Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You, Lord—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I thank You for first loving me. And I thank You for persisting in loving me. Your steadfast love endures forever. …
“Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said, ‘Blessed are, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all! Riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand are power and might; and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, O God, we give thanks to You and praise Your glorious name! (1 Chronicles 29:10-13)
Thank You for Your glory
Thank You for Your story
Thank You for every day and every way
You‘ve always been my Faithful God and Friend
Thank You for Your power
Thank You for Your strong tower
Thank You for every day and every way
You‘ve always been my Faithful God and Friend
Thank You for Your mercy
Thank You for Your parted seas
Thank You for every day and every way
You‘ve always been my Faithful God and Friend
Thank You for Your kindness
Thank You for Your brightness
Thank You for every day and every way
You‘ve always been my Faithful God and Friend
O I thank You, Lord
O I praise You, Lord
From beginning to end
Through thick and through thin
You’ve always been my Faithful God and Friend
Thank You, Holy Spirit, for stirring in my human spirit these new words of this new song of thanksgiving and praise. In the spirit of thanksgiving, I worship and honor You; I love and adore You. In the power and might of Your love, You forgive and heal and free; You establish and secure and strengthen; You persist and provide and protect. You are a Faithful God and a Faithful Friend (John 15:15). And I thank You, Lord, for all that I have with all that I am. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
To Reply to Tommy Hays: TommyHays@aol.com
To Subscribe or Contribute to Messiah Ministries: www.messiah-ministries.org
Friends, please join us Friday Night, December 10th for our Messiah Ministries Celebration & Christmas Party in Lexington. Hosted this year in the Foyer and Chapel of Centenary United Methodist Church. Please bring some friends to share stories of God's glory and hear all the Lord is doing at home and abroad through Messiah Ministries! Contact Marilyn Walker, our Dir. of Ministries at DirOfMinistries@aol.com
Join me in my daily journey of prayer. I write these each morning send them out fresh "Morning by Morning" to start each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Subscribe to receive these prayers by email at Messiah-Ministries.org
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Unrestrained and Unashamed -- November 22, 2010
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my thoughts, my desires, and my day. ...
"So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing.... David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet" (2 Samuel 6:12-15).
The ark of the Lord speaks of the Presence of the Lord. And David was passionately, jealously desperate for Your Presence. On the day he had the priests bring the ark of Your Presence to the city that would become the spiritual center of Israel and all the earth, at Mount Zion in Jerusalem, his heart was filled with joy. And his spirit was filled with freedom, as he danced in worship before You unrestrained and unashamed. I believe his joy was an expression of Your joy, that things were being set right and aligned in his heart and his nation according to Your plans and purposes. "The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth" (Psalm 50:1-2).
David cried out in his psalms his passion to obey the stirring in his spirit to obey the summoning of Your Spirit to establish the place of Your Presence on the earth: "I will not enter my house or get into my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.... Rise up, O Lord, and go to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness and Your faithful shout for joy!" (Psalm 132:3-9) And on the day of his fulfillment of Your desires, he could not contain himself and restrain his joy. How You must have smiled from heaven at the heart of the "man after (God's) own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14).
Not everyone shared his passion. Not everyone celebrated his freedom of expression and overflowing of joy it the glory of Your Presence (2 Samuel 6:16). They despised him and accused him of dishonoring You and Your people by his actions they couldn't understand (v. 6:20). But David wouldn't back down, because he knew in his heart he had sought Your face and obeyed Your voice to fulfill Your purpose (v. 6:21-22). His joyful, passionate obedience--unrestrained and unashamed--brought honor, not dishonor, to Your name and to Your servant in the eyes of those who saw his heart (v. 6:22).
Lord, give me a fearless passion to passionately pursue Your Presence and seek to obey Your voice with all my might. Let me be compassionate and considerate of the feelings and opinions of others, but unashamed and unrestrained in my sense of obedience and faithfulness to You. Let me know the freedom and joy of serving You with joyful obedience, as You align my heart and set all things right for Your purposes in and through my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
TommyHays@aol.com
Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries.
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries, 2800 Tates Creek Rd, Lexington, KY 40502, USA
www.messiah-ministries.org
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Father’s Best -- Nov 19, 2010
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be exalted in my praises and in my heart, as I begin my day with You—embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. …
“Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, ‘Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac…. (The Lord) will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there’” (Genesis 24:1-7).
Like Abraham, I want to live my life in faith—seeking You, listening for You, trusting in You in all things. And though there will be many heartaches and sorrows, mingled with many celebrations and joy along the journey, as with Abraham, I want to be able to look back, when I’m old and well advanced in years to see the mark of Your Presence and the hand of Your blessing in all things. The “blessing of Abraham” flows out of the faith of Abraham—the faith of one who trusts in God with all his heart throughout all his life, as best as he can and all by Your grace (Galatians 3:14).
In Abraham’s journey of faith, You formed the Father heart of God in his heart. And out of his father heart, he wanted the best for his son, Isaac. He wanted a bride for his son who was chosen by God (Genesis 24:7). He wanted a bride for his son who was uncompromising and undefiled by the culture around him (v. 24:3). And he wanted a bride for his son who would love him and respect him, celebrating the joys of life with him, but also faithfully willing to stand by him and comfort him through all the times of heartaches and sorrows as well (v. 24:67).
And as Abraham was a father, sending his servant to bring the best bride to his son, so the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to prepare the best bride for His Son (Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 19:7 and 22:17). That’s the Father heart of God. The Father wants the best for His Son. And the Father wants the best for His sons and daughters.
Thank You, Father, for wanting Your best for me. Thank You, Father, for sending Your Holy Spirit to find the one You’ve chosen for me—one with Your heart, led by Your Spirit, filled with Your love—to walk in the journey with me. And in You, I am blessed with all the blessing of Abraham and all the blessing of Isaac. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17, NKJV). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
TommyHays@aol.com
Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Please pray for us and join us if you can, as I lead a Spiritual Renewal & Healing Prayer Conference this weekend at St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Weston, West Virginia, hosted by the District Prayer Team and local UM churches( www.stmatthewweston.com ) Friday Night Meeting at 7 PM and Brokenness to Breakthrough Conference on Saturday 9 AM to 3 PM. All are welcome!
Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night Nov 19th 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. Jeff Green will be leading in worship 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
Please Visit our New Web Site at www.messiah-ministries.org
Messiah Ministries ...
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
God Loves to “Give Good Gifts” Nov 18, 2010
Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King and Lord of my heart and thoughts, my choices and actions, my words and will, now and throughout my day. …
“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Mark 7:7-11)
O Lord, my God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—You are my Father in heaven; You are my Best Friend on earth. You’re my Constant Companion, my Closest Comforter, my Steadfast Supporter. You’re more than the most perfect father or mother, more than the most unfailing, faithful friend. You know everything about me; and yet, You still love me, You’re still for me, You still want the very best for me. What a great and awesome God You are!
And it’s astounding to me that one of Your ways of expressing Your faithfulness and love is to “give good gifts” to Your children. You know every need—to be safe and secure, to have protection and provision, to be challenged and fulfilled in our purpose, calling, and destiny, to be encouraged and loved, to share that encouragement and love with others, and everything else we don’t even know we need. And then You lead us to ask.
