"Restore Such a One" 3-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I commit my first thoughts to You. Nothing is more important. Nothing is of higher priority. Period. ... "My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:1-2). My heart has been heavy all night for a close brother and dear friend "detected in a transgression." Lord, give me Your father heart of compassion, the wisdom of the mind of Christ, and the leading of Your Holy Spirit, as I seek to obey Your call to "bear one another's burdens" to You. Help me be quick to listen, slow to speak, ready to pray. Help me always remember, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). "For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (v. 3:22-23). We all are in need of Savior. We are all in need of the mercy of God. But "I know my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). In Your mercy, You allow us to be detected. Out of Your love for our healing and freedom, and ultimately, for our peace and joy, You allow the hidden things to be brought out of darkness and into Your light. You humble us and break us so You can restore us and redeem us. Your heart is always restoration through repentance, mercy through confession, the transformation of our soul through the confrontation of our sin. "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). And none are to go through the journey of conviction, repentance, and redemption alone. We are called -- commanded -- to "bear one another's burdens." This is "the law of Christ." We are to speak the truth in love -- not just the truth without love, and not just love without truth. There is no true love without truth. And there is no truth without true love. And we are called -- commanded -- to "bear with one another" and "forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves in love" (Colossians 3:13-14). It's not easy for us, and it was not easy for You. Restoration is a process -- by the transgressor and by those wounded by the transgression. But You are patient with us. Help us be patient with ourselves and with one another through the journey of healing and redemption, willing to let You use these opportunities of deep humility and humiliation to put the ax to the roots that bear bad fruit in our lives (Matthew 3:10). Let these be times of purging and pruning, so we can grow healthy and strong into the full measure of maturity in You (Psalm 51:7; Ephesians 4:15). "He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit" (John 15:2). So by Your grace, I choose to come alongside my friend in the painful journey before him. And I thank You for the times You have brought friends alongside me in the painful journeys I have traveled. You are no respecter of persons. As You did for King David in the face of unimaginable but not unforgivable sin, so You will do for all who turn to You in humble repentance and trusting faith with a broken spirit and contrite heart. Through that process, You create in us a clean heart, You restore the joy of our salvation, and You renew a right spirit within us (Psalm 51:10-12). I need that. My friend needs that. We all need that. And it's ours to receive through the sacrifice of Your amazing love and amazing grace expressed forever for us all through the power of Your cross. I receive it. And with Your help and by Your grace, I will come alongside my friend to help him receive it. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com . Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794

Specific Obedience to God's Specific Will 3-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch for Your coming and wait for Your presence here in the place I have prepared for You in my heart. ... "Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now; for it is proper in this way to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he consented" (Matthew 3:13-15). Even the most humble actions intended to honor You can still be outside the will of God. Protocol, ritual, and tradition can never replace specific obedience to Your specific will. We must continually look to You and listen for the leading of Your voice. Only in this way will we fulfill all righteousness. Lord, help me never presume to know Your will. Help me never allow religious actions or the traditions of men to replace our living relationship. Help me learn to humble myself in the silence of surrender, allowing my spirit to sense the leading of Your Spirit, and allowing Your voice to form the answer to my questions in my mind and heart. Help me not stand on protocol, but bow in surrender -- surrender to the wisdom and righteousness of Your will for my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Set to Seek 3-25-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before I begin my day, help me first settle down in the silence of surrender before You, to listen for Your leading and look for Your face. ... "Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Go and build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord" (1 Chronicles 22:19). To set my mind and heart to seek You is a deliberate choice. To prepare a place for the presence of Your Living Word and Your Holy Spirit in the sanctuary of my soul is a deliberate choice. You do not force my worship, nor demand my prayer, for then it would be false worship and empty prayer. But You draw me here to You each day, welcoming me to welcome You into my mind and heart, into my thoughts and desires. I can answer Your call or not, set my mind and heart to seek You or not. But morning by morning, You have shown me the joy of seeking Your face and peace of welcoming Your grace, as You fill my heart and soul with Your presence and allow me the blessing of beginning the journey of another day with You. So I answer Your call and accept Your invitation to join You in the journey again today. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Faithful Friend 3-24-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let this day be a good day -- a day where You go before me, come behind me, and come along beside me. ... "I keep the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.... You show me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever more" (Psalm 16:8-11). To keep You always before me is to be consciously aware of Your constant presence -- to remember You hear my words, see my actions, even know my thoughts. It's true, whether I remember it or not. So continually cleanse my heart and purify my thoughts, as You form Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Then I will not be ashamed, but comforted in Your constant presence with me along the path of life. Then I will know the fullness of joy, like one on a journey with a faithful friend. "Those who love a pure heart and are gracious in speech will have the king as a friend" (Proverbs 22:11). By Your grace, You are my Lord and Savior, my God and King, and my Best Friend. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for your prayers for my son, Zach, and I on our week away together. We are closer friends now, who respect and honor one another and our God in deeper ways. I pray the same blessing for you in your relationships as well. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Key of David 3-23-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You, Lord, to speak to my spirit and lead me by Your Spirit, as I watch and wait in Your presence. ... "These are the words of the holy One, the true One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens " (Revelation 3:7). The key of David is humility. Though he was anointed king, with all the power and authority that implies, the power of his flesh was strong and the power of his spirit was weak in his hour of temptation. Yet his conscience could not persist in the face of Your conviction, and he humbled himself in the confession and repentance of prayer. "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). He cried out to You in anguish from the crushing burden of sin that he might again "hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have crushed rejoice" (v. 51:8). Lord Jesus, You are the "the son of David" (Matthew 1:1). And in perfect humility, You hold "the key of David." You are anointed "King of kings and Lord of lords," with all the power and authority that implies (Revelation 19:16). Yet You humbled Yourself of all the power of heaven and earth, as the Word made flesh living among us (John 1:14). "Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8). Though David sinned, as son of David, You "who knew no sin" took upon Yourself the crushing burden of our sin, that in You, "we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:10). Because You willingly chose to humble Yourself for us as God the Son in obedience to the will of God the Father, You have "the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11). As I take up the key of David in Christ, help me continually humble myself in Your sight, that You may lift me up to receive the full measure of mercy and grace You died for me to receive in the sacrifice of Your love (James 4:10). With the humbled heart of David, I continually cry out to You, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Key Ring of Relationship 3-22-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Father God. Good morning, Holy Spirit. I welcome You, Lord, in each Person of Your Being, into my heart and my day. ... "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). I dreamed last night of a set of old-fashioned keys on a round key ring. Then this thought came to my mind: "These are the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Lord, help me discern if this is a dream from You, and if it is, what are You saying to me through it? ... In the morning light, it seems I hear You say, "There is not one key, but many. Each one has a key, as each one has a gift and a place in My kingdom. My Spirit is the ring that binds you together and keeps you ready to be used for My purposes at My leading. Through these keys, I open doors that no one can shut and I close the doors that no one can open apart from Me. Through these keys, I lead you to open and close doors for one another." Yes, Lord. Forgive me when I have tried to use the gifts You have given me for myself. And forgive me when I have tried to use these gifts for others, but have tried to do it alone, without the benefit and blessing of the gifts of others. In these days, all the gifts are needed, just as all the keys are needed to open the doors and close the doors as You lead along the journey together. "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will by done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, I AM there among them" (Matthew 18:18-20). With these keys and as a father, You may lead me to open and close doors for my sons and daughters, and You may lead them to open and close doors for me. The same is true in my relationship with my wife, my family, my church, and in every relationship I have in the community of the kingdom of heaven. We need You; and at the same time, in Your sovereignty, You have created us to also need one another. As we learn to be selfless, rather than selfish, and as we learn to be kingdom-minded and community-minded, You will open and close the doors of Your will in ways none of us could do alone. By Your Holy Spirit, bind me together in the key ring of relationship with the others You choose to fulfill the purposes and plans You have for my life and theirs. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

