Have Thine Own Way 9-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and I need Your grace. Help me walk faithfully with You this day. ... "And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to Your servants to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of Your holy servant Jesus" (Acts 4:29-30). Lord, Your Word says that we don't really know in our own wisdom and understanding even how to pray (Romans 8:26). So You move in our lack of wisdom to seek Your wisdom and You move us out of our will to seek Your will. As we do, You promise that Your Holy Spirit will move on our human spirits to pray and interceded according to Your will (v. 8:27). I know my grandmother is a woman of prayer and faith, and in a day where her doctors continued to be unoptimistic but the condition of her body seemed to be stable, I wanted to know the condition of her soul. I wanted to know how Your Holy Spirit was moving on her human spirit to pray in accordance with Your will. So I just asked her, "Nanny, how do you want us to pray for you?" She said, "Honey, if I can get well, I want to. And if I can't, well maybe the Lord's calling me home." Then she said to You out loud, "Dear Lord, not my will but Yours. Have Thine Own way." Lord, that is my prayer in agreement with my grandmother, whom You love so much and have used so much to touch the lives of so many others. We completely entrust her spirit and soul and body to Your will, and unless or until You take away her desire to get well, I pray for You to stretch out Your hand and heal her heart, soul, mind, and strength. I pray for Your signs and wonders in the name of Jesus, speaking words of life and healing with boldness to the cells and organs and systems of her body. As we have said in trusting surrender to You, we don't want to hold her back from heaven a single moment, and we don't want to hold heaven back from her if You would choose to display Your power in this way. But we do not listen to the threats of the enemy of her soul. And the spirit of death, defeated by the victory of the cross, will have no say in the moment of her passing -- whether today or ten years from today or if she is among those who will never die but see You come in glory. "We will not all die, but we will all be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51). Even as we pray, not matter whether our prayers will be answered by Nanny getting well here on earth or there in heaven, we are being changed as we turn to You as our Strength and our Savior, our Comforter and Healer. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Your Kingdom Come 9-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good Shepherd, Loving Father, Best Friend. Take me by the heart and lead me through these hard days at my grandmother's side. Help me fight in faith and release in peace, all according to the wisdom of Your will as I trust in Your faithfulness and love. ... "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits -- Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the Pit, Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, Who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm 103:2-5). Your Word reveals Your will about forgiveness and healing. You desire to forgive us and heal us. Sin is not Your will and sickness is not Your will. Your will is to redeem and to restore -- to bear our infirmities, carry our diseases, and forgive our sins (Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:4-6). Your will is life and not death, to have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). But in this broken, fallen world where we are all affected by the freedom of choices made by men and angels of all generations, all sin is not forgiven and all sickness is not healed, despite Your will revealed in Your Word. So You move on our hearts to agree with Your Word and pray Your will. In heaven, there is no sin and in heaven there is no sickness. To pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done" is to pray for heaven to invade earth until the day it is on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). So You calls us to pray out of our love for You and our love for Your people to heal the sick and raise the dead (Matthew 10:8). We'll never see it if we never pray it. We'll never win if we never fight. We'll never see Your power confirm Word if we don't speak it and pray it with boldness and faith (Acts 4:29-30). My Nanny, Edna Marie Hays, is eighty-eight years old and she knows You. She walks with You and talks with You every day. Her human spirit is filled with Your Holy Spirit. She has fought the good fight of the faith, and she has taught me and many how to fight the good fight in prayer (1 Timothy 6:12). In her body, it seems her heart is dying, her kidneys are failing, and her lungs are faltering. But in her spirit, she's walking with You in the garden. There may come a day when she can no longer hear my voice with her natural ears, but until that day comes, she will hear me fight in faith and pray in the Spirit according to Your will and Your Word. I ask for every cell in her body to be healthy and whole -- either here in her natural body or there in her spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:50-57). I ask for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven -- in heaven where all sins are forgiven and all hearts and kidneys and lungs are healthy and whole. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

First Ministry 9-7-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Guide my heart and order my steps into the light of a new day. ... "And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8). You place a high priority upon our families. They are our first ministry. I was scheduled to head north to Pennsylvania this morning to lead a healing prayer retreat. But instead, they have released me to head west to Texas to minister healing prayer to my grandmother. With pain in her body and damage to her heart at eighty-seven years of age, I honestly don't know if her healing will come in the miraculous or in the resurrection. Either way, I know her healing will come. And I know today the ministry of my presence, my love, and my prayers at her side is my highest priority and first ministry. After all, it is Your Presence and not mine that will be the Source of any healing that comes, whether in Pennsylvania or in Texas. And I find great peace and rest in that truth. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, my grandfather and father have already passed away, so my brother and I be responsible for helping make all necessary decisions. We appreciate your prayers and pray for your family as well. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Look Up and Believe 9-6-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. My eyes are on You. No matter what else I see or hear or experience throughout the journey of my day, my eyes are on You. ... "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). In the wilderness, poisonous serpents tormented Your people. As Moses interceded in prayer, You gave the answer to their healing, deliverance, and peace. You led him to form the shape of the thing they feared and lift it high on a pole. As they looked up to the serpent of bronze, You healed them and freed them from their torment (Numbers 21:4-9). You took the cause of their pain and redeemed it by Your power into salvation instead of suffering. In You, their curse became a blessing, as they obeyed Your command to look up and believe in Your provision by faith. Through Your cross, You were lifted high on a pole. You took upon Yourself all the causes of my pain -- sin, sickness, sorrow, and shame (Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:4-6). By faith and obedience in response to Your Provision, You turn my curses into blessings and Your perfect love casts out my fear (1 John 4:18). When You are lifted up, You draw all people to You and draw all the poison out of us --freeing us from fear, healing us of pain, and filling us with hope (John 12:32). You redeem all things, when we look up to You. So through whatever may come this day, I choose by Your grace to look up to You. You are my Healer, my Deliverer, my Hope, and my Provision. You are my Blessing, my Peace, and my Salvation. You are my Rock and my Refuge, my Savior and Lord, my "All in All" (Ephesians 1:23). "For I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your continued prayers for Nanny's healing and peace. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