There’s something in the humility of asking, something in the faith of expecting, something in the desperation of needing that seems to be important in our spiritual development and maturity. Just as there’s something important in the celebration, thanksgiving, and joy of receiving the good gifts that shower our lives every day from our Father in heaven who loves to give good gifts to His children.
I admit there are things I’ve asked for that it doesn’t yet seem like I’ve received; there are things I’ve searched for that it doesn’t yet seem like I’ve found; and there are doors I’ve knocked on that it doesn’t yet seem like have opened. So as You move in my heart to persist in prayer for those things, I’ll keep on asking, keep on searching, keep on knocking. But at the same time, I want to praise Your holy name for every awesome and amazing gift You’ve already poured into my life by Your grace!
I want to be one who’s so much more focused on praising You for all You’ve done, instead of complaining for all I think You haven’t. I want to be one who’s so much more full of joy and thanksgiving for all You’ve given that I could never deserve, instead of letting any sense of my unworthiness steal a moment of the joy or any measure of the abundance of Your blessings You choose to shower down on my life. You love to give good gifts to Your children. And I believe You love for Your children to joyfully, gratefully, unashamedly receive them. And so by the grace of God, I do. Thank You! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night Nov 19th 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. Jeff Green will be leading in worship 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
Dear Friends of Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries,
We are changing email servers for Morning by Morning, my daily prayer devotional.
To continue receiving Morning by Morning, please fill in your email and click Subscribe on our brand new web site (Golden Banner, lower left-hand side of Home Page): www.messiah-ministries.org (Only if you have not already subscribed through AWebber.com to the new server).
And please check out our new ministry web site while you're there. Please forward this note on to anyone who may be interested in Messiah Ministries or my daily prayer devotional.
If you can, come join us Friday Night, December 10th for our Celebration Dinner & Christmas Party to celebrate together all the Lord is doing through our ministry at home and abroad. Thank you for being a part! God bless you!
In the Love of Jesus,
Tommy Hays
Founder & Spiritual Director
Messiah Ministries
2800 Tates Creek Rd.
Lexington, KY 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org
MessiahMin@aol.com
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
“Your Own Conviction before God” 11-17-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is my first word this morning. Your worship is my first desire this day. O Lord, God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I give myself completely to You, as best as I can and all by Your grace. …
“The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:22-23).
Lord, I want to “act from faith” in all I do. I want my actions and responses, my thoughts and desires, my choices and convictions to “proceed from faith.” And I know Your Word says: I am to “live by faith,” not as one “who shrinks back” (Hebrews 10:38). I am to “hold fast to the faith of Jesus” with “endurance” (Revelation 14:12). And I am to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). I want to be a man of faith, even a man of great faith (Romans 1:8). So teach me how.
It seems I hear You say: “My son, the heart of faith is trusting Me. Do you trust Me?”
Yes, Lord.
“Do you trust Me to know what’s best for you?”
Yes, Lord.
“Do you desire to seek Me, to listen for My leading, to wait for My moving in your heart and mind to put My desires in your heart and My thoughts in your mind?”
Yes, Lord.
“Do you believe I will answer your prayers to guide your life according to My will?
Yes, Lord.
“Then you have faith, My son. Now act from that faith, not wavering, not doubting, not tossed to and fro by every wind you feel or word you hear. Trust Me. And trust that you have sought Me and continue to seek Me. When you err, I will correct you. When you prevail and persevere in obedience, I will affirm you. The children of God are led by the Spirit of God. And you are My child, My son.”
Yes, Lord. Thank You, for reminding me of Your Word. Thank You for letting me hear Your word to me. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV). I trust You. I believe You. And now I want to live this day for You in the confidence and conviction of the faith You’ve given me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night Nov 19th 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. Jeff Green will be leading in worship 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
Messiah Ministries ...
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Strife Must Cease in the Presence of Love 11-16-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be my Vision, my Wisdom, and my Guide all along the journey of this day. …
“In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from Me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you…. No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from Me, says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:14-17).
Not everyone is happy for the things that make us happy. Not everyone sings for joy when You stir up Your joy in our hearts. As human beings we can tend to think we know what’s best for ourselves and everybody else. We can tend to think we have it all figured out, we know what’s right, we know all about Your will and Your wisdom and Your way for our life and everybody else’s. We can tend to forget the humility of the truth of Your Word that, “My thoughts and not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Where I have wrongly judged others or stirred up strife against them, convict me of my sin and lead me to my repentance and Your forgiveness. Heal those I have wounded with my words; restore the reputations of those I have slandered; and honor those I have dishonored. Vindicate their name and establish them in Your righteousness as their Advocate and Ambassador who confutes and corrects every voice that rises against them in judgment. Give me Your heart for them. Let me see them through Your eyes, honor them with Your words, and rejoice with them with Your joy. As You have lavished me with Your grace, let me offer them the same. As I have so freely received, let me so freely give. All strife must cease in the presence of the steadfast love of the Lord.
And if anyone has judged me, dishonored me, slandered me, I choose to forgive them, releasing them to You, into the freedom of my forgiveness. I give them the gift You’ve given me—the gift of mercy and grace. I choose to remember we all fall short of Your glory; we all fail to fully be Your hands and heart in the lives of one another You’ve called us to be. None of us walk in the other’s shoes; none of us live in the other’s skin, to know all the facts and to know the heart of the one we judge.
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And deliver us from evil. Then let us trust You to speak up for us. Let us trust You to restore unto us the joy of our salvation and embrace with gladness all the goodness You pour into our lives, even when we deserve it the least—no matter what anybody says. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, may nothing steal the joy of the Lord in your life today! May you be filled with the all the fullness of the Kingdom of God today and everyday, which is "Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). Please pray the same for me!
Please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night Nov 19th 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. Jeff Green will be leading in worship 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
Messiah Ministries ...
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you!
Monday, November 15, 2010
“The Beauty of Holiness!” 11-15-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. All I am and all I have, I entrust to You today. …
“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth…. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth” (Psalm 96:9-13, NKJV).
O Lord, my God, You are beautiful in the holiness of Your nature—pure and holy, untainted and undefiled, radiant in the beauty and majesty of Your glory and splendor. And as we worship You, You are changing us into Your image: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NJKV).
One day You’re coming in glory to judge the earth. One day You’re coming in glory to embrace Your bride. And every day before that day, You come in glory to judge our hearts, to cleanse our souls, to fill us with Your Spirit, and conform us to Your nature (Romans 5:5). The Father has sent His Holy Spirit to prepare a Holy bride for the coming of His Son (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). And as we “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,” You are fulfilling Your Word and revealing Your heart for Your people: “Let us rejoice and exult and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).
Every day, as Your Holy Spirit prepares the way of the Lord in our hearts and in all the earth for the coming of the day of the Lord, establish Your righteousness and Your truth in our hearts and lives. Bring all things into the right order of Your righteousness with You, with one another, and within ourselves. Shine forth the light of Your truth within us and among us. Let us love You and one another, in the beauty of holiness, “just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to Himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
You are a beautiful God. And You deserve a beautiful bride. So keep bringing us to the place by Your mercy and grace that we can come worship You in the beauty of holiness. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Thank you for covering us in prayer for our Messiah Ministries' Level II School of Spiritual Ministry last week. We've had a largest registration ever. The Holy Spirit moved deeply, especially in the area of inner healing of brokenness from past trauma, bringing powerful healing to our students and equipping us for ministry in an incredible atmosphere of His holy Presence! Please come join us for one of our intensive, four day schools or consider ordering the dvd's if you can't. God bless!
