Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 20 - Everlasting God
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift my eyes to the heavens and open my heart to hear Your leading, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31).
 
Everlasting God. Always faithful God. Unchangeable, unshakeable, unstoppable God. You don't faint or grow weary. And when I do, You strengthen me and encourage me and empower me to keep looking to You and trusting in You to get me through.
 
You're full aware of every battle, every struggle, every need I'll every face. You're never caught off guard or blindsided. You're the Creator of the ends of the earth; and Your heart for me, Your love and grace for me, stretches from one end of the earth to the other for me. So whenever I feel like I'm falling or failing, whenever I feel like I'm loosing steam or burning out, whenever I feel like I'm floundering around or tossed about, You're always there to lift me up and hold me close. You fill me up and cheer me up until I'm soaring like an eagle again.
 
Yes, I've known. And yes, I've heard. So yes, by the power of Your grace, I'm going to keep on looking to You and trusting in You, my everlasting God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray your spirit will soar like an eagle, as you keep trusting our everlasting God every struggle or challenge you every face, in Jesus' name. 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, January 15, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 15 - Set Apart and Sent Out
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- I worship You and welcome You here in my heart and the moments of my day.  ...
 
"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for Me Barnabus and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2).
 
Lord, You invited me to begin this new year with forty days of prayer and fasting. It's a means of Your grace to draw me to a deeper place of hungering and thirsting for You and Your righteousness, to filled afresh with Your Spirit, and to sense Your leading for my life in this season. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).
 
As they were seeking You in this way, You spoke by Your Spirit to "set apart for (You) Barnabas and Saul for the work to which (You had) called them." Like them, I want to hear the voice of Your Holy Spirit. I seek to know the work to which You have called me -- not the work of the past season, not the work of the future season, but the work to which You have called me in this season now.
 
Barnabus and Saul were "sent out by the Holy Spirit" and "they went" to where You led them, each step of the way along the adventure of the journey of faith You set before them (Acts 13:4). Immediately, and not surprisingly, they were aggressively "opposed" (v. 13:8). But they were "filled with the Holy Spirit" to overcome their opposition and continue on in the work to which You had called them (v. 13:9). You confirmed Your words and affirmed their calling with Your presence and Your power (v. 13:9-11). And the people they encountered through their journey and ministry of faith were "astonished at the teaching about the Lord" (v. 13:12).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Fill me afresh today, as I surrender my will and entrust my life to You and Your leading. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). Secure in my identity as a child of God, filled and led by the Spirit of God, I want to live into the fullness of the calling and destiny You have for me each day.
 
When Barnabus and Saul went out on their journey, they had no idea of all they would encounter and endure as You empowered them to overcome and prevail in the work to which You set them apart and sent them out. But they found they were "more than conquerors" through the One who loved them and called them and sent them by the leading and power of Your Spirit (Romans 8:37). And that's the journey I seek -- as best as I can and all by Your grace -- as I begin this season of my life, with Your Presence by my side and Your Spirit within my heart (Matthew 28:20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit to hear His voice and sense His leading, as He sets you apart and sends you out with His Presence and power, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


Friends, please keep us in prayer for our Breakthrough Prayer Conference this weekend, as I teach a hands-on training in Healing Prayer Ministry at Bear Creek United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas through Messiah Ministries. May you be encouraged and empowered by the Holy Spirit for breakthrough in your life and ministry!
 

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, January 14, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 14 - A New Thing Now
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Thank You for the joy of our journey together that begins here in these first moments of my morning and carries on throughout the moments of my day.  ...
 
"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.... for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people, to the people whom I formed for Myself so that they might declare My praise" (Isaiah 43:18-21).
 
You're doing a new thing now. Now it springs forth. Now it rises up. Where there have been seasons of wandering in wilderness, now You're making a way. Where there have been seemingly endless days through a desert, now Your rivers of life are bursting forth.
 
Yes, I perceive it! Yes, I sense and see a movement in my spirit and in the hearts of Your people excitedly expecting to experience more of Your love and power and grace in our lives. Let Your favor be upon us and Your fervor rise up within us that we might declare Your praise!
 
