Morning by Morning, December 12, 2025 – “Filled with the Holy Spirit” in Preparation for the Birth of Jesus

 

Morning by Morning, December 12, 2025 – “Filled with the Holy Spirit” in Preparation for the Birth of Jesus   Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are with me always—right now and every moment of my day. ...   “Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:39-41).   In reading through the Gospel accounts of the Christmas story leading up to the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I’m moved by how often I see this phrase:   “Filled with the Holy Spirit.”   Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit” when Mary came to greet her (v. 41).   The angel Gabriel declared Elizabeth and Zecharias’s son John would be “filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (v. 15).   Once Zacharias affirmed the miracle of his son’s birth from Elizabeth’s once barren womb and named his son John in obedience to the word of the Lord, Zacharias began to prophesy when he also was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 67).   Three times in three people, all in the first Chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Everyone around Jesus was being “filled with the Holy Spirit.” And all this was thirty-three years before the day of Pentecost.   Hearts being “filled with the Holy Spirit” was such an expression of our Father’s heart preparing the way of the Lord for the coming of our Savior into our world.   Father God, as we prepare our hearts for celebration of the coming of Jesus, fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Fill us with the “joy and gladness” that accompanies Your Holy Spirit (v. 14). For this is a mark of the outpouring of Your Kingdom of God within us—“righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you be filled with the Holy Spirit and all the righteousness and peace and joy of the Lord in your heart in preparation for the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events Every Tuesday Night: Teaching my annual 9 Month Discipleship and Equipping Course Free to Be Like Jesus! at Bridge Church Fredericksburg, Texas. 6:00PM Central Time Based on My Books Free to Be Like Jesus —Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance and First the Spirit—Right Alignment of Spirit, Soul and Body https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays December 14 Altar Prayer Ministry for Evening of Prayer at Bridge Church in Fredericksburg "Praying Home the Prodigals" 6PM December 16 Joining the City-wide "Church to Church Christmas Walk" hosted by our Gillespie County Ministerial Alliance in Fredericksburg, Texas December 18 On-line Prayer with National Prayer Team for the Office of Faith in Washington DC 7AM December 19-29 With Rocio's Family and Ministry Opportunities in Acámbaro, Mexico and the area of Central Mexico January 29-31, 2026. Setting Hearts Free Revival Meeting at Goshen First Church, Global Methodist Church, in Goshen, Indiana February 17-18. Healing From the Inside Out Seminar at Hondo Methodist Church, Global Methodist Church, in Hondo, Texas February 2025 Return Ministry in Cartagena, Colombia March 7-8 Free to Be Like Jesus Inner Healing & Deliverance Seminar at Montpelier House of Prayer, NW Ohio April-May 2026 Return Ministry in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan June 14 Preaching both Services at Bridge Church Fredericksburg, Texas. My past sermons available in the Sermon Archives: https://www.bridgefbg.com/messages Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources

https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol

Morning by Morning, December 11, 2025 — Joseph Discerned His Dream to be the Word of God

 

