"Above All ... Love" 8-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Consume me. ... "Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Colossians 3:14). "Above all" is a strong command of priority. Your Word doesn't say "above all, clothe yourselves with forgiveness," or "good deeds," or "a servant's heart," or any other of the many significant and necessary attributes of Christ-likeness. In fact, the verses just before this command list many of those godly attributes You call us to live out, saying, "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (v 3:12). But love is the priority "above all." Just the other day, I was thinking that my morning prayers are filled with too many thoughts and words about love. I was thinking it doesn't seem manly enough or strong enough, that maybe I only need to write and pray about the cross, and the blood, and the power of God. But You quickly broke through these thoughts from Satan. I am not to try to create You in my own image or clothe myself with any image I feel more comfortable in projecting to You in my prayers and to others who read them. You are who You are. And You are Love (1 John 4:8). If I am to be clothed with Christ and allow You to conform me to Christ-likeness -- the purpose of my existence for these moments on earth -- then I will embrace and exude Your love and Your loving nature more and more every day. After all, Your love is the very source of everything else, including the cross, the blood, and the power of God. So if I am filled with Your Spirit, as I pray every day, I must be filled with Your love. My words, my prayers, my actions, my life will manifest the Spirit of the One I worship and welcome to have priority in my life. So, this day and every day, I choose by Your grace to clothe myself with Your love -- unashamed, unafraid, unrestrained. 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 -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Spiritual Kingdom 8-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Awaken my soul to seek You and find You in the intimacy of prayer. ... "Jesus answered, 'Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of Spirit is spirit" (John 3:5-6). Last night we watched a movie with the kids about two friends who crossed over a creek and went into the woods to play after school every day. The woods across the water became their kingdom when they "looked hard" with their eyes to see with their imagination. Our journey with You is kind of like that, only the kingdom we seek to see with the eyes of our heart is real, not our imagination, but we have to look hard to see beyond the kingdom of the natural realm into the kingdom of the heavenly realm. We have to cross over through the water of baptism and welcome the presence of Your Spirit in the spiritual communion of worship and prayer. "God is Spirit, and those worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords; You are the King of this kingdom of spiritual reality beyond our natural senses, "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). As I watch and wait for Your leading each day in the communion of prayer, You draw me in to the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of heaven is drawn into me. As You open the eyes of my heart to see You and worship You in spirit and truth, I become more aware of the spiritual reality of Your kingdom and Your spiritual kingdom becomes more real in me (Ephesians 1:17-19). I cross over into the spiritual place You have prepared for me, as You come and take me there as You promised, "I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3). Here in the reality of Your spiritual kingdom, my "life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Here I fixed the eyes of my heart on "things that are above, not on things that are on earth;" here, I "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (v. 3:1-2). In this spiritual kingdom, "we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Lord, help me keep looking and keep living more and more in the eternal reality of Your spiritual kingdom, allowing the reality of Your spiritual kingdom to live more and more in me each 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 -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Shocking and Amazing" Worship 8-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and I seek Your face. ... "The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their worship of Me is a human commandment learned by rote; so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing. The wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden" (Isaiah 29:13-14). In the sin of shallow worship, we say the right words and do the right things, but it's only on the surface and not from the depths of our hearts. Someone says "stand," "kneel," "pray," "sing," and we do. Even in more "free" settings, someone says "lift up your hands," "lift up your voices," "give a shout to the Lord," and we do. In whatever form our worship has settled, we are engaged to a degree, we've given ourselves to You in a measure, but do we give to You our hearts unrestrained and unashamed in a passion ablaze with praise and alive with a burning fire of ones who know the extravagance of Your mercy and the Your presence? But in Your mercy and Your desire to awaken us to the worship we were created to experience and express in unveiled intimacy with You, You break through our timidity and complacency to again do shocking and amazing things in our midst. Where we've lost our passion, You want to impassion us again with the power of Your presence. Where our love has grown cold, You want to fire us up with the move of Your Spirit in our midst. Lord, come shock us, come amaze us, come shake us and wake us until we are alive and ablaze with the depth of worship You desire and deserve. Let our honest and genuine, heart-felt response to Your extravagant love and incomprehensible mercy be shocking and amazing worship for You. 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 -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Restorer of Life 8-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I direct my thoughts to You alone in these first moments of my morning. ... "So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son" (Ruth 4:13). From one perspective, we have the freedom to follow our desires and make our choices. And You want our hearts so yielded to You that we can sense the leading of Your Spirit in every choice we make. But You are the One who speaks Your will into our choices to bring forth life. And if we take time to wait in Your presence and welcome the leading of Your Spirit, You will use our choices to bear sons and daughters of blessing. The son of Boaz and Ruth was Obed -- destined to be "a restorer of life" (v. 4:15). And through his life, he became the father of Jesse, the father of David (v. 4:22). Ultimately, through the generations of choices in response to the leading of Your Spirit to come, David would become the father of Jesus of Nazareth -- the "Son of David" (Matthew 1:1). You are the Son of the simple choices made by Boaz and Ruth and the countless choices through countless generations made by the inspiration of Your Spirit. The generational blessing of "restorer of life" is now fully manifested in You. You are the Restorer of Life, because You are Life (John 14:6). Lord, help me be led by Your Spirit to make the choices You desire to use to conceive the life and blessings for generations to come. Restore life in me and live Your life through me this day and every day. Through my life, pass on Your blessings for generations to come. 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 -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ OUR UPDATED WEB-SITE Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/

