

"Good Morning, Lord Jesus..." - Morning by Morning, May 6, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 6 -- "Good Morning, Lord Jesus..."

Good morning, Lord Jesus. ... 

For about fifteen years, I've spoken those words first in my morning prayer and written those words first in my prayer journal to begin my day. Those are the words that came to me first that first morning when You called me to this "morning by morning" journey those many years ago.

It became my way of beginning my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. It became my way of seeking You first and Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, before anything else, so that You would have First Place in my day and First Place in my life. And the journey has continued -- morning by morning, day by day, season by season -- through this increasingly intimate and deeply personal season of my life.

Some call it contemplative prayer or centering prayer or listening prayer or prayer of silence and surrender to watch and wait for the leading of the Lord. Whatever it's called, it's been such a tender way of Your Holy Spirit moving in my human spirit to come awake and come away with You, to come up higher with You into this high and holy place of Your Presence -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.

You gave me the name for my daily prayer journey of "Morning by Morning" from the words You spoke through the prophet Jeremiah in the midst of a difficult and challenging season of his life and in the lives of those he was called to serve and to love, as he shared Your words of encouragement and hope:

"But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
    His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;
    great is Your faithfulness.

'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,
   'therefore I will hope in Him.'

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
    to the soul that seeks Him.

It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord"

    (Lamentations 3:21-26).

I thank You, Lord -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- that Your mercies are new every morning and never come to an end. That Your love is steadfast and never ceases. That You are good to those who wait for You, who seek You, who wait quietly before You in the silence of surrender to let You speak what's on Your heart and let You lead down the path You've chosen into the fullness of our salvation and the depths of Your Presence. 

Then sometime soon along the way, whether exactly the first day or not I don't really remember now, I believe I sensed the prompting of Your Spirit to share these morning prayers from my journal. The thought was that my prayer could come into agreement with others who were praying, and that together we could begin our day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. And though it's not been for everyone, and for some just for a season, I've had great joy in knowing that many have been encouraged and comforted, even awaked into a deeper desire for intimacy with You in every dimension of Your Being as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as we surrender every dimension our being to You from our "spirit and soul and body" in worship and prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

"The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
    the weary with a word.
Morning by morning He wakens --
    wakens my ear
    to listen as those who are taught"

    (Isaiah 50:4).

But no matter how this journey began or how it has grown and developed along the way, I do thank You that this has been a deeply honest and intimate journey with You. I feel like I could face just about anything I may have to endure on my journey to maturity in You as You seek to make me more like You each day, as long as I have a lifeline of prayer and deep communion of personal relationship with You, where deep calls to Deep, heart to Heart, and spirit to Spirit, morning by morning.

In Ezekiel's vision of the spiritual temple where the living waters would flow, he spoke of the sacrifice to be made morning by morning:

"He shall provide a lamb, a yearling, without blemish, for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning he shall provide it. And he shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah, and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is the ordinance for all time. Thus the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt offering" (Ezekiel 46:13-15).

You are the Lamb. And You are the High Priest who has made the offering of Your life for each one of us, that we could draw near to You, that we could embrace the gift of Your steadfast love and Your tender mercies that never come to end, that are new for us every morning. So I offer these morning prayers to You as my spiritual act of worship in trusting surrender of my life to Yours, of every dimension of my being to every Dimension of Your Being (Romans 12:1). Lord, let Your Living Waters flow into me and flow out of me -- along with all Your children who seek You and wait upon You and offer their lives as a living sacrifice to You -- to bring Your life into our world "morning by morning" every day and every way You desire (Ezekiel 47:1-12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be begin and live into every day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, to let the love and life of God flow through you and make a difference in your world, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

morningbymorning.blogspot.com

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Time to "Count the Cost" - Morning by Morning, May 5, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 5 - Time to "Count the Cost"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and here in my world today. ...

 

"Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish'" (Luke 14:28-30).

 

As many have seen and said, there's a time of great advance ahead, a time of great harvest to come. We're excited and we're praying we'll be ready!

 

But part of being ready is taking time to count the cost. A builder must count the cost before he builds. Just as a commander of an army must count the cost before he goes into battle (v. 31-23). And a disciple must count the cost before he can say with sincerity and whole-hearted surrender to the master, I will follow You wherever lead (v. 33).

