Father and Sons 6-23-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Where You lead, I will follow, as You give me the grace to get there. … “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac (his son)” (Genesis 25:5, KJV). I’m on a journey this week with my three sons—Zachary, Elijah, and Josiah. My daughters weren’t able to come this time, so it’ll be an adventure of the Hays men. Strengthen the bonds of our friendship, love, and respect for one another. Let me give to them all that I have from You in all the natural ways that come along in all the little opportunities that arise. We’ve already had chances to talk about some of Your timeless spiritual principles that make life together more of a joyful journey rather than a miserable struggle: sowing and reaping, doing unto others, chivalry and honor, and pass the biscuits please. So we’ll learn as we go, trusting You’ll give us all the patience and grace we will need on our manly adventure together. As someone wise has said, “Let’s live long, love well, and laugh often.” Lord, let it be so. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep us in prayer the next couple of weeks when I spend vacation time with my family. We're going out to see my Mom in the New Mexico mountains. Due to our travels, I may not be as consistent with sending out Morning by Morning, but you'll be in my prayers; thank you for keeping me in yours. God bless you! Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Prepared for Action 6-18-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me start this day rooted and grounded in a deep place in You. … “Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when He is revealed” (1 Peter 1:13). Right action requires preparation. Sustained success requires discipline. But all my preparation and all my discipline can only be my best and never Your best unless I set all my hope on the grace of God. It’s not an easy grace that allows me to be passive or complacent, somehow just sitting back and waiting for You to move me and the people around me like an army of chessmen on a chessboard. It’s a grace that calls me to look to You, to listen for Your leading, to embrace both Your love and Your correction, both Your abundance and Your pruning. It’s a grace that call me to train my fingers for battle and my hands for war, that I may be ready to advance at Your command, never to surrender, never to retreat, never to back up or back off from what You’ve put in my heart to do and who You’ve placed in my heart to be. Yet it’s also a grace that continually calls me to humble myself in Your sight, to admit I don’t always hear what You’re truly saying because I’m always in the process of transformation. There’s always another layer of the onion to peel away—exposing the next unhealed wound, the next unbroken chain, the next hardness of heart, the next confusion of mind, the next rebellion to the advancement of Your Kingdom within me. None are righteous, no not one. All are to be forever pressing on and pressing in until Your love is perfected in each one of us (Matthew 5:48). “As He who has called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, ; for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ ” (1 Peter 1:15-16). So I always have need of my Savior and Redeemer, my Healer and Deliverer. I am always in need of Your grace. And Your Holy Spirit is always moving in my human spirit to look to You and consciously, deliberately, intentionally set all my hope on all Your grace. That’s how I prepare my mind in advance to be ready for whatever action You desire, whether in me or through me. That’s how I position myself to be ready to move with Your Spirit in the moment You call. The old saying that “God helps them that help themselves” is just not true. God helps them that humble themselves to admit they can’t do a thing that really matters in this world without setting their hope on the grace that only God can give. So by the grace of God, I choose to set my hope on You this day and every day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night June 18th at 7PM, the 3rd Friday Night of every month, for our Messiah Ministries monthly city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Led by Messiah Ministries and hosted at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of Living Waters as we worship Jesus in the freedom of His Holy Spirit. I will be leading in Prayer while Brooke and Shannon Barrett will be leading in Worship and as we also honor Laura Beach and her ministry this month. All are welcome and please spread the word! Contact Marilyn Walker, our Dir. of Ministries for details 859-317-1591 or DirOfMinistries@aol.com Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Inspired and “In-Spirited” 6-17-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, I rededicate my life and my day to You, my King. … “But let justice (roll) down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. called upon Your name and spoke out these prophetic words in his speech of his dream for a day to come in this land when the civil rights of every American, regardless of race, would be secure with liberty and justice for all. The American civil rights movement was not grounded in government, it was grounded in Jesus. It’s leader was not a president, it was a pastor. It’s creed and call to arms in a non-violent revolution to change the hearts and minds of our national culture was not a manifesto of human philosophy, it was the Bible. And those that deny the Biblical foundations and Spiritual guidance of the revolutionary call to liberty and justice that flows forth only from the righteousness of God like a mighty stream are either deceived from the truth, ignorant of the historical facts of the heritage of our nation, or both. Yesterday, it was good to be reminded of the opportunities we have and the power to influence the change of our culture by the lawyer who leads the Southern Poverty Law Center, Morris Dees, at our state bar convention. Every year, I’m required to have hours of continuing legal education to maintain my license to practice law. Those hours can be fairly boring, but yesterday I found those hours to be very inspiring. It was good to hear the Word of God spoken out to a convention full of lawyers and judges. It was encouraging to hear the story of Amos, a prophet of God, related as an inspiration to us to inspire others, as the prophetic ministry of Amos inspired the revolutionary ministry of Rev. Dr. King. Like Rosa Parks, our everyday choices of our everyday lives can make a difference if we insist upon the righteousness and justice at the foundation of the Kingdom of God and at the center of our Spiritual heritage as a nation. Thank You for inspiring me to be more bold in my faith in the marketplace and public square of my community and culture. For what do You require of each of us, wherever You’ve positioned us in each season of our lives but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). If a lawyer can quote the Word of God at a state bar convention, stirring a room full of lawyers and judges to their feet in a challenge to remember our calling to use the gifts and opportunities we’ve been given to make a difference in our culture, surely I can try to live out the Word of God in the whatever ways You lead in my life today. As I think of being “inspired” this morning, I think of being “in-Spirited” by the Holy Spirit of the Living God who calls each of to arise in the Spirit of Christ to make a difference wherever we are and whatever we do because we carry the Spirit of God within us (Romans 8:9). That’s the dream I have. That’s the day I’m praying for and the movement I’m a part of—“until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.” In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night June 18th at 7PM, the 3rd Friday Night of every month, for our Messiah Ministries monthly city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Led by Messiah Ministries and hosted at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of Living Waters as we worship Jesus in the freedom of His Holy Spirit. I will be leading in Prayer while Brooke and Shannon Barrett will be leading in Worship and as we also honor Laura Beach and her ministry this month. All are welcome and please spread the word! Contact Marilyn Walker, our Dir. of Ministries for details 859-317-1591 or DirOfMinistries@aol.com Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Heart of Mercy 6-16-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Take away from me what’s not of You and leave for me only what is. … “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:28-29, NKJV) It’s a great sin to treat the blood of Christ as “a common thing.” It’s an “insult” to the Holy Spirit of the Living God, who is a Spirit of mercy and grace. When we judge others for the actions of their lives that are now under the blood of the Lamb as if to say, “That’s how you are; that’s how you’ll always be; you’ll never change,” we “trample the Son of God underfoot” and exalt ourselves as lord in the place that only You are to have. That’s never the mind of Christ. That’s never the heart of God. That’s coming into agreement the accuser instead of coming into agreement with the Redeemer, being used of Satan to destroy someone rather than being used of God to restore someone .When we do, we are the ones who are handed over into torment that comes from a critical spirit and a vengeful heart. Then we are the ones who subject to the judgment of God by rejecting the power of the blood of Jesus to forgive and redeem and transform any life of sin and shame into a life that displays the mercy and power and love of God. Then we will be the ones who suffer the consequences of our hardened hearts and self-righteous spirit that dishonors as “a common thing” the