No Longer Just Scratching the Surface 6-26-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me center my heart and my thoughts on You. ... "When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, 'There seems to me to be some sort of leprous disease in my house.' ... He shall examine the disease; if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish and reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, the priest shall go outside to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days" (Leviticus 14:34-38). Through repentance and faith, we enter into the promised land of salvation in Christ. Now our bodies are the house of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Yet even now sin can enter in and plague our house as a leprous disease. So we need to keep short accounts with You and with one another, ready to have the house of our hearts examined and any disease of sin exposed. Every place touched and tainted must be "scraped thoroughly" and we must see it that "the stones in which the disease appears be taken out" and cast away and replaced with the clean stones of a holy heart (Leviticus 14:39-42). If not, the disease will spread until the whole house becomes "unclean" and "the house torn down" (v. 14:43-45). But by Your grace, You have made provision for cleansing from the disease of our leprous sin through the water and the blood (v. 14:48-53). Through the confession and cleansing of repentance and faith in the tainted walls of our hearts and souls, You "pronounce the house clean; the disease is healed" (v. 14:48). Forgive us for not humbling ourselves to acknowledge we need Your Holy Spirit to continually search our hearts for the leprous diseases that defile our spirits, souls, and bodies in many ways -- sin, shame, false beliefs, unbelief, unhealed hurts and wounds, bondage and barriers, resentment and regret, rebellion and pride. Though we are saved and living in the land of Your promises in Christ, the house of our hearts can still be defiled and unclean, needing to be exposed and cleansed. This is the ministry of inner healing and deliverance -- binding up the broken-hearted and setting the captives free (Isaiah 61). This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, preparing the bride of Christ -- in "the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 96:9, KJV). You don't want us to just scratch the surface with a promise and a prayer. You want us to allow You purify us and sanctify us in the holiness of heart and life. Come search our hearts and see if there is anything in us that needs to be scraped thoroughly, taken out, and cast away (Psalm 139:23-24). You are calling us to be cleansed and free, redeemed and restored, committed and empowered -- to display Your glory through our lives throughout all the earth (Isaiah 60). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I am convicted as never before to no longer be willing to waste my time just scratching the surface any more. I hope you are not either. Let's pray for one another, for our ministries and churches and communities. It seems I hear the Lord saying, "I will have a holy people, a holy bride. I will settle for nothing less. And I don't have to. My grace by My blood is sufficient for all who will choose to humble themselves in repentance and faith to receive it." If this rings true with you, please join me in this covenant of complete abandonment to God. By God's grace, through His cleansing process and in His power, "Holiness unto the Lord." 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

Spirit of the Sovereign Lord 6-25-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I worship, I hear You writing a new song in my heart -- Lord I am waiting To hear Your voice again. Lord I am seeking Your face. Lord I am watching To see You come again. Lord I am longing For Your touch. Lord I am walking To where You want to lead. Lord I am willing To follow You. You are my King My Savior and my Friend. You're Everything to me. You are my Lord My Father, Almighty God. You're Everything there is to me. Yes, Lord. I wait and watch for You. Help me humble myself to listen for Your leading and follow where You lead, my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come, and with it, the day of the Lord's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, He will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the Lord has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for His own glory. They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed. They will revive them, though they have been empty for many generations. Foreigners will be your servants. They will feed your flocks and plow your fields and tend your vineyards. You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You will be fed with the treasures of the nations and will boast in their riches. Instead of shame and dishonor, you will inherit a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy" (Isaiah 61:1-7, The New Living Translation). Yes, Lord. You are Sovereign and You are Lord. You have called me by name and I am Yours. You are reminding of this Scripture You gave me as I began the journey of my calling through Messiah Ministries over ten years ago. Others have come and gone -- to encourage and inspire me, to help and correct me, even to test and tempt me -- and I am thankful for how You have used each one in my life and used me in theirs'. But You alone have been with me every step of the way. As it should be, for each of us -- so that we are all ultimately dependent upon no one but You alone. "Messiah" from the Hebrew and "Christ" from the Greek of Your Scripture means "the anointed one." Anointed by the Spirit of God and appointed in the power of God to share the good news of the Gospel of Christ, the Anointed Messiah of God. You spoke this Word of Scripture to Isaiah, and through Isaiah to Israel, and through Israel to the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And through Christ, You speak this Word to all who are in Christ, in Messiah -- anointed by the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord to display Your glory through Your people (Isaiah 60:1-3). This time away with my family has also been a time away with You. I needed to be refreshed, renewed, and refocused. And I believe You are showing me I needed to be reminded of my calling and destiny, but also always to be reminded of the One who called me and destined me for Your purposes through relationship with You. You are also showing me I needed to be reminded of the simple truth that You are always much more concerned in who I am becoming than in what I am doing. As You taught me through a spiritual teacher along the way, "I am a human being, not a human doing." It seems I hear You say, "Will you allow Me to bind Your submitted will to My sovereign will?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you allow Me to conform your nature to My nature through the trials, the troubles, and the tribulations I allow through the mystery and marriage of My sovereignty and your submission?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you receive My power and My provision to accomplish My purposes in your life and through your life?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you choose, in the freedom I have given you required by a true relationship of love with Me, to be desperately dependent upon Me alone with the means I choose to bring fulfillment of life to you and to your generations?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you humble yourself in My sight, that I may lift you up into My arms and under My shelter and over the enemy of your soul?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you remember the roots of My Word, receive the nurture of the Water of My Spirit, seek to grow daily into newness of life in Me, and become an oak of righteousness to display My glory through the brokenness and healing of your life?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you believe that you are My son, that I am bringing many sons to glory, as I live in and through the hearts of My children and redeem My creation?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you trust Me? Will you love Me? Will you allow Me to love you?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Then let it be so; for it is so, by the sacrifice of My love and through the covenant of My blood." Thank You, Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for Your sovereign will and Your steadfast love. As I rise to embrace this day and every day You choose to give me in this journey of faith in relationship with You, help me remember and believe that this moment is real and this memory is true. "I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. The Sovereign Lord will show His justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise Him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, filled with young plants springing up everywhere" (Isaiah 61:10-11, NLT). Lord, let Your righteousness spring up in me and in the hearts of all the sons and daughters You are bringing to glory throughout all the nations and generations of the world. Let us display Your glory -- "For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in His glory" (Colossians 1:27, NLT). "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (NRSV). Yes, Lord, let it be so; for it is so, by the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for joining me in this journey and for all your prayers, support, and encouragement for me and my family and Messiah Ministries. We have a few days left of our two weeks away for our family vacation we spend with my mom and family out in New Mexico and Texas. We would appreciate your continued prayers for us personally and as a family for all the Lord intends to do in us in these special days. Our family has been broken, blended, and blessed. I know yours has too in different ways, so I join in the agreement of prayer for your life and family and ministry as well. God bless you! Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for Israel and 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 The Fountain is not meeting this summer, but will resume in September for our monthly, city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. 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

