Thursday, March 17, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 17 - Priests, Prophets, and Kings

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the heart and lead me by the hand on the adventure You have for me today.  ...

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

You’ve chosen us and called us. You equip us and encourage us. You save us and send us as the people of God to proclaim the goodness and mercy of God. We are priests and prophets and kings in Christ -- a royal priesthood proclaiming Christ. “To Him who loves us and freed us from our sins by His blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever!” (Revelation 1:5-6)  “Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,” You “have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10, NKJV).

In alignment with Your heart and submission to Your will, abiding in Christ as Christ abides in us, we humbly and faithfully embrace our identity and fulfill our destiny as the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, continuing the ministry of Christ here in this world (1 Corinthians 12:27). “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

You are our Priest and Prophet and King. So in Christ, as the body of Christ, we are Your priests and prophets and kings -- “ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). As priests, we pray; as prophets, we proclaim; as kings, we reign -- all in submission to Your will and Your way, all through Your Spirit and by Your grace, with the measure of authority You’ve entrusted to us as Your people, Your body, and Your church (Matthew 16:19). Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, here on earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 5:10).

We do our part -- as best as we can and all by Your grace -- to live into the fullness of all You have already done by Your part (John 19:30). And all in Your time and all in Your way, we look forward to the day we hear “loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Revelation 11:15 NKJV). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 16 - Final Verdict from the Court of Heaven

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today.  ... "As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took His throne.... The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened" (Daniel 7:9). 

There is a court of heaven and there is an honorable Judge. We all must give an account before Him (Romans 14:12). "For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Likewise, we all have an accuser of our souls (Revelation 12:10). "He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). And he loves to fill the courtroom with "the noise of the arrogant words" (Daniel 7:11). 

But at the same time, the heart of his accusations is our constant failure to honor the law of the land, the Word of God, with faithfulness and obedience. But thanks be to God that we have an Advocate who has answered every accusation on our behalf by the eternal sacrifice of His sinless life. "If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and His is the Atoning Sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2). And our Advocate is the One "coming with the clouds of heaven," presenting Himself as our only Defense before the Ancient One who sits on the throne as both our righteous Judge and our loving Father (Daniel 7:11-14). 

In agreement with what God has done for us through Jesus Christ our Savior, we plead the blood of Jesus as our only hope and only defense. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:7). And as it turns out, His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9). His blood is enough. "The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Our evil accuser tries to throw the Book at us with every argument he has to try to convict us and condemn us. "He shall speak words against the Most High, shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law; and the shall be given into his power for a time, two times, and half a time" (Daniel 7:25).  

But we should never cease praising our God for the Good News of God's grace for us as we stand with our Advocate before the Judge:  "The court shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and totally destroyed. The kingship and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them" (Daniel 7:26-27).  

The final verdict of the court of heaven is Not Guilty, as we are set free from dishonor and clothed with honor by the authority of the One "Who is to judge the living and the dead" (2 Timothy 4:1). Through Jesus Christ, "God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20). And now through Him, we are presented "holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him" (Colossians 1:22). "God made (us) alive together with Him, when He forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:13-15). "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:23) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will never cease praising God for all He has done for you through Jesus Christ, joyfully embracing the victory of your final verdict from the court of heaven, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
          
  
 
Friends, please keep me in prayer as I write my next book on 
The Final Verdict:  Deliverance Ministry from a Lawyer's Perspective

May God bless you as you continue to fulfill your calling and destiny in the ways He uses all the experiences of your life's journey to touch the lives of others!


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, March 15, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 15 - Dig Deeply, Act Obediently
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here I am to worship You and welcome You into my heart and the moments of my day, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to Me, hears My words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid a foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house" (Luke 6:46-49).
 
I want to dig deeply into Your Word and listen intently for Your voice, as I come to You and hear Your words. I want to start my day on a rock solid foundation that seeks You first before anything else. Then when the rivers burst and the waves crash and the winds blow against the house of my faith, I will be confident that the One I came to embrace in the morning will be the One embracing me through whatever comes against me all day.
 
And at the same time, I want my inner faith to lead to outer action. I want the faith that takes hold of my heart to also take off through my feet. Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). But faith grows by acting upon Your word, when faith becomes feet (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4).
 
So as I come to You to begin my day calling You "Lord" in prayer, give me the power of Your grace to also live out my day putting the words I hear in my heart into action in the steps of my feet. As Your Word commands, "Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like" (James 1:22-24).
 
