“Do Not be Afraid” - Dec 3, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit in the silence of surrender, deep in the communion of prayer.  …

“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God’” (Luke 1:30).

For several days now, Your Holy Spirit keeps drawing me back to this spiritual encounter between the angel Gabriel and Mary. I find myself wondering if this angel just showed up one day just out of the blue. And I’m sure that’s possible. You are the God who often does “awesome deeds we did not expect” (Isaiah 64:3). You are the sovereign Lord, ultimately holding all timing of all things in Your hands. And Your Word doesn’t really tell us anything in Mary’s life that may have led up to this life-changing, spiritual experience.

But I find myself wondering this morning about Mary’s prayer life. Was she a seeker? Was she a “God chaser?” Was she one who hungered and thirsted for more of You, more of Your Presence, more of Your love, more of Your power in every moment of her life? I find myself this morning with an image in my mind of a young woman with a very deep and passionate prayer life. I can almost hear her prayers:  “O God, how long must my people continue to suffer? When will You fulfill Your Word and send Your Messiah, our Deliverer, our Savior? O Lord, how long must I wait to know my purpose in this world? When will Your fulfill Your Word to me that You know the plans You have for me—plans for my good and not my harm, plans for a future with hope, to fulfill this sense of destiny in my soul that I was created for more? I’m thankful for all You’ve done and all that You are in my life, but I want more—more of You, more of Your Presence, more of Your love, more of Your power—here in my life, here among my people, here in my land!”

Was Mary an intercessor? Was she a watchman on the wall of her city? Was she one who was often accused of being so heavenly minded that she was hardly any earthly good? Was she a passionate pursuer of the things of God? Was she created for destiny, yearning for destiny, being prepared in her spirit and heart for destiny, or did she just look up one day to find an angel standing in her bedroom to inform her that destiny was now thrust upon her?

I don’t know. I don’t know whether that day came unexpectedly and all of a sudden or whether that day was the next step in the course of her spiritual journey and the unfolding of Your plan for her life. But what I do know is that when that day came, Mary was “afraid” (v. 1:30). We better be careful what we ask for, what we pray for, because we might get it. We better be careful when we pray for visitations from angels, they might come. We better be careful when we ask to hear the word of the Lord for our lives, we might hear it. We better be careful when we say in our hearts we’d be willing to do anything , to go any place, to suffer any price—You might ask it of us. That might be the destiny we find thrust upon us.

But even when that day comes, and even if we are afraid at first, You will be there with us. You will be quick and ready to say, “Fear not. Do not be afraid. For I am with you. I will not send you where My grace will not sustain you. I will not call you to My purpose without supplying for you My provision. You’ve prepared the way of the Lord in your heart and I have prepared the way of the Lord in your life. Don’t be afraid. Don’t turn away. Don’t hold back. Just find the courage and faith in your heart by My grace to say, ‘Yes, Lord. Here I am, the servant  of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word’ ” (v. 1:38).

So with Mary and with all those throughout the ages who have journeyed in faith and prayer, passionately pursuing Your purpose and plan for our lives, I say by Your grace, “Yes, Lord. Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word.” By the power of Your grace, I will not be afraid. By the power of Your grace, I will trust You and obey Your calling and destiny for my life. 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

 

Favored Ones, Faithful Ones - Dec. 2, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lord of heaven and earth, by Lord of my steps and my decisions throughout my day.  ...

 

"And (the angel Gabriel) came to (Mary) and said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' The angel said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be holy; He will be called Son of God" (Luke 1:28-35).

 

Mary was "much perplexed" by the word of God's will for her life. "How can this be?" "This doesn't make sense?" "Are you sure?" "How can I be sure?" Before Mary could come to place of saying, "Let it be with me according to your word," she first had a few questions to ask (v. 1:38). She first had to wrestle with this word, seek to discern it's accuracy, it's meaning, it's implications for her life. Yet there was something in her heart that moved her to trust that You had a plan for her life that was far different from the plans she had thought and the plans she had made.

 

Through the angel, You called her, "favored one." You said she had "found favor with God." Yet her "favor" didn't really seem like You were doing her any "favors" at all. She was to be a pregnant teenager. She was to be a virgin with child. She was to be faithful to a word from the Lord that would be very contrary to the normal ways and expectations of the people she valued and trusted in her life. Lord, could You have been any more divisive? Could You have been any more scandalous? Could You have been any more challenging to the attitudes, wisdom, doctrines, and traditions of the religious law and culture it seems You established?