very blood that saved us and cleansed us from all unrighteousness to give us a clean slate and a fresh start. “And again, the Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (v. 10:30-31). So give me Your heart of mercy. Your mercy is so much a part of the Father heart of God. We cannot be ambassadors of Christ or display to the world the nature of our Father without the nature of Your mercy in our hearts. You don’t ignore our sins or deny our struggles, but at the same time, You also see who You’ve created us to be—speaking life instead of death, redemption instead of accusation, mercy instead of judgment. In the heart of God, “mercy triumphs over judgment,” but at the same time, “judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). O Lord, I need Your mercy. I need the full measure of the power of the blood of Jesus in my life. Let me never treat it as “a common thing” but honor You by honoring all You do in the lives of those who humble themselves to call on Your name to be forgiven of their sin and cleansed in the power of Your blood. Let me look for the good of God in others, calling forth the diamond, even as You break off the rough. Let me be one who seeks out the hidden treasures in the hearts of those wounded and bound, but being healed and freed by the One who redeems all things to bring beauty out of ashes, joy out of sorrow, and glory out of shame. That’s Your heart, and that the heart I want to have. That’s the heart I want You to have for me, so that’s the heart I want You to give to me for others. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night June 18th at 7PM, the 3rd Friday Night of every month, for our Messiah Ministries monthly city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Led by Messiah Ministries and hosted at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of Living Waters as we worship Jesus in the freedom of His Holy Spirit. I will be leading in Prayer while Brooke and Shannon Barrett will be leading in Worship and as we also honor Laura Beach and her ministry this month. All are welcome and please spread the word! Contact Marilyn Walker, our Dir. of Ministries for details 859-317-1591 or DirOfMinistries@aol.com Friends, here's a note from Laura Beach with Equipping Lydia Ministries about events coming up. We'll be celebrating Laura's ordination as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church during part of our time together at The Fountain this Friday Night, as we pray blessings for her at the conclusion of our three year mentoring journey for her. Please come join us next Friday Night! Friday, June 18, 2010 – Spiritual Refreshment Retreat Women of Faith, you are invited to come away with Equipping Lydia on Friday June 18. We will have our monthly spiritual refreshment retreat at A Quiet Place in Bryantsville, Kentucky. That evening, retreats are also welcome at the Messiah Ministries Fountain Healing Service which begins at 7 p.m. at Centenary Church on Tates Creek Road in Lexington. It will be a beautiful day of healing rest. To register for the retreat, email retreats@equipinglydia.org or go to www.equippinglydia.org for details. There is no need to register for the Fountain. Friday, June 25 - Mother, Are You Sitting Down? Lisa Baker's story of God's amazing love and faithfulness for a mother and her daughter. Lisa Baker’s testimony as a mother is one of yielding to God through the challenge of raising a beautiful but strong willed child. If you are a mother who needs a word of hope, come and be encouraged and strengthened by God’s love through Lisa’s journey with her daughter Jaime. 9 a.m. – 12 noon, Lexington, Kentucky. For details, go to: http://www.equippinglydia.org/PDFs/lisabaker.pdf or www.equippinglydia.org Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Living by Faith 6-15-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice. Lead me deep into Your Word and draw me close into Your Spirit. … “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: ‘For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe in the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:35-39, NKJV). I want to live my life by faith, to live a life that pleases You. I want to press on to the prize and endure to the end. Don’t let me draw back; don’t let me hold back; don’t let me give anything less that all I have and all I am. Don’t let me expect anything less than the fullness of all You have promised to me in Your Word and confirmed to me by Your Spirit. And by the grace of God, I will not strive in my own strength, nor insist on my own way. I will not impose my will upon Your will. I will not impose my picture of what I think Your plans should look like upon the blank canvas of my life I’ve asked You to paint. You’re the Master. And I trust Your creativity to make a masterpiece of any life fully entrusted to You. Living by faith is believing that every little stroke is significant—each in its own time, each in its own place—until one day they all reveal what You had promised all along. At times it may look messy and undefined, hard to see what’s taking shape. But there’s purpose in every stroke. Give me Your enduring faith to patiently persist until the day Your painting is finished. Let me have no doubt that You are able and You are faithful to bring to completion all You have begun to still make something beautiful out of my messy life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night June 18th at 7PM, the 3rd Friday Night of every month, for our Messiah Ministries monthly city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Led by Messiah Ministries and hosted at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of Living Waters as we worship Jesus in the freedom of His Holy Spirit. I will be leading in Prayer while Brooke and Shannon Barrett will be leading in Worship and as we also honor Laura Beach and her ministry this month. All are welcome and please spread the word! Contact Marilyn Walker, our Dir. of Ministries for details 859-317-1591 or DirOfMinistries@aol.com Friends, here's a note from Laura Beach with Equipping Lydia Ministries about events coming up. We'll be celebrating Laura's ordination as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church at The Fountain next Friday Night, as we pray blessings for her at the conclusion of our three year mentoring journey for her. Please come join us next Friday Night! Friday, June 18, 2010 – Spiritual Refreshment Retreat Women of Faith, you are invited to come away with Equipping Lydia on Friday June 18. We will have our monthly spiritual refreshment retreat at A Quiet Place in Bryantsville, Kentucky. That evening, retreats are also welcome at the Messiah Ministries Fountain Healing Service which begins at 7 p.m. at Centenary Church on Tates Creek Road in Lexington. It will be a beautiful day of healing rest. To register for the retreat, email retreats@equipinglydia.org or go to www.equippinglydia.org for details. There is no need to register for the Fountain. Friday, June 25 - Mother, Are You Sitting Down? Lisa Baker's story of God's amazing love and faithfulness for a mother and her daughter. Lisa Baker’s testimony as a mother is one of yielding to God through the challenge of raising a beautiful but strong willed child. If you are a mother who needs a word of hope, come and be encouraged and strengthened by God’s love through Lisa’s journey with her daughter Jaime. 9 a.m. – 12 noon, Lexington, Kentucky. For details, go to: http://www.equippinglydia.org/PDFs/lisabaker.pdf or www.equippinglydia.org Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

“As He is, So are We” 6-11-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. I trust Your will and Your way for the journey of my life. … “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). As You are, so am I As You will, so I do As You lead, so I come As You are, so am I As You speak, so I hear As You move, so I feel As You love, so I praise As You are, so am I I want to see like You I want to speak like You I want to be free to be like You Yes, Lord. Shape these desires in my heart. Let this song Your Spirit is singing become the song of my life. Though all my thoughts are not yet Your thoughts and all my ways are not yet Your ways, I want them to be. I want Your nature to become my nature, more and more every day. “Thus, He has given us, through these things, His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in this world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). As You know, some days are better days than others in my quest to seek You and pursue Your righteousness. I am forever in need of Your mercy and grace through the power of the blood of Jesus that forgives my sins, redeems my failures, heals my wounds, and breaks my chains. Hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus. But “on the day of judgment” to come, I would like to have the boldness to know that as best as I could and all by Your grace, I was a man after Your heart. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, here's a note from Laura Beach with Equipping Lydia Ministries about events coming up. We'll be celebrating Laura's ordination as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church at The Fountain next Friday Night, as we pray blessings for her at the conclusion of our three year mentoring journey for her. Please come join us next Friday Night! Friday, June 18, 2010 – Spiritual Refreshment Retreat Women of Faith, you are invited to come away with Equipping Lydia on Friday June 18. We will have our monthly spiritual refreshment retreat at A Quiet Place in Bryantsville, Kentucky. That evening, retreats are also welcome at the Messiah Ministries Fountain Healing Service which begins at 7 p.m. at Centenary Church on Tates Creek Road in Lexington. It will be a beautiful day of healing rest. To register for the retreat, email retreats@equipinglydia.org or go to www.equippinglydia.org for details. There is no need to register for the Fountain. Friday, June 25 - Mother, Are You Sitting Down? Lisa Baker's story of God's amazing love and faithfulness for a mother and her daughter. Lisa Baker’s testimony as a mother is one of yielding to God through the challenge of raising a beautiful but strong willed child. If you are a mother who needs a word of hope, come and be encouraged and strengthened by God’s love through Lisa’s journey with her daughter Jaime. 