"Work of Faith" and "Labor of Love" from a "Steadfastness of Hope" - February 26, 2021

 Morning by Morning, February 26 - "Work of Faith" and "Labor of Love" from a "Steadfastness of Hope"

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, come rule and reign in my heart and life today. ... 

"We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). 

When we have a "steadfastness of hope" in You, our "work of faith" is a "labor of love." Everything we do flows out of who we are. And everything we do in love is an expression of who You are in us. And all that has to begin with a heart full of hope, grounded in faith, trusting in You. 

Fill my heart with hope today, Lord. Let my hope be steadfast, unshakeable, certain and sure in You alone, that my work of faith and labor of love may bring You glory. There's such a deeply interwoven relationship between my hope and my faith. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). 

Faith is a confidence and conviction in what I hope for but don't yet see, what I long for but don't yet experience. So fill my heart with Your hopes, Your desires, Your will and Your plans in my life and through my life. Then as I work and labor in hope and love, I will be found faithful to You. For just as there is a deeply interwoven relationship between my hope and my faith, so there is a deeply interwoven relationship between my love and labor of obedience to You and Your will. You've taught us to trust and obey, to love and obey: 

"Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.... If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.... They who have My commandments and keep them are those who love Me; and those who love Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love them and reveal Myself to them.... Those who love Me will keep My word, and My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word of that you hear is not Mine, but is from the Father who sent Me.... The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.... Rise, let us be on our way" (John 14:12-31). 

Steadfast in hope, confident in faith, trusting and obeying by the power of Your Holy Spirit stirring in me, I rise today from my time of prayer to be on my way in this labor of love and work of faith. May I be found faithful -- as best I can and all by Your grace, secure in Your love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be steadfast in your hope and faith in your work of faith as a labor of love, bring glory to God in all you are and all you do, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

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Discerning by "Peace" - February 25, 2021

Morning by Morning, February 25 - Discerning by "Peace"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're the Peace that surpasses all understanding. So I welcome You and Your peace here in my heart and mind and every moment of my day. ...

 

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all" (2 Thessalonians 3:16).

 

Your peace is such a discerning factor to help guide my steps along this journey of the adventure of faith. Through the years You've given me some steps to follow in seeking discernment -- whether I'm seeking to discern Your voice in my heart, a choice to make by the guidance of Your Holy Spirit, a prophetic word someone else is sharing with me or the body of Christ or one I sensing a leading to share with someone else, or a teaching, or a doctrine, or anything else where I need to know what is right and true or wrong and false:

 

My Five Key Steps of Discernment:

 

1. Does it conform to the written Word of God?

2. Does it conform to the character of God?

3. Does it bear witness with my spirit?

4. Does it bear witness to the council of others I trust?

5. What is the fruit?

 

The sense of "peace" is a key factor in each of these steps of discernment, but especially in number three -- "Does it bear witness with my spirit?"

 

Over the past week, I've really been struggling with a significant decision to make. As always, I started in prayer, alone and with my wife. Where I sensed it was ok, I took some initial testing steps of action, while continuing to take my discernment steps. But as I couldn't sense the complete peace I longed to sense as a firm confirmation for such a significant decision, I finally said "no" to the opportunity. And went to bed. This morning, I praise You that I have such a deep sense of Your peace in my spirit!

 

We can all "miss it" when we seek Your guidance, because it's so easy for other things to confuse us, distract us, or otherwise get in the way. But I believe it's truly a "win-win" situation if we will first take time to humble ourselves in Your sight, to seek the leading of Your Spirit, and seek to "discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

 

Once we start in humility before You, if we "get it right," You'll confirm it. Even if we "get it wrong," You'll correct us and redeem our mistakes and even lead us back to the place where we stepped off the Your path of Your will to get us back on the right path again. That's just a working out of Your mercy and grace that we have in You as children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ. That's just a working out of one of my favorite life Scriptures that gets me through so much, on my journey of faith:

 

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,  
    His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;
    great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

 

In Your steadfast love and Your tender mercies that never come to an end, I always manage to find Your peace -- all by Your mercy and grace for me that's new every morning!

