Friday, March 30, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 30 - "Astonished Silence"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, here in the embrace of my heavenly Father.  ...
 
"When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (Revelation 8:1-5).
 
As I woke this morning, I thought of the cross. I thought of Your suffering and sacrifice, Your mercy and love. I thought of Your holy humiliation that our human minds can't begin to comprehend as You cried out from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). And then these words came to my heart:  "Astonished Silence."
 
Your Spirit brought to mind the silence of heaven when You opened the seventh seal in the Apostle John's Revelation. There were "peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (Revelation 7:5). It was the same on the day of Your death at the cross:  "Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed His last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split" (Matthew 27:50-51).
 
Every prophecy is ultimately fulfilled in You, as are "all the Scriptures" of the Word of God (Luke 24:27). You are the very Word of God, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). And this morning, I see a parallel in this prophecy of Revelation and a partial fulfillment--one in the eternal realm of heaven with the Lamb of God who stands at the throne and one in the historical realm of earth with the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Revelation 5:6; John 1:29). And in my heart I hear, "Astonished Silence."
 
In the midst of the earthquakes and darkness on that holy day of Your sacrifice and death at the cross, and in the midst of the ultimate judgments that must come upon the earth and upon those who would reject Your mercy and love, I sense the "astonished silence" of heaven. With all of heaven, I'm astonished that God would die for me, astonished that the fury of hell and the mercy of heaven could meet at the cross--at once, both cruel and beautiful, at a moment in time on this earth but forever timeless in the eternity of heaven--and astonished that all will not humble their hearts to receive all You've done for us at such a cost. With the silence of heaven, I am astonished at Your sacrifice of love I have no words to express. ...
 
As I ponder these thoughts in my heart this morning, I can hardly speak at all. I simply say Thank You, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My Friend, I pray you experience the mercy and love of the One who sacrificed so much for you at the cross--at once, both cruel and beautiful, yet necessary for the salvation of your soul and mine, 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, March 28, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 28 - "Jesus Said, 'I AM.'"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...
 
"Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, 'Have You no answer? What is it that they testify against You?' But He was silent and did not answer. Again the  high priest asked Him, 'Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?' Jesus said, 'I AM; and 'you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,' and 'coming with the clouds of heaven'" (Mark 14:60-62)
 
You are the Messiah, the Christ, the One who is both Son of Man and Son of God, the Word of God made human flesh like us, to walk among us and willingly lay down Your perfect and sinless life for us as the atoning sacrifice for all our sins that we might know You and live with You forever in the very presence of God. You are I AM (John 8:58; Exodus 3:14).
 
At that divine declaration, the high priest rended his garments in fleshly exasperation because he didn't believe. But Your Holy Spirit compels all who would hear and believe to rend our hearts in holy desperation to welcome You in as Lord and Savior. "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing" (Joel 2:12-13).
 
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I rend it open to You today. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Remind me of Your sacrifice that compels me in Your love. "For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.... As a result, He has brought (us) into His own presence, and (we) are holy and blameless as (we) stand before Him without a single fault. But (we) must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it" (Colossians 1:19-23).

By the grace of God, I'm a child of God, forgiven and free, through all You've done for me. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT). Thank You, Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My Friend, I pray you are moved by the Holy Spirit to persist in the faith, compelled by love, in holy desperation rending open your heart in ever-deeper surrender to the One who loves you and laid down His life for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Friends, thank you so much for all your prayers for us this past weekend for our Kingdom Glory Conference at the Francis Asbury Society Headquarters in Wilmore, Kentucky just outside Lexington. We encountered the deep presence of the Lord with His encouraging words and healing power of His love, refreshed and revived to be Ambassadors for Christ everywhere He sends us. I pray the same for you! 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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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 22 - What Does God Need?

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak into my spirit as I listen for Your leading, I pray--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ... 

"When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples and said to them, 'Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately'" (Mark 11:1-3). 

What could God ever need? How could the Lord have need of anything? You are all-sufficient, all-knowing, all-powerful. You are our "All in All" (1 Corinthians 15:28; Ephesians 1:23). And yet, at the same time, the Word says You were in need of a donkey for Your triumphal, yet humble, entry into Jerusalem for the holy week before Your crucifixion and resurrection.

Centuries before, by the Spirit of God, Zechariah had prophesied of this joyful day that Messiah would come riding into Jerusalem:  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your King comes to you; triumphant and victorious is He, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). But though it was prophesied and pre-ordained by God, there was yet a part to be fulfilled by man. You had need of a donkey; and You had need of the obedience of Your disciples to go and get it and bring it You, that the prophecies and promises of God would be fulfilled. 

