Morning by Morning, November 10 - Anointing for Leadership to Change a Nation

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit. Come be One within me, as You abide in me and I abide in You (John 15:4).  ...

 

We're a people of strong opinions. And rightly so. You are a God of strong opinions. And rightly so. You've expressed them to us in the words we call The Bible and You impress them into our hearts by the moving of Your Holy Spirit. And when we wonder if our opinions line up with Your opinions, You remind us to read Your Word and listen for Your Spirit. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God as children of God" (Roman 8:14). "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 3:16-17).

 

As our nation moves into its next season of leadership through "the peaceful transition of government," many question the character of our elected leader. And our leaders, like each of us, are responsible for our actions and words and choices. "God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For He will repay according to each one's deeds:  to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.... For God shows no impartiality.... God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all" (Romans 2:5-16).

 

So we all need Jesus (John 3:16). And we all need the mercy and grace of God who convicts us of our sins, who forgives us through repentance, and who changes our hearts, that we may grow in His character and live for His purposes (Colossians 1:19-20). It's true of our leaders and it's true of each one of us, "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;" but through repentance and faith, "they are now justified by the His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by His blood, effective through faith" (Romans 3:23-25).

 

Many have taken note of Your power to change the heart of a leader to accomplish Your purposes for a nation by the anointing of Your Spirit even upon one who did not know You and Your nature before You chose to use him despite his character, as You did through King Cyrus, expressed in Isaiah 45:

"Thus says the Lord to His anointed,

To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-

To subdue nations before him

And loose the armor of kings,

To open before him the double doors,

So that the gates will not be shut:

²    'I will go before you

And make the crooked places straight;

I will break in pieces the gates of bronze

And cut the bars of iron.

³    I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the Lord,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

⁴    For Jacob My servant's sake,

And Israel My elect,

I have even called you by your name;

I have named you, though you have not known Me.

⁵    I am the Lord, and there is no other;

There is no God besides Me.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me, ⁶ That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting

That there is none besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other;

⁷    I form the light and create darkness,

I make peace and create calamity;

I, the Lord, do all these things.'

⁸    "Rain down, you heavens, from above,

And let the skies pour down righteousness;

Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,

And let righteousness spring up together.

I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹    "Woe to him who strives with his Maker!

Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!

Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?'

Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?

¹⁰  Woe to him who says to his father, 'What are you begetting?'

Or to the woman, 'What have you brought forth?' "

¹¹   Thus says the Lord,

The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

"Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons;

And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.

¹²   I have made the earth,

And created man on it.

I-My hands-stretched out the heavens,

And all their host I have commanded.

¹³   I have raised him up in righteousness,

And I will direct all his ways;

He shall build My city

And let My exiles go free,

Not for price nor reward,"

Says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord:

"The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush

And of the Sabeans, men of stature,

Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;

They shall walk behind you,

They shall come over in chains;

And they shall bow down to you.

They will make supplication to you, saying, 'Surely God is in you,

And there is no other;

There is no other God.' "

¹⁵   Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,

O God of Israel, the Savior!

¹⁶   They shall be ashamed

And also disgraced, all of them;

They shall go in confusion together,

Who are makers of idols.

¹⁷  But Israel shall be saved by the Lord

With an everlasting salvation;

You shall not be ashamed or disgraced

Forever and ever.

¹⁸   For thus says the Lord,

Who created the heavens,

Who is God,

Who formed the earth and made it,

Who has established it,

Who did not create it in vain,

Who formed it to be inhabited:

"I am the Lord, and there is no other.

¹⁹   I have not spoken in secret,

In a dark place of the earth;

I did not say to the seed of Jacob,

'Seek Me in vain';

I, the Lord, speak righteousness,

I declare things that are right.

²⁰  "Assemble yourselves and come;

Draw near together,

You who have escaped from the nations.

They have no knowledge,

Who carry the wood of their carved image,

And pray to a god that cannot save.

²¹   Tell and bring forth your case;

Yes, let them take counsel together.

Who has declared this from ancient time?

Who has told it from that time?

Have not I, the Lord?

And there is no other God besides Me,

A just God and a Savior;

There is none besides Me.

²²   "Look to Me, and be saved,

All you ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

²³   I have sworn by Myself;

The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,

And shall not return,

That to Me every knee shall bow,

Every tongue shall take an oath.

²⁴   He shall say,

'Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength.

To Him men shall come,

And all shall be ashamed

Who are incensed against Him.

²⁵   In the Lord all the descendants of Israel

Shall be justified, and shall glory' " (Isaiah 45:1-28 NKJV).

 

 

Lord, let it be so in our time. You are alone are Lord. There is no God besides You. Move mightily in the heart of our elected leaders and in heart of our nation to turn to You in righteousness. Change our hearts and heal our land, that we may know our identity and fulfill our destiny as a people of God (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be free from fear, filled with faith, and moved to prayer, believing the Lord alone is God and is at work in our hearts and the hearts of our leaders to accomplish His purposes, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for America to be a nation under God, honoring the Lord our God with the gifts and calling He has entrusted to us as a nation in our world. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, November 9 -  "New Wineskin"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I worship You and welcome You to rule and reign in my heart, in my land, and in all the earth.  ...