Father God, in the name of Jesus, I choose to no longer remember or be restricted by "the former things." I no longer consider or allow myself to be constrained by "the things of old." By the power of the grace of God, You're breaking off my past and empowering me to breakout and breakthrough into the fullness of all You have for me now (2 Samuel 5:20). You're pouring Your new wine into the new wineskin of Your will for my life today! (Matthew 9:17)
 
Yes, Lord, I perceive it! Yes, Lord, I believe it! Yes, Lord, I choose to embrace it! So now -- this day and every day, by the power of Your grace -- "this one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus!" (Philippians 3:13-14)  In this year of Your favor, to the glory of God, I will declare Your praise with joy and faith through my life! (Isaiah 43:21)  In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



 I pray you perceive and embrace the new thing now the Lord is doing in His children to display His glory through our lives in this year of His favor, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


Friends, please keep us in prayer for our Breakthrough Prayer Conference this weekend, as I teach a hands-on training in Healing Prayer Ministry at Bear Creek United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas through Messiah Ministries.

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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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 13 - The Spiritual Key to Life and Peace"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the heart and lead me in the way that leads to life in You today.  ...
 
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law--indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Romans 8:5-9).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. You've "set (me) free from the law of sin and death" (v. 8:2). You've set me free to choose "life and peace," to choose to set my mind on the things of the Spirit and not the things of the flesh (v. 8:6). To embrace the grace and power of Your Spirit at work within me is the spiritual key to life and peace. "For it is God who works in (me) both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13 NKJV).
 
I have the freedom to choose sin and death or life and peace. You set before us all "life and death, blessings and curses" with Your free invitation to "choose life so that (we) may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).  I have the freedom to obey the desires of my flesh or seek to obey the will of God. And in the freedom I have, I choose to seek You today, to set my mind on the things of Your Spirit, on the ways of Your Spirit. As I do, You fill me with Your Spirit and lead me in the ways that lead to Your blessings of life and peace (Ephesians 5:18).
 
Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). Apart from You, nothing eternally good dwells in me -- "for I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right but I cannot do it" (Romans 7:18). But I'm not apart from You. I never have to try to will what is right or do what is right in my own strength and the sheer will power of my own flesh. In the power of Your grace, I can call upon Your name; I can welcome You into my heart; I can embrace Your Spirit to fill me up and empower my will to willingly choose to live each day in the ways of Your Spirit rather than the ways of my flesh. And by the power of the grace of God, that's what I "choose this day" (Joshua 24:15). In the freedom I have and by the power of Your Spirit, I choose to "set (my) mind on the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will embrace the spiritual key to life and peace, that you will set Your mind on the things of the Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit of the Living God to empower you both to will what is right and to do what is right, pleasing our God by to choosing to live this day in His life and peace, in Jesus' name. 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, January 12, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 12 - Speak What is Precious, Live What is True
 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit today.  ... "Therefore thus says the Lord:  If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before Me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as My mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless" (Jeremiah 15:19-21). Lord, let me speak what is precious and live what is true. Let the words of my mouth and the actions of my life be priceless pearls, faithful and true, because they come from You. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Fill my spirit with Your Spirit and let Your Word be the plumb line and standard for all that I speak and all that I do.  Empower me to stand firm in Your strength as a fortified wall of bronze against the onslaught of the ways of my world and spirit of my culture, increasingly at war with the ways of Your Word and paths of Your righteousness. By the power of the grace of God, let the world around me see Christ within me. Let them be drawn to light of "Christ in (me), the hope of glory," and guard my heart from being drawn to the darkness of the ways of the world around me -- no matter how persistent the pressure that seeks to prevail against my conscience of faith (Colossians 1:27). Instead, let them turn to me  -- to Christ in me -- instead me turn to them. When the world is looking for certainty and longing for security in the midst of the chaos and confusion, let me be one who finds my certainty and security in Your timeless truth. You are my Truth (John 14:6). And because You're in my heart, Your "Spirit of Truth" is at home and at work within me (John 16:13). And Your abiding Truth cannot abide the compromises and lies that seek to break through the walls of my conscience and invade my soul to take up a hold within me (1 John 2:27). Make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29). Let my words express Your words and my ways express Your heart. Let me not be conformed to the world around me, but let me be transformed by Your Spirit within me (Romans 12:2). Let me be courageously confident in Your precious words and persistent truth, in Your unfailing love and unending grace (Lamentations 3:22). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays



I pray you will speak what is precious and live what is true, with the Spirit of Truth abiding in you, make you more like the One who is the Truth every day, in Jesus' name. 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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Monday, January 11, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 11 - To Tremble Again at the Word of God
 Good morning, Lord Jesus. All to You, I surrender and entrust my life and this day.  ... "But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2). Do I still tremble at Your word, Lord? Do sincerely seek to hear Your voice, learn Your ways, and obey Your commands? Or have I allowed the ways of this world to whittle down the sharp edge of the word of God and allowed my culture to compromise my conscience and dull my spiritual discernment? "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV). Come, Holy Spirit. Awaken my soul. Revive my spirit. Let me tremble at the word of the Lord again.  May the fear of the Lord and the honor of God's Word come upon me anew -- the written Word of Your Scripture and the living words of Your Spirit. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Proverbs 9:10). Let the Word of God be the authority for my life and the only standard by which I determine what is right and what is true, what is the most loving and honoring, what is best and most fulfilling. Set me free from the self-centered pride that insists on my wisdom and my way, to assert my will of what I choose to be right, apart from Your Word. Deliver me from the deception that chooses to believe it's ok to consider Your way as one way among many and Your commandments as Your opinions for me to consider. "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). "Heaven and earth will pass away, but (Your) words will not pass away" (Luke 21:33). You look to the one who is "humble and contrite in spirit," not the one who is prideful, arrogant, and self-centered (Isaiah 66:2). Lord, I seek Your favor; I need Your blessings. So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. I want to tremble at Your word again. I want to say gain, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will tremble again at the Word of God, allowing His Word and His Spirit to set the standards in your life, in Jesus' name. And my the favor and blessings of the Lord be upon you this day and every day. 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, January 08, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 8 - Here I Am, by the Grace of God
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I greet the day with my greeting to You. Help me start this day and every day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"If it had not been the Lord who was on our side --let Israel now say-- if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth!" (Psalm 124:1-8)
 
Thank You, Lord, that You're always on my side. You're always for me! And if the Lord be for me, who can be against me! (Romans 8:31)
 
As I look back on where I've been and look forward to where You're leading me now, I stand in awe of You and all You've done for me. So many times, I could have been swallowed up alive; I could have been swept away in the floods; I could have drown in the raging waters of the plans and schemes of the enemy of my soul. 
 
Some of these attacks were like frontal assaults that I saw coming all too well. Others were so subtle and sly I would have surely been taken in and led down the primrose path to my destruction if it weren't for Your watchful eye and grace of discernment to expose the enemy's crafty strategies. And so many I'm sure I'll never even know until I see You one day face to face in the eternal peace of heaven. 
 
But this I know:  If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side, I would not be here to praise You. Here I am, by the grace of God. I am yet alive. I am yet free. And I am yet available to give my life as a living sacrifice, more fully to You every day (Romans 12:1). 
 
So take my life -- it's already been bought with a price -- and use it every day to the glory of Your name in this adventure that lies ahead (1 Corinthians 6:20). No doubt the ancient enemy of my soul be up to his old tricks, but there is no doubt that You've already secured my success through the victory of Your cross and the power of Your name so that I'm already more than a conqueror in You! (Romans 8:37) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays



May you know in your heart you are here today by the power of the grace of God, ready and willing to live your life as a living sacrifice, to the glory of His name in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


 



Friends, you may also enjoy sharing in the journey of faith I've sought to live, through my two books, 
Free to Be Like Jesus! and Morning by Morning 
available through our ministry:

 


 




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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Thursday, January 07, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 7 - Call Out to God and Listen
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and call on Your name and embrace Your Spirit.  ...
 
"Call on Me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jeremiah 33:3).
 
You invite us to call out to You; You encourage us to listen to You. You create us for relationship with You. And it's a living, vibrant relationship. You appeal to us read Your written Word; and at the same time, You draw us to hear Your living word.
 