Whole-Hearted Devotion 6-24-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before I think of anyone or anything else, I think of You. Be the beginning and the center and the end of my day. ... "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you" (Psalm 73:25). This relationship with You requires my all. You will have no other gods before You. You will have no other gods along with You. The foundation and the capstone of my faith must be "a sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3). Anything less is being led astray and led away. But as I seek You and Your kingdom, looking to You first and You only, then all I need will be added to me (Matthew 6:33). By Your grace I choose to ground my faith and my life in You with single-minded focus and whole-hearted devotion. 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

Prepare Me for Your Purposes 6-23-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I dedicate and consecrate my life and this day to You and Your will for me and for those under the covering of my care. ... "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands" (Psalm 138:8) A yielded vessel in the hands of a compassionate and wise Creator, a sharpened sword in the hands of a mighty Warrior -- I am available to You. Prepare me for Your purposes. Let me be rested up and tested up. Let me be trained and equipped, inspired and empowered. Give me patience to wait for Your timing and courage to advance at Your command. Bring those alongside me who will move forward with me in accordance with Your strategy and will. "May we shout for joy over Your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners" in celebration of our participation in Your purposes and plans in our generation (Psalm 20:5). 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

Make a Difference 6-22-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. With all that I am, I worship all that You are -- my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "Your wickedness affects others like you, and your righteousness other human beings" (Job 35:8). Our lives affect one another -- for better or for worse. We make a difference in each other's lives -- one way or the other. Lord, I want my life to make a difference -- a good difference -- in the lives of others. I want my life to have significance, to be an encouragement, in the lives of those around me. So I ask You to keep exposing and removing the wickedness of self-centeredness and selfishness that remains in my soul. Help me live more into Your righteousness through Your grace and by Your power. You said, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35). I know I have so far to go to have this heart of Christ in me. So help me to be more teachable, more conformable to Your nature and Your ways. Then my life will make a difference in the ways that matter, in the ways that have eternal significance. Lord, I look to You for both the desire and the power for that to be my perspective, my life, and my legacy. 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

Science and Faith 6-21-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to breathe in Your Spirit, think Your thoughts, and pray Your prayers. ... "But truly it is the spirit in a mortal, the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding" (Job 32:8). Isaac Newton was one of the most brilliant, highly respected scientists of all time. Many call him the father of physics. They recently uncovered more of his personal writings relating to desire to study and understand Scripture and revealing him to be a man with a reverential awe for the wisdom and design of his Creator. He strongly believed in the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and seems to have trusted the Word of God. I don't know yet about his personal faith or specific beliefs, but I will be interested to find out more how his faith influenced his life. As Isaac Newton's life demonstrates so vividly, there is no conflict between faith and science. All truth is Your truth. All the laws of nature are laws because You are the God of nature. You spoke them into existence and set them in motion, according to Your purpose and Your plan. Any wisdom or understanding that we have comes from You, the Almighty. Father, forgive us for the sin of pride and arrogance that we have any wisdom or understanding apart from You. Help us humble ourselves before our Creator and honor You as the Source of all truth and wisdom. You are the Source of all (Genesis 1:1). 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/

Everlasting Love 6-20-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome Your Spirit into my spirit, Your thoughts into mine as I entrust this day to Your care. ... "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued My faithfulness to you" (Jeremiah 31:3). Your faithfulness comes from Your love. You are faithful to me because You love me. And Your love is "from everlasting to everlasting" (Psalm 103:17). So Your faithfulness is also "from everlasting to everlasting." I won't always know Your purposes, but I can always know Your nature -- You are love and You love me, no matter what. That's what "everlasting" means. I thank You for the peace and the rest of Your everlasting love. 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

Walk Awhile with Me 6-19-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the face of my Father. I seek Your face and embrace Your grace -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "Know, then, that I have sent this command to you, that My covenant with Levi may hold, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with Me in integrity and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 2:4-7). It seems I hear You singing in my spirit: Come away with Me Take Me by the hand. Come and you will see All that I have planned. Walk awhile with Me Draw near to My side. Listen as we go With a heart that's opened wide. Will you trust in Me? As I lift you from the ground. I won't pull away I won't let you down. Take each step with Me Trusting in My way Know that I'm with you Every single day. Yes, Lord. Sometimes I question and wonder. Sometimes I sin in worry and doubt. Sometimes my vision grows dim and my sense of the present is not as clear as my sense of destiny. But You are faithful and Your Word is true. Your promises are always "Yes and Amen." Though the vision may tarry, though the battles are hard-fought, though it often seems darkest before the dawn of a new day, You have not forgotten me or Your plans and purposes for my life -- "for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). "As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been 'Yes and No.' For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus, Timothy, and I, was not 'Yes and No'; but in Him it is always 'Yes.' For in Him everyone of God's promises is a 'Yes.' For this reason it is through Him that we say the 'Amen' to the glory of God. But it is Christ who has established us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting His seal on us and giving us His Spirit in our hearts as a first installment" (2 Corinthians 1:18-22). Thank You, Lord, for encouraging me to walk with You this day and every single day. In Jesus' name I pray, Yes and 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

Steadfast Love 6-18-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I know I need to be in constant communion with You. So by Your grace, I try to turn my heart and thoughts to You alone in the first moments of my morning each day. ... "Let me hear of Your steadfast love in the morning, for in You I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8). I thank You that I can trust You always with my heart and soul. You are steadfast in Your love for me. Let me hear it, let me believe it, let me receive it. Let it be true to me in the morning and let it be true to me throughout my day. Teach me and lead me in the way I should go. I can trust Your leading because I can trust Your love. Your love unfailing Your love prevailing You never let me go. Others may falter But You never alter You never let me go. So I will seek You I know that I need You You never let me go. I will go where You lead me. I know You'll never leave me. I will trust in You With all my heart and soul. Speak the words of Your wisdom Give me ears that I can hear them. I will trust in You With all my heart and soul. Yes, Lord. Thank You for this song of trust You've written on my heart. Thank You for the sense of trust You've sealed to my soul. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for Israel 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 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

