Morning by Morning, January 23 - Immediate Obedience to Cross Over into the Promises of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are welcome here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over" (Joshua 4:10 NKJV).

 

When You made a way for the people to cross over the Jordan and into the Promised Land, when You cut off the waters so they would cross over on dry ground, "the people hurried and crossed over" (NKJV). They "crossed over in haste" (NRSV). They did not hesitate or delay. "No one dawdled" (MSG).

 

When You say, "It is time," it is time. It's time to hear and act. It's time to trust and obey. It's time to advance, to move on, to press in, to take hold, to cross over.

 

"Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6). "Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves" (James 1:22).

 

The generation that crossed over was different than the generation that held back in their doubt and disobedience, in their laziness and lukewarm-ness, in their complacency and compromise, in their passivity and self-pity. Their unbelief left them unfulfilled. And so they never entered into to their Promised Land of all the promises and goodness of God You had planned and purposed for them.

 

Your Holy Spirit speaks to us -- not to condemn us, but to encourage us, to prompt us and inspire us to trust and obey, quickly responding to what we hear, so we don't miss out on the blessings of obedience.

 

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put Me to the test, though they had seen My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'They always go astray in their hearts and they have not known My ways. As in My anger I swore, 'They will not enter My rest.' Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. As it is said, 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion'" (Hebrews 3:7-15).

 

The generation that crossed over was of "a different spirit" than the generation that failed (Numbers 14:24). This generation trusted and obeyed; they heard and they acted; they "crossed over in haste" with immediate obedience into the Promised Land.

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Make me more sensitive to my Father's heart, to my Savior's voice, to the leading of the Spirit. I want to step through the doors You open and take hold of the opportunities You provide. I want to be on my way through the way You've prepared. I want to be rested and ready to cross over in immediate obedience when I hear You say in my heart, "It is time." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you become increasingly sensitive to the heart of our Father, the voice of our Savior, and the leading of the Holy Spirit to respond with immediate obedience and cross over into all the promises and purposes of God He has for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, I would appreciate your prayers. Our healing prayer ministry at Rapha God Ministries is on a "semi-sabbatical" the first part of this new year and part of that is for the leadership to get away with the Lord in a place and for a time of personal prayer and reflection. I'm in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming for my private time. Please pray that I will go deep into the Presence of God, to be refreshed and renewed. And I pray that you'll be "practicing the Presence of God" wherever you are and in the moments He provides. God bless you!

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 so honored to be 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 22 - "Prepared for War" for the Promised Land

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of Kings and Lord of Lords, rule and reign in my heart and over my life, this day and every day (Revelation 19:16). I bow my heart before You and listen for the leading of Your Spirit. ...

 

"Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the Lord and all the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.... About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho" (Joshua 4:11-13).

 

When the people of God crossed over the Jordan River into their Promised Land, it was not time for vacation. It was time for "war." It was time for every "battle" at hand and every "battle" they'd face to embrace their inheritance of their Promised Land.

 

There will be a "war" for our "Promised Land" as well. Our enemies are not Hittites or Canaanites or any other enemy of flesh and blood. "For our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). And those enemies -- those spiritual forces of evil cloaked in this present darkness -- will do everything they can to shut us down, to push us back, to chase us away from the promises of God You've set before us.

 

So we put on "the whole armor of God" -- the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shoes of peace, the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:11-17). We "pray in the Spirit at all times" (Ephesians 6:18). We remember that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4). And we remember that "the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will help us defeat (our spiritual enemies)" (1 Samuel 17:47). Through the victory of the Cross, the power of the Blood of Jesus and the authority of His name, Your Word will be fulfilled in every battle we face:  "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!" (Romans 16:20)

 

Whether it's fear, intimidation, or worry; whether it's weariness, heaviness, or depression; whether it's confusion, deception, or lies; whether it's doubt, unbelief, or wavering; whether it's pride, rebellion, or arrogance; whether it's cowardice, compromise, or complacency; whether it's sickness, disease, or infirmity; whether it's addiction, bondage or torment; whether it's shame, regret, or condemnation; whether it's rejection, abandonment, or neglect; whether it's the words spoken over us or that we've spoken over ourselves that curse us instead of bless us, that tear us down instead of build us up, that rob us of our true identity and hold us back from fulfilling our God-given destiny; whether it's from the pit of Hell or knotted up in the pit of our stomach, You are greater than anything we'll face. "Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world!" (1 John 4:4)

 

So resting in You, trusting in You, joining in agreement with You and Your Word, I will cross over and I will press on, "prepared for war" to take hold of my Promised Land in You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. As Your worshipper and warrior David proclaimed over his enemies, so I proclaim in the authority and power of Your name over my spiritual enemies:  "It is You who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. By You I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.... He trains my hands for war.... I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back until they were consumed. I struck them down, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. For You girded me with strength for the battle; You made my assailants sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.... I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire in the streets.... The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation ... Who delivered me from my enemies! ... For this I will extol You, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to Your name! Great triumphs He gives to His king, and shows steadfast love to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever!" (Psalm 18:28-50) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be "prepared for war" and anointed for victory in every battle you face for your Promised Land, knowing the victory is already yours the victory of the Cross, the power of the Blood of Jesus, and the authority of His name, 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 so honored to be 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 21 - "What Do These Stones Mean to You?"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit, and in the merciful, intimate Love of God, You desire to be One with me (John 17:20-25). I listen now, in these first moments of my morning, for the leading of Your Spirit. ...

