Morning by Morning, January 29 - Life in the Spirit

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In our morning communion of prayer, let my spirit arise and soar into the heavenly realm of Your Presence.  ...

 

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.... But (we) are not in the flesh; (we) are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in (us)" (Romans 8:5-6).

 

You set before me the choice of life and peace every day. I can have it or not. In the freedom You allow in the sovereignty of Your will, You let me choose this day who I will serve and how I will live. And what determines the destiny of my day is my choice of where I will set my mind. According to Your Word, "to set (my) mind on the flesh is death, but to set (my) mind on the Spirit is life and peace" (v. 6).

 

So to have my days full of the life and peace You desire for me, I need to know how to "set (my) mind on the Spirit." In a way, it's the most important choice I'll make all day. And in the same way, it should be the first choice I make all day. Just as importantly, it should be a choice I keep making throughout the moments of my day.

 

So, Lord, teach me how to "set (my) mind on the Spirit." Show me how to do it; show me what it looks like. What does it really mean to "set (my) mind on the Spirit?"  ...

 

As I listen in my heart and wait for Your leading, it seems I hear You saying:  "My son, I am the Spirit of God within you. I am the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of Living God, living in you. To set your mind on the Spirit is to set your mind on Me -- to seek first My kingdom and My righteousness, to give Me first place in your life, to allow Me to shape your thoughts and your desires as you choose to allow Me to guide your steps throughout the moments of your day. It is not an accidental attitude. It is not an attitude of passivity or complacency. It is an active attitude that flows out of a conscious choice, a deliberate decision to seek Me first and trust Me always with the leading and Lordship of your life -- all moment by moment and choice by choice in the power of My grace."

 

Yes, Lord. Let it be so, as You have said. By the power of Your grace, give me this attitude, give me this desire -- the desire and the power to live my life in the Spirit -- moment by moment and choice by choice, every day of my life in Your Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray that by the power of the grace of God you will consciously choose and deliberately decide to set your mind on the Spirit and live your life in the Spirit today and every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend as I join the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries team to speak on the Father's Heart and Kingdom Encounters for a Life in the Spirit Seminar at Friendship United Methodist Church in Porter, Texas just north of Houston (http://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/local-church-events/life-in-the-spirit-seminar). God bless you and may His Holy Spirit fill you and your church with His love and power!

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, January 28 - Roots of Trust Run Deep

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my spirit with Your Spirit; align my heart with Your heart.  ...

 

"Thus says the Lord:  Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.... Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of the drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit" (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

 

Lord, let my roots run deep. Let them stretch out to the stream of Your living water. Then when the heat comes, my leaves will not wither; and through the seasons of drought, my branches will continue to bear fruit.

 

Teach me how to trust You now, so I'll not be tempted to turn my trust to mere mortals or my flesh through any dry, desert days that may come. Teach me how to activate my trust, to be intentional and committed in my trust, rather than passively assenting to some general, abstract sense that I could trust in You if I ever really needed to. 

 

Teach me how to deliberately put my trust in You, desperately dependent upon You alone, and keep it there. Let there be no room for shallow roots in my relationship of trust in You. Come, Holy Spirit. Let my roots of trust run deep. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray your roots of trust run deep, as you actively, deliberately put your trust in the Lord, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend as I join the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries team to speak on the Father's Heart and Kingdom Encounters for a Life in the Spirit Seminar at Friendship United Methodist Church in Porter, Texas just north of Houston (http://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/local-church-events/life-in-the-spirit-seminar). God bless you and may His Holy Spirit fill you and your church with His love and power!

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, January 27 - Pursuing the Presence of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here I am to worship and wait for the leading of Your Spirit to intentionally, passionately begin my day in the presence in my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"Moses said to the Lord, 'See, You have said to me, 'Bring up this people'; but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' Now if I have found favor in Your sight, show me Your ways, so that I may know You and find favor in Your sight....' He said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest'" (Exodus 33:12-14).

