Morning by Morning, July 22 - The Spirit of Jesus in Me

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...

"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God" (1 John 4:13-15). 

Jesus, You are the Son of God. You are "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). You are "the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being" (Hebrews 1:3). "For in (You) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through (You) God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of (Your) cross" (Colossians 1:19-20).

As I confess who You are and embrace Your Spirit and Your authority in my life, You form Your nature in my heart (1 Peter 3:15). "The Spirit of Christ" abides in me and I abide in You (Romans 8:9). Along with everyone who calls on Your name and confesses You as Lord, I "have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with (Your) blood. May grace and peace be (mine) in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2).

Dear Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of man -- both in the nature of God and in the nature of man -- let Your Spirit abide in me today. By the grace of God, I embrace "the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:19). "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Make me more like You today (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray the Spirit of Jesus will abide in you and make you more like Him today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 21 - Joy is Powerful and Contagious

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name and listen for Your leading in my morning communion of prayer, You embrace me and center me and fill me afresh with Your Spirit.  ...

"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.' The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced!" (Psalm 126:1-3)

Joy is powerful and contagious. Laughter is good medicine for the soul (Proverbs 17:22). "For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). And You want to fill us with Your joy that "(our) joy may be complete" (John 15:11).

Fill me afresh with Your joy today, Lord Jesus. Father, restore unto me the joy of my salvation and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:12). Come, Holy Spirit. Let my eyes dance with the joy of the Lord and my heart sing the praises of my God. Let "the joy of the Lord" be my strength throughout the moments of my day (Nehemiah 8:10).

Joy is powerful and joy is contagious. Authentic joy, overflowing from a heart filled with Your Spirit has the power to change the spiritual atmosphere of any place on this earth. For Your kingdom is in us and Your joy is us and "the One who is in (us) is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). So may Your joy be released through my spirit everywhere You send me today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray you will be filled afresh with the powerful and contagious joy of the Lord, changing the spiritual atmosphere everywhere the Holy Spirit sends you today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 20 - "Hold on to Me"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your words of spirit and life wash over me, as I seek Your face and listen for Your voice, here in these first moments of my morning.  ...

It seems I hear You say in my heart, "Hold on to Me."  ...

Yes, Lord. By the power of the grace of God, I will hold on to You. Thank You for holding on to me. You never let me go, and I don't want to ever let You go. I can take You by the hand because You've taken me by the heart. Where You go, I will go; where You lead, I will follow -- as best as I can and all by Your grace.  ...

"Come along on the adventure I have for you today. Do not worry. Be anxious for nothing. Fear not. For I am with you. My Spirit is within you. Trust in Me. Rest in Me. Come follow Me."

Yes, Lord. We are to pursue You and Your plans and purposes for our lives every day (Matthew 6:33). We are to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness," as we "fight the good fight of the faith (and) take hold of the eternal life, to which (we) were called" (1 Timothy 6:11-12). "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23).

Kind of like a kid taking hold of a rope to swing from a tree out over the river, the longer we hold on, the further we'll go. And the bigger the splash and the more fun we'll have. I want to hold on to the end and go as far as I can. I don't ever want to miss out on anything You have for me in these adventures of my days holding on to You. By the grace of God, I'm ready to swing far today! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray you will hold on to Jesus through every adventure He has for you today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

 Have fun today on your adventure with Jesus!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 17 - Shouts of Joy!

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my heart and listen with my spirit for the word of the Lord for me today.  ...

"By awesome deeds You answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; You are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. By Your strength You established the mountains; You are girded with might. You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by Your signs; You make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy" (Psalm 65:5-8).

Every morning You open the gateways of heaven and invite me to open the gateway of my heart. Then You move mightily in the midst of every moment of my day -- sometimes in powerful display of great deliverance and awesome deeds of power, but most of the time in Your still, small voice and in ways I'll never know until I stand in the fullness of Your Presence one day. 