With God on Our Side 9-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. A new day is another chance to start it off centered and grounded in You alone. ... "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side -- let Israel now say -- if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (Psalm 124:1-8). My grandmother Hays in Texas -- we call her "Nanny" -- had a heart attack last night. But the life of Your blood is filling her heart and the wind of Your Spirit is filling her lungs. As we prayed together over the phone, Your peace steadied her heart and mine. She has survived this "attack" and death has not won its victory (1 Corinthians 15:55). The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but You come to bring life (John 10:10). Sometimes we see the deliverance of that victory on this side of heaven and sometimes on the other. But either way, You are on our side, fighting to deliver us from the snare of the fowlers, in ways we can't always see at the time. But as we hold on to You and You hold on to us, "Death has been swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54). As someone has said, "God is on both sides of the grave." One day, Your Word will be completely fulfilled before our eyes, despite every attack from the enemy of our souls, whether by spiritual or physical means or both -- "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (v. 15:26). Until that day, I join with You in this fight against the attacks of our enemy, through prayer and praise and proclaiming Your Word. "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31, KJV). "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep my grandmother, Edna Hays, in your prayers, now in the hospital in Lubbock, Texas, but steady and stable. She is in good spirits and my brother Greg is there with her. Please keep our church in prayer -- Centenary United Methodist in Lexington, Kentucky, as well as our ministry, Messiah Ministries. Many sense attacks from every side amidst the advances of God's kingdom. I join in the agreement of prayer for you and your church and ministry as well, as the Lord advances His kingdom through His people, despite the plans of the enemy of our souls. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Legacy of Faith 9-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Faithful Friend, Everlasting Father, I welcome Your comfort, Your strength, and Your Spirit. ... "Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, 'See how He loved him!' " (John 11:35-36 NKJV). We journeyed up to Indiana yesterday to join with my friends and pastors, David and Karen Thomas, to celebrate the life and faith of Karen's parents, Art and Gloria Muselman. As David testified to honor the self-less lives of this godly family who lived and loved with such passion and integrity, our hearts joined with theirs' as we wept and laughed through the moments of their lives. And the words of blessing and release written by the grandchildren were such a reflection and honor to the lives and legacy of the faith of this family. But I won't soon forget the love and grief of my dear friend at graveside of these parents she loved so much. As she stood between the caskets with arms stretched out to touch her mother and father for the last time this side of heaven, I know You were her strength standing within her, with Your arms stretched out through hers'. I know You wept as she wept in her loss and rejoiced as she rejoiced in their gain. These same hands that reached down to touch her parents' hearts one last time in sorrow and sadness were also the hands that reached up to touch Your heart in worship and trust, as we sang songs of assurance and trust in that holy mixture of grief and joy that only a heart changed by Your Spirit can know in moments like these. You are, and You always will be, the Source of her comfort and strength on this day and in the days to come (Psalm 121:1-2). What a legacy of faith she received and what a legacy of faith she has lived before us all. As my friend's parents looked on in spirit from the "great cloud of witnesses" above, I know they are pleased and proud of the woman of faith and love their little girl has become (Hebrews 12:1). And in these tender moments of releasing all the fullness of emotions to come in the days and months ahead, fill her with the love she has been so faithful to pour out to others. Bless David and Karen, Luke, John Paul, and Mary Ester with the peace and power of Your constant presence and steadfast love through this season of entrusting the lives of these they love to You. And I magnify this prayer out to all who have known and all who will know the sadness of loss of those we love. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Treasures in Heaven 9-3-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and ask for Your grace to live my life well today. ... "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.' Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that' " (James 4:13-15). Death and tragedy have a way of making me stop and think. What is important? What am I doing with my life? Am I living the fullness of my destiny? If I looked back on my life from the perspective of heaven, would I like what I see? In that moment, when You wipe away every tear, will they be tears of joy of what You did through my life or tears of sadness of what You wanted to do but couldn't do through my life (Revelation 21:4)? These short days of flesh and blood on earth are but a mist in the perspective of all eternity. But every day counts, every relationship matters, every choice has consequences. And it could all end tomorrow. For some, it will. So I choose to trust You -- to trust that You know best, that You know the desires You've placed in my heart and the purposes You've planned for my life. I choose to look to You each day, asking You to put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. I want to be found faithful, having stored up "treasures in heaven" instead of earth (Matthew 6:19-21). Then my life will have eternal meaning. I may not always know it now, but I trust You that one day I will. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Anchor of the Soul" 9-2-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I direct my thoughts to You alone in these first moments of my morning. ... "We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul ..." (Hebrews 6:19-20). My hope is in You, Lord -- not in a hope to have an easy life; not in a hope that nothing bad will ever happen in a broken, fallen world; not in a hope in my own power or strength or wisdom to handle the hardships that come. My hope is in You -- in Your nature that You are love and You love me; in Your promise that You are always with me through whatever comes, never leaving me and never forsaking me; in Your ways to work everything together for good if I will entrust everything to You. Not everything that happens is Your will, but You will use everything that happens to draw me closer to You and make me more like You. You are a sure and steadfast anchor to my soul. You keep me steady when sea billows roll. You give me freedom to express my pain and even my disappointment in my sense of Your failing of promises to me at times, but You do not let Your anchor slip. No matter how high the seas may rage, the anchor of Your presence and the certain hope of Your power to bring me through will not fail. Trusting in You alone as my refuge and strength, I am free "to seize the hope set before (me)" (v. 6:18). " 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him' " (Lamentations 3:24). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Comfort in Sorrow 9-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You, where I find my comfort and peace, security and strength. ... "My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your Word" (Psalm 119:28). Both parents of a close friend were just killed in a tragic car accident. The hearts of all who know her and her wonderful family are heavy with sorrow and torn in grief. As they have spent their lives comforting others, as pastors and friends, they need Your comfort now. Release them to grieve the sorrow of this incomprehensible loss, even as they release these treasured loved ones into the embrace of Your arms. Strengthen them according to Your Word. Comfort them in the presence of Your Spirit. Lead them through this valley of the shadow of death, knowing You go with them and carry them through to the other side. As they are able to release it to You, draw out their pain and pour in Your peace. There will be time for celebrating the resurrection life of these saints in heaven; and there will also be time for grieving the loss of their lives on earth. But whether sadness or joy, You are with us through it all. You give us permission to grieve and You give us peace in Your presence. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Home from the Harvest with Joy 8-31-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the One who sends me out and You are the One who brings me home. I welcome You to be at home in my heart today. ... "After this, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of them in pairs to every town and place where He Himself intended to go. He said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into this harvest. ... The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, in Your name even the demons submit to us!' ... At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit ..." (Luke 10:1-21). Thank You, Lord, for sending me out into Your harvest and thank You for bringing home with joy. Thank You for letting me sense a measure of the pleasure in You heart for our team who were obedient to go and serve in the harvest fields of Estonia and for those of our team who were faithful to stay and serve in the war room of prayer at home. Thank You that we can join You to rejoice in the Holy Spirit for the lives You touch through the lives of Your church when we are obedient to go where You send us and do what You send us to do. We rejoice that our names are written in heaven, and that through the ministry of Your love and power through laborers of Your harvest, many others will know their names are now written in heaven too (v. 10:20). You are the Lord of the harvest and You are the Lord of my heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Dear Friends, thank Your for covering my family and ministry and our team in prayer on our ministry trip to Estonia these past ten days. The people were wonderful and we believe the Lord used us as His vessels to minister His encouragement and love to His people in many ways. We saw spiritual, emotional, and physical healing, and the strengthening and cleansing of the laborers for His great harvest to come. Thank you for being with us in the ministry of prayer. Thank you for all the ways you encourage us and support us to make this ministry possible. May You receive a hundred-fold and more of the blessings the Lord poured into us and through us in this time of ministry to others. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Go Through the Gates" 8-29-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Arise in my heart and shine through my life today. ... "Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples" (Isaiah 62:10). Yesterday we stood at the disputed border between Estonia and Russia. We prayed for the cleansing of the land from any defiling sins of the past. We prayed that the gates of unrighteousness would come down that You would establish Your gates of righteousness in this place. We prayed the gospel of Your kingdom would go forth and Your missionaries of Your good news would go forth through these gates. In Your power and according to Your promises, the gates of hell will not prevail against Your church. And as we go through the gates You open, proclaim the words You speak through us, and minister the power of Your love You release through us, we prepare the way for the people to receive You as Lord. Here and throughout all the earth, open wide the gates for the gospel of the kingdom of God to go forth. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Extravagant Grace 8-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth, be Lord of my life today. ... "Then you shall again obey the Lord, observing all His commandments that I am commanding you today, and the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as He delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the Lord your God by observing His commandments and decrees that are written in the book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 30:8-10). What amazing things we saw yesterday in ministering to Your people of this land. At the morning prayer meeting, a woman's mourning was turned to laughter, a man's hearing began to be restored, a woman's daughter continued to be set free at deeper levels to be restored in her mind, a marriage began to be reconciled. And You will be faithful to bring to completion all you have begun (Philippians 1:6). As we turn to You, You are eager to answer our prayers and delight in prospering Your people with Your grace and power and presence. Even in the asking and the persevering when the answers seem slow, You bless us with the relationship You form through the intimacy of prayer. But I was astounded at Your extravagant grace for a single mother Methodist pastor. She was living in an apartment with her children in a noisy part of town with many bad influences. It was the cry of her heart to have a place of peace to raise her family and serve her church. At the same time, You were moving on the heart of another one of Your servants. She was a woman from Estonia now living in Canada. Their family's farm house was taken by the communists in the Soviet occupation and destroyed. The freed government of Estonia gave her a replacement farmhouse, that's not really used much now that she no longer lives here. She knew of the pastor's needs through the Baptist pastor and his wife from their weekly interdenominational prayer meeting to pray for their city. We were so honored to be asked to come and pray a blessing upon this house if some arrangement were worked out as these ladies met yesterday at the farm. We were astonished as the woman chose to completely give the house and farm to this pastor and her family. Praise You, Lord! Both were thrilled and so were we! You delight in prospering Your people with the extravagance of Your grace. And we delight in praising You for Your Father's heart for Your children. What a blessing we prayed and what a blessing we received. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Thank You, Lord 8-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see You. Open the ears of my spirit, I want to hear You. ... "On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached Him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' When He saw them, He said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. And he was a Samaritan" (Luke 17:11-16). Thank You, Lord Jesus. You are the Healer. You are the Lord who heals us (Exodus 15:26). You are the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). You are still binding up the broken-hearted and setting the captives free, as You proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God and demonstrate it through Your power (Luke 4:18). Thank You for the gift of using Your people as Your vessels to be instruments of Your healing power through prayer (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Yesterday, I had the joy of sharing Your gospel and ministering Your healing love to the Estonian people in two churches at Varoos and Vitka, just miles away from Latvia and Russia in the southeastern-most region of this nation. What tears of joy I had when a couple came up for prayer and the husband said, "I wanted to personally thank you for praying for my wife when she had her terrible car accident last year." She was crying and smiling and said she was doing very well now. Pastor Kaupo Kant from this community had been in America last year and we were having a time of prayer together at Bob and Doris McCray's house. This accident had just happened and we went to You in prayer for this lady and her family at our breakfast table. And here she was, healed and whole, praising You, as we thanked You together. In the mystery of faith, our prayers are not limited by time or space, and neither are Your answers through the power of Your love. Thank You, Lord! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Thank you for all your prayers for us, my friends. Doris, Bob, and I will be ministering at a men's retreat and women's retreat today, as well as joining in a prayer meeting and other opportunities of ministry. We saw the tops of the trees across the border into Russia yesterday and this seems like such a spiritually strategic region. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Light of Your Glory 8-26-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my heart with Your Holy Spirit, guide my thoughts with Your words, lead me in Your paths. ... "May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light" (Colossians 2:11-12). Yesterday in the "prayer tent" at our campground, an elderly Russian-speaking woman asked me to pray a blessing for her life. As we prayed she began to smile. The more I prayed the more she smiled. She suddenly opened her eyes and lifted her hands up to the center of the tent. She said, "The light! The light! I see so much light!" Praise You, Lord. You are the Light. You are our Inheritance. Thank You for letting me share with this saint of God in her experience with You of receiving a deep measure the joy of her inheritance in the Light. Continue opening the eyes of all the hearts of all Your saints -- all the children of God -- to experience Your glorious power and walk in Your glorious light. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

One Spirit, Many Languages 8-25-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You and seek You and serve You. ... "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to then one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). We have gathered at a retreat center on the shores of the Baltic Sea from churches across the country of Estonia. People are hungry to hear from You. They want to hear Your voice and sense Your leading in their lives. And through the prayers and messages, through visions and prophetic words, You are speaking to us in many ways. Even as all the words are being spoken and translated into the Estonian, Russian, and English languages, You are speaking by Your One Spirit in many ways. Open our hears to hear what Your Spirit it saying to each of us, personally and as the one body of Your church bound together by one faith in You. As we hear, let us be encouraged and let us faithful. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Tent of Meeting 8-24-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I hear Your calling to come and spend our time together in the communion of prayer -- Father and Son, abiding in me by Your Holy Spirit. Help me look and seeing what You're doing; help me listen and hear what You're saying. Then help me obey, so I can join in what You are doing and desire to do through me this day. ... "Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp" (Exodus 33:7). We're here at Camp Gideon now on Estonia's northeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, not too far from the Russian border. This land was once occupied by the Red Army under the Soviet communist occupation forces, where young people were once indoctrinated in atheism. Now young people come here to learn the love of God and the ways of Jesus. Once this land was occupied by Nazi troops under the German occupation of World War II. Now a German couple have traveled here to this camp to set up a huge tent, without cost, for the preaching of the Word of God and where we will minister freedom to the captives and healing to broken. My, how You love to redeem the land and cause the earth to manifest what You have done in the heavens. This tent is our "tent of meeting." It's filled with pastors and people of their churches from all regions of this nation of Estonia. We are hungry for You, seeking Your presence, and welcoming Your power to change our lives and welcoming Your Spirit to move us in prayer for release of revival in this land. Let Your "pillar of cloud" descend, let the glory of Your manifest presence come down (v. 33:9). We want to see You "face to face," and grow in the gift of hearing Your voice "as one speaks to a friend" (v. 33:11). We want to experience this for ourselves and we want to prepare the way for the next generation who will see You and hear You, ever more clearly with each generation of Joshuas who grow nearer to You (v. 33:11). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"A Precious Stone" 8-23-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me hear Your voice, so I can speak Your word. ... "To you then who believe, He is precious; but for those who do not believe, 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,' and 'A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall' " (1 Peter 2:7-8). You've sent me to Estonia to speak Your words of life and encouragement to the pastors and people of this land who have endured centuries of oppression, yet the spirit of the faithful remnant remains strong and alive. I've been hearing stories about the four Methodist ministers who were martyred for their faith, defiantly refusing to renounce it in the face of communist tyranny. But their blood cries out from this land, and the seeds of their lives sown in faith will yet yield a great harvest of souls (Revelation 6:9-10). Nations will stumble and kingdoms will fall, but the Stone rejected -- "this Jesus" -- "has become the Cornerstone" (Acts 4:11). It seems I hear You say, "Estonia is to Me a precious stone." You are flooding my mind with Scriptures of stones -- with messages to encourage the people of Estonia -- "es - stone -- ia." As they arise into newness of life in their calling and destiny as a people of God, they are "living stones" being built up into Your spiritual house (1 Peter 2:4-10). Though they are small in numbers, they are as one of David's "five smooth stones" gathered on his way to battle the oppression of the people of God, striking the head of the enemy that the people might be set free from the threat of tyranny and the taunting of their God (1 Samuel 17:40-49). As the stone is rolled away from the tomb of their past and the bondage of death to their destiny, they are as Lazarus coming forth in response to Your call (John 11:39). They are as the "white stone" given to those who overcome and hear their new name to walk in their God-given identity and calling (Revelation 2:17). They will be as the stones crying out in praise of Your name (Luke 19:40). You are removing their "heart of stone," and giving them a "heart of flesh" with a "new spirit," refreshed, renewed, and empowered by Your Holy Spirit to be Your holy people to live out their destiny for Your glory (Ezekiel 36:26). I see with the eyes of my heart for this people two visions from a world map of this region of the earth. In one, I see their nation as a cornerstone, positioned at the northwest corner of Russia and all Asia. In the other, I see their nation as a cornerstone positioned at the northeast corner of Europe. Now I see the nation of Estonia in the center of an arch, like a keystone, between Europe and Asia at the top center of a gothic arch over the top of this eastern side of the earth. Yes, Lord. Use this tiny nation to be a cornerstone and a keystone -- strategically positioned -- to birth a revival in the harvest to come. Though there are now few believers of Christ in this nation, You love to use the "weakest" and "least" for Your glory, as in the days of Gideon (Judges 6:15). Yes, Lord. The seeds of the martyrs will reap a harvest -- "a hundredfold" of all they have suffered and all they have lost (Mark 10:28-30). Though it may seem now they are last and left behind, "many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (v. 10:31). I am honored to join my heart with theirs as You fill my spirit with Yours to speak Your words of truth and life, encouragement and exhortation (1 Corinthians 14:3). All that is of You will come to pass in Your timing and Your way for Your glory (Isaiah 55:11). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

"What Pleases Him" 8-22-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God. Come rule and reign this day in the kingdom of my heart. ... "Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him" (1 John 3:21-22). What pleases You, Lord? ... It seems I hear You say, "You please Me. You please Me when You seek Me with all your heart -- not holding back, not looking back." But what about my sins and failures and ways I've disappointed You and others? "You please when You seek Me with all your heart -- not holding back, not looking back. As You look to Me, you become who I created you to be." Yes, Lord. Remind to always find myself in You -- in Your eyes alone. In You, I am forgiven of my sins, I am learning from my mistakes, I am pressing in and moving on with You -- which never disappoints You, but only delights You. You love me as I am, but never leave me as I am -- constantly changing me into Your image, from glory to glory, as I seek You and worship You, wanting to become more like You (2 Corinthians 3:18). Thank You, Daddy Abba, my Father God. Thank You, Lord Jesus, my Savior and King. Thank You, Holy Spirit, the Living Presence of the Living God living in me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Continual Intercession 8-21-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Wherever I go, there You are. Wherever I go, here You are in me by Your Holy Spirit. ... "Immediately aware that power had gone forth from Him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched My clothes?' ... He looked all around to see who had done it" (Mark 5:30-32). Going through airports, surrounded by people, I know You go with me and You go within me wherever I go (John 14:20). As I go, let my eyes be attentive and my heart be aware of the people I pass along the way. Stretch out Your hand, send forth Your Word, release Your power to touch them, encourage them, convict them, and heal them as each has need. Give me a heart of continual intercession, as You continually live in me -- always living to intercede for the souls and needs of the people You died to save (Hebrews 7:25). Then even layovers and weather delays become opportunities for ministry and the advance of Your kingdom. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for joining with me in ministry on this trip to the Baltic Republic of Estonia. We've had some weather delays and it looks like we'll be stopping over in Denmark instead of Sweden, but will be praying for the people all along the way. Your prayers, encouragement, and support make all this possible. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Go Into All the World" 8-20-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear Your heart. Bring mine into align with Yours. ... "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation' " (Mark 16:15). Today I'll be going into a part of the world where I've never been before, to the nation of Estonia, on the northwestern border of Russia. We'll also stop in Sweden for a moment and cross over the lands and people of many other nations along the way. Everywhere I go -- through the skies and upon the land -- the light of the glory of Your gospel goes with me, because You are within me. Everywhere I go, the kingdom of heaven is at hand because the God of heaven and earth is living in me. I go as an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). I go as one sent to proclaim the good news of Your kingdom, to bind up the broken-hearted and to set the captives free, all in Your power and all as You lead for Your glory (Isaiah 61:1-4). I go in desperate dependence upon You, because apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). So lead me to the places and people where I am to give and where I am to receive. Put Your words in my mouth, Your prayers on my lips, Your love in my heart. Let Your light shine through my life, as a son of Your light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Let Your signs follow me, as one who believes (Mark 16:16-18). Use this experience to change lives; use this experience to change my life. I wouldn't go if Your weren't sending me, and I wouldn't go if You weren't going with me. I praise You, Lord God Almighty, that You are. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'm not sure how much access I will have to the internet, but I'll plan to send out my devotional as I am able and I thank you for your prayers. We will be ministering in Estonia in the capital city of Tallinn, at a ministers' retreat at Camp Gideon, and other places of Divine encounters along the way. Bob and Doris McCray, will join with me August 20th through 30th. Please keep us and our families and all the lives the Lord will touch in prayer. Here's a couple of links to know more: http://www.bmk.ee/indexenglish.html and http://gbgm-umc.org/europe/estonia/ God bless you and thank you so much for joining with us in ministry! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Blessing of Kindness 8-19-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Spring up, O well of the waters of life. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit as You awaken me to Your will for me today. ... "Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show mercy and kindness to one another" (Zechariah 7:9). As we moved Elizabeth into her new home in the dorm of her university yesterday, Your favor and grace was upon us all day. Strangers volunteered helpful information, security guards guided us with courtesy, the morning was surprisingly cool. Somehow we arrived at a time when the lines were short and even parked right in front of the door to unload all her worldly possessions to sustain her new life for the next four (or so) years. But as we began to unload, we were surrounded by a team of Christians from a local Baptist church who welcomed us and helped us gather all her belongings and move them into her room, with overflowing kindness and hospitality. They were witnesses of the gospel without words to us and all the families taking these first steps of a new season. They made it easy to see the Spirit of Your presence is everywhere You have Your children ready to love and serve with kindness and joy. Let me pass on the blessing of kindness in the opportunities You bring to me today. Let me share Your gospel, with words and without, in the ways You lead. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Strength, Wisdom, and Favor 8-18-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Live Your life through my life today. ... "The Child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40). As my oldest daughter Elizabeth moves into her dorm at college today, I feel many emotions. But above all, I entrust her into Your care. Many years ago Your Holy Spirit led me to craft a simple prayer to teach my children to pray as they began their day: "Lord Jesus, make me more like You each day." It was to be simple, personal, and powerful. I pray for them and all of their generation and the ones to follow. My they grew in Your grace, depend upon Your strength, be filled with Your wisdom, and be blessed by Your favor. May they know You personally in every dimension of Your Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- as they surrender and entrust to You every dimension of their being -- spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). May they become more like You each day because they turn to You each day to welcome Your Spirit into their spirits, Your thoughts into their thoughts, and Your desires into their desires. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done in and through their lives, as You make them more like You each day. And may this be my prayer each day as well. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Destruction of Divided Hearts 8-17-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In You all things have become new. I start this new day with a clean slate and a fresh start. I start it with You. ... "So these nations worshipped the Lord, but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children's children continue to do as their ancestors did" (2 Kings 17:41). The people who came to live in the land of Samaria learned about You and Your nature and Your law. They learned to worship You as "the God of the land," but at the same time, they continued to worship gods of their own -- the false gods carved by their own hands and made in their own image (v. 17:27-34). But You do not share Your glory with any god; You will have no other gods before You. You are not one God among many, content to be included as an option of worship. And their sin of idolatry defiled the land and defiled their souls in their generation and the generations to come. Their idolatry and blasphemy, compromise and spiritual adultery brought their lives out from under Your hand of protection and opened themselves and their children to destruction (v. 17:25-26). You love us and Your created us for a relationship with You alone. You are jealous for our love and devotion, never willing to tolerate compromise or complacency in our dedication to You. All roads do not lead to heaven. All worship is not acceptable worship. What husband would tolerate a divided heart from his wife who loved him but also loved others? What covenant is honored by compromise? Love demands loyalty. And loyalty is an undivided heart. We may not bow down to carved images of wood and stone or burn our children in the fire to false gods as in the land of Samaria (v. 17:29-32). But we often allow our hearts to be divided; we allow other things to take Your place as the priority in our lives; we compromise with the cultures around us and subtly make room for both the material and spiritual gods that gain control and power to influence, if not dominate, our lives. And it breaks Your heart as we open up our lives and our land to destruction -- not only for our generation, but also for those to come. Forgive us, Lord. Deliver us from divided hearts and the destruction it brings. Cleanse our hearts from idolatry and adultery, from compromise and complacency. Draw our hearts to worship You and You alone. You are the road to heaven; You are the road of heaven to us. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Camp Gideon 8-16-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You as Lord, I serve You as King, I know You as Friend. ... "And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets -- who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight" (Hebrews 11:32-34). Next week our team will travel to the Baltic Republic of Estonia, one of the small nations formerly held captive behind the iron curtain of communism in the former Soviet Union. A few years ago the persevering people of this nation defied their oppressors and declared their independence as a sovereign nation and free people once again. During the Soviet era, most of the Church was forced underground in the forced denial of God. But now every year the pastors and leaders of the Methodist Church of Estonia gather for a time of renewal, inspiration, and equipping to openly and boldly praise Your name and declare their faith. I'm so honored and excited to be invited to come preach and minister on prayer, healing, and spiritual warfare with them and their families. We will gather at the Methodist retreat center now called "Camp Gideon." Under the communist occupation, which followed the Nazi occupation, this was where the Soviet soldiers brought the nations' youth to be indoctrinated in communism, to deny their independence, and to renounce their faith. Today, You are the One who is conforming their hearts, renewing their minds, and transforming their lives in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today the youth of this nation freely and willingly "present (their) bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" in open worship (Romans 12:1-2). Here, You raise up the Gideons from their threshing floors and hiding place to take a stand and go to war in the Spirit against the oppressing forces of spiritual darkness as mighty warriors in the kingdom of God (Judges 6:11-14). No doubt I will be inspired more than I can inspire by the tenacity and perseverance of faith in the heart of this people who endured persecution and peril to see the Word of God and the name of Jesus exalted again throughout this land. Thank You, Lord, for moving on their hearts to call me to come and moving in my heart as You send me to go -- both to give and to receive. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we will be ministering in Estonia in the capital city of Tallinn, at Camp Gideon, and other places of Divine encounters along the way. Bob and Doris McCray, and possibly Meme McNairy, will join with me August 20th through 30th. Please keep us and our families and all the lives the Lord will touch in this generation and those to come in prayer. Here's a couple of links to know more: http://www.bmk.ee/indexenglish.html and http://gbgm-umc.org/europe/estonia/ God bless you and thank you so much for joining with us in ministry! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Embrace and Engage 8-15-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open my eyes to see and my ears to hear in the spiritual realm of Your manifest presence in prayer. ... "So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing of the work went forward at their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it" (2 Chronicles 24:13). It seems I hear You say, "Embrace and engage." And these thoughts rise up in my mind from the depths of my human spirit now in the communion of prayer with Your Holy Spirit: "Embrace Me first, then engage your day. Too many engage themselves into the works of their day without first embracing Me." Yes, Lord. Draw me to You in the first moments of every morning. Draw me to You to seek Your counsel before making my decisions. Draw me to You in the silence of surrender before I begin to speak and say or even pray. Then like the cogs of a wheel of a well-oiled machine, I can be about my Father's business instead of my own business, submitted to Your plans and purposes rather than my own. My thoughts and desires will be oiled in the embrace of Your Spirit so You can engage the gears of my gifts with the gifts of others to accomplish Your will through our lives. Forgive me for the times I have engaged first, and then embraced -- or never took the time to embrace You at all. Before every battle of the armies of Israel, they were to first hear from You through Your priest before engaging their enemies in battle. "Before you engage in battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the troops" (Deuteronomy 20:2). Now under the new covenant fulfilled in Christ, You are my High Priest (Hebrews 5:5-10). As I embrace You, I embrace the Word and will of God, entrusting my life and the works and battles of my day into Your hands so I can engage in the ministries of Your heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