 

Mary's own beloved and betrothed, Joseph, to whom she was deeply committed and willing to trust with the rest of her life, would reject her at first. He couldn't bring himself to believe her--out of his own thoughts apart from Your thoughts, out of his own ways apart from Your ways--until he, too, would hear the word of the Lord for himself (Matthew 1:19-25). He would have to come to a place to trust that Mary didn't choose this path out of her own will or imagination. He would have to come to believe that the course for Mary's life was being set, in part, by circumstances beyond her control, but that God was in it. It was as much a challenge to Joseph's faith as it was to Mary's. Yet in time, they both chose to trust and obey, despite the high cost they would pay in facing the judgments and opinions of those they trusted and loved, who would find their faith and passion for faithfulness hard to believe.

 

Lord, so often, Your thought are not our thoughts and Your ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). You call us to seek You every moment of every day. You call us to listen for the leading of Your voice, saying, "This is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21). The children of God are to be led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14). And so often, we feel we have to explain it, justify it, defend it, call our witnesses to support it. When really, we just need to know that as best as can and all by Your grace, we have sought You, trusting You to put Your thoughts in our minds and Your desires in our hearts to guide the steps of our days according to Your plan for our lives.

 

There will be other plans and other lives that will be factors and influences beyond our control, but we can't live our lives under the worry and fear about that or the judgments and opinions of those who can't fully know our hearts and haven't ever had to walk in our shoes. So there are times when it's better to remain silent, to let You be our Advocate, trusting that somehow in Your timing, Your way, and Your mercy, You are at work, causing all things to work together for good according to Your purposes and plans for our lives, as we choose to keep loving You and trusting You--moment by moment, morning by morning, one day at a time.

 

Sometimes, we'll get it wrong. Sometimes, we'll do it wrongly. "None are righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). So we all need Your mercy and grace to redeem the brokenness and failures of our lives. And we all need faith and hope and love to keep seeking You, listening for You, trusting and obeying You, as best as we can and all by Your grace. And I believe that if we do, no matter what, no matter whose fault or failure, You're still God and You still have a plan and a purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29).

 

Maybe the favored ones are the faithful ones. I don't mean faithful to always be right, to always be righteous or self-righteous, for none of us can be, but to be faithful to keeping seeking You to lead us and redeem us, to make beauty out of our ashes, to trust You to keep giving us hope with a future, bringing the fullness of salvation to ourselves and to others even out of the sinfulness and brokenness of our lives.  After all, it's only those who are forgiven much who can truly love much (Luke 7:47). And I want to spend my life loving much. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

 

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays   

Christmas Party Dec 10th! w/ Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays

Friends of Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries ...

Come Join Us Friday Night, December 10^th!

Messiah Ministries Christmas Party

Come for an evening of fellowship & refreshments, worship, and hearing stories of God's glory and all He is doing through Messiah Ministries at home and abroad. Come and bring friends to learn more about our ministry and join in prayer and provision for our calling and vision--

"Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"

 

6:30 in the Chapel & Foyer at Centenary UMC

2800 Tates Creek Rd., Lexington

Please RSVP to Marilyn at DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting               859-317-1591      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

www.messiah-ministries.org

 

God bless you and Merry Christmas from all of us at Messiah Ministries!

--Tommy Hays, Founder & Spiritual Director

 

Subscribe to our Events Calendar & Newsletter or

Tommy's Daily Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning

at our New Web Site:  www.messiah-ministries.org

Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries
"Preparing the Way of the Lord
... Ministering the Healing Love of God"
2800 Tates Creek Rd, Lexington, KY 40502, USA
www.messiah-ministries.org

“With Child from the Holy Spirit” - November 30, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Savior, Messiah, Master, and King—You are One with the Father and One with the Holy Spirit. And in the mystery of Your mercy and grace, You desire to be one with me and all who seek You and wait upon You in the communion of prayer. So I seek You and I wait upon You, as I begin this day in the communion of prayer with You.  …

“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with Child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).

Holy Spirit of the Living God, You birth all good things. You fulfill the promises of God. You form them and shape them in the womb of the spirit of those who are willing to trust You and obey You. You watch over them to prepare them and mature them to come forth in Your perfect timing and in Your perfect way.

