Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 23 - A Week of Doubt, Turned to Faith

Good morning, Lord Jesus. O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- I worship You in spirit and truth and give to You my heart and soul.  ...

"But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in His side, I will not believe.' A week later His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it in My side. Do not doubt but believe.'" (John 20:24-27).

You left Thomas in his doubts for seven days. He was free to vent his doubts and express his skepticism in the supernatural, which he, no doubt, called discernment and wisdom, careful to not be so heavenly minded that he would be no earthly good. He was free to trust only in what he could see and touch with his natural senses, rather than choose to walk by faith and not by sight grounded in the truth of Your words You had spoken to his heart before these supernatural things ever came to pass.

For seven days, You let him be lord of his thoughts and lord of his beliefs, in full control and fully in charge of what he chose to have the place of authority in his life. And he chose to let his natural senses and his self-made standards have final say about his faith. Maybe he even felt a sense of pride that he was the one among the disciples who wasn't so easily caught up in these spiritual things that seemed to defy his logic and reason, despite all You had said and done. All the while, he was surrounded by his friends who were now full of faith and joy, thrilled at the supernatural, resurrection power of God. That seven days must have seemed like one of Daniel's weeks of seven years for Thomas.

But then "a week later," You finally, mercifully came walking through the wall and right into his doubt. You poked Your finger into his faith and invited him to poke his finger into Your hands. And finally, mercifully he humbled his pride to cry out in faith the highest declaration recorded in Scripture affirming the truth that Jesus is God when he worshipped and honored You as "My Lord and my God!" (v. 28)

Thomas was blessed that he was able to believe when He saw You in the flesh of Your resurrected Body. And now we are blessed because Your Holy Spirit empowers us to believe, though we've not yet seen You in the flesh, but can encounter Your Presence every day, face to Face and heart to Heart in the Spirit (v. 29).

Thank You Jesus for Your mercy and love that meets us where we are, even in our pride and doubt, and helps us humble ourselves before You as Lord and God. Fill me with Your Spirit and fill me faith to trust You and believe You, remembering all I seen and all You've done. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray your doubts will be turned to faith, as you encounter the Presence of Jesus every day, face to Face and heart to Heart in the Spirit. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 22 - "So I Send You"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit of Life in Christ today.  ...

"When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.' When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' (John 20:19-23).

There's true peace in Your Presence. There's true joy in seeing You -- seeing You with love in Your eyes, mercy in Your heart, and scars on Your hands. And there's true life in the breath of Your Spirit.

Breathe on me today, Lord Jesus. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I receive Your Holy Spirit. Just as the Father sent You, so You send me. As I go out into my day to carry the peace and joy and life of Jesus everywhere I go, empower me to know I go embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray you will carry the peace and joy and life of Jesus wherever you go today, embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Sunday, April 20, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 20 - "He is Risen!"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come live in me today! ...

"Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they say him, and they fell into a death faint. Then the angel spoke to the woman. 'Don't be afraid!' he said. 'I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen.... The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were frightened but filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to Him, grasped His feet, and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Don't be afraid! Go tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see Me there' " (Matthew 28:1-10, NLT).

Mary was filled with joy and fear all that same time on that Resurrection Sunday. Her human mind could hardly grasp this holy moment. You were risen from the dead, just as You said. You were crucified, dead, and buried, but now alive!

Lord Jesus, come live in me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

 

My Friend,  I pray you will be filled with joy today in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ on this Resurrection Sunday. Happy Easter! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, April 18, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 18 - "My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. On this Good Friday, we remember our Good Shepherd, when You laid down Your life for Your sheep.  ...

"Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).... And they crucified him.... When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'... Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:22-39)

We truly have no idea of the suffering You endured for each one of us. For as much as we can take at a time, we begin to imagine the physical suffering and the emotional suffering, as You hung naked and rejected by the nails driven into Your hands and feet, gasping for breath and dripping with blood from Your shredded skin and nerves. But we can't even begin to comprehend the spiritual suffering You endured as the One who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, when You willingly took upon Yourself all the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21).

