Renewed and Restored 1-13-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I embrace Your purpose and plan for my life this day. ... "For surely you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:21-24). At home, I have an old, handmade rocking chair where I come to meet You morning by morning in the communion of prayer. It used to be painted white when was sitting in the living from of dear friends, Greg and Connie. Greg was one of the pastors at our home church before You called them to ministry in Cambodia last year. Before they left, they gave away most of what they owned. This old rocker seemed to fit me just right, so its where I always sat when we went to their home. A few days before they left for Cambodia, they brought it over and gave it to me. But it wasn’t painted white anymore. Greg had stripped away all the layers of paint, sanded it down, varnished it, and restored it to its natural beauty of solid oak. Connie said it took Greg a long time, especially sanding away all the tight places around the carved spindles on the back. But he said it was a labor of love and we were all thrilled to see what beauty was hidden beneath all that paint. What a gift! Thank You, Lord, for Your labor of love. It hurts at times, as You strip away all the layers of the old self that people have put on us and we have received onto ourselves -- our pride and ego, our insecurities and fears, and all the other ways we've allowed ourselves to become somebody different than who we really are inside. But in Your patience and love, You take time with us, even in the places where we make it the hardest to reach. You renew us and restore us into the true self You created us to be -- according to Your likeness, but in a uniqueness of beauty made by Your hands, like no one else in the world. What a gift! In Jesus' name, I pray. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Where Righteousness is at Home" 1-12-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Thank You for the gift of Your constant presence. ... "But, in accordance with His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace, without spot or blemish, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our brother Paul wrote to You according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters" (2 Peter 3:13-16). This week, You have called me to get away from my daily duties and write down some spiritual principles and stories of Your healing love in the lives You have touched through our ministry. May all that I write be according the wisdom You have given me. As I write, I continue to see how every story of Your healing and deliverance in someone's life, including my own, is a story of striving to be found by You at peace, without spot or blemish. Healing is wholeness, and wholeness becomes the holiness of heart and life in our spirit and soul and body, where righteousness is at home (1 Thessalonians 5:23). This is the experience of the kingdom of God in our hearts and souls being manifested in our bodies and relationships. This the fullness of our salvation in You, as we watch and wait for the fullness of Your kingdom to be established here on earth as it is in heaven. Continue to teach me Your Word and Your ways, that I may continue to live and serve others in Your healing love and power, according to the wisdom You give me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please cover me in your prayers to hear and write as the Lord leads these principles of inner healing and deliverance through the process of sanctification of spirit, soul, and body. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our Website: http://messiah-ministries.org Our address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Available to You Today 1-11-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Like the old hymn says, "This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long." Let the story of my life today be a song of praise to You. Let me begin this day well, that I may finish it well -- walking with You all the day long. ... Some old friends invited me to have lunch at their cafe up on the mountain in Alto, New Mexico yesterday. They probably have the best chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy anywhere outside of Texas. Pete and Cheryl are the real thing. You've taken the pain and struggles of their past, cleansed it all in Your blood, and given them a joy to share Your love and grace with everybody who wanders in to their cafe. On Thursday nights they serve a free meal and a message of hope to anybody who will come eat and listen. And many do. Sitting at the counter, Pete was telling me how they try to start every day saying, "I'm available to You today, Lord. Use me however You see fit." He said it's a really dangerous prayer, because that's just what happens. How thrilling it was to hear some of the stories of salvation and deliverance since the last time I saw them, as You answered their prayers. What an adventure to just give every day to You and see what You do with it! Lord, give me the courage and grace to be available to You every day. "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I belong to You, Lord. May the story of my life today glorify You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." www.messiah-ministries.org Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Sing to God" 1-10-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the song in my heart and the joy in my spirit. ... "Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides upon the clouds -- His name is the Lord -- be exultant before Him!" (Psalm 68:4). My grandfather Hays -- we call him PaPa -- will turn ninety-seven this week. It's been good to see him on my trip out west. We've been very concerned about him since he almost died last summer from continual bouts with pneumonia. Amazingly, he has adjusted to receiving his meals through a tube by a hole in his belly going directly into his stomach. He's not very active any more, spending most of his time sitting in his recliner; but he still desires to live every day, one day at a time. I think he has it in his mind that he wants to live to be one hundred. He used to lead the singing in the little country church near their farm in west Texas, back in the days when "worship leader" mostly meant that you sang a little louder from your hymn book than everybody else. He can't hear very well or talk very well these days, but I bought him some headphones and a CD player, with some old gospel songs I knew he had sung a million times. When I left him yesterday morning, he had a broad smile across his face, with the volume turned up on his headphones about as high as it goes, waiving his arms in the air like a music conductor. We could barely hear, but we could make out the song of praise being released from his heart -- "This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long..." Thank you, Lord. There is no telling what happens in the spiritual realm when a ninety-six year old man, barely alive on a feeding tube, is still singing praises to Your name. Heaven must rejoice and hell must tremble as they behold the sight of a frail human still praising You to the end of our final breaths. Like PaPa, give me the grace to never take the gift of my breath and the songs of the Lord in my heart for granted. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I will be at my mom's in the New Mexico mountains this week working on a book on prayer ministry. I would appreciate your prayers. God bless! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com; website: www.messiah-ministries.org

