Monday, October 01, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 1 - "Take Heart"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Align my heart with Your heart, my thoughts with Your thoughts, as I look and listen for Your leading.  ...
 
"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 NLT).
 
Our peace is in You. It's not the peace of appeasement or the peace of compromise with what's true and what's right. It's not the peace of the world that tries to goes along to get along at any cost. It's a peace that can only come as we look to the One who is our "Prince of Peace" -- our "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
 
As You said, it's not a peace without "many trials and sorrows," without many challenges and battles, without many hurts and heartbreaks. But You are with us through it all, reminding us that You have already overcome it all. And as we keep looking to You, trusting in You, You cause it all to work together for good when it's all said and done (Romans 8:28).
 
We're not overcomers unless we've overcome something. We don't have a testimony unless we've been tested. We can't be more than conquerors unless we've had something to conquer. That's how You develop Your character in us. That's how we "take heart" and boldly proclaim our hard-fought, fire-tested hope with the confidence and integrity of Your Word through every challenge we face in our broken and fallen world:  "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love" (Romans 5:3-5).
 
By the power of Your grace, I will "take heart" through it all because I've entrusted my heart to You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My friend, I pray you "take heart" in the peace of the "Prince of Peace" through every challenge you face, letting the Holy Spirit develop God's character in You, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
 
      

Friends, I'm excited to be sharing a message of hope and healing at the First Wednesday Service of Worship and Prayer at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus in San Antonio this coming Wednesday Night, October 3, at 7pm. All are welcome!



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, September 28, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 28 - Free to Express Both Fury and Hope
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Give me right heart, a right spirit, as I begin my day trusting in You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...
 
A psalm of David -- in his frustration and fury at the ways of the world around him and of those with the power and influence over him -- comes to my mind this morning, as I reflect on the events of these days. You give us permission to fully express our thoughts and feelings to You without varnish or veneer; and then You give us invitation to turn it all over to You, into the hands of the One who is the only Judge who really matters: 
 
"Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; 
give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. 
From You let my vindication come; 
let Your eyes see the right.
 
If You try my heart, if You visit me by night, 
if You test me, You will find no wickedness in me; 
my mouth does not transgress. 
As for what others do, by the word of Your lips 
I have avoided the ways of the violent. 
My steps have held fast to your paths; 
my feet have not slipped.
 
I call upon You, for You will answer me, O God; 
incline Your ear to me, hear my words. 
Wondrously show Your steadfast love, 
O Savior of those who seek refuge 
from their adversaries at Your right hand.
 
Guard me as the apple of the eye; 
hide me in the shadow of Your wings, 
from the wicked who despoil me, 
my deadly enemies who surround me.
They close their hearts to pity; 
with their mouths they speak arrogantly. 
They track me down; now they surround me; 
they set their eyes to cast me to the ground. 
They are like a lion eager to tear, 
like a young lion lurking in ambush.
 
Rise up, O Lord, confront them, overthrow them! 
By Your sword deliver my life from the wicked, 
from mortals-by your hand, O Lord-
from mortals whose portion in life is in this world. 
May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them; 
may their children have more than enough; 
may they leave something over to their little ones.
 
As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; 
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness" (Psalm 17).
 
Our true enemies and our true battles are not against human flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness that seek to steal, kill, and destroy every dimension of our lives and all that is good in our world (Ephesians 6:12; John 10:10). So "the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Our mighty weapons are things like humility, repentance, prayer, patience and perseverance in the face of cruelty and injustice, thanksgiving, worship, faith, hope, and love -- all in the power of Your grace to call on Your name and entrust ourselves to "the One who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23).
 
Lord, let it be so in me. Let it be so in my land. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My friend, I pray you are free to fully express all your thoughts and feelings to the One who loves you and is always for you and will never let anything separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, no matter what you endure on your journey of faith through this broken and fallen world, 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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Thursday, September 27, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 27 - Exposing the Truth by the Spirit of Truth
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is the name above every name (Philippians 2:9). And I declare Your name over every area of my life and every moment of my day. I declare Your power and authority over me and my world, as I seek to live out this day under Your lordship and will.  ...
 
"When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:11).
 
Holy Spirit, You are "the Spirit of truth" and You "guide (us) into all the truth (John 16:13). You bring all things out into the light to expose the works of darkness and reveal the intentions of the heart. "Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore what (we) have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what (we) have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops" (Luke 12:2-3). Come have Your way in my heart and in my land, and even at the highest levels of the governmental authorities of our nation.
 
As darkness is exposed and truth is revealed, Father God, let Your Holy Spirit fill the minds and mouths of every child of God with the right words to set things right. "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne" (Psalm 89:14). Let righteousness and justice be affirmed in our hearts and as the rule of law in our land.
 