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Simply Love. 11-12-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You. Pour into my heart and mind and soul and strength Your love and power. Make me more like You each day. …
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
What if it really is as simple as that? What if it really is all about love? What if all the law, all the prophets, all the spiritual principles of life are based upon love? (Matthew 22:40; Galatians 5:14) What if discipleship is learning to love? What if healing is releasing the power of God’s love? What if salvation is embracing the love of God through the means of love God has provided for everyone of us? (John 3:16) What if being Spirit-filled is being filled with God’s love in our hearts? (Romans 5:5) What if we are created by God to love, because God is love and God created us in His image for the very purpose of growing in a relationship of love with God and with one another? (1 John 4:7-12)
What if every challenge we face is an opportunity to love? What if every circumstance is another chance to choose love instead of something else and something less? What if every struggle and battle is precisely calculated to crucify and crush everything in us that is not love? What if spiritual maturity is growing in the nature of God’s love, who was crucified and crushed in Christ for us? And what if the disciples are to be like the Teacher, the servants are to be like the Master, and the sons and daughters are to be like the Father—giving our best out of our love? What if the most spiritual and holy thing we could every do was to choose to live our lives as best as we can and all by Your grace “loving one another deeply from the heart?” (1 Peter 1:22)
What if our highest calling is to “pursue love” (1 Corinthians 14:1). What if the more passionately we pursue love, the more passionately we pursue God? What if the more passionately we pursue love, the more passionately we pursue the life we are created to live? And the quality of our life is the reflected in every way by the quality of our love—our love for God, our love for one another, our love for ourselves? What if the Word of God turns out to be true, that, “the only thing that counts is faith working through love?” (Galatians 5:6) Could it really be that simple? And if it is, how would I be willing to let that truth change my life today? In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Please keep us in prayer for our Messiah Ministries' Level II School of Spiritual Ministry this week. We've had a largest registration ever and God is moving in very deep healing ways in spirit, soul, and body as He equips us! Please come join us for one of our intensive, four day schools or consider ordering the dvd's if you can't. God bless!
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
“The Boldness We have in Him” 11-11-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Father and Friend, Savior and Spirit of the Living God, Comforter and Creator, Maker and Master, Leader and Lord of Life, I want t know You more in every Dimension of Your Being every day. …
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him” (1 John 5:13-15).
Lord, let my requests be Your will. Let my words come to Your ear. Let my prayers move Your heart. And let my prayers be answered because they are the prayers You’ve placed in my heart to pray. Put Your thoughts in my mind. Put Your desires in my heart. Put Your prayers in my mouth. Lord, teach me to pray. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
As my heart grows in alignment with Your heart and my will grows in alignment with Your will, may I grow in boldness to bring my requests before You, knowing that You hear me and knowing that You answer me. This is the boldness I desire before You. This is where “Deep calls to deep”—where I need not fear and need not be ashamed or embarrassed to make my requests made known to You (Psalm 42:8).
This is the kind of life I want to live eternally before You and eternally with You. This is the kind of prayer life I want to live every day in the growing depths of communion with Your heart and Your will. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please Save the Date of December 10th for our Messiah Ministries' Celebration and Christmas Party! We'll share stories of God's glory and all He has been doing at home and abroad in the life of our ministry. Please come join us in Lexington and bring some friends to know more about Messiah Ministries --"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God!"
Please keep us in prayer for our Messiah Ministries' Level II School of Spiritual Ministry this week. We've had a largest registration ever and we're excited to see what God will do as we encounter Him and He equips us! Please come join us for one of our intensive, four day schools or consider ordering the dvd's if you can't. God bless!
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
“Come with Me, My Bride” 11-10-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and embrace Your grace. I lay before You now every moment of my day. …
“How beautiful you are, my love, how very beautiful! … You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon…. You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes …” (Song of Solomon 4:1-9).
I’ve begun again the journey of love. Daring to trust again, to risk again, to open my heart to one who’s opening her heart to me. I could choose to live life’s journey alone, and I’ve been willing to. I could to wait for someone else, and I’ve been willing to. But above all, I choose to seek Your will and Your wisdom, following Your leading for Your plans and purposes for my life and hers, as best as I can and all by Your grace.
I trust Your heart for me more than my heart for me. I trust Your wisdom for me more that my wisdom for me. And I trust Your heart and wisdom for Andrea, and for my children, and for every life that You desire to touch through our lives together. You know what we need and You know how You have chosen to be the Source of our supply for our every need—especially the need to love and to be loved—by You and by You though those You have chosen to be the extension of Your heart and Your love in our lives.
So from the moment last summer when it seemed You suddenly opened my eyes in a new way toward my old friend, from the moment it seemed You suddenly poured love into my heart for Andrea, I’ve asked You to take away all that’s not of You and increase what is. Others have prayed that fervently with me and for me. And so we believe You have answered our prayers.
I’ve rejected my flesh, renounced of my will that’s apart from Your will, yielded my emotions and my thoughts to Your leading, as best as I can and as deliberately, consciously, intentionally as I am able by every measure of grace You’ve given. And yet, love remains. Love increases. Love overflows—vast as the ocean and fierce as a river when the winter snows have thawed.
We’re not to awaken love before its time (Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5; and 8:4). And when it’s all said and done, prayed over and prayed through, talked about and analyzed, tested and weighed, only You truly know when it’s time. You’re the only One who sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. You’re the only One who loves us more than we love ourselves or anybody else. So I’m choosing to trust what I believe is You. I’m choosing to pour out and soak in this love I believe You’ve awakened in my life and hers. What greater gift could You give than the gift of love. “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My Exciting Personal News!
Before our revival meeting at Moriah Chapel a couple of weeks ago in Wales, in the prayer room there where the Fire fell on Evan Roberts and the group of intercessors crying out for revival, Andrea told me that was the most moving place to her of our whole ministry trip in Wales and England last month. And that's where I got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. She said Yes!
All my kids are really thrilled, especially the boys who were telling me I should marry Andrea even before I ever asked her out early last summer. Heather and Bob Butler love her from their visit to Kentucky and wanted her to come on the Wales trip. As Heather said, that gave us 30 days of concentrated time together in all kinds of settings, including intensive ministry abroad, to see if it was really the Lord lining up our hearts and lives together. It was my Mom's advice and wisdom to accept Heather's invitation to bring Andrea on this trip as well. And we all believe the Lord has shown us in many incredible ways that this is His plan for our lives in this new season. Praise God!
So I do hope you'll rejoice and celebrate this great news with us! As God says, "It is not good for man to be alone;" and I am thrilled that He has given me such a beautiful gift of one so full of love and life and passion for Him -- and now for me and my kids. God bless you and thank you for walking with me in the journey of prayer, my friend!
Friends, please keep us in prayer for our Messiah Ministries' Level II School of Spiritual Ministry starting tomorrow. We've had a largest registration ever and we're excited to see what God will do as we encounter Him and He equips us! Please come join us for one of our intensive, four day schools or consider ordering the dvd's if you can't. God bless!
The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
“For Christ” 11-9-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. I love You because You first loved me. I give my all to the One who gave it all. …
“I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the entire imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear” (Philippians 1:12-14).