God's Answer for Peace in Israel 8-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Father, my Friend, my Lord, my God. May the Father and the Son come abide in me as One by Your Holy Spirit (from John 14:23). Now prompt me to pray as You will, as I watch and wait, listening for Your leading in the silence of surrender. ... "When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:33-34). I have chosen to believe the Word of God is true and to live my life as best as I can by Your grace in trusting surrender and humble submission to Your Word as my Truth. I don't like labels like "Evangelical," "Charismatic," "Fundamentalist," "Bible-thumper," etc. But I am -- or I should say I try to be -- a Bible believing Christian. And to me, believing it means to at least try by Your grace to live it. And when I don't, I believe I am called to admit it and call it for the sin that it is instead of trying to justify it, explain it, compromise it, or try to substitute my own will for Yours' and my own ways for Yours'. Though I know I have sinfully done that many times in my past, I ask for Your conviction that leads me to repentance, to receive again Your forgiveness and restoration of the intimacy of our relationship. But it seems to me that many who claim to believe Your Word are seeking ways to be able to compromise Your Word and still claim to be followers of Your Word -- especially with regard to covenant and promises Your Word expresses to the people and the land of Israel. I know many of my friends will not like my words, but these are the prayers on my heart today. Lord, convict us and remind us of Your Truth and Your Word, so You can forgive us and restore us as people who try to believe and live the Word of God as if it were true, because it is. By Your Spirit, encourage us to encourage others to hold firm to Your Word, Your covenant, and Your promises for the people and the land of Israel and everyone else. We need Your creative and certain answers, not our own, in submission to Your Word and will, not ours. You meet us where we are in our cultures and practices, but never leave us as we are. Then You begin the patient and painful process of bringing order and security, righteousness and justice to our hearts and our homes in the places You position us. The history of nations recorded in Your Word, with Israel and others, is messy and hard to understand as You began to form Your heart and Your will in the hearts and wills of a people whose journey with You would teach us about You and Your desire for relationship with all of us. And You worked out this history -- as You are still working out this history today -- in the context of a land and a people with the promises of a covenant. "I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens" (Exodus 6:4). Whether we like it or not, understand it or not, agree with it or not, this is Your Word. And we need Your wisdom to understand Your will, Your way, and Your answer for all the turmoil and terror in this land of Canaan, the land of Your promise to Your people. We know by Your Word, there will not be true and lasting peace until the Prince of Peace returns (for example, Zechariah 12:1 through 13:6; Isaiah 11:1-16). In the new Jerusalem of the new heaven and new earth, Your Word says, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be His peoples, and God Himself with be with them" (Revelation 21:3). But until that day, Your Word does not teach us to trade land for peace, or force others to sell their birthright and inheritance of God for the porridge of false peace (Genesis 25:29-34). Instead Your Word calls the people of Your covenant to honor the aliens among them. "You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 23:9). Through the conflicts and casualties of war on all sides, as well as the working out of Your will and Your Word in this land, today Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others live in the land of Canaan. Though Your Word seems clear about Your will of ownership of the land, ownership is not the only issue. Honoring one another, loving "the alien as yourself" and respecting them as a "citizen among you" without oppression and with full recognition as a people of equal value and great worth whom You love and gave Your life to save -- these are issues of just a much, if not more, importance. But deliver us and them from the temptation to seek our own answers to satisfy our own sense of righteousness and justice apart from Yours. Let us humble ourselves to seek Your wisdom and submit to Your will in our lives and theirs. We need Your answer to peace in Israel and in our own hearts and lands. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encourage today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays 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 -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Through and Through 8-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come walk with me and talk with me, as I join my heart with Yours' in the communion of prayer. ... I hear in my heart the words, "Through and through." What are You saying, Lord? It seems I hear You say, "I desire to live through you, through each of My children. Allow Me to love through your heart, speak through your mouth, heal through your hands. I do it, but I choose to do it through you, through each of you who make yourselves available to Me." Yes, Lord. You don't want to replace me, You want to embrace me. You don't want to set me aside; You want to send me out. You don't want me out of the way; You want me to walk in Your way. You don’t want me to disappear; You want me to shine with the light of Your glory shining through me. "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing Him ... in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence" (2 Corinthians 2:14-17). Help me know You more fully each day, so Your Spirit can flow more freely through me each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, in case You might be able to come join us or would like to pray for us, I will be ministering in Pennsylvania and Tennessee in September. I'll be leading a healing prayer retreat at Jumonville Retreat Center 9/7-9 http://jumonville.gospelcom.net (brochure attached). I'll be teaching a workshop on inner healing and deliverance at the "Becoming a People of Prayer" conference at Brentwood UMC outside Nashville 9/21-22 www.gbod.org/peopleofprayer (brochure attached). I'll be leading a Ministers' Conference on prayer and spiritual transformation for the Methodist Church of Estonia August 20-30 http://www.bmk.ee/umc Thank you for joining with us in ministry at home and to the nations. 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 UPDATED WEB-SITEDaily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Watching and Waiting for Wisdom 8-7-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead my thoughts and shape my desires, as I willingly yield them all to You. ... "Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord; but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death" (Proverbs 8:34-36). I need Your wisdom, Lord. I need You, for You are "filled with wisdom" (Luke 2:40). You are Wisdom -- "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). To find You is to find Life. And to find You and the wisdom of Your ways, I must be willing to seek You -- daily watching at Your gates, daily waiting beside Your doors, giving my mind to Your thoughts and my heart to Your desires. As I do, You promise to give of Your wisdom to all who seek it from You, "generously and ungrudgingly," if we "ask in faith" (James 1:5-7). Lord, I do ask and I do seek. By Your grace, I choose to listen for Your leading, trusting that You are forming Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, a little more each day, as I watch and wait for You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare messages for my ministry trip at the end of August to Estonia (one of the three Baltic Republics northwest of Russia, who declared their independence from the former Soviet Union). By God's grace, I will be the keynote speaker, preaching and teaching messages on prayer and spiritual transformation at the ministers' conference for all the Methodist ministers' in the country. Thank You for you partnership with us in ministry at home and to the nations. Your prayers, support, and encouragement make this kind of ministry possible for us. 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

Always Watching, Always with Me 8-6-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me beside Your still waters. Restore my soul, and help to know You are my Good Shepherd, always watching and always with me. ... "The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all humankind. From where He sits enthroned He watches all the inhabitants of the earth -- He who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds" (Psalm 33:13-15). You are the all-seeing God. To You all hearts are known, all deeds exposed, all desires and motives revealed. You see the end from the beginning, the inside from the outside, and everything in between. But Your "all-seeing Eye" is not on the top of a pyramid or any other man-made structure -- contrary to the ancient occultic symbol found on dollar bills and in lodge halls of secret societies. You see from heaven's throne and everywhere the God of heaven touches. You see all, because You created all, and You are in all. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). Knowing that You are always watching, does it bring me peace or fear? I suppose the truth is, it brings both. Part of knowing the fear of the Lord is knowing that You are always with me, in the secret or in the open, in the silent thoughts within my head and in the public actions of my hands. You see it all. I'm not fooling You for a moment. But at the same time, part of knowing the peace of the Lord is knowing You never leave me and never forsake me. You fight for me in ways I can't fully see and love me in ways I can't fully know. So both the fear and the peace come with knowing You're always watching and always with me. "Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love" (Psalm 33:18). Thank You for Your watchful eye and Your loving heart. "Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You" (v. 33:22). You watch from where You sit enthroned (v. 33:14). Be enthroned in my heart from where You are always watching and always with me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare messages for my ministry trip at the end of August to Estonia (one of the three Baltic Republics northwest of Russia, who declared their independence from the former Soviet Union). By God's grace, I will be the keynote speaker, preaching and teaching messages on prayer and spiritual transformation at the ministers' conference for all the Methodist ministers' in the country. Thank You for you partnership with us in ministry at home and to the nations. Your prayers, support, and encouragement make this kind of ministry possible for us. 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