In that moment, bearing the full weight of our sins, the full weight of my sins, You were forsaken by the Father and separated from the holiness of God, so that we would never have to be forsaken. In unimaginable anguish of spirit, You cried out to the Father in the most heart-wrenching cry of all eternity, as the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world by taking them on to Yourself in the passion of the cross, determined before the foundation of the world and prophesied long before the coming of that day (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53).

Carrying our sins, You descended into hell on our behalf to break the power of hell over our lives (Acts 2:31; 1 Peter 3:18-22 and 4:6). But hell couldn't hold You because Satan had nothing in You and no power over You (John 14:30). "Through death, (You defeated) the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14).

What an incomprehensible price You paid for each one of us. We may never fully comprehend for all eternity the depth of Your suffering for our sins so that we could dwell forever in the depths of Your love in the intimate Presence of our holy God. But on this holy day, we stand amazed at the foot of the cross and in the Presence of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you take time on the journey to the joy of celebrating the resurrection of Christ to think on the suffering of Jesus and be filled with knowledge of the truth of how much God loves you and suffered for you to always be with you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 17 - Humility and Love

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Through Your Body and Your Blood, make me one with You, one with Your Body of Christ, and one in ministry to all the world until I feast with You at Your heavenly banquet in final victory.  ...

"Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.... Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off His outer robe, and tied a towel around Himself. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, 'Lord, are You going to wash my feet?' Jesus answered, 'You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' Peter said to Him, 'You will never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no share with Me.' Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!' Jesus said to him, 'One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.' For He knew who was to betray Him; for this reason He said, 'Not all of you are clean' " (John 13:1-11).

Lord Jesus, though You are One with Father and One with the Holy Spirit, You set aside the glory of Heaven to humble Yourself in the likeness of human flesh and blood, as both Son of God and Son of Man. And before You humbled Yourself to be betrayed and rejected and crucified by the human flesh and blood You created, You humbled Yourself to wash the dirty, smelly, unclean feet of Your disciples. No wonder Peter could hardly bear the thought of His Messiah, the Son of God come in the flesh, down on His knees washing his feet.

Lord Jesus, help me grasp the humility of Your nature. Though You are the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the exact image and very Word of God, with all power and authority in Your hands, You would humble Yourself with Your holy hands to wash the dirty feet of human flesh.

Your disciples couldn't fully understand what we still have trouble fully understanding as Your disciples today that You are our example in every way. Just as You laid down Your life for Your friends as an example of Your love, we are to lay down our lives in sacrificial love for one another. Just as You washed their feet as an example of Your humility, we "ought to wash one another's feet" (v. 14). "Servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If (we) know these things, (we) are blessed if (we) do them" (v. 16).

Lord, help me learn embrace Your example. You are my "Teacher and Lord" (v. 13). Help me learn to follow in Your steps as Your disciple. Though You've made me clean though Your sacrifice on the cross, my hands are not too clean to get them dirty, as I continue Your ministry of humility and love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray you will be filled with the humility and love of Jesus today, as you follow Him as your example. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 16 - So They Said, But Then They Fled

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome Your Holy Spirit to stir in my heart to rise and follow You today -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. ...

"Then Jesus said to them, 'You will all become deserters because of Me this night; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.' Peter said to Him, 'Though all become deserters because of You, I will never desert You.' Jesus said to him, 'Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny Me three times.' Peter said to Him, 'Even though I must die with You, I will not deny You.' And so said all the disciples" (Matthew 26:31-35).

So they said. ... Yet Your Word records that very night "all the disciples deserted Him and fled" (v. 56).

They said they'd never leave You
They said they'd never forsake You
But where were they?

They said where You'd go, they'd go
They said where You'd lead, they'd follow
But where were they?

And who am I?
Where will I be?
Will I stand with You in faith or flee away in fear?
Will I boldly proclaim Your name or hide away in shame?