Morning by Morning, December 11, 2025 — Joseph Discerned His Dream to be the Word of God   Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and every moment of my day. ...   “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ … When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her for his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a Son; and he named Him Jesus” (Matthew 1:20-25).   You speak to us in many ways. To Joseph, You spoke by an angel in a dream. He heard and obeyed, because he discerned it was You and it was true.   Sometimes You speak through Your written Word. Sometimes You speak through the words of our friends, our family, and those we trust to speak into our lives. Sometimes You speak through our circumstances. Sometimes You speak through the moving of Your Holy Spirit in the thoughts of our minds and the desires of our hearts. Sometimes You speak through dreams or visions or prophetic signs. Sometimes You speak through angels and other messengers of God You send at critical moments in our lives in the progressive journey of Your plan for our world.   But whenever You speak and however You speak, You expect us to discern Your word to be truth. Because not every word we hear, every dream we have, every thought and desire formed in our mind and heart, or every spiritual experience is from You. You command us, “Test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).   We are to “weigh what is said” (1 Corinthians 14:29). But when we test it and weigh it and discern it as from You, we are to trust You and obey You and the word You have spoken to us through whatever means You have chosen to speak. That’s just as true even if it’s spiritual, supernatural, intangible, unmeasurable, unverifiable unrepeatable; even if it comes through an angel in a dream, rather than through black and white words on a paper. That’s why You call it faith—“the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).   Through the angel in the dream, You “commanded” Joseph to name his Son “Jesus.” Joseph had the faith and will to obey. “And Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him … he named Him Jesus” (Matthew 1:24-25).   We don’t hear a lot about Joseph in the Bible. But we do hear this:  A very young man was chosen by God to be the one who named the Savior of the world. Though he didn’t receive a decree from Caesar, get a word from a prophet, or even a prayer from his pastor, he knew he heard God speaking to him. He was convicted in his heart of what he hadn’t yet seen with his eyes, and he chose to act in faith in obedience to the word he believed he heard.   A father’s words are a father’s blessing. And a father’s name for his son speaks of the purpose and calling and destiny for his life. On the one hand, we can say this was a father naming his son. But on the other hand, through this young man named Joseph, God the Father as naming God the Son. And His name was “Jesus”—meaning “the salvation of God”—“for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).   What an honor You gave to Joseph, this young man of such strong faith, who discerned what he was hearing was the word of God, willing to believe and willing to obey, as best as he could and all by Your grace. Lord, let it be so in me, in response to however You choose to speak to me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you hear and discern how the Lord is speaking to you, then trusting and obeying in faith, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events Every Tuesday Night: Teaching my annual 9 Month Discipleship and Equipping Course Free to Be Like Jesus! at Bridge Church Fredericksburg, Texas. 6:00PM Central Time Based on My Books Free to Be Like Jesus —Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance and First the Spirit—Right Alignment of Spirit, Soul and Body https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays December 11 Joining with our Youth Outreach Team from Bridge Church at the Fredericksburg High School for "Devos and Donuts" (Devotionals and Donuts) 7am December 14 Altar Prayer Ministry for Evening of Prayer at Bridge Church in Fredericksburg "Praying Home the Prodigals" 6PM December 16 Joining the City-wide "Church to Church Christmas Walk" hosted by our Gillespie County Ministerial Alliance in Fredericksburg, Texas December 18 On-line Prayer with National Prayer Team for the Office of Faith in Washington DC 7AM December 19-29 With Rocio's Family and Ministry Opportunities in Acámbaro, Mexico and the area of Central Mexico January 29-31, 2026. Setting Hearts Free Revival Meeting at Goshen First Church, Global Methodist Church, in Goshen, Indiana February 17-18. Healing From the Inside Out Seminar at Hondo Methodist Church, Global Methodist Church, in Hondo, Texas February 2025 Return Ministry in Cartagena, Colombia March 7-8 Free to Be Like Jesus Inner Healing & Deliverance Seminar at Montpelier House of Prayer, NW Ohio April-May 2026 Return Ministry in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan June 14 Preaching both Services at Bridge Church Fredericksburg, Texas. My past sermons available in the Sermon Archives: https://www.bridgefbg.com/messages Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources

https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol

Morning by Morning, December 10, 2025 — Mary’s Heart of Faith that Said Yes as the Highly Favored One

 Morning by Morning, December 10, 2025 — Mary’s Heart of Faith that Said Yes as the Highly Favored One

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name be exalted, You’re fame be extended. ...

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’” (Luke 1:26-28).

Why was Mary the “highly favored one”?

“The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

What the Lord saw in Mary’s heart was someone who would say yes in faith. Someone whose outward appearance would be seen by community and culture as unworthy, unsuitable, undeserving. Just a girl, just a teenager, just an unwed mother, just (fill in the blank of any other reason why anybody else in the world would have been more worthy, more suitable more deserving).

Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, God sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. And yes, our choices are real. Because a real relationship of love with God means we must have the freedom to love Him or not, to obey Him or not, to say yes to Him or not. 

Though God’s sovereignty is real, though our choices are real, though God already knows, God has already eternally known every choice we’ll ever make, in the freedom that a real relationship of love requires, God still sets before us the choice of life or death, blessing or curse, yes or no.

And Mary’s choice would be yes. Mary’s heart of faith would be yes.

When God looked and listened from all eternity into the heart of this young girl named Mary, what He heard was a heart that chose, Yes, Lord. “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

With that heart, Mary would be the “highly favored one.” Mary would be the one—despite all the reasons why the world that would look at her outward appearance to say anyone other than this one would be more worthy, more suitable, more deserving—chosen by God the Father to bring forth God the Son by the conception of God the Holy Spirit in her human womb to the Savior of the world.

We don’t worship Mary. We don’t pray to Mary. Mary’s not our co-redemptrix, c0-savior, or co-anything else that would make her equal or greater than Jesus. But we do honor her. And we do honor her heart of faith to say yes, Lord, no matter what people might think or say or judge.