Believe, Obey, and Become 8-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes toward You and lay my life before You. ... "The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (John 3:35-36). How can I obey You unless I hear know Your words and hear Your voice. How can I know Your words unless I spend time reading them; and how can I know Your voice unless I spend time listening to it. In the seeking and the listening there grows a longing to know ever more deeply and fully the One to Whom I give such attention, such worship. As I long to become more like You, I grow in the desire to obey You, to follow You, to live my life for You. To truly believe You is to truly obey You, desiring to become more like You. We become like the One we worship (2 Corinthians 3:18). And this is life You offer all who will believe, eternal life -- mercy rather than wrath, intimacy rather than isolation, personal relationship with the One who holds my life and all things in His hands. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). 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

Honored by God 8-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I rest in You. Form Your thoughts and desires in me. ... "What are human beings that You are mindful of them, mortals that You care for them? Yet You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:4-5). Your love for us is astounding. Your perception of our value and significance is unbelievable. Yet, You want us to believe it, to know how You see us, how You have created us, how You have crowned us and honored us. If we could only see ourselves as You see us and see one another as You see them, our insecurities and jealousies, resentments and hatred would vanish in a moment. What if it really were as simple as loving You, loving each other as we love ourselves? That is what You said (Matthew 22:36-40). What if You really meant it and we really believed it? What if we really could be forgiven of every sin and restored in every relationship -- with You, with one another, within ourselves (1 John 1:9)? Through the calling and cleansing of Christ, we are "reconciled to God" and we have "become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). It all begins and ends with seeing You as You are and seeing ourselves and one another as You created us to be, with the value and significance You created us to have. Help me believe it, receive it, and live it. I honor You, my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Help me honor others today as You honor them, love them as You love them, and do the same with myself. 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: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Love as Strong as Death 8-3-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You cleanse my sin and draw me in, You offer Your cup and fill me up, You lead the way as I watch and pray. ... "My beloved is mine and I am his" (Song of Solomon 2:16). Solomon's love story of the bride-to-be and coming groom speaks of the love story of Your bride and our Groom -- the yearning for intimacy, the aching and emptiness of perceived times apart, the seeking and searching for the fulfillment of embrace and union as one. Because You are Spirit and our union is a spiritual one, even the explicit language of this love story can awaken the longing of our souls for this level of love between our God and Your people, between You and I. Men and women alike can express and proclaim our love for You is as strong as death, our passion for You is as fierce as the grace (v. 8:6). Free me to seek You unashamed and unrestrained with passion and persistence. I am Yours and You are 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

Apostolic Ministry of Matthias is Missing 8-2-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. It's very early this morning, but I can't sleep -- something is burning in my bones. So I rise and enter in to the holy place of prayer. Speak, Lord, for Your servant and Your son is listening. ... "Then they prayed and said, 'Lord, You know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.' And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:24-26). I've never heard anyone ever teach or preach on the ministry of the apostle Matthias. Maybe because his name is never mentioned again in Scripture after this verse. But there is something here we need to see for our day. The apostolic ministry of Matthias was necessary. Something was missing without him. It stuns me to see for the fist time a connection to the very next verse after Matthias was identified and added to his position of ministry through discernment and prayer: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place" (v. 2:1). Lord, this is a key to the Pentecostal power of Your church taking her place of authority and responsibility in the earth in our day. We are missing the apostolic ministry of Matthias. They are those who have labored among us "during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us," but we have not yet affirmed and embraced our need and their ministry (v. 1:21). We've not always known their names because they've not drawn attention to themselves, but to You alone. But You know their hearts (v. 1:24). And You know our need of their ministry for us to be the church You've created us and called us to be. We have such a tendency to "look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). Many are placed into positions of authority because of education, organizational credentials, and prayer-less presumption. And many essentially place themselves in positions of authority by self-promotion. Forgive us, Lord. Your church has suffered for our sin and the world has suffered for our failure to fully manifest the fullness of Your nature. We have failed to be the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, continuing the ministry of Christ, established in Your biblical order, submitted to Your heavenly will, and empowered by Your Holy Spirit to reveal Your nature as Your "ambassadors" for too many generations (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are not yet spiritually mature as the body of Christ. We are not yet experiencing the fullness of the Pentecostal power and the "greater works" You have longed to demonstrate through a generation desperate enough, humble enough, to be obedient enough so we can be empowered enough to be the hands and feet, heart and soul of the body of Christ on earth You have destined us to be (John 14:12). And part of our immaturity is that we have not set our hearts to seek Your face in prayer for those who are missing in the ministry of gifts and positions of Biblical order, responsibility, and authority of Your church: "The gifts He gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children ... we must grow up in every way into Him Who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-15). Lord, call us to prayer to seek to understand what is missing and identify who is missing. Show us where we have failed to recognize our need and Your gifts of all the positions and callings of spiritual leadership. Forgive us for trying to make pastors be apostles and make apostles be pastors because we don’t' yet fully understand Your biblical order. Call out and raise up all the ministries of Your Spirit and Your body, including the apostolic ministry of Matthias. Appoint and anoint those who have the whole-hearted humility and single-minded devotion to be the nameless, faceless, fearless spiritual leaders of our day. When the gifts of Your grace and positions of Your authority are in place, the day of our Pentecost and Your power will come into and flow out of Your church to manifest the fullness and maturity of Your nature in the ways the world is literally dying to see. 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/

Remnant of the Faithful 8-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You and trust You, now I watch for You and wait for You as I start my day with You. ... "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:3-4). Give me courage to stand firm in the faith, to be found faithful as one who seeks to trust You and obey You as best as I can and all by Your grace. Though at times my sin and my self-centeredness have driven me far from the shelter of Your protection and provision, You are the Good Shepherd who comes after me to draw me back. As the pressures of the world, the flesh, and devil increase in their pull and influence even among those of Your fold, I ask You to hold on to me, to keep coming after me, to keep convicting me, to never let me go. When I am afraid or dismayed, when I feel lost or alone, keep reminding me of home -- my home in Your heart as I welcome You to make Your home in my heart. I want to be among the remnant of Your faithful. "So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace" (Romans 11:5). You choose all who have chosen You by the grace of Your love for us all, "not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). By Your grace, help me be among those who turn to You in trusting faith to keep drawing me home and holding me close. 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

