Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 20 - Humility before Honor
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the ways that lead to life in You today.  ...
 
"James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.' And He said to them, 'What is it you want Me to do for you?' And they said to Him, 'Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your glory.' But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?'" (Mark 10:35-38)
 
James and John wanted the place of honor. They wanted to sit at Your right and Your left in Your glory. You had just told them about the gory--how You would soon be mocked and spit upon and tortured to death--but they wanted to hear about the glory (v. 33-34). Specifically, they wanted to hear about their glory--their glory sharing in Your glory.
 
They wanted to know about the honor before knowing about the humility. But in the ways of Your kingdom, humility goes before honor:  "Let this same mind by in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore god also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11).
 
We look at these disciples and judge them for their arrogance and presumption and pride. But should we take the log out of our own eyes before trying to take the speck out of theirs? In these days of greater revelation of our son-ship and adoption as beloved children of God, do we also find ourselves insisting upon the place of honor without first taking the place of humility? Do we also presume upon our rights and privileges to bask in Your glory without also being willing to embrace our part to share in the fellowship of Your sufferings? Or do we forget the invitation of Your Word, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:10-11)?
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Let this mind be in me that was in Christ Jesus. Lead me to the place of humility, that I many receive the place of honor chosen for me. By the power of the grace of God my Father, may I drink of the cup and embrace the baptism You've chosen for me on my spiritual journey to be conformed to the nature of Christ (Romans 8:29). You have blessed me-- along with all Your disciples, along with all the children of God--with glory and honor, with inheritance and favor; but You've also blessed me with the invitation to die to myself and surrender my life into the fullness of Your will by the means You choose to make me more like You every day (Luke 22:42; 1 John 4:17).
 
As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to say to me and to every disciple:  "If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:34-38). 
 
Before the place of honor comes the place of humility. "When we cry, 'Abba! Father! It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:15-17). 
 
Lord Jesus, slay my pride and crucify my flesh. Give me the grace to follow You in the place of humility that I may embrace You in the place of honor. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


 
My Friend, I pray you experience the fullness of every honor Your Father has for you as a child of God, as you walk in humility of heart to surrender Your will to His on the past His chosen for you to make you more like Jesus each day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   

Friends, please come join us this weekend (March 23-24, 2018) at the Francis Asbury Society Headquarters in Wilmore, Kentucky just outside Lexington for the Kingdom Glory Conference, hosted by Voice of Joy Ministries. I'll be speaking on Friday Morning and Friday Night on Kingdom Authority and Kingdom Power. Come if you can and spread the word!
 

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

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Monday, March 19, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 19 - The Road to Jerusalem
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...
 
"As Jesus and the people with Him were on the road to Jerusalem, He was leading the way. His followers were amazed, but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and began to tell them what was about to happen in Jerusalem. He said, 'Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and teachers of the law. They will say that He must die, and they will turn Him over to the non-Jewish people, who will laugh at Him and spit on Him. They will beat Him with whips and crucify Him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again" (Mark 10:32-34).
 
The road to Jerusalem is a hard road. "For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:14). But You're the One who's "leading the way."
 
The road to Jerusalem was a road that promised suffering, rejection, and death. But it also promised resurrection life. It was a picture of a journey of obedience and faith for the sake of something so much better that would make every challenge and sacrifice worth it all for all that was to come. "For the sake of the joy that was set before (You), (You) endured the cross, disregarding its shame" (Hebrews 12:2). So the road to Jerusalem was not just the road to suffering and shame, it also became the road to joy.
 
Jesus, lead the way on my road to Jerusalem. Give me grace to endure and overcome all I'll encounter on the way, even as You give me the confidence of hope and assurance of faith that in the end You will raise me up to the fullness of life in you (John 11:25-26).
 
 "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing (me) for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, (so I) look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). In the same way, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory about to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).  
 
Just as Your joy was set before You on Your journey to the cross along the road to Jerusalem, so is mine.  And in the power of Your grace, my road to Jerusalem is my road to joy. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


 
My friend, I pray you allow Jesus to lead the way on your road to Jerusalem, enduring and overcoming all your encounter along the way, looking to Jesus and the fullness of His joy He has set before you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   


 

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

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Friday, March 16, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 16 - Never Neglecting So Great a Salvation
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of all I am and all I do this day.  ...
 
"This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of His call and will fulfill by His power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12).
 
We must behold both the kindness and the severity of God. "So do not become proud, but stand in awe.... Note then the kindness and the severity of God:  severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness toward you, provided you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off" (Romans 11:20-22). It's Your heart to be merciful and kind, full of mercy and love; yet it's our responsibility to respond and embrace the kindness of Your mercy and grace. 
 