 

Moses wanted to know Your ways, but You told him You were the Way. Moses wanted to know the path, but You taught him to seek Your Presence. And as his spirit came alive in conversation with his God, his prayer changed from "Show me Your ways" to "Show me Your glory" (v. 18).

 

Show me Your glory, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart to see You. Awaken the yearning of my spirit to pursue You. 

 

I know I need to seek to know Your ways and obey Your commands in the reverent fear of the Lord and respectful honor of my Creator. But at the same time, You've created me for more. You've created me for relationship -- for an intimate, living, vibrant, passionate pursuit of the presence of God. 

 

You stir my spirit to seek my God and the glory of Your presence. And I believe You desire that I never settle for anything less. So by the grace of God, I never will. By the grace of God, I embrace Your promise to me and every soul You've ever created for a deeply personal relationship with You:  "When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart, I will let you find Me, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:13-14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray the Holy Spirit will stir in your heart to passionately pursue the presence of God and never settle for anything less, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend as I join the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries team to speak on the Father's Heart and Kingdom Encounters for a Life in the Spirit Seminar at Friendship United Methodist Church in Porter, Texas just north of Houston (http://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/local-church-events/life-in-the-spirit-seminar). God bless you and may His Holy Spirit fill you and your church with His love and power!

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, January 26 - "Father's Good Pleasure"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I set my mind on the things above, as I seek You first in these first moments of my morning.  ...

 

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possession, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:32-34).

 

Daddy Abba, my Father God, You set me free from striving for the things I desire and even the things I think I need (v. 29). You deliver me from the demons of worry that seek to weigh me down and wear me out (v. 22). And You remind me how much You love me and care for me, how You protect me and provide for me (v. 28). And then You realign my thoughts with what really matters, always encouraging me to, "Instead, strive for (Your) kingdom, and these things will be given to (me) as well" (v. 31).

 

It's not Your reluctant good will, but rather, it's Your "good pleasure" to give me Your kingdom. And what is Your kingdom? "The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

 

As I seek You and Your kingdom, as I trust You and Your heart of good pleasure to pour the "unfailing treasure" of heaven into my heart by Your Spirit, You fill me with Your "righteousness and peace and joy." That's what I really need. That's what I should really treasure. And if that's the goal of this day, I don't really have to worry about anything else. So, come, Holy Spirit. Help me let that be the goal of my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you be filled with righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit today, set from from worry about everything less, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend as I join the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries team to speak on the Father's Heart and Kingdom Encounters for a Life in the Spirit Seminar at Friendship United Methodist Church in Porter, Texas just north of Houston (http://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/local-church-events/life-in-the-spirit-seminar). God bless you and may His Holy Spirit fill you and your church with His love and power!

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, January 25 - Spirit of Adoption, Spirit of My Father

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me in Your ways today.  ...

 

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ -- if, in fact, we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:14-17).

 

I'm not a slave, but a son. I'm not a charity case, but a child. I'm not a hard on my luck, but an heir to the kingdom of God.

 

You've not given me a spirit of slavery, but a spirit of adoption. You've given me Your very Spirit -- the Spirit of the Living God who stirs in my spirit to look up to You and cry out to You, "Abba! Father!" my Daddy God!

 

Lord, set my free from every religious mindset and misguided attitude that would try to steal from me the depth of intimacy and love You desire for me to have with You. By the power of Your grace, I'll not give into that slavery mindset that says I'm anything less than the beloved son that I am. 

 

I'm a child of God! I'm a son of the King! My spirit cries, "Daddy! Abba! Father God!" And neither Satan nor less-intimate saints can silence my spirit that cries out to my God in the tenderness and mercy You invite me to share and literally died for me to have!

 

I'm a child of God, filled with the Spirit of God. And there's nothing in this world that can every take that away from me. Come, Holy Spirit. Spirit of Adoption, Spirit of my Father, come fill me afresh today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray the Spirit of Adoption, who is the Spirit of your Father, will stir in your spirit to look up to Him and cry out to Him in the tenderness and intimacy He desires with 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, January 22 - "Be Love"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected in this:  that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:6-17).