As They Grow and Go 8-14-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All authority in heaven and earth belongs to You. I entrust all authority of my life to You to this day. ... "Even children make themselves known by their acts, by whether what they do is pure and right" (Proverbs 20:9). This is a big week for our family. My eighteen year old daughter Elizabeth goes off to college and my five year old son Elijah goes off to kindergarten. You have sown Your Word into their minds and poured Your Spirit into their hearts. As best as we could and all by Your grace, we have tried to raise them up in the way they should go so that they will not depart from Your path in the choices they make and the lives they live (v. 22:6). In the broader perspective, neither is all that old, but they both think they are. And, in any event, they are both old enough to take another step of independence from us and dependence on You -- steps in the journey of maturity into Christ-likeness they will continue for the rest of their lives. Give us grace to entrust them to You. Forgive us for our sins in the ways we have not fully represented Your heart and nature along the way. Fill up by Your Spirit where we have fallen short. Guide them in the ways that will lead them to be known as children of God by their acts. Let their acts be a reflection of what You've poured into their hearts (Matthew 15:18-19). Make them sensitive the leading of Your Spirit and the nearness of Your presence, both when they long to be drawn near to You or when they may be tempted to be drawn away. Thank You for the angels You send to watch their steps and clear their paths (Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:14). Thank You for the peace and joy of seeing them grow and now seeing them go, in these next big steps of their journey with You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I thank you for all your prayers for our family -- Tommy, Tricia, Elizabeth, Zachary, Madison, Elijah, and Josiah. And I join my heart with yours in prayer for your family as well. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Above All ... Love" 8-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Consume me. ... "Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Colossians 3:14). "Above all" is a strong command of priority. Your Word doesn't say "above all, clothe yourselves with forgiveness," or "good deeds," or "a servant's heart," or any other of the many significant and necessary attributes of Christ-likeness. In fact, the verses just before this command list many of those godly attributes You call us to live out, saying, "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (v 3:12). But love is the priority "above all." Just the other day, I was thinking that my morning prayers are filled with too many thoughts and words about love. I was thinking it doesn't seem manly enough or strong enough, that maybe I only need to write and pray about the cross, and the blood, and the power of God. But You quickly broke through these thoughts from Satan. I am not to try to create You in my own image or clothe myself with any image I feel more comfortable in projecting to You in my prayers and to others who read them. You are who You are. And You are Love (1 John 4:8). If I am to be clothed with Christ and allow You to conform me to Christ-likeness -- the purpose of my existence for these moments on earth -- then I will embrace and exude Your love and Your loving nature more and more every day. After all, Your love is the very source of everything else, including the cross, the blood, and the power of God. So if I am filled with Your Spirit, as I pray every day, I must be filled with Your love. My words, my prayers, my actions, my life will manifest the Spirit of the One I worship and welcome to have priority in my life. So, this day and every day, I choose by Your grace to clothe myself with Your love -- unashamed, unafraid, unrestrained. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Spiritual Kingdom 8-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Awaken my soul to seek You and find You in the intimacy of prayer. ... "Jesus answered, 'Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of Spirit is spirit" (John 3:5-6). Last night we watched a movie with the kids about two friends who crossed over a creek and went into the woods to play after school every day. The woods across the water became their kingdom when they "looked hard" with their eyes to see with their imagination. Our journey with You is kind of like that, only the kingdom we seek to see with the eyes of our heart is real, not our imagination, but we have to look hard to see beyond the kingdom of the natural realm into the kingdom of the heavenly realm. We have to cross over through the water of baptism and welcome the presence of Your Spirit in the spiritual communion of worship and prayer. "God is Spirit, and those worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords; You are the King of this kingdom of spiritual reality beyond our natural senses, "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). As I watch and wait for Your leading each day in the communion of prayer, You draw me in to the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of heaven is drawn into me. As You open the eyes of my heart to see You and worship You in spirit and truth, I become more aware of the spiritual reality of Your kingdom and Your spiritual kingdom becomes more real in me (Ephesians 1:17-19). I cross over into the spiritual place You have prepared for me, as You come and take me there as You promised, "I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3). Here in the reality of Your spiritual kingdom, my "life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Here I fixed the eyes of my heart on "things that are above, not on things that are on earth;" here, I "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (v. 3:1-2). In this spiritual kingdom, "we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Lord, help me keep looking and keep living more and more in the eternal reality of Your spiritual kingdom, allowing the reality of Your spiritual kingdom to live more and more in me each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Shocking and Amazing" Worship 8-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and I seek Your face. ... "The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their worship of Me is a human commandment learned by rote; so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing. The wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden" (Isaiah 29:13-14). In the sin of shallow worship, we say the right words and do the right things, but it's only on the surface and not from the depths of our hearts. Someone says "stand," "kneel," "pray," "sing," and we do. Even in more "free" settings, someone says "lift up your hands," "lift up your voices," "give a shout to the Lord," and we do. In whatever form our worship has settled, we are engaged to a degree, we've given ourselves to You in a measure, but do we give to You our hearts unrestrained and unashamed in a passion ablaze with praise and alive with a burning fire of ones who know the extravagance of Your mercy and the Your presence? But in Your mercy and Your desire to awaken us to the worship we were created to experience and express in unveiled intimacy with You, You break through our timidity and complacency to again do shocking and amazing things in our midst. Where we've lost our passion, You want to impassion us again with the power of Your presence. Where our love has grown cold, You want to fire us up with the move of Your Spirit in our midst. Lord, come shock us, come amaze us, come shake us and wake us until we are alive and ablaze with the depth of worship You desire and deserve. Let our honest and genuine, heart-felt response to Your extravagant love and incomprehensible mercy be shocking and amazing worship for You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Restorer of Life 8-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I direct my thoughts to You alone in these first moments of my morning. ... "So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son" (Ruth 4:13). From one perspective, we have the freedom to follow our desires and make our choices. And You want our hearts so yielded to You that we can sense the leading of Your Spirit in every choice we make. But You are the One who speaks Your will into our choices to bring forth life. And if we take time to wait in Your presence and welcome the leading of Your Spirit, You will use our choices to bear sons and daughters of blessing. The son of Boaz and Ruth was Obed -- destined to be "a restorer of life" (v. 4:15). And through his life, he became the father of Jesse, the father of David (v. 4:22). Ultimately, through the generations of choices in response to the leading of Your Spirit to come, David would become the father of Jesus of Nazareth -- the "Son of David" (Matthew 1:1). You are the Son of the simple choices made by Boaz and Ruth and the countless choices through countless generations made by the inspiration of Your Spirit. The generational blessing of "restorer of life" is now fully manifested in You. You are the Restorer of Life, because You are Life (John 14:6). Lord, help me be led by Your Spirit to make the choices You desire to use to conceive the life and blessings for generations to come. Restore life in me and live Your life through me this day and every day. Through my life, pass on Your blessings for generations to come. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ OUR UPDATED WEB-SITE Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/