I need Your grace to have courage and faith
I need Your power to follow You through the darkest hours
My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak
And apart from You I can't do anything

But because You went to the cross
Your resurrection redeems our loss
Because You were raised from the dead
We can have courage and faithfulness instead
Because You poured out Your Holy Spirit
We can make it with You to the finish
Though we've left and forsaken You through so many generations
You'll never leave or forsake us through all the ages

Thank You, Jesus. When Peter and the disciples denied You and deserted You, they were not yet filled with Your Holy Spirit, because You had not yet returned to the Father. But just as Your Spirit came and changed their hearts to empower them to be Your true disciples, "filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking the word of God with boldness," empower us in our generation to be Your true disciples, found faithful to the end (Acts 4:31). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray the Father would fill you with the Holy Spirit to empower you to be found faithful to the end as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 15 - Behold the Passover Lamb of God

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit and make me more like You today.  ...

"While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it He broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out fro many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom' " (Matthew 26:26-29).

Today is Passover on the Hebrew Calendar. And You are our Passover Lamb. You are "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" by the pouring out of Your precious blood upon the cross (John 1:29). You are the fulfillment of the prophetic act of the first Passover, when death passed over the Hebrew people who took the blood of the unblemished lamb and anointed the doorways of their home, just as You call us to anoint the doorways of our hearts with Your blood (Exodus 12:1-28).

The first Passover and every Festival of Passover, celebrated in remembrance of the provision of God, is a foreshadow of things to come, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:16). So as I remember the Passover today, I'm remembering the last Passover, the Last Supper, You celebrated with Your disciples during that Holy Week on the night You were betrayed and gave up Yourself for us.

Lord Jesus, I thank You for Your gift of Your Body and Your Blood, given and poured out for me. In You, death passes over and the fullness of life forevermore floods my soul. "Those who believe in Me, even though they die, yet will they live" (John 11:25). Thank You for Your sacrifice of love that takes away the sins of the world, and even more personally, Your sacrifice of love that takes away my sins. Today I remember You and behold the Passover Lamb of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you behold the Passover Lamb of God and all the fullness of life God the Father has provided for you through God the Son. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

WATCH THE LAMB- RAY BOLTZ-OFFICIAL VIDEO
WATCH THE LAMB- RAY BOLTZ-OFFICIAL VIDEO



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Monday, April 14, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 14 - The Crowds Cry Out

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I journey with You this Holy Week when we remember Your journey to the cross, help me listen and see all You're showing me, as I take up my cross and follow You.  ...

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord'" (Matthew 23:37-39).

When You came into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey in deep humility, the crowds waived their palm branches and declared You were the Messiah, the Son of David, coming as King, declaring "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!" (v. 21:6-10). But You already knew in your heart that in a short week's time, those same crowds would be crying out for Your crucifixion on a cross, rejecting Your words and rejecting You as their Messiah (v. 27:20-23). And You knew in Your heart Jerusalem would be destroyed, as a city divided in her heart and denying her Savior (v. 24:1-2).

Yet, even so, You would continue to love her and seek to gather her together again in hope, fulfilling the ancient prophecies of the restoration of Israel and the salvation of Jerusalem at the end of the age (Zechariah 12:1-11). And on that day that will seem like all the nations of the earth are about to finally destroy Jerusalem and all she represents, the crowds of Jerusalem will look up to heaven, to the return of her Messiah, "the One whom they have pierced," in mourning and repentance to declare, "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord" (Zechariah 12:10).

On that day the crowds of Jerusalem and all the children of Israel will be cleansed from their sin of rejecting their Messiah in the fountain of Your Living Water (Zechariah 13:1). Your everlasting covenant will be fulfilled. "And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, 'Our of Zion will come the Deliverer; He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.' 'And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins' " (Romans 11:25-27).

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for never giving up on us, for never giving up on me. You are the blessed One who comes in the name of the Lord (Psalm 118:26). You are the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. Despite the sins of our souls and the unfaithfulness of our hearts, You never give up on us. Your steadfast love never comes to an end (Lamentations 3:22).

Though we are no better than the crowds who cried out for Your crucifixion because it was our sins as well as theirs that nailed You to the cross, You continue to cry out for us. And because of Your sacrifice of love, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).

