Morning by Morning, January 15 - Crossing Over as Carriers of the Presence of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me on the path You've chosen for me today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan" (Joshua 3:14-17).

 

Before the day of crossing over the Jordan came, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had received a prophetic word. Though Joshua, You had prophesied, "When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap" (Joshua 3:13). This was to be sign to everyone that the Living God was among them on their journey (Joshua 3:10).

 

And on the day of crossing over, when "the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water" Your prophetic word was fulfilled. The waters stood back and the priests walked out into the middle of the Jordan to stand firm on dry ground.

 

Without Your word, the priests would have never stepped out into the waters of the Jordan. But inspired by Your word, they stepped out in faith. Even though they carried with them the most precious cargo on the face of the earth -- the ark of the covenant of the Lord -- they obeyed Your word and stepped out in faith to find Your word was true. You were among them; You were with them; You were teaching them to trust You and obey You with expectant faith that Your word would come to pass. And it did.

 

All that happened to them speaks to us (1 Corinthians 10:11). The ark of the Lord they carried speaks to us of the Presence of the Lord we carry. The Holy Spirit of the Living God is among us. Your Holy Spirit abides within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). We are carriers of Your Presence -- the most precious Cargo on the face of the earth.

 

Even when the waters before us flood and overflow, even when we stand on the edge of the impossible and begin to step out into the places where we can only faith can stand, You call us to remember Your written Word and every prophetic word You have spoken into our hearts. You call us to trust You with expectant faith to step out in committed obedience to find Your word will come to pass, to find You are among us and even within us by Your Spirit, just as You promised (Matthew 28:20).

 

These are the days of the harvest! And at the same time, the waters overflow at the time of the harvest. The wild and dangerous and unpredictable waters can come rushing down before us like a flood that stands between us and our destiny in You. But You call us to cross over anyway. You encourage us by Your Word and inspire us in faith. You empower us to trust You and obey You to step out in confidence and boldness to go where You lead us because You are with us.

 

As You said to Your first disciples who followed You, You continue to speak to every disciple who will choose to come and follow You:  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you.... On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.... Those who love Me will keep My word, and My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them" (John 14:15-23).

 

As I come the edge of my Promised Land in You and all You have for me in this next season of my journey of faith, by the power of Your grace I choose to step out in expectant faith.  I choose to cross over with great expectancy and enthusiasm, with excitement and confidence in the blessed assurance Your word will come to pass. I'm a carrier of Your Presence, filled with Your Spirit, and excited to see what You will do! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you cross over into all the Lord has for you, as a carrier of the Presence of God, with great expectancy and enthusiasm, with excitement and confidence in the blessed assurance of every word and promise the Lord has spoken into your heart for the season ahead, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

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

I will be teaching based on my book Free to Be Like Jesus-Transforming Power of Inner Healing and Deliverance, which I'm excited by have endorsed by Max Lucado, Randy Clark, and Andy Reese.

Order Free to Be Like Jesus!

   

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 14 - Driving Out My Spiritual Enemies

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I rest in You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"Joshua said, 'By this you shall know that among you is the Living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Jebusites:  the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan'" (Joshua 3:10-11).

 

You are the Living God. And You are among us. And by the great mystery of faith amazing grace of God, You are even within us. "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

 

Just as You drove out the enemies of the people of God before them so they could enter into their Promised Land, You drive out our spiritual enemies before us so we can enter our Promised Land. "Without fail," You will be relentless if we will let You have Your way. And without doubt, we can know that we don't face our spiritual enemies alone and we don't have to drive them out in our own power.

 

You are the Living God who will do this for us. You only ask that we humble ourselves to call on Your name and choose each day whom or what we will serve. As Joshua would say, "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:14-15).4

 

By the power of Your grace, I choose to serve You, to embrace You, to trust in You, to rest in You, to let You have Your way in me. There may not be any Canaanites or Girgashites living in the "flesh" the remaining unsanctified areas my soul, but without doubt there are other "ites" that need to be driven out from among me to make room for more of You. And "without fail" You will do this. "May the God of peace Himself sanctify (me) entirely; and may (my) spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls (me) is faithful, and He will do this. Beloved, pray for (me)" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-25).

 

Your part is to sanctify me. My part is to submit to You. That Your way of leading me into my Promised Land, as I come and follow You. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you" (James 4:7-10).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Crucify my flesh and drive out my spiritual enemies. Sanctify me and make me more like Jesus each day. My Father God, I desire to enter into my Promised Land and live into the fullness of all You have for me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you choose, by the power of God's grace, to serve Him, embrace Him, trust Him, rest in Him, and let Him have His way in you so you can enter into your Promised Land and the fullness of all He has for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

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

 

I will be teaching based on my book Free to Be Like Jesus-Transforming Power of Inner Healing and Deliverance, which I'm excited by have endorsed by Max Lucado, Randy Clark, and Andy Reese.