 

So morning by morning -- heart to heart, deep to deep, one step at a time -- I continue my journey with You -- full of Your peace and full of expectant faith to look and see what You will do! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with the One who is your perfect Peace, as you seek to discern the will of God for your life each -- morning by morning, and step by step, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

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Seeking "Perfect Peace" - February 24, 2021

 Morning by Morning, February 24 - Seeking "Perfect Peace"

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. With Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, guide my steps in Your will for me today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... 

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock" (Isaiah 26:3-4). 

Your promise of "perfect peace" is a state mind that flows from a state of the heart that trusts in You. Without trusting in You, we can't keep our mind stayed on You. And without our mind stayed on You, there is no peace for us. Peace of mind has to begin with a peace in our hearts that can only come from trusting You. Seeking "perfect peace" is the journey of developing deeper trust in You. 

So help me trust You more today, Lord. Remind me of Your faithfulness and Your goodness, all the days of my life. Remind me that You're always with me, always watching over me, never leaving me, never forsaking me. 

Remembering Your faithfulness in the days that have passed deepens my trust in Your faithfulness today and forever. For You are "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). And You are my "Everlasting Rock" on which I stand, and every day You're teaching me how to stand more firmly and trust more deeply. 

As I fix my mind on You, as I put my trust in You, You are filling me afresh with a deep sense of Your presence -- here with me now and here within me now. And even now, as I entrust my life and my day to You, You've giving me the grace to find my perfect peace in You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you find your perfect peace as you keep your mind stayed on the One who is so worthy of your trust and the only Source of your peace, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

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"In Abiding You Will be Thriving" and "Abounding" - February 23, 2021

 Morning by Morning, February 23 - "In Abiding You Will be Thriving" and "Abounding"

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. In a world that desperately needs Jesus, I desperately need You too -- here in every part of my heart and mind and soul and strength, here in this morning time and every moment of my day. ... 

"'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in Me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 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. Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples" (John 15:1-8). 

By Your mercy and grace, I'm never apart and never alone. You're with me "always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). 

And at the same time, there's more. You not only want to be with me, You want to abide within me. You want me to abide within You. And it's only by abiding in You and allowing You to abide within me that my life can "bear much fruit" as one of Your "disciples." So it's so important to know how to "abide" and to grow in my capacity to "abide." 

I believe I hear Your voice speaking into my heart right now: "It's in abiding that you will be thriving.... It's in abiding that you will be abounding.... It's in abiding that you will bear much fruit that displays My glory through your life that My Father may be glorified in you." ... 

Yes, Lord. Let me never settle for anything less than all You desire for me. More than merely being "with" You and acknowledging that You're always "with" me, I want more. More of You. More of You "abiding" in me. More of me "abiding" in You. 

This is why I desperately need more of Your Spirit, more of Your Abiding Presence, here in my heart and mind and soul and strength -- empowering me to be abiding within You and You within me. As You said to Your first disciples, so You continue to say to all Your disciples: 

"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you... Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:15-20). 

Holy Spirit -- Spirit of the Living God, Spirit of Christ within me -- come abide in me. Come manifest the Abiding Presence of Christ in me. Come empower me to be bear much fruit that my Father may be gloried through my life. More of You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- abiding in of more me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you abide and thrive and abound in Christ to the glory of our Father, as the Holy Spirit of the Living God, the Abiding Presence of Christ, abides and abounds within you, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Pakistan Evangelism Ministry this past Weekend!

Friends, I'm excited to share this praise report I just received from Pastor Rizwan Fazal after our outdoor evangelistic meeting through our Skype Internet Ministry in Pakistan this weekend:  "Thanks very much to share Powerful Word of God with people of Pakistan. Thanks Lord 248 Souls are Saved and 23 Persons are Healed." Praise God!! All glory to Him!!

We thank you so much for all your encouragement, prayers, and support that make this ministry possible! God bless you!