So let me be part of that crowd, from every generation, saved by Your grace, from the cross to the second coming of Christ, who cries out to You, "Blessed in the One who comes in the name of the Lord." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you cry out in your heart to Jesus, "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord." And may hear and see all the Lord desires to show you on this Holy Week journey to the cross. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Friday, April 11, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 11 - "The Days Drew Near"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the heart and lead me in the way that leads to the fullness of life in You today.  ...

"When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51).

You knew in Your heart when it was time. It was time to fulfill that for which You were born. You knew Your identity and You were determined to fulfill Your destiny. As the days drew near, Your vision was clear.

Your journey that began in the humility of the likeness of human flesh and blood in Bethlehem would come to an end in Jerusalem. The innocent Child of Mary and Joseph would be the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, taken up on a cross before You'd be taken up to Heaven.

Now each one of us, as Your faithful disciples being conformed to Your image are on our journey to our cross. Your calling is the same to embrace our identity and fulfill our destiny:  "If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will save it" (Luke 9:23-24).

Holy Spirit of the Living God, move in my heart every day to set my face to follow Jesus. Give me the courage to take up my cross every day and follow Him wherever He leads. May the life I live be lived in the faith of the Son of God, doing the will of my Father in Heaven.

This is my identity and destiny -- I'm a child of God, being conformed into the image of God, as I seek to live out the will of God on my journey through this world following Jesus, as best as I can and all by Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may the Holy Spirit of the Living God move in your heart every day to set your face to follow Jesus. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend as we lead a retreat for one of our prayer ministry teams of Rapha God Ministries at the lake. We meet with each of our four teams to be encouraged and refreshed by the Spirit of God in a time away together. I pray the same for you, as the Lord encourages you and refreshes you to fulfill your calling and your destiny in Christ. God bless you!


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Thursday, April 10, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 10 - Flourish and Thrive

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and listen for Your voice, as I deliberately begin my day with You, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

"I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon. His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon. They shall again live beneath My shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon" (Hosea 14:5-7).

When we return to You with all our heart, You overwhelm us with Your goodness, You remind us of our identity, and You restore us into our destiny. When we're once again rooted and grounded in our intimate relationship with You, when we embrace the grace of Your unfailing love, we flourish.

No matter how far we've fallen, no matter how far we've run, You're always longing to renew us and remind us of Your good plans and Your perfect purposes for our lives. We were never meant to wither up and die or shrivel up and merely survive; we were created to flourish and thrive. So You even use the seasons of wilderness away from Your will to make us hungry again to hear Your voice and find Your will, trusting again in Your redeeming love (v. 2:14).

When we listen for Your voice and seek to follow the leading of Your Spirit, as best as we can and all by Your grace, we blossom and bloom. Planted in Your love, surrounded by Your mercy, we release the fragrance of Christ -- a pleasing aroma to our God and to those You're drawing to Yourself through the story of our lives (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). Lord, let me flourish and thrive in Your will for my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you flourish and thrive in the will of God for your life. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 9 - Sent to the World

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit and set my heart ablaze with Your Fire. Let me be a torchbearer and Fire-carrier everywhere You send me today.  ...

"I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but I ask You to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (John 17:15-18).

You never called us to huddle up and hide out. You never intended to tuck us away in some tower of tranquility. You sent us into the world, even knowing the challenges we'd face and the temptations we'd encounter and even the persecutions we'd endure (v. 14).

You send us into the world because You love the world (v. 3:16). You're not willing that any should perish, but that all would have life in You. So You send us to be Your expression of Your love for them. Just as the Father sent the Son, so the Son sends us in the power and love of the Spirit of God living in us (v. 20:21-23).

"Here I am, Lord. Send me" (Isaiah 6:8). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you be filled with the Spirit of God today, as Jesus sends you into the world to express the Father's heart of love for everyone you encounter. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 8 - Worth it All

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and into my day with every breath and every step.  ...

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44).

Just a taste of Your kingdom makes me hunger and thirst for more. Just a glimpse of Your glory forever ravishes my heart. Every time I encounter the kingdom of heaven and the King of the kingdom, the luster and lure of all this world has to offer fades a little more. You're worth it all.