 

It's all about love. You are Love. And as You are, so are we in this world.

 

I started to pray, "Lord, teach me how to love." But what I hear in my heart is Your Spirit inviting me to pray instead, "Lord, empower me to be love." Because as You are, so am I to be in this world. Teach me how to "be love." Empower me to "be love."

 

Tell me what that means. Show me what that looks like. In the moment-to-moment journey of my everyday life, give me a revelation of what it is to "be love." 

 

Suddenly, I feel like that's the most important task of my day. Suddenly, I feel like that's perhaps the most important goal of my life. So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I set my mind and turn my heart to direct my focus toward this goal. By the power of the grace of God, I choose to "be love" -- now and throughout the moments of my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will "be love" -- just as He is, so you will be, by the power of God's grace, in your world 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, January 21 - Word of God, Word of Life

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As humbly as I can and all by Your grace, I willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone today.  ...

 

"Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

 

Thank You for Your Word -- the written Word of Your Scripture and the living Word of Your Spirit -- all at work within my life. It's like a two-edged sword that cuts both ways. It tells me when to rest and when to wrestle, when to wait and when to walk, when to awake and arise and when to bow low and be still. It tells me how to "live and move have (my) being" in You (Acts 17:28).

 

Lord Jesus, You are the Word of God (John 1:14). You are my "Word of Life" (1 John 1:1). And all the words of Your Scripture and the words of Your Spirit are "spirit and life" to me (John 6:63). "It is by (my) holding fast to the Word of Life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain" (Philippians 2:16).

 

So Word of God, Word of Life, come speak to my spirit today -- now in this morning communion of prayer to begin my day in the right way and then throughout every moment, every challenge, and every decision that I'll encounter and experience. Let Your Word be my Standard and my Guide, as You show me and lead me in "the path of life" You have for me today (Psalm 16:11). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray the Word of God will be your Word of Life, as He leads you by His Word and His Spirit in the path of life the Lord has for 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, January 20 - Everlasting God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift my eyes to the heavens and open my heart to hear Your leading, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31).

 

Everlasting God. Always faithful God. Unchangeable, unshakeable, unstoppable God. You don't faint or grow weary. And when I do, You strengthen me and encourage me and empower me to keep looking to You and trusting in You to get me through.

 

You're full aware of every battle, every struggle, every need I'll every face. You're never caught off guard or blindsided. You're the Creator of the ends of the earth; and Your heart for me, Your love and grace for me, stretches from one end of the earth to the other for me. So whenever I feel like I'm falling or failing, whenever I feel like I'm loosing steam or burning out, whenever I feel like I'm floundering around or tossed about, You're always there to lift me up and hold me close. You fill me up and cheer me up until I'm soaring like an eagle again.

 

Yes, I've known. And yes, I've heard. So yes, by the power of Your grace, I'm going to keep on looking to You and trusting in You, my everlasting God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray your spirit will soar like an eagle, as you keep trusting our everlasting God every struggle or challenge you every face, 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, January 15 - Set Apart and Sent Out

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- I worship You and welcome You here in my heart and the moments of my day.  ...

 

"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for Me Barnabus and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2).

 

Lord, You invited me to begin this new year with forty days of prayer and fasting. It's a means of Your grace to draw me to a deeper place of hungering and thirsting for You and Your righteousness, to filled afresh with Your Spirit, and to sense Your leading for my life in this season. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

 

As they were seeking You in this way, You spoke by Your Spirit to "set apart for (You) Barnabas and Saul for the work to which (You had) called them." Like them, I want to hear the voice of Your Holy Spirit. I seek to know the work to which You have called me -- not the work of the past season, not the work of the future season, but the work to which You have called me in this season now.