No Wasted Words 3-21-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Living Word, lead me in Your way. ... "Indeed, the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before Him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the One to whom we must render an account" (Hebrews 4:12-13). Lord Jesus, You are the Word of God (John 1:1, 14). You are alive and active. You know the thoughts and intentions of my heart. I am not hidden from You, for Your eyes see all. Your ears hear all. Your mind knows all. And it is in light of the Word of God You have spoken to my spirit, expecting obedience to walk in the light You have given me that I must render an account for the thoughts and actions of my life. So make my spirit more sensitive to the leading of Your Living Word every day, then give me the grace to hear You and obey You. "Welcome with meekness the implanted Word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the Word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act -- they will be blessed in their doing" (James 1:21-25). Thank You, Lord. I don't want You to waste Your Word on me. I don't want You to waste Your sacrifice on me. By Your grace, let me be all Your Living Word has spoken to my spirit to be, let me hear it and do it -- by Your grace, in Your power, for Your glory, this day and every day. Then I will be blessed in the hearing and blessed in the doing. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Sovereign One 3-20-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the sovereign One, the holy One. I put my life in Your hands, in trusting surrender and confident faith. ... "In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the right time -- He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:13-15). Lord, I hear You forming the words of a new song in my soul, as Your Holy Spirit sings Your praise through my human spirit: You are the sovereign One, the holy One All time is in Your hands. You are the perfect One, the mighty One More wise than any man. You are the living One, the only One Who sees the beginning and the end. You the righteous One, the coming One Who saves the souls of men. And I will praise You And I will love You With all my heart and soul. And I will seek You And I will greet You Come make my heart Your home. Yes, Lord. Come make my heart Your home this day and every day. I willingly submit to Your authority and trustingly surrender to Your ways, as best as I can and all by Your grace. Form Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Conform my will to Your will and transform my nature to Your nature. As You led me to teach my children to pray -- "Dear Lord Jesus, make me more like You each day." I have so far to go, but You have come so far -- from heaven to earth and from the earth to heaven, from where You will come "to judge the living and the dead" in the authority of Your sovereignty and the mercy of Your grace (1 Peter 4:5). "Say among the nations, 'The Lord is King! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.' Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth" (Psalm 96:10-13). Lord, You are King! Lord, You are my King! And though I will be judged with all the living and the dead, let me be judged faithful, found trusting in the sacrifice of Your blood alone. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I thank all of you who were praying for me to make it through my fast from Ash Wednesday to March 20th. Our sacrifices of obedience are nothing compared to the Lord's sacrifice of love for us. I pray this day is a glorious day in your lives -- it will be for me! Thank you for joining me in the journey. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Secret Law of Attraction 3-18-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You increase, as I decrease. You lead, as I follow. You speak, as I listen. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I willing entrust my will to Your will and my ways to Your ways in trusting surrender to Your wisdom and power. ... "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, to observe all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29) People are talking about a movie called "The Secret" which discusses "the law of attraction" -- based on the idea that what we think becomes our reality, whether positive or negative, because like attracts like. Any truth that has been discovered is no discovery of a great secret, but the discovery of the spiritual principles You have set in motion to influence our lives in our journey to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). You call us to search Your Word, listen for the leading of Your Spirit, and learn Your ways to understand what You reveal for our good and Your glory. Rather than a secret to power and success, Your Word reveals much about Your spiritual law of attraction: "Then God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.' And it was so" (Genesis 1:11). "God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow" (Galatians 6:7). "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV). "And to the centurion, Jesus said, 'Go; let it be done for you according to your faith" (Matthew 8:13). "Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:22-24). These are not secrets, but revealed laws of God based upon the Word of God. But for everything that is real, there is always a counterfeit. And there is only a counterfeit because there is something that is real that the counterfeit tries to imitate. So it is with the counterfeit principles of new age, self-help, mind-over-matter, transcendental meditation, theosophy, Kabalah, witchcraft, magic, hedonism, humanism, and all other forms of the ancient principle of self-centered pride -- "I will do what I want to do; I will create my world based on my desires; I am the god of my universe; I am the master and commander of my ship and my destiny." These are merely the contemporary, trendy manifestations of the ancient sin of Babel: "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves" (Genesis 11:4). As when Pharaoh's "magicians of Egypt" used the sorcery of self-will and manipulation of Your spiritual principles "by their secret arts" to counterfeit Your miracles, pride is rebellion to Your ways and Your will and the arrogant assertion of our own (Exodus 7:11). These false applications of Your true principles are all based upon the assertion of self-will, rather than submission to Your will. They rely on the wisdom of the world, the flesh, and the devil, rather than the wisdom of God. They are a means to seek the fulfillment of our own, self-determined destiny -- the graven image created by our own hands -- rather than seeking the fulfillment of the destiny You have spoken into our spirits, failing to realize that only then will we be truly fulfilled and truly free. They deny the grace of God, leaving us to ourselves to work it out on our own and try to clean up the inevitable mess, while leaving our path of destruction and selfishness for others to rummage and rebuild. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). You want us to use the gift of our minds. You want us to think positively. You want us to move in the "power and authority" You have give us -- but in the humility of seeking Your will and Your ways, looking to You rather than leaning on ourselves (Luke 9:1; Acts 1:8). "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones" (Proverbs 3:5-8, NKJV). "The plans of the mind belong to mortals, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All one's ways may be pure in one's own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established" (Proverbs 16:1-3). Yes, Lord. As I choose the path of humility, rather than pride, asking You to put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, then You can bless me by giving me the desires of my heart because You are conforming my desires to Your desires, my thoughts to Your thoughts, and my will to Your will. "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noon day" (Psalm 37:4-6). "Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Protection from Destruction 3-17-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me humble myself before You and listen for the leading of Your voice. ... "Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that when the house of Judah hears all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (Jeremiah 36:2-3). Lord, Your heart is mercy and grace toward us in Your love. But You are a holy God who calls us to be a holy people. You have spoken Your spiritual principles into existence, to affect our lives and leads us to You in humility and faith, with clean hands and pure hearts. So we reap what we sow, obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings curses, holy hearts bring our lives under Your protection from accusation and judgment while evil ways expose us to disaster and destruction. But You have said, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their evil ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11). Repentance and faith is our protection from destruction. Convict me in Your mercy of my evil ways. Lead me to repentance that I may live the fullness of life You have created me to live, and deliver me from the disaster and destruction that enters through the door of sin and attacks where the protecting walls of holiness, obedience, and faith are broken down. I pray this for myself and for my nation, for Israel and all the nations of the earth. "In Your wrath, may You remember mercy" (Habakkuk 3:2). In disasters and destruction that come through judgment, may we remember to turn to You in repentance and faith. Then even judgment becomes mercy. "For the Lord will not reject forever. Although He causes grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love; for He does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone" (Lamentations 3:31-33). Your will is mercy, rather than judgment and compassion rather than affliction. But "God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow" (Galatians 6:7). By Your grace and in response to Your steadfast love, I choose to sow mercy, that I may reap mercy, to sow repentance that I may reap forgiveness, and to sow obedience that I may reap protection. I pray for Israel and America and all the people of the nations of the world to do the same, by the grace of our God who desires all to turn to Him and call on His name in humility and faith. "For, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved' " (Romans 10:13). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