Let me not forget what You've said of who You are and who I am in You. Rather, let me put feet to my faith and reality to my relationship, as one who first comes to You, hears Your words, and then acts in faith -- 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



I pray you will come to God first, hear His words to you in prayer, and act upon His truth in your heart by faith throughout the moments of your day, in Jesus' name. May you dig deeply and act obediently, as best as you can and all by His grace. 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

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Monday, March 14, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 14 - Good Seed and Good Treasure
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading.  ...
 
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:43-45).
 
My fruit and my mouth reveal my heart. And my heart reveals the seeds I've allowed to be sown and the nature I've chosen to treasure. So as best as I can and all by Your grace, help me choose well what I sow and what I treasure. The harvest of what comes forth on the outside will always reveal the truth what's stored away inside. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray the good seed you've allowed to be sown and the good nature you've treasured in your heart will bear good fruit and good words through your life today, 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Friday, March 11, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 11 - Overflow
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Awaken my heart to hear Your voice and sense Your leading, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
As I wait on You, listening for the leading of Your Spirit this morning, I hear in my heart the word Overflow.  ...
 
And I hear words of new song of trust and praise You're writing in my heart.  ...
 
I am in You
And You are in me
Come fill me up
 
Your living words
Your waters of Life
Come fill my cup
 
In the overflow
I'm coming to know
Just how far and how deep
Just how vast and how wide
Your grace and Your love overflows my life
 
Yes, Lord. Your grace and Your love overflows my life. "My cup overflows" (Psalm 23:5).

Like every disciple You've ever delivered from the snare of sin and death, my heart overflows with gratitude and love to You for all You've done for me. As Paul said, "I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He judged me faithful and appointed me to His service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 1:12-14).
 
I love You because You first loved me (1 John 4:9). My gratitude overflows to You because Your grace overflows to me. Now let it overflow out of me into all the lives and circumstances I'll encounter today, as my offering of overflow to You -- "a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing" (Luke 6:38). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray the grace and love of God will overflow in and out of your life today, 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

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Thursday, March 10, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 10 - From Intimacy to Ministry
 Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice, Good Shepherd of my soul.  ... "Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to His faithful, to those who turn to Him in their hearts" (Psalm 85:8). Father God, You spoke to my heart many years ago that the measure of Your power and authority that You would express through my life and ministry would be directly related to the time I spent with You in prayer. Ministry would flow out of intimacy.  Lord Jesus, in Your ministry on earth as the Son of Man, You always drew near to the Father to hear His heart by the Spirit so that You could move in His power and authority, speaking what You heard Him speak and doing what You saw Him do. "Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing; and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished" (John 5:19-20). You said "I seek to do not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 5:30). And You are My Savior and My Example; You are My Teacher and I am Your disciple, to learn Your ways of intimacy and ministry, to move with Your heart and to walk in Your steps (1 Peter 2:21). Come, Holy Spirit of the Living God. Draw me near to God, as God draws near to me in the intimacy of prayer (James 4:8). Father God, help me embrace Your presence and hear Your heart; let me hear what You're saying and see what You're doing. Lord Jesus, make me more like You each day, with the Father heart of God, growing in the the character and mind of Christ, and moving in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).  O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- let my intimacy with You be the wellspring of Your ministry to Your people through my life today. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of (us)" (2 Corinthians 13:13). In Jesus' name pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays



I pray you will be drawn into a deep place of intimacy with God each day and flow in the ministry of His love and power through your life as He leads, 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

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Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 9 - Word Made Flesh
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today. ...
 
"And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.... From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace" (John 1:14-16).
 
Lord Jesus, You are the Word made flesh. And now, in the mystery of Your grace -- "grace upon grace" -- You abide in us as we abide in You, so that Your Word is now made flesh through us (John 15:5). "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). "As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:15). In the mystery of Your grace, we are "the body of Christ," filled with "the Spirit of Christ," here in the flesh and bones of our everyday lives (1 Corinthians 12:27, Romans 8:9).
 
So let Your Word abide deep down in my heart; and let Your Word rise up and flow out of my life. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in (me) richly," as I embrace Your Word and Your Spirit within my soul (Colossians 3:16). "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
 
"The Word of God is living and active" (Hebrews 4:12). Father God, help me understand and embrace Your will that Your Word would be "living and active" in me and through me each day. By the Spirit of Christ in me, may Your Word be made flesh through my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will be filled with the Spirit and the Word of Christ, as God's Word is made flesh through your life today, by the power of the grace of God, 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 8 - "The Spirit and the Bride say 'Come!' "
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I open my heart to hear Your voice and begin my day in the communion prayer with You my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let everyone who hears say, 'Come.' And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift" (Revelation 22:17).
 