When all we do is “for Christ,” then nothing we do and nothing that’s done to us is ever wasted. You use it all; You redeem it all; You cause good to come out of it all. Through whatever we go through in this broken, fallen world, You encourage us and inspire others, by Your faithfulness to see us through. As we live our faith, Your gospel goes forth.
And this gospel is not that nothing bad or difficult will ever happen to us. This gospel is that whatever happens, God is with us, God is for us. And “if God is for us, who can be against us? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:31-37). We are only conquerors and over-comers in Christ because there have been battles and barriers, changes and challenges for us to conquer and overcome in every day and through every season.
So if we are imprisoned, let it be for Christ. If we are rejected and cast off, let it be for Christ. If we live or we die, if we have much or have little, if we are in a season of abundant favor or a time of persevering faith, let it be for Christ. Those who see us standing firm in the faith, holding fast to what is true, will be spurred on to greater boldness and tenacious courage by our witness of living our faith. So Lord, let all I do today and all I am today, by the grace of God, be for Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please keep us in prayer for our Messiah Ministries' Level II School of Spiritual Ministry starting tomorrow. We've had a largest registration ever and we're excited to see what God will do as we encounter Him and He equips us! Please come join us for one of our intensive, four day schools or consider ordering the dvd's if you can't. God bless!
The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you
Monday, November 08, 2010
Faith in Christ is Love Plus Nothing 11-8-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As the sun rises on the horizon, let the Son rise in my heart. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I entrust my heart and my day into Your care. …
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? …” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Am I living in the faith, Lord? Do I realize that Jesus Christ is in me? Is the Spirit of Christ in me? Am I willing to test myself? I am I willing to examine my heart, my attitude, my actions to see if I see the nature of Christ is being formed in me? And if I am willing to test myself and my faith, what would be the measure?
These thoughts rise up from my heart and come to my mind, as I wait upon the leading of Your Spirit: “The measure of your faith is the measure of your love. For I Am Love. I Am not merely One who loves, but One who is Love. Out of My nature of Love, I choose to love; I cannot help but to love for that is who I Am. And this is My love for you and for all—that while you were yet sinners, I gave My best for you; I gave My Son for you, that you might know and embrace My love for you. This is My grace for you, the power of My love for you. As you trust Me in this, you embrace My nature, you embrace My love. Then, as you are loved, so you will love—you will love Me and you will love one another. This is the faith I desire; this is the love I desire. This is My nature, the nature of Christ revealing My love by My Spirit living in you and in all who will embrace my love by this faith. This is the nature I desire to form in you. Test yourself, examine yourself by this measure—and no other.”
Yes, Lord. The measure is not our goodness and self-righteousness. The measure is not all the good things we do or teach or insist upon from others. The measure is our heart of love. And this is a heart we can only have through embracing the love of God through Jesus Christ as Lord, as You change our hearts to be more like Your heart every day by the Spirit of Christ living in us. This is the test of faith, which is the test of love.
And here is love: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is Love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the 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. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (1 John 4:7-13).
So as best as I can and all by Your grace, let this kind of faith be found in me—faith revealed in the love of God living through me. The grace and power of God through faith in Christ is Love plus nothing. Faith is love plus nothing. This is the measure; this is what counts. “The only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you
Friday, November 05, 2010
Mountain Moments 11-5-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Master, Savior, Comforter, and Friend, I offer my heart as You offer Your hand to journey with me throughout this day. …
“The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Resume your journey, and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions—the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negeb, and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of that land that I swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them’ ” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8).
Thank You for the mountains and the moments when You surround me and soak me in the unbelievable peace and power of Your Presence. Thank You for the times that seem more like a dream than my everyday life. Like my morning prayers and my Sabbath times of rest during a day apart, stolen away from the rest of my world for some focused times with You, it seems I need those mountain moments. They refresh me and renew me; they invigorate me and empower me with clearer vision and fresh faith and fire and passion. In the mountain moments, You fill me up with Your living waters and Your living words, as You revive me and awaken me in newness of life.
But You fill me up to pour me out. You bring up to the mountain so You can send me down into the valley. From this high place in the Spirit with You, You lead me to look and see all You set before me—remembering and rejoicing in the great adventures of the journey behind me, but also looking with expectant faith and spiritual hunger toward the journey ahead.
By Your Word, it is my inheritance already. By Your will, it is mine to embrace and receive, all in Your timing, in Your way, for Your purposes, and for Your glory. And by Your grace, it is my calling and commission to “go in and take possession” of all You have entrusted to me. Not just for me, but for all who will come after me, according to Your promise and Your providence. So thank You for the gift of grace that brings me up to the mountain for these moments in the journey of my life. And thank You for the gift of Your grace to know when it’s time again to come down, move on, and resume my journey. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you!
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Run Your Race 11-4-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Welcome, Heavenly Father. Come, Holy Spirit. In every dimension and in every way You would express Yourself in my life today, I honor You and embrace You. …
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for His appearing” (1 Timothy 4:7-8).
The big line from the movie we watched last night was “Let him run his race!” In the movie Secretariat, about the greatest race horse that ever lived and is buried on a Kentucky horse farm not far from here, those are the words from the father to his daughter when the young foal was born, long before anyone ever imagined the destiny of greatness burning in his heart. And most of the movie, filmed right around here and based on the true story, centers on the emotional pressures, gut-searching risks, and chances to quit by the daughter in the face of the mocking voices of all who tried to keep her from letting her horse run his race.
And my favorite part is how the movie begins and ends with Scripture from the Book of Job about of the greatness of Your creation in the heart of the horse—not to mention when a choir sings, “O happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away” as Secretariat crosses the finish line in the climax of the movie. And so many critical moments of holding on to hope and never giving up to the death of her dream are set with brilliant Kentucky sunrises over the morning mist blanketing rolling hills of the bluegrass, as another dark night yields to the dawn of a new day. What an inspiring movie!
Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who speaks to our hearts, “Run your race.” Thank You for the voice of our heavenly Father who speaks to everyone and everything that would seek to hinder us or hold us from running our race and fulfilling our destiny that burns in our hearts. Like the daughter in the movie, Your apostle Paul endured much, but kept the faith to finish his race, encouraging every follower of Christ to do the same: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
The key to running our race, to not holding back, to living out the destiny You created to burn in our hearts is to keep looking to You—“Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus …” (Hebrews 12:1-2). That’s how I want to run my race, how I want to fight my fight, how I want to keep my faith, as best as I can and all by Your grace, with my might fixed on You. That’s the triple crown I want—the crown of righteousness reserved for me and for all who long to live their lives for You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
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The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502
www.messiah-ministries.org MessiahMin@aol.com
To order Tommy Hays' books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org God bless you!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
“Righteousness Exalts a Nation”
Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings, Lord of lords, Word of God, Lamb of God, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, I honor You and welcome You into my heart and into my day. …
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any nation” (Proverbs 14:34).
We the people of our nation made our hearts known in private decisions with public consequences by the votes we cast in ballot boxes across our land yesterday. And now, no matter who was elected in any office—whether Democratic Party, Republican Party, Tea Party, or no Party—we pray now for righteousness to rule and reign in the hearts and minds of every leader who will now represent us and influence the course of our nation.
