Thursday, February 22, 2018

Morning by Morning, February 22 - Rev. Billy Graham -- Legacy of Integrity
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV).
 
At age 99, Rev. Billy Graham has fought the good fight of the faith and finished his race, fulfilling his ministry, giving his heart and life to do the work of an evangelist. He deeply inspired me and so many to lay down their lives and follow You, sharing the love of God and the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, from our neighborhoods to the nations and everywhere in between. All along the way--enduring many afflictions and overcoming many  challenges--he lived out his faith with honor and humility, leaving behind an eternal legacy of integrity.
 
He lived no fairy-tale life in some kind of supernatural immunity from the struggles and battles we all face on our journey through this broken and fallen world, but he did live a faith-filled life as a worthy ambassador of Christ and beloved son of God. I've often smiled at the thought of the famous story of his wife, Ruth, who was asked if she ever considered divorcing Billy Graham and replied with such humor and wit, "Divorce? No.... Murder? Yes!" Thank God for the grace that all of us need--even Billy and Ruth Graham.
 
In my own spiritual journey into full time ministry, as I poured over the stories and accounts of spiritual leaders and fathers in the faith, I was deeply moved by a story of Billy Graham's frustration with the fruitfulness of his ministry before the famous Las Angeles crusade that seemed to launch a fresh season of ministry. A couple of elderly saints, passionate women of prayer, spoke to him and prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit and fervently prayed for the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in his meetings, as the story goes. The legacy of souls saved and lives changed through the power of prayer and the move of the Spirit is life-long testimony to his desperate dependence upon God alone for the fruitfulness of his life of ministry. He humbly reflected that prayer made the way for any success he had.
 
I had the wonderful honor of preaching one time in the little chapel at the Billy Graham retreat center called The Grove in North Carolina during our spirtual retreat with my mentor in prayer, Margaret Therkelsen. Seeing the old photos and reading all the stories on the walls that weekend moved me to tears in a way that something stirred deeply in my spirit. I felt the same when I was so blessed to spend the night in the bedroom of Evan Roberts, the evangelist of the Welsh Revival, in his childhood home in south Wales. There's something that can move us and inspire us when we honor those who have gone before us, when we welcome and embrace that same Spirit that moved in their hearts to move in our hearts, and when we lay down our lives for that same Spirit with that same message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to flow through us as it did through them. We honor our mothers and fathers of the faith, that their legacy may live on and the work of Your Spirit may continue. 
 
This day, I honor and esteem the life and ministry of Rev. Billy Graham. And I recommit my life to fulfill the ministry You've entrusted to me and are unfolding before me. Lord, give me grace to seek to live it out in humility and honor, in a legacy of integrity, desperately dependent upon You alone. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



My friend, I pray you're inspired by the spiritual leaders and fathers in the faith who have gone before us, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill your calling and ministry in the ways the Lord sends you just as He sent them, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 



Living in the Freedom and Authority of a Spirit-filled Life!
 

 

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, February 21, 2018


Morning by Morning, February 21 - Great Expectations for "Great Exploits"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my spirit, Lord; I'm listening. ...

"The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. And those of the people who understand shall instruct many" (Daniel 11:32-33 NKJV). 

Even in the darkest, most challenging of times, You will have a people who know You and are growing in knowledge of You, a people who understand Your ways and are growing in understanding of Your ways. These are the ones with great expectations for "great exploits"--for great adventures of faith in a faithless generation, for great encounters with the living God in the midst of a lifeless, godless generation. These are the ones who will experience Your "great power" because of Your "great grace" in measures we've yet to see in the authority of Your name and power of Your love (Acts 4:33).  

Lord, I want to be a part of all You're doing. I want to take my place in the unfolding of Your eternal plans. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, here on earth and here in me. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Fill me up, mighty Holy Spirit. I am a child of God by the grace of God. So my Father God, I embrace with faith and great expectations the great exploits You will do through me in the name of Your Son and the power of Your Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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



My Friend, I pray you're anointed and empowered with great expectations to do great exploits, secure in the knowledge of our God and growing in the understanding of His ways for His glory in His His time, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 



Living in the Freedom and Authority of a Spirit-filled Life!
 