And as I look back on the goodness of the God of my salvation, as I see the ways You've established me in the strength of Your steadfast love and girded me in the power of Your grace, even in the face of the roaring of the seas and the tumult of the peoples, my heart is filled with shouts of joy! "With shouts of joy, I will sing and make melody to the Lord" (Psalm 27:6). 

"'Come,' my heart says, 'seek His face!' Your face, Lord, do I seek" (Psalm 27:8). Every day, as I seek Your face and acknowledge Your grace, You "restore to me the joy of (my) salvation" (Psalm 51:12). Praise Your holy name! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

May shouts of joy spring up from your spirit as you seek the face of God and acknowledge the power of His grace and love in every moment of your day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, Thank You so much for your prayers for us last night for our Prayer Ministry Training at the Fredericksburg, Texas campus of Oak Hills Church in our strategic partnership between Oak Hills Church and Rapha God Ministries. We experienced great joy in the teaching and in the prayer ministry sessions, putting into practice what we were teaching. Praise God! I pray the Holy Spirit will train, equip, and anoint you for your calling in ministry. God bless you!

We're excited to be offering our training now by DVD and my book Free to Be Like Jesus, available through our ministry. Thanks for joining me in the journey of prayer and joy!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 16 - Unveiled in the Glory Christ

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start this day and every day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

"Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?  ... Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. ... And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this come from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:7-18).

Under the old covenant, Moses was allowed to see Your glory and his face reflected the glory of the Lord he had seen. But now all of the law and the prophets of the old covenant are fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17). And now Christ is in us -- "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). 

With the eyes of our hearts opened, we not only behold Your glory, we experience Your glory abiding in us by "the Spirit of Christ," the Spirit of the Living God living in us (Romans 8:9). Your glory is Your manifest Presence. And as we look to You and welcome You to look into us, as we abide in You and welcome You to abide within us, You are changing us into Your image. Our faces and our hearts are unveiled. And the glory of the Lord does not diminish but only increase, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

In fulfillment of the law and the prophets, of all the promises of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we "Arise, shine; for (our) Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon (us)!" (Isaiah 60:1)  Come, Holy Spirit. Let the glory of the Lord arise upon me, let the Light of Christ shine through me, as You make me more like Jesus today (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

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

May you be behold the Lord and abide in Him, as He changes You into His image and displays His glory through your life today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, please keep us in prayer as we travel to the Fredericksburg, Texas campus of Oak Hills Church tonight to continue our Level 2 School of Ministry training for inner healing prayer ministry in our strategic partnership between Oak Hills Church and Rapha God Ministries. I pray the Holy Spirit will train, equip, and anoint you for your calling in ministry. God bless you!

We're excited to be offering our training now by DVD and my book Free to Be Like Jesus, available through our ministry.

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 15 - Jesus, Lord of My Heart and Lord of All

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and every moment of my day. ...

"Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence" (1 Peter 3:13-16).

Jesus, I sanctify You as Lord in my heart. Rule and reign in my thoughts and desires. Give me courage to withstand any fear or intimidation that would challenge my faith or weaken my witness. I want to be "found trustworthy" and faithful to end, for it is not the governments of men or the conscience of culture but "the Lord who judges me" (1 Corinthians 4:2-4).

Empower me to know and to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Give me the right heart and the right spirit, as You give me more of Your heart and Your Spirit every day. With gentleness and reverence, give me the words to speak and the hope to express that reveals the power of Your love and Your grace at work in my life. 

Make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29). And by the power of the grace of God, I'll never be afraid and never be ashamed to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of my life and Lord of all (Romans 1:16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

May you be found trustworthy and faithful, sanctifying Jesus Christ as Lord of your heart every day in the power of the Spirit to the glory of the Father, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

A Note for New Friends to My Daily Devotional:

Friends, for many years, I've begun my morning prayers with the simple phrase, "Good morning, Lord Jesus." My spirit comes to attention and I speak out a few words to direct my heart and my thoughts to the Lord alone, as best as I can. Then I type " ... " to wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit to bring a Scripture or image or word to mind so that I can pray according to the leading of the Lord for me or those He wants to touch through me by these simple prayers each day. Then I write a simple prayer for you at the end, asking you to pray it for me as well, and send it out. I write these in the morning because that's how I try to start my day -- embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Thank you for joining with me on this journey. Please forward these on as you are led to encourage someone else. God bless you!

