Morning by Morning, January 9 - "Sanctify Yourselves" to "Cross Over" into the Promise Land

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin this day well -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit -- here in the deep communion of prayer with You, O Lord my God. ...

 

"Then Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.' To the priests Joshua said, 'Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on in front of the people.' So they took up the ark of the covenant and went in front of the people" (Joshua 3:5-6).

 

To follow the ark of the covenant -- to follow You and embrace Your Presence -- on the journey You've set before us, we must prepare. And we prepare by obeying Your command to wait first before we go forth and "sanctify (ourselves)." Then we will truly experience all the "wonders" You want to do among us and within us.

 

To be sanctified is to be consecrated and set apart as holy unto You. To be sanctified is to be surrendered to Your will and filled with Your Spirit in every area of our lives -- in "spirit and soul and body" that we may be "sanctified entirely" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). You are faithful to bring to completion the good work You have begun in every one of us, and "(You) will do this" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

 

Your Holy Spirit is the One who sanctifies us (Romans 15:15). By 'the sanctifying work of the Spirit (we) obey Jesus Christ and (are) sprinkled with His blood" (1 Peter 1:2). "We should always give thanks to God ... because God has chosen (us) from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

 

We can't enter into the fullness of all You have for us in the promise land of our inheritance in You unless we're willing to first sanctify ourselves. The more we're emptied of ourselves, the more we are filled with You -- "emptied" in the sense of yielding our will to Your will, surrendering our desires to Your desires, dying to self in that sense so that we can be alive to Christ in the fullest sense. "I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another" (Galatians 5:16-17). This is how we are "filled with the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Sanctify me. Crucify my flesh and everything in me that opposes You, "so that I might live to God. 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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20).

 

In his ministry of preparing the way of the Lord, John said, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but One who is more power than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire!" (Matthew 3:11) Just as John was preparing the way of the Lord before Your first coming, so the Holy Spirit is preparing the way of the Lord before Your second coming. Lord Jesus, baptize me in Your Holy Spirit and Your Holy Fire! Sanctify me in Your holy nature, as You crucify my flesh and fill me with Your Spirit!

 

Your Word says to sanctify ourselves before we cross over into the fullness of Your promises; and at the same time, only You can sanctify us. So how do we sanctify ourselves? ...

 

I believe I hear You speaking in my heart:  "You must choose. Choose to die to yourself and be filled with My Spirit. Choose to yield your ways to My ways. Choose to allow Me to form My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart. Choose to come and follow Me into all I have for you."  ...

 

Yes, Lord. You always set before us life or death, blessing or curse, our flesh or Your Spirit. You always give us the opportunity to choose to trust You or not, to believe You know what's best for us or not. So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I do choose to be sanctified. Lord, have Your way in me. Lord, lead me in the way You have for me, into the fullness of my inheritance in You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you choose, as best as you can all by the power of God's grace, to be sanctified and holy, set apart and fully surrendered to the Lord, crucified in your flesh and filled with His Spirit, as you cross over into all He has for you in Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

Friends, I'm excited to be teaching the Healing Academy at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries again this year, the first week of February -- February 3-7, 2020 in Goodlettsville, TN just north of Nashville. Register today and come join us! Please spread to word to anyone who may be interested in this week-long equipping and experience of healing prayer ministry: 

 

Register On-Line for the Week-Long Healing Academy

 

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 - "When ... Then"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and listen for Your voice, Shepherd of my soul (John 10:27). ...

 

"Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set from Acacia Grove to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it" (Joshua 3:1-3 NKJV).

 

When ... then. "When" they saw the ark move, "then" they were to move. They were to "go after it." Just like the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, the ark of the covenant was a manifestation of Your Presence as You led Your people to cross over into all Your promises of their inheritance and Your purposes in them. And so it is with us.

 

Come, Holy Spirit of God. Open my spiritual eyes to see You. Open my spiritual ears to hear You. Give me the patience and the grace to wait upon You until I see You move. Give me the hunger and thirst to "go after it" -- to go after You, to pursue Your Presence and to follow You in the way You set before me. "When" I see You move, "then" I will move. I trust You'll give me the courage and conviction I need to arise and follow You, as You lead me to cross over into all You have for me this New Year, this new decade, this new season.

 

By the power of Your grace at work within me, when You go, I will go; and where You go, I will go. I will go because I know You go with me. I will follow because I know in my spirit You said, "Come, follow Me" (Matthew 4:19). 

 

As I come and go -- as I come follow You, as I go where You lead me -- I want to listen with the increasing spiritual sensitivity that can only come from the place of increasing spiritual intimacy. My grandmother taught me the intimacy of prayer and I often heard her singing her favorite hymn, "He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own." I pray I'd sense You walking with me and talking with me. I pray for deeper intimacy, a deeper awakening and awareness of Your Presence with me always. 