"A Lamp to My Feet" 1-9-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Saturate my mind in Your Word and fill my heart with Your Spirit, as I narrow my thoughts upon You alone. ... "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). Let Your Word become the way that I think, let it be the guide for the choices I make in the twists and forks in the paths before me. Let Your Holy Spirit bring it to life with wisdom and understanding, with discernment and truth. I pray for the "spirit of wisdom and revelation" that comes from knowing You, spending time with You, and listening to You as Your Spirit reveals Your Word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. http://messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"A Lamp to My Feet" 1-9-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Saturate my mind in Your Word and fill my heart with Your Spirit, as I narrow my thoughts upon You alone. ... "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). Let Your Word become the way that I think, let it be the guide for the choices I make in the twists and forks in the paths before me. Let Your Holy Spirit bring it to life with wisdom and understanding, with discernment and truth. I pray for the "spirit of wisdom and revelation" that comes from knowing You, spending time with You, and listening to You as Your Spirit reveals Your Word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. http://messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Listen to Him in the Temple" 1-8-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up the eyes of my heart to seek You and open the ears of my spirit to hear You, watching and waiting for Your leading. ... "And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to Him in the temple" (Luke 21:38). My body is a temple of Your Holy Spirit. As Your Word says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). So I welcome You into Your temple to listen for Your voice, as You teach me and lead me, now and throughout my day. ... It seems You are saying, "Seek to have My thoughts. Seek to have My desires. Believe by faith that I am answering your prayers, for I am. This is My will and you are asking as I lead you to ask in accordance with My will, so it will come to pass. Only believe." Yes, Lord. Now You are leading me to Your written Word to conform the living word You have spoken into my spirit: "And this is the boldness we have in Him, that if we asking anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him" (1 John 5:14-15). Seeking to have Your thoughts and Your desires is according to Your will. So I know that I have obtained the answer to my prayers, as I ask believing in faith that I have received it. I know this is a process -- the process of Your transformation of my soul as You are renewing of my mind. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2). Continue Your process of my transformation, as You continue to fill Your temple with Your Spirit. Continue to speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays http://messiah-ministries.org To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Through Many Tribulations 1-7-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I entrust my life and this day to You. ... "We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring" (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4). The faith and love of the believers at Thessalonica were growing abundantly and increasing, despite persecutions and afflictions. They were steadfast and unwavering in their commitment to press through every challenge as they continued to look out for one another in their bond of love. In their afflictions, Paul encouraged them by reminding them that God was not the sources of their pain and that "the righteous judgment of God" would come with "vengeance" upon those who were (verse 1:5-8). Even so, God would not be wasting a moment of their suffering as they continued to look to Him in faith and stand by one another in love through every challenge. God used the opportunity of their suffering to make them "worthy of the kingdom of God" (verse 1:5). Lord, use the challenges of my life to make me worthy of Your kingdom. Though I have not yet faced anything like the persecutions and afflictions that they endured in Paul's day and that many more endure in our day, I pray You would use these that I do face to prepare me for those that may come. Teach me how to be steadfast in the faith. Give me grace to look to You in the midst of every struggle, no matter how small or large, as you are making me worthy for the kingdom. "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 NKJV). Let me not waste any my tribulations, but see every challenge as an opportunity to advance in Your kingdom, by Your grace. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for praying for laptop yesterday. I didn't have any more trouble and was able to work on my book all day. Please continue to keep us in prayer. I pray for victory through every challenge you are facing in Jesus' name! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Our New Website: http://messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Remember Your Roots 1-6-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Vine and I am one of Your branches. Let the Life in You flow through me as I abide in You and You abide in me. ... It's good to remember your roots and the dirt where you were planted. The dirt out here is mostly red sand in the cotton fields and cattle ranches of west Texas, where I've come home for a few days to see my family and work on a book. I supposed remembering where we're from helps us to understand a little better where we are and where we're going. It has a way of humbling our pride and adjusting our perspective, maybe even reminding us of what's important and the ones who inspired us to begin the journey in the first place. "Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what is in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then feeding you with manna, with which you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). I've been on the journey through the wilderness of this world for forty-four years now. In my lawyer days many years ago, I remember one of my adversaries reminding me of my roots from the other side of his fancy conference room table in his downtown Houston office, "You're a long way from Lamesa, boy." He was right. Along the way, I've spent time in the slums of sin where I should have never been; and by Your grace, I've spent time in the heights of the heavens where even angels fear to tread. But through the times when I was bound-up back in Egypt and the times when I crossed over into Jordan, You were with me, sustaining me and leading me -- whether I knew it or not -- by Your Word and Your Spirit. I had the gift of a family, as broken as we were, who loved me and disciplined me, trying to ground me in Your Word and Your ways out here in this country where everything that's not rooted and grounded gets blown away in the sandstorms that will strip the paint right off your pickup. As they say, hard country makes for hearty people. As I look back and remember, I thank You for the struggles that made me more strong, for the brokenness that made me more humble, and for the discipline that made me Your son. Keep leading me through this wilderness and give me grace to keep following. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, come see our new website: http://www.messiah-ministries.org Please pray for my laptop -- it kept shutting down on me this morning -- so surprise since I am writing a book on healing and deliverance ministry. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world by the power of the Blood of the Lamb! Thank you for covering my back in prayer! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

False Fears of Mephibosheth 1-5-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. My eyes are on You, Lord. ... Mephibosheth was the crippled grandson of Saul and the son of Jonathan. He must have been living in fear of his life after David became king of Israel in Saul's place. When David sent for him, he "fell on his face and did obeisance" trembling in fear before David, probably expecting the worst for himself and the worst from the king. But David's heart was one of mercy and grace, not wrath and revenge, saying, "Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always" (2 Samuel 9:1-7). How many times do we fear the worst when You desire for us only Your best? How many times do we tremble in fear of what we think is going to happen or what we think someone thinks of us? We fear a reality that is not reality at all. Someone taught me long ago that "F-E-A-R" is "False Evidence Appearing Real." But Mephibosheth was not only crippled in his body, he was crippled in his spirit as well. Even in light of the mercy and kindness of the king, he would still bound by his wounded and distorted self-image. He responded to David, "What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?" (v. 9:8) But the king backed up his promise with his power, and honored him with favor, restoring and redeeming all that was lost. "Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons" (v. 9:11). Lord, deliver me from the oppression of fears that will never come to pass, that are based on assumptions of the experiences of the past, but are not founded upon Your promises of my future. Heal me from the wounds of rejection or shame that try to cripple my identity and my destiny. Give me the humility and the courage to receive the gift of Your grace and Your favor. You have not created me and called me to eat from the scraps under the table, but sit at the place You have prepared for me at Your table as a son of the King. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please join me in praising God for my alma mater -- the University of Texas Longhorns who won the National Championship of college football last night! I will be flying back to Texas today to see my family in Texas and New Mexico and to get away to work on a book on prayer ministry. I would appreciate your prayers. With the earlier time zones, my devotional will be coming out a little later for the next week and a half. Thank you and God bless! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Be Holy" 1-4-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You perfectly reveal the heart of my Father. Father, You and Your Son abide in my heart by Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, You are always turning my heart to Jesus, who is always perfectly revealing the heart of my Father. Lord, You are One and You are holy. Make me more like You each day as I become more one with You each day. ... "His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Thus He has given us, through these things, His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and my become participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:3-5). "As He who has called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy' " (1 Peter 1:15-16). Lord, give me courage and grace to embrace Your "divine power" to become a participant of Your "divine nature" in the humility of surrender and in the faith of commitment to which You are calling me by Your Word. You are everything I need "for life and godliness." I want to grow in holiness of heart and life. I want my nature to become more like Your nature. Though I have so far to go, this is the journey I choose by Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Third Day 1-3-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the hand and lead me by the heart into Your will for my life this day. ... Take me by the hand, Lead me by the heart. Let the world around me know, Just how great Thou art. You're my Savior and my Lord, My soon and coming King. I rise to follow You, Wherever You will lead. This is the third day of the new year, which speaks of the resurrection power of God to arise and fulfill the destiny and calling of our lives. This the promise and power of God, "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The same Holy Spirit that raised You from the dead on that third day is now living in me to lead me into my destiny and my calling. "If the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit that dwells in you" (Romans 8:11). This third day, I rise to follow You, wherever You will lead. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Aroma of Christ 1-2-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Abide in me as I abide in You, I pray. ... We prayed in my Sunday School class yesterday that this year would be a year of deliberately drawing nearer to You than ever before. In this year, let every veil that separates us become thinner by the day -- the veil between heaven and earth, between the supernatural and the natural, between how things should be and how they are. Let wishful thinking become fulfilled obedience. Let hope deferred become dreams come true, as You increasingly invade the realm of the earth with the presence of heaven. Then, Tricia and I were taking a little Sunday afternoon nap on our day of rest -- she in one end of the house and I in the other. We both woke to the strong aroma of fresh hot bread -- but there was no bread in the natural realm. Then we both remembered that was the very phrase You had given me in prayer on New Year's Day about living our lives this year as a pleasing aroma to You. We are convinced this was a simple sign of confirmation that there will be an increase of the awareness of Your Presence with us and with the body of Christ this year. Praise You, Jesus! Come Holy Spirit! "Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I Am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the Bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I Am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give for the life of this world is My Flesh" (John 6:47-51). Lord Jesus, You are the Bread of Life who comes down from heaven to live in us by Your Spirit. "For we are the aroma of Christ to God;" and in You, we are "a fragrance from life to life" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). This year and every year, please keep filling my home and my heart with the aroma of Your Presence and let others be drawn to the Bread of Life living in me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on Biblical, spiritual principles of inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Everything has become New!" 1-1-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Happy New Year! I begin this new day of this new Year with You. ... "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17) The first day of a new year speaks of the joy and freedom of a clean slate and a fresh start. Some see it as a day to enter in to new commitments and resolutions to try harder and do better in this year what couldn't be done last year and the years before. But in Christ, neither the shame or regrets of the sins of the past nor the temptation to rest in the complacency of victories and success has any hold upon what You can do in me and through me in this day and every day ahead. By the power of the blood of Jesus, old things have passed away and everything has become new. Paul asked, "Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). In this day of celebration, I praise You for cleaning out the yeast of flesh and sin, shame and regret, disappointments and failures by the blood of the Lamb. Rather than enter in to any form of bondage of resolutions that are not likely to be kept in the power of human strength and will, I celebrate my freedom from the past and the anticipation of my future in You. I entrust the whole batch of the dough of my heart to the kneading of Your hands and the filling of the yeast of Your Holy Spirit. Arise in my soul my Lord. Like fresh hot bread, let my life be pleasing aroma to You through this new year and in every year to come. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Day of Transition 12-31-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You, Lord, in every dimension of Your Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- with every dimension of my being -- spirit, soul, and body. ... New Year's Eve speaks to me of the day of transition -- from yesterday to tomorrow, from last year to next year, from the past to the future. It reminds me of a passage of Scripture on the importance of embracing our times of transition: "But 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). I bring before You all that lies behind. I lay down the crowns of every act of obedience by Your grace to Your Word and Your Spirit. I lay down every burden of heaviness and yoke of oppression, every disappointment and discouragement, every failure and sin. I lay down any desire to linger too long in the satisfaction and celebration of the moments of victory and triumph in the power of Your Spirit to the glory of Your Name. I bring it all to the foot of the Cross and under the Blood of Jesus. Now in this day of transition, I choose to turn and set my sights on the days to come. I choose to press on in Your power to live my life for Your purpose. This is my heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. By Your grace, I choose to answer Your call. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Be Thou My Vision" 12-30-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I hear the words of an old hymn as I wait in the silence of surrender before You -- "Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart."... It seems I hear You saying, "As you see Me, you begin to see as I see. I desire to impart My vision to My people. There are two dimensions to My vision -- first, to see all things clearly as they are and second, to see all things as they should be. Ask for My vision and I will give you eyes to see as I see." Yes, Lord. As I behold You, You change me to become more like You -- to have Your heart and Your vision (2 Corinthians 3:18). I ask for Your heart and Your vision. Let Your vision become my vision, let me see as You see. Teach me how to see the true reality of the current circumstances, and also how to look more deeply to see these circumstances as You intended and as You intend. You are the "God who gives life to the dead and calls things which do not exist as though they did" (Romans 4:17, NKJV). You are the God who gave Ezekiel eyes to see the valley of dry bones as they were -- dead bodies, and also gave him eyes to see them as they were intended to be -- a living army filled with the breath of God (Ezekiel 37:1-14). Lord, fill my spirit with Your Spirit. Show me the dead places in my soul and my church and my community where You want me to see with Your vision and call things that are not as though they were in the power of Your name. Teach me how to "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live" (Ezekiel 37:4-5). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Write the Vision" 12-29-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open my eyes to see where You are leading and open my ears to hear what You are saying. I watch and wait in the stillness of the morning. ... Habakkuk's looked to see the wickedness and destruction, injustice and oppression all around him in his generation. The desire to see change turned his heart to You in the cries of his prayers. The more his heart broke with what he allowed himself to see, the more determined he became to pray through until he heard You answer. In the holy tenacity of persevering faith, he declared, "I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, and what He will answer concerning my complaint" (Habakkuk 2:1). You heart became his heart as the burdens of Your heart became the burdens of his heart. You answered his questions and his cries, commanding from heaven, "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and it does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay" (v. 2:2-3). You will come in power to set things right as You come in the glory of the brightness of sun with rays of Your might bursting forth from Your hand (v. 3:4). The earth will shake and the nations will tremble (v. 3:6). "It will sure come, it will not delay." Yet, at the same time, You will reveal Your glory and confront the wickedness of the nations through Your people who are empowered by Your Spirit to accomplish Your will (Isaiah 60 and 61). As Your body and Your people, filled with Your Spirit, we are Your answer to the problems and challenges You open our eyes to see in our generation. Lord, write Your vision on my heart. Let the burdens of Your heart become the burdens of my heart. Give me a holy tenacity and a persevering faith. Let me take my stand in unwavering obedience until I receive Your word, and once I receive it, let me read it as I run to take my place in Your Kingdom to do Your will in my church and my community in my generation. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Your Word Without Contradiction 12-28-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before interceding, I want to enter in to the intimacy of the communion of prayer in the silence of surrender before You. Before thinking of myself or others, I want to begin my day thinking only of You. Before listening to voices of my family, I want to listen for Your voice alone. I give You first place in my day and in my life, by Your grace. ... In reading the stories about Your birth again this year, I see three different prophecies about three different places relating to Your earthly origin. According to the prophet, You were to be born "in Bethlehem of Judea" (Matthew 2:4-6). After Your birth, Your earthly father, Joseph, carried You away to Egypt until Herod's murderous threats passed with his death. "This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I have called My Son' " (v. 2:15). When Joseph was guided by a dream to return to Israel, "he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, 'He will be called a Nazorean' " (v. 2:22-23). Each of these places -- Bethlehem of Judea, Egypt, and Nazareth of Galilee -- appeared in the earlier Scriptures as prophetic declarations relating to Your birth and early life. Any one of these prophecies taken alone would tend to exclude the others. They could have been seen by some as contradictions within the Word of God. Denominations and sects could have formed around the beliefs of the place of Your birth. But by the moving of Your Spirit in accordance with Your will, the prophecy of each place was fulfilled without contradiction, only highlighting in another way the uniqueness of the identity of this Child, the details of whose birth were prophesied hundreds of years before His birth. Forgive me, Lord, when I have let the things that seem to be contradictions in Your Word cause me to stumble with doubt and unbelief. Forgive me for the times when my lack of faith has let me fail to see that there are no contradictions -- only seeming contradictions that I do not yet understand. As You said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18). Give me faith to believe every word of Your Scripture is true and can be trusted -- without contradiction and without fail. And every written word is perfectly fulfilled in You, the Living Word. Give me courage to stand against the doubts of others and perseverance to not waiver in the stand I take by Your grace. On this side of heaven, it may not all make sense to me. So, on this side of heaven, the gift of faith is required and received. By Your grace, I choose to receive Your gift of faith afresh again today. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on personal transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Religious Spirit of Herod 12-27-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my thoughts to You and open my spirit to the leading of Your Spirit. ... Not everyone celebrated Your birth, Lord Jesus. "When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men" (Matthew 12:16). The false spirit of religion is always threatened by true spiritual relationship. The counterfeit is always threatened by what is real, and seeks to destroy it. Yet, Father, You see the end from the beginning and You know the hearts of men and devils. You sent Your angel to warn Joseph, "Get up, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the Child to destroy Him" (v. 12:13). Father, You entrusted Your Son to the earth and You have entrusted Him into my heart. Give me wisdom to discern the enemies of God who would try to destroy the live of God within my heart. Increase my discernment and sensitivity to Your Spirit to hear Your warnings and obey Your leading. Then the Life You have birthed in my heart will continue to grow into maturity -- into a vibrant and true spiritual relationship with You and never into the lifeless religion that fears the move of Your Spirit in the earth and in my heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please remember Messiah Ministries in your Year-End Giving. Your tax-deductible contributions to the Kingdom through our ministries of prayer are deeply appreciated and truly needed. We are completely supported month by month by those the Lord has touched through our ministry. Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Please give generously and may God bless you in overflowing abundance! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Present of Your Presence 12-26-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. It's good to be with family and friends, and it's good to slip away for a moment alone with You. ... This is the day after Christmas. The presents are opened and the families are heading home. In all the giving of gifts, I hope we've remembered that it's Your birthday we've been celebrating and not ours. I hope we've remembered we enjoy our families because You've welcomed us into Your family. Christmas is over now, but Christ remains. It's the day after Christmas, and the tree is bare, The sound of children playing with their new toys now fills the air. We've laughed and cried and enjoyed one another, We've feasted with goodies, 'Till we thought we would smother. Some presents we'll take home and some we'll take back to the mall, But the gift of Your Presence is the greatest Gift of all. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16, KJV). Thank You for my Christmas Present, the gift of Your Presence in my heart all year long. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