9 a.m. – 12 noon, Lexington, Kentucky. For details, go to: http://www.equippinglydia.org/PDFs/lisabaker.pdf or www.equippinglydia.org Please pass on these prayers to anyone who may be interested or encouraged by them. Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Beginning My Year of Jubilee 6-10-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I have and all that I am, I entrust to You today. … “You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud… And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants… The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you…. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you…” (Leviticus 25:8-12). I’m forty-nine years old today. I’ve come to the end of my first seven week of seven years and today is the first day of my fiftieth year. This is the beginning of my jubilee. Lord, let it be holy to me. And let me be holy to You, by the grace of my Father God that embraces me as a son and the power of the blood of Jesus that cleanses my sins and the fire of the Holy Spirit that purifies my soul. You have set me free to be like Jesus in the liberty of Your Spirit and the transforming power of Your mercy and love (1 John 4:17). And throughout this year of jubilee, may I “proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants,” proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God, healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free with the Spirit of the sovereign Lord upon me (Isaiah 61:1-3). Lord, let me hallow this holy year in my heart and life for the glory of Your name. Let the trumpet sound loud to awaken my spirit to the fullness of my calling and identity and destiny in You. Let nothing be left unsaid or undone that is in Your heart to accomplish through my life—this year and every year, in the liberty and the power of Your Spirit. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17, NKJV). By the abiding Presence of Your Holy Spirit within Your people made holy by the blood of the Lamb, every year is our jubilee year to experience and express Your liberty through our lives, throughout our land, and everywhere You send us in the authority and power of Your name. So let the trumpet sound loud! Let the people of God awaken and arise! The forty-nine years of preparation for this day are now over; let the fiftieth Year of Jubilee begin! In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, thank you for joining me in the journey of my life. May this be a Jubilee Year for you with the Spirit of God moving mightily in your life in fulfillment of all He has been preparing in you! May you have exciting surprises of joy this year! God bless you! Please pass on these prayers to anyone who may be interested or encouraged by them. Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

“And They Become One” 6-9-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. … “Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:23-24). Today I’ll have the joy and honor of pray Your blessing over a man and woman who have made the choice to respond to Your call that they become one in the covenant of the bond of marriage. They will declare before You and before us their commitment to their covenant to love and honor and cherish one another all the days of their lives. Though they were legally married before a government official over twenty years ago, they’re drawn to speak their vows and reaffirm their love to one another and their dependence upon You in a deeply spiritual atmosphere of the Presence of God. Come, Holy Spirit, and guide our hearts and words to honor the covenant of love You profoundly express through the communion of marriage where two lives become one. Why is it, Lord, that You say, “It is not good that man should be alone?” (Genesis 2:18) It seems I hear You say, “Love requires relationship. Without relationship there is no love. I am God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. I am Love and I am One. I eternally exist in a perfect communion of perfect love. And out of My nature, I create My children to experience and express My love for them, their love for Me, and holy love for one another. All of the fullness of life is centered in this.” Yes, Lord. All the fullness of life is centered in this (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-40). Thank You for all the ways You provide for us to experience and express the gift and the power of love—marriage, friendship, family, worship, prayer—all the ways we freely give of ourselves to You and one another in the holy ways of Your holy love by the drawing and leading of Your Holy Spirit. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). May the blessing of Your hand rest upon the hearts of my friends today. May we all grow by the grace of God into deeper experiences and expressions of the gift of Your love in our lives—all in Your time, all in Your way, all in Your will. May none be alone. May all become one—one with You, one with each other, one in ministry to all the world. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please prayerfully consider joining us with joy in fulfillment of our calling and vision "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" as an Isaiah 35 "Streams in the Desert" Covenant Partner. We believe this is the Lord's plan of provision for our ministry to continue to advance through the wilderness and dry seasons of a challenging economy. I will be glad to talk with you about this: MessiahMin@aol.com Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

“In the Presence of My Enemies” 6-8-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me beside Your still waters, guide me in the paths of Your righteousness. … “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5). Where do You prepare a table for me? It’s far from the safety of my comfort zone and security of a life without risk; it’s “in the presence of my enemies.” When do You anoint my head with oil? It’s before the days of battle when I will need to rely completely upon the authority of my identity in You (1 Samuel 2:10). How will my cup overflow? It’s as I give all that I am and all that have, sowing myself into the lives of others for the sake of Your name, as one with You by Your Spirit within me (Luke 6:38). It’s “in the wilderness” that You send us to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3). It’s in the desert places that the streams of Your Living Waters burst forth to water the dry and weary land full of the parched souls of a dry and weary people (Isaiah 35:6). It’s in the darkest places that You send us to “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15, NKJV). O Lord, my God, give me grace to grow up into spiritual maturity, finding my place in Your Body for the advancement of Your Kingdom in my generation (Ephesians 4:11-13). Let me not fear a life of taking risks in obedience to Your leading and submission to Your will, as best as I can discern, through an intimate relationship with You. Train me to hear Your voice; sensitize me to be led by Your Spirit (Romans 8:14). I want to be on the front lines of Your advance of Your Kingdom among the people and in the places where You strategically position me for Your purposes. Help me embrace the fires of affliction that test my faith and purify my soul to make me more like You each day (1 Peter 1:7). It’s out of the times of testing, through the wilderness seasons, having overcome the challenges of the spiritual enemy of my soul and the accuser of my brethren who dares to slander me to my face, that I am “filled with the power of the Spirit” to confidently enter the next season of life and ministry in fulfillment of my destiny in Christ (Luke 4:14). By the grace of God, I will not yield or be controlled by “the fear of man,” but will put my hope and trust in the Lord, my God who will guide my steps (Proverbs 29:25). I put my faith in the One who “always leads us in triumphal procession” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Mighty are You, my “God, mighty to save and mighty to deliver me from all my doubts and fears as I trust in You to guide my steps. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident… I believe I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:1-13). Even in the very presence of my spiritual enemies who comes to steal and kill and destroy, You will provide for me, protect me, anoint me, and empower me as Your servant and Your son to know who I am in You and who You are in me. And in that place, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please prayerfully consider joining us with joy in fulfillment of our calling and vision "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" as an Isaiah 35 "Streams in the Desert" Covenant Partner. We believe this is the Lord's plan of provision for our ministry to continue to advance through the wilderness and dry seasons of a challenging economy. I will be glad to talk with you about this: MessiahMin@aol.com Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Morning by Morning, Monday 6-7-10 – “Pursue Righteousness” Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Savior and Lord, my Father and Friend, I welcome Your Spirit and Truth into my heart and life throughout the moments of my day. … I woke up this morning with these words rising up from spirit to my mind: “Pursue righteousness.” And as I lay this living word alongside the plumb line of Your written Word, to weigh it and test it, I find this Scripture: “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor” (Proverbs 21:21). Lord, what are You speaking to me today? … It seems I hear You say: “My son, I desire for you to find life and honor in all you do and in all you are. This is My heart for you, as it would be for any godly father for his daughter or son. You have questions in your mind about your ministry and about your personal relationships. You do well to lay these questions before Me. You do well to ask Me to put My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart, to lift from you all that is not from Me and to seal to you all that is. Do not first seek the answers. First, seek Me, for I am your Answer. Pursue Me. Pursue My mind and My heart in every matter of your life. Pursue My righteousness, for I am your Righteousness. As you do, I will set all things in right order. I will align your heart and your mind with Mine. Is this not the very journey of your life? Is this not My will for all My children, that all would grow in the wisdom of God and maturity of spirit in the journey of intimate relationship with Me, as I conform each one into the image of My Son?” Yes, Lord. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I pursue You and Your righteousness. I surrender and submit my thoughts to Your thoughts, my desires to Your desires, my will to Your will. Take from me what is not of You and seal to me all that is. Help me “Seek first the Kingdom of God and (Your) righteousness, (knowing that then) all these things shall be added to (me)” (Matthew 6:33, NKJV). To “pursue” is active, deliberate, intentional, persistent—even tenacious and aggressive. It is not passive, complacent, stagnant, or inert. It’s a choice You set before me every moment of every day. And as I persist in pursuing You and Your righteousness, I know the answers I seek will come—all in Your timing, all in Your will, all in Your way. And I believe this is the heart of Your sons and daughters that brings great joy to You. “But as for you, man of God, … pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:11-12). Yes, Lord. By the grace of God, I will. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, let's pray for one another to faithfully, fearlessly pursue the will of God for our lives, entrusting our will to His will, trusting Him to then conform our will and our nature into His a little more every day, with breakthroughs and encounters all along the way. Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

“Listen to His Voice” 6-4-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Son of God, Son of Man, God with us, Immanuel, be with me, come live within me today. … “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. O that today you would listen to His voice! (Psalm 95:6-7). I have a choice to listen to Your voice. I can choose to listen to the voices of men, and I can also choose to listen to the voice of the One who is the Maker of all men. I can choose to listen to the voice of my friends and counsel of others, and I can also choose to listen to the voice of my Best Friend and my Wonderful Counselor. I can choose to listen to the voice of the witnesses of Your written Word, and I can also choose to listen to the voice of the One who is the Word. I can even choose to listen to the voice of the world, the flesh, and the devil, but I can also choose instead to listen to the One who has overcome the world, who crucifies my flesh, and who has defeated the devil. By the grace You give me and in response to the choice You offer me, I choose to listen to You. Some say, “How can you hear God? How can you be sure you’re hearing God?” What do You say, O Lord, my God? … At this moment right now, I believe I hear You say, “Come, worship and bow down, kneel before Me, for I am your Maker. I am your God. You are a son of My pasture and a sheep of My hand. You are one of My little ones, one of My precious ones, one I created from My love in order for You to know My love for you. And if you will listen, I will speak. And every day You listen for the leading of My voice, you will grow in the knowing of My voice in your heart. Do not be afraid to test My voice, but also do not be afraid to believe My voice.” Yes, Lord. Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:27). Your sons and daughters, Your servants and friends, hear You knocking at the door of our hearts, calling us to open the door in worship and humility, expectantly longing by faith to welcome You in to draw near to us in our everyday relationship of love with You (Revelation 3:20). Thank You, Lord, for speaking with me this morning. Please come in and keep speaking with me throughout my day. “Speak, for Your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Sufferings into Songs 6-3-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind; put Your desires in my heart. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I entrust myself and my day into Your will and into Your care. … “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces 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 5:1-5). I saw an old friend yesterday whose life is a testimony of Your tender mercies and steadfast love through our darkest days, our deepest fears, and our broken dreams. In a frantic moment of desperate grief and overwhelming fear, she cried out to You from the depths of her heart. You reached down into her pit of despair and embraced her in power of Your Presence. And out of her unbearable sufferings You established in her spirit a renewed and steadfast faith. And in the season of healing of her heart and life to follow, You awakened her gifts of playing music by ear and singing the songs of Your healing love You would write in heart and share with others. You are the God who loves to turn our sufferings into songs and our desperation into faith. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). You love to turn our ashes into beauty and, our sufferings into joy, covering us in the garments of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3). Then You anoint us with Your Spirit and send us forth in the power of Your love to comfort others in the ways Your have comforted us and encourage others in the ways You have encouraged us (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Thank You, Lord, for every time You’ve met me in my sufferings and reached down to me in every pit of despair. Thank You for never wasting a moment of my sufferings, redeeming them all as I entrust them to You. They are now part of my character and part of my hope—my confident trust in my God who hears me when I call and leads me through them all. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Drawn to the Greater Place 6-2-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is the first word I speak and the first thought I think, as I begin this new day centered in Christ, embraced by our Father, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. Now I wait in the silence of surrender, watching to see what You’re doing and listening to hear what You’re saying. … “An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by His side, and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me; for the least among all of you is the greatest’ ” (Luke 9:46-48). You gave Your first disciples unbelievable authority and power to go in Your name and proclaim the coming of Your Kingdom, changing lives and even the spiritual atmosphere of every place they went (Luke 9:1-6). They saw Your heart for all people, and saw the miracles of Your love and provision for all who drew near to You (v. 9:10-17). They were moved by Your Spirit to begin to understand more of Your nature (v. 9:18-20). They heard Your call willing lay down their lives so they could follow You into the freedom of Your will alone which would become their lives (v. 9:23-27). Those closest to You and hungriest for You went with You to the mountain to pray, where they beheld Your glory, lost in worship and heard the voice of God in their hearts in a deep encounter of Your Presence (v. 9:28-36). Yet, just a few days later, they find themselves moved by their flesh instead of Your Spirit, striving for the place closest to You and greatest in Your kingdom (v. 9:46-48). They did not yet understand that growing intimacy with You is the very thing that exposes what remains to be healed and freed in their hearts, so that they could keep growing in Your nature and be trusted with Your authority and power of Your calling for their lives (v. 9:37-43). They didn’t fully understand that the closer they came to You, the more their inner fears and insecurities, their unhealed hurts and unfulfilled desires, would be brought to the surface so they could release them to You and grow even closer still (v. 9:43-45). They wanted more. They wanted all You had for them, without realizing there’s always more You want from us. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Seeking Your face, hungering for Your Presence, longing to grow in wisdom and stature and favor in Your Spirit is a good thing, a God thing, needful to know our true identity and fulfill our destiny. But we must know that as we do, there will always be another layer of our flesh to be crucified, a deeper root that yet bears bad fruit to be dug up and cast into the fire, and another branch that does not yet bear good fruit that must be pruned back and prepared for the harvest to come. As we press on with You toward the goal of our prize, You are always pressing in even more deeply still. You see our hearts—both that part of our hearts that seek You above all else and also that part of our hearts yet blinded to the fullness of Your love and Your nature that remain to be healed and filled with the fullness of Your Spirit (Luke 9:47). “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10, NKJV). As we allow You to search our hearts, clarify our motives, heal our wounds, You pour in Your love, establish us in Your security, and change us into Your nature. Then we’re able to receive even more of all You have for us. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary” (Jeremiah 17:12, NKJV). You draw us closer still, lift us higher still, as we humbly, faithfully keep saying to You: “Behold, You desire truth in my inward parts, and in the hidden part You make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from sins, blot out my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:6-12). Because I love You and trust You, I say, “Yes, Lord. Keep revealing and purging everything in me that is not yet like You. Give me Your heart for all Your children. Give me the humility to take my place at Your feet so You can lift me to the place You have for me in Your heart. Let me be free from striving or competition, be healed from insecurities, fears, and hurts from my past, so that I can trust You to fulfill Your perfect plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11). Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, so You can lead me to the place where all Your dreams, instead of my dreams, are fulfilled in my life—exceedingly, abundantly far more than all I could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). It’s always worth it to trust Your heart instead of mine, trusting in Your plan instead of my own. This is the heart that’s drawn to the greatest place in the intimacy of Your Presence. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep us in prayer in Corpus Christi, Texas this week. Each year I'm called to report to my bishop of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church where I'm an ordained elder and member under annual "appointment" to ministry by my overseeing bishop (www.umcswtx.org). Though Messiah Ministries is a non-denominational ministry all streams and traditions of the Body of Christ and reaching out to all people of all nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, I personally am a Methodist minister. Rather than being "appointed" to pastor a local church, I have always praised God for allowing me to be "appointed" to Messiah Ministries as its founder and director to continue the vision the Lord gave me, "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" in fulfillment of ministry's founding Scripture, Isaiah 61 (www.messiah-ministries.org). And since I receive no financial support from the UM Church under my "extension ministry appointment" to Messiah Ministries, raising my own funds for ministry by the spiritual principles of sowing and reaping into the lives of others, I'm so grateful for all the ways You join with me and our ministry to fulfill the calling and vision the Holy Spirit causes to burn in my heart. Thank You and God bless you for joining me in the adventure! Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Walking Through the Open Door 6-1-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and life. … “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy One, the true One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: ‘Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name’ ” (Revelation 3:7-8). I’ve seen Your power to change my life and the lives of so many others—the power of salvation and sanctification, the power of healing and deliverance, the power of forgiveness and redemption—all expressed through the power of Your grace and Your love. And I’ve seen You entrust Your power through the anointing of Your Spirit to those who commit themselves to seek to live by Your word and be known by Your name (Luke 9:1-2; 10:1-12). As the Father sent You, so You send us in the abiding Presence of Your Holy Spirit and the authority of Your name to continue Your ministry of changing lives in the power of Your love for the glory of Your name (John 20:21). Yet even this is “but little power” compared to what is to come in the days ahead. There will be even “greater works than these” as we are found faithful to allow You to prepare the way of the Lord in us and in all the earth (John 14:12). In this hour, You set before each of us an open door. It is a door of identity and destiny, vision and calling, the fullness of our salvation and our significance as the sons and daughters of God, as servants of our King and Your Kingdom. You hold the key to that door. But through the sacrifice of the power of Your blood poured out for us at the Cross and through the anointing of Your Holy Spirit poured out upon us as Your Church at Pentecost, that door is unlocked and open before each one of us. Lord, give us eyes to see that door. Give us eyes to see You, Lord Jesus, for You are that door—“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…” (John 10:9, NKJV). As I look to You alone, Lord Jesus, as the open door of my identity and destiny, give me courage to enter into the fullness of my salvation in You. Don’t let me turn to the left or the right, but only move forward into the way You’ve set before me. Don’t let me get ahead or behind, but move right in line and right on time with all You have for me. Shut every door that’s not in complete alignment with Your timing and Your will, and open every one that is (Isaiah 22:22). Make me increasingly sensitive to the leading of Your Spirit and increasingly full of faith to believe You’re answering this prayer because I’m praying Your will. “Now this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we will have the petitions asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, NKJV). So by the power of Your grace and Your love, I’m looking to the One who is my Open Door. And I’m walking through. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep us in prayer to walk in obedience and faith with God through some opportunities that seem to be opening up for the longer term vision and calling of Messiah Ministries. And I pray the blessing of the Lord's leading to open and shut the doors of His will for you, as you entrust yourself to Him. God bless you! Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Awesome and Able 5-28-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I humble myself in Your sight, would You lift me up into Your Presence. … “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough for everything, you may share abundantly in every good work…. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:8-12). O Lord, my God, You are awesome and You are able. … He is awesome He is able He is always secure and stable He’s my God and He’s all that I need Every blessing Every abundance Every provision and all sustenance He’s my God and He’s all that I need He is faithful He is forever He breaks the power of nothing and never He’s my God and He’s all that I need Thank You, Lord. As I read Your Word and trust in Your promises, Your Spirit is stirring my spirit with these new words of this new song You’re writing on my heart today. It’s a new song from ancient words that have stood the test of time. So will not fret and I will not fear. I will thank You and praise You. I will trust You and believe You. For You are my God and You are all that I need. You are awesome and You are able. Thank You for this “indescribable gift” of the “surpassing grace of God” that You pour into my life every moment of every day (2 Corinthians 9:13-15). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for joining with me in the journey of prayer and faith, growing in the intimacy of communion in prayer with our faithful God who loves us and who's for us. Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may need a word of encouragement today. Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

The Tabernacle and Key of David 5-27-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Father. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Lord God Almighty, I worship You in every dimension of Your Being and I welcome You into every dimension of my being, as we begin this day together. … “On that day I will raise up the Tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11, NJKV). “The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house” (Isaiah 22:22-23). Many of the Scriptures of Your Word speak of Your first coming as the Messiah—the anointed One of God—translated “Messiah” in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament and “Christ” in the Greek language of the New Testament. The Spirit of the sovereign God anointed You as Messiah—both Son of God and Son of Man—to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, to heal the broken and free the captives, to restore and rebuild the devastations of generations and the ruins of fallen creation in the power of the Word of God (Isaiah 61:1-11; Luke 4:18-19). Everywhere You went during the ministry of Your life on this earth as God with us in the flesh, You proclaimed that message of the Kingdom of God and demonstrated it in the power of God. “That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 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 10:37-38). And now, in the mystery of the wisdom and sovereignty of God and in the astounding grace of the power of God, You anoint us as Your people with Your same Holy Spirit. “But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit if life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:9-11). You anoint us and empower us as Your people with Your Spirit to continue Your ministry through our lives in the flesh here on this earth, proclaiming the same message of the coming of Your Kingdom and Your demonstrate the power of Your Kingdom through our lives. You display the glory of Your Presence