Morning by Morning, January 17 - The Heart of the Message of the Cross

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're my Lord and Savior, and yet You're also my Constant Companion and my Best Friend, with me always to the end of the age, just like You said.  ...

 

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.... We proclaim Christ crucified ... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18-24).

 

Lord, what is the heart of the message of the cross?  ...

 

As I wait and listen, it seems I hear You saying, "My son, the heart of the message of the cross is the message of my heart of love for you and for all the children of My creation. Through the power of the cross, I forgive your sins; I restore you to the intimacy of a deeply personal relationship with Me; I heal your wounds; I break your bonds; I renew your sense of identity as My child; I release you into your destiny as My disciple; I empower you to become more like Me every day; and I invite you to live with Me throughout all eternity in the security and abundance of My unfailing, holy love for you."   ...

 

Yes, Lord. Let every word of spirit and life that's truly from You penetrate my heart and shape my understanding. The message of the cross reveals the power and wisdom of God. Help me grow in my understanding of this message and let this message keep changing me. "May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:11). 

 

Help me grow in my spirit until I can truly say that through the power of the cross at work within me, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, I pray the heart of the message of the cross penetrates your heart and changes your life, as you grow in Christ-likeness every day--crucified with Christ so that it is no longer you who live, but it is Christ who lives in you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend! 

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

Order Morning by Morning through Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Daily-Prayer-Journey-Second/dp/1540466922/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1515422684&sr=8-2

 

Please keep us in prayer and join us if you can for our Setting Heart Free conference on inner healing prayer ministry this weekend at First United Methodist Church in Lucedale, Mississippi, sponsored by Aldersgate Renewal Ministries. 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, January 15, - "The Sound of Many Waters"

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let my day begin here in the communion of prayer, immersed in Your Presence, seeking You and Your leading--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ... 

As I listen, I hear in my heart the sound of a mountain stream. This thought comes to my mind--"the sound of many waters."  ... 

"Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across His chest. He head and His hair were white as wool, white as snow; His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining with full force" (Revelation 1:12-16).

Like the many waters of a mountain stream, let the Word of God wash over me and pour through me, cleansing me and refreshing me. Let the words of Your voice purify me and sanctify me "with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26). "As the deer longs for flowing stream, so my soul longs for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?" (Psalm 42:1-2) 

When John heard Your voice like the sound of many waters, he fell down at Your feet, in deep humility in honor of Your manifest Presence of Your glory (Revelation 1:17). But then You lifted him up and told him not to be afraid, but to be about the work of the Kingdom You set before him (Revelation 1:17-19). When we humble ourselves in Your sight, You lift us up (James 4:10). When we draw near to You, You draw near to us (James 4:8). When we listen for Your voice to be led by Your Spirit as the children of God, You speak and You lead (John 10:3; Romans 8:17; Isaiah 30:21). 

Thank You for the sound of many waters rushing through my spirit like a mountain stream this morning. Thank You for reminding me to forever be seeking Your Presence and listening for Your leading throughout the moments of my day. "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High" (Psalm 46:4). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friend, I pray the Holy Spirit cleanses you and refreshes you with the washing of the water by His word flowing through you, listening for the voice of the One who speaks like the sound of many waters, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend! 

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

MorningByMorning-TommyHays

https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Daily-Prayer-Journey-Second/dp/1540466922/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1515422684&sr=8-2

 

Please keep us in prayer and join us if you can for our Setting Heart Free conference on inner healing prayer ministry this weekend at First United Methodist Church in Lucedale, Mississippi, sponsored by Aldersgate Renewal Ministries. 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, January 12 - In Worship and Praise, I Come Every Day

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. In worship and praise, I want to begin my day centered in the Presence of God.  ... I hear You writing a new song in my heart, as I listen for Your leading this morning.  ... 

In worship and praise,

I come every day,

Seeking to hear Your voice.

 

I come away,

To watch and to wait

Out of the world and its noise.

 

I listen and pray,

To hear Your Word say

How Your Spirit will lead every choice.

 

For this is the way,

To walk in Your ways

And know the fullness of Your joy.

 Thank You, Lord, for stirring in my spirit to join in with Your Spirit to sing this song of praise to begin my day immersed in You. "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him" (Lamentations 3:23).  You are so good to me to draw me each day into this deep place of prayer in these first moments of my mornings, that enables me to consciously carry Your Presence with me throughout every moment of my day. "You show me the path of life. In Your Presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

Friend, I pray the Holy Spirit stirs in your spirit with a deep hunger to draw near the Lord in worship and praise every day, enabling you to consciously carry His Presence with you throughout every moment of your day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend! 

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

www.amazon.com/MorningByMorning-TommyHays

https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Daily-Prayer-Journey-Second/dp/1540466922/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1515422684&sr=8-2

 

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, January 11 - Today, Hear His Voice and Enter His Rest

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good Shepherd of my soul, help me get quiet as I wait on You to listen for Your leading and begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit.  ...

"Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a Son, and we are His house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put Me to the test, though they had seen My works for forty years....' Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end" (Hebrews 3:6-14).

According to Your Word, an "evil" heart is an "unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God" (v. 12). And our hearts are "hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (v. 13) and in "rebellion" against the leading of Your "voice" (v. 7-8). So You encourage us to "exhort one another every day" to keep turning our hearts to You, to keep listening for Your voice, to keep believing in You (v. 13).

So, Lord, I ask You to keep my heart sensitive to You, humble before You, hungry for You, available to You, and yielded to You. Let my words be full of grace to exhort others to enter that place of "rest" and faith in You, seeking to lead by example (v. 18). Let the daily rhythm of my personal, intimate relationship with You model my desire--as best as I can and all by the power of Your grace--to "Trust in the Lord with all (my) heart, and lean not on (my) own understanding; (but) in all (my) ways acknowledge Him, (believing He) shall direct (my) paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friend, I pray your heart will be sensitive, humble, hungry, available, and yielded to God and the voice of His Spirit to lead you in the paths of His blessings and rest in Him every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend! 