It's the same for us today. It's Your will that none should perish, but that all would turn to You in repentance and faith to believe and embrace Your mercy and love (2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16). But at the same time, You extend Your invitation through us, in the part of Your plan to be fulfilled in obedience by man. "So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20).  

In a sense, You have chosen in Your sovereignty to be in need of us--needing us to be obedient to You to go and share this good news of Your mercy and love. "For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:13-15 NLT) 

Here I am, Lord; send me (Isaiah 6:8). Anoint me and empower me to be one of Your messengers of Your good news (Matthew 28:19). I'm happy to go and fetch Your donkey. I'd be happy to be Your donkey, to carry You and the good news of Your mercy and love to all who desperately need to know You and Your love for them. You've done Your part. Now, in the power of Your grace, may I be found faithful to do mine. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


 
My Friend, I pray you are anointed and empowered by the Spirit of God to go and carry Jesus and His message of mercy and love everywhere He sends you with great joy and faithful obedience, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Friends, please come join us this weekend (March 23-24, 2018) at the Francis Asbury Society Headquarters in Wilmore, Kentucky just outside Lexington for the Kingdom Glory Conference, hosted by Voice of Joy Ministries. I'll be speaking on Friday Morning and Friday Night on Kingdom Authority and Kingdom Power. Come if you can and spread the word!

 

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, March 21, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 21 - Jesus the King of the Kingdom of God
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good Shepherd, let me hear Your voice in my spirit, as I begin my day in the deep communion of contemplative prayer with You--embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered, 'Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?' Pilate replied, 'I am not a Jew, am I? You own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done? Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not from this world. If My kingdom were from this world, My followers would be fighting to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here.' Pilate asked Him, 'So You are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice'" (John 18:33-37).
 
Lord Jesus, Your kingdom is not of this world. Yours is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to You (Matthew 28:18). And Your name is "the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). You are "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Revelation 19:16). You reign forever and ever, "and of (Your) kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:33 fulfilling Isaiah 9:7).
 
So King of kings, be King of my heart. Lord of lords, be Lord of my life. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, here in me and my world, here on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). King Jesus, come take Your throne of authority and power, of majesty and glory, in every area and every moment of my life. Come rule and reign, as I bow my knees and my heart, as I confess with my mouth and my acts that You are Lord to the glory of my Father. "Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all!" (Acts 10:36) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


 
My Friend, I pray you experience all the authority and power, the majesty and glory, of the One who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the One who is the King of the kingdom of God and the Lord of all, in every area and every moment of your life, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Friends, please come join us this weekend (March 23-24, 2018) at the Francis Asbury Society Headquarters in Wilmore, Kentucky just outside Lexington for the Kingdom Glory Conference, hosted by Voice of Joy Ministries. I'll be speaking on Friday Morning and Friday Night on Kingdom Authority and Kingdom Power. Come if you can and spread the word!

 

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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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 20 - Humility before Honor
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the ways that lead to life in You today.  ...
 
"James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.' And He said to them, 'What is it you want Me to do for you?' And they said to Him, 'Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your glory.' But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?'" (Mark 10:35-38)
 
James and John wanted the place of honor. They wanted to sit at Your right and Your left in Your glory. You had just told them about the gory--how You would soon be mocked and spit upon and tortured to death--but they wanted to hear about the glory (v. 33-34). Specifically, they wanted to hear about their glory--their glory sharing in Your glory.
 
They wanted to know about the honor before knowing about the humility. But in the ways of Your kingdom, humility goes before honor:  "Let this same mind by in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore god also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11).
 
We look at these disciples and judge them for their arrogance and presumption and pride. But should we take the log out of our own eyes before trying to take the speck out of theirs? In these days of greater revelation of our son-ship and adoption as beloved children of God, do we also find ourselves insisting upon the place of honor without first taking the place of humility? Do we also presume upon our rights and privileges to bask in Your glory without also being willing to embrace our part to share in the fellowship of Your sufferings? Or do we forget the invitation of Your Word, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:10-11)?
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Let this mind be in me that was in Christ Jesus. Lead me to the place of humility, that I many receive the place of honor chosen for me. By the power of the grace of God my Father, may I drink of the cup and embrace the baptism You've chosen for me on my spiritual journey to be conformed to the nature of Christ (Romans 8:29). You have blessed me-- along with all Your disciples, along with all the children of God--with glory and honor, with inheritance and favor; but You've also blessed me with the invitation to die to myself and surrender my life into the fullness of Your will by the means You choose to make me more like You every day (Luke 22:42; 1 John 4:17).
 