Lord, would You speak to them in the morning when they wake up and in the night when they go to bed; would You put Your thoughts in their minds and Your desires in their hearts; would You draw each one closer to You each day? (Ezra 6:22) How they respond is their choice, but how we pray for them to make righteous choices is our choice. How they choose to lead our nation is their choice, but how long we allow them their place of influence in their elected office is our choice.
Let them choose well, and let us choose well. Let righteousness again exalt our nation—first in our own hearts and then in the hearts of those we honor and entrust with the privilege to represent our people and lead our nation toward the fulfillment of Your purposes and our destiny. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
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!
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
“Tell of All His Wonderful Works” 11-2-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I honor You; I worship You; I exalt You—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Come into my heart and come into my day as I begin it here, in the communion of prayer with You. …
“O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonderful works. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and His strength continually. Remember the wonderful works He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He has uttered, O offspring of His servant Abraham, children of Jacob, His chosen ones…. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 105:1-45)
This morning I wake up at home in my own bed for the first time in many days of ministry abroad. I find my way to my prayer chair, my faithful friend waiting on me to come wait on You, as we meet the morning together in the communion of prayer. I think of all You have done in me and all You have done through me and our team in the mystery of Your ministry through the Body of Christ to broken, bound, and lost people, who desperately need to know the love and power of Jesus Christ—just like me. I remember all we saw and experienced, all the ways we were moved and the ways we saw You move during our days of ministry in Wales and England. And I give You thanks and praise! I remember all the wonderful works You have done and make known Your mighty deeds by the power Your love in the glory of Your Presence. I seek You and rejoice; I sing Your praises and glory in the majesty of Your holy name!
We just heard last night of a woman who came to our revival meeting at Moriah Chapel in south Wales last week, where the Welsh Revival began that swept across the nation in 1904, leading to the Azusa Street Revival that swept across the world. She came to the meeting full of discouragement and depression from all the losses and failures in her life. People knew her as a woman forever trapped in the pain of her past, constantly reliving and retelling the stories of her tragedies of sadness and gloom so that no one wanted to be around her, only leading to more isolation and despair. But she came to church the next Sunday morning full of life and joy! They say everyone in her church was astounded at the dramatic change in her spirit; and she was actually dancing at church, chatting away at how God had set her free! She said as she went home from the revival meeting she was overwhelmed with a drunkenness in the Spirit, as the joy of Your Presence filled her heart! (Acts 2:15) And how wonderful it was for us to hear that astounding story of Your glory immediately upon arriving home from such an amazing time of ministry abroad, as You sealed our trip with such a testimony of Your power and love. And that’s only one of many we’re already hearing of how moved to change hearts and lives, awakening revival in each one of Your children.
Lord, may we always remember and always give You glory for the great things You have done in our lives and through our lives. And may our experiences and encounters of our adventures with You give us great hope and anticipation for what You will do in us and through us each day. As we battle the circumstances and challenges of life in a broken, fallen world, some days will be harder than others, and some seasons will be harder than others. We may not always get such encouraging words of what You are doing in our lives. But those will be the times to remember Your faithfulness and steadfast love—praising You for what You have done instead of complaining about what we feel You haven’t done, looking forward with expectant faith for what is to come, instead of getting stuck in the pain of what has already passed. In You, the best is always yet to come! So we thank You and praise You know what all You will do then. Praise the Lord! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, thank your all your prayers for us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip with Heather Butler, Andrea Clemons, and me in all the diverse settings Heather arranged for us to share the love of God in the name of Jesus this past month. What an adventure! Please pray that the Lord will water all the seeds He has planted and continue to send out His laborers into His harvest. We couldn't do this kind of ministry without you and all the ways you join with us in prayer, encouragement, and support as the Holy Spirit leads you. Thank you and God bless you for joining with us in the vision and call the Lord has give us -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" through Messiah Ministries.
The Fountain School of Spiritual Ministry, Level II, Nov 10-13, 2010, for Equipping, Training, and Impartation for Ministry, in Lexington, Kentucky with Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays. Please contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for Information or to Register: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1594
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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!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Rushing, Mighty Wind 10-29-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Majestic and mighty, glorious and good, You are welcome into my heart and life today...
“Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, You are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, You set the beams of Your chambers upon the waters, You make the clouds Your chariot, You ride on the wings of the wind, You make the winds Your messengers, fire and flame Your ministers…. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works—who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being…. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 104:1-35)
On our journey yesterday from south Wales back to north Wales yesterday, the wind began to blow mightily as we crossed over the mountains. By the time we crossed the straits onto the island of Anglesey in the northernmost region, we could barely stand in the strength of the wind. A rushing, mighty wind still roars across the land this morning, bending the trees with all their leaves trembling and shaking under the force of its power. It’s all in sharp contrast to unseasonable clear and sunny days we’ve seen throughout these October days of our ministry journey through this ancient and beautiful land.
With every gust of wind, my spirit stirs and my heart pounds with this declaration—“Yes Lord! Come like a rushing, mighty wind! Come blow across the hearts of the people of this land with Your winds of revival and power. Shake everything that can be shaken so that only that which cannot be shaken remains. Let all the earth and every heart tremble and shake at the majesty and glory of Your mighty Presence. Blow away all the chaff and stubble of all that’s high and not humbled before the One who rules and reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Topple over every standing stone and altar of man built to exalt any god but You. Refresh and renew You people with mighty displays of Your power to awaken us to arise to live our lives in active, passionate faith to the glory of Your name. Like the trees that bend under the blasts of Your wind, only those who are flexible and tender to bow before You in this move of Your Spirit will be able to stand when Your winds of change have done their work.” Bless the Lord, O my soul. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, this will be our final day in Wales today, as we travel to Birmingham, England for to lead a Power of Prayer Conference Saturday and Sunday at St. Phillips Anglican Church in West Bromwhich with our friend Pastor Pam Daniel, before flying home on Monday. Thank you for all your prayers for our ministry team and for joining with me in the journey of prayer! Please pray we'll all finish strong in the strength of the Lord on Encounter Wales! adventure. What an adventure it's been! I'm glad you've been a part. God bless you!
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Subscribe 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!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
We are the Revival! 10-28-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You’re amazing. You’re awesome. You’re my all in all. …
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
There’s a sign outside the door of this home down in the Gower of south Wales that says “Home of Evan Roberts, the Revivalist.” He was born here, lived here, prayed here. And he walked from here down the lane to Moriah Chapel, where You chose to release the Welsh Revival out of the passion of his heart and the fervency of his prayers. And last night You filled Moriah Chapel again with hearts hungry for a fresh move of God in our lives and in this land. We worshiped and prayed; we testified of Your goodness and proclaimed Your glory; we laughed and cried and encountered the Presence of God deep in our hearts. One young girl even came up to testify You were healing her blind eyes right before our eyes! And after midnight, in the early morning of a new day, when we prayed for the last person, a father in the faith still hungering and thirsting for the power of Your love to be poured into his heart by Your Spirit, we thanked You for allowing us the honor to serve You with our lives.
But when all was said and done, the riches of the glory of this mystery became more clear to me than ever before—it’s Christ in us; Christ in each one of us. We are the revivalists. We are the revival. We are the move of God in the earth. Christ in us, awakening us, reviving us, pouring God’s love and power into us and pouring out God’s love and power through us. Wherever we are, wherever we go, Christ has come because Christ is in us; the Kingdom has come because the Kingdom is in us (Luke 17:21). The Kingdom of God is at hand every time we reach out our hands, because our hands are now Your hands. The Father’s blessing is released every time we embrace it and give it away, because we are blessed by God to be the blessing of God. We are the revival!