"Where I Am" 6-17-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. No matter where I go, here You are. Help me realize always the reality of Your presence. ... "Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor" (John 12:26). I trust You, because You are worthy of my trust. I love You, because You first loved me. And with my trust and faith in You, You move me to love You by loving others; You move me to serve You by serving others. As I follow You through the gospel stories, I see you loving and serving. I see You honoring the Father with Your life, and I see the Father honoring You with an amazing and abundant life that always touches the lives of others. As I follow You through my life, I will be loving and serving and honoring my Father. That's how I will know I am truly following You. That's how I will know my faith is true. I don't have to earn Your love through my service; but at the same time, my heart of service reveals my heart of faith. For wherever You truly are, there Your servant will be also. And as I serve You through my life in trusting faith and faithful obedience, I will find the Father honoring me. "The only thing that counts is faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). Show me how to follow You and serve You in faith through love 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

Grace for Gaza 6-16-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. There is peace in no place and no person but You. Draw me into Your presence and fill me with Your peace. Help me pray out of peace, not anxiety and out of love, not fear. ... "Gather together, gather, O shameless nation, before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the Lord's wrath. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do His commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the Lord's wrath. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted" (Zephaniah 2:1-4). The nations and cities of the ancient prophecies of Your Word fill the headlines of our news today. You hold all time and space, past and future, presently in Your hands. To You all hearts are known, all choices that have been made and all that will ever be made are known to You now. And though You see the rebellion of human will and the hardness of human hearts, Your desire is always that we would turn to You in repentance, obedience, and faith. "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live" (Ezekiel 18:32). Though there is a day of Your wrath, there are many days for repentance before that day -- yet, they are not days without end. Your Word will go forth and it will not return void; It will accomplish all that You have purposed (Isaiah 55:11). But You call us to pray for ourselves and for others, that souls may be saved even in the midst of the wrath of Your Word. Your ancient Word is going forth in the land of Gaza in these days. The blood of violence and vengeance soaks the land where the ancient Philistines seized their enemy Samson and gouged out his eyes in retaliation and hatred (Judges 16:21-22). Violence and vengeance have continued to soak the land in blood ever since. I join the prayers of people throughout the earth, praying for peace in the land of the Philistines, among the people now called Palestinians. True peace will come only as they truly turn to the One who is Peace (Isaiah 9:6). "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that He may have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-7). The same is true with those of the remnant and those of the rebellion in every tribe and tongue and nation. Gaza needs Your grace, and so do we all. We all need Peace -- the peace that comes only through the provision of Your grace and the power of Your love expressed through Your cross. "I have said this to you, so that in Me, you may have peace" (John 16:33). 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

Stairway of Heaven 6-15-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All creation declares Your glory. I praise Your name as I greet the new day. ... "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). We've come west with our family for our summer visit to see Mom in the mountains of New Mexico. Yesterday we took the kids to see the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel in Sante Fe. They say the beautiful staircase was built in answer to prayer by the sisters who only had a ladder to go up into the choir loft to sing. One day a man no one knew came and began to build the spiral staircase with only a hammer and saw, with water to soak and bend the wood -- no nails and no supporting structure between the top and the bottom. In six months time, he left as suddenly as he came, not seeking any payment and not revealing his name, only leaving behind the gift of what the sisters called the miraculous staircase which still stands today. Your Holy Spirit comes into our lives, as a miraculous gift of God. Sometimes as silent as a breath of air and sometimes as mighty as the wind of a storm, yet always unseen except by the fruit of the gifts and blessings He brings. He "will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears," not drawing attention to Himself, but always glorifying You (John 16:13-14). Like the carpenter who came to Loretto and the wind that comes and goes as it pleases, Your Spirit is always at work building the kingdom of heaven on earth -- bearing the miraculous marks of the gifts and glory of God in our hearts. Your Spirit is like a stairway to heaven and a stairway of heaven to us. 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/

Abandoned to God 6-14-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I need You, Lord, to guide my thoughts and direct my desires. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I entrust and abandon myself to You. ... "I will most gladly spend and be spent for you" (2 Corinthians 12:15). I've been reading a biography of the life of Oswald Chambers, Abandoned to God. And so he was. Though he had a deep and intimate relationship with You almost all of the entirety of his life, he came to a place of full surrender, emptied of himself and filled with You -- he called it "baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). From that day forward, though he continually grew in grace and maturity of spirit, his life was fully abandoned to You. Like Paul and the faithful remnant of Spirit-filled followers of Christ through the generations in between and since, he was willing to spend and be spent for Your purposes according to Your plans. Like Paul, he longed and labored to see Christ formed in the lives of all You touched through his writings and words and prayers (Galatians 4:19). Every where You sent him, he yearned to see Your people "saved, sanctified, and healed." So do I. Lord, bring me to that place of abandon and full surrender. I confess I still see too much of me and not enough of You in the motives of my heart. I still seek too much the approval of man instead of only the approval of God. I still tend to find my sense of security and significance in the opinions of others instead of only in the opinion of the One who matters most. Continue to uproot my pride, crucify my flesh, and deliver me from false humility. Give me the desire and the power to yield my life completely to You, that I may spend and be spent for You. Then my writings and words and prayers will have Your power and will accomplish Your purposes through my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I have been sensing an increasing desire to devote a significant part of my time to writing and would appreciate your prayers. I have been working on a book about the spiritual principles I have been learning in prayer ministry for some time, but need to bring it to completion. Other have been helping me and encouraging me to put these devotional prayers into a book form. The thought has been coming to me to begin spending much of the summer months focused more on writing than prayer ministry. Please join me in praying for confirmation of the Lord's leading, the necessary provision of time and resources if it is, and the necessary correction and shift of focus and desire if it is not. Thank you for joining me in the journey, and I pray for clarity of your calling in this season of your ministry to the Lord as well! 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