and Your power through Your people, anointed with the Spirit of Christ with us—“Christ in (us), the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Lord, in this hour, You are revealing to us more of what this means—more understanding of the responsibility and authority You have entrusted to Your children to display both Your nature and Your power in the earth. “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth He has given to human beings” (Psalm 115:16). Through the Spirit of Christ within us, we are the tabernacle of David; we have the key of David—because the Spirit of the Son of David, the Spirit of the Son of God, dwells within us to make us more like You (1 Corinthians 3:16). By the anointing of the indwelling Presence of Your Spirit, You are conforming us into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). You are changing us into Your image (2 Corinthians 3:18). You are calling us into Your nature (2 Peter 1:4). You are imparting Your Word and Your Spirit to live within us and express Yourself through us (Colossians 3:16). By the grace of the power of God upon us to anoint us, empower us, and change us, we are to be Your “oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display (Your) glory, (to) build up the ancient ruins, (t0) raise up the former devastations, (to) repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations” (Isaiah 61:3-4). In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for your prayers for me and our team at the leadership retreat this week with the MorningStar Fellowship of Ministries (www.morningstarministries.org) At the close of a message by Ray Hughes on worship yesterday morning, the Lord was doing something very deep inside of me, as He humbled me on my face at the foot of the altar. Please pray I will live into all He has imparted into me and our ministry, by the great power of the great grace of our God (Acts 4:33). May we become oaks of His righteousness to display His glory in our generation throughout the earth. God bless you! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Boast Only in the Cross of Christ 5-26-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face, listen for Your voice, and desire Your nature. Help me watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit as I begin this day intentionally, deliberately entrusting myself to You. … “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14, NKJV). What is it to “boast in the cross of Christ, Lord?” As I lay these words of Your Word before You, You’re bringing to mind these words: “But God proves His love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). To boast is to brag. And it’s good to remember that I don’t have anything to brag about in this world that really matters but You. If I’m proud of my children, it’s only because of the grace You’ve given me to love them as they are and to try to lead them to You to grow up in Your ways. If I’m proud of the ministry You’ve entrusted to me, it’s only because You’ve been bringing me to a place of ever-increasing desperate dependence upon You for the fulfillment of a vision of things that only You can do. In Your mercy and love, You gently remind me that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17, NKJV). Everything good thing I have and every good thing within me is all from You. I haven’t earned it; I don’t deserve it. It’s all a gift of God. And You give me Your good gifts just because You love me. You’re a good Father who loves to give good gifts to Your children (Luke 11:13). And You love to give me the gift of the forgiveness and peace that comes only through repentance and faith. While I was still a sinner, You died for me. And whenever I still sin, You remind me that You died for me so that You could forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And then You remind me that through Your mercy and love, only on the basis of what You have done for me and all that You are doing in me, I have even “become the righteousness of God” through Jesus Christ my Lord (2 Corinthians 5:21). And that’s something to brad about. That’s bragging about how much my Daddy loves me. “… For God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into this world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:8-10). In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Restore One Another 5-25-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be exalted in the heavens and here in my heart. … “My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted” (Galatians 6:1). How tempted we are to judge the transgressions of others. How tempted we are to be offended by the unrighteous actions of others and then blinded to the self-righteous actions of ourselves. If someone in a relationship of accountability and trust with us stumbles or falls in transgression, we should speak the truth in love as You lead (Ephesians 4:15). We shouldn’t sweep the sin under the rug, but we also shouldn’t shout it from the mountaintops. If we “have received the Spirit,” You call us to “restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness”—not accuse and condemn such a one in a spirit of judgment and self-righteousness. You call us to humbly remember that none are righteous, no not one, and but for the grace of God go I, not excusing their sin or our own, but remembering we all need a Savior full of mercy and grace who never stops loving us and reaching out to us even when we sin. Some of our ministry leaders have been with me at our annual MorningStar Fellowship of Ministries leadership retreat. You led Rick Joyner and Bob Jones to reach out to Todd Bentley in his journey of restoration to ministry. All three have been speaking with us this week about that journey. I was deeply moved by the prophetic dream You gave Rick Joyner about the ministry of restoration: He saw one of his own children in a deep ditch filled with raw sewage, struggling to get out, but helpless to do it on their own. Then a man came and reached down into all the mess and lifted his child up and out of the pit. His heart was so filled with overwhelming joy and love for the man who helped his child that he’d gladly be willing to give the man anything he asked. And then You said to Rick, “That’s My heart toward those who are willing to restore My children.” Father, give me Your heart for restoration of Your children. Help me be willing to reach out to them, to reach down to them, to want to see them freed and cleansed and restored through repentance and healing to the image of God they were created to express. Thank You for sending those with Your heart who have been willing to reach down to me. Deliver us from the spirit of offense and self-righteousness. Impart to us the Spirit of mercy and grace, not blinded by the fault sins of those in relationship with us, but also not hardened to Your desire to see each of us redeemed and restored, revived and renewed to overcome our transgression by the power of Your blood and the mercy of Your grace. Thank You for doing that for Todd; thank You for doing that for me. Those who are forgiven much, then love much (Luke 7:47). Freely do we receive from You, and freely are we to give to one another (Matthew 10:8). And whatever we sow into the lives of others, so we will reap in our own lives as well (Galatians 6:7). I want to sow mercy, because as You know, I need it. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep our team in prayer this week at this leadership retreat with other ministry leaders to share prophetic perspective on world events, while being further equipped for ministry in our MorningStar Fellowship of Ministries (www.morningstarministries.org). Restoration is a key part of our ministry and vision at Messiah Ministries. Thank you for sowing seeds into our ministry and into the lives of those the Lord is restoring and renewing though His ministry of healing, deliverance, and spiritual transformation. God bless you with all that He is imparting to us in these days. Thank you for praying for us at The Fountain last Friday Night. The Lord's Presence was incredible, as the Holy Spirit sang over us corporately and personally through the ministry of Heather Butler from Wales. There was tremendous healing and encouragement for us all! Please come join us in person or in prayer whenever you can! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Power of Praise 5-21-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come rule and reign on the earth; come rule and reign in my heart. … “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, ‘See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it an you will feel better.’ … And David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer…. And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him” (1 Samuel 16:14-23). In Your sovereignty, according to Your spiritual principles of creation, You give us each freedom to open our hearts to what is holy or to what is evil, to “make room” for Your Holy Spirit or to “make room for the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). You lead us and want us turn to You and willingly embrace Your Holy Spirit to lead us in Your holy ways. But at the same time, the enemy of our souls also want to use Your same spiritual principles against us, tempting to lead us because he wants us to embrace his unholy spirits to lead in his unholy ways. Our choices of rebellion and sin are taken as our permission in the spiritual realm for whatever spirits are associated with our behavior to have access to our lives, just our choices or obedience and faith are taken as our permission for Your Holy Spirit to have access in our lives. We can “submit (ourselves) therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee,” but by the same principle, we can also resist God, submit ourselves to the devil, and he will have access through the gates of hell we’ve opened wide to him to torment us (James 4:7). You want us to have life and have it abundantly, in Your peace and grace, but our enemy comes through the permission and access we give him to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). In Your sovereignty, You set before us the choice of life or death, blessing or curse, peace or torment, embracing Your Holy Spirit or the enemy’s unholy spirits (Deuteronomy 30:19). Saul, through his choices, embraced evil and the spirits associated with it. But even in the torment of our rebellion, Your heart is to send a Savior. Your heart is for our deliverance and not our bondage, for our peace and not our torment. And through the love of David and his gift of worship, You were reaching out to Saul to draw him back to You. As David worshiped, evil departed. As he welcomed the Presence of God, the tormenting spirit had to flee. Darkness is always overcome by the light. So when we choose to embrace You and Your Holy Spirit, darkness has to flee, as You deliver us out of the kingdom of darkness and establish us in the kingdom of Your light in Christ (Colossians 1:13). And worship is a mighty “weapon of our warfare” to overcome the tormenting power and presence of our spiritual enemy (2 Corinthians 10:4). Praising You and welcoming the abiding Presence of Your Holy Spirit in one of the “keys to the kingdom of heaven” You’ve placed in our hands to open the gates of righteousness and slam shut the gates of hell (Matthew 16:19). Lord, draw me into deeper places of worship. Lift me high above my enemies into Your Presence through praise. Let the tormenting enemies of my soul be scattered as I worship You in spirit and truth. You are my Savior and my Deliverer. And You are the God who even sings over me, to set me free from everything that would try to torment me, as Your Holy Spirit comes to draw me close to the One who loves me (Zephaniah 3:17). In the freedom You’ve given me by the sovereignty of Your spiritual principles of creation, I willingly worship You and welcome You into my heart and my life this day and every day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come Tonight! Welsh Revival at The Fountain this Friday Night May 21! at 7 pm. Our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry of singing prophetically over the people and the land. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Disciple of Love 5-20-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call upon Your name and I depend upon Your grace. I welcome You into my thoughts, into my desires, and into the moments of my day. ... “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Jesus, I want to be Your disciple. I want to follow You, learn from You, live for You. A long time ago I opened my heart to Your Spirit and entrusted my life into Your hands. Thank You for reminding me this morning that the mark of my discipleship is love. Let love be my aim in all I do today. Some situations will be harder in which to express and experience Your love than others. Some people will be harder to give love to and receive love from than others. But by the power of the grace of God, help me let Your love lead me in every encounter of my day. If I don’t, I can’t be Your disciple. If I don’t, I won’t be following You, learning from You, or living for You. It’s as simple as that. “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (1 John 4:16). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Welsh Revival at The Fountain this Friday Night May 21! at 7 pm. Our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry of singing prophetically over the people and the land. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Spirit of Christ and Antichrist 5-19-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Give me Your grace to start this new day centered in Christ, embraced by my Father, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. … “Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour…. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge…. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also…. And this is what He has promised us, eternal life. I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you…. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:18-28). There is only an antichrist because there is first the true Christ. There is only a counterfeit because there is first the Truth. The enemy of our souls comes to confuse and deceive. He even “disguises himself as an angel of light” and “his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). He tells us what we want to hear. He offers us his false promises to our perceived needs to subtly lure us away from the Truth and the One who is the Answer to all we need and the fulfillment of every true promise of God. He comes to distort the truth and disrupt the timing of the plans and purposes of God, while seeking to defile and defame the name and the nature of our One True God (Daniel 7:25). And though he may seem to prevail against us and our God for a season, he will not prevail forever (Daniel 7:26-27). The antichrist spirit is the opposite of the “Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9). He tempts us to grow impatient for Your promises and skeptical of Your truth, confusing us and causing us to forget that “through faith and patience (we) inherit the promises” of the Kingdom of God (Hebrews 6:12). So he comes to offer his false promises, tempting us to compromise with the truth and accept without discernment the “blessings” of his false “power and signs and lying wonders” which are always out of Your true timing and never of Your true nature (2 Thessalonians 2:9). In this last hour of this final season of this age before Your coming to receive Your Bride, we must have Your discernment. Open our eyes to see what is real as well as what is false. Sensitize our spirits to sense what is righteous and true as well as what is unholy and wrong. Strengthen us in our resolve to settle for nothing less than all that You have for us, but always in Your time and in Your way, with the faith and patience You provide to all who will humble themselves to ask and to wait. “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of His mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of the glory of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Come, Lord Jesus. Abide in me this day and every day. One day You will come again in Your glory in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:16). But every day between now and then, You want to come in the glory of Your manifest Presence in our hearts by Your Spirit. As we abide in You and You abide in us, You make us sensitive to the leading of Your Holy Spirit and You teach us the spiritual discernment we must have to not only endure, but to flourish, into the fullness of all You have prepared for us in these last days before Your coming. Whether we have seven years or seventy years to wait for Your coming in Your glory to receive Your pure, spotless Bride, may we be found faithful and ready to receive You (Ephesians 5:27). On that day, we will praise and shout with all of heaven: “ ‘Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure’—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation 19:7-8). By the power of Your grace, we will be ready then because the true Spirit of Christ is at work within us, making us ready now. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Welsh Revival at The Fountain this Friday Night May 21! at 7 pm. Our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry of singing prophetically over the people and the land. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Music City 5-18-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are Emmanuel, God with us, always with us. You are my God, always with me in every dimension of Your Being—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. … “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides upon the clouds—His name is the Lord—be exultant before Him” (Psalm 68:4). They call Nashville, Tennessee “Music City.” We’ve come here for a few days with my friend Heather Butler and her family and friends from Wales. You’ve gifted her as a prophetic psalmist, who sings spontaneously the words You stir by Your Spirit in her heart over people and over the land. And she wanted to come to this city that’s known around the world for the songs that are sent forth to the nations from this place. Many are drawn here to find their voice and that their voice may be found. And many are drawn here to hear the sound of the songs that are birthed here and timelessly honored here. Even the building that became the Grand Ole Opry has its roots in revival, worship, and prayer in the heart of this city. And we join with the prayers of many that this city’s redemptive gifts of worship, praise, and creative song be sanctified, purified, and released in power to proclaim Your name in all the earth. Music is a gift to stir our hearts in songs of praise. Music is a gift that helps us express our deepest emotions, declare our highest hopes, and literally change the atmosphere around us. And music is a gift You give us as You sing Your songs of Spirit and Truth over us to minister Your healing, comfort, and encouragement. “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, NJKV). Thank You, Lord, for singing over us. And thank You, Lord, for singing through us to change our hearts and change the atmosphere around us. May You release new waves of creative song and powerful worship in this city and in our hearts throughout the earth. We sing praises to Your name. And we praise Your name for singing over us. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Welsh Revival at The Fountain this Friday Night May 21! at 7 pm. Our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry of singing prophetically over the people and the land. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Choose Well: The Heart of Mary or Judas 5-17-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the hand and lead me by the heart. … “Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (the one who was about to betray Him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of My burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me’ ” (John 12:3-8). Your Word says Judas was “one of (Your) disciples.” Can we be disciples of Christ, those who follow the Master to learn Your ways and grow in Your nature, yet have such weeds of wickedness and seeds of betrayal sown into the same heart? (Matthew 13:24-25) Can we come to a place of such double-mindedness to follow You one day and betray You the next? Can we say the right words with all the self-righteousness we can muster and all the religious piety we can project, while having all the wrong motives with all the wrong heart? Judas was called to walk with God, but the longer he continued in the journey, the more his true heart revealed. Some would say Judas was destined for destruction from the beginning (John 17:12). They would say he was an object of wrath, prepared and made by God for destruction to make known God’s glory for the objects of His mercy (Romans 9:22-24). But I don’t believe that’s the whole counsel of God for how it works. I believe Your Word when You say You are not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance in the knowledge of the truth (2 Peter 3:9). I believe Your Word when You say that whoever believes in You will not perish, but will have everlasting life (John 3:16). Though You see the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end, though You see every choice we will ever make by the grace You give us, the choices are ours to make. You set before each of us life or death, blessing or curse, for each of us to choose whom we will serve and how we shall live (Deuteronomy 30:19). And with every choice we make, our hearts become more yielded in obedience or more hardened in rebellion. Though You know our destiny, it’s our choices we make in the freedom of You give that determine it. You create us and call us to be fulfilled in Your destiny for us, but You also warn us that the consequences of our choices are real. True obedience requires the freedom to choose to obey or not; true worship requires the freedom to choose to worship or not; and true love requires the freedom to choose to love or not. Judas was called to be a son of God, one of Your disciples (Matthew 10:1). But his persistence in his choices of corruption and betrayal revealed his heart to be a “son of perdition” rather than a son of God (John 17:12, NKJV). He could have chosen life, but he chose death; he could have chosen the blessing, but he chose the curse; and with every choice, the path of his destiny was determined. Finally, even though Judas was one of Your disciples, Satan himself entered into him through the door of his heart consistently opened to deception and betrayal (Luke 22:3). Mary chose well, but Judas did not. Mary knew the needs of the poor and the call to sacrifice in discipleship. But above all, she consistently offered You the best she had to give, the sacrifice of her willing heart opened to You and poured out before You. In the power of Your grace, Mary persistently chose “the better part, which will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42). She chose life and blessing in every moment she had to spend with You, revealing the truth of the love of God sown deeply within her heart. Lord, in the power of Your grace, help me cultivate the heart of Mary, not the heart of Judas. Help me choose well, consistently and persistently. May the Spirit of God enter my heart every day, not the spirit of perdition. As You set before me each day life or death, blessing or curse, help me choose the better part, as You seal my destiny into Your hands and my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Welsh Revival at The Fountain this month! Friday Night May 21 at 7 pm our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry and a word for Kentucky with us, A Leap of Faith. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in the His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

Both Resurrection Power and Real-life Pain 5-14-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I worship You, Lord God, in spirit, soul, and body. And now I listen for Your leading in the silence of my surrender before You in these first moments of my morning. … “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill” (John 11:2). Mary was a worshipper. She loved You deeply with all her heart. And You loved her and her sister and her brother (v. 11:5). Yet all her love, all her worship, all her intimate times of her personal relationship with You did not shelter her from encountering real-life suffering, pain, and disappointment at times in her life. There are battles we will face with sickness, sin, and death in this broken, fallen world in the process of being redeemed and transformed by the coming of the Kingdom of God. And even though there would come a day when Mary’s brother Lazarus would soon overcome the very power of death in the name of the One who is the very power of life, her worshipping heart still had to endure a time of grief and sorrow (v. 11:31). But in those times, You gave her room to ask her questions and express her grief and disappointment (v. 11:32). And her pain moved Your heart. “When Jesus saw her weeping … He was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved…. Jesus began to weep” (v. 11:33-35). All the resurrection power of God to come, all the certainty of faith even in the heart of the Son of God and Son of Man, did not take away those moments of pain for both You and for Mary. The power of God and the coming of the Kingdom of God do not exempt us with some kind of magical immunity from the brokenness and pain we often encounter in our broken, fallen world. But You are the God who is always with us through our brokenness and in our pain. You are the God who’s there to hear our questions and comfort us in our doubts and encourage us in our faith. And though we face suffering, sin, and death in so many ways so much of the time until Your Kingdom fully comes and Your will is completely done here on earth as it is in heaven, we never have to face it alone. So Your Spirit lifts our eyes to the hills from where our help comes from and opens our hearts to the One who is “the resurrection and the life.” With our hope and faith in You, as we continue to seek You and worship You through it all, even though we may suffer or sin or die, yet shall we live (v. 11:25). This is one of the ways You cause all things to work together for our good and for “God’s glory” (v. 11:4). And this is the hope and assurance we have through everything we encounter and endure in our journey through this world with You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, I pray you'll always know the Lord's deep compassion, tender mercies, and mighty strength with you always through anything you endure. Thank you so much for all your prayer for me through those times I've encountered. The best of all, God is with us through it all. And God redeems it all as we entrust it all to Him. God bless you! Welsh Revival at The Fountain this month! Friday Night May 21 at 7 pm our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry and a word for Kentucky with us, A Leap of Faith. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in the His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!

The God Who Humbles Himself to Hear 5-13-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I sit before You in prayer this morning, set things right before me throughout my day. … “Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of His people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 113:5-9). Though You are high above all things, there’s nothing that escapes Your attention. You are transcendently beyond every dimension of our existence; and at the same time, You are also intimately involved in every detail of our lives. You know every hair on our heads and You know every sparrow that falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29-30). Somehow in the sovereignty of Your majesty and the infinite power of Your might, You are the God “who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and the earth” (Psalm 113:5, NKJV). And when You humble Yourself to behold us, You are not merely observing; You are actively engaged in the unfolding of our days. You not only hear our prayers from on high, You bend down low to hear our heart’s cry, to feel our passion and our pain, our thanksgiving and our joy (Psalm 116:2). In mystery of Your sovereignty and our freedom, You respond in the power of Your love to the needs and desires of Your people. You raise up the poor; You lift up the needy; You cheer up the discouraged; You break up the fallow; and You build up the downtrodden. You hear us when we cry and respond to us when we pray (Psalm 116:1). And then You remind us that as we live out our lives on earth in this earthly dimension, we are also already seated up there with You in Your heavenly dimension (Ephesians 2:6). You make us to “sit with princes” at Your table in the heavens on high because we are sons and daughters of the King even here on earth. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Welsh Revival at The Fountain this month! Friday Night May 21 at 7 pm our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry and a word for Kentucky with us, A Leap of Faith. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in the His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!