As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to say to me and to every disciple:  "If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:34-38). 
 
Before the place of honor comes the place of humility. "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 with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:15-17). 
 
Lord Jesus, slay my pride and crucify my flesh. Give me the grace to follow You in the place of humility that I may embrace You in the place of honor. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


 
My Friend, I pray you experience the fullness of every honor Your Father has for you as a child of God, as you walk in humility of heart to surrender Your will to His on the past His chosen for you to make you more like Jesus each day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Friends, please come join us this weekend (March 23-24, 2018) at the Francis Asbury Society Headquarters in Wilmore, Kentucky just outside Lexington for the Kingdom Glory Conference, hosted by Voice of Joy Ministries. I'll be speaking on Friday Morning and Friday Night on Kingdom Authority and Kingdom Power. Come if you can and spread the word!
 

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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Monday, March 19, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 19 - The Road to Jerusalem
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...
 
"As Jesus and the people with Him were on the road to Jerusalem, He was leading the way. His followers were amazed, but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and began to tell them what was about to happen in Jerusalem. He said, 'Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and teachers of the law. They will say that He must die, and they will turn Him over to the non-Jewish people, who will laugh at Him and spit on Him. They will beat Him with whips and crucify Him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again" (Mark 10:32-34).
 
The road to Jerusalem is a hard road. "For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:14). But You're the One who's "leading the way."
 
The road to Jerusalem was a road that promised suffering, rejection, and death. But it also promised resurrection life. It was a picture of a journey of obedience and faith for the sake of something so much better that would make every challenge and sacrifice worth it all for all that was to come. "For the sake of the joy that was set before (You), (You) endured the cross, disregarding its shame" (Hebrews 12:2). So the road to Jerusalem was not just the road to suffering and shame, it also became the road to joy.
 
Jesus, lead the way on my road to Jerusalem. Give me grace to endure and overcome all I'll encounter on the way, even as You give me the confidence of hope and assurance of faith that in the end You will raise me up to the fullness of life in you (John 11:25-26).
 
 "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing (me) for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, (so I) look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). In the same way, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory about to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).  
 
Just as Your joy was set before You on Your journey to the cross along the road to Jerusalem, so is mine.  And in the power of Your grace, my road to Jerusalem is my road to joy. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


 
My friend, I pray you allow Jesus to lead the way on your road to Jerusalem, enduring and overcoming all your encounter along the way, looking to Jesus and the fullness of His joy He has set before 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Friday, March 16, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 16 - Never Neglecting So Great a Salvation
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of all I am and all I do this day.  ...
 
"This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of His call and will fulfill by His power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12).
 
We must behold both the kindness and the severity of God. "So do not become proud, but stand in awe.... Note then the kindness and the severity of God:  severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness toward you, provided you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off" (Romans 11:20-22). It's Your heart to be merciful and kind, full of mercy and love; yet it's our responsibility to respond and embrace the kindness of Your mercy and grace. 
 
There are consequences--eternal consequences--for our choices. You are "not willing that any should perish, but all to come to repentance," yet we must be willing to humble ourselves to receive and embrace Your salvation through the means You've provided though Your sacrifice of love (2 Peter 3:9). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved though Him. Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but hose who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:16-18).
 
Let me never take my salvation for granted. I've received it at great cost. "For in (Jesus Christ) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and though 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" (Colossians 1:19-20). May I live each day in gratitude of Your grace, "looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endure such hostility against Himself from sinners, so that (we) many not grow weary or lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3).
 
So many of my mornings in the intimacy of the communion of prayer with You, You give me a deep sense of Your presence and love. This morning, it seems You're also reminding me that that this intimacy with You came at great cost. It's honoring of Your sacrifice to see Your kindness in light of Your severity, Your mercy in light of Your judgment, and Your salvation of eternal life for all who believe in light the Your "punishment of eternal destruction" for all who do not. By the grace of God, may I honor You and Your sacrifice for me to never "neglect so great a salvation" (Hebrews 2:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

 
My friend, I pray you embrace with great joy the fullness of your salvation through God's sacrifice of love for you in Jesus Christ, never taking for granted and never neglecting so great a salvation, in Jesus' name! May you share that good news in every opportunity the Lord provides. 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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