"We are Hungry" 3-16-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I am silent before You, You slay my pride and quiet my spirit so I can listen for the leading of Your voice instead of my own. ... "Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:24-25). I was honored and humbled to meet one of Your saints yesterday who left everything to follow You. Anathi Jebasingh was a university professor in Delhi who opened her door one day to a little boy from the slum begging for food. Others, of course, soon followed, saying, "We are hungry." But You spoke to her heart to give them the bread of life. Soon she found herself teaching them how to read and write, to know Your Word and to know Your love. You led her to start a school in heart of the slum, where thousands upon thousands are now clothed and fed -- clothed in Christ and fed in Truth, shining as rays of hope in the midst of the darkness (Galatians 3:27). Lord, give me courage to hear Your voice and obey Your will in the ways You lead. Help me see You in the face of those who are hungry, and give them something to eat, see You in the face of those who are naked, and give them something to wear (Matthew 25:31-40). Let me be willing to deny the comforts You call me to sacrifice to follow You and touch the lives You want to touch through mine. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you would like to know more about Anathi and her ministry to the children of the slums of Delhi, India, Friends of the Good Samaritans: www.friendsofthegoodsamaritans.org Come to The Fountain! Tonight 3/16 --the 3rd Friday of every month for our ministry's city-wide gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. Sandra White of Bethlehem Farm Ministries and I will lead in prayer and Paul Cooper of Liberty Worship Center will lead in worship. All are welcome! Call for details: 859-422-1794 Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6). Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, lead this weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. in the Community Room, upstairs at First SouthernNational Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. All are welcome. Please spread the word. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

"Seek His Presence Continually" 3-15-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Holy, holy, holy, Lord -- God of power and might, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. As You fill heaven and earth, come fill my heart with Your glory this day. ... "Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His presence continually" (1 Chronicles 16:10-11). Free me, Lord, from every compartmentalization of my life. Don't let my spiritual life be detached from the rest of my life. Teach me to seek Your presence continually -- throughout the moments of my day. Help me be constantly conscious of Your abiding presence, doing only the things I would do in Your physical presence and becoming the person whose heart and soul are always welcoming Your spiritual presence. Here, I find my strength; here I glory in Your holy name; here I rejoice that You are with me and, by Your Holy Spirit, You are within me. "Christ in me, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! this Friday Night 3/16 --the 3rd Friday of every month for our ministry's city-wide gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. Sandra White of Bethlehem Farm Ministries and I will lead in prayer and Paul Cooper of Liberty Worship Center will lead in worship. All are welcome! Call for details: 859-422-1794 Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6). Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, lead this weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. All are welcome. Please spread the word. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/ .