You share Your glory with no man. And yet, in this marvelous mystery of faith, grounded in the truth of Your Word that Christ is in us, You choose to display Your glory through Your people (Isaiah 60:1). When we are in You and You are in us, You make us to be Your “oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display (Your) glory!” (Isaiah 61:3). Christ in us—this is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). This is Your revival, Your world-wide, world-changing revival we’ve longed to see throughout the generations of time. And we are Your revivalists. Let it never die, never be quenched, never burn out until You come again in the fullness of Your glory to receive Your glorious Bride (Revelation 19:7). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, thank you, thank you, thank you for all your prayers for us on our Encounter Wales! adventure. Every stop along the way has been amazing, but truly last night at Moriah Chapel will be a memory to cherish forever, and yet just a foundation of more to come as God continues to pour our His Spirit on the earth in our generation. As Heather Butler, Andrea Clemons and I ministered last night with the young worship team, among people from many different churches and traditions together as one in Christ, we experienced and encountered the living God in tremendous ways. The consistent prayer of every person, young and old, as we prayed until after midnight, was to be filled afresh with God's Holy Spirit and boldness to be the Body of Christ, fully alive! Let it be so in your heart and mine and throughout the earth!
We go back to Heather and Bob's home in north Wales for a day before going to our last ministry engagement in Birmingham, England to lead a prayer conference at an Anglican Church there and return home. We couldn't do any of this without you and all your prayers, encouragement, and support. God bless you!
Subscribe 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!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Healing the Broken; Setting Captives Free 10-27-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Spirit of the sovereign Lord be upon me. Anoint me to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free. Your name be glorified in my life today. …
“That evening they brought to Him many who were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases’ ” (Matthew 8:16-17).
Thank You, Jesus. In the sovereignty of God and the mystery of faith, You have taken upon Yourself everything that should be upon us to set us free and make us whole. When You poured out Your blood as they whipped Your back at the post and nailed Your body at the cross, You suffered for us. As You gave up Your spirit, having bled and died, You changed my life forever through Your sacrifice of love for me—for me and for all. “Surely (You have) borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet (we) accounted (You) stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But (You) were wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon (You) was the punishment that made us whole, and by (Your) bruises we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). Thank You, Jesus.
Today and every day, You offer us Your love through Your sacrifice. Today and every day You say, “Give to Me your sins and your sorrows, your infirmities and your diseases. Let Me set you free. Let me cleanse your sins in My blood; let me heal your heart in My love. I gave My all for you; will you give your all to Me?”
Yes, Lord. All that I am and all that I have, I give to You. I love You because You first loved me (1 John 4:19). Use my life today and every day to share the good news of Your love for us with everyone You bring across my path. What You have done for me and in me, You want to do for all. You’re always present with the grace to forgive and the power to heal. You never leave us nor forsake us, and You are always drawing us to a deeper place of trust in You. By the presence and power of Your Holy Spirit, abiding in us, we are Your hands and feet, pouring out Your love and speaking out Your truth. As You are, so are we to be in this world (1 John 4:17). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, tonight is the night I've been longing to come! Please keep us in prayer for the Healing Revival Meeting at Moriah Chapel in Loughor, Wales, Wednesday night at 7pm. This is where the Welsh Revival began in 1904. We understand many of the youth are planning to join us, with young worship leaders in the south Wales area making the arrangements. Word has been spreading fast and we've heard of many who are coming. And many don't yet know the Lord. Heather Butler will be singing in the Spirit with her gift of prophetic psalms sang personally over the people, I'll be preaching, while Heather, Andrea, and I and a prayer ministry team will be praying for people in personal ministry. It's fairly miraculous that we have been given a chance to preach and minister like this in such a spiritual historic place! Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement for us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip and for our continuing ministry back home. May all the Lord is imparting to us be imparted to you as well! (Romans 1:11) 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!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A Word to the World
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You’re the same yesterday, today, and forever. You’re unchanging, unfailing. You’re steadfast and true. Move in my heart today as You’ve moved in the hearts of all who sought Your face, listened for Your voice, and yearned for the day of Your glory and power made manifest in their lives and their lands throughout the ages...
“ ‘And now, Lord, … grant to Your servants to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of Your holy son Jesus.’ When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-31).
Testimonies of God’s grace and goodness in our lives, hope in expectant faith of God’s power and provision to come in our futures, love in the embrace of God’s people of His family of faith from Wales, Korea, England, and America—all bound together in a safe and sacred atmosphere of fervent prayer and passionate worship. We were so honored to be a part of this weekly prayer gathering at Moriah Chapel that’s continued down through the generations in this place where the fires of the Welsh Revival first burst forth. We were humbled to join in their prayers for You to burn with revival fire through this land again.
Staying in his family home and reading of his spiritual journey, I’ve been stirred up in my spirit with fresh desire for a move of God in my heart, as Your Holy Spirit stirred in the heart of Evan Roberts, the young man who yearned for revival in prayer and saw it come to pass in his time. When revival comes, it will look much different than before, as it always does, I’m sure. But when I read Evan’s accounts of how You moved it the past, it give me passion and hope to pray You’ll move again in our day:
A Word to the World by Evan Roberts
The Power of the revival in South Wales is not of men, but of God. He has been close to us and has shown us the way. There is no question of creed or of dogma in this movement. The work that is being done has the support, I believe, of all Christian people and Christian churches in our country. I have merely preached the religion of Jesus Christ as I myself have experienced it.
God has made me glad, and I am showing others the great joy of serving Him, a joy so great and so wonderful that I shall never be able to express it in its completeness. We are teaching no sectarian doctrine, only the wonder and the beauty of Christ’s love, the love of man for Him, and the love of man for man.
I have been asked concerning my methods. I have none. I never prepare the words I shall speak. I leave all that to Him. I am not the source of this revival. I am only one agent in what is growing to be a multitude. I am not moving men’s hearts and changing men’s lives; not I, but God worketh in me. I have found what is, in my belief, the highest kind of Christianity. I desire to give my life, which is all I have to give, to helping others to find it also. Many have already found it, thank God, and many more are finding it through them.
This is my work as He has pointed it out to me. His Spirit came to me one night, when upon my knees I asked Him for guidance, and five months later I was baptized with the Spirit. He has led me as He will lead all those who, conscious of their human weakness, lean upon Him as children upon a father. I know that the work which has been done through me is not due to any human ability that I possess. It is His work and to His Glory. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on. I loved to choose and see my path, but now lead Thou me on.
I desire nothing but to be allowed to continue this work that has begun. The Lord is my Shepherd. I fear no want. All things necessary He has provided, and will provide. I wish no personal following, only the world for Christ.
Some things have been said about our meetings, and about me which are not true; but God’s truth has not been hurt by these misstatements, and they, therefore, matter little. I believe, too, that He has put it into the hearts of those who have written of the revival to say helpful things, for some of the papers have carried our message to many whom we have not personally reached.
I believe that the world is upon the threshold of a great religious revival, and I pray daily that I may be allowed to help bring this about. I beseech all those who confess Christ to ask Him today, upon their knees, if He has not some work for them to do now. He will lead them all as He has led us. He will make them pillars of smoke by day and pillars of fire by night to guide all men to Him.