My Father, God, I am calling out to You. I am seeking You; I am listening for You, as I wait in the silence of surrender before You. ...
 
It's seems I hear You saying in my heart:  "Listen for My voice and know My heart. Sense My leading because you recognize My Spirit. I lead you in the paths of righteousness. I teach you the ways of truth. I separate your thoughts from the mind of your culture and lead you in the ways of My kingdom and not in the ways of your world. My Word reveals My will; and My Spirit expresses My Word and My will to your heart and your mind throughout the moments of your day if you seek Me and call out to Me with a humble heart that's truly willing to follow Me. Many say this is their heart, but this is rarely true. Ask Me for a true heart and I will give you a heart that truly seeks Me and truly desires to follow Me."
 
Yes, Lord. I ask You for a true heart, a heart that truly seeks You and truly desires to follow You. I know from Your Word that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV) And I also know from Your Word that You "search the heart, (and) test the mind, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings" (Jeremiah 17:10)
 
So, as David cried out to You as he called upon Your name, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit" (Psalm 51:10-12 KJV).
 
Don't let me one who says they seek You and want to hear You, only to seek what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. I pray for a heart that truly desires the truth. "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom" (Psalm 51:6 NKJV). 
 
Change my heart, O God; make it ever true (Ezekiel 36:26). Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, so that I seek what You seek and desire what You desire (Romans 12:2). Give me the grace to more fully embrace the righteousness of God within me by the power of Your Spirit who abides within me (2 Corinthians 5:21). Make me more like You each day, as I read Your Word and hear Your word and embrace the One who is the Word within me (John 1:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays



May you call out to God and hear His voice in your heart to sense the leading of His Spirit in your life, making you more like Him each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!




Friends, you may also enjoy sharing in the journey of faith I've sought to live, through my two books, 
Free to Be Like Jesus! and Morning by Morning 
available through our ministry:

 


 




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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Wednesday, January 06, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 6 - Faith for the Journey of This New Year
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I awaken and worship You, as I welcome You into my thoughts and desires and every moment of my day.  ...
 
"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.... So Abram went, as the Lord had told him..." (Genesis 12:1).
 
Abraham began his journey in faith. You told him to go and he went. At first, You didn't even tell him where, You just told him it would be to the land that You would show him. But You let him know that You would be with him, that You would guide him, and that You would bless him and bless others through him (v. 12:3).
 
As I begin the journey of this new year, I don't know exactly where You'll lead me. I don't really know what it will look like when I get there or what it will be like along the journey there. But I do choose to trust You, to put my faith in You. I choose to believe. I believe You'll be with me, that You'll guide me, that You'll bless me and others through me. I believe You know what's best for me and desire Your best for me.
 
Abraham "journeyed on by stages" (v. 12:4). And so have I. Thank You for being with me though every stage of my life. Just as You've always been with me before, I know You'll be with me now. You've always caused all things to work together for good for me -- sometimes, no matter how bad it seemed at the time -- and I know You always will.
 
You're a good, good God. You're a good, good Father. And I'm Your son. Just as a good father loves to give good gifts to his children, You love to give Your good gifts to me. And Your greatest gift is the gift of Your Spirit who guides me and comforts me, who encourages me and empowers me, who corrects me and matures me, who always reminds me that You're always with and even abiding within me (Luke 11:13).
 
So I'm excited to begin the journey of this new year, as I journey on to the next stage of Your plans and purposes for my life. You've given faith for the journey. And I've learned from experience, that the journey may not always be easy or painless or without its challenges, but I've also learned from experience it will be good for me because my good God, my good Father will always be with me every step along the way. 
 
In faith, I believe the promise of Your Word will be just as true for me this year of my journey as it always has been before:  "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon Me and come and pray to Me, I will hear you. When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart, I will let you find Me, says the Lord ..." (Jeremiah 29:11-14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays



May you be filled with faith and excited expectation for the good plans your good God and Father has for you this new year, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

God bless you, my friend! Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer, morning by morning and day by day. 
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification"
-- to be conformed the image of the Son of God through the Holy Spirit of the Living God at work within you and me every day
(1 Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 8:29). 