 

"Then" I'll know "when." Then "(my) ears shall hear a word behind (me), saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever I turn to the right hand or whenever I turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:21). Then I shall see when the Pillar of Your Presence arises like a Cloud of Your Glory here within me and the Ark of the Covenant of Your Presence arises to go before me to lead me on the next leg of my journey and into the next season of my adventure of faith in You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you grow in increasing spiritual sensitivity and intimacy to sense and to see the moving of the Lord in your spirit and every area of your life as you follow Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you and Happy New Year, my friend! 

 

Friends, I'm excited to be teaching the Healing Academy at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries again this year, the first week of February -- February 3-7, 2020 in Goodlettsville, TN just north of Nashville. Register today and come join us! Please spread to word to anyone who may be interested in this week-long equipping and experience of healing prayer ministry: 

 

Register On-Line for the Week-Long Healing Academy

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 7 - Follow Me

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Have Your way in me this day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"Early in the morning, Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites, and they came to the Jordan. They camped there before crossing over. At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, 'When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place. Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before...." (Joshua 3:1-4).

 

All that happened to Israel in their physical journey out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the promise land speaks to us of our spiritual journey out of our Egypts, through our wildernesses, and into our promise lands. "These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11).

 

You are our Joshua, our Yeshua -- the Salvation Of God. And just as Joshua instructed the people at Your command to follow the ark of the covenant of the Lord, so You call us to follow You. The ark of the covenant of the Lord spoke of God's Presence among His people, and You are our Ark of the Presence of God among us, our Immanuel -- God With Us.

 

As I begin this New Year, You are leading me to places where I "have not passed this way before." But You already see where I'm going and who I'm going with and how I'll get there and all I'll encounter along the way. You the God who sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end; and You hold all time and space in Your hands -- Your nail-scarred hands (Isaiah 46:10). "For in (You) all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether throne or dominions or rulers or powers -- all things have been created through (You) and for (You)" (Colossians 1:16).

 

Just as Joshua directed the eyes and hearts of the people to the ark of the covenant and said "Follow it," by Your Holy Spirit abiding in us, You lift our eyes and hearts to You to say, "Follow Me" (Matthew 4:19).

 

I've followed You out of my Egypts and into Your salvation. I've followed You through my wildernesses and times of testing and trial, producing in me endurance and faith, correction and discipline, learning to trust and learning to obey. And I've followed You into my promise land of my inheritance in You and the promises of Your Word for me and all the children of God. And on this side of Heaven, it will be a never-ending journey of faith and prayer, of faithfulness and perseverance, of mistakes and forgiveness, of healing and deliverance, of transformation and sanctification, of growing up into the image of Christ, "to a maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.... (to) grow up into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15). As You are, so am I to be in my world (1 John 4:17).

 

But as I journey on, even into places where I've "never passed this way before" on this great adventure of faith and life in You, I'm confident of this -- He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it until the day that Christ returns for His pure and spotless bride, His "glorious church" who has been faithful to come and follow Him (Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 5:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you faithfully follow Jesus everywhere He leads you by His Holy Spirit in you this year, even to the places where you have never passed this way before, as He makes you more like Him each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you and Happy New Year, my friend! 

 

Friends, it's good to be back with you on our journey of prayer. I was away over the holidays with family and am looking forward to joining with you in prayer. I'm sensing a deep expectancy and enthusiasm for great transformation and revival in our hearts and lives as the Body and Bride of Christ this year! God bless you and thank you for joining with me in the journey!

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 6, 2020 - Vessel of Honor

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I begin another year of my daily journey of prayer with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- help me listen for Your leading and walk with You in the Spirit, morning by morning and then moment by moment throughout my day. ...

 

As I listen and wait for the leading this morning, I'm especially listen for Your word for me for this New Year. ...

 

I hear You continuing to speak to my heart of being "a vessel of honor." ...

 

Your written Word to us all comes to mind to confirm Your spoken word to me. ...

 

"In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their sense and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:20-26 NKJV).

 

I'm called to be "a vessel for honor." And while we might tend to think we are created either for honor or dishonor, created of "gold and silver" or of "wood and clay," and that we have no choice or responsibility in the matter other than to acknowledge our sovereignty over all, Your Word emphasizes something else. Your Word says, "If anyone cleanses himself from the latter (from dishonor), he will be a vessel for honor."

 

First, the invitation of Your Word is available to "anyone." Second, the invitation of Your Word is a promise for "anyone (who) cleanses himself." And along with every promise of the Word of God comes the provision of the grace we need to live into Your promise in fulfillment of Your Word. "For God is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).