My Son and I 3-14-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I wait now in the silence of surrender before You, cleanse my soul of sin and fill my spirit afresh with Your Spirit; form Your thoughts in my mind and impart Your desires in my heart. I entrust this day and my life to You. ... "Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He has spoken concerning you" (1 Chronicles 22:11). Next week I have a chance to get away with my first born son for his spring break, just the two of us. Zach is sixteen now, on his way to becoming a man -- on his way to becoming the man of God You created him to be. He knows You and loves You, though there are many times he does not always obey You -- or me or his mother. But his heart is tender, even through times of rebellion and resistance, to hear Your words of conviction and receive Your words of correction, as he yields to Your Lordship of his life. He was so young when our family was broken in divorce, yet Your grace has sustained him and sustained us in our relationship by Your mercy beyond measure. So these opportunities of intensive time together are more precious than silver, more costly than gold. I pray for Your wisdom and Your heart to guide our time together -- times of laughter and fun and times of worship and prayer, times of just being ourselves and times of bonding together. I thank You for the gift of the Father's heart You have given to me. May I give that gift to my son. I want him to "succeed in building the house of the Lord" -- the house of his life, yielded to Your will and filled with Your Spirit. May he live out the fullness of his calling and destiny that You have spoken concerning him from "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). Let me not shape him into my image, but help him find Your image in himself. Then he will have succeeded as Your son, and I will have succeeded as his father. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, tonight I will continue teaching a short series of at my home church on Spiritual Transformation through the Prayer Ministry of Healing and Deliverance on the Wednesday nights of March (6:15-7:30 pm in Room 35 at Centenary UMC in Lexington, Kentucky). Please keep us in your prayers and come join us if you're led. (This is will include much of my teaching and prayers on my dvd/cd Preparing the Way of the Lord -- Biblical Principles of Inner Healing and Deliverance from my healing prayer retreat series -- let us know if you would like to order a set for personal study, Bible study group, or spiritual retreat). Come to The Fountain! this Friday Night 3/16 --the 3rd Friday of every month for our ministry's city-wide gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. Sandra White of Bethlehem Farm Ministries and I will lead in prayer and Paul Cooper of Liberty Worship Center will lead in worship. All are welcome! Call for details: 859-422-1794 Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6). Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, lead this weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. All are welcome. Please spread the word. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

Holy Desperation 3-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You Lord, in spirit and truth, in every dimension of Your Being -- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. ... "My beloved speaks and says to me: Arise My love, My fair one, and come away" (Song of Solomon 2:10). As You spoke to the young woman in the person of her Bridegroom, so You speak to the spirit of all who seek Your face and yearn for the touch of Your embrace. Even so, sometimes there are seasons when it seems we can't find the One we seek or touch the One we long to embrace. "I sought Him whom my soul loves; I sought Him but found Him not; I called Him but He gave no answer" (v. 3:1). But You use even these seasons -- in Your perfect way, in Your perfect timing -- to work a hunger for Your presence and an insatiable desire for Your touch deep into our souls. Then the hunger of our hearts becomes a holy desperation for the filling of Your Spirit, and we are blessed in Your embrace. "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be filled" (Luke 6:21). As You fill us afresh with the fullness of Your presence, we are like the young bride whose yearning to hold You led her to passionately seek You until she found You and embraced You. "I found Him whom my soul loves. I held Him and would not let Him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4). Thank You, Lord, for the seasons of hunger that lead to the seasons of feast. Like the grace that comes through fasting and the prayer of holy desperation, thank You for using the hunger of my heart and the longing of my soul to empty myself of every desire but the desire for more of You. With a hungry heart And a longing soul I seek Your face And Your embrace I hear You call And here I come My spirit soars And there You are My soul awakes To rise to You Come hold me close Here in Your arms Lord draw me near to You. Arise, my soul, arise. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! this Friday night 3/16 at 7 pm for our ministry's monthly city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship in the chapel of Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Road in Lexington. Come be refreshed and renewed as we drink deeply from the Living Waters. Sandra White of Bethlehem Farm Ministries and I will be leading in prayer and Paul Cooper of Liberty Worship Center will be leading in worship. All are welcome! Call us for information at 859-317-1591 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Shouts of Joy 3-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I entrust my heart and this day into Your nail-scarred hands -- scarred with Your unfailing love and unending grace for me. ... "May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves" (Psalm 126:5-6). My eighty-eight year old grandmother in west Texas, "Nanny," has been very weak with some heart problems. Last week, her doctor said if she were younger and stronger, he would replace a heart valve and a blocked artery, but didn't recommend the surgery at her age and in her condition. There were tears and sadness at the news, of course. But she decided to just "turn it over" to another Physician -- One who's done this surgery many times, has a very high rate of success, doesn't cost anything, and has a wonderful caring and compassionate bed-side manner. From her years as a farmer's wife, grain truck driver, seamstress, demo lady at the grocery store, faithful church member, and weekly prayer leader, she knows half the people in west Texas -- and they are all praying for her. When I called her yesterday, she sounded strong, with joy again in her spirit. She said, "I been shoutin' to the Lord all day!" Praise You, Lord! There's no telling until we get to heaven of how powerfully you use the simple prayers of a little old grandmother who knows You by name and cries out to You in prayer to move mountains and change hearts. Though there may come a day when she goes on to heaven "a shoutin'," that day is not this day, because there is a lot of praying and living she has yet to do before she comes home. Thank You, Lord, for turning her tears to shouts of joy -- in her spirit and mine. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6) Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. Friends, I am teaching a short series of at my home church on Spiritual Transformation through the Prayer Ministry of Healing and Deliverance on the Wednesday nights of March (6:15-7:30 pm in Room 35 at Centenary UMC in Lexington, Kentucky). Please keep us in your prayers and come join us if you're led. (This is include much of my teaching and prayers on our dvd/cd Preparing the Way of the Lord -- Biblical Principles of Inner Healing and Deliverance). Let us know if you would like a copy for your church or Bible study. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