What do You desire to birth in me? What do You desire to bring forth through my life? What have You already spoken into existence that’s already being formed and shaped, awaiting Your timing and Your way?

Give me faith to trust You and courage to obey You. Give me patience to wait on You and wisdom to yield to You. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I make myself completely available to You. Come, Holy Spirit. Prepare the way of the Lord in and through my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays    

Christmas Party Dec 10th! w/ Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays

Friends of Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries …

Come Join Us Friday Night, December 10^th!

Messiah Ministries Christmas Party

Come for an evening of fellowship & refreshments, worship, and hearing stories of God’s glory and all He is doing through Messiah Ministries at home and abroad. Come and bring friends to learn more about our ministry and join in prayer and provision for our calling and vision—

“Preparing the Way of the Lord … Ministering the Healing Love of God”

6:30 in the Chapel & Foyer at Centenary UMC

2800 Tates Creek Rd., Lexington

Please RSVP to Marilyn at DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591

www.messiah-ministries.org

God bless you and Merry Christmas from all of us at Messiah Ministries!

--Tommy Hays, Founder & Spiritual Director

Subscribe to our Events Calendar & Newsletter or

Tommy's Daily Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning

at our New Web Site:  www.messiah-ministries.org

Christmas Party Dec 10th! w/ Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays

Friends of Tommy Hays & Messiah Ministries …

Come Join Us Friday Night, December 10^th!

Messiah Ministries Christmas Party

Come for an evening of fellowship & refreshments, worship, and hearing stories of God’s glory and all He is doing through Messiah Ministries at home and abroad. Come and bring friends to learn more about our ministry and join in prayer and provision for our calling and vision—

“Preparing the Way of the Lord … Ministering the Healing Love of God”

6:30 in the Chapel & Foyer at Centenary UMC

2800 Tates Creek Rd., Lexington

Please RSVP to Marilyn at DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591

www.messiah-ministries.org

God bless you and Merry Christmas from all of us at Messiah Ministries!

--Tommy Hays, Founder & Spiritual Director

Subscribe to our Events Calendar & Newsletter or

Tommy's Daily Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning

at our New Web Site:  www.messiah-ministries.org

“Jesus the Messiah” - November 29, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close, as I begin this day walking with You in the journey of prayer. …


“An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers … and Jesse the father of King David … and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah” (Matthew 1:1-16).


We begin the season of anticipation for the birth of Christ, “Jesus the Messiah.” You are the holy and anointed One of God—“Christ” in the Greek language, “Messiah” in the Hebrew language. You are the Savior for everyone of every language. You are “the desire of all nations” (Haggai 2:7, KJV). And with great anticipation, we’re moved in this season to join again in a spiritual journey to make preparation in our hearts for the coming of our Savior.


Jesus, Savior, Messiah
Jesus, Master and King
Jesus, we make room in our hearts
For Your coming again
O, for Your coming again


Yes, Lord. Let this new song of Your Spirit be my song of this season. Come again in my life in a new way, a deeper way, every morning of every day. Let all my life be the season of anticipation, longing for Your continual coming and abiding in my heart of my Savior, Messiah, Master, and King. 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

Spirit of Thanksgiving - November 26, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Steadfast and true, faithful are You. …

“Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights” (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Many find it hard to find joy in this hard season of so much joblessness, disappointment, and struggle on so many levels. Yet, they choose to thank You. Yet, they choose to rejoice in You. Yet, they choose to praise You through the problems, to hang on to hope, to look up to the heavens, to press on through the darkness, straining toward the light of morning’s dawn. And these are the ones who grow from strength to strength, as You train their feet of faith to walk in grace upon the heights of these hard times.

A friend sent me a powerful quote of the Pilgrim’s faith: “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts … nevertheless, they set aside a day of thanksgiving” — H. W. Westermeyer. That kind of faith is a part of our heritage, as a nation and as the people of God—a people who are resilient, tenacious, persevering, full of faith and fight to hold on to hope, trusting in our God to bring us through. You are the God who keeps speaking to our spirit through every struggle we face, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you will not be burned, and the flame will not consume you …. Do not fear for I Am with you” (Isaiah 43:1-5).



