Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 25 - The Spirit of Christ in Me
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You said You'd always be with me, and I praise You that You always are (Matthew 28:20).  ...
 
"Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I Am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).
 
Lord Jesus, You are my Vine. I am one of Your branches. You abide in me and I abide in You. "In (You, I) live and move and have (my) being," and I welcome You to live and move and have Your Being in me (Acts 17:26). "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
 
Thank You for the promise of Your Spirit to always abide within me, to always lead and guide me, to make me more like You each day. As You said before Your crucifixion and resurrection, "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:18-20).
 
The Same Spirit that flows in You is the same Spirit that flows in me -- the Holy Spirit of the Living God (Romans 8:11). This is Your Spirit -- "the Spirit of God" (Romans 8:9), "the Spirit of Truth" (John 16:13), "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9), "the Spirit of Jesus" (Acts 16:7). This is "the Promise of the Father" Who comes to abide within me and empower me to be Your witness in my world (Acts 1:4-8).
 
Thank You for the promise of Your Word and the fulfillment of Your prayer from Your heart as You walked this earth as the Son of Man in the likeness of human flesh and blood:  "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one. As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given them, so that they may be one, as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me" (John 17:20-23).
 
So, Lord Jesus, I welcome You into my heart as I welcome Your Spirit into every dimension of my life. You in me and I in You (John 14:20; John 17:23). "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" -- Your glory arising upon me and Your glory shining through me because Your Spirit abides within me (Colossians 1:27). In the power of Your grace each day, may I "arise (and) shine, for (my) Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon (me)," because the glory of the manifest presence of Christ is within me! (Isaiah 60:1, fulfilled in John 17:22) In Jesus' name I pray. 

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


May the Spirit of Christ abide with in you and shine through you everywhere in your world our Father sends you in the authority of the name of Jesus and the power and presence of His Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Monday, April 24, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 24 - From the Frist Five Hundred to the Final Harvest
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today.  ...
 
"For I handed on to you as of first importance what I had received:  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:3-10).
 
Like Paul, "I am what I am." But You've appeared to me in Your resurrected power and glory in so many ways, so many times to forgive me, to heal me, to free me and empower me to be all You created me to be -- despite who I am and what I've done. Like the first five hundred, I'm also a witness to Your resurrection. I'm a witness to the One Who is alive and Who lives in me.
 
From the first five hundred to the final harvest of all who will experience Your love, Your power, and Your presence, we are forever changed (Matthew 13:39). And we're created to forever experience the ever-abiding presence of our Savior, so that we "might live for the praise of (Your) glory" (Ephesians 1:12). "In (You, we) also, when (we) heard the word of truth, the gospel of (our) salvation, and believed in (You), were marked with the seal of (Your) promised Holy Spirit; that is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Let me live my life today to the praise of the glory of God, as one who has encountered the living Christ, living in me. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


May you live your life today to the praise of the glory of God our Father, ever-encountering Jesus, and filled with His Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, April 21, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 21 - Encountering Emmanuel on Our Walk to Emmaus
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Rule and reign as King of my heart and Lord of my life today.  ...
 
"Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.... Then He said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things about Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:13-27).
 
"All the Scriptures" speak of You. "All the prophets" point to You. You are "the Word (that) became flesh and lived among us ... full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Lord, open my eyes to see You in every word of the Word of God. Just as You opened the eyes of Your disciples in the breaking the bread, open the eyes of my heart to recognize You in the breaking of the Bread of Your Word with me (Luke 24:31). You are the "Bread of Life" (John 6:35). You are "Emmanuel ... God with us" (Matthew 1:23).
 
Let my heart burn within me, as You speak to my spirit and walk with me on the path of the journey of faith You've set before me each day  (Luke 24:32). Like those two disciples whose eyes and hearts were opened to know and embrace their Emmanuel on their walk to Emmaus, let me boldly proclaim from the confidence of my daily encounters with You that "the Lord has risen indeed!" -- here in my heart and here in our world (Luke 24:34). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you encounter the abiding presence of our Emmanuel on your walk to Emmaus every day in journey of faith, grounded in His Word and filled with His Spirit, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Thursday, April 20, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 20 - Deeper "Communion of the Holy Spirit"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Lead me and align me with Your Word and Your Spirit 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, help me embrace a deeper communion of Your Holy Spirit. How do I do that?  ...
 
It seems I hear You saying, "Know that I desire to commune with you and every one of My children even more than you desire to commune with Me. Open your heart to Me by trusting Me. Open your spirit to Me by welcoming My Spirit to abide in your spirit, conforming your nature to My nature. Allow Me to put My thoughts in your mind, My desires in your heart, so that My will becomes your will and My ways become your ways. This is how you allow Me to conform you into the image of the Son of God. The more you allow yourself to hunger and thirst for this, the more deeply My Holy Spirit abides in your spirit."
 
Yes, Lord. That's what I desire. Give me a deeper desire still. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 4:6). Let me be filled afresh and filled more deeply with Your Holy Spirit today, as Your Word encourages us to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). 
 
"Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). Unite me in deeper communion with You, Lord. In the power of Your grace, may I become one spirit with You. On the one hand, it's done already and always, because I am in Christ and Christ is in me (2 Corinthians 5:21). And at the same time, on the other hand, it's a daily journey as I "press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). 
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Come bring me into deeper communion with You today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the Living God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you experience a deeper communion of the Holy Spirit today and every day on your journey with our Father to press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 19 - Trusting Love
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Vine and I am one of Your branches. I want to abide in You and welcome You to abide in me, as I begin my morning seeking You in the communion of prayer (John 15:5). ...
 
"Those who love Me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know My name. When they call to Me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them My salvation" (Psalm 91:14-16).
 
I love You, Lord. Help me love You more. I trust You, Lord. Help me trust You more. Help me know in my heart You are with me in Spirit  -- fighting for me in ways I don't always see, moving on my behalf in ways I don't always know. 
 
You deliver me and protect me; You speak to me and respond to me; You honor me and satisfy me. All in Your way and all in Your time, You show me the fullness of Your salvation and the power of Your love. You are forever "My Refuge and my Fortress; my God, in whom I trust" (Psalm 91:2). You are the God I trust and the God I love because You first loved me (1 John 4:19). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you grow in the trusting love of the Lord our God every day, confident in His abiding presence and the fullness of His salvation 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
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 18 - Living "The Resurrected Life"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak Your name and listen for Your voice, for Your sheep hear Your voice and do not follow another (John 10:3-5).  ...
 
As I listen, it seems I hear You saying, "Arise and follow Me. I Am the Resurrected One and I Am the Resurrecting One. I raise you up to follow Me in resurrected life."  ...
 
Yes, Lord. As You said, "I Am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" (John 11:25).
 
Lord Jesus, what is this "resurrected life" You're calling me to live?  ...
 
It seems I hear You saying, "Your resurrected life is the life you live in Me -- where you daily choose to die to your will that's apart from My will and your ways that are apart from My ways, allowing Me to form My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart, so you can arise and follow Me in newness of life."  ...
 
Yes, Lord. Give me the desire and the power to arise and follow You in this newness of life, in the resurrected life You have for me today. "Therefore we have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His" (Romans 6:4-5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you will be empowered by the grace of God to arise and follow Jesus in newness of life to live out your resurrected life in 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
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Monday, April 17, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 17 - Forever "Amazed" at the Victory of the Cross and the Power of the Resurrection
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm ready for my journey with You today  -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...
 
"But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he aw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home amazed at what had happened" (Luke 24:12).
 
Lord, let the wonder of Your resurrection continue to amaze me. Let me never take it for granted and let it never become routine. You conquered the grave! (Matthew 28:6) You defeated hell! (1 Peter 3:18-20) You have triumphed over the hordes of hell and the hosts of evil "to destroy the works of the devil!" (1 John 3:8). You have "rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of (God's) beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins!" (Colossians 1:10) Through the victory of Your cross and the power of Your resurrection "Death has been swallowed up in victory!" (1 Corinthians 15:54)
 
And now the same power that raised You from the dead lives in us (Romans 8:11). "When (we) were buried with (You) in baptism, (we) were also raised with (You) through faith in the power of God, who raised (You) from the dead. And when we were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of (our) flesh, God made (us) alive together with (You), when He forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. (You) disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:12-15).
 
I stand amazed in Your presence. And may I be forever amazed at the power of Your glory and the eternal impact of Your resurrection. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will be forever amazed at the victory of the cross and the power of the resurrection and forever changed by it's eternal impact on your life and through your life into your world every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Sunday, April 16, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 16 - Christ Alive and Arise in Me!
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I celebrate You're resurrection and mine!  ...
 
"Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guard shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said!'" (Matthew 28:1-6 NKJV)
 
The tomb is empty and my heart is full.
You are risen and so is my soul.
You are alive and so am I.
You live forever and so will I.
Christ, our Lord, has risen today.
Christ, my Lord, arise in me every day!
 
Just as You said, "I Am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" (John 11:25-26). Christ alive! Christ arise! Christ, my Lord, come alive and arise in me every day! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray Christ will come alive and arise in you today and every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, April 14, 2017

Morning by Morning, April 14 - "Good" Friday -- Through Rejection to Rejoicing
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Crucified, dead, and buried, raised from the dead and forever reigning at the right hand of my Father, You are the Lamb of God who took away my sins and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who defeated my spiritual foes. You are the "the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" (Revelation 4:8) Come into my heart and every moment of my day.  ...
 
"As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and the scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.... and after flogging Jesus, (Pilate) handed Him over to be crucified.... Then the soldiers led Him into the courtyard of the palace.... And they clothed Him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on Him.... They struck His head with a reed, spat upon Him, and knelt down in homage to Him. After mocking Him, they stripped Him of the purple cloak and put His own cloths on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.... It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified Him.... Those who passed by derided Him, shaking their heads and saying, 'Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!' In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking Him among themselves and saying, 'He saved others; He cannot save Himself.' Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.' Those who were crucified with Him also taunted Him. When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?'... Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was God's Son!'" (Mark 15:1-39)
 
This is the day we call "Good Friday" -- "Good" because the Good Shepherd of our souls laid down Your life for Your sheep, "Good" because every prophetic act of the slaying of the Passover lamb since the days of Moses until that day was fulfilled in the Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, "Good" because the One who knew no sin became sin for us, "Good" because "in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself," and "Good" because You humbled Yourself in the likeness of human flesh and blood to be willingly crucified for us that "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" (John 10:11; Philippians 2:5-11; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:20).
 
As I read through this passage of Your Word this year, I'm especially struck by the depths of utter rejection You suffered for me -- from the religious and self-righteous, from the soldiers and sinners, from the powerful and prideful, even from what felt like Your Father in that moment that we can't begin to understand, when You took upon Yourself all my sins and all the sins of the world on our behalf, as the sinless, suffering servant of God and eternal Son of God.
 
In that moment of deepest rejection, You eternally fulfilled the prophecies and promises of God for our salvation:  "He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.... By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.... He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:3-12 NKJV).
 
You bore all rejection, so that I would be forever accepted. You were willing to feel forsaken, so that I would be forever embraced. You were willing to bear all my sins and all that would ever separate me from the love of God, so that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, (would) be able to separate (me) from the love of God in Christ Jesus (my) Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). 
 
Your rejection was my redemption. And in my redemption, I rejoice in You. Though it pains me to read and remember all You endured for me, it also brings me great joy to know You took great joy in offering Your life for me upon that cross:  "for the sake of the joy that was set before (You), (You) endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and (have) taken (Your) seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). That's the only reason why we can call this day "Good." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you are filled with rejoicing as You remember and embrace all God has done for you through the willing rejection of Jesus our Lord as the Passover Lamb of God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

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