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

www.amazon.com/MorningByMorning-TommyHays
https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Daily-Prayer-Journey-Second/dp/1540466922/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1515422684&sr=8-2

 

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, January 10 - Implanted Word and Empowering Spirit

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear what You're speaking into my spirit to begin my day centered and grounded in You and Your Word--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...

 

"Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of His own purpose He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of His creatures.... and welcome with meekness the implanted word of that has power to save your souls" (James 1:17-21).

 

Every good and perfect gift comes from You. And two of Your greatest gifts are Your Word and Your Spirit. In Your Word, I'm grounded in truth. In Your Spirit, I'm empowered to live it out in my life.

 

Thank You for the gifts of Your implanted Word and Your empowering Spirit. Let the Word of God be implanted deep within me as I read and meditate upon Your Scripture as the very Word of God and the standard of truth for my life. "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). And let the Spirit of God fill my heart to form my thoughts and shape my desires to live out Your Word through the words and actions of my life each day. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).

 

Like the two wings of an eagle, let Your Word and Your Spirit lift me and move me, empower me and guide me, in a life that freely and fully soars in Your will. As I embrace the good gifts of Your Word and Your Spirit, You move mightily within me and move mightily for me to align my life with Your good will. "The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.... 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). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friend, I pray the implanted Word of God and the empowering Spirit of God would lift you up every day and cause you to soar into the fullness of the good life the Lord has for you in the center of His good will for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend! 

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

Morning by Morning at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Daily-Prayer-Journey-Second/dp/1540466922/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1515422684&sr=8-2

 

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, January 9 - Pursing the Place of Worship

 

Good morning Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me in the way that leads to life in You today.  ...

 

"You shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you" (Deuteronomy 12:5-7 NKJV).

 

You called the tribes of Israel to seek a place to worship You. You promised that in that place they would know Your name and experience Your Presence. There they would offer their sacrifices and receive Your blessings to rejoice in all that You are and all that You do on their behalf as the people of God.

 

And now, each day, You call us to come to You in the place of worship You've prepared for us here in the holy place of our hearts. Our bodies are Your temple, and our lives are our sacrifice (1 Corinthians 6:19). "By the mercies of God, (we) present (our) bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is (our) spiritual worship" (Romans 12:10).

 

It's here in the place of worship that we offer to You all that we are and all that we have. It's here in the place of worship that we fully acknowledge that You are the Source of every good thing we have in our lives (James 1:17). And it's here in the place of worship that we are forever changed into Your image--moment by moment, face to face, from the inside out, from glory to glory. "All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

So here I am to worship. Not just first thing in my morning, here at the beginning of my day, but throughout the moments of my day may I never leave this place of worship--here where deep calls to Deep and where I abide in You as You abide in me (Psalm 42:7; John 15:4). May I continue to pursue You and worship You in spirit and truth--my spirit passionately seeking, humbly honoring, and fully embracing Your Spirit--for "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Here in this place of worship I'll experience You and receive all You've prepared for me, as I freely and whole-heartedly surrender all that I am and all that I have completely to You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friend, I pray you experience the Presence and blessings of God throughout the moments of your day as You passionately pursue the place of worship He's prepared for you in your heart, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend!

  

(From a time of deep worship while I was teaching at a spiritual retreat in 

The Philippines several years ago)

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

www.amazon.com/MorningByMorning-TommyHays

 

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, January 8 - In Sync in the Spirit

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lord of the world, be Lord of my life and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.... their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved.... When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When they moved, the others moved; when they stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels" (Ezekiel 1:15-21).

 

Many have wondered about Ezekiel's wheels--whether they are angelic orbs, inter-dimensional portals, or even alien spacecraft. In any event, it seems to me he was looking with spiritual eyes into the spiritual realm of the heavenly dimension. And one thing that strikes me of what he saw is how everything was in sync with the spirit of one another--if one rose, they all rose; if one went to the side, they all went to the side; if one was still, they all were still. It speaks to me of spiritual harmony and unity, spiritual alignment and movement, spiritual sensitivity and intimacy.

 

When Your Holy Spirit is in our hearts, like "the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels," we move with You and move with one another in sync with the Spirit. With spiritual harmony and unity, with spiritual alignment and movement, with spiritual sensitivity and intimacy, "all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.... When we cry, 'Abba!Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:14-16). 

 

In sync with You and with one another, we are spiritually connected and aligned so that "when (we) turn to the right or when (we) turn to the left, (our) ears shall hear a word behind (us), saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'" (Isaiah 30:21). This an expression of our spiritual sensitivity and response to Your invitation to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which (we) have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). In this way, we are "one body and one Spirit, just as (we) were called to the one hope of (our) calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4-6).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill us so we can follow You (Ephesians 5:18). Move in our hearts to align us with You and with one another so that we move in sync with You and with one another. By the power of Your grace at work and alive within us, may we "live in harmony with one another" (Romans 12:16). And "may the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant (us) to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together (we) may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:5-6). As we "abide" in You and allow Your Spirit to "abide" in us, "we live and move and have our being" (John 15:4; Acts 17:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friend, I pray you are filled afresh every day to be in sync in the Spirit to live and move and have your being in God as He aligns your spirit His Spirit and His body of Christ, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Friends, I welcome you to join with me in a daily journey of passionate, pursuing prayer through my 365 Day Prayer Devotional, Morning by Morning, Second Edition, for a deeply intimate and personal journey of prayer each day.

www.amazon.com/MorningByMorning-TommyHays

 

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!