A Child is Born for Us 12-25-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Happy birthday! Though no one knows the exact day of Your birth, many people throughout the earth will celebrate the birth of Christ today. I join with their songs and praises to welcome You in the earth and into our hearts today. ... "For a Child has been born for us, a Son given to us. Authority rests upon His shoulders; and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). In the words of the classic hymn, I join Your faithful, joyful and triumphant to come and behold You, singing praises to Your name -- "Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to Thee be all glory given; Word of the Father, now in Flesh appearing! O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!" Welcome, Lord Jesus -- You are the Everlasting Father, Son of God, Holy Spirit of the Mighty God; You are my Wonderful Counselor, my Prince of Peace; You are the Child of God's Promise, Messiah and Christ, the Word made Flesh. I welcome Your Spirit and Your Word in me on this day of celebration and joy. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Merry Christmas, my friends! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Preparation and Anticipation 12-24-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me get quiet and still as I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit. ... To me, Christmas Eve speaks of preparation and anticipation. In our Christmas hymns of Joy, we proclaim the call to preparation with joy -- "Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing..." As John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord," I open my heart to Your Holy Spirit to prepare the way for Your coming in anticipation and joy. I prepare You room in the manger of my soul. I join with heaven and nature to repeat the sounding joy. You are the God who humbled Yourself from heaven to earth to be born in a lowly manger and You continue to humble Yourself from heaven to earth to live in the hearts of men. "Joy to the world! The Lord is come! Let earth receive her King!" In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Crucified with Christ 12-23-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit and lead me in Your ways. ... I long for You to be formed in me, for Your nature to become my nature and Your ways to become my ways. Though it is painfully obvious how much of my flesh still needs to die, I thank You for the grace of Your reassurance that I am on the journey. The journey begins again each day as I choose to take up my cross and follow You or set it aside and follow me. Give me the humility and the courage to choose well. To call You "Lord" is to submit to Your "Lordship," to continually decrease as You continually increase. By Your grace and the power of Your Spirit, I choose again today to die to the will of self and live to the will of God. Let me say with Paul more confidently and more truthfully today than yesterday that I "live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Crucified with Christ 12-23-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit and lead me in Your ways. ... I long for You to be formed in me, for Your nature to become my nature and Your ways to become my ways. Though it is painfully obvious how much of my flesh still needs to die, I thank You for the grace of Your reassurance that I am on the journey. The journey begins again each day as I choose to take up my cross and follow You or set it aside and follow me. Give me the humility and the courage to choose well. To call You "Lord" is to submit to Your "Lordship," to continually decrease as You continually increase. By Your grace and the power of Your Spirit, I choose again today to die to the will of self and live to the will of God. Let me say with Paul more confidently and more truthfully today than yesterday that I "live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

I am a son of God 12-22-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You and our Father are One, and You abide in my heart by Your Spirit. Come live in me and live through me, as I submit and surrender my life to You again this day, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a child, and if a child then also an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:4-7). As You promised Your first disciples, so You promise each of us who submit and surrender our lives to You, "I will no leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will also live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:18-20). Lord, give me the faith and the courage to live my life in the truth of these words. Let the astonishing reality and powerful significance of Your words and Your will for my life sink into the depths of my spirit -- "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on life-changing spiritual principles of inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"No greater joy" 12-21-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes toward You, open my heart to the leading of Your Spirit, and entrust my soul into the arms of our Father. ... In his latter years, John said of his spiritual children, "I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John 1:4). Paul said of those he was discipling in the ways of Your truth, "My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19). We are all on this journey of growing up in to the maturity of knowing You and knowing Your truth. We learn from those who have gone before us and we pass it on to those who follow after us -- from generation to generation of the faith. Lord, help me be faithful to learn and to teach in my generation. Above all, I want to see Christ formed in me and Christ formed in those You have entrusted to my care. What is true of our spiritual children is true of our natural children as well. It's good to have the blessing of all my children with us in these few days before Christmas -- two daughters, two sons, and another son on the way, and remembering the three who have gone on before us through miscarriage in the sacred season of life before birth. Thank You for the gift of children. As You know, Father, children are not always easy to raise because You've given them minds and wills of their own. But there is no greater joy than to hear them call upon Your name in prayer and to see the moving of Your Spirit in their hearts. Give me the grace to embrace the times of pain and joy in this ministry of true fatherhood -- to see Christ formed in each of them. Along the way, may Christ be formed in me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Come and Drink Deeply 12-20-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. This time with You in the moments of the morning is a fountain of Life that begins to flow throughout my day. Thank You for the gift of drinking deeply from the Living Waters of Your Presence. ... "On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, He cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me, and let the one who believes in Me drink. As the Scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now He said this about the Spirit, which believers in Him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-38). Every day is a great day when I take the time to come to You and drink of Your Word and Your Spirit, to be immersed and baptized afresh in Your Presence. As You fill me up, then You can pour me out. As I decrease and You increase, emptied of myself and filled with You, Your Holy Spirit glories You in my life. I am thirsty, Lord; and I come to You to drink deeply of Your Living Waters. Make me more thirsty for more of You every day. In Jesus' name I pray Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on healing and wholeness in the process of sanctification, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Process of Surrender and Sanctification 12-19-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit afresh this morning. May I decrease as You increase. As I am emptied of self-centeredness, let me be filled with Christ-centeredness -- little by little, layer by layer, degree by degree, morning by morning, and day by day -- in this life-long process of surrender and sanctification. ... "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may He so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints" (verse 