 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 14 - "The Communion of the Holy Spirit"

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

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you" (2 Corinthians 13:13).

Lord, out of Your grace and Your love, help me learn to live more deeply in the communion of Your Spirit. Help me truly trust You to be alive and at work within me, to guide me and empower me in the ways that lead to life throughout the moments of my day. "For it is God who is at work in (me), enabling (me) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

So come, Holy Spirit. You are welcome in this place; You are welcome within me. Come commune with me, come fellowship with me. Come be at work within me to will what is right and to do what is right, by the power of Your grace and Your love at work within me, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray you will deeply surrender and abide in the communion of the Holy Spirit through the grace and love of God, allowing the Lord to empower You from the inside out to will what is right and to do what is right, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

A Note for New Friends to My Daily Devotional:

Friends, for many years, I've begun my morning prayers with the simple phrase, "Good morning, Lord Jesus." My spirit comes to attention and I speak out a few words to direct my heart and my thoughts to the Lord alone, as best as I can. Then I type " ... " to wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit to bring a Scripture or image or word to mind so that I can pray according to the leading of the Lord for me or those He wants to touch through me by these simple prayers each day. Then I write a simple prayer for you at the end, asking you to pray it for me as well, and send it out. I write these in the morning because that's how I try to start my day -- embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Thank you for joining with me on this journey. Please forward these on as you are led to encourage someone else. God bless you!

 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 13 - "Relentless Love"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look up and listen in for the leading of Your Spirit, as begin my day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

"What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.... So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:26-40).

When we come together in the freedom of Your Spirit, our hearts are strangely warmed, the flames of our passion for You are rekindled and set ablaze, and we are filled to overflowing with Your relentless love! Spiritual gifts flow; spirits and souls and bodies are healed; chains of bondage are broken; and lives are forever changed by the power of the name of Jesus, as we drinking deeply from Your wells of Living Water in the manifest Presence of God.

That's what my sons and I experienced last week at the Aldersgate 2015 National Conference on Spirit Filled Living, held in Lexington, Kentucky this year. Every moment and memory, every experience and encounter, was saturated in an indescribable atmosphere of Your "Relentless Love" -- the spiritual theme that ran like a mighty rushing river through every teaching, message, worship, and prayer. I was excited to share messages and ministry on inner healing and deliverance during the equipping sessions, but I was just as excited to sit back, to kneel down, to rise up and receive the unrelenting abundance of Your love and extravagant outpouring of Your grace. This conference is always a highlight of my year every time I go, and what a joy to share it with my sons. Thank You, Jesus!

At a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London on May 24, 1738, John Wesley said, "I felt my heart strangely warmed." No doubt he was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered with a passion for Jesus at a depth of surrender and love he had never known before. One of the greatest revivals of history erupted in spiritual awakening that day, as the flames rekindled in one preacher's heart spread began to turn the world upside down.

That's my hope today. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been giving to us" (Romans 5:5). Come, Holy Spirit! Fill me afresh today and every day. Baptize me, saturate me, immerse me, in the fullness of Your Spirit and the power of Your love that sets my heart ablaze with a passion for Jesus to turn my world upside down to the glory of God! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray your heart will be strangely warmed as you are filled afresh with the Holy Spirit in the relentless love of God and extravagance of His grace today and every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Friends, God bless you and Thank You for all your prayers for me in ministry at the Aldersgate Conference last week. We had a powerful time. I already heard some testimonies of healing from my equipping sessions Freedom from Addictions and Emotional Roots of Illness. And I was excite to share my new updated book Free To Be Like Jesus and the new release of the DVDs for our Rapha God School of Ministries' Prayer Ministry Training, now available from our ministry.