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, February 20, 2018


Morning by Morning, February 20 - "Sharing in the Spirit"


Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen up for Your leading.  ...


"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete:  be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:1-5).

When we're "sharing in the Spirit," we're sharing in the mind and heart and nature of Christ Jesus. We don't insist on our own way; but instead, we yield to Your way. We don't "look out for number one;" but instead, we look up to the One who is always giving, always loving, always seeking to build up others to help them see themselves in the way You see them. And when we're "sharing in the Spirit," we're sharing in Your joy so that our joy is made complete.

Lord, convict me of my self-centeredness, convict me of my selfishness, and awaken within me a heart of selflessness. Let that same mind be in me that was in Christ Jesus, who "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross" (v. 2:8). Let that same Spirit be in me that led You and empowered You to lay down Your life in love for the sake of others.

I know I have far to go to truly have that kind of selfless and humble desire. But I welcome You to keep putting Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to align my will with Your will and my ways with Your ways, a little more each day. When I'm "sharing in the Spirit," I'm allowing Your Spirit to keep changing my spirit from the inside out, as You continue Your faithful work and purposeful plan of conforming me into Your image (Romans 8:28). Lord, have Your way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My Friend, I pray you're being conformed into the image of the Son of God, sharing in His Spirit and growing in His nature, a little more each day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 


Living in the Freedom and Authority of a Spirit-filled Life!
 


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, February 16, 2018

Morning by Morning, February 16 - Empowered to Do Good

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are worthy of it all--all my heart and mind and soul and strength, O Lord, my God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ... 

"Then Peter began to speak to them:  'I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. You know the message He sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses to all that He did both in Judea and in Jerusalem" (Acts 10:34-39). 

Anointed "with the Holy Spirit and with power," You "went about doing good" everywhere the Father sent You, as You walked this earth as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man living in compete communion with the living God. "Being born in human likeness" and "being found in human form," You are our Model and Mentor, for the Spirit-filled life lived out by a child of God (Philippians 2:7). You were fully yielded to the will and ways of God, doing what You saw the Father doing, speaking what You heard the Father speaking, always available and completely empowered to go about doing good with the heart of God. 

Anoint me today with Your Holy Spirit and with power. Empower me and send me to go about doing good, with the authority of Your name and nature of Your heart. As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to me and every one of Your disciples in every generation:  "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses (wherever I send you)" (Acts 1:8). Lord, let it be so in me today and every day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My Friend, I pray you are anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit of the Living God, to go about doing good as a witness and disciple of Jesus Christ in the authority of His name and nature of His heart, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

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.


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

 

Living in the Freedom and Authority of a Spirit-filled Life!
 

https://www.amazon.com/Free-Like-Jesus-Revised-3rd/dp/1975922581/ref=dp_ob_title_bk


 

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, February 15, 2018


Morning by Morning, February 15 - "Where is the God of Elijah?"

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your light shine in my heart and through my life today.  ... "

(Elisha) picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, 'Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?'" When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, 'The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha'" (2 Kings 2:13-15). 

The "spirit of Elijah" was the Holy Spirit of the Living God that rested upon him and moved in power through him (1 Kings 18:46). The "mantle" of Elijah was the extension and expression of Your authority that You chose to release in Your power through his life to accomplish Your purposes according to Your will. And the "God of Elijah" is the same Lord our God who is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). 

The same Holy Spirit that parted the waters before Elijah and before Elisha and before Moses before them is the same Holy Spirit that parts the waters before us today. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Holy Spirit that lives and abides and abounds to move in the power and authority of the Lord our God through our lives to accomplish Your purposes according to Your will (Romans 8:11). 