Fellowship of the Kingdom 3-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before I think of anything else, let me think of You. Before I say anything else, let me worship You. ... "The devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). This is a weekend of fellowship and teaching and prayer with others You have given an apostolic vision for the broader purposes and strategies of Your Kingdom. During the day, I met friends from across the nation on behalf of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, dedicated to the people and churches of the United Methodist Church "to be filled, gifted, empowered, and led by the Holy Spirit in ministry to the world." At dinner, I was excited to join some regional leaders to hear from Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, and Jim Goll with the Global Harvest apostolic network about the call to social transformation of our cities and cultures through ministry in the marketplace and strategic level intercession. What strikes me the most this weekend is the significance of personal relationships -- not just teaching, breaking bread, or even prayer -- but coming together in the fellowship and bond of personal relationship. We are to grow in affection and respect for "those who labor among you" (1 Thessalonians 5:12). So we need to know one another, understand one another, so that we know how labor with one another, as You establish Your kingdom in our hearts and throughout the earth. Lord, strengthen Your body through these bonds of personal relationship. Lord, bring us out of the walls and mind-sets of focusing only on our own churches and ministries, and keep lifting our eyes to seeing the broader vision of the kingdom of God. When our eyes are on the King together, we come together in the fellowship of Your kingdom to fulfill Your calling. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers for us while I'm in the Nashville area this weekend for these opportunities of broader relationship and ministry with Aldersgate www.aldersgaterenewal.org and Global Harvest www.globalharvest.org To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Pursue Peace and Holiness 3-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Humble my heart to wait, silence my soul to listen, as I commit my thoughts and desires to You this day. ... "Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). Peace doesn't just happen. And holiness doesn't just happen. They must be pursued, according the command of Your Word. Pursuit speaks of tenacity, perseverance, determination -- no surrender and no compromise. I can't pursue peace with everyone without Your grace to give me the will and the power to press beyond offense and self-righteousness, not only to forgive, but to fully embrace the relationship in the way You lead with the boundaries You set. And I can't pursue holiness within myself without Your grace to allow Your Spirit to search my soul to expose the things in me that need to die and the things of You in me that need to be called to life and the power to surrender them to You. This peace and holiness You have commanded me to pursue in Your power and by Your grace is not optional. It is not part of a minor doctrine or rule of life for a select few who are specially called. The pursuit of peace and holiness is at the heart of the way of life of a genuine, authentic Christian life -- a life being conformed to the image of Christ. Without it, "no one will see the Lord." This is Your warning, as much as it is Your command. I want to see You, Lord. And I want others to see You in me. So as I encounter those who are hard to embrace in peace and as I encounter the sins and struggles of my soul that are hard to surrender in holiness, keep giving me Your unrelenting grace and Your indestructible power to tenaciously pursue peace and holiness -- to live this day and my life for the glory of Your name. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"See Dreams" 3-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be my wisdom, my strength, and my vision. Feed me Your Word and lead me in Your way this day. ... "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see dreams and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17). My wife was talking to our son Elijah about John's visions in Revelation. He wanted her to explain what a vision was. As she was trying to put it into words, he said suddenly, "Oh, you mean when you have 'see dreams' like when I see dreams in the air." It seems You are speaking to my four year old son in visions. We've asked him to let us know what he sees in his "see dreams" next time while he still remembers them. Give us discernment and wisdom to help him grow in the gifts You have given him, learning to "weigh what is said" and test his visions to see if they are means of Your words and guidance to us (1 Corinthians 14:29). "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; and abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). Lord, You are birthing an Elijah generation. Give us grace to raise them up in the way they should go, not departing from the path You have set before them (Proverbs 22:6). May they see farther, hear more clearly, minister Your love in greater power and authority than our generation ever dreamed. "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts" (Haggai 2:9). You are increasing the anointing and accelerating the seasons in these lasts days that You have poured out Your Spirit on all flesh. Let us not hold them back by our pride, nor put stumbling blocks before them by our forms of religion and traditions of man. Let them prepare the way of the Lord in Your power as Your Spirit sends them before You to make straight Your paths (Mark 1:1-8). "See, I am sending My messenger to prepare the way before Me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come into His temple....Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse" (Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6). The spirit of Elijah prepared the way through message of repentance and faith in John the Baptist for Your first coming (Luke 1:17; Matthew 11:12-14). So shall this generation of Elijahs prepare the way for Your second coming. Come, Lord Jesus, come. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I am teaching a short series of at my home church on Spiritual Transformation through the Prayer Ministry of Healing and Deliverance on the Wednesday nights of March (6:15-7:30 pm in Room 35 at Centenary UMC in Lexington, Kentucky). Please keep us in your prayers and come join us if you're led. (This is include much of my teaching and prayers on our dvd/cd Preparing the Way of the Lord -- Biblical Principles of Inner Healing and Deliverance). Let us know if you would like a copy for your church or Bible study. Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6) Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/ .

Hearing the Voice of God, Knowing the Will of God for My Life 3-7-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift my eyes to the risen Christ. Come rise again in my heart today. ... "The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I many know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by Morning He wakens -- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught" (Isaiah 50:4). You've wakened me early this morning to listen for Your leading, with anticipation and expectation in my heart. It seems I hear You forming Your words of a new song in my soul -- I lift my eyes to my risen Christ; Come rise again in my heart I pray. I open my ears so that I can hear All that Your Spirit would say. Help me be quiet as I wait in silence To listen for the leading of Your voice. Let me be still and know that You are Lord As You guard my soul from distractions and noise. Let Your thoughts be my thoughts Let the desires of Your heart be mine. Conform my will with Your will and my ways to Yours To lead me in Your purpose since the foundations of time. Thank You, Lord, for these words You have written on my heart this morning. Let them be more than words, but a surrender of my soul to Your plans and purposes for my life. I don't want to waste single day of the precious moments of my short time in the flesh on this earth. I want to be faithful to fulfill all You have for me in my generation (Ephesians 1:3-6). "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon Me and pray to Me, I will hear you. When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart ..." (Jeremiah 29:11-13). Yes, Lord. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I seek You and Your will for my life with all my heart. So now I can rest in the peace of trusting that You will be answering my prayers -- putting Your thoughts in mind and Your desires in my heart, conforming my will and my nature to Yours, as You lead me in the paths of Your purpose for my life. In trusting surrender, I offer my life as "a living sacrifice" to glory of Your name (Romans 12:1). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays A good friend and prayer partner of mine has been deeply moved to begin exploring the possibility of a spiritual retreat center for weekend events, healing prayer retreats, a school of ministry, and other means of cleansing and empowering the hearts and souls of God's people. These things are part of the deeper visions of my heart. Please join us in prayer for discernment of the Lord's will and timing and provision. Friends, tonight I will begin a short series of teaching at my home church on Spiritual Transformation through the Prayer Ministry of Healing and Deliverance on the Wednesday nights of March (6:15-7:30 pm in Room 35 at Centenary UMC in Lexington, Kentucky). Please keep us in your prayers and come join us if you're led. (This is include much of my teaching and prayers on our dvd/cd Preparing the Way of the Lord -- Biblical Principles of Inner Healing and Deliverance). Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6) Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 My apologies for the mistaken web link the other morning to our Celebrate Recovery ministry in Lexington at Centenary on Thursday nights. The correct link is: www.CRLex.com To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