 

So come, Holy Spirit. Give me the desire and the power to desire and to do what pleases God. Empower me by Your grace to "cleanse (myself) from (dishonor)." Empower me by Your grace to be "sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work."

 

Lord Jesus, You said, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing (John 15:5). But You also promised us Your Presence and Your provision for all we need to become all we're created to be as we abide in deeply personal and intimate relationship with You, saying, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:7-8).

 

Father God, it strikes me that Your Word emphasizes our active participation in the cleansing from dishonor, rather than emphasizing our active participation in making ourselves a vessel for honor:  "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor" (2 Timothy 2:21). We will "be" a vessel for honor as we cleanse ourselves from dishonor. 

 

How do we do this? According to Your Word, we "flee" what is wrong and "pursue" what is right; we "flee" the lusts of the world, the flesh, and the devil, as we "pursue" righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart" -- all as best as we can and all by the power of Your grace (2 Timothy 2:22).

 

Yes, we are saved by grace through faith alone in Christ, not by any works of anything we have done but only by what You have done for us (Ephesians 2:8-9). And at the same time, "we are (Your) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). We're going to heaven when we die, and nothing can snatch us from Your hand of salvation (John 10:28). And at the same time, we are created for so much more than salvation alone. We're created to be vessels of honor, "sanctified and useful to the Master for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21). So we can praise You and thank You for our salvation by the power and mercy and grace of God where "there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). And at the same time, we can embrace Your power and grace to "pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 2:14). "For this is the will of God, (our) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

 

This New Year, may I be changed into Your image, more and more, morning by morning, moment by moment, "from glory to glory," as I behold You in a deeper intimacy and embrace You in a greater awareness of Your Presence (2 Corinthians 3:18). May I be cleansed from every defilement and every dishonor. "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1).

 

By the power of Your grace at work within me, I choose to be Your vessel of honor. I desire to be sanctified and useful to You, my Master, for every good work. Rather than the wood and clay, I choose the silver and gold! Lord, have Your way in me! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be a vessel of honor, like silver and gold formed and shaped in the Master's hands for every good work, secure in your identity to fulfill your destiny in Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you and Happy New Year, my friend! 

Friends, it's good to be back with you on our journey of prayer. I was away over the holidays with family and am looking forward to joining with you in prayer. I'm sensing a deep expectancy and enthusiasm for great transformation and revival in our hearts and lives as the Body and Bride of Christ this year! God bless you and thank you for joining with me in the journey!

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, December 27 - 50 Year Jubilee -- The Year of the Lord's Favor

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"The year of the Lord's favor" (Isaiah 61:2; Luke 4:19 NIV).

 

Today's the 50th birthday for my ministry partner and 30-year friend, Tammy Watts. She says I was her "first real boss" because she came to work for me and our law firm, where she also came to meet and marry another one of my great 30-year friends, Mikal Watts. Whatever she may or may not be doing today or tonight, I join with all those whose lives have been touched and forever changed by the love and joy, the wisdom and passion, and the life-long witness of God's grace that flows so easily and powerfully through her life.

 

The 50th year is the Jubilee Year -- the Year of the Lord's Favor! After every fifty years, the Lord brought deep rest and great restoration, with extravagant freedom and liberty to His people and to their land. "And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you" (Leviticus 25:8-12).

 

The 50th year was the year of great healing for the brokenhearted, liberty for the captives, release for the prisoners, to give them beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and praise for heaviness, so with gratitude and grace the people of God would display the righteousness and mercy of God that He might be glorified (Isaiah 61:1-3). And all of this was ultimately fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18-19).

 

And in Christ, the year of Jubilee continues! There's healing and freedom, rest and restoration, joy and jubilation in Jesus who is our Jubilee!

 

So today I pray Your Jubilee Blessings for my great friend Tammy. She's finished her first fifty years, but You're the God who saves His best wine for last (John 2:10) and the glory of the latter house is always greater than the glory of the former house (Haggai 2:9). So in You, the best is yet to come!

 

And I thank You for Your Jubilee Blessings for all of us who have come to know Your love and receive Your grace through Jesus Christ, our Jubilee! You're the God of extravagant mercy and grace, who does exceedingly abundantly far more than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). So Lord, let this be the Year of the Lord's Favor for Your people in Your exceedingly abundant ways! May we release the Spirit of Jubilee to every life we touch in every place You send us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you experience the Jubilee of Jesus, in all the extravagance of God's mercy and grace in your life and every life He touches through you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you and Happy New Year, my friend! 

And please join with me in wishing Tammy Watts a Happy Jubilee Birthday today! (tammywatts@RaphaGodMinistries.com)

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!