Please register early and come join us for Aldersgate 2016 next summer! http://aldersgateconference.org  God bless you!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 2 - Glorious Power, Glorious Inheritance

Good morning, Lord Jesus.  As best as I can and all by Your grace, I entrust my life and this day to You. Have Your own way in me and through me today. ...

"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. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:11-14).

You strengthen me with Your power and You prepare me with Your wisdom. You encourage me with Your faithfulness and You amaze me with Your grace. You deliver me with Your light and You forgive me with Your mercy. You love me with Your heart and You fill me with Your Spirit.

You are my Father; and through Jesus, my Savior, I am a son of God, sharing in the inheritance of the kingdom of Christ. "For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross" (v. 1:19-20).

Come, Holy Spirit. By Your glorious power, empower me to live into my glorious inheritance today. I never earned it; I never deserved it. But by the power of the grace of God, it is forever mine and I'm thankful for it. Embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit each day, may I "continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that (I) heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven" (v. 1:23). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

May you live into the fullness of your glorious inheritance in the glorious power of God today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, July 1 - "For Him"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start my day right -- letting You set my heart right. I want to start this day and every day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit.  ...

"For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that One has died for all; therefore all have died. And He died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

Lord, can I sincerely say in my heart that I'm living my life for You? Or is the truth that I'm living my life for myself? ...

Ouch. ... I'm not sure I like to think about that question. But I suspect, in all honesty, that the answer is it's a little of both, some days more than others, some days less than others. But as much as I seek You and love You and thank You for all You've done in me and for me, most days I think I'd have to admit I'm still a long way off from being able to say with the Apostle Paul that I "live to God," that "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is not longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:19-20).

So come, Holy Spirit. Would You move in my heart to give me a heart like that? Crucify my flesh so that "the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who love me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Deliver me from the sin and the spirit of pride that tries to consume me with self-centeredness and selfishness until my life is all about me (Matthew 6:13; James 4:7). Be at work within me to enable me and empower me to both will what is right and to what is right because You've set things right deep down in my heart (Philippians 2:13). 

Give me the desire and the power to live my life "for Him" -- for the One who saved me and raised me, who healed me and freed me, to live my life for the glory of God instead of glory in my flesh. Lord Jesus, when it's all been said and done, I want to be able to say I lived my life for You, that I lived my life worthy of You -- as best as I could and all by the power of Your grace (Colossians 1:10). You died for me; I want to live for You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

 

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

I pray the Holy Spirit will continue to give you the desire and the power to live your life for Christ, to the glory of God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

(From a Day of Baptisms in the Upper Waters of the Jordan River in Israel)

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, June 30 - "United in the Same Mind and the Same Purpose"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and listen for Your voice  --Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

"He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by Him you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose" (1 Corinthians 1:8-10).

As we seek the mind of Christ and remember the purpose of our calling, we are united and strengthened to the end. Together in the fellowship of Christ, we are one in the Spirit and one in the Lord. "For in the one Spirit we are all baptized into the one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).

So come, Holy Spirit. Stir in the heart of every believer in the body of Christ to seek the mind of Christ and remember our purpose in Christ. Put the thoughts Christ in our minds and the desires of Christ in our hearts until "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). Then we can truly be Your "ambassadors for Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

You didn't call us and send us to go and make disciples of the world, but to go into the world and make disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:19). By the power of the grace of God at work within each one of us who are called by Your name, unite us together with that "same mind and same purpose" (1 Corinthians 1:10). This is our identity and this is our destiny -- conformed to the image of Christ and continuing the ministry of Christ to a broken, fallen world desperately in need of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. "For the love of Christ urges us on ... so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

May the Holy Spirit stir in you to give you the thoughts of Christ in your mind and the desires of Christ in your heart, together with all the body of Christ as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, June 29 - Our Cornerstone and Plumb Line in the Midst of Change

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I begin my day in the communion of prayer, help me hear Your heart and follow the leading of Your Spirit.  ...

"Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:  'Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness..." (Isaiah 28:16-17 NLT).