3:12-13). "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and my your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do this" (verse 5:23-24). Yes, Lord. Let me never be satisfied with where I am in my spiritual journey. You are always calling me higher and deeper and closer. You desire to make me more like You each day -- to daily strengthen my heart in holiness. I have so far to go, yet by Your grace, I choose to accept this call again today as You use the circumstances of my life to expose the things remaining in my heart that are not yet like Jesus. But as I look away from myself and look to You, I become more like You as Your Spirit sanctifies my heart "from one degree of glory to another" (1 Corinthians 3:18). This is the work of the Spirit of Christ -- the Spirit who comes to make me more like Christ. This is the work of the Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of Holiness who comes to fill me and desires to possess me and conform me in His nature as I welcome Him and embrace Him in this journey of surrender and sanctification. Father, this is the journey You have set before me. This is the purpose of my earthly life -- to conform me into the image of the Son of God by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my spirit and soul and body every day (Romans 8:29). You are faithful and You will do this, as I choose to embrace You by the grace You give me to take up my cross of death to self-centeredness and follow You in this journey of Christ-centeredness by the leading of Your Holy Spirit every moment of every day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on healing and wholeness through the process of sanctification, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Silent Night, Holy Night 12-18-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I praise Your name and I seek Your face. ... Things don't always go as we plan, but You have a way of working out all things to fit together into Your plan. Our regular worship leader couldn't come to The Fountain last night. Then the others who were going to lead couldn't come either. So we sang the simple songs of Your birth from our hearts -- no piano or keyboard, no guitar or drums -- just our voices, imperfect but pure, in our love for You. And there You were, as we welcomed You into the manger of our hearts. Though the music and the instruments were silent, it was a holy night. "Silent night, holy night Son of God, love's pure light Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth." Like Mary, I want to treasure these moments of Your presence and ponder them in my heart (Luke 2:19). Like the shepherds, I want to carry this treasure in my heart to go and share it with others, "glorifying and praising God" (Luke 2:20). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Face to Face by Grace 12-17-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Give me a humble heart that does not approach You in arrogance, give me a tender heart that draws near to You in love, and give me a bold heart that comes before You in faith -- all by Your grace, and all as Your Holy Spirit leads. ... Father, when Moses saw You as the Flame of Fire burning in the bush, You called to him to turn to You, but at the same time told him, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:1-6). In Your love for us, You call us to come as near as we can; and in Your mercy for us, You know how far we can come into the holiness of Your presence without being consumed. Our sinful flesh cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. Only by the Blood of the Lamb may we draw near. It is by the measure that we have allowed You to crucify our flesh, that Your Spirit may live in our hearts, and we may draw near to You. It is a good and merciful thing when the fear of God will not let us draw any nearer than our submission to God will allow. But by Your grace, the Blood of Christ "sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified" so that we may draw near to You in repentance from our sin and trusting faith to "worship the living God" (Hebrews 9:11-14). Continue to expose the sin in my heart and crucify the flesh of my soul. Continue to humble my pride and burn away all that cannot stand in Your holy presence. Give me the courage to face what You reveal, the humility to turn it to You in repentance and faith, and the perseverance to keep pressing through and pressing in to deeper levels of intimacy with You. Moses grew to a place where You "used to speak to Moses face to face" even under the old covenant (Exodus 33:11). Do all You have to do in me to bring me to that level of intimacy and even more that is available to each of us under the new covenant in the Blood of Christ. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Turn Aside to See 12-16-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As the song says, "Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness; open my eyes, let me see." ... Moses "led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked and the bush was blazing, yet not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.' When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am' "(Exodus 3:1-4). As I go through the wilderness of this broken, fallen world, facing the challenges of the circumstances of my life, You are calling in my spirit to come up to the mountain of God. You are calling me to take time to turn aside and seek You. You are the Flame of Fire that is not consumed. You are the greatest sight my eyes could see. Open my eyes, and let me see. It was only when You saw that Moses turned to see, that You spoke to him, that You called to him by name. By the desire that You've placed in my heart, I'm turning away from the cares and burdens of this world in this moment to seek Your face and listen for Your voice. Here I am, Lord. ... In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on Biblical principles of inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Come along with Me" 12-15-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my heart with Your Spirit, focus my thoughts on Your face, open my ears to Your voice. ... It seems You are saying, "Come along with Me. Look for My lead. As you commit your mind to My thoughts and commit your heart to My desires, you will be following as I lead. The choice of commitment is the first step of taking up your cross and following Me." Yes, Lord. I commit to You my mind and my heart, as best as I can and all by Your grace. Give me faith to believe You will be placing Your thoughts in my mind today and Your desires in my heart today. Let Your supernatural leading become natural to me as I grow in maturity as Your disciple. As You said to Your first disciples, so You continue to say to every disciple, "Whoever does not take up the cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:38-39). Let my life be found in You -- dead to self and alive to Christ as I choose the path of willingly embracing Your thoughts and Your desires, as best as I can, each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Citywide Prayer Breakfast 12-14-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I was sorry to miss our regular time together this morning before hurrying out early to the prayer breakfast, but I know You've been with me and I thank You for being here to have a time together now. ... We gathered early this morning for our city-wide prayer breakfast for business, ministry, and community leaders, and anyone who wanted to come and pray for the people of Lexington, Kentucky and the surrounding areas. I praise You for the blessing of living in a nation where we can pray in the name of Jesus and wish one another a Merry Christmas as an expression of our freedom and our faith -- even if the mayor and former mayor are leading in prayer and the tables are filled with police officers, firemen, judges. Thank you for the homeless man who stood to pray and remind us of our God-given responsibility to pray for and care for the least of these" among us (Matthew 25:40). Pat Day, the legendary horse jockey and Kentucky Derby winner who won more races than any other rider stood to speak without pretence from his life of brokenness, hurt, and anger that began to change when he made You Lord of his life. He praised Your name from the first word to the last. Pat said, until recently, he never sensed You leading him out of his line of work, even though the sport of horse racing is infused with gambling. He said we are to grow where we are planted. And to do all we do to the glory of God, giving You the credit for every gift we have. So without endorsing gambling or the broken lives and misery it often fuels, he endorsed You as the Healer, Deliverer, and Savior of all who would bow their knees and hearts to call You Lord. And many did today. It will be a joy to follow up with them as they turn the corner for the home stretch of their lives in Christ. And now for Pat, he said You've removed his passion for winning races and given him a passion for winning souls. You've planted him in a new place now for him to grow. Bless his ministry and ours -- as we share from our hearts and our hurts of Your redeeming grace and mercy in our lives. Give me a passion for winning souls and give me the grace to grow where I'm planted until You choose to plant me somewhere else. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Intelligent Design of an Intelligent Designer 12-13-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You in spirit and truth -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are my Creator and I affirm Your Lordship in the creation of my life this day. ... "For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Ephesians 2:10). I was moved by an article in our local newspaper yesterday -- moved by the arrogance and mockery of those scoffing at my Creator and His creation. I should not be surprised by the acceleration of blatant ridicule of Christ and Christians in these last days. Through Your words and Your prophets, You warned us long ago: "In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts. It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (Jude 18-21). I chose to respond, but since my comments may never be published in the paper, I ask You to publish them in heaven: Today's paper carried a cartoon on the "Kentucky Voices" page from a guy in Palm Beach making fun of people who hold the conviction of teaching our children the possibility of an Intelligent Design for our existence. Predictably, we are mocked as foolish clowns wearing dunce caps, worthy of ridicule and scorn for believing the intricacies of life cannot be explained by random chance and that our children deserve more than the shallow thinking of evolution theory alone. In the accompanying article, a science professor says some of the best minds of our generation have concluded "the universe came into being 13.7 billion years ago with a massive, explosive expansion of pure energy, the Big Bang." Yet what dunce would believe that pure energy can be created out of nothing. The flaw of any theory of evolution is that it can never explain the beginning. Where does the energy come from? There are no verifiable, testable conditions -- nor can there be -- where energy is either suddenly or eventually formed from the nothingness of a vacuum of time and space to start the process of evolution. To leave out that little detail is arrogant and irresponsible teaching, and our children deserve a better education in critical thinking than that. What kind of dunces do they think we are, and what kind of dunces do they want our children to grow up to be? Tommy Hays Lexington lawyer and spiritual director December 12, 2005 There is "Intelligent Design" because there is an Intelligent Designer. You said it best: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). You are the giver of life because You are Life. And I pray in the Holy Spirit, by the love of God, that You would open our eyes to see You as You are -- full of mercy and love, creating us all for a relationship of love with You and one another, but unwilling to tolerate the arrogance and pride of the sinful people You love. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my dvd's of teaching and prayer on Biblical principles of inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Humility and Intimacy 12-12-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I draw near to You, You draw near to me. ... You call us to "approach the throne of grace with boldness" (Hebrews 4:16). Yet at the same time, we are not to come before You in arrogance or pride. Humility must precede intimacy. Obedience must overcome independence. Knowing the fear of God is as important as knowing the love of God. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8). As You prepared Your people to enter into the land of Your promises, You reminded them that worship is about You and not about us. "Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you happen to see. But only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes -- there you shall offer your burnt offerings and there you shall do everything I command you" (Deuteronomy 12:13-14). Forgive me when I take Your grace for granted and fail to honor You in the reverence and worship You are worthy to receive. Forgive me when I let my own priorities prevail over obedience to Your will in responding to Your call to worship and prayer -- when and where and how You desire it. Yes, worship is a matter of the heart -- a heart that is yielded to You in both humility and intimacy, in the fear of God and in the love of God. You lift me up high into the intimacy of Your presence as I first humble myself low in the humility of obedience (James 4:10). Draw near to me as I draw near to You -- in Your timing and in Your way. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Saturday night for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching dvd's on healing and wholeness, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Continually Seeking Him 12-11-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let the light of Your Word come and fill my heart. ... Let the light of Your Word come and fill my heart Let the power of Your Blood come and cleanse my soul Let the thoughts of Your Mind come transform my mind Let the plans of Your Will come and make me whole. Let the fire of Your Spirit come and purify my life Let the sound of Your Voice come and lead my way Let the peace of Your Touch come take away my strife Let the joy of Your Life come arise in my praise! "Sing to Him, sing praises to Him, tell of all His wonderful works. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who rejoice! Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His presence continually!" (1 Chronicles 16:9-11) I sing this song of praise to You, my Lord and my God. I seek Your face continually and welcome Your presence with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I rejoice that You are with me and Your Holy Spirit is within me. Nothing else in this world is as important as the intimacy of my relationship with You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Willing Worship 12-10-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. "O, Come let us adore Him -- Christ, the Lord." ... Moved by Your Spirit, David called out to the people of Israel to give freely of themselves and of all they had to You for the building of the temple in Jerusalem, saying, "Who then will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the Lord?" (1 Chronicles 29:5). The false gods demand worship and sacrifice through the manipulation of fear and deception, so that their threatened wrath is appeased. But You stand in marked contrast. You desire worship from the heart and the sacrifice of praise offered willingly in sincere adoration and devotion. We find true joy in true worship -- willingly offered and joyfully received. "Then the people rejoiced because had been given willingly, for with single mind they offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly!" (v. 29:9) Even the gift of our love we give to You, we can only give because You first loved us. As David recognized, "For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You" (v. 29:14). I offer the gift of my adoration and worship to You this day, my Lord. I love You, Lord and I thank You for first loving me. All that I am and all that I have belongs to You and I willingly and joyfully consecrate myself to You again today. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Lord's Discipline 12-9-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me humble myself to hear what You would say. Help me trust that Your word of comfort or Your words of conviction are all words of Your love. ... "My child, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the Lord reproves the one He loves, as a father the son in whom He delights" (Proverbs 3:11-12). "He disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share His holiness. Now discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:10-11). You love us enough to discipline us -- loving us as we are, but never leaving us as we are. You want us to share in Your nature, that we may share in Your purposes. You allow us to stumble and fall through the sin of our pride, You allow us to feel the pain of Your disappointment and the sharpness of Your conviction of our conscience. But these are marks of Your love. Our wounded hearts will heal and our wounded pride will break. And there You are -- holding us even closer than before, even trusting us more than before, because we are learning Your ways and receiving Your nature in the process of Your discipline. Ironically, this is how we know when You truly delight in us. I receive Your discipline, Lord, knowing it is the mark and seal of Your love for me. Keep my conscience sensitive to Your conviction and keep my pride humbled under the hand of Your reproof. I am a son of God love, one in whom You delight, growing in the nature of Your holiness, all by Your grace for Your purposes through my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Merry Christmas, Lord 12-8-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I choose to begin this day with You. As best as I can, I focus my thoughts on You alone in these first moments of the morning. ... This year there is so much discussion about whether this is the "Christmas season" or the "holiday season." We debate whether it is appropriate to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy holidays." Editorials and radio commentators argue about whether the decorated trees we display are "Christmas trees" or "holiday trees." Of course, the truth is You are the reason for the season -- if it were not for Christ, there would be no Christmas. Even the word "holidays" comes from "holy days". The days are holy because Your Holy Spirit is drawing our attention and our hearts to the Holy One. For me, the tree speaks of the One who came as a Child born in a manger to bring hope to all who would hear, but died as a Man hung upon a tree to bring life to all who would receive. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree' -- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14). We all have the freedom to celebrate whoever and whatever we want in our hearts -- if not on the lawns of our courthouses -- no matter what nation we live in. I choose to celebrate You in my heart. And every day I celebrate the gift of life and the blessings of God available to me through the sacrifice of Your love on the cross and Your resurrection in glory is a holy day. I choose to keep Christ in my Christmas. I choose for this day to be a holy day in my heart. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Come Up Here" 12-7-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me up by Your Spirit into the arms of our Father. ... "After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.' At once, I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with One seated on the throne!" (Revelation 4:1-2) As we look to You in worship and prayer, You open the door to the heavenly realm. You catch us up in the spirit, and open our ears to hear Your voice. As we humble ourselves before You, You are high and exalted, seated on the throne of our hearts. You desire to show us a measure of Your purposes, that we may know a measure of our part in Your plans -- little by little, and step by step, as You lead. Yet even though You opened the door of heaven and spoke to his spirit to come, John had a choice. He could "come up here" or not. He could seek Your face and humble himself to listen for the leading of Your voice or not. And that's a choice You continually set before each of us: "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, you also will be revealed with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:1-4). As You revealed Yourself to John, reveal Yourself to me. Catch me up in the spirit every day as I turn my eyes toward You and open my heart to Your leading. By Your grace, I choose to die daily to my flesh and this world, to live in Christ. I choose to come up here with You, setting my mind on You. Cause Your thoughts to become my thoughts and Your desires to become my desires, as my life becomes more hidden with You a little more each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"In the Presence of the Lord" 12-6-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As the worship song says, "I will enter Your gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter Your courts with praise." I welcome You with worship into my heart again today. ... "And the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. ... Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with God and with the people" (1 Samuel 2:21-26). I want to grow up in Your presence, Lord. I want to enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise every day. Let me never be satisfied with the depth of intimacy in our relationship -- let me always hunger and thirst more of You, longing for the nearness of Your presence in my soul. Let me grow in Your favor and pleasure, as I grow in maturity of spirit and soul and body. "Happy are those whom You choose and bring near to live in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple" (Psalm 65:4). Let my life be Your temple and my heart be Your house. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Favored One 12-5-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes toward You and open my heart to the leading of Your Holy Spirit. ... "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was much perplexed by these words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God' " (Luke 1:26-30). This is the favor of God -- that You are with us. We need not fear, for we found favor with You the moment we believed You and welcomed You into our hearts and lives. You will never leave us nor forsake us. You continually comfort us with Your Word, "Do not fear, for I am with you" (Isaiah 43:5). Like Mary, I am a favored one. I have nothing to fear, for You have favored me with Your presence in my heart and my home and every area of my life. Though I have not and cannot earn it, You have granted the blessing of Your favor to me by Your grace, as You grant it to all who will humble themselves before You in trusting faith. I humble myself before You again this day, and ponder the greeting of Your grace in my heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

God's Children 12-04-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You and the Father and the Spirit are One. In Your mercy and love, You come and abide in my heart as You draw me near to abide in You. ... "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reasons the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:1-3). Father, I am one of Your children. And children are loved as they are by their parents, even though they still need to grow up. You love me even though You do not love all that I do. Help me to grow up into maturity. Let me be more known by You than I am known by the world. One day, when You are fully revealed and I see You face to face, I will be like You, according to the promise of Your Word. And Your desire is to make me a little more like You each day between this day and that one, in the process of purifying my souls. Give me courage to embrace Your process and faith to trust You in the journey. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Watching Daily at My Gates" 12-3-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me get quiet and still, as I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit into the presence of my Father. ... You are the Wisdom of God, declaring, "Happy is the one who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting beside My doors. Whoever finds Me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord" (Proverbs 8:34-35). Thank You for the grace that allows me to come daily to the gate of prayer and wait at the door of praise. Thank You for loving me enough to move in my heart to open my ears to listen for You and open my eyes seek You. Then You bless me with the favor of knowing the nearness of Your presence and the blessing of Your peace. As I watch and wait in the silence of surrender before You, You fill my mind with Your wisdom and fill my heart with Your will -- a little more each day. This is the wisdom of Your way to happiness and peace. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com