Morning by Morning, December 30 - On the Eighth Day, A New Day in the Spirit Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me and change me into Your image, more every day, as I take time to seek You and behold You and wait upon You to speak to me and lead me through the communion of prayer. ... “And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. “Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’” (Luke 2:21-24). You were circumcised on the eight day -- like everything else in Your sinless life as the holy Lamb of God, pure and spotless, without stain or blemish -- “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Circumcision speaks of the cutting away of the flesh, just as we are to embrace the “circumcision of the heart” as we allow Your Holy Spirit to cut away the flesh of everything in us that is not yet like You (Romans 2:29). Throughout Your days on this earth as the Son of Man, You had no flesh to cut away, no sin to repent of. There was nothing in You that was contrary to the will and ways of God the Father and the Word of God. Yet, You experienced every detail of every Law to fulfill all righteousness as the only Righteous One (Romans 3:10). Even in this, You obeyed all the Law. “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9-9). Not only circumcised on the eighth day, but also named on the eighth day. Our name speaks of our identity and our destiny. And You were given the name of Jesus -- Yeshua in Hebrew -- meaning Yahweh is Salvation. Our God Saves. And because You came to save, we are saved through faith in You (John 3:16). Because You came to save, we are saved not only from our sins, saved not only from hell, but also saved from the power of sin and death that would rule and reign over the flesh of our souls -- saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8): “And (we) were dead in (our) offenses and sins, in which (we) previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace (we) have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-7). The same grace that saves us is the same grace that crucifies our flesh in the spiritual circumcision of our hearts. Crucified in our flesh, we are free to live for Christ as Christ lives in us, so that we say by grace through faith, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). The eighth day speaks of a new day -- the day of new beginnings -- with the eighth day following the seven days of creation. Though the Salvation of God we have in You, we have become new. And every day is a new day in the Spirit. “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). So in this way, every day is our eighth day -- a new day to live out our day by Your Spirit and not in our flesh, all by the saving grace of God with all You have done for us. In You, we have been “born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). As one of my very favorite Scriptures of hope and faith through the love and mercy of God declares: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). “His compassions (they) fail not.... Great is Thy faithfulness” (KJV). Come, Holy Spirit. Keep circumcising my heart and crucifying my flesh. Make me more like Jesus a little more each day as I embrace the fullness of my salvation by Your grace for me (Romans 8:29; 1 John 4:17; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). “The One who has called (me) is faithful, and He will do this” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may every day be a new day for you in the Spirit, a day of new beginnings in Christ, as you live out your true identity and fulfill your spiritual destiny in Christ, in Jesus' name. Happy New Year! God bless you!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries Mailing Address: 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org | 