You may also enjoy sharing in the journey of faith I've lived through my two books, 
Free to Be Like Jesus! and Morning by Morning 
available through our ministry:

 


 




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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Tuesday, January 05, 2016

Morning by Morning, January 5 - Holy Fire, Holy Bride
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You, O Lord my God, in every dimension of Your Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- from every dimension of my being -- spirit, soul, and body.  ...
 
"May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do this" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
 
You are the God of peace, the God of shalom. You are the God who desires to set me at a peace with You, at peace with others, at peace within myself.
 
And it is Your heart to sanctify me entirely, wholly, completely in every dimension of my being -- in my spirit and my soul and body. You want me sound -- healthy, healed, whole, and free. And You want me blameless -- holy, forgiven, cleansed, and pure.
 
But it's not by my might or my power, but by Your Spirit. The One who calls me is faithful and You will do this. You part is to do this in Your power according to Your will. My part is to willingly choose to freely embrace Your will, as I wholly surrender to the power of Your Holy Spirit at work within me.
 
It's true that one day, when I die, and join You in heaven in the place You've prepared for me to see You face to face and embrace You heart to heart, I will be sanctified entirely, sound and blameless, whole and holy. But at the same time, You also desire that for me now, here on earth as it is in heaven. It's not only in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ once we get to heaven that You desire to work this in me; it's also now, also here in my heart, here in my everyday life, that You also desire to work this in me, that I may be "sound and blames at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
I can't make myself be sound and blameless, healed and free, holy and whole, sanctified entirely. But I can choose, as best as I can and all by Your grace, to welcome this work of Your Spirit in me. At any moment of my life, at every moment of my life, I can choose, as best as I can and all by Your grace, to give as much of me to You as I can. And to that degree, I can choose, as best as I can and all by Your grace, to receive as much of You within me as I can. You have to do it, but I have to choose it. You don't ever override my free will, but You forever invite me to entrust my will to Your will. That's the model of complete trust and complete surrender of our Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane -- "not My will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Spirit of Holiness. Come with Your holy fire and set me ablaze with a passion for purity. Come in Your consuming fire and burn everything out of me that is not yet like You. Give me the grace to fully embrace Your will for my life. "For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). By the power of Your grace, bring me to place -- moment by moment, with breakthroughs along the way -- where I love You with "all (my) heart, and with all (my) soul, and with all (my) mind, and with all (my) strength," where I "love (my) neighbor as (myself)," and where I love myself in the way You will (Mark 12:30).
 
In that way, by Your power at work within me, make me more like You (Romans 8:29). It has to be Your Spirit at work within my will encouraging me and empower me to will what is right and to do what is right for Your good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). As I seek You and surrender to You, as I worship You and welcome You to be at work within me, transform me into Your image, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Make me holy as You are holy (1 Peter 1:16). Perfect me in Christian love (Matthew 5:48). Sanctify me entirely (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Set me free to be like Jesus! (1 John 4:17)
 
My flesh does not desire this; my flesh cannot desire this; for my flesh is opposed to Your Spirit (Galatians 5:17). But by the power of the grace of God at work within, I'm no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit to the degree that I submit my flesh to Your Spirit (1 Peter 4:2). Let my flesh be crucified and let Your Holy Spirit arise within me, so that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20).
 
Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit and Your holy fire (Matthew 3:11). You are a consuming fire who comes to consume our hearts with Your holy fire and a passion for Christ (Hebrews 12:29). The Father has sent His Holy Spirit to prepare a bride for His Son -- that she may be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:27). Those who have willingly chosen to prepare the way of the Lord in their hearts and lives, to seek to be made "sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 
 
Grant me the desire and the power to be part of Your remnant, the body and bride of Christ, that yearns for Your coming and has made myself ready, all by the power of the grace of God at work within me (Revelation 19:7). "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" (Revelation 22:17) Come, Lord Jesus! Make me more like You each day! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



May you be consumed with holy fire of God and a passion for Jesus to be part of His holy bride, sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

 

God bless you, my friend! Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer, morning by morning and day by day. 
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification"
-- to be conformed the image of the Son of God through the Holy Spirit of the Living God at work within you and me every day
(1 Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 8:29). 


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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