With truth in our mouths and the One who is the Truth in our hearts  -- all by the power of Your grace and the mercy of Your love -- may we seek to live each day before our God and the eyes of our world "blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation in which (we) shine like stars in the world ... holding fast to the word of life" (Philippians 2:14-16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 

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




My friend, I join with you in prayer for you and for all who will speak their voice in truth by the leading of the Holy Spirit, that righteousness and justice may have its way in our hearts and in our land, in Jesus' name! 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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Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 25 - A Voice for All Victims -- Whether Wrongfully Abused or Wrongfully Accused
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and every moment of my day, as I live and move and have my being in You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer commit to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper" (Genesis 39:20-23).
 
Joseph was wrongfully accused of sexual assault. His integrity and honor were questioned. His good name was slandered. And the one who claimed to be the victim and survivor was lying to cover up her deeper motives and advance her own agenda (v. 6-18). But he was judged and condemned by the mere accusation alone, with his life forever changed (v. 19).
 
You're a God who hates violence and abuse of any kind. You heal the brokenhearted and save the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). You're an Advocate who speaks up for us and an Activist who does something about the injustice You see, as You seek to set things right in the righteousness of Your will and Your ways (Palm 17). And at the same time, You're a God who hates lies and deceit, cover-ups and smears. "These are the things that you should do:  Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord" (Zechariah 8:16-17).
 
But even in the prison of all Joseph was made to endure, You were with him (Genesis 39:23). Even through the injustice and slander, You "showed him steadfast love (and) gave him favor" (v. 21). Even when his world was falling apart from the perspective of this world, You stood by him and even prospered him (v. 23). You weren't wasting a moment of his sufferings to prepare him to yet accomplish through him exceedingly, abundantly far more than he could ever ask or imagine (Genesis 41:57). You turned around all that was intended for evil in his life and used it all for great good in his life and all the lives You would touch through him for many generations to come (v. 50:20).
 
Lord, give voice to the victims -- whether wrongfully abused or wrongfully accused. And bring all things out of darkness and into Your light. When it's in the light, it's a fair fight. Then You can set things right, for "righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before You" (Psalm 89:14). And no matter what comes or how long it takes, You will always bring good out of it -- no matter the source or the motive of it -- for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.



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




My friend, I join with you in prayer for the voice of every victim to be heard, whether wrongfully abused or wrongfully accused, and that the Lord our God would set things right and work it all together for good, in Jesus' name! 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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Monday, September 24, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 24 - Joyful Journey "from the Heart"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I surrender to Your name and Your nature. Come have Your way in me this day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...
 
"What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves to sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:15-18).
 
I'm no longer a slave to sin. You've broken those chains and opened those bars to set me free. "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). It's not that I no longer sin -- sadly -- but it's that no longer have to be in bondage to it, enslaved by it, bound up, locked up and left for dead in the dark of it. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set (me) free from the law of sin and death!" (Romans 8:2)
 
You've set me free to be obedient to You "from the heart" because You've changed my heart. It' not "from my head" or "from my will-power" or "from my trying so hard with all my might not to do the things I really wish I could do and get away with it if You weren't always with me." No, it's "from the heart." You've created in me a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). And every day I keep opening my heart to You, You keep creating in me a clean heart and renewing a right spirit within me (Philippians 1:6).
 
Now every day, I'm free to live for righteousness instead of sinfulness -- not because You're making me but because I want to -- "from the heart." Your Spirit at work within me is giving me Your right desires to live in the might of Your power "from the heart" You've given me.
 
I know I have a long way to go. But I know I'm on the journey, as You keep changing my heart and my desires. As it turns out, the freedom You've given me to join with You on this journey of obedience is a very joyful journey. As You said long ago:  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. I have said these things to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:10-11). This is my joyful journey of obedience in You "from the heart" You've given me and keep giving me every step along the way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My friend, I pray you're filled with joy on your journey of obedience with Jesus, living from the clean heart and right spirit the Lord has created and is renewing in you every step along the way, 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, September 21, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 21 - The Day of Our Breakthrough is Here!
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're my Rock, my Refuge, and my Strong Tower. I'm safe and secure in You, as I begin my day in confidence and faith, looking to You first above all else.  ...
 
"Before she was in labor she gave birth; before the pain came upon her she delivered a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such a thing? Shall a land be born in a day? Shall a nation be delivered in one moment? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor she delivered her children. Shall I open the womb and not deliver? says the Lord; shall I, the One who delivers, shut the womb? says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her -- that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom!" (Isaiah 66:7-11)
 
My Father God, I thank You for every promise of Your Word and every promise You've spoken to me by Your Spirit. So many have been fulfilled and yet so many are still in the process of being fulfilled -- all in Your way and all in Your time. You're the God who makes all things beautiful in Your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And "in the fullness of time" according to Your purposes and plans, You bring to pass every word and promise You've made to me and all Your children (Galatians 4:4).
 