"Like a Bursting Flood" 6-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Like my electric razor, I want to be charged up, ready to be used, and ready to travel. These first moments of the morning with You alone are when You charge me up in the power of Your Spirit for the assignments and travels of each day. ... "So he went up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. David said, 'God has burst out against my enemies by my hand like a bursting flood' " (1 Chronicles 14:11). Yesterday morning I went to pray at the Asbury House of Prayer, where students from the college and seminary gather in watches throughout the day and night to pray. Our little community of Wilmore is making preparations for the twenty thousand or so young people who converge here every year from across the nation for the Ichthus Christian music festival. Many lives will be forever changed and sent home to set fire to the lives they touch. As I prayed for Asbury and for Ichthus, You began to show me the image of a large dam holding back flood waters from a dry river bed. But there were cracks in the dam, widening as water began to trickle through from the pressure of the flood waters behind the dam ready to burst through. I sketched out the scene and wrote out this prayer and proclamation that came to my spirit: "Be broken, O dam, of all that would hold back the flow of the Spirit of God in power to touch a dry and thirsty land and a dry and thirsty people. Be broken, strongholds of religion and pride and control, that the river of God may flow freely and swiftly in a flood of God's love and grace." Through the victory of the cross, our spiritual enemies are defeated and You are bursting through their strongholds in our lives and our communities. Let our prayers continue to build the pressure of Your power to be released in a flood of Your Spirit. Let the River of Life break through the barriers and overflow the banks of our man-made attempts to try to control Your power and direct Your presence in our way instead of embracing Yours, leaving our souls and our land dry and thirsty. Come, Holy Spirit, like a bursting flood with the freedom to flow as You will in our lives and our land. The stones and rocks of our dry river beds are crying out for Your flood waters to come bursting forth. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we will be leaving tomorrow to take our family out to spend a couple of weeks with my mom and family out west. I plan to keep up my devotional times and sending out my prayers as I am able. I would appreciate your prayers for a restful and joyful time, and I pray the same for you and your families. Thank you for joining me in the journey. God bless, Tommy 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

Parables of Life 6-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart and the ears of my spirit, as I watch and wait for You. ... "With many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; He did not speak to them except in parables, but He explained everything in private to His disciples" (Mark 3:33-34). Though You created the heavens and the earth in the power of Your words, You humble Yourself to speak Your words to us in the ways we can hear it. As in the parables, You use the things we know to teach us the things we don't know. You use the ordinary things of this earthly realm to speak to us of the extraordinary things of the spiritual realm. These are the parables of life. But it's as we draw away with You in the privacy of our personal relationship with You, that You explain everything. In the communion of prayer, You open the eyes of our hearts and give us "a spirit of wisdom and revelation" as we come to know You (Ephesians 1:17-19). Let everything I see around me today speak Your word to me. Keep in a constant communion of prayer as You explain what I'm seeing and hear what You're saying. Reveal to me as much of Your truth and Your word as I am able to bear. And help me grow in grace to be able to bear a little more each day, as I choose live out Your words by Your power in my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Just to remind everyone, The Fountain on Friday nights will not be meeting during the summer, but will resume in September. 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 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

Miracle of New Life 6-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let my life be hidden in Your life today. ... "For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations" (Isaiah 61:11). Tricia's family always had a little vegetable garden in their back yard, so she was teaching Elijah how to start one in ours. They tilled a little spot of ground and planted some seeds. Every day Elijah has been watching and waiting for something to happen. The other day, he came running into the house shouting, "It's a miracle! It's a miracle!" Tender bean plants are starting to break through the soil. There is the green of new life now where there was only the brown of preparation and waiting before. What was sown in anticipation and hope is now springing up in fulfillment of faith. Throughout my life, You have sown seeds of truth and life into my soul. Throughout the earth, You have sown seeds of revival and harvest into the souls of all nations in all generations. With great anticipation and eager longing, we pray for the day when new life springs up. Morning by morning, we look to see if this is the day that righteousness and praise will spring up before all nations. "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God" (Romans 8:20). In Your perfect timing, the seeds of revival will break through as shoots of new life where Your Spirit has tilled the soil of our souls, rising up and growing out into the final harvest to come. And all You have planted in the hearts of Your people throughout the generations of the nations of the earth "shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine" (Hosea 14:7). And we will run to each other and shout with joy, "It's a miracle!" In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy HaysCome 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 Just to remind everyone, The Fountain on Friday nights will not be meeting during the summer, but will resume in September. 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

Of Noble Birth 6-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open my heart to hear what You would speak to me today. ... "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing the things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord' " (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). Forty-six years ago today, I was born in a small town on the dusty plains of west Texas. Born to two teenagers, who had not even finished high school yet, I suppose by human standards, it was not a noble birth. Yet, I don't judge my birth or the birth of anyone by human standards. We are each created by Your hands and created for Your purpose. "For it was You who formed my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13-14). Though my earthly mother and father made their choices that led to my conception, You alone had the power to choose whether life would be created in that moment or not. So You chose with deliberate intention and creative design to gather in Your hands the dust of the earth from my mother and father, and to breath into existence my human spirit. By Your breath of life, I became a living soul. Though You knew all the challenges and obstacles to be faced and overcome in the journey before me to be conformed to the image of Christ in the crucible of a broken, fallen world, You said, "Let there be life." I was conceived in humility, but destined for nobility. "But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). "When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ -- if, in fact, we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:15-17). Through the new birth of the Spirit of Christ living in me, I am a child of God; I am a son of the King; I am of noble birth. And by Your grace, I will live my life to fulfill my noble destiny. "In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the promise of Him who accomplishes all things according to His counsel and will, so that we, who are the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:11-12). It seems I hear You say, "My son, you are of noble birth -- not the nobility of human blood, but the nobility of the blood of My Son. Hold your head high, for I am your glory and the lifter of Your head. You are an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ. You will spend all eternity growing in your understanding of all that means. Choose to believe and live your life as if it were true -- for it is." Yes, Lord. I thank Your for the gift of Your words of truth and life this day and every day. "You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head" (Psalm 3:3). Thank You for creating me and calling me, for being patient to conform me into the image of Your Son. By Your grace and in Your power, I choose to live my life for the praise of Your glory. 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