Together, we are the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). Together, we are the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7). Together, we are one in the Spirit and one in the Lord (Ephesians 4:4). And together, as the body and the bride of Christ, "anyone united to the Lord become one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).
 
So we long to be one with You. Your Spirit stirs in our hearts, as the body and the bride of Christ, to hunger and thirst for more of You, to settle for nothing less than to be "filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).
 
 So we cry out to You, "Come!"  Come into our hearts and into our world. One day You'll come again from heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16). And every day You long to come right now in our hearts (Colossians 1:27). One day we'll go to heaven when we die (2 Corinthians 5:8). But every day You want heaven in us now (Matthew 4:17).
 
Your kingdom "Come!" Your will be done. Come and be done here on earth, as it is in heaven; here in my heart, as it is in Your heart (Matthew 6:10). "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" (Revelation 22:17) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will be stirred in your heart by the Holy Spirit of God to cry out to Jesus to come into your heart and into our world 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Monday, March 07, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 7 - "Every Idle Word"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You, Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- and I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...
 
"But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 17:36-37 NKJV).
 
Let my words not be idle today, stuck in neutral, coasting along without a thought. Rather, let my words be fully engaged with the will and the word of the Lord. Let my words be an expression of what You've done and what You're doing in my heart. "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (v. 17:34).
 
Take a coal from Your altar and cleanse my lips, sanctify my tongue, and empower my words (Isaiah 6:6-7). Your words are spirit and life (John 6:63). Fill my heart and my words with Your Spirit and Your Life today. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21). So as best as I can and all by Your grace, may my words speak forth life and bring forth good fruit this day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be filled with the Holy Spirit to speak forth life and bring forth good fruit in the power of the words that flow from the abundance of your heart, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

     
 

Friends, Thank You so much for all your prayers for us this past weekend at our Power of Love Healing Conference hosted by Voice of Joy Ministries at the new Francis Asbury Society headquarters in Wilmore, Kentucky. We had an incredible time of worship, teaching, and ministry and heard many testimonies of deep healing and freedom in the mighty name of Jesus! It was wonderful to minister again alongside my mentor in inner healing, Dr. Steve Seamands of Asbury Theological Seminary. I pray for the Lord's healing and anointing in your life and ministry, my friend!




 
My Book:  Free to Be Like Jesus


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, March 03, 2016

Morning by Morning, March 3 - Healing and Freedom in the Name of Jesus and the Power of the Spirit
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Align my heart with Your heart and my will with Your will, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about Him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was His custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:  'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the bling, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'  He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hear'" (Luke 4:14-21).
 
Lord Jesus, You're still healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free in the power of Your Spirit (Isaiah 61:1 fulfilled in Luke 4:18). You're still fulfilling the scroll of Scripture, the Word of God, confirming Your identity and living out Your destiny.
 
Just as the Father sent You in the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit, so You send us, saying "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you" (John 20:21). As we abide in You and You abide in us, Your Spirit flows through us in the power of Your love and grace everywhere You send us (John 15:5).
 
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today (Ephesians 5:18). "Here am I; send me!" (Isaiah 6:8). Send me with the character of Your nature in my heart and the authority of Your name in my words, as You make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



I pray you will the Spirit of the Lord God will be upon you today and every day, as the Lord sends you to minister His love and grace with nature of Jesus in your heart and authority of His name through your words, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

     
 
Friends, Thank You for your prayers for us at our meeting at Pfrimmers Chapel in Southern Indiana this week. We saw the Lord moving mightily every night, healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free! I pray the same for you and your ministry. God bless you!

Ministering in Lexington, Kentucky Area March 4-5
Please join us for the Power of Love Conference hosted by Voice of Joy Ministries at the Francis Asbury Society headquarters in Wilmore, where I'll be teaching and ministering with 
 Dr. Steve Seamands, Pastor Amy Barkman,
and Jeff Rogers of Wellspring Prayer Center
Registration is free but please let Pastor Amy know if you may be attending with an email to her at  amyb_love@att.net or
Please Spread the Word!




 
My Book:  Free to Be Like Jesus


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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