There are consequences--eternal consequences--for our choices. You are "not willing that any should perish, but all to come to repentance," yet we must be willing to humble ourselves to receive and embrace Your salvation through the means You've provided though Your sacrifice of love (2 Peter 3:9). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved though Him. Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but hose who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:16-18).
 
Let me never take my salvation for granted. I've received it at great cost. "For in (Jesus Christ) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and though Him 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 1:19-20). May I live each day in gratitude of Your grace, "looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endure such hostility against Himself from sinners, so that (we) many not grow weary or lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3).
 
So many of my mornings in the intimacy of the communion of prayer with You, You give me a deep sense of Your presence and love. This morning, it seems You're also reminding me that that this intimacy with You came at great cost. It's honoring of Your sacrifice to see Your kindness in light of Your severity, Your mercy in light of Your judgment, and Your salvation of eternal life for all who believe in light the Your "punishment of eternal destruction" for all who do not. By the grace of God, may I honor You and Your sacrifice for me to never "neglect so great a salvation" (Hebrews 2:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

 
My friend, I pray you embrace with great joy the fullness of your salvation through God's sacrifice of love for you in Jesus Christ, never taking for granted and never neglecting so great a salvation, in Jesus' name! May you share that good news in every opportunity the Lord provides. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

   


 

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

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Thursday, March 15, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 15 - I'm Already Home
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I've come to meet with You in our morning place in the deep communion of prayer--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...
 
"So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him" (2 Corinthians 5:6-9).
 
Here on earth, here in this earthly dimension of time and space where time unfolds chronologically, day by day, I'm here at my physical home in Texas. But at the same time, I also live in another dimension, in the heavenly dimension of Your Presence, where I also already have a spiritual home in Christ. It's in that heavenly dimension, which is just as real as this earthly dimension, that Your Word is fulfilled that You have "made us alive together with Christ--by grace (we) have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5-6). I'm here on earth in one dimension, but I'm also up there seated with You in another dimension. It's in that heavenly dimension that Your Word is fulfilled that already God "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3). 
 
In that heavenly dimension, all of this is already done, it's already finished, it's already accomplished and completed. It's an eternal dimension, not limited by chronological time and space. And in Christ, I'm already a part of that heavenly dimension, as I abide in Christ and Christ abides in me (John 15:5). In that heavenly dimension, I already have a spiritual home, I'm already abiding forever in Your Presence, I'm already home.
 
So here on earth, in this earthly dimension from my physical home, You invite me to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). And the more I allow You to align my will with Your will, my thoughts with Your thoughts, my heart with Your heart, there more my prayer is being answered as Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, here on earth, here in me and my world, as it is in heaven.
 
Just as You promised Your first disciples long ago, You continue to promise me and every one of Your disciples today:  "In My Father's house here are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). That's not just a place to go when I die, that's a place in You that You've already prepared for me now--the place of Your Presence, where I'm already home. 
 
Thank You, Jesus. You have "put eternity in (our) hearts" (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NKJV). It's a deep longing to experience and live into the reality of what's already true in the heavenly realm forever here in the everyday lives or our earthly realm today. "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.... He who has prepared us for his very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). Give me grace to live into this eternal reality more every day. Give me grace to embrace the truth that in You, I'm already home. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

 
My Friend, I pray you grow in the grace of embracing God's truth that you are already home in Christ, and may you live into this reality more every day, where God already has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Friends, I'd appreciate your prayers as I continue to put together a book along these lines based upon the Scriptures to be called "The Eternal Dimension."  It will address applications of these spiritual truths and principles for healing prayer ministry and personal transformation. Thank you and God bless you!

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, March 14, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 14 - Lead Me in Your Ways

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, I welcome You into every moment of my day and every dimension of my life.  ...
 
"Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth, and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all day long" (Psalm 25:4-5).
 
As I wait on You, I hear Your Spirit moving deeply within my spirit to sing a new song of surrender and trust--
 
Lead me and teach me Your ways,
See me in the light of Your rays.
I need You and all of Your grace,
So lead me every step of the way.
 
Yes, Lord. I do need You to lead me. If I make my plans apart from Your will, if I take my steps off of Your path, I know that way leads to far less that all You have for me in Your way. 
 
"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His decrees... Who are they that fear the Lord? He will teach them the way that they should choose. They will abide in prosperity, and their children shall possess the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes His covenant known to them" (v. 8-14).
 
Help me learn to be more humble--more desperately dependent upon You each day, more hungry to hear Your voice, to sense Your Presence, to trust and obey Your leading in Your ways. You oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble; and when we humble ourselves in Your sight, You lift us up and lead us on into the fullness of Your grace and the security of Your ways (James 4:6-10). 
 