One Healed Among Many 7-31-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In trusting surrender, I commit this day to Your care. ... "Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Bethesda, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids -- blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?' " (John 5:2-6). Lord, there were many who were broken and hurting by the pool of Bethesda that day. Why where Your eyes drawn to one man? Why did You choose to heal him, and apparently not any others at that time? Was it because he had been there a long time or had been there the longest? Was it because he wanted to be made well or wanted it more than the others? Your Spirit is bringing these Scriptures to mind: "Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise' " (John 5:19). "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own; but the Father who dwells in Me does His works" (v. 14:10). "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands" (v. 3:34). As You walked this earth as Son of Man in human flesh and blood, You were in constant communion with the Father by the Spirit. As a humble, obedient Son, You spent time alone with the Father in prayer and came out of the place of prayer into the place of authority to do what You saw the Father doing and speak what You heard the Father speaking, all in the power of the Spirit without measure. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help me live my life in constant communion with You. I want to see what You are doing and hear what You are saying. I want to come out of the place of prayer and into the place of authority to be Your vessel and instrument of Your healing in the lives of others by the power of Your Spirit anointing me and empowering me to do Your will in Your timing and Your way. Draw my eyes to those You want me to see today, and help me entrust all others to You. And send those who will allow You to draw their eyes to me today, to minister Your love and power in the ways I need. You know every hair on our heads and every hurt in our hearts. Help us trust You to heal and help us in the way and the time only You know best. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Set the Compass of My Soul 7-30-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. May You increase as I decrease. May You be the center of my attention and the focus of my worship in these first moments of my morning. ... "These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord" (Zechariah 8:16-17). Convict me when I'm tempted to lie. Restrain me when I'm tempted to stir up strife. Prompt me when I'm tempted to stay silent in the face of injustice, oppression, and need. Let my words and my actions reveal the nature of a heart and mind entrusted to You today. "May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You" (Psalm 25:21). Set the compass of my soul toward the true north of Your Word and Your ways. Help me chart my course throughout my day by the leading of Your Spirit. It all begins here in these fist moments of worship and prayer, as I yield my unrighteousness to Your righteousness, my human spirit to Your Holy Spirit. "The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, You make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of Your judgments, O Lord, we wait for You; Your name and Your renown are the soul's desire" (Isaiah 26:7-8). 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

"Sowing of Peace" 7-29-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Spirit, Son, come abide in me as One, as I watch and wait for Your leading today. ... "For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all things. Just as you have been a cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong" (Zechariah 8:12-13). The seeds You have sown will all bear fruit in their time. But for a seed to bear fruit, first it must die (John 12:24). And then there will always be a season that looks like the opposite of the harvest to come. But it will yield its fruit and give its produce in its time. In the land of Israel, You have sown Your seeds of peace and blessing. In that same field, the enemy has come in by night to sow his seeds of chaos and cursing, seeds of false peace and confusion, but when the seeds have grown and matured to harvest, You will reap Your harvest as the enemy's harvest is exposed and consumed (see Matthew 13:24-30). In Your timing and Your way, this land that has known so little peace will know the One who is the "Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6). A remnant will persevere in the power of Your strength and persevering prayer. You "will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain" (Zechariah 8:3). They will be a blessing to the nations and "rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest" (v. 9:3). As You open the skies of heaven to give its dew, nurture the seeds You have sown in their hearts and ours. 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 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

"Apple of My Eye" 7-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before I make any choices today, either in surrender to You or sin against You, I dedicate and consecrate my mind, my will, and my emotions to You alone. ... "Truly, one who touches you, touches the apple of My eye" (Zechariah 2:8). These words have been on my heart for two days now: "Pray for the apple of My eye." Yes, Lord. Of Jerusalem, You declare in Your Word, "I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it" (v. 2:5). I join my prayers with the hearts of the people You are moving with passion to pray for the peace and security of all the people affected by the land and the promises of the children of Abraham. Look upon Jerusalem with fire in Your eyes and the sword of Your Word in Your hand. Be a wall of fire, cleansing within and consuming without. You are "a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). And You burn with a passion for Your people and burn with wrath against the spiritual enemies of her soul bent on her destruction and Your shame. But in the end -- in Your timing and Your way, having fulfilled Your purposes -- it is Your glory that will remain and Your "holy city, the new Jerusalem" that will shine, as Your enemies and hers are consumed forever in fire (Revelation 21:1-8). "Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in your midst" (Zechariah 2:10-11). The circumstances and sins throughout all the generations of all the people with desire and passion for this land complicate matters beyond human reasoning and human resolution. We hardly know how to pray. But "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). So in obedience to Your call, I seek to sense the leading of Your Spirit to pray with passion for the protection of the people who are the apple of Your eye. And I pray for the people of the many nations who shall be Your people, joining themselves to You on that day -- even in the days of consuming fire -- as You come and dwell in the midst of our hearts, now and forever. 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 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

"Let Us Go Up to the Mountain" 7-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. On 7-27, I feel drawn to Psalm 27:7. And here I find Your call to prayer for me today. ... "Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! 'Come,' my heart says, 'Seek His face!' Your face, Lord, do I seek" (Psalm 27:7-8). ... As You hear me, I hear You. Your Holy Spirit is stirring in my human spirit a song of seeking and surrender in worship and prayer: My Messiah, My Savior, You’re my Everything. Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, I come to the mountain of my King. I seek You, I need You, I worship and sing. You hear me, You're near me, To Your arms I will cling. Yes, Lord. To Your arms I will cling, safe and secure, surrendered and serene in the arms of my King. You came to David on Mount Moriah, and there You called Solomon to build Your temple (2 Chronicles 3:1). On Mount Moriah, You called Abraham to offer himself and all he held dear in the trusting surrender of worship to You (Genesis 22:2). This is the holy mountain, consecrated and cleansed by acts of holy surrender and sacrifice of heart and soul in worship of You. This is site of Jerusalem, the City of Peace, the City of David, the City of God on this mountain of Zion (Psalm 76:2; 2 Samuel 5:7; Psalm 46:4). You are "the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion" (Isaiah 8:18). This is the mountain of surrender, purchased and made holy by the blood of the Lamb at Calvary's hill, where You surrendered Your life for ours (Luke 23:33, KJV). Let this holy hill speak of our holy hearts surrendered to You in eternal worship in response to Your eternal sacrifice. "Glorious are You, more majestic than the everlasting mountains" (Psalm 76:4). "Many peoples shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the city of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). "So you shall know that I, the Lord, your God, dwell in Zion, My holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy...." (Joel 3:17). Messiah of Moriah, Savior of Zion, Christ of Calvary, my God and my King, I surrender my life as a living sacrifice in response to Your sacrifice of love for me. 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 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