Wonderful things have happened in Wales in a few weeks, but these are only a beginning. The world will be swept by His Spirit as by a rushing, mighty wind. Many who are now silent Christians, negative Christians, Christians whose belief means little to them and nothing to anyone else, will lead in the movement. Groping, hesitating, half-hearted Christians will see a great Light and will reflect this Light to thousands of those in utter darkness. The whole world will hear His message of peace, good-will toward men, and listening, will be blessed. Thousands upon thousands will do more than we have accomplished, as God gives them power. This is my earnest faith, if the churches will but learn the great lesson of obedience to the voice of the Holay Spirit. Obedience! Obedience!! Obedience!!! —Evan Roberts, 1904
Yes, Lord. This is my prayer. Come move in Your Church, come move in Your world like a rushing, mighty wind in our day. Let our houses and our hearts be shaken, as we are filled again with Holy Spirit to speak Your word and live out our lives with boldness and faith to the glory of Your name. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please keep us in prayer for the Healing Revival Meeting at Moriah Chapel in Loughor, Wales, Wednesday night at 7pm. We understand many of the youth are planning to join us, with young worship leaders in the south Wales area making the arrangements. Heather Butler will be singing in the Spirit with her gift of prophetic psalms sang personally over the people, I'll be preaching, while Heather, Andrea, and I will be praying for people in personal ministry. It's fairly miraculous that we have been given a chance to preach and minister like this in such a spiritual historic place! Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement for us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip and for our continuing ministry back home. May all the Lord is imparting to us be imparted to you as well! (Romans 1:11) 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!
Monday, October 25, 2010
“O Lord, Bend Me!” – The Cry of Revival 10-25-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I open up my heart, You open up Your heavens. As my praises rise up, let Your glory come down. …
“Will You not revive us again, so that You people may rejoice in You? Show us Your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation” (Psalm 85:6-7).
Evan Roberts was twenty-six years old when You used him and his prayers to ignite the great Welsh Revival of 1904 that set the world ablaze in one of the greatest world-wide awakenings since the day of Pentecost. He was just a simple young man—working in the coal mines, then as a blacksmith, then just beginning his studies for ministry—but he was passionate in His pursuit of the Presence of God. He had been praying fervently for the fire of God to fall in his heart, his church, and his nation, then to spread like wildfire to the nations. The cry of his heart was, “Bend us, O God. Bend me!” And at the Monday weekly prayer meeting in the little Methodist church in the village of Loughor, Wales called Moriah Chapel, You bent him over the pew, trembling in passionate prayer when Your fire fell and Your glory came down.
They say the revival fire that burned across the land and quickly spread to the nations of the earth was fueled by testimonies and prayer more than great preaching and teaching. It was a move of the Spirit in hearts more than minds, awakening the souls of men and women with a hunger and thirst for righteousness and Your Presence. I’m beyond thrilled to be going to that same Monday prayer meeting at Moriah Chapel with our ministry team today, with an invitation to share my testimony of Your salvation and Presence in my life, and to pray for Your great revival to burn again in our hearts and this land.
Evan Roberts lived with his family in a simple home in Loughor, Wales. And in the bedroom he shared with his brother Dan upstairs, he cried out in prayer to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). From an early age he had Christ in his life and Your Holy Spirit in his heart, but he wanted more. He burned with a passion more of Your love, more of Your power, more of Your Presence in his life to fulfill his destiny in Christ for the glory of Your name. And one night, Evan records in his journals that You visited him in his room for four hours and spoke to him as one speaks to a friend, coming to him every night for four months before the great revival began. And I’m beyond thrilled to be sleeping in that same room and even writing this morning prayer from this holy place where the glory of Your Presence came down.
O Lord, bend us. O Lord, bend me. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit today and every day. Set my heart ablaze with a passion for You and a hunger for Your Presence. Let revival come and let it begin in me every day. Let my heart and soul be awakened into newness of life, morning by morning and day by day, with all who are hunger and thirst for more of You. Let Your love and Your power pour through us everywhere You send us. Let Your revival fires burn again in the hearts of Your people in our generation throughout every tongue and tribe and nation of the earth. Let the earth again “be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, thank you for praying for us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip. We've had incredible times of ministry over the weekend in Oxford and Wells, England, then returning to Wales last night for our time here in Loughor in the Glower region of south Wales where the flames of the Welsh Revival ignited at Moriah Chapel. I'll be sharing my testimony at the prayer meeting today and preaching a Healing Revival Meeting at Moriah Chapel Wednesday night that the area worship leaders have arranged. God's Spirit continues to move in power as Heather Butler sings in the Spirit prophetically over the people and our team ministers the healing love of God everywhere He sends us on our journey. Thank you for joining in the journey of this exciting adventure through Wales and England this month. I pray for revival and awakening in your heart and land too. The Lord has also been doing wonderful things in my personal life as well on this trip, so I'm very grateful for all those who been praying for me personally. Thank you! 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!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Gates of Righteousness and Revival 10-22-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Lead me in Your way, teach me Your truth, empower me with Your life today. …
“Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it” (Psalm 118:19-20).
We’ll be prayer walking through Oxford, England today with our friends who are prayer leaders in the city with an especially great burden to see revival among the students at the University. In these same halls, some young University students named George Whitefield, John Wesley, and Charles Wesley burned with that same passion. You imparted to them an uncommon desire for holiness in their hearts and significance with their lives. Others called their group “the Holy Club” because of their passion to pursue righteousness by Your Spirit and in Your Word. And history records how You set Britain ablaze with great awakening and revival through their lives.
Lord, open to me the gates of righteousness. Give me a heart that seeks Your heart, a spirit pursues Your Spirit. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Your righteousness is not about rules and regulations. The righteousness You desire is a heart fully surrendered to You, fully available to You, embracing Your will for our lives, allowing You to conform our nature into Your image. Your righteousness is the restoration of our lives into right relationship with You and with one another through the grace and power of Your love.
In the great revival that began in the hearts of these young men to burn like wild fire through Britain and America, John Wesley proclaimed to his preachers, “Expect no revival without preaching holiness.” And that’s still Your desire: Hearts ablaze with a desire for Your heart and Your nature. That is revival. And the way to revival is through the gates of righteousness. Only by grace can we enter in, but we can only enter in if we first purpose in our hearts to pursue it—to seek first the Kingdom of God and Your righteousness (Matthew 6:33). And by Your grace, let that be my heart’s desire. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please cover us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip this month. We're in Oxford, England for a few days with prayer leaders in this area and where I'll be preaching at a community-wide gathering Friday night before returning to Wales. This is a historic city with deep Christian roots in the lives of the great revivalists George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, as well as Christian authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien among many others. Thank you for joining with us in prayer and ministry! 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!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Life Together in Christian Community 10-21-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is the name above every name. Be high and lifted up in my heart and throughout my day. …
“Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute their proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together at the temple, they broke bread from house to house and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:43-47).
You’ve designed Christian life to be life lived together in a community of faith, spending “much time together” in worship and at home. And just as when a husband and wife are joined so that the two become one, yet they still maintain their own identities, while forming a new identity at the same, we have a new identity in Christian community, even as we maintain our own identity. And just as when healthy families freely give and support one another in their broader family as any has need, while continuing to maintain their unique identity and provision for their immediate families, so we are to live in our Christian family.