Speaking in the Power of the Spirit 6-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I choose to begin my day with You, as You set the foundation for the unfolding of my day. ... "While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word" (Acts 10:44). After You baptized Peter in Your Holy Spirit, he was never the same. You forgave his sins, healed him from his brokenness, and freed him from his bondage. Then You filled him with Your Spirit and entrusted him with Your word. And he knew "God shows no impartiality" (v. 10:34). What You did for him, You will do for each of us. What You did in Peter's day, You will do in our day. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Lord, You did in Peter all that was necessary to give him unflinching faith in You, speaking the words You gave him with power and authority. By the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, he taught the generations to follow to minister to others with both deep humility and profound faith: "Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 4:11). As You did in Peter, do also in me. Give me courage to embrace the process of conviction and repentance, brokenness and healing, humility and faith. Crucify my flesh and purify my soul. Infuse my human spirit with Your Holy Spirit. Cause my heart to be more like Your heart, my thoughts more like Your thoughts, my words to be more like Your words, my actions to be more like Your actions. Convict me when they are not; lead me to repentance; and restore me to the path to pursue holiness of heart and life (Hebrews 12:14). Though I have so far to go, I ask You to take me there -- all by Your grace, all in Your power, in Your perfect timing, in Your perfect way. I want to see the day, when I speak Your word in Your way, that Your Holy Spirit falls upon all who hear it, and their lives are changed forever -- just like mine. 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

Never Passed This Way Before 6-7-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. This is a new day and Your mercies are new every morning, so I've never been this way before. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I want to walk this way this day with You. ... "Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites, and they came to the Jordan. They camped there before crossing over. At the end of three days, the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, 'When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place. Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before ...' " (Joshua 3:1-4). I hear You writing a new song in my spirit: This is a new day Not like any other day I've never been this way before. Would You come with me? Would You come lead me? I've never been this way before. I will not fear I know You're near I've never been this way before. Without You I'd be frightened But with You I'm excited I've never been this way before. This morning, it seems something has shifted in the heavenly realm, and I eagerly anticipate it's manifestation in the earthly realm. I want to camp and rest, waiting patiently and faithfully for Your command to rise and go in these few days of transition. I want to watch and wait for the ark of Your presence to lead me across the Jordan of this season into the fulfillment of the promises of Your covenant. I want to follow You along with the others You have joined with me. Thank You for the joy of the journey and the excitement of the adventure along this way we've never been before. 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

Invasion of the Glory of Heaven 6-6-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. An especially thick cloud of fog covers the land this morning. May the cloud of Your glory fill my heart and cover our land with Your presence. As the morning dew covers the Kentucky bluegrass, may Your glory cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. ... "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. ... The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace!" (Psalm 29:3-11). God of glory, Your voice is thundering in the heavens and releasing Your power in the earth. As the rains of Your mighty waters break the drought on our land, let the rains of Your Spirit break the drought in our souls. Invade the earth with Your glory. Be enthroned as king forever in our hearts and our lands. Strengthen us and encourage us by the word of Your voice to know Your peace. You are the God of peace who crushes the enemy of our souls under our feet (Romans 16:20). You are the God of breakthrough who breaks through the droughts of our souls to revive us and renew us with the living waters of Your Spirit (Isaiah 35:1-10). Today is June 6. On this day in 1944, the largest military invasion of history took place on the beaches of Normandy, France to liberate Europe from Hitler. Let this day be our D-Day. Deliver us and liberate us from the enemy of our souls as You invade the earth with Your glory. Open up Your heavens and send forth Your Word. Anoint Your people to display Your power and proclaim the coming of Your kingdom (Isaiah 61:1-4). Let Your glory cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). "For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.... And the ransomed of the Lord and return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:6-10). Yes, Lord. Let the earth see an invasion of the glory of heaven this day. 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

Trust God; Do Good 6-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I awake and arise to pursue Your presence. I know You are always with me, but I also know that You reward those who seek You (Hebrews 11:6). I seek You and the reward of knowing You are pleased that I have come to seek Your face, to sense Your presence, and to listen for Your voice. ... "Trust in the Lord and do good; so you will live in the land and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way 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 noonday" (Psalm 37:3-6). My part is to trust; Your part is to act. My part is to do good; Your part is to be great. My part is to commit my way to You; Your part is preserve my life in the promise of security. My part is delight in You; Your part is to delight in giving me the desires You have placed on my heart. I could never do my part, if You had not eternally done Your part. By Your grace, You give me the desire and the power to entrust my life to You and to believe by faith You have received my offering. In Your timing and in Your way, Your Word will come to pass and Your promises will be fulfilled. Forgive me for the times I have lost my patience and lost my focus. Keep lifting my face to Your face and opening my heart to Your heart. Keep reminding me of Your faithfulness and forgiving me for my unfaithfulness. Keep empowering me to do good by Your grace for Your glory, despite the evil remaining to be cleansed from my soul and purged from our broken and fallen world. Teach me to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). "Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever. For the Lord loves justice; and He will not forsake His faithful ones" (Psalm 37:27-28). For my part -- all by Your grace and all in Your power -- I choose to be one of Your faithful ones. 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

Prayer Evangelism 6-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Increase, as I decrease. Lead, as I follow. Speak, as I listen. ... "On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul" (Acts 16:13-14). As I come to the place of prayer, You open my heart to listen eagerly to what You are speaking to me. And at the same time, You are opening the hearts of those You will speak to through me. In the mystery of faith and communion with Your Spirit in the partnership of ministry You have given us, You fill our mouths with Your words and open ears to hear them. "So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). This is prayer evangelism. As we seek You in the place of prayer, You commission us as Your ambassadors and entrust us with Your words. You go before us and prepare the way for Your words of truth and life to find fertile soil in hearts that are waiting and eager to hear. Draw me near to You in prayer each day, as You commission me and empower me as Your ambassador to share Your hope with those who are desperate and hungry to hear. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we will resume The Fountain meetings in September, but will not be meeting this summer. Thank you for all who have come and all who have covered us in prayer in one of the Lord's expressions of His city-wide church in our community across the walls of denominations and traditions. 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

Name Above Every Name 6-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is above every name. So I speak Your name this morning before any other name and any other thing. Jesus. ... "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11, NKJV). Yeshua in Hebrew, Iesous in Greek -- Your name means "The Salvation of Yahweh." And "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). You are the fullness of the salvation of God for me and for all. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). You are the answer and the provision and the power for everything I need. You are my eternal life, my healing and deliverance, my peace and joy, my faith and hope and love. You are my "all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). So I speak Your name first. I speak Your name throughout my day. I speak Your name forever. ... Jesus. ... And the Word of God goes forth. For You are the Word of God (John 1:1, 14). And the angels come. And the demons flee. And hope rises up. And I press on in the faith and power of the name that is above every name -- Jesus. No wonder the demons of hell fear Your name (Matthew 8:29). No wonder controlling men who would try to stand in the power and authority that belong to You alone would forbid the speaking of Your name in their intimidation and fear (Acts 4:17-18; 5:40). From the first days of Your Church, Your disciples have dared to declare Your name with boldness and courage and faith (Acts 4:19-20; 9:28). And as they did, "everyone was awestruck, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised" (Acts 19:17). Give us boldness and courage and faith to speak Your name and give You praise every day -- unafraid and unashamed. Forgive us for giving in to timidity and fear. When we speak Your name, the name above every name, the power of God goes forth and the purposes of God are established. To the glory of God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I praise Your holy name, Lord Jesus Christ. 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