 

"When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua:  'Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and command them, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.' Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, 'Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you talk up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribe of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever'" (Joshua 4:1-7).

 

Twelve stones of identity for the twelve tribes who crossed over from the wilderness into the Promised Land. Twelve stones of remembrance to mark the presence and power and provision of God at this key moment in the life of the nation of Israel. Twelve stones of legacy to speak to the children and children's children throughout all the generations to come of this great inheritance and destiny in God, grounded and established in their identity as the people of God. All that they experienced on their journey of faith with You were "a shadow of things to come" for us on our own journey of faith with You in Christ (Colossians 2:17).

 

My Father God, I thank You for the stones of identity, the stones of remembrance, the stones of legacy You've set in place in my life. They remind me of Your goodness and mercy, Your grace and majesty, Your generosity and miracles -- all in the light Your greatness and my humanity. Not on the basis of my righteousness, but on the basis of Yours, not on the basis of anything I have done but by all that You have done, You have brought me out of my Egypt, through my wildernesses, and into my Promised Land. And You still are, every day of my journey.

 

You're still driving out my spiritual enemies from before me and You're still at work within me to establish Your Kingdom and form Your nature, here in me to make me more like You. This is the Promised Land -- be conformed to image of Christ (Romans 8:29), to know my place as part of the Body and Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-33), to be more and more like Christ in my world (1 John 4:17). You are faithful and You will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). You will be faithful to bring to completion the good work You have begun in me (Philippians 1:6).

 

Even this morning, Your Holy Spirit is bringing to mind such significant stones of remembrance of my journey with You. When You saved me, when You called me, so many of the times You encouraged, corrected me, healed me, delivered me, tried to sanctify me and teach me Your will and Your ways to mature me into Your nature. And whenever my children or anyone else looks at these stones in my life and asks, "What do these stones mean to you?" (Joshua 4:6), I can answer, "Everything. They are precious stones to me. These stones speak of the Lord my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the Living God -- Who loves me, Who's for me, Who has never given up on me, and Who is at work within me to make me more like Him every day." In Jesus' name I pray Amen.

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

My friend, may you be ready to share the hope within you to anyone who asks about the mercy and grace of the God Who loves you, Who's for you, Who never gives up on you, and Who is at work within you to make you more like Him every day, 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 so honored to be 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 20 - The "Entire Nation" Crossed Over into the Promised Land

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin this day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...

 

"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 3:17).

 

The "entire nation" of Israel crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land. Forty years earlier, only Joshua and Caleb were ready and willing to cross over (Numbers 14:1-4). Filled with a heart of courage and faith in the goodness and grace of God for the people of his nation, Joshua and Caleb had pleaded with the people in those days to trust God and enter into the Promised Land He had for them: "The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the Lord" (Numbers 14:6-9). "But the whole congregation threatened to stone them" (Number 14:10).

 

That generation died in the wilderness. They never entered into their Promised Land. Rebellion and fear, doubt and unbelief, mistrust and lack of faith were the enemies of their souls that keep them from trusting You and crossing over in faith (Numbers 14:20-23).

 

But You saw leadership in Joshua and servanthood in Caleb; in these two You saw the spirit of faithfulness, courage, and strength that prepared them to enter into the Promised Land in Your time and in Your way forty years later -- after the season of the wilderness. You said to Moses in his prayer and travail for the people, "My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it" (Numbers 14:24-25).

 

Like Caleb and his descendants, give us "a different spirit" than those who hold back and turn away from the challenges before them and never enter into all Your promises and provision and purpose. And in this day, may our "entire nation" enter in! May no one be left behind! May there be a mighty revival and great awaking such as we have never seen -- even since the days of the First Awakening, the Second Awakening, the Great Awakening, the Welsh Revival, the Azusa Street Revival, and so many more of the birth-pangs and foretastes of what is yet to come! You said there would be a great "harvest" at "the end of the age" and we are travailing in passionate prayer for that great "harvest" in our days! (Matthew 13:39) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with a different spirit than those who hold back and turn away from all the promises of God, as you are filled with the Holy Spirit of the Living God to cross over into all the Lord has for you in this season ahead, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for our "entire nation" to come alive in Christ with great revival and awakening in our days! 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 17 - "Rest" in order to Cross Over into the Promises of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm waiting and listening for Your leading, as I offer these first moments of my morning to You as a living sacