Morning by Morning, July 21 - Breaking Our Chains, Setting Us Free!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be exalted in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"'For in that day,' says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, 'I will break the yoke from their necks and snap their chains. Foreigners will no longer be their masters. For My people will serve the Lord their God and their King descended from David -- the King I will raise up for them'" (Jeremiah 30:8-9, NLT).
I've just come home from ministry at the national conference of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, where I was teaching equipping sessions on prayer ministry for emotional healing and physical healing. The conference is open to all but it's primarily part of the spiritual renewal movement within the United Methodist Church, filled with Methodists who are spiritually hungry to encounter God and to grow in their experience with the Holy Spirit, as they passionately pursue Jesus in an atmosphere of freedom, grace and love. I try to go every year I can. And I'm never disappointed!
During one of the worship gatherings the Lord gave me a prophetic vision to share with the body: I saw a giant chain, with giant links of chain stretched tightly. In the center, a man stood in the place of one of the links. His arms were stretched out, forming part of the chain, holding one link of the chain in his left hand and another one in his right. It was as if he was trying to hold the chain together with all of his strength as the chain was being stretched. Suddenly, he let go of both links of the chain and lifted his hands in praise.
The Lord said to us, "I have been stretching you. Will you let Me break you? Will you let go of your control and praise Me? I am breaking your chains."
As we worshipped, as we hungered and thirsted and passionately pursued more of God with reckless abandon to embrace our Father's love, our chains fell off. Our hearts filled up. Our spirits went free. "For freedom Christ has set us free! (By the power of the grace of God, we will) stand firm, therefore, and not submit again to a yoke of slavery!" (Galatians 5:1)
Thank You, Lord, for all Your goodness to me and all Your children You love so much. Thank You for ministries like Aldersgate, where You encourage us with the Good News of the Kingdom of God, healing us where we're brokenhearted and setting us free where we've been held captive, that we can be free to be all You've created us to be, as oaks of Your righteousness to display Your glory through our lives (Isaiah 61:1-4). Thank You for the times and places of refreshing and renewal, where we can drink deeply from the wells of Your Living Water among those who believe and who always want more -- more of You. Thank You for breaking our chains and setting us free -- free to be more like Jesus every day -- knowing our identity and fulfilling our destiny as the Body and Bride of Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My Friend, may you be free, as you entrust all control to God and praise Him with all your heart. May He break every chain that would hold you back from being all He created you to be. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Friends, thank you so much for all your prayers for me as I was ministering in Springfield, Illinois last week at the National Conference of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, conference on Spirit-filled Life in the Wesleyan Tradition. It's named after the prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London where John Wesley was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered for the ministry that brought great revival in his generation. I was teaching equipping sessions on Prayer for Inner Healing and Prayer for Physical Healing, as well as ministering on the Word Gifts Team and Prayer Ministry Team during the worship services. The conference will be in Lexington, Kentucky next summer. I hope you can come and may the Lord refresh you and renew you in the power of His Holy Spirit wherever you are. God bless you!
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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