Blow the Trumpet in Zion 3-06-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and wait now in the silence of surrender to follow in Your way. ... "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near -- " (Joel 2:1). You moved on the hearts of my good friends Doris and Bob McCray to gather with others each week to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" -- to pray for Gentiles and Jews, Muslims and Christians; to pray for security and safety, humility and courage; to pray mercy in the midst of judgment and peace in the midst of terror (Psalm 122:6). Peace is more than a passing truce. Peace is more than a strategic weapon of the temporary secreting of hidden hostilities and seething hatred. Peace is shalom -- the blessing wholeness and healing of being in right relationship with God, with one another, and within ourselves (Number 6:26). Peace is a Person. Jerusalem will know peace when she welcomes the "Prince of Peace" into her city and into her heart (Isaiah 9:6). On that day, You will come to them in peace when they turn to You in repentance and faith, crying "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:39). Twelve gathered last night to pray for this beginning gathering from different churches and traditions but of one heart, led by one Spirit, to pray as You led. One lady was here visiting from her home in Israel, where she will return next week to her home in the war-torn region of northern Israel. There she opens the Scriptures to lead her Jewish neighbors to their Messiah. And when my four year old son, Elijah, began to powerfully blow the ram's horn shofar, something erupted in our spirits with enthusiasm and joy to join together in prayer. The lady from Israel declared with joy, "That's the Lord's call to prayer, the call to battle!" Yes, Lord. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). Our battle is against the forces that come to deceive and destroy, that keep the eyes of the perishing blinded to the truth of Your love and grace, that keep us bound up in hatred and war when Your heart for all is the peace of shalom. And prayer is one of the mighty "weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). "Blow the trumpet in Zion!" Give us ears to hear the call to battle, to come up to Your holy mountain, and to take our stand for the salvation and security of Your people in Your strength through the power of prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6) Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights, starting Tonight, March 5th @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 My apologies for the mistaken web link the other morning to our Celebrate Recovery ministry in Lexington at Centenary. The correct link is: www.CRLex.com To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

Sacrament of Hope 3-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Continually come into my heart; continually fill me with Your Holy Spirit, as You continually increase and I continually decrease. ... "Jeremiah said the word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption by purchase is yours.' ... And I bought the field.... For thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land" (Jeremiah 32:6-15). You led Jeremiah to purchase a plot of land in Israel at a time when Jerusalem and all Israel was under siege from the king of Babylon. The city would be destroyed and the people taken captive in exile as their sins of rebellion and unbelief brought them under Your judgment and opened the gates to destruction from their enemies. Yet, even in judgment, You remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). Even through destruction, You bring restoration -- in Your timing and in Your way. Though Jerusalem would be destroyed and Israel would be held captive in the land of her enemies for seventy years, just as You had prophesied through Jeremiah, one day Your people would return to begin again (Jeremiah 25:11). The purchase of the land was a sacrament of hope -- a physical declaration of a spiritual reality. Though Jeremiah prophesied judgment, he also prophesied restoration. And the owner of land has legal rights -- physical rights, and therefore, spiritual rights. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). The love of our heart is the measure of our authority. Over the past year or so, I believe You have led me to purchase land, to speak and pray with the authority You give by the love You've placed in my heart. By Your grace, we bought a home in Wilmore, Kentucky -- the site of many significant, historic revivals, birthed from repentance and prayer at Asbury College (where they just named Dr. Sandra Gray their first woman President -- a spiritual mentor, a faithful friend, and a wise board member of our ministry -- Praise You, Lord!). And by Your grace, we bought stock in the oil company -- dedicated the glory of God by its board of directors -- that holds the legal rights from the government of Israel to drill for oil and minerals under Megiddo and the surrounding region of Israel. You have given me a heart of love to place my treasure in Kentucky and Israel -- to speak and pray with the authority You give for protection and for revival, for spiritual transformation of hearts and souls, cities and regions. Though there may be days of judgment and war in the conflicts of heaven and earth, there will also be a day of great restoration and revival. I have purchased the land, but You have purchased my soul. "The right of possession and redemption by purchase is Yours" (from Jeremiah 32:7). Let this purchase of land be my sacrament of hope. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, the oil company I mentioned is Zion Oil & Gas www.zionoil.com/company/vision Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6) Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights, starting Tonight, March 5th @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. My apologies for the mistaken web link yesterday morning to our Celebrate Recovery ministry in Lexington at Centenary. The correct link is: www.CRLex.com Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

Overcoming the Fear of Others 3-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your words in my heart. ... "The fear of others lays a snare, but one who trusts in the Lord is secure" (Proverbs 29:25). One of my friends gave a testimony of Your victory over his struggle with pornography last Sunday at our church. When he return to his seat, his wife stood and embraced him in such a declaration of forgiveness and love that all our church erupted in applause. The fear of what others might think almost kept him from sharing the hope of healing and the power of transformation through the blood of Your cross. But now that fear is forever broken. And shame is turned to honor. Now my friend helps others find their way to freedom through the healing power of Your deliverance as part of our Celebrate Recovery ministry on Thursday nights. We are never more safe and secure than when we follow You in trusting obedience to Your will. Lord, help me always be courageous to trust You whenever You lead me to share Your victories over my struggles. Transparent lives unafraid to speak of the power of the cross are an irresistible force to break down the hidden walls of pride and shame and set the captives free. As hope begets hope and courage begets courage, our stories of struggle become part of the stories of victory in the lives of others. Then the power of the fear of man is broken, and the joy of forgiveness and grace is released, as You turn the places of shame into places of honor. "Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs" (Isaiah 61:7). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please join us if you can and pray for if you can't for our Celebrate Recovery ministry in Lexington addressing all forms of hurts, habits, and hang-ups on Thursday nights www.CRlexington.org To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Come to the Mountain! -- Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem on Monday Nights

"Many people shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you" (Psalm 122:6) Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights, starting Monday, March 5th @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. We have this promise from the Lord as we stand with the people of Israel in prayer: "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be bless" (Genesis 12:3). So come be blessed to be a blessing! Rev. Tommy Hays Spiritual Director and Founder Messiah Ministries www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Lexington, Kentucky 40502 859-422-1794