That's what I need. And by the power of Your grace at work within me, that's what I receive. Lord, put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me in Your paths and Your ways today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

 
My friend, I pray you humbly and passionately follow the leading of the Lord--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God--in His paths of His ways and His best for your life 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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Thursday, March 08, 2018

Morning by Morning, March 8 - Overcoming by God's All-Sufficient Grace
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
 
Whenever I feel sick, You are my Healer. Whenever I feel discouraged, You are my Encourager. Whenever I feel attacked, You are my Defender. Whenever feel weary, You are my Strength. You're with me through it all and none of that have the last word over me.  The power of Your Presence dwelling in me is all I need to endure until I overcome in Your all-sufficient grace.
 
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:36). "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:57)
 
Lord, as You know, I haven't felt well for several days. But You've been with me through it all, standing by my side and abiding in my heart. You're already taken upon Yourself everything that would try to take hold of me, that I could be healed and whole and free (Isaiah 53:4-6 fulfilled by Christ in Matthew 8:17). So by the power of Your grace at work within me, I come into agreement and alignment with Your Word that will not return void and will accomplish Your good will for me (Isaiah 55:11). Your will and Your plans for me are always good (Jeremiah 29:11). So I thank You now for what You've already done and all these good things of Your good will that I will see come to pass (Mark 11:24). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

 
My Friend, I pray you are strengthened and encouraged, healed and free, thanking God now for all He has done and will help you to see and embrace in His good will for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

I'm sorry to have missed sending out my daily prayer devotionals for several days. I write these and send them out fresh from my morning prayer time each when I'm able. Last weekend I was away leading a spiritual retreat and then started feeling bad for several days, but the the Lord is healing me. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for joining with me in this daily journey!



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 28, 2018

Morning by Morning, February 28 - Knowing Both the Word of God and the Power of God
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart and the ears of my spirit, as I begin my day seeking Your face and embracing Your presence.  ...
 
"Jesus said to them, 'Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?" (Mark 12:24)
 
Lord, give me a deeper hunger to know Your Word and experience Your power. Let the Word of God be my authority and the power of God be my testimony. As it was with Your first followers, let it be also with me:  "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs" (Mark 16:20 NKJV).
 
Let me have no part in the powerless, life-less form of Christianity Your Word says will come in the last days when some who will claim to be Your followers will insist on "holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:1). Your Word exposes this is as a "counterfeit faith" taught by those who "oppose the truth" (2 Timothy 3:8). 
 
But You are the Truth, and Your ways are the only Way that leads to the Life we can only have in You (John 14:6). And Your ways are grounded in Your Word and confirmed by Your power. "The Word of God is living and powerful" (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV). So let Your Word and Your power come alive and thrive in me and my life. By the power of Your grace at work within me, may I be found faithful to be one of Your true followers who knows both the Scriptures and the power of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

 
My Friend, I pray you know both the Word of God and the power of God in your life and everywhere you go to share the message of hope and love through Jesus Christ, 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 27, 2018

Morning by Morning, February 27 - "Christ Lives in You"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me and empower me to be more like You today.  ... 

"This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God's people.... And this is the secret:  Christ lives in you" (Colossians 1:26-27 NLT). 

Come live in me, Lord Jesus Christ. You came into my heart on the day I was saved, when Your Holy Spirit filled my human spirit and I came alive in rebirth as a child of God. And at the same time, You want so much more--not just for You to be in my heart, but for my heart to become like Your heart; not just a moment on my spiritual calendar, but a moment by moment spiritual journey of a lifetime.  

As You are, so am I to be in this world (1 John 4:17). Your Spirit is at work within me--every moment of every day--making me more like You, conforming me into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). 

And I thank You that it's not by my power, that it doesn't depend upon anything I do or don't do, apart from welcoming You and Your Spirit to be at work within me. I'm not depending on myself or my goodness or my power; I'm "depending on Christ's mighty power that works with me" (Colossians 1:29 NLT). "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT). And I believe one of the things that pleases You the most, my Father God, is when I embrace the desire and the power of Your Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus each day. 

By the power of Your grace and the mercy of Your love, You've put this desire and power to work in my heart through Your Spirit--"that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:19-20 NLT). This is a great secret of faith that I'm finally fully discovering and embracing--"Christ in me, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Lord, let it be so. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

 
My Friend, I pray you embrace the desire and the power of the Holy Spirit of God to be at work within in you, making you more like Jesus every moment of every day, fully knowing this secret of faith without a doubt that "Christ live in you," 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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