Thank You that Your kingdom is within me (Luke 17:21). It's "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). I thank You that I'll be to heaven when I die, but I want more and more of Your heaven in me every day. Let me be filled with fullness of the kingdom of heaven today. You and Your kingdom are worth all that I have and all that I am. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you encounter the kingdom of heaven and the King of the kingdom today. May you always hunger and thirst fore more. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Monday, April 07, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 7 - Manifestations of God's Spirit for God's Glory

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are "the Alpha and the Omega" -- the One "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). I worship You and welcome You to come in the almighty power and Presence of God into my heart and every moment of my life today.  ...

"To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.... All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses" (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

I'm still processing in my memory and trying to grasp with my mind what all happened in my spirit and all around me this past weekend at the Prayer Minister's Retreat I was helping lead at St. James United Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia, near the University of Georgia campus. We were learning and experiencing our spiritual gifts for inner healing prayer ministry. But You opened up the heavens and come down mightily in the power of Your love and Presence of Your glory. Our time of anointing and impartation Saturday night wasn't over until midnight, when we finally had to make ourselves get up from the floor of the sanctuary and try to get some rest for Sunday morning!

To each was given a manifestation of the Spirit throughout our weekend together. Several saw angels. The pastor saw Jesus. Many felt the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in our hearts and going like electricity through our bodies. A young college girl and a lady joining us from another church were supernaturally filled with the overflowing love of God and prayed for each of us. Many were in the floor with waves of tears and waves of joy, overwhelmed by the weighty Presence of the Lord, resting in the Spirit -- including the oldest man in the church, who was baptized in the Holy Spirit at eighty-one years old. I asked him to pray a Father's blessing over me before I left.

Deep healing took place, as live models of ministry for all, with freedom from chains that had held back children of God for years. As You drew up and out the pain and shame, smiles of joy suddenly came over faces streaming with cleansing tears just moments before. Deep healing of the church body took place, from hurts and wounds of the past, as expressions of forgiveness and hope for restoration were passionately prayed and prophetically expressed, to arise and cross over, out of the past and fully advance into the promised land of a new season and the dawning of a new day (Galatians 6:1).

You are so good, Lord God. And You want Your people healed and free, fully alive, to be the Body and Bride of Christ to welcome You're coming in glory in our hearts and on the earth. You've given us gifts to express Your heart for the healing and encouragement of Your people (1 Peter 4:10-11). You're teaching us and equipping us and empowering us to understand them and use them, as the glory of Your Presence manifests in Your children and covers the earth (Habakkuk 2:14).

That's the revival that's breaking out in our day for those who hunger and thirst for more of You (Matthew 5:6). O that You would prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts and send us out into Your harvest in the fullness of Your Spirit (Matthew 13:36-43). O that You would continue to "pour out (Your) Spirit upon all flesh" before the coming of the day of the Lord (Acts 2:17). "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!" (Isaiah 64:1) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
  
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on you and rise up within you today in His loving and powerful transformation of your soul. May your life manifest the Presence and glory of God in every way He chooses to express Himself through your life. May your church and the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the earth be set ablaze with a revival of God's love and power. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Morning by Morning, April 2 - Inner Transformation of My Soul

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me humble my heart to sit and be still in Your Presence, Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?" (2 Peter 3:10-12)

Holy Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me today. Rise up within me today. Change my thoughts and my desires, from the inside out, so that I desire what is right and then do what is right.

You're so patient with me, in Your mercy and grace. You meet me as I am but never leave me as I am, as You help me "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (v. 18). Help me "regard the patience of our Lord as salvation" (v. 15). And help me more fully yield to this inner transformation of my soul until "righteousness is at home" in my heart (v. 13). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on you and rise up within you today in His loving and powerful transformation of your soul . Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, I'm excited to be preaching on healing at the monthlyHealing and Prayer service at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus, in San Antonio tonight at 7pm. My good friend, Sam Warren, Pastor of Care and Discipleship, will be standing in for Max Lucado this month. Please keep us in prayer. Our Rapha God Ministries' Prayer Team will be teaming up with the Oak Hills Church Prayer Team to pray with everyone personally after a message of healing and hope. The community is welcome. Please join us in prayer and by Live Stream at 7pm Central Standard Time www.oakhillschurch.com/live-stream
  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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