Weapon in the Hands of God 3-2-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I devote these first moments of the morning to You. Here is where I receive Your grace and power to live in Your strength throughout this day. ... "See, it is I who have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and produces a weapon fit for its purpose" (Isaiah 54:16). Lord, I want to be a weapon fit for Your purpose, fashioned and formed in the flames of Your fire. Those flames may be the challenges and circumstances I face today, but I also know You are here with me to give me the grace to turn these challenges into opportunities to grow into the man of God You have created me to be. They will sharpen me and hone me in preparation for the battles to come. So as the wind of Your Spirit blows the fire of coals, I know You will not make it hotter than I can stand, but hot enough to accomplish Your purposes of preparation in me. What may seem like a curse will become a blessing, as I receive Your grace for the courage and perseverance to trust You through the process of transformation. So as best as I can in the faith that I have, I ask for, and I receive, that grace. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Come to the Mountain! on Monday nights to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "Many people shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). Friends, Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights, starting Monday, March 5th @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

"Stoke the Fire" 3-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, my Father. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Lord, You are One and You are holy. You are worthy of my praise and my trust. I worship and adore You. Now I sit quietly and wait for You. ... "If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish; you shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, for acceptance in your behalf before the Lord.... The sons of the priest Aaron shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.... Then the priest shall turn the whole into smoke on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord" (Leviticus 1:3-9). As I woke this morning, I heard Your Spirit speak to my spirit: "Stoke the fire." The image came to mind of stoking the coals and adding wood to a burning flame of fire. Lord, You have set my heart ablaze with a passion for You. But every day, the flame of the fire of my heart must be stoked and tended. As I come "to the entrance of the tent of meeting," I can enter in to the intimacy of worship and prayer in communion with You only because of Your eternal sacrifice for me, the Lamb "without blemish." By Your grace, I come as a child of God in the priesthood of believers to offer "the whole" of my heart as "an offering by fire of pleasing odor" to You. As I stoke the fire, by the leading of Your Holy Spirit, let my prayers rise to You as smoke rising up from a burning flame, consuming the burnt offering of my heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, Doris & Bob McCray of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights, starting Monday, March 5th @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com .