When we cry out, "Where is the God of Elijah? Where is the God of Elisha and Moses, of David and Abraham, of Deborah and Esther, of Peter and Paul and James and John?" You say, "I AM--I AM here with you, I AM here upon you, I AM here within you. And in the power of My grace, I will accomplish My purposes and My will through your life. I AM the God of Elijah and I AM the God of every one of My children in every generation who love Me and who are called according to My purpose."  ... 

Yes, Lord. You are I AM (Exodus 3:14). And You are here (Matthew 28:20). Here I am, Lord; send me in the power and authority of Your Spirit to fulfill Your purposes according to Your will through my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My friend, I pray you are anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit of the Living God, who is with you and upon you and within you, to fulfill the Lord's purposes according His will through you life today, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

 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.


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
  
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, February 14, 2018


Morning by Morning, February 14 - A Day of Love
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're my Savior and the Lover of my soul.  ...
"I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
We love You because You first loved us. We give our hearts to You as Savior and Lord because You've given Your heart to us our Creator and King--as the God who is love and created us for a personal relationship of love with You and with one another (1 John 4:19).
On this day, we celebrate love and call it Valentine's Day. And this year it also falls on the day we call Ash Wednesday, marking the forty-day journey to the cross. Both are a day of love, a day to celebrate Your gift of love--for us and for one another. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17 NKJV).
As we celebrate love today, let us celebrate Your love for us with a deeper surrender of our heart and our love to You and let that pour out in love to those around us. "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us.... So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them" (1 John 4:10-16). Lord, let Your love abide in me today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




Friend, I pray you will be filled with a deep sense of God love's for you and allow His love to pour out of you today and every day, as you abide in Him and His love, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. Happy Valentine's Day! God bless you, my friend! 

 

My friend, 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.

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
  
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, February 13, 2018

Morning by Morning, February 13 - Finding Favor in the Ways of the Lord
 Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, my God and King, come have Your way in my heart and life today.  ... "Moses said to the Lord, 'See, You have said to me, 'Bring up this people'; but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' Now if I have found favor in Your sight, show me Your ways, so that I may know You and find favor in Your sight....' He said, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' And he said to Him, 'If Your Presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people, unless You go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and Your people, from every people on the face of the earth.' The Lord said to Moses, 'I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name'" (Exodus 33:12-17). I thank You, Lord, that You know me by name, that Your Presence is always with me wherever I go, that I have found favor in Your sight, that I am one among Your people who are distinct from all other people on the face of the earth--not because of anything I've done, but all because of what You've done for me, not because of who I am apart from You, but because of who You are within me. So show me Your ways and empower me to walk in them. Show me Your Presence and remind me I'm never apart from You. You've blessed me and favored me, You know me by name and go with me to live out my destiny in the security of my identity as a child of God. I've found favor with You because You found me, because You've lavished Your mercy and grace upon me, and because You've called me Your own. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays




My Friend, I pray you walk in the ways of the Lord, embraced by His Presence every day, having found favor in Him as the child of God you are, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

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.


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
  
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, February 12, 2018


Morning by Morning, February 12 - Before Me and Behind Me, Always With Me
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, here with me now and in every moment of my day.  ...
"For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (Isaiah 52:12).
You're the God who goes before me. You're the God who comes behind me. You're the God who's always with me, even within me--never leaving me, never forsaking me, but forever seeing me, knowing me, and understanding me, even with all my quirks and needs, even with all my sins and failures. You're the God who created me and loves me and has plans for me that will come to pass, all in Your way and all in Your time. You are God and You are good and You are a good God to me.
So I don't have to worry about what lies ahead, and I don't have to worry about what's left behind. You've already been there, just like You'll always be there. My part is to simply trust in You and embrace Your mercy and love for me. As I do, there's joy in the journey and anticipation in the adventure; there's peace in every step and there's hope in every challenge. You've already gone before me and You remind me every day it's a good place You've prepared and set before me (John 14:1-3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My Friend, I pray for great joy in your journey, anticipation in the adventure, peace in every step, and hope in every challenge, knowing the love and Presence of our good God who goes before you and behind you and always with you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

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.


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
  
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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