God's Answer for Peace in Israel 8-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Father, my Friend, my Lord, my God. May the Father and the Son come abide in me as One by Your Holy Spirit (from John 14:23). Now prompt me to pray as You will, as I watch and wait, listening for Your leading in the silence of surrender. ... "When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:33-34). I have chosen to believe the Word of God is true and to live my life as best as I can by Your grace in trusting surrender and humble submission to Your Word as my Truth. I don't like labels like "Evangelical," "Charismatic," "Fundamentalist," "Bible-thumper," etc. But I am -- or I should say I try to be -- a Bible believing Christian. And to me, believing it means to at least try by Your grace to live it. And when I don't, I believe I am called to admit it and call it for the sin that it is instead of trying to justify it, explain it, compromise it, or try to substitute my own will for Yours' and my own ways for Yours'. Though I know I have sinfully done that many times in my past, I ask for Your conviction that leads me to repentance, to receive again Your forgiveness and restoration of the intimacy of our relationship. But it seems to me that many who claim to believe Your Word are seeking ways to be able to compromise Your Word and still claim to be followers of Your Word -- especially with regard to covenant and promises Your Word expresses to the people and the land of Israel. I know many of my friends will not like my words, but these are the prayers on my heart today. Lord, convict us and remind us of Your Truth and Your Word, so You can forgive us and restore us as people who try to believe and live the Word of God as if it were true, because it is. By Your Spirit, encourage us to encourage others to hold firm to Your Word, Your covenant, and Your promises for the people and the land of Israel and everyone else. We need Your creative and certain answers, not our own, in submission to Your Word and will, not ours. You meet us where we are in our cultures and practices, but never leave us as we are. Then You begin the patient and painful process of bringing order and security, righteousness and justice to our hearts and our homes in the places You position us. The history of nations recorded in Your Word, with Israel and others, is messy and hard to understand as You began to form Your heart and Your will in the hearts and wills of a people whose journey with You would teach us about You and Your desire for relationship with all of us. And You worked out this history -- as You are still working out this history today -- in the context of a land and a people with the promises of a covenant. "I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens" (Exodus 6:4). Whether we like it or not, understand it or not, agree with it or not, this is Your Word. And we need Your wisdom to understand Your will, Your way, and Your answer for all the turmoil and terror in this land of Canaan, the land of Your promise to Your people. We know by Your Word, there will not be true and lasting peace until the Prince of Peace returns (for example, Zechariah 12:1 through 13:6; Isaiah 11:1-16). In the new Jerusalem of the new heaven and new earth, Your Word says, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be His peoples, and God Himself with be with them" (Revelation 21:3). But until that day, Your Word does not teach us to trade land for peace, or force others to sell their birthright and inheritance of God for the porridge of false peace (Genesis 25:29-34). Instead Your Word calls the people of Your covenant to honor the aliens among them. "You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 23:9). Through the conflicts and casualties of war on all sides, as well as the working out of Your will and Your Word in this land, today Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others live in the land of Canaan. Though Your Word seems clear about Your will of ownership of the land, ownership is not the only issue. Honoring one another, loving "the alien as yourself" and respecting them as a "citizen among you" without oppression and with full recognition as a people of equal value and great worth whom You love and gave Your life to save -- these are issues of just a much, if not more, importance. But deliver us and them from the temptation to seek our own answers to satisfy our own sense of righteousness and justice apart from Yours. Let us humble ourselves to seek Your wisdom and submit to Your will in our lives and theirs. We need Your answer to peace in Israel and in our own hearts and lands. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encourage today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Through and Through 8-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come walk with me and talk with me, as I join my heart with Yours' in the communion of prayer. ... I hear in my heart the words, "Through and through." What are You saying, Lord? It seems I hear You say, "I desire to live through you, through each of My children. Allow Me to love through your heart, speak through your mouth, heal through your hands. I do it, but I choose to do it through you, through each of you who make yourselves available to Me." Yes, Lord. You don't want to replace me, You want to embrace me. You don't want to set me aside; You want to send me out. You don't want me out of the way; You want me to walk in Your way. You don’t want me to disappear; You want me to shine with the light of Your glory shining through me. "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing Him ... in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence" (2 Corinthians 2:14-17). Help me know You more fully each day, so Your Spirit can flow more freely through me each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, in case You might be able to come join us or would like to pray for us, I will be ministering in Pennsylvania and Tennessee in September. I'll be leading a healing prayer retreat at Jumonville Retreat Center 9/7-9 http://jumonville.gospelcom.net (brochure attached). I'll be teaching a workshop on inner healing and deliverance at the "Becoming a People of Prayer" conference at Brentwood UMC outside Nashville 9/21-22 www.gbod.org/peopleofprayer (brochure attached). I'll be leading a Ministers' Conference on prayer and spiritual transformation for the Methodist Church of Estonia August 20-30 http://www.bmk.ee/umc Thank you for joining with us in ministry at home and to the nations. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org UPDATED WEB-SITEDaily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Watching and Waiting for Wisdom 8-7-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead my thoughts and shape my desires, as I willingly yield them all to You. ... "Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord; but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death" (Proverbs 8:34-36). I need Your wisdom, Lord. I need You, for You are "filled with wisdom" (Luke 2:40). You are Wisdom -- "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). To find You is to find Life. And to find You and the wisdom of Your ways, I must be willing to seek You -- daily watching at Your gates, daily waiting beside Your doors, giving my mind to Your thoughts and my heart to Your desires. As I do, You promise to give of Your wisdom to all who seek it from You, "generously and ungrudgingly," if we "ask in faith" (James 1:5-7). Lord, I do ask and I do seek. By Your grace, I choose to listen for Your leading, trusting that You are forming Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, a little more each day, as I watch and wait for You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare messages for my ministry trip at the end of August to Estonia (one of the three Baltic Republics northwest of Russia, who declared their independence from the former Soviet Union). By God's grace, I will be the keynote speaker, preaching and teaching messages on prayer and spiritual transformation at the ministers' conference for all the Methodist ministers' in the country. Thank You for you partnership with us in ministry at home and to the nations. Your prayers, support, and encouragement make this kind of ministry possible for us. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Always Watching, Always with Me 8-6-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me beside Your still waters. Restore my soul, and help to know You are my Good Shepherd, always watching and always with me. ... "The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all humankind. From where He sits enthroned He watches all the inhabitants of the earth -- He who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds" (Psalm 33:13-15). You are the all-seeing God. To You all hearts are known, all deeds exposed, all desires and motives revealed. You see the end from the beginning, the inside from the outside, and everything in between. But Your "all-seeing Eye" is not on the top of a pyramid or any other man-made structure -- contrary to the ancient occultic symbol found on dollar bills and in lodge halls of secret societies. You see from heaven's throne and everywhere the God of heaven touches. You see all, because You created all, and You are in all. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). Knowing that You are always watching, does it bring me peace or fear? I suppose the truth is, it brings both. Part of knowing the fear of the Lord is knowing that You are always with me, in the secret or in the open, in the silent thoughts within my head and in the public actions of my hands. You see it all. I'm not fooling You for a moment. But at the same time, part of knowing the peace of the Lord is knowing You never leave me and never forsake me. You fight for me in ways I can't fully see and love me in ways I can't fully know. So both the fear and the peace come with knowing You're always watching and always with me. "Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love" (Psalm 33:18). Thank You for Your watchful eye and Your loving heart. "Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You" (v. 33:22). You watch from where You sit enthroned (v. 33:14). Be enthroned in my heart from where You are always watching and always with me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare messages for my ministry trip at the end of August to Estonia (one of the three Baltic Republics northwest of Russia, who declared their independence from the former Soviet Union). By God's grace, I will be the keynote speaker, preaching and teaching messages on prayer and spiritual transformation at the ministers' conference for all the Methodist ministers' in the country. Thank You for you partnership with us in ministry at home and to the nations. Your prayers, support, and encouragement make this kind of ministry possible for us. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Believe, Obey, and Become 8-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes toward You and lay my life before You. ... "The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (John 3:35-36). How can I obey You unless I hear know Your words and hear Your voice. How can I know Your words unless I spend time reading them; and how can I know Your voice unless I spend time listening to it. In the seeking and the listening there grows a longing to know ever more deeply and fully the One to Whom I give such attention, such worship. As I long to become more like You, I grow in the desire to obey You, to follow You, to live my life for You. To truly believe You is to truly obey You, desiring to become more like You. We become like the One we worship (2 Corinthians 3:18). And this is life You offer all who will believe, eternal life -- mercy rather than wrath, intimacy rather than isolation, personal relationship with the One who holds my life and all things in His hands. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Honored by God 8-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I rest in You. Form Your thoughts and desires in me. ... "What are human beings that You are mindful of them, mortals that You care for them? Yet You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:4-5). Your love for us is astounding. Your perception of our value and significance is unbelievable. Yet, You want us to believe it, to know how You see us, how You have created us, how You have crowned us and honored us. If we could only see ourselves as You see us and see one another as You see them, our insecurities and jealousies, resentments and hatred would vanish in a moment. What if it really were as simple as loving You, loving each other as we love ourselves? That is what You said (Matthew 22:36-40). What if You really meant it and we really believed it? What if we really could be forgiven of every sin and restored in every relationship -- with You, with one another, within ourselves (1 John 1:9)? Through the calling and cleansing of Christ, we are "reconciled to God" and we have "become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). It all begins and ends with seeing You as You are and seeing ourselves and one another as You created us to be, with the value and significance You created us to have. Help me believe it, receive it, and live it. I honor You, my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Help me honor others today as You honor them, love them as You love them, and do the same with myself. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Love as Strong as Death 8-3-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You cleanse my sin and draw me in, You offer Your cup and fill me up, You lead the way as I watch and pray. ... "My beloved is mine and I am his" (Song of Solomon 2:16). Solomon's love story of the bride-to-be and coming groom speaks of the love story of Your bride and our Groom -- the yearning for intimacy, the aching and emptiness of perceived times apart, the seeking and searching for the fulfillment of embrace and union as one. Because You are Spirit and our union is a spiritual one, even the explicit language of this love story can awaken the longing of our souls for this level of love between our God and Your people, between You and I. Men and women alike can express and proclaim our love for You is as strong as death, our passion for You is as fierce as the grace (v. 8:6). Free me to seek You unashamed and unrestrained with passion and persistence. I am Yours and You are mine. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Apostolic Ministry of Matthias is Missing 8-2-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. It's very early this morning, but I can't sleep -- something is burning in my bones. So I rise and enter in to the holy place of prayer. Speak, Lord, for Your servant and Your son is listening. ... "Then they prayed and said, 'Lord, You know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.' And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:24-26). I've never heard anyone ever teach or preach on the ministry of the apostle Matthias. Maybe because his name is never mentioned again in Scripture after this verse. But there is something here we need to see for our day. The apostolic ministry of Matthias was necessary. Something was missing without him. It stuns me to see for the fist time a connection to the very next verse after Matthias was identified and added to his position of ministry through discernment and prayer: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place" (v. 2:1). Lord, this is a key to the Pentecostal power of Your church taking her place of authority and responsibility in the earth in our day. We are missing the apostolic ministry of Matthias. They are those who have labored among us "during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us," but we have not yet affirmed and embraced our need and their ministry (v. 1:21). We've not always known their names because they've not drawn attention to themselves, but to You alone. But You know their hearts (v. 1:24). And You know our need of their ministry for us to be the church You've created us and called us to be. We have such a tendency to "look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). Many are placed into positions of authority because of education, organizational credentials, and prayer-less presumption. And many essentially place themselves in positions of authority by self-promotion. Forgive us, Lord. Your church has suffered for our sin and the world has suffered for our failure to fully manifest the fullness of Your nature. We have failed to be the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, continuing the ministry of Christ, established in Your biblical order, submitted to Your heavenly will, and empowered by Your Holy Spirit to reveal Your nature as Your "ambassadors" for too many generations (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are not yet spiritually mature as the body of Christ. We are not yet experiencing the fullness of the Pentecostal power and the "greater works" You have longed to demonstrate through a generation desperate enough, humble enough, to be obedient enough so we can be empowered enough to be the hands and feet, heart and soul of the body of Christ on earth You have destined us to be (John 14:12). And part of our immaturity is that we have not set our hearts to seek Your face in prayer for those who are missing in the ministry of gifts and positions of Biblical order, responsibility, and authority of Your church: "The gifts He gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children ... we must grow up in every way into Him Who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-15). Lord, call us to prayer to seek to understand what is missing and identify who is missing. Show us where we have failed to recognize our need and Your gifts of all the positions and callings of spiritual leadership. Forgive us for trying to make pastors be apostles and make apostles be pastors because we don’t' yet fully understand Your biblical order. Call out and raise up all the ministries of Your Spirit and Your body, including the apostolic ministry of Matthias. Appoint and anoint those who have the whole-hearted humility and single-minded devotion to be the nameless, faceless, fearless spiritual leaders of our day. When the gifts of Your grace and positions of Your authority are in place, the day of our Pentecost and Your power will come into and flow out of Your church to manifest the fullness and maturity of Your nature in the ways the world is literally dying to see. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/

Remnant of the Faithful 8-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You and trust You, now I watch for You and wait for You as I start my day with You. ... "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:3-4). Give me courage to stand firm in the faith, to be found faithful as one who seeks to trust You and obey You as best as I can and all by Your grace. Though at times my sin and my self-centeredness have driven me far from the shelter of Your protection and provision, You are the Good Shepherd who comes after me to draw me back. As the pressures of the world, the flesh, and devil increase in their pull and influence even among those of Your fold, I ask You to hold on to me, to keep coming after me, to keep convicting me, to never let me go. When I am afraid or dismayed, when I feel lost or alone, keep reminding me of home -- my home in Your heart as I welcome You to make Your home in my heart. I want to be among the remnant of Your faithful. "So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace" (Romans 11:5). You choose all who have chosen You by the grace of Your love for us all, "not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). By Your grace, help me be among those who turn to You in trusting faith to keep drawing me home and holding me close. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com