Powerful, Effective Prayers 2-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my spirit with Your Spirit. Fill my words with Your words and my prayers with Yours. ... "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest" (James 5:16-18). Apart from You, I have no righteousness. But through the mercy of Your grace and the cleansing of Your blood, You have given me a righteousness "that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith (Philippians 3:9). Through that righteousness of relationship with You, You want to move in my spirit to pray in the power of Your name, which is to pray in the power of Your nature, according to Your will and Your ways. Those prayers are "powerful and effective" -- a means of Your grace to release Your will and establish Your kingdom through Your people in prayer "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Lord, teach me to pray like that -- faithfully, fervently, powerfully, effectively. Bring me more deeply each day into a relationship with You like that, so that I sense the leading of Your Spirit to pray in accordance with the desires of Your will in the authority of Your name. Then my prayers will be powerful because they are backed by the power of God. Then my prayers will be effective because they accomplish the purposes of God. Then my prayers will be faithful and fervent because they are empowered and impassioned by the Spirit of God. These are the prayers that move heaven and earth because they move the heart of God. And they move Your heart because they are from Your heart to mine in the righteousness of relationship with You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, Doris & Bob McCray, board members of Messiah Ministries, will be leading a weekly Meeting to Pray for Israel on Monday nights, starting Monday, March 5th @ 7 p.m. These prayer gatherings will meet in the Community Room, upstairs at First Southern Bank, 3060 Harrodsburg Road (Corporate Center) in Lexington, Kentucky. Come join us if you can and pray along with us if you can't. Please spread the word. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Show Your Power, Lord 2-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me be quiet, as I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit into the arms of my Father. ... "For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power" (1 Corinthians 4:20). Father, You spoke long ago through Your prophets of the coming of the Messiah, then He came in power. And You spoke long ago of the judgment that would come upon Your people in Israel for their persistent rebellion against Your love and Your will, then they were led away captive and scattered to the ends of the earth. But You also spoke long ago of their restoration to the land You had promised by covenant to their forefathers, and their nation was miraculously restored after thousands of years. Before the eyes of the world, we have seen the restoration of Israel and a great ingathering of the Jewish people from the nations of the earth where they have been scattered. You are faithful to Your Word, and You confirm Your Word with Your power (Mark 16:20). And Your Word also speaks of coming judgments against the nation of Your people in Israel, as they persist in rebellion and unbelief of the grace of God, which opens a gate to the wrath of their enemies. Yet even these judgments You will use to turn the hearts of many to their Messiah. Though there will come a time when "a great horde, a mighty army" comes against Israel "out of the remotest parts of the north," You will use even this arm of judgment to display Your glory of Your power and our desperate dependence on Your mercy and love. On that day, "there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel" and You will turn the judgment of Your wrath upon the enemies of Your people (Ezekiel 38:18-20). In an undeniable confirmation of Your Word and an unprecedented display of Your power, You will "enter into judgment" with he who would destroy Your people, "with pestilence and bloodshed," as You "pour down torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur, upon him and his troops, and the many peoples that are with him" (Ezekiel 38:21). All the world will see that Your Words are faithful and true; they can they be trusted because they are eternally spoken through the One who is eternally worthy of all our trust. "So I will display My greatness and My holiness and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord" (v. 38:23). Yes, Lord. You are the Lord of heaven and earth. You confirm Your Word with Your power. In our days and before our eyes, You are displaying Your greatness and Your holiness, making Yourself known. Though our sins of rebellion and unbelief open the gates to the enemy of our souls and our nations, exposing us to judgment as a consequence of our sin, You use even these judgment to open our eyes to our Messiah -- "our God and Savior," who never stops fighting for us "to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3). Come, Lord Jesus, show Your power. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, though I know not all in the diverse traditions of the body of Christ share my perspective, I believe many of these prophecies of God will be fulfilled and are being fulfilled on many levels, before the return of Christ. If you feel led, please join with me in prayer for the protection of Israel and also that any access the enemy may have through gates of destruction may be turned for our good and God's glory, revealed in His ultimate love and mercy, even through any necessary judgment that comes in our lives. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Words of Life 2-26-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart to seek Your face; open the ears of my spirit to listen for Your voice. ... "Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear" (Ephesians 4:29). One way You have created us in Your image, is by releasing Your power through the words we speak. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). "A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit" (v. 15:4). With the words of Your mouth, You created the Tree of Life (Genesis 1:11; 2:9). And You desire the words of my mouth to speak life as well. Lord, sanctify my tongue; purify the words of my mouth. Like Isaiah, take a coal from Your altar and cleanse my lips from sin (Isaiah 6:6). Empower me to speak words of life and truth to build up the spirit of those You bring into my life. And where others have failed to speak Your words of truth and life into my spirit, help me forgive them and release them to You by Your grace. Draw out the "deadly poison" of unholy words, and replace them with Your words of healing and life (James 3:8). I receive this grace from You; help me give this grace to others. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Father and Son 2-25-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You perfectly reveal the Father heart of God, for You and Father and the Holy Spirit are One. Make my heart more like Your heart each day. ... "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother" -- this is the first commandment with a promise: 'so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.' And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:1-4). This weekend, I had to have one of those father-to-son talks with oldest son, Zach, who's now sixteen. As we pressed through the fluster of attitudes and emotions, You allowed us to get down to the root of the matter. As he began to see it and come to the place of being willing to release it to You, I was just thanking You in my spirit for the all seeds of truth and life You have planted in his heart along the way. Down inside he knows right from wrong, truth from lies, and what will bring freedom from what will bring bondage. His brokenness and humility before You in prayer caused a holy pride to fill my heart. And I think it filled Your heart too. Thank You for bring us both up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. These are the moments when it matters and when it's easy to see it was worth it all. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Days of Purim 2-23-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me be emptied of myself and filled with You. ... "Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both far and near, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and form mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.... Therefore, these days are called Purim" (Esther 9:20-26). Haman, "the enemy of all the Jews," sought to destroy them in a single day, casting the lots, called "Pur," to determine the day of their destruction. But You called Your people to fast and pray, that the schemes of the enemy would be exposed and cancelled. "When Esther came before the king, he gave orders in writing that the wicked plot that he had devised against the Jews should come upon his own head" (v. 9:24-25). The enemy of our souls devises his schemes "to steal and kill and destroy," but You reverse his curse of destruction and death into our blessing of restoration and "abundant life" (John 10:10). You love to our sorrow into gladness and our mourning into a holiday. Give us humility to fast and pray. Give us faith to come before the King. Then Your decree with go forth, thwarting the plans and schemes of our enemy, bringing judgment upon his own head. "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20). What he intends for evil, You will turn around and use for good (from Genesis 50:20). In Your time and in Your way, You turn our fasting into feasting, and our days of pain into days of Purim. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Season of Easter, Season of Esther 2-22-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and King of my heart, I bow before You, worship and adore You, watching and waiting for You call to come into the fullness of Your presence this day. ... "Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, 'Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.' Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him" (Esther 4:16). Fasting is a "weapon of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). It is a physical act of a spiritual attitude -- the attitude of humility and desperate dependence on You. "I humbled my soul with fasting" (Psalm 69:10). And it is a means to prepare our hearts to "go to the King" on behalf of our people. As we humble ourselves in Your sight, You lift us up (James 4:10). You called Esther to fast and pray because Haman sought to destroy her people (Esther 3:5-6). The spirit of Haman persists today, seeking to destroy the Jewish people of Esther and Mordecai. By grace, through faith, I am now grafted in to the tree of Esther's people (Romans 11:17). "Just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.' For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed" (Galatians 3:6-9). As I receive the blessings of Abraham through faith in the Messiah and God of Abraham, so I also sense the call to fast and pray on behalf of the people of Abraham, who are now my people as well, having been grafted in to the tree of faith. For two days, it seems You have been impressing the date of March 20th on my heart. I don't know yet if this may be a date of a great move of Your power or a date planned by the spirit of Haman as a date of planned destruction, or something else all together. But I choose to receive this as a call for me to fast and pray until that day in the way You lead. I pray for the humility of my soul and I pray for the safety of my people -- my people and Your people. As in the days of Esther, let the day planned for destruction become the day of thanksgiving and praise, "a day of feasting and gladness" (Esther 9:18). With Ash Wednesday yesterday, we began the season of Easter. Lord, let this season of Easter be like the season of Esther. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, our new dvd's and cd's are available now for distribution from the recent conference I led in Lexington: "From Brokenness to Breakthrough -- healing from grief, sorrow, trauma, and pain in a broken world." Please let us know if you would like to order one for yourself, a friend, or a study group. ($20, plus shipping; discounts available when necessary so that these are available to everyone). To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Times and Seasons 2-21-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and wait for You. Lead me by Your still, small voice. ... "The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son' " (Genesis 18:13-14). O Lord, there are set times and due seasons according to Your promises and Your plans. I need discernment to see the times and wisdom to recognize the seasons. Give me patience when it is time to wait for the fulfillment of Your promises. Give me courage when it is the season to engage in the unfolding of Your plans. There is a time for sowing and a time for reaping, a season for persevering in prayer and a season for the harvest of the promises. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Nothing is too wonderful for You. Forgive me for doubting the wisdom of Your timing and for failing to recognize the purpose of Your seasons. Peace comes, no matter the times or seasons, when I simply trust the nature and power of Your love for me. As we say in the Serenity Prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, our new dvd's and cd's are available now for distribution from my recent conference: "From Brokenness to Breakthrough -- healing from grief, sorrow, trauma, and pain in a broken world." Please let us know if you would like to order one for yourself, a friend, or a study group. ($20, plus shipping; discounts available when necessary so that these are available to everyone). To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Times and Seasons 2-21-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and wait for You. Lead me by Your still, small voice. ... "The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son' " (Genesis 18:13-14). O Lord, there are set times and due seasons according to Your promises and Your plans. I need discernment to see the times and wisdom to recognize the seasons. Give me patience when it is time to wait for the fulfillment of Your promises. Give me courage when it is the season to engage in the unfolding of Your plans. There is a time for sowing and a time for reaping, a season for persevering in prayer and a season for the harvest of the promises. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Nothing is too wonderful for You. Forgive me for doubting the wisdom of Your timing and for failing to recognize the purpose of Your seasons. Peace comes, no matter the times or seasons, when I simply trust the nature and power of Your love for me. As we say in the Serenity Prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, our new dvd's and cd's are available now for distribution from my recent conference: "From Brokenness to Breakthrough -- healing from grief, sorrow, trauma, and pain in a broken world." Please let us know if you would like to order one for yourself, a friend, or a study group. ($20, plus shipping; discounts available when necessary so that these are available to everyone). To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com