 

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins" (Mark 2:22 NKJV).

 

Whether we love him or hate him, we have elected a new President of the United States. By the act of our votes, we made choices with our hearts for each individual person and also made choices together as a nation. Our choices matter; our choices determine our identity; and our choices determine our destiny in the mystery and the grace of both Your sovereignty and our freedom (Deuteronomy 30:9; Joshua 24:15; John 15:10).

 

The days and years to come will reveal the consequences of our choices, both personally and as a people. And so we are forever in need of Your mercy and grace, Your presence and power, Your correction and discipline, Your redemption and love.

 

But as the dust settles this morning, the words and the image that comes to my heart in prayer for Your will and our nation is "New Wineskin."  ...

 

At the very least, there will be a "new wineskin" in Washington for sure. And we have yet to see or imagine all that may imply or entail. But as the people of God turn to You in prayer from across our land, we pray You would pour the "New Wine" of Your Holy Spirit into the "new wineskin" of governmental authority in our land. Whether it was our personal choice or not, You call us to pray for those in authority:  "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. We turn to You in prayer and ask that You would heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Pour Your New Wine into the new wineskins You are preparing in us, that we might know our identity and fulfill our destiny, as a people of God in our generation. Your grace is sufficient for us -- it always has been and it always will be (2 Corinthians 12:9).

 

As some celebrate today, as some commiserate today, let us all begin today the journey to arise and embrace the new day, the new wineskin, and the New Wine that is set before us. None of us knows what all that may mean, but I do know this by the certainty of Your Word:  "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you we will all be filled with the New Wine of the Holy Spirit of God, in our hearts and in our land, as we pray for those in authority and for one another to know our identity and fulfill our destiny as a person and as a nation, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for America to be a nation under God, honor the Lord our God with the gifts and calling He has entrusted to us as a nation in our world. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, November 8 - Voting "The Straight Ticket" of the Lord

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're the Lord and Savior of my life. And I welcome You here in the center of my heart and the beginning of my day.  ...

 

"Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness; ... make Your way straight before me" (Psalm 5:8). 

 

It's Election Day in America. My wife and I got up early to go vote early before the lines got too long. Now, we've done our civic duty and participated in the process of governing our nation and determining the course of our land. As President Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, we have the freedom to be a "nation, under God" which is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people, (that) shall not perish from the earth." May our votes count as an expression of our heart that we desire the direction of our nation to honor You. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12 NKJV).

 

Like so many, I wrestled with my choices. And in the end, I decided to vote "the straight ticket" -- not voting a "straight ticket" for democrats, republicans, libertarians, green, blue or anything else, but seeking the leading of Your Holy Spirit, as best as I could and all by Your grace. I prayed Psalm 5:8 that You would lead me in Your righteousness and make Your way "straight" before me.

 

Your Word says we don't even know how to pray as we ought, so we need to ask Your guidance even in our prayers. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26).  So just like my prayers, I want my votes to be led by Your Spirit so that I can say from my heart, "not my will buy Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

 

In the midst of all the issues of character, personalities, policies and platforms, I ultimately want to exercise my freedom of choice by freely choosing to follow You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. I know none of us hear Your voice perfectly and that on this side of heaven we only "know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9). "For now we see in a mirror, dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12). But as the children of God, we are called to seek the leading of God in all things, even in our votes as a free people of a free nation. ""For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14).

 

So when I wake up in the morning and find out who won, I can have the peace of knowing I made my choices as best as I could seeking the leading of Your Spirit. And I can also rest in the truth of Your promise that whether good or bad, You are the God who is sovereign of all, at work in all things for our good and Your glory, according to Your purpose that is far beyond anything I could choose or plan or control. "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). And at same time, You invite us to take our place and play our part in Your process "like good stewards of the manifold grace of God" with all the freedom and gifts You've entrusted to us as the people of God in the midst of our world (1 Peter 4:10).

 

Seeking to vote "the straight ticket" of the Lord, I'm trusting You to cause it all to work together for good, far beyond my understanding of Your will and Your ways. But I know this, by the truth and promise of Your Word:  "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 40:4-5 NKJV, confirmed in Luke 3:5-6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be led by the Spirit of God as a child of God in all your choices each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for America to be a nation under God, honor the Lord our God with gift and calling He has given us as a nation in our world. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, November 7 - "Where Righteousness is At Home"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In silence before You, I watch and wait for Your leading, as I begin my day in Your embrace -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"In accordance with His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation" (2 Peter 3:13-15).