"One Spirit with Him" 7-26-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Heavenly Father. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Three Persons of the One, True, and Holy God -- You are All in One, and You are my All in All. I worship You and welcome You into every area of my life this day and every day. ... "The Father and I are One.... I am God's Son.... The Father is in Me and I am in the Father" (John 10:30-38). My Father, my Friend, my Savior and Lord, I want to see what You are doing and hear what You are saying. I want to obey what You are commanding and go where You are leading. I want my will to be conformed to Your will and my ways to be conformed to Your ways. I want to be more like You each day, as You increase and I decrease. As I behold You and worship You, having no gods before You, I am being changed by You, "being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Come, Holy Spirit. Make me more like Jesus, Who is One with the Father and One with You. Continue to purge my heart and purify my soul of all that does not yet bear the image of Christ -- and I confess there is much. But I also confess that by the grace of God, I am on the journey. "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own" (Philippians 3:10-12). I can't do it -- and, in fact, it would be sin to even try it -- apart from You and the power of Your Spirit working in me to make me more like You. But I am not apart from You. The Father and the Son have come to make their home in me by their Holy Spirit now living in me, now teaching me, now transforming me from glory to glory, morning by morning and day by day (John 14:23-26). This is the Peace and Power of God You leave with me and Who lives within me (v. 14:27). This is "the Spirit of Christ" living in me (Romans 8:9). This is "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" -- the glory of every Person of Your Presence -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- living in me and living through me for the glory of Your name (Colossians 1:27). By the astounding mystery of faith and miracle of Your grace, I am united with You; and "anyone united with the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). This is Your Word. Help me understand it, yield to it, embrace it, and live my life believing it is true -- because it is. 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

"Only Believe" 7-25-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Keep adjusting my world-view into line with Your truth. Keep adjusting my worldly ways into line with Your ways. ... "Do not fear, only believe" (from Mark 5:36). In a sense, fear is a choice and so is faith. Your power and Your truth are available for me and my needs. My part is to choose to agree with You. You give me the desire and the ability to choose, but ultimately I must choose to agree with You or not, to submit my will and my ways to Yours or not. I can choose fear or I can choose faith. I can choose to live my life as if the Words of Your Bible are true or not. You said through Moses, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and holding fast to Him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Likewise, You said through Joshua, "Choose this day whom you will serve ... but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). And You said through Elijah, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him..." (1 Kings 18:21). By Your grace, I choose to believe and to follow You. I ask You to work in me the desire and the power to align my thoughts with Your thoughts and my desires with Your desires, to live my life as best as I can in submission to Your Word and Your will. "For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). I renounce fear, and I choose faith. All by Your grace and all in Your power, I choose to believe. 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

On Angels' Wings 7-24-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me under the shadow of the Almighty and into the shelter of the Most High. Send Your holy angels to surround me and uplift me into the arms of the security of Your presence (from Psalm 91). ... "Those who love Me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know My name. When they call to Me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, And show them My salvation" (Psalm 91:14-16). I do love You, Lord. And I do trust in the promises of Your protection. You are my rock and my refuge, my dwelling place. You are my strength and my security. You lift me up on angels' wings and subdue the enemy of my soul under my feet (v. 91:11-13). You not only rescue me from trouble and deliver me from evil, You choose to honor me as a son and satisfy me with the fullness of Your salvation. Yesterday, my five year old son, Elijah, said out of the blue, "Dad, next time I go preach with you, I feel like the Lord is putting some words in my head to say." I asked what the words were, and he said, "When you are weak, I am strong." Yes, Lord. I receive Your prophetic words of truth and life through my son. "Whenever I am weak, then I am strong" because Your power is made perfect in my weakness, as I depend upon You to be my strength and my power (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). No matter what comes this day or any day, I put my hope and trust in You alone, knowing You are fighting for me and protecting me in ways I may not always see. I thank You now for who You are and all You do, even in the times when I don't even know it. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Prophecy in the Power of Love 7-23-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your face is the first thing I seek; Your name is the first thing I speak, as I choose to begin this day with You. ... "Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophecy" (1 Corinthians 14:1). To prophecy is to hear and speak Your words for Your purposes in the power of Your love. You call us each to strive for this gift of prophecy especially, above all other spiritual gifts, as we pursue the path of love. To hear Your words of life and truth and to speak them into one another's lives is a manifestation of Your love and encouragement You desire to express through us. "Those who prophecy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation" (v. 14:3). In Your sovereignty, You have chosen to encourage and comfort Your people through Your people as a means of Your grace by the gifts You give. "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 4:10-11). And how will we know what to speak, unless we first listen? How will we be able to listen, unless we first set aside the time it takes to seek Your face and listen for Your voice in the silence of surrender to Your will? "Because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21). Lord, I choose to obey Your command to pursue love, to strive for spiritual gifts, and especially to prophecy. Work in me the humility to listen before I speak, the yearning to seek You before all else, the compassion to speak the truth in love, the sensitivity to know how to speak in the way that brings life and hope, the wisdom to know when to speak and when to pray, and the courage to obey the prompting of Your Spirit. "So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). Work in me Your nature to be Your ambassador, faithfully representing the Father's heart the mind of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit as I prophecy Your words of truth and life in love. 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 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

Completely and Continually Filled with the Holy Spirit 7-22-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be the center of my thoughts, the desire of my heart, and the foundation of my day. ... "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18-20). When Your Word says "be filled with the Spirit," the verb tense is a continuous command. You call us and command us to be filled with Your Spirit. It literally means "to be being filled continually." In times like these past few days of seeking and singing, worshiping and welcoming Your Holy Spirit into every area of our hearts and minds and souls and strength in almost everything we say and sing, the cups of our human spirit are overflowing beyond measure with the fullness of Your Holy Spirit. You have changed the water into wine (John 2:9). You have restored unto us the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12). But let it not be just a powerful moment of prayer at the altar or a gentle nap resting in the Spirit on the floor, let it be a lifestyle of continually seeking You and receiving You, worshiping You and welcoming You into the fullness of our lives and we embrace the fullness of You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May we be completely and continually "be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Dear Friends, thank you for joining with me in the journey of prayer and ministry at the Aldersgate Conference of the Holy Spirit this year. The presence and power of the Lord has been overflowing with His love for His children. I pray a double portion and more of all we have received to you and your family, your church, your ministry, and your community, in Jesus' name. Thank you for your ministry of encouragement and support that allow me to experience and help others experience the loving, powerful presence of God in ways like this. 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