"Prepare the Way of the Lord" 5-31-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my hope and my strength. I choose to be desperately dependent and wholly submitted to You. ... "A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken' " (Isaiah 40:3-5). Lord, why does it seem to be in the wilderness, in the desert places that we "prepare the way of the Lord?" It seems I hear You say, "In the wilderness, you know your need and admit you are lost without Me. In the desert, you know your thirst and admit you are dependent upon Me for the waters of life. The self-sufficiency of pride resists My grace, but the humility of desperate dependence upon Me opens wide your soul for the glory of My presence to come in." Yes, Lord. Thank You for the blessing of the wilderness times that cause me to seek You more intensely. Thank You for the blessings of the desert times that cause me to yearn and thirst for more of presence. Forgive me for the sin of pride and self-sufficiency, depending upon myself to any degree instead of being wholly and desperately dependent on You. Pull down the mountains of my pride and lift up the valleys of my discouragement. Set Your straight path before me and give me the wisdom and grace to walk in it with You. This is the path that prepares the way of the Lord. Give me the humility to hear and the courage to obey the voice of Your Spirit crying out to me, "This is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21). 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

Re-Digging the Ancient Wells 5-30-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my head and open up my heart, that the King of Glory may come in (Psalm 24). ... "Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names that his father had given them" (Genesis 26:18). Like ancient wells, there are places on the earth where the springs of revival have poured out rivers of living water, bringing life and healing to all they touch. And like the enemies of Israel, the enemy of our souls does all he can to stop up the wells and shut down the flow until only a trickle of life remains. Eventually, the vibrant experience of the presence of Your glory blows away like a desert wind in a dry and thirsty land. The well becomes dry and the land becomes barren, groaning for those of courage to come and fight and those of faith to come and restore hope. The land and the people long for the day that their ancient names are remembered and their eternal identity and destiny is restored. "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing" (Isaiah 35:1). I saw the re-digging of one of Your ancient wells last weekend. I stayed over an extra day on my trip to England, not knowing exactly why. During the week, my friend Heather Butler from Wales sent word to me she was leading a women's retreat on Saturday and preaching on Pentecost Sunday at an Anglican Church in the south of London. You have gifted her to sing prophetic songs over the people and places where You send her. She invited me to come and it turned out to be a thrilling day of joining in ministry to the women. This church was an ancient well of revival with an incredible history of Your glory and presence. John Wesley preached there on the site of the church when it was only a meadow in the village. William Wilberforce preached against slavery there in the abolition of slavery movement. William Seymour, who led the prayer meetings at Azusa Street came there to preach. The building was bombed by the Nazis in the war, but a persistent parish priest insisted that it be rebuilt. Then this church was a site of many signs and wonders of God during the charismatic renewal of the 1970's, heavily influenced by John Wimber's meetings on the Holy Spirit at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, which would become the womb of the Alpha movement that I was attending the past week. In recent history, Graham Cook had prophesied there of the move of Your Spirit to come. And just a months before, the Archbishop of Canterbury had come there to lead a commemorative march to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Britain. What a history! What an ancient well of revival! Yet with all this history, it seemed to be a tired old church, and its people seemed to be living in a dry and thirsty land. The ancient well had been stopped up. The Philistines of the world, the flesh, and the devil seemed to have conspired to bury the spirit of life and renewal. Apparently the morning worship was now restrained and less than vibrant, and I spoke with an elderly woman who had tasted of the waters of Your glory from this ancient well who longed for more. So we prayed and ministered Your healing and life. We interceded and identified in confession and repentance for allowing the blockage of Your Spirit and prayed for the breaking of barriers to the flow of Your river of life. We were preparing the way of the Lord. Heather sang the song of the Lord over the people and the land. "Then Israel sang this song: 'Spring up, O well! -- Sing to it!' " (Numbers 21:17). And the living waters began to flow again! Heather sent word that You poured out Your Holy Spirit in power as they worshiped and prayed on Pentecost Sunday. One of the ladies who received such healing from weariness at the retreat on Saturday was literally dancing in the aisles on Sunday! "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). Praise You, Lord! Let Your song continue to go forth; let Your living waters continue to flow! Let Your river bring life to all that it touches (Ezekiel 47:9). Heather was led to give me a key to remember to pray for the people of this church and of this land. I covenanted with You and with them to pray. Thank You for the keys of Your kingdom You have given to Your church; the gates of hell cannot prevail against it (Matthew 16:18-19).Thank You for these amazing answers to the prayers prayed throughout the centuries we are already beginning to see. May this ancient well and all Your wells of Spirit and Life begin to spring up again and flow. May Your glory cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). 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 what's free at AOL.com.

Wholly Devoted to You 5-29-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be the center of my thoughts, always welcome in my heart. I deliberately devote my thoughts and desires to You alone, my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "Blessed by the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He has promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He spoke through His servant Moses. The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our ancestors; may He not leave us or abandon us, but incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our ancestors. ... Therefore devote yourselves completely to the Lord our God, walking in His statutes and keeping His commandments, as at this day" (1 Kings 8:56-61). As I wait on You this morning, Your Holy Spirit is forming new words of worship in my heart. ... Be the center of my thoughts, Always welcome in my heart. Come and lead me by Your hand, In Your strength I stand. Come, Lord Jesus, I am Yours, Wholly devoted to You. Lead me in Your ways Through the moments of my day. Sensitive to the hearing of Your voice, Responsive to the nudging of Your Spirit. Come, Lord Jesus, I am Yours, Wholly devoted to You. Yes, Lord. Your promises are true and so are You. You have promised to draw near to me as I draw near to You (James 4:8). As I entrust my day to You, You will never leave me or abandon me. You will lead me and empower me to walk in Your ways, all by Your grace and all in Your power. 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