Order Free to Be Like Jesus!

   

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 13 - "Draw Near and Hear"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to make me more like You today. ...

 

"Joshua then said to the Israelites, 'Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God'" (Joshua 3:9).

 

You draw us near to hear Your words.

 

We would like to hear Your words so loudly, so plainly, that there's no room for doubt, no room for questioning, no room for wrestling. And there are certainly times when You speak loudly and clearly with no room to wonder or waver.

 

But You also speak to us -- and for me, this is almost all the time -- in the "still, small voice" (1 Kings 19:12 NKJV). You speak to us in the whispers of Your Spirit -- Spirit to spirit, Heart to heart, Deep to deep. Like the voice where hear down in our hearts that comes up to our minds to lead us in the way You've set before us -- "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it'" (Isaiah 30:21). "In returning and rest (we) shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be (our) strength" (Isaiah 30:15).

 

To hear like that, we must draw near. In deeper intimacy, we draw nearer to You. In deeper intimacy, we take time to listen, we welcome Your Spirit, we embrace Your Presence. We rest and make room to listen and truly hear Your heart. This is how Your sheep hear Your voice and learn to discern Your leading instead of the leading of another. As Your said to Your first disciples, You still speak to every disciple, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

 

At Rapha God Ministries, You've called our leadership to a time to take a "pause" during the first two months of this year for a "semi-sabbatical" with significantly reduced prayer ministry sessions, limited engagements, and some personal time away with You during this time. I admit it's hard to slow down. And I admit I still have a few assignments to preach and teach and pray. But in returning and rest, in quietness and confidence, I want to draw near to hear, I want to dig deep and grow strong, I want to listen and linger in Your Presence.

 

Give me grace to not squander of moment of this precious time You've set apart for me. I set apart and consecrate myself and this time to You as holy unto the Lord. Protect me from all that would seek to distract me and draw me away from this deep place of Your Presence. And I pray the same for all Your disciples in the various means and moments You provide every day for spiritual intimacy -- that we all may draw near to hear You more clearly in order to follow You into the fullness of all You have for us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you draw near to hear, growing the grace of a deeper intimacy with God, in the means and moments He sets apart for you this day and every day to be embraced by your Father, centered in Jesus, and filled with the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, I would really appreciate your prayers for my time of "semi-sabbatical" and for the few assignments I have this first part of the year, including our Skype Internet Ministry to Pakistan on Saturday and the Healing Academy the first week of February. I'm exciting to be completely getting away most of the last couple of weeks of January for solitude, prayer, and reflection. Thank you and God bless you!

My friend, 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!

Week-Long Healing Academy 2020

My Friend,  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 for Week-Long Healing Academy God bless you!  Tommy Hays  Founder | Messiah Ministries Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries 4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 1-100 San Antonio, TX 78257 Messiah-Ministries.org Quick Links Contributions to Messiah Ministries     www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 10 - Exalted in Humility to Lead the Way

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my face and open up my spirit to welcome You in to this moment of communion in prayer and every moment of my day. ...

 

"The Lord said to Joshua, 'This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordon'" (Joshua 3:7-8).

 

You are the One who exalts us -- as You will and for Your will. It's not polls or people, it's not popularity or power. It's only You. And You only exalt us for the purpose of exalting You -- to point people to You, to help them find their power and protection and provision and purpose in You alone. You said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself" (John 12:32). You said, "All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" (Luke 14:11).

 

Be high and lifted up in my life, Lord Jesus. Be exalted -- here in my heart, here in my family, here in my calling and ministry, here in every way You would express Yourself through my life by Your Spirit for Your glory. Let Your name be lifted up -- not mine. Let Your Kingdom come -- not mine. And any way You would position me and those You've called me to come alongside for this season of crossing over into the fullness of the promises of God, I yield to Your will in trusting surrender and expectant faith.

 

Your Word says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you" (James 4:10 NRSV); "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10 NKJV). Your Word says, "Humble yourselves, then, under God's mighty hand, so that He will exalt you in His own good time. Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7). It's all in Your own good time; it's all in Your power and all by Your grace and all for Your purposes.

 

By the power of Your grace, give me a more humble heart. "With humility comes wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2). With humility comes grace (James 4:6). And with humility comes honor (Proverbs 18:12).

 

You are honored and You are exalted when we humble ourselves before You, when we willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone to define our identity and empower us to fulfill our destiny in You. Humility prepares the way of the Lord in our hearts for You to fill us with Your Spirit and lead us into our destiny -- and at the same time, even leading others to cross over into their destiny in the fullness of the promise land of God and their inheritance in You.

 

Lead on, Lord Jesus -- my Joshua, my Yeshua, the Salvation of God -- as You are exalted high and lifted up in my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be exalted by the Lord in His time and for His purposes, as you humble yourself in His sight to let Him lead the way in you and through you, 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!