 

Barnabus and Saul were "sent out by the Holy Spirit" and "they went" to where You led them, each step of the way along the adventure of the journey of faith You set before them (Acts 13:4). Immediately, and not surprisingly, they were aggressively "opposed" (v. 13:8). But they were "filled with the Holy Spirit" to overcome their opposition and continue on in the work to which You had called them (v. 13:9). You confirmed Your words and affirmed their calling with Your presence and Your power (v. 13:9-11). And the people they encountered through their journey and ministry of faith were "astonished at the teaching about the Lord" (v. 13:12).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill me afresh today, as I surrender my will and entrust my life to You and Your leading. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). Secure in my identity as a child of God, filled and led by the Spirit of God, I want to live into the fullness of the calling and destiny You have for me each day.

 

When Barnabus and Saul went out on their journey, they had no idea of all they would encounter and endure as You empowered them to overcome and prevail in the work to which You set them apart and sent them out. But they found they were "more than conquerors" through the One who loved them and called them and sent them by the leading and power of Your Spirit (Romans 8:37). And that's the journey I seek -- as best as I can and all by Your grace -- as I begin this season of my life, with Your Presence by my side and Your Spirit within my heart (Matthew 28:20). 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 Holy Spirit to hear His voice and sense His leading, as He sets you apart and sends you out with His Presence and power, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, please keep us in prayer for our Breakthrough Prayer Conference this weekend, as I teach a hands-on training in Healing Prayer Ministry at Bear Creek United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas through Messiah Ministries. May you be encouraged and empowered by the Holy Spirit for breakthrough in your life and 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, January 14 - A New Thing Now

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Thank You for the joy of our journey together that begins here in these first moments of my morning and carries on throughout the moments of my day.  ...

 

"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.... for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people, to the people whom I formed for Myself so that they might declare My praise" (Isaiah 43:18-21).

 

You're doing a new thing now. Now it springs forth. Now it rises up. Where there have been seasons of wandering in wilderness, now You're making a way. Where there have been seemingly endless days through a desert, now Your rivers of life are bursting forth.

 

Yes, I perceive it! Yes, I sense and see a movement in my spirit and in the hearts of Your people excitedly expecting to experience more of Your love and power and grace in our lives. Let Your favor be upon us and Your fervor rise up within us that we might declare Your praise!

 

Father God, in the name of Jesus, I choose to no longer remember or be restricted by "the former things." I no longer consider or allow myself to be constrained by "the things of old." By the power of the grace of God, You're breaking off my past and empowering me to breakout and breakthrough into the fullness of all You have for me now (2 Samuel 5:20). You're pouring Your new wine into the new wineskin of Your will for my life today! (Matthew 9:17)

 

Yes, Lord, I perceive it! Yes, Lord, I believe it! Yes, Lord, I choose to embrace it! So now -- this day and every day, by the power of Your grace -- "this one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus!" (Philippians 3:13-14)  In this year of Your favor, to the glory of God, I will declare Your praise with joy and faith through my life! (Isaiah 43:21)  In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

 I pray you perceive and embrace the new thing now the Lord is doing in His children to display His glory through our lives in this year of His favor, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, please keep us in prayer for our Breakthrough Prayer Conference this weekend, as I teach a hands-on training in Healing Prayer Ministry at Bear Creek United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas through Messiah Ministries.

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, January 13 - The Spiritual Key to Life and Peace"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the heart and lead me in the way that leads to life in You today.  ...

 

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law--indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Romans 8:5-9).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. You've "set (me) free from the law of sin and death" (v. 8:2). You've set me free to choose "life and peace," to choose to set my mind on the things of the Spirit and not the things of the flesh (v. 8:6). To embrace the grace and power of Your Spirit at work within me is the spiritual key to life and peace. "For it is God who works in (me) both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13 NKJV).

 

I have the freedom to choose sin and death or life and peace. You set before us all "life and death, blessings and curses" with Your free invitation to "choose life so that (we) may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).  I have the freedom to obey the desires of my flesh or seek to obey the will of God. And in the freedom I have, I choose to seek You today, to set my mind on the things of Your Spirit, on the ways of Your Spirit. As I do, You fill me with Your Spirit and lead me in the ways that lead to Your blessings of life and peace (Ephesians 5:18).