Personal Pentecost 5-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your Word and Your Spirit fill my soul. Help me be quiet now, as I wait in the silence of surrender, watching for Your coming and waiting for Your leading. ... "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:1-4). Before catching my plane home from London yesterday, I slipped into the airport chapel for the ecumenical service of Holy Communion to celebrate Pentecost Sunday. The Anglican priest who led us chose this passage of Your Word to prepare our hearts for Communion. As the cup was passed among us, I began to realize that this promise was continually being fulfilled, as we came together in one place as one body from many different nations and languages. Though none of us knew one another, we all exchanged the blessing of the peace of Christ to one another and as one family of our One Father bound together by One Spirit, praying the Lord's Prayer and eating the Lord's Supper together. Since the Anglicans use real wine in their Communion, we even sensed in our bodies physically the fire of Your Holy Spirit burning in our hearts spiritually. And all last week at the International Alpha Conference, we came together in worship and prayer to learn from Your Word and be equipped for Your ministry with over a thousand delegates from over seventy nations of the world. Then at the end of the week, I was invited to join my friend Heather Butler from Wales to minister Your healing to women of different races and generations, but joined together in one heart by one Spirit. What a week of preparation for Pentecost! Lord, let Your wind blow, let Your fire fall -- in our hearts and in our lands throughout the earth. May we be the body of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit of Christ, proclaiming Your Word and singing Your praise to display Your glory in every tribe and tongue and nation, and throughout every generation. Let us hunger and thirst for more of You, emptied of ourselves and filled with Your Spirit, as we seek and embrace our personal Pentecost of Your presence and power in our lives every day. May the glory of Your presence filling Your people cover the earth with Your glory as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for covering us in your prayers last week while I was away. I'm sorry I was not able to send out my devotional but I pray the Lord will impart to You all I received of Him (Romans 1:11). God bless you and thank you for joining with me in the journey of prayer! 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 Fear and Friendship of the Lord 5-19-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to take some time with You before giving my time to anything else this day. ... "Who are they that fear the Lord? He will teach them the way that they should choose. They will abide in prosperity, and their children shall possess the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes His covenant know to them" (Psalm 25:12-14). Godly fear is to put You first. It is to honor and respect You and Your above all else. You are God and You are Lord of every are of my life -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is seeking to trust in Your wisdom, to walk in Your ways, and to depend upon Your grace. This is the humble heart and trusting faith that touches Your heart and moves Your hand. What loving father's heart is not moved to give all he has when the eyes of his children turn to him in tenderness and honor to say, "Daddy, I love you" or "Daddy, I need you." This is both the fatherhood and the friendship of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is not slavery but sonship, not the oppression of domination but the freedom of friendship. And this is the relationship I desire, with all my heart, to have with You, Daddy Abba, my Father God. "And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!' So that you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:6-7). Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I will be traveling with a team from my church to the International Alpha Conference for evangelism in London this week. I may not have easy access to send out my prayers but I would appreciate yours for our team and families. 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

Graduation Day 5-18-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my heart with Your spirit and fill my mind with Your thoughts. ... "Hear, my child, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered; and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life" (Proverbs 4:10-14). My little girl has grown up to be a big girl. Elizabeth graduates high school today. And we are all very proud of her. She's beautiful, inside and out. You've made her compassionate, creative, tender-hearted, and kind. I pray You will guard her heart as she goes out into the world, keeping her faith alive and her heart always open to You. There will be days of testing and temptation ahead in a world that doesn't understand the power of Your love, the wisdom of Your ways, or gift of Your grace. So may the Your words of truth and seeds of life in her heart guide her in Your ways and bring honor to her life. You will always be with her when I can't be. But I entrust her to You. I know You'll always love her with Your Father's heart. And so will I. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! Tonight -- 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. Sandra White of Bethlehem Farm Ministries will lead in prayer and Paul Cooper from Liberty Worship Center will lead in worship. 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 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

"Pray in the Spirit" 5-17-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to You by our Father. I trust in You and submit to Your authority in my life -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. ... "Pray in the spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel" (Ephesians 6:18-19). We are to pray for the people of God and we are to pray for godly leaders -- not just prayers, but the prayers of the Spirit; not just praying until the answers come quickly, but prayers of perseverance in faith. The answers You bring through the means of our prayers are important, but so is the character You form in our souls as we pray. To "pray in the spirit" means to pray as Your Holy Spirit leads our human spirit, rather than how we would choose to pray out of the soul of our own mind and will and emotions apart from the leading of Your Spirit. Whether we pray in words we know or unknown words You give us as yield our spirit to Your Spirit in prayer, we pray as You lead in line with Your will. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). Paul asked for these kinds of prayers for all the saints -- all the people of God, because we are all "called to be saints" and all called to be "sanctified in Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:2). And Paul asked for these kinds of prayers for himself. So do I. Holy Spirit, move upon my heart to always "pray in the spirit" as I persevere in prayer for Your people in the ways You lead. And move upon their hearts to pray for me in accordance with Your perfect will and timing and way. Give me the grace of patience to wait for Your answers to come as the saints persevere and pray in the power of the Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! this Friday Night -- 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

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

Stand and Fight for Peace 5-16-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I center my heart and focus my thoughts on You. ... "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20). Peace comes with a price. Peace comes when chaos is conformed to Your order. Peace comes when evil is confronted and removed. Lasting peace never comes with passivity or appeasement. True peace comes when courageous men and women insist upon on in the power of God. We really do have an enemy who wants to steal our peace, rob our joy, and crush our hope. He is like "a roaring lion" prowling around "looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). And any peace that comes from ignoring him instead of confronting him, trying to compromise with him or appease him instead of defeating him and driving him from us through the victory of the cross and the power of the blood of Jesus, is a false peace that will not prevail. So out of Your wisdom, You call us to "resist him, steadfast in your faith" (v. 5:9). As we do, You crush him -- but You crush him under our feet. He's under our feet because we are standing in You and You are standing in us. "Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13). The power of peace comes in the power of Your strength. "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may able to stand against the wiles of the devil.... and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore...." (Ephesians 6:10-14). All in Your power and all by Your grace, I choose to stand in You and not bow down to him, to fight and not flee; to resist and not retreat. And Your peace will fill my soul, even in the midst of the battle, as You crush my enemy under my feet. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! this Friday Night -- 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 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