"Where is the God of Elijah?" 7-21-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. ... "Elisha kept watching and crying out, 'Father, father!' The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!' But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He picked up the mantel of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, 'Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?' " (2 Kings 2:12-14). The next generation is crying out, "Where is the God of Elijah?" They are hungry for the supernatural, hungry for the spiritual, hungry for God. You have put that hunger in their hearts. It is almost insatiable, but it will be filled. Whether it is filled with the experiences and encounters with the God of glory or the god of this world depends in large part on our response to Your calling for our generation. Like Elisha, they are crying out "Father, father!" Will we hear their heart cry of our sons and daughters -- both those of our flesh and those of our spirit? Will we pass on the mantel of the wisdom and power You have released and imparted to our generation, with a heart that their generation will go farther than we ever could, even farther than we ever dreamed? Will we pass on the "double portion" You've put in their hearts to long to have with each succeeding generation (v. 2:9, KJV). Will our mantel be worth passing on? Will we humble ourselves to desire to see them surpass us? Will we pray and equip and impart and model and lead until they experience and encounter the God of Elijah? Will we settle for nothing less than knowing You in the fullness of Your power and glory ourselves? By Your grace, I say, "Yes, Lord -- for myself and for my generation, as far as Your grace will go, and for the generation You choose for us to father with Your Father heart." In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for your prayers for us at the Aldersgate Conference of the Holy Spirit, called to renewal of the church. Last night the young people led us in worship and testimony of their hunger for God and radical passion for what's real and what matters. May we both follow them and lead them as the Lord leads us. 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

Cleansed and Holy Bride 7-20-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Holy are You, and worthy of all praise. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- I worship You and honor You and welcome You into my heart and my thoughts, my desires and my day. ... "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to Himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind -- yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). You are a holy God, seeking a holy people. You are a holy groom, seeking a holy bride. We can't make ourselves holy -- not by our works or our efforts or by wishing it were so. But we can choose by Your grace to be made holy -- to submit to the cleansing and washing of Your Word, to yield to the heat of Your will as Your Holy Spirit irons out the wrinkles our self-centered will. Under Your loving care making us to become who we were created to be, we will be clothed in the splendor of Your glory. As Your prophesied in Your Word long ago: "I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you, I display My holiness before their eyes. ... I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness. ... A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you. ... I will put My Spirit within you. ..." (Ezekiel 36:23-27). Yes, Lord. Let is be so in our day. Let it be so in me this day. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I will be teaching and ministering again today on Spiritual Transformation through Inner Healing and Deliverance; serving on the Word Gifts Team helping discern and test prophetic words to be shared during worship; and praying with people personally on the Prayer Ministry Team after the worship services during the day and each evening here at the Aldersgate Conference. God is making us hungry and satisfying that hunger with His powerful presence! Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support that allow me to minister in this way. May the Holy Spirit fill you and your church and community with the presence and power of the Lord! 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

To You Alone 7-19-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, I lift my face, my prayers, and my praise to You alone. ... To You alone. There is no one but You. To You alone. All others fade from view. Here I come and give my heart, Here I seek You from the start, Here I know You'll never part. Here there is no one but You alone. ... "For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere Your name. I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever" (Psalm 86:10-12). Yes, Lord. My world will begin to draw at my heart as soon as I rise from my place of prayer. But first I entrust my whole heart to You. I seek You and worship You with an undivided heart, wholly focused and surrendered to You. Let Your heart become my heart, so that as the world draws upon mine, they will be drawing upon Yours. Let Your ways be my ways and Your truth be my truth, as I glorify Your name with my life through Your grace this day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, the Lord is building a deep hunger and thirst for His presence here in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas for the national conference of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries this week: ARM-Aldersgate Conference on the Holy Spirit '07 We have had tremendous times of deep worship and prayer in the pre-conference preparation. People have come from over thirty-two states so far. I would really appreciate your prayers for us. Today, I will be teaching an equipping session on Spiritual Transformation through Inner Healing and Deliverance; serving on the Word Gifts Team helping discern and test prophetic words to be shared during worship, and prayer with people personally on the Prayer Ministry Team after the worship services each evening. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support that allow me to minister in this way. May the Holy Spirit fill you and your church and community with the presence and power of the Lord! 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

Display Your Glory 7-18-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Abide in me, I pray. ... "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. The brightness was like sun; rays came forth from His hand, where His power lay hidden" (from Habakkuk 3:3-4). Last night at dusk, everyone was astounded by the glorious clouds, golden with Your sun. We've gathered here for our annual Aldersgate Conference of the Holy Spirit with the theme, "Display Your Glory." And You already are. With anticipation in our hearts for these days of worship, prayer, and equipping to come, it's as if Your cloud of glory and pillar of fire has settled over us in these mountains of Arkansas (see Exodus 13:21). Lord, let the brightness of Your glory fill our hearts with Your Spirit. As Your glory covers the heavens, may the earth be full of praise here and everywhere. We "have heard of Your renown" and we "stand in awe of You." Come in Your glorious presence and power -- "In our own time revive it; in our own time, make it known" (Habakkuk 3:2). Stretch forth Your mighty hand and display Your glory and Your power -- the power of Your love unveiled in the hearts of Your people. This is our hope. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5:5). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'm in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas for the national conference of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries this week: ARM-Aldersgate Conference on the Holy Spirit '07 I would really appreciate your prayers for us. I'm exciting to be leading the Word Gifts Team this year, helping discern and test prophetic words to be shared during worship; teaching an equipping session on Spiritual Transformation through Inner Healing and Deliverance; leading a prayer session in pre-conference; and serving on the Prayer Ministry Team. Please come join us if you can, pray for us if you can't, and make plans to come next year. 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