Though cultures may change, You never do. Though our opinions may waiver, Your Word never does. You are our cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). Your righteousness is our plumb line (Amos 7:7-9). You are "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

And while You never change, You've created us to change -- to change every day, from the inside out, to be more like You -- not more like our culture, more like You (Luke 6:40; Romans 8:29 and 12:1-2). As we look to You as our standard, You change us into Your image (2 Corinthians 3:18). And Your image is the perfect balance of both truth and love (John 14:6; 1 John 4:8).

Teach us how to speak the truth in love and to live the truth in love, as You change us and mature us into the image of Christ in the midst of our culture (Ephesians 4:15). Give us the courage to align our lives with the cornerstone and the plumb line of Your authority, Your will, and Your ways, no matter what goes on in the world around us -- "holding fast to the word of life" and letting the love of God hold fast to our hearts (Philippians 2:14-16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

May the Holy Spirit empower you to hold fast to the word of life, speaking and living the truth in love, with Christ as your cornerstone and plumb line, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, June 26 - Live Like It's True

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Go before me, go with me, go within me throughout every moment of my day.  ...

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age' " (Matthew 28:18-20).

What if I were to live my life as if these words of Yours were true? What if I really believed that You are with me always? What if I didn't doubt that the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth is at my side and even within my heart? ...

These words are either true or they're not. You intend me to live my life like this everyday or not at all. And all of this is either pretty words of poetic expression to inspire my imagination in a fairytale fantasy or its intended to be at the center of my understanding of the normal Christian life.

Give me the grace to believe it's true; give me grace to live like it's true -- that You are who You say You are, that You do what You say You'll do, that the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth is with me always. ...

Yes, Lord Jesus. I believe You are the One who is forever "Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:10). I believe Your words are "spirit and life" (John 6:63). So empower me by Your Spirit within me to live my life this day and every day into the truth of Your faithful words (Romans 8:11). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

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

May the Holy Spirit empower you to believe and to live out the faithful words of Jesus Christ that He is with you always in every moment of every day of your life, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

  

Friends, I'm excited my updated book Free to Be Like Jesus is now published and available through our ministry. I'm so grateful for these books endorsements by trusted Christian leaders Max Lucado, Andy Reese, and Randy Clark:

"Tommy Hays has spent a lifetime studying the place of prayer in inner healing. I have personally benefitted from his teaching, writing and encouragement. This book gathers a wealth of helpful insights and experiences into one volume. I am honored to have it on my shelf and honored to call Tommy my friend."

Max Lucado

"Tommy Hays combines a lawyer's keen logic with a spiritual intuition to bring inner healing to a practical, effective and applied level. His proven techniques have been used in hundreds of ministry settings and can serve as simple yet profound tools in the hands of even the novice minister."

Andy Reese

"Free to Be Like Jesus will take you on a journey to learn more about the inner healing ministry. This book has many foundational spiritual truths and will help you if you want more healing in your own life, or if you want more tools to assist you in your inner healing ministry."

Randy Clark

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, June 25 - Boundaries of Grace and Obedience

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Cleanse me, heal me, free me, transform me and empower me from the inside out, as I open my heart wide to Your Spirit, here in these first thoughts and words of my day.  ...

"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. I have said these things to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.... You are My friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:8-14).

According to Your Word, there is a bond between love and obedience, that abiding in Your love also means obeying You in love, that friendship with God, also includes submission to God. And You want us to learn the boundaries of this bond and live in the tension of both grace and obedience so that our joy may be complete.

A powerful river flowing freely is very beautiful but also very destructive if it overflows its banks. And the free grace of God in Jesus Christ is very beautiful but also very destructive if we try we try to live in grace without the boundaries of obedience. Sadly, Ananias and Sapphira made themselves our eternal examples of the personal destruction that overflows from a heart that tries to receive the blessings of the grace of God without also choosing to live in obedience to God. The rivers of grace outside the boundaries of obedience can cost us our lives and our witness (Acts 5:1-11).