That kind of community knows nothing of isolation or loneliness, suffering in silence, competition or greed. And while that kind of community comes with its own issues and struggles, You use even those to strengthen one another in the journey of spiritual maturity and self-sacrificing agape love. That’s the kind of community that grows day by day, with goodwill and favor in the city, and where You move in power in the hearts and lives of Your people, revealing Your glory to those You are drawing into Your community of faith.
Last night, we joined the home gathering in a town outside Oxford, England, where our team is staying for a few nights while we minister here. It was the weekly gathering of their “pastorate,” where their Anglican Church in Oxford shares life together in small groups “from house to house,” breaking bread together, worshipping with one another and praying for one another, providing for each other as any has need, and serving their community as You lead. Their church is one of the places where Your Spirit is on the move and the community of Christian faith is growing in a land under spiritual siege. It was so good to encourage and be encouraged by one another’s testimonies of Your power and provision in our lives, while praying for our current needs and the needs of those You placed on our hearts. Thank You for this humble and powerful example and inspiration of living life in Christian community in any culture. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please cover us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip this month. We're in Oxford, England for a few days with prayer leaders in this area and where I'll be preaching at a community-wide gathering Friday night before returning to Wales. This is a historic city with deep Christian roots in the lives of the great revivalists George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, as well as Christian authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien among many others. Thank you for joining with us in prayer and ministry! 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!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
“The Womb of the Morning” 10-19-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here I am, Lord. Send me where You will in my heart and in my prayers. …
“Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day You lead Your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, Your youth will come to You” (Psalm 110:3).
Here in the womb of the morning, I wait on You to birth Your will in me. I offer myself willingly, freely to be led by Your Spirit into the encounters and experiences of this day. Let me be filled with Your vigor and vitality to go forth valiantly into the battles for the hearts and souls of men and women in the power of Your love and authority of Your name. These are not physical, but spiritual battles. And the weapons of my warfare are not the weapons of man, but have divine power to bring down strongholds of hardened hearts and blinded minds to the truth of Your love and majesty of Your grace, for all who will hear and embrace all You long for them to have (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
By Your grace, I don’t engage in battle from the valleys of human wisdom and strength, but from the mountains of Your holy Presence, in the wisdom and power of Your Holy Spirit, filling my heart and mind with Your Word and will. As I wait on You in the womb of the morning, You go before me to order the steps of my day. You go before me to prepare opportunities to accomplish Your purposes throughout the adventure that is yet to unfold. So I willingly offer You the sacrifice of my first thoughts, first words, and first desires of this new day. As You have decreed, “All that first opens the womb is Mine” (Exodus 34:19). And now all that You have birthed by my offering of worship and prayer through the womb of this morning is belongs to You alone. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, please cover us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip this month. We'll be traveling tomorrow to meet with some prayer leaders in Oxford, England who have planned a prayer journey and times of prayer ministry there. The Lord has been using us recently in several opportunities of healing and reconciliation of relationships. Thank you for joining with us in prayer and ministry! 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!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Holy Fire, My Heart’s Desire 10-18-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Consume me in the fire of Your Spirit. …
Holy Fire
My heart’s desire
Is to know Your Presence and Your power
The Presence of Your Fire
And the power of Your love
Burning in me
Burning through me
Your Holy Fire is my heart’s desire …
Yes, Lord. Let this new song You’re writing in my heart and singing through my spirit be my cry and call, my dedication and consecration of my heart and life to You this day and every day. …
“When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple” (2 Chronicles 7:1).
“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
I’ve never noticed until this morning the parallel between 2 Chronicles 7:1 and 2 Corinthians 7:1. From both the Old Covenant of Your law and the New Covenant of Your grace, Your eternal Word speaks to us of Your holy fire that both falls down from heaven and flames up from within us to consume all that is set apart and offered freely to You. Your holy, purifying, all-consuming Fire filled Solomon’s temple with the glory of Your Presence. No flesh could stand in Your Presence (2 Chronicles 7:3). Now that same holy, purifying, all-consuming Fire now fills the temple of our hearts with the glory of Your Presence. Through Your Holy Spirit of Christ, now burning in us, our hearts are Your temple, set ablaze with the glory of Your Presence (1 Corinthians 3:16). And no flesh can stand in Your Presence.
You are “Christ in (us), the hope of glory;” You are Christ in us, the glory of the Presence of God, burning in us as a Holy Fire by Your Holy Spirit (Colossians 1:27). You are “a consuming Fire,” a Holy Fire first consuming within us all that is not yet like You and then consuming each day all of us that we continue to choose to set apart for You: “Let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming Fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29). And this is my desire—that You would consume me in Your Holy Fire. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, we had an incredible time of worship, prayer, and ministry this weekend at the Dunham Rose cafe in the village of Dunahm On The Hill outside Chester, England near the border of Wales. It's a place of marketplace ministry and church outside the walls, where prayer and miracles happen all the time in the every day flow of life. We were honored to be there to encourage them and minister with them. And they were so encouraging to us, with astounding prophetic words of what is yet to come on our adventure and Encounter Wales! ministry journey this month. Thank you for praying for all of us. 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!
Friday, October 15, 2010
God of the Living, Not the Dead 10-15-10
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit, and lead me in the ways of Your will for my day. …
“Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?... He is God not of the dead, but of the living’” (Mark 12:24-27).
Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of the Living God. Give me a deep hunger for Your Word and great expectancy for Your power. Bring the Scriptures alive in my life and bring my life into line with Your Scriptures. Thank You for the principles and inspiration of every encounter and experience of the men and women whose lives are now woven into the Word of God from the past. And thank You for the empowerment and encouragement to encounter and experience You for myself, as You weave the Word of God into my life each day.
Your Word says, “Go make disciples of all nations. Go lay your hands on the sick and they shall recover. Go proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Go visit the lonely, clothe the naked, feed the poor, father the fatherless, encourage the discouraged, heal the broken, deliver the captives—all in the power of Your Spirit to the glory of Your name.” Your Spirit says, “Go, let My Word and My power come alive in your life.” You’re not God of the dead, but God of the living. Works without faith is exhausting, but “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
So stir in my human spirit with the power and passion of Your Holy Spirit. Awaken me to arise and shine, for my Light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon me, that Your name might be gloried through me (Isaiah 60:1-3). This is the inheritance of Your children and disciples and saints, which each of us are in Christ Jesus our Lord (Colossians 1:12). Give me fresh anointing, fresh faith, fresh fire, fresh power to live out my faithfulness to Your Word in the fullness of Your power every day. Let me never settle for merely a form of godliness, denying Your power or watering down Your Word (2 Timothy 3:5). But in the authority of Your Word and in the power of Your Spirit, let me “live and move and have (my) being” in You (Acts 17:28). “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me” today and every day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Friends, thank you for praying for us on our Encounter Wales! ministry journey praying for revival and awakening in this land. We'll be having time of personal prayer ministry today. Tonight we'll be traveling by train tonight with Heather to Dunham on the Hill, England, just over the Welsh border, to encourage the saints at a Christian cafe business this weekend, where God moves in power of healing and salvation in the marketplace every day.
Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night October 15th 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. Jennifer Warren will be leading in worship and Linda Dulin will be leading in prayer this month, while I'm away on ministry in Wales. 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!a
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