This morning as I wait on the leading of Your Holy Spirit, I am stirred with an expectant faith. I think of how Paul said he was expectant and pregnant to see the purposes of God formed and fulfilled in the people of God, like a woman in the travail of labor (Galatians 4:19). I believe there are things in Your heart You are birthing and bringing forth in our world, here in our day. There are things we've longed to see, trying to wait patiently in faith, that we will suddenly see in the breakthroughs of a moment, even in the "now" of our moments today.
 
Lord, let my faith awaken! Let my faith arise! My faith is in You, my hope is in You; and I'm excited to see what You will do!
 
As I pray, I hear Your Spirit forming a song of expectant faith in my heart:
 
My faith is in You!
My hope is in You!
And I am so excited to see what You will do!
 
Come in Your power!
Come in Your glory!
Come in Your faithfulness and make all Your promises come true!
 
May Your faithful ones arise!
May Your prayerful ones arise!
May Your expectant ones arise!
Arise and shine in the light of Your love
Arise and shine in the word of Your truth
Arise and shine for the day of our breakthrough is here!
 
Yes, Lord. Let this be the day of our breakthrough. Do in a day what we've prayed a lifetime to receive. Do in a day what generations have longed to see. Stir up our faith -- expectant faith in You and expectant faith to believe the day of our breakthrough is here! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

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




My friend, I pray you are stirred expectant faith for the day of your breakthrough, 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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Thursday, September 20, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 20 - Dressed and Ready
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You, as I listen for Your voice and wait for the leading of Your Spirit.  ...
 
"Be dressed for action and have your lamps; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he come during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves" (Luke 12:35-38).
 
One day You will return in Your glory to the earth at Your second coming (Matthew 16:27; Acts 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:11). And every day between now and then, You want to come in Your glory into my heart (Colossians 1:27; Revelation 3:20). So even as I long for the coming of the day of the Lord in the earth, give me a longing for the coming of the Lord of this day in my heart. And as I'm longing, let me also be preparing for Your coming, "dressed for action" with my lamp lit -- dressed and ready, secure in my identity and fulfilling my destiny.
 
I'm Your servant -- "a slave of Christ" who has been "bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 7:22-23). And at the same time, I'm Your son -- a son of God and "joint heir with Christ" (Romans 8:17). As Your servant and Your son, I'm called to be ready for Your coming, ready for Your leading, willing and available for Your service. Dressed for action with my lamp lit, may I be "found faithful" when You come in Your glory in the sky; and at the same time, may I be "found faithful" as You come in Your glory in my heart today (1 Corinthians 4:2 NKKV). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My Friend, I pray you are dressed and ready, prepared for the coming of the Lord as a servant of God and a child of God, faithfully secure in your identity and fulfilling your destiny, 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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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Morning by Morning, September 19 - "Sow to the Spirit" for Good Harvest
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- You are One and You are here with me. I worship You and welcome You into my thoughts, my desires, and my day, as I entrust them all to You, my Lord and my God.  ...
 
"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith" (Galatians 6:7).
 
As it turns out, how I spend my time, how I speak my words, how I invest my resources, how I live out the moments of my days that I have here on this side eternity have eternal consequences. I praise You for Your mercy and grace that I never have to earn or work for my salvation -- "for by grace (I) have been saved through faith, and this is not (my) doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast;" but at the same time, "(I am) what He has made (me), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be (my) way of life" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
 
Even our "good works" that follow and flow out of our salvation -- the very seed You give us to sow, as well as the desire and the power to sow it and grow it -- is all by Your grace, inspired and empowered by Your Spirit at work within us. "For it is God who is at work in (us), enabling (us) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12). Even when I'm sowing the "good works" of prayer, it's by Your grace and the leading of Your Spirit. "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 8:26-27).
 
Our part is to participate with You. Our part is offer ourselves as willing vessels for Your light to shine through us and Your love to flow through us. That's the good seed we sow and the good works we do, deliberately choosing to align ourselves with Your will to fulfill Your purposes prepared beforehand to be our way of life, to produce the good harvest of the good fruit that comes from Your grace flowing through our lives. You continue to speak to Your disciples and sowers of Your seeds of every generation: "Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.... Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing.... My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples" (John 15:4-8).
 
Father God, in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, give me grace today to "sow to the Spirit" and not "sow to (my) own flesh." Let Your priorities become my priorities, Your thoughts become my thoughts, Your desires become my desires. Let me see what You're doing and hear what You're saying so I can follow and participate in Your leading (Romans 8:14). I pray for Your good seed to produce a good harvest that pleases You this day, in Jesus' name. Amen.

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




My friend, I pray you the Holy Spirit inspires and empowers you to sow good seed that produces a good harvest that please our Father today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
 


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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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