Help me learn to live in the tension of grace and obedience, both abiding in Your love and also obeying Your command to love. Let my joy be complete, as I learn to live completely submitted to You as a disciple of Christ and a friend of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

May your joy be complete as the Spirit of Christ at work in your heart empowers you to live and love, fully abiding in the grace of God within the boundaries of obedience, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

Friends, please keep us in prayer as we continue our Level 2 School of Ministry tonight in Fredericksburg, Texas through our ministry partnership between Rapha God Ministries and the Fredericksburg Campus of Oak Hills Church to equip their prayer team for inner healing prayer ministry. God bless you and the ministry of God through you!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, June 24 - "Repay" or "Reset"?

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and every moment of my day to make me more like You today.  ...

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will He keep His anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:8-12).

We tend to think You're determined in Your judgment to repay us for our sins, but the truth is You're steadfast in Your mercy to reset our souls. Your Word says You do not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities (v. 10). So why do we say things like, "God forgives your sin, but you'll still have to suffer the consequences"? Your Word says Your mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:3). So why do we say things like, "You've had your chances, now suffer the consequences; you've made your bed, now lie in it"?

We have much to learn about mercy and grace. We have much to learn about the steadfast love of the Lord. We still don't get it about just how far the east is from the west. We still insist upon "repay" instead of "reset" when You've already paid it all. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by His wounds (we) have been healed. For (we) were going astray like sheep, but now (we) have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of (our) souls" (2 Peter 2:24 fulfilling Isaiah 53:4-6).

By the mercy and grace of God, I choose Your "reset" instead insisting on "repay." Give me Your heart of steadfast love -- toward myself and everyone else. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray you will embrace God's reset for your soul instead of trying to repay and live out the consequences of your past apart from the fullness of His mercy and grace for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, June 23 - Hearing and Healing

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name, my spirit comes to attention to listen for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, here in the embrace of my Father.  ...

"(Moses) said, 'If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give heed to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you'" (Exodus 15:26).

You are a healing God. And at the same time, You call us to be a hearing people. When we're willing to listen for Your voice and obey Your ways, we're bringing our lives into alignment with Your spiritual principles and under the hand of Your divine protection. Your heart is that we would hear and be whole. 

In the healing ministry of Jesus, revealing the heart of the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit, You physically came "to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, 'He took our infirmities and bore our diseases'" (Matthew 8:17, fulfilling Isaiah 53:4-6). You want us to hear because You want us to heal. You want us to bring our lives into alignment with all You have already done for us in Christ. "Upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

You are Jehovah Rapha -- the God who heals (Exodus 15:26). And though we endure much in this broken, fallen world because sickness and death entered this world through sin many thousands of generations ago, You long to set us free and make us whole through "the abundance of grace" we have in Christ (Romans 5:12-17). So empower us by Your Spirit to align ourselves with life, to seek to hear Your voice and be whole, to embrace Your ways and be healed -- as best as we can and all by Your grace.

Sometimes healing comes in the miracle of moment, sometimes in the grace to persevere until the Kingdom of God has fully come on earth as it is in heaven, as You taught us to pray, and sometimes in the healing of the resurrection when we finally stand completely whole and forever free in Your Presence (Matthew 6:10). But You invite us to align our will with Your will (Matthew 8:3). You invite us to align our hearts with Your heart for us -- with the heart of Jehovah Rapha -- the God who heals (Exodus 15:26; Palm 103:3; Psalm 107:20; James 5:16; and many more). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

I pray you will seek to listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, embracing His grace for hearing and healing, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, I'm available for spiritual retreats, revivals, conferences, and ministry engagements through Messiah Ministries at home and abroad, especially on topics of spiritual maturity and transformation, inner healing prayer ministry, and spiritual authority in Christ-- ministering the healing love of God and preparing the way of the Lord. I'm excited to be speaking again in the teaching and equipping sessions this summer at the Aldersgate 2015 National Conference on Spirit Filled Living hosted this year in Lexington, Kentucky. Please come join us July 9-12, 2015 www.aldersgate2015.org God bless you!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!