Patient and Positioned 7-17-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Father and my Friend, my Lord and my God. I worship You and welcome You in Spirit and in Truth. ... "May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power, and my you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light" (Colossians 1:11). It seems I hear You saying, "Be patient and be positioned." Yes, Lord. I want to be ready to go, ready to move at Your command, strategically positioned for such a time as this. And at the same time, I want to be patient to allow You to fully prepare me and as You prepare and position every one and every thing to advance in alignment with Your will, in Your timing. You prepare my heart for love and You prepare my hands for war. It's out of love that You lead us to war in the glorious power of Your strength, binding up the brokenhearted and setting the captives free, as "priests of the Lord" and "ministers of our God" (Isaiah 61:1-7). Then we "shall possess a double portion and everlasting joy shall be [ours]" (v. 61:7). So give me grace to be patient as You position me and prepare me to take my place with the others You have called to come so that we will be ready to go. "Through faith and patience" we "inherit the promises" and "realize the full assurance of hope to the very end" (Hebrews 6:11-12). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'll be leaving for the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas today for the national conference of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries this week: ARM-Aldersgate Conference on the Holy Spirit '07 I would really appreciate your prayers for us. I'm exciting to be leading the Word Gifts Team this year, helping discern and test prophetic words to be shared during worship; teaching an equipping session on Spiritual Transformation through Inner Healing and Deliverance; leading a prayer session in pre-conference; and serving on the Prayer Ministry Team. Please come join us if you can, pray for us if you can't, and make plans to come next year. 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

"Children of Light" 7-16-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Align my body in submission to my soul, and my soul in submission to my spirit, and my spirit in submission to Your Holy Spirit. ... "Jesus said to them, 'The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light" (John 12:35-36). You are like the Sun in many ways -- steadfast and secure, the center of our world, full of fire, and sending forth Your light. Without You were are in darkness, with no growth, no life, and no hope. But we are not without You. And the light of Your glory touches our soul and warms our heart to awaken life. As in our experience of the Sun, we can arise to greet You in the coming of Your glory each day. We can walk in Your light as children of light, thankful for the glory of Your presence. Or in a spiritual sense, we can reject Your light, pull the covers of darkness over our heads, and lay there in a bed of self-pity and slumber. You give us the choice. Some will love darkness more than the light (John 3:19). But this day, by Your grace, I choose to walk in Your light because, by Your grace, I am a disciple and a son of Your light. 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 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 Law of Compensation 7-15-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You into my spirit and my day. ... "It may be that the Lord will look on my distress, and the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today" (2 Samuel 16:12). Shemei cursed David, but David would not return the curse; instead he released it You, seeking Your compensation and consolation instead of his own. My friend Ann was speaking to me of "the law of compensation," which must work something like this. You love to take the brokenness and injustice of our lives and redeem it all for our good and Your glory. As Job learned, suffering is just suffering, unless we entrust it to You. At the end of his sufferings, You compensated him with twice as much as he had before -- but with infinite understanding of the power of Your grace and Your heart to redeem (Job 42:10-17). A hard life is just a hard life, unless we allow Your Spirit into the ages and moments of our lives to draw out the pain and pour in Your love, teaching us through our troubles, and anointing us to touch the lives of others through the experiences of our sufferings. Just as You lead us to overcome evil with good, You love to bring good out of evil, healing out of brokenness, wisdom out of the weariness of enduring the struggles and suffering of life in a broken, fallen world full of broken, fallen people. Even You, in the mystery of the incarnation as You chose to be humbled in humanity, were made "perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10). As You willingly hung upon the tree of the cross, You became a curse, so that every curse against us would be broken (Galatians 3:13). At the heart of any spiritual law of compensation if the fact that You have paid it all. But like the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies, the sacrifice of a life lived for You will "bear much fruit" (John 12:24). Thank You for Your sufferings, that I may receive the infinite compensation of Your extravagant grace. 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

Welcome Worth the Wait 7-14-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. It's good to be home and I welcome You to be at home in me. ... "Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they were all waiting on Him" (Luke 8:40). They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Though someone may not ever be far from our thoughts, they can be far from our embrace. Yet love uses even that to strengthen it's bond. Love is stronger than death and stronger than distance. The waiting increases the wanting, and the wanting makes the welcome worth the wait. We are waiting to welcome You here in the embrace of our world. You said "I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3). One day You will return in glory for Your glorious bride. You will "descend from heaven" and we will be "caught up in the air" to meet You and welcome You in the fullness of our longing embrace. Then "we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Between now and that day, may our hearts grow fonder, as we watch and wait to welcome Your return. As the trumpets sound and the angels shout, the welcome will be worth the wait. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, that you so much for your prayers for safe travel, fruitful ministry, and provision and protection at home. God is good and He is faithful. And thank Him for the blessing of calling you to join me in the journey of prayer. God bless you and your families and ministries! 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

"Upon All Flesh" 7-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your Word fill my soul. ... You are the Word who fills my soul with Your presence and Your power by Your Spirit. ... "The Lord said to Moses, 'Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.' So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again" (Numbers 11:24-25). The days of Moses in the wilderness foreshadowed Your days on the earth. You came down by the cloud of Your Spirit, conceived in the womb of Mary as Son of God and Son of Man. You began to speak the words of God because You are the Word of God. You gathered to Yourself those who would receive the same Spirit You had. You "gave them power and authority" to hear and obey Your words (Luke 9:1). But Your will was not only for them, but for all who would come and receive, then go and obey. So You gathered "seventy others" and gave them the same power and authority to go and obey in the power of Your same Spirit. Now in these days, You have poured out, and You are pouring out, Your Spirit "upon all flesh" -- not just the one, no just the few -- but upon all the flesh of Your body, the body of Christ in the earth (Acts 2:17). In the power and authority of that same Spirit that raised You from the dead, we will hear and obey Your words, as Your Word and Your Spirit live in each of us. By the Spirit of Christ living in us, You have answered the desire of Moses' heart, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29). We are all to seek Your face, all to listen for Your voice, all to obey Your words. We are to speak what You give us to speak and do what You give us to do. We are to live our lives in constant communion with You -- not one or a few, but all of us You are calling by name and filling with Your Spirit. We are the flesh of Your body on earth (1 Corinthians 12:12). Lord, as I position myself to listen for the leading of Your Spirit, what are You speaking to me today? It seems I hear You say: "Steady your heart in the security of My love. Be ready to move, available to Me, as an instrument in My hand. My hope is within you; My courage is within you. Many will need to see My hope and My courage in the steady, secure hearts of My people." Yes, Lord. I choose by grace to be ready and available to You. Keep giving me hope and courage in the steady security of Your love. Let it be obvious to me and obvious to others. In Your power and by Your Spirit, let me be one of Your beacons of light in the darkness to come and one of Your rocks of refuge in troubled seas because my eyes and my heart are fixed on You. Prepare me now so that I will be ready then. Teach me how to hear, how to speak, how to trust, and how to obey. Teach me to be steady and secure in You alone. Teach us all who are the flesh of Your body, upon whom You are pouring out the presence and the power of Your Spirit in these days. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I spent the night with some dear friends with Healing House Ministries at their home near the base here in the mountains of North Carolina -- www.healinghouse.org It seems there is such peace in this place and an open heaven here to hear so clearly the Lord's voice. I pray He would open the heavens above your homes and your hearts as You listen for the leading of His voice. God bless you!