 

Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). Apart from You, nothing eternally good dwells in me -- "for I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right but I cannot do it" (Romans 7:18). But I'm not apart from You. I never have to try to will what is right or do what is right in my own strength and the sheer will power of my own flesh. In the power of Your grace, I can call upon Your name; I can welcome You into my heart; I can embrace Your Spirit to fill me up and empower my will to willingly choose to live each day in the ways of Your Spirit rather than the ways of my flesh. And by the power of the grace of God, that's what I "choose this day" (Joshua 24:15). In the freedom I have and by the power of Your Spirit, I choose to "set (my) mind on the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will embrace the spiritual key to life and peace, that you will set Your mind on the things of the Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit of the Living God to empower you both to will what is right and to do what is right, pleasing our God by to choosing to live this day in His life and peace, 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, January 12 - Speak What is Precious, Live What is True

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit today.  ... "Therefore thus says the Lord:  If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before Me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as My mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless" (Jeremiah 15:19-21). Lord, let me speak what is precious and live what is true. Let the words of my mouth and the actions of my life be priceless pearls, faithful and true, because they come from You. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Fill my spirit with Your Spirit and let Your Word be the plumb line and standard for all that I speak and all that I do.  Empower me to stand firm in Your strength as a fortified wall of bronze against the onslaught of the ways of my world and spirit of my culture, increasingly at war with the ways of Your Word and paths of Your righteousness. By the power of the grace of God, let the world around me see Christ within me. Let them be drawn to light of "Christ in (me), the hope of glory," and guard my heart from being drawn to the darkness of the ways of the world around me -- no matter how persistent the pressure that seeks to prevail against my conscience of faith (Colossians 1:27). Instead, let them turn to me  -- to Christ in me -- instead me turn to them. When the world is looking for certainty and longing for security in the midst of the chaos and confusion, let me be one who finds my certainty and security in Your timeless truth. You are my Truth (John 14:6). And because You're in my heart, Your "Spirit of Truth" is at home and at work within me (John 16:13). And Your abiding Truth cannot abide the compromises and lies that seek to break through the walls of my conscience and invade my soul to take up a hold within me (1 John 2:27). Make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29). Let my words express Your words and my ways express Your heart. Let me not be conformed to the world around me, but let me be transformed by Your Spirit within me (Romans 12:2). Let me be courageously confident in Your precious words and persistent truth, in Your unfailing love and unending grace (Lamentations 3:22). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you will speak what is precious and live what is true, with the Spirit of Truth abiding in you, make you more like the One who is the Truth 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

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, January 11 - To Tremble Again at the Word of God

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. All to You, I surrender and entrust my life and this day.  ... "But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2). Do I still tremble at Your word, Lord? Do sincerely seek to hear Your voice, learn Your ways, and obey Your commands? Or have I allowed the ways of this world to whittle down the sharp edge of the word of God and allowed my culture to compromise my conscience and dull my spiritual discernment? "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV). Come, Holy Spirit. Awaken my soul. Revive my spirit. Let me tremble at the word of the Lord again.  May the fear of the Lord and the honor of God's Word come upon me anew -- the written Word of Your Scripture and the living words of Your Spirit. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Proverbs 9:10). Let the Word of God be the authority for my life and the only standard by which I determine what is right and what is true, what is the most loving and honoring, what is best and most fulfilling. Set me free from the self-centered pride that insists on my wisdom and my way, to assert my will of what I choose to be right, apart from Your Word. Deliver me from the deception that chooses to believe it's ok to consider Your way as one way among many and Your commandments as Your opinions for me to consider. "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). "Heaven and earth will pass away, but (Your) words will not pass away" (Luke 21:33). You look to the one who is "humble and contrite in spirit," not the one who is prideful, arrogant, and self-centered (Isaiah 66:2). Lord, I seek Your favor; I need Your blessings. So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. I want to tremble at Your word again. I want to say gain, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will tremble again at the Word of God, allowing His Word and His Spirit to set the standards in your life, in Jesus' name. And my the favor and blessings of the Lord be upon you this day and every day. 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!