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at:

Messiah-Ministries.org

 

"Lack No Good Thing" - February 22, 2021

 Morning by Morning, February 22 - "Lack No Good Thing"

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... 

"The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing" (Psalm 34:10). 

We suffer when we don't seek You. We struggle when we don't seek You. But when we seek You, You satisfy us with every good thing.  

Then -- even through the suffering and the struggles of real life in a broken and fallen world -- You satisfy us with the peace and provision we need, the grace and mercy we need, the wisdom and guidance we need, and every "good thing" we need from our good God who's with us and for us. We don't lack because You're not lacking. As we look up to You, You're looking out for us. 

So I begin my day by seeking You, Lord. I lay before You every need and every struggle. I put the burdens on my heart into Your hands. By Your mercy and grace, I will "lack no good thing." I rest and trust in the Truth that "My God will supply every need of (mine) according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you lack no good thing as You keeping looking to the Lord, trusting in Him and following His leading, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Pakistan Evangelism Ministry this past Weekend!

Friends, I'm excited to share this praise report I just received from Pastor Rizwan Fazal after our outdoor evangelistic meeting through our Skype Internet Ministry in Pakistan this weekend:  "Thanks very much to share Powerful Word of God with people of Pakistan. Thanks Lord 248 Souls are Saved and 23 Persons are Healed." Praise God!! All glory to Him!!

We thank you so much for all your encouragement, prayers, and support that make this ministry possible! God bless you!

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at:

Messiah-Ministries.org

 

"With a Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power!" - February 19, 2021

Morning by Morning, February 19 - "With a Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power!"

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

"When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). 

Your words, not ours. Your wisdom, not ours. Your power, not ours. 

You're the Potter; we're the clay. You're our Father; we're Your children. You're our Master; we're Your servants. You're our Head; we're Your body. 

You must increase; we must decrease. More of You, less of us. This is how we will "speak God's wisdom" (v. 7). This is how "we have the mind of Christ" (v. 16). 

Then we will see more of Your "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" in our lives and through our lives. Then Your words, Your wisdom, and Your power will flow through us to accomplish Your will. "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God" (v. 12). 

Spirit of God, Holy Spirit of the Living God, come move in us and come move through us. As we yield to You, as we surrender to You, as we empty ourselves to be filled with You, we will see Your love and Your nature in amazing expressions of Your Spirit and Your power in our world in these times beyond our comprehension and imagination: 

"But, as it is written, 

'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

    nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love Him' -- 

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God" (v. 9-10). 

In both humility and confidence, secure in our identity to fulfill our destiny, may we rightly discern just who we are as the body of Christ in the earth, filled with the Spirit of Christ in us. "Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (v. 14). So we humbly seek Your spiritual discernment that we may confidently "receive the gifts of God's Spirit" to be expressed through us with the character of God's servants. 

By Your Word and by Your Spirit, may we grow up to be all You've created us and called to be "among the mature" in our generation (v. 6). With "the mind of Christ" and filled with the Spirit of Christ, we're excited to see what You will do! We excited to experience and encounter all You desire in us and through us "with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power!" (v. 4) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you have the mind of Christ and be filled with the Spirit of Christ, to see a mighty demonstration of God's Spirit and God's power in and through your life, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Pakistan Evangelism Ministry this Saturday!

Our next monthly evangelistic outreach is set for Saturday February 20th through our Skype Internet Ministry. Our team sets up a projector screen in an outdoor meeting in a different village every month, where I preach through Skype with an interpreter to invite the people to come experience the love and power of God through Jesus Christ. Please keep us in prayer for another outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Pakistan!

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at:

Messiah-Ministries.org

"Be Prepared to Power Up!" - February 18, 2021

 Morning by Morning, February 18 - "Be Prepared to Power Up!"

 

Good morning Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. Lead me now, as I listen -- heart to Heart, spirit to Spirit, deep to Deep -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

As I listen for Your leading, I believe I hear in my heart: "Be prepared to power up." ...

 

Yes. Lord. ...