 

The disciples who will choose to follow You into these days that are ahead -- days of great advance and great harvest to come -- will be those who have taken time to count the cost. There's a cost in our priorities, a cost in our attention, a cost in our possessions, a cost in our relationships, a cost in the surrender and sacrifice of our plans, our hopes, our goals, and anything else in our lives that we have set in place above Your place as First Place in our lives. 

 

As You said, "So therefore, none of you can become My disciples if you do not give up all your possessions" (v. 33). You weren't just talking about our money, home, our cars, our furniture, and all our other stuff we surround ourselves with. You were talking about everything we claim as our own. When You said, "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple," You were talking about complete surrender of all we have and all we are, holding nothing back from all You desire (v. 27).

 

That might be more scary than the coronavirus! But You don't give us fear; You give us faith. You don't give us confusion; You give us clarity. You call us to courage and commitment -- but not to muster it up on our own or try to make it happen by ourselves. You invite us to ask You for all we need -- even the very faith and clarity and courage and commitment we need to take up our cross and follow You as Your disciples. You invite us to humble ourselves and ask for what we need. And what we really need is the guts to say, "Yes, Lord Jesus. I surrender all to You. I sacrifice all to You. My life is no longer my own, but Yours alone."

 

That's a high cost of discipleship. But that's also the highest calling of our lives. A builder or a commander is not afraid when they take time to count the cost. They're being wise. They're being responsible and accountable. They're making sure they're committed so that their Yes can be Yes and they can persevere to the end to accomplish the goal and get the job done.

 

There's a goal of a great harvest set before us! I'm excited and expectant because I want to be a part of all You're about to do in our world! So in this time we have to count the cost, I'm asking You, Lord, for all I need. In all honesty with You, I'm sure I don't even know all that is. But You do. And I trust You and love You and ask You to pour it into me, to stir it up within me. And above all else, I know I need You! So I open wide my spirit to be filled with Your Spirit! I lay down my life to arise in newness of Your life in me. "Christ in me!" -- this day and every day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with the Spirit of Christ and all you need, as you take time to count the cost to rise and follow Jesus into this time of great advance and great harvest ahead, 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!

"Seek Me First" - Morning by Morning, May 4, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 4 - "Seek Me First"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek You with all my heart -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

I hear in my heart, first thing this morning, "Seek Me first." ...

 

And more ...

 

"Don't look to a person. Don't look to a source of security or provision or satisfaction or anything else that would be a source for anything you need or desire. Look to Me. Seek Me first." ...

 

Yes, Lord. Your written Word comes to mind to confirm Your spoken words in my heart: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

 

It's a simple word, but so significant. It's a simple principle, but so profound. "Seek Me first."

 

So before I read my emails or the news, before I start checking my texts and looking to see what's going on in my world or what's set before me in my day, I choose to seek You first. 

 

I seek Your face. I listen for Your voice. I watch and wait for Your leading. I enter Your courts with thanksgiving and praise, then surrender in the silence of worship in communion with You -- heart to Heart, spirit to Spirit, deep to Deep.

 

Then from that place -- connected with You, in deep communion with You -- I'm ready to follow You into the moments of my day. Then I'm ready to hear what's on Your heart, to be part of what You've planned, to go where You lead.

 

That's how I see what You're doing and hear what You're saying and follow where You're leading -- step by step, moment by moment, along the journey of my day. Then all that will come along in my day as second and third and fourth and following will only come along in my day after I've first come near to You. When I seek You first "all these things" that I may need or that may need me will be added into my day on top of the firm foundation and deep connection You've already made in me.

 

Thank You, my Father, for speaking Your simple truth into my spirit, as a loving father speaks to a beloved son. Thank You, Lord Jesus my Savior, for reminding me of Your profound wisdom and powerful Word. Thank You, Holy Spirit of the Living God, for abiding within me and leading me in the ways of spirit and life and truth, as You teach me to love well, empower me to live right, and make me more like Jesus each day.

 

O Lord, my God, may I seek You first every day. May I keep seeking You first throughout all the moments of every day. And may I fully trust that all I really need will be added to me -- all in Your time, all in Your way, all from the One I seek first. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be stirred in your spirit to seek God first before anything else and trust in Him to lead you and provide for you in all that you need and all that you do, 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!