Patience in the Process 7-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. By Your Spirit, out of my heart will flow rivers of living waters today as Your Word has promised (John 7:38). But first I need to come and sit with You awhile beside Your still waters of this beautiful lake in the midst of Your beautiful creation. Here in these first moments of the morning, You restore my soul and order my steps for the day. ... "An estate quickly acquired in the beginning will not be blessed in the end" (Proverbs 20:21). Someone has said you should begin with the end in mind. I begin this day with You in mind because in the end I want to be like You. That's the purpose of every moment of every day through the celebrations and sorrows, temptations and triumphs, challenges and changes of life -- to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). But this work of transformation is not an instantaneous miracle of a moment quickly acquired. It's the journey of a lifetime, choosing to walk in the paths of Your righteousness by choosing to walk with the Righteous One. When I stumble, You pick me up; when I'm weary, You carry me; when I get lost, You come and find me. But You are the God who sees the end from the beginning. All time and space are present in Your hands. You see who I will become because You see who I am. I am a child of God, growing up into maturity -- "to the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). Thank You for being patient with me in the journey. Help me to be more patient with myself and even more patient with You. But help me keep persisting and persevering in the journey of this lifetime. In the end, I will be blessed when I see You fully as You are "face to face" and thank You for the journey of making me more like You each day (1 Corinthians 13:12). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you so much for your prayers for my teaching ministry with the Methodist ministers from all over the southeast region here at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. My teaching workshops are filled and they are taking almost all my resources because the Lord is releasing such a hunger for depth in understanding the nature of the spiritual battles within and without. If you would be interested to study or teach out of my outline, I'm attaching it. God bless you and your ministry as you fight the good fight of the faith. 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 Clash of Swords 7-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In the communion of prayer, let the fire of Your Spirit consume my soul until we are one. "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). ... "When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, 'Alas, master! What shall we do?' He replied, 'Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.' Then Elisha prayed: 'O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.' So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:15-17). This morning I'm looking across the lake to the beautiful Smoking Mountains of North Carolina. But the despite the beauty I see with my natural eyes and the quiet sounds of the morning I hear with my natural ears, I hear the clash of swords in the heavenly realm. Ironically, in the peaceful beauty of this paradise, You've called me to train warriors for battle, to train and equip them to wield "the weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). And I thank You for the angelic hosts, who are as warriors in "chariots of fire" who join me in the battle every day, as I turn my face and my heart to You in prayer (Daniel 10:10-21). "Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). "Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, obedient to His spoken word" (Psalm 103:20). So I thank You for Your warring angels; and above all, I thank You for the victory of the cross now enforced in our lives through the power of the blood of Jesus. The clash of swords is sound of victory in the heavens. "Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; my Rock and my Fortress, my Stronghold and my Deliverer, my Shield in whom I take refuge who subdues the peoples under me" (Psalm 143:1-2). "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with victory. Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands ... this is glory for all His faithful ones. Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 149:4-9). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayer for me and the ministers from the southeastern region of the U.S. coming to this Methodist ministers' conference at Lake Junaluska, NC. I'm really excited and honored to have this opportunity to teach on Wednesday and Thursday, but no doubt there will be spiritual battles as I prepare and teach on this important but controversial topic: "Spiritual Warfare -- The Battle Disciples Can't Ignore; Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith" www.sejumc.org/MinistersConference2007.pdf 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

Triumphant and Victorious 7-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome Your Spirit to center my thoughts and my heart on You here in the founding moments of my day. ... "For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes" (Psalm 112:6-8). My "foes" are not men and women of flesh and blood, or even the natural disasters and challenging circumstances of life in a broken, fallen world. According to Your Word, my "foes" are "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" who are "the cosmic powers of this present darkness" (Ephesians 6:12). There is a real devil (v. 6:11). And he is really defeated, as we take our stand in Your strength with our faith in You (v. 6:16). So we need not fear when our hearts are firm, secure in You. We wage war daily, overcoming evil with good and overcoming doubt with faith, by choosing that path and persistence to walk it no matter what spiritual force seems to stand in the way. It is "in the end" that we will look in triumph on our foes in the earthly places, as we already stand in triumph over our foes in the heavenly places through Your victory of the cross (Colossians 2:15). I'll be traveling to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina today for the Ministers' Conference for the Methodist ministers of the Southeastern Jurisdiction. They've asked me to teach on the topic of "Spiritual Warfare -- the Battle Disciples Can't Ignore." Thank You for this opportunity to teach Your truth, share my faith, and help "to equip the saints for the work of the ministry" (Ephesians 4:12). In these evil days where the darkness grows darker, the light of Your glory shines more brightly than ever. We need not fear the battle, but we can't ignore the battle either. You train our hands for war and send us into the battle every day, enforcing the victory of the cross in the advance of the kingdom of God against our fallen and defeated foes (Psalm 18:34). With every step we take in the path of Your righteousness following the way of the cross, they are overcome "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of (our) testimony" (Revelation 12:11). This is our battle each day, but the victory is already won. In the end, we will stand with You as You stand in us, looking in triumph over our foes who at last are cast away from us forever (Revelation 20:10). We are triumphant and victorious in Your alone. Praise Your holy name! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayer for me and the ministers from the southeastern region of the U.S. coming to this conference. I'm really excited and honored to have this opportunity to teach on Wednesday and Thursday, but there will no doubt be spiritual battles as I prepare and teach on this important but controversial topic: www.sejumc.org/MinistersConference2007.pdf 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

"I Die Everyday" 7-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these moments, by Your grace, help me seek nothing but Your face, hear nothing but Your voice, and do nothing but Your will. ... "Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor" (John 12:24-26). By Your grace, I choose to surrender my life to You, to die to my self. Help me continually crucify the desire to promote my self, to make it easy for my self, to focus on my self. Help me die to self so I can truly live in You. You don't desire my physical death -- You came to bring life and not death (John 10:10). But You do desire the death of my flesh -- the part of my soul not yet fully surrendered to You. Expose that part -- the part that is still full of the pride of life, full of the pride of self glory, self gratification, self centeredness -- and kill that part. When that part dies, like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies, then my life will bear much fruit. It's not about what I do; it's all about who I am becoming. As Paul said, "I die every day" (1 Corinthians 15:31). And this is my desire, to become like You, because You have put that desire in my soul. As I become more like You, because Your Spirit is making me more like You, I will truly be following You, serving You, and honoring You. And as Your Word says, My Father will honor me. 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