Ancient Words 5-15-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your light shine upon me, let Your words wash over me, let Your Spirit fill me. ... "The unfolding of Your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130). As best as I can and all by Your grace, I come to You now to simply seek Your face. Unfold Your words of life and truth to me -- little by little, layer by layer, as I can receive them and understand them and live them. Let Your written Word become Your living Word. Let Your ancient Words become Your present Word to my heart and soul throughout the moments of my day. Awhile back, someone sent me a note questioning my sanity for submitting my life to the ancient words of an ancient book. But it's more than a book and more than words to me. They are Your words, spoken and written through those You have chosen to reveal Your heart to me and all who will hear. Something really is imparted from Your heart to mine when I open my heart to Yours through these ancient, but ever-present and ever-true, words of life and light. "You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23). May Your words live on and endure forever in me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! -- This Friday Night -- 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 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/

5-14-07 -- "Like a Solider" Morning by Morning

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are both the gentle Lamb of God, slain in silence for our sins (Isaiah 53:7); and You are the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), coming again to judge the earth with fire in Your eyes and a sword in Your hand (v. 19:11-16). And You are so much more. You and the Father and the Holy Spirit are One, living in me and calling me to live for You. I want to know You and worship You in every dimension of Your Being, in spirit and in truth. ... "The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior He stirs up His fury; He cries out, He shouts aloud, He shows Himself mighty against His foes" (Isaiah 42:13). By Your words and Your example, You teach us there are times to turn the other cheek to those who wish us harm (Matthew 5:39), but You also teach us there are times to boldly confront wickedness and injustice and drive out the perpetrators (John 2:13-17). You said, "In Me you may have peace" (John 16:33) and You also said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). In the moments and decisions of our lives in a broken, fallen world living among broken, fallen people -- including ourselves -- Your Word says, "There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace" (Ecclesiastes 3:7-8). So if it is to be Your will and not our will in the decisions of the times and moments of our lives, we must be prayed-up and prepared to trust You and obey You. We must look to Your Word and Your nature; seeking Your leading and following Your lead -- not just in general, but also in the specifics. We must know You, so we can know Your voice. We must know Your ways, so we can obey Your will. "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you and example, so that you should follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Lord of the Hosts of Heaven, I thank You for the times You have stirred up Your fury like a warrior in battle against the enemy of my soul and for laying down Your life for me like a soldier willing to lay down his life for his country. And whether we agree with the wars of our nations or not, we can all be thankful for the men and women who are willing to fight and die for us -- some on the battlefields of the nations and some in the neighborhoods of our own. And we can all be thankful for the One who was willing to die and is now willing to fight for us -- that we can know Your freedom and have Your security. "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shied and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies" (Psalm 18:2-3). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I know there are many views about when, if ever, war or confrontation is an appropriate answer in a broken, fallen world. But no matter our view, it seems it would always be appropriate to pray for those who are willing to fight for us and for their country. If you would be interested, I'm passing along a song and a prayer sent to me from my Uncle Wes, a United States Marine: http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm Come to The Fountain! this Friday Night -- 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 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

Honor the Mothers 5-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put on my heart the things on Your heart that You want me to share in with You today. ... "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12). To honor is to esteem with respect, to affirm with a grateful heart. I honor my mother this day. And I honor the mothers in my life -- my wife who mothers my children, my mother-in-law, my grandmother and my grandmother-in-law. I honor the mothers of my community. You have put in their hearts a heart of nurture and encouragement, soothing and security, wisdom and strength. They reveal Your compassionate power. "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you" (Isaiah 66:13). Where our mothers have fallen or failed, we honor them with forgiveness. Where our mothers have sacrificed and sown seeds of life and truth into our souls, nurturing them with tears and prayers, encouragement and hope, we honor them with lives that bring them joy. And when we fall and fail, we honor them with humility to ask for forgiveness. Thank You, Lord, for the gift of my mother and the mothers in my life. I honor them this day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays 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 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

"Full of the Spirit of Wisdom" 5-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my wisdom and my strength. Help me listen for Your leading so I can walk in Your ways. ... "Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him" (Deuteronomy 34:9). As sons and daughters of God called to fulfill our destiny in our generation, we need Your wisdom. We need to be full of the spirit of wisdom. Move upon the hearts of the spiritual fathers and mothers of the past generation to stretch out their hearts and their hands to anoint and to teach our generation the wisdom they have learned from You (1 Timothy 4:14). Give us the humility to receive it, and "put these things into practice" (v. 4:15). Then may we grow in wisdom as we learn to walk in Your ways, then pass it on the sons and daughters of the next generation. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays 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 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

"Guard Your Heart" 5-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In the morning watch, I wait for You to come lead my thoughts and fill my heart. ... "Above all else, guard your heart; for it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23, NIV). I can't let the Living Waters of Your Life flow through me unless I learn to guard my heart -- not guard it by putting up walls around it, but by treasuring it and entrusting it to You. You call me, You command me, to do this "above all else." Help me obey Your command and trust in Your wisdom. Help me take time for my heart to be refreshed and renewed, given to worship and rest, and time alone with You. Then out of my heart can flow the Living Waters of Your Spirit because the Living Waters of Your Spirit are flowing in me (John 7:38). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays 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 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

Amazing Love, Amazing God 5-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As the song says, "I'm forgiven because You were forsaken; I'm accepted, You were condemned. I'm alive and well. Your Spirit lives within me, because You died and rose again.... Amazing love, how can it be, that You, my King, should die for me. Amazing love, I know it's true; and it's my joy to honor You. In all I do, I honor You." With my first thoughts of my morning, I honor You. With the first name that I speak today, I honor You. ... "But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). With every head bowed and every eyes closed, three people held up their hands and opened up their hearts to receive You as their personal Lord and Savior last night. And the angels of heaven rejoiced. Many others received You as their healer and deliver, while others received Your Holy Spirit in a deeper surrender than ever before to fill them and sanctify them in spirit, soul, and body. Each in our own way and each at our point of need, we believed Your promise and responded to Your tug at our hearts. "God is faithful; by Him you were called into the fellowship of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:9). You were standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and waiting for us to open the door and welcome You in (Revelation 3:20). And we did -- some for the first time, some to a deeper place than ever before. I am humbled that You do it and honored that You desire it -- the God of the universe humbling Yourself to come to us as we call on Your name. You are an amazing God, filled with a heart of amazing love. Now You are pouring Your love into our hearts to honor You with our lives, as we love others with the love and grace You have given us (Romans 5:5). Now by Your grace, in all I do, I honor You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for your prayers for us this week during our revival in eastern Kentucky. I pray revival will continue in our hearts and in yours, until the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). God bless you! 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 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