Thank You for the gift of the spirit of thanksgiving—the gift of the grace to keep thanking You, praising You through all we endure. Like Job said with a declaration of faith and hope in the midst of his struggles, “Yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Thank You for the inspiration of all who choose to set aside a day of thanksgiving through this hard season and who live out the spirit of thanksgiving through every season in their hearts. 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

Pilgrims’ Journey of Faith - November 25, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All heaven and earth adore You and bow down before You. We are grateful for Your goodness and amazed by Your mercy on this day of Thanksgiving and joy. …

“(The faithful saints of God who have gone before us) all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13-16, NKJV).

The first Thanksgiving that we celebrate as a nation every year was at the Plymouth Colony on the shores of Massachusetts in 1621. The settlers from England, seeking religious freedom and a form of government based upon the Christian principles of the Word of God, were called “Pilgrims.” William Bradford, writing their journal that’s become American history, named them “Pilgrims” from this passage of Scripture from the Letter to the Hebrews on enduring hope and preserving faith in Jesus Christ.



On November 9, 1620, they arrived by sea on the Mayflower at Cape Cod. Aboard ship, they agreed among themselves to a form of democratic government, founded upon Christian values, they called the Mayflower Compact—in many ways, many would say, a forerunner to the United States Constitution. But in the midst of the harsh elements of a challenging new world, only half would survive the first winter to be present at that first Thanksgiving.



Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag Indian tribe befriended William Bradford; and their people lived together in peace as long as the two men were alive. The Indians Squanto and Samoset taught the Pilgrims how to work the land and where to fish, that gave their new friends wisdom to survive in this new country they would call their homeland. And though they had suffered the loss of so much, and though their hearts must have been heavy with a sense of loss for all who were no longer with them to celebrate a year of life in this new world, they gave You thanks and praise. They chose not to linger on their disappointments, commensurate in their failures, but to celebrate with Thanksgiving a future with hope.





“Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). Like the Pilgrims, I want to give You thanks and praise, my God and King. One day I will journey to that heavenly country, but today I am a pilgrim on this earth. And no matter what harsh elements and challenges I may face in this world, I will remember that You are with me and I will remember to celebrate with Thanksgiving that You have given me a future with hope in Jesus Christ, my Lord. Thank You for all the friends and the family of faith that join me in this journey through this earthly country on my way Home. 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

“Wells of Salvation” November 24, 2010

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me up in the spirit into the communion of prayer. …

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; He has become my salvation. With joy you will draw waters from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His deeds among the nations; proclaim that His name is exalted!” (Isaiah 12:3-4).

When I come to You in the communion of prayer each morning, I draw water from Your well of salvation. When I’m thirsting and hungering, yearning for Your Holy Spirit to abide deeply within my human spirit, I draw water from Your wells of salvation. When I’m tired or weary, when I’m discouraged or troubled, when I’m lonely or afraid, and call on Your name, I draw water from Your wells of salvation. And when I praise You before the answers come, when I thank You for all You’ve done, when I proclaim You as the mighty and faithful One, I draw waters from Your wells of salvation.


Your wells are deep. And Your waters are pure. And they are open to me every moment of every day, as I stop and take the time to bow down and reach in with the bucket of my heart. Like a bucket thrust into the waters of a well, Your living waters come pouring into my heart as You draw You near to drink deeply of Your Word and Spirit of Life. I never need to thirst again. As You have said, “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:14).


Thank You for Your wells of salvation—not just available one day at one time in one prayer of the surrender of life to You as Savior and Lord. But Your wells of salvation are available to me every moment of every day, as You keep on saving me, keep on filling me, keep on gushing up and flowing out of me (John 7:38). Your wells never run dry. And in the fullness of Your salvation—every moment of every day—is the fullness of life. 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

Thank You, Faithful God and Friend - November 23, 2010

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

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

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

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

“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!

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!

“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!

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!

“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

“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

“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

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

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!

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 To continue receiving Morning by Morning: Friends, you should have received an email last week "Tommy's MBM Devotionals: Confirmation Necessary" with a link to click in order to sign up from our new server to keep receiving my daily prayer devotional. If you haven't done it yet, please click that link in that email as soon as possible to verify to our new server you want to be on the list. Thank you for joining me in the journey! Note: For a few days, you may get two. Please bear with us as we sort this new system out. Thank you! 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!