 

Lord, I want righteousness to be at home in my heart -- right with You, right with others, right within myself. I want to be found by You at peace -- at peace with You, at peace with others, at peace within myself. Thank You for Your patience with me while Your Spirit is at work within me, setting things right in Your righteousness and bringing Your peace to my soul in the fullness of the salvation You're working out in me every day of my journey of faith in You. "For it is God who is at work in (me), enabling (me) both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

 

So what can I do in my heart to make righteousness more at home?  ...

 

It seems I hear You saying:  "My son, My Spirit is at work in the heart of each one who welcomes Me to do My work within you. Your part is to allow Me to form My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart. Be willing to be sensitive to My leading, to respond to My correction and embrace My affirmation. I'm aligning your thoughts and your desires with Mine, as you willingly choose to allow Me to do so. This is My good pleasure, My son." 

 

Yes, Lord. I willingly choose to allow You to be at work in me. By the power of Your grace, let Your righteousness be more at home in me each day. "For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray the righteousness of God will be more and more at home in your heart, as you allow the Holy Spirit to work within you to make you more like Jesus each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, November 3 - "Rejoice in God"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm so grateful for Your grace, that it's the heart of my God to welcome me into the embrace of Your love every morning and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation" (Romans 5:11 NKJV).

 

Sometimes I feel I don't rejoice enough in You and all You've done for me and all You are to me. I suppose the honest truth is that sometimes I even begin to take my grace for granted. But Lord, let it not be so. Remind me every morning, as I begin each new day to "proclaim the praises of Him who called (me) out of darkness into (Your) marvelous light; (we) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV).

 

Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). But I praise You and rejoice in You that I never have to be apart from You, that You are "with (me) always" (Matthew 28:20). That's not something I ever earned or deserved, but it's something You yearn to have in the loving relationship You offer to all who embrace Your love and grace (2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16).

 

I embrace Your love and grace today, my Lord. I rejoice in God through my Lord Jesus Christ, who saved me and raised me up into this embrace of love, setting me free to be all You've yearned for me to be in You. By the grace of God, may I never take Your grace for granted. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be filled with joy, as you rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ in the grace and embrace of His love for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Friends, sorry to be out of touch for a couple of days with my morning prayers. A team from our ministry were in Austin for further equipping through Dr. Charles Kraft's ministry on healing and deliverance prayer ministry. Please keep us in prayer as we continue our own Level 2 School of Ministry back here in San Antonio tonight. God bless you and may He continue to equip and empower you to fulfill your ministry where the Lord has strategically positioned you for this season. Please pray the same for us. God bless you!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, October 31 - "Ghost" Story

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart to see You and open the ears of my spirit to hear You, as I begin my day in the depths of communion with You in prayer -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when He comes to set up His kingdom:  Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching" (2 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT).

 

In the culture of our day, there will be must fascination with darkness and death on this night our world calls Halloween. But even in the midst of darkness You're always shining Your light. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world" (1 John 4:4 NKJV).

 

Some will be focused on the dark spirits of this world and the walk of the living death. But as this day begins Your Holy Spirit is reminding me to seek to walk in the ways of the One who is the judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 1 Peter 4:5).

 

The greatest "ghost story" ever told is not about a ghost who comes to haunt the living from the dead but about the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead into the resurrection life we can all have through faith in Him (Romans 8:11). "According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7 KJV).

 

In the ways of the world this may be the night of the walking dead. But in the ways of the One who gave His life for me, I can arise and "walk in newness of life" by the grace of God, "just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father" (Romans 6:4). And now, for all who trust and believe in the death and resurrection of Christ, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us" (Romans 5:5 KJV). That's the only "Ghost story" I want to be telling my kids and my friends tonight. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray the love of God will be poured into Your heart by His Holy Spirit, as you arise and shine with the resurrection light of Christ, walking in newness of life in your world today (and tonight), in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, October 28 - True Heart of True Worship

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Thank You for the gift of the communion of prayer, as I begin my day centered in You.  ...

 

"Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven" (Lamentations 3:40-41).

 

If we're not careful we can slip into religious routines, even in our worship and prayer. We may still be lifting up our hands, but no longer lifting up our hearts.

 

We can go through the motions, go on autopilot, and go about our lives with an outward appearance that no longer reflects our inward desires. We can grow weary from the cares of this world and challenges of the battles of the day until we grow numb and detached, worn out or burned out. And You warned us that even among the body of believers "the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).

 

So come, Holy Spirit. Keep a true heart of true worship thriving in me. Come burn in me. Keep the fire of my faith burning in my heart. Rekindle the flame every day. Breathe on the embers of my spirit in the passionate pursuit of the Lover of my soul. "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).

 

Let the songs that I sing to You be an authentic expression of my love for You. Let the lifting of my hands be a genuine manifestation of the lifting of my heart. Keep stirring in me and burning in me until it's totally true in every depth of my being that I "love the Lord (my) God will all (my) heart, with all (my) soul, with all (my) mind, and with all (my) strength," (Mark 12:30). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

May the Holy Spirit burn in your spirit every day with a true heart of true worship for the Lord our God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

(from a time of ministry in The Philippines)

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!