As I remember Mary this morning, here in the season we celebrate the birth of Jesus, may You give me the grace You gave Mary to say “Yes, Lord. Behold Your servant. Let it be so to me according to Your word.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may your heart be full of faith to say Yes, Lord, to His requests as He looks at your heart, as best as you can and all by God's grace, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!

Morning by Morning, December 9, 2025 – From Barrenness to Joy

 

Morning by Morning, December 9, 2025 – From Barrenness to Joy   Good morning, Lord Jesus. Set my heart right with You, as I start off my day, right here with You. ...   “And (Zechariah and Elizabeth) were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years” (Luke 1:6).   Though Elizabeth was “righteous,” she was also “barren.” And in her barrenness in the culture and time she lived, she bore much “reproach among people” (v. 25).   But God had other plans. Before the Holy Spirit entered the womb of Mary to conceive our Savior, the Holy Spirit moved in the womb of Elizabeth to give her a son. Giving birth would beak the curse of her barrenness and bring forth the blessings of God in her generation and for every generation after. Her son, who would be named John—John the Baptist—would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb,” would go before our Savior “in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (v. 15-17).   Holy Spirit, You prepared Elizabeth’s womb to birth the one who would prepare the way of the Lord. Elizabeth and Zachariah would “have joy and gladness, and many (would) rejoice at his birth” (v. 14).   In the same way, during this Christmas season, move in our hearts, Holy Spirit, as You moved in the womb of Elizabeth, to prepare the way of the Lord in us. Prepare us for the time of celebration of the birth of our Savior. Fill us with joy and gladness. Fill us with Your Spirit, as we rejoice at the birth of Jesus, just as the Elizabeth and Zachariah rejoiced at the birth of John.   The Words of the Prophet Isaiah come to mind: “Sing, O barren one who did not bear; burst into song and shout!” (Isaiah 54:1 NRSV)   You turned her barrenness into joy. You turned her curse into blessing.   And during this Christmas time, when some are excited for the season but others are weary under their burdens, would You move in Your power—even in “the spirit and power of Elijah” that prepares the way of the Lord in our hearts, that turns hearts back to you—to bring joy and gladness even in the places that feel only barrenness and reproach.   May Your joy be our strength! May Your Spirit lift up our hearts to behold our Savior! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.     Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may your heart be filled with gladness and joy as the Holy Spirit prepares the way of the Lord in your heart this Christmas season, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events Every Tuesday Night: Teaching my annual 9 Month Discipleship and Equipping Course Free to Be Like Jesus! at Bridge Church Fredericksburg, Texas. 6:00PM Central Time Based on My Books Free to Be Like Jesus —Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance and First the Spirit—Right Alignment of Spirit, Soul and Body https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays December 8 - Thank you for your prayers! We had a beautiful, powerful night last night speaking about the spirit and power of Elijah preparing the way of the Lord in our hearts! Speaking at Hillsboro, Texas Aglow International Ministries Lighthouse 10pm. All are welcome! Contact: hillsborowhitneyaglow@gmail.com December 9 Annual Gathering at our Messiah Ministries Home Base for our Tuesday Night Class Christmas Party for Alumni and Current Class Members 6PM All our alumni are welcome! Rocio is making tamales! December 11 Joining with our Youth Outreach Team from Bridge Church at the Fredericksburg High School for "Devos and Donuts" (Devotionals and Donuts) 7am December 16 Joining the City-wide "Church to Church Christmas Walk" hosted by our Gillespie County Ministerial Alliance in Fredericksburg, Texas December 18 On-line Prayer with National Prayer Team for the Office of Faith in Washington DC December 19-29 With Rocio's Family and Ministry Opportunities in Acámbaro, Mexico and the area of Central Mexico January 29-31, 2026 Setting Hearts Free Revival Meeting at Goshen First Church, Global Methodist Church, in Goshen, Indiana February 17-18 Healing From the Inside Out Seminar at Hondo Methodist Church, Global Methodist Church, in Hondo, Texas February 2026 Return Ministry in Cartagena, Colombia March 7-8 Free to Be Like Jesus Inner Healing & Deliverance Seminar at Montpelier House of Prayer, NW Ohio April-May 2026 Return Ministry in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan June 14 Preaching both Services at Bridge Church Fredericksburg, Texas. My past sermons available in the Sermon Archives: https://www.bridgefbg.com/messages Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol Share This Email   Share This Email   Share This Email