 

What comes immediately to mind in Your written Word to confirm what I believe I'm discerning from Your spoken word is this timeless Truth and calling to "be prepared to power up" from the Book of Acts:

 

"In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. After His suffering He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. 'This,' He said,

is what you have heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'

 

So when they had come together, they asked Him, 'Lord, is this the time when You will restore the kingdom to Israel?' He replied, 'It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' When He had said this, as they were watching, He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While He was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven'" (Acts 1:1-11).

 

When You were lifted up into heaven, those first disciples of Yours were about to receive a great power up! But as they were looking up to watch You go, the angels suggested they shouldn't "stand looking up toward heaven" but be listening up to what You had just said. You told them to "wait there for the promise of the Father" because they would "be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." You told them they would "receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon (them)" so that they could be Your "witnesses" wherever they were and then "to the ends of the earth."

 

So to be prepared for their power up, they needed to wait with expectant faith for a great outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. To be prepared for their power up, they needed to be hungering and thirsting for this infilling and overflowing of Your Holy Spirit. To be prepared for their power up, they needed to stop standing around and looking up to watch You go away into heaven and start pressing in and praying through until heaven came down into them!

 

Come, Holy Spirit! Let heaven come down into us now! We're watching and waiting. We're pressing in and praying through. We're ready with a holy restlessness and relentless hunger to be prepared to power up!

 

"O that You would tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains would quake at Your Presence!" (Isaiah 64:1)  With both the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord and the deep intimacy of the infilling Presence of the Lord, may we quake at Your Presence here in our hearts. And may we be powered up to display Your glory and Your power as Your witnesses in our world wherever we are and to the ends of the earth! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend, may you be filled up and powered up as you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, pressing in and praying through in the both the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord and deep intimacy of the Presence of the Lord in you, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

     

Pakistan Pastor and Leaders' Gathering for Fasting and Prayer Last Night.

I was excited to be invited last night to speak a word of encouragement to a group of pastors and leaders in Pakistan who are fasting and praying for 3 days for revival in Pakistan! Praise God! And I will also be preaching through our Skype Internet Ministry this Saturday (Saturday night in Pakistan, and Saturday morning in Texas). Please keep us in prayer!

Fasting and Prayer Gathering Last Night

Friends, please keep us in prayer for the upcoming Messiah Ministries Events:

Central Texas Area Aglow Spring Conference May 14-16.

I'm excited to be invited to be the Keynote Speaker at the Annual Gathering for the Central Texas Area Aglow in Kerrville Texas this coming May, in conjunction with Terry MacAlmon leading in worship at The Empty Cross in Kerrville.

Register for Aglow Rise Up Conference

Pakistan Evangelism Ministry this Saturday!

Our next monthly evangelistic outreach is set for Saturday February 20th through our Skype Internet Ministry. Our team sets up a projector screen in an outdoor meeting in a different village every month, where I preach through Skype with an interpreter to invite the people to come experience the love and power of God through Jesus Christ. Please keep us in prayer for another outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Pakistan!

Save the Dates! 

March 19th-20th Speaking at Voice of Joy Ministries' annual Gathering hosted at Cornerstone Church, Danville, Kentucky. Contact Pastor Amy Barkman: amyb_love@att.net

March 21st Preaching Sunday morning at All Nations UMC Church, Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Contact Pastor Hunn Choi: moc.nsm@iocnnuh

Teaching Weekly Healing Prayer Ministry Course Online at Coker UMC in San Antonio, Texas. Our weekly online zoom series Healing Prayers: Free to Be Like Jesus on Thursdays. I'm teaching and equipping a prayer ministry team to serve at Coker United Methodist Church in San Antonio. God is getting His people ready for the great harvest to come! I pray for your equipping and serving as well in your calling and destiny with the gifts the Lord is giving and stirring up in you! God bless you!

Teaching The Life Transformation Course

live in person every week at the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas beginning Tuesday Night, February 23th at 6:30. Based on the principles of my book Free to Be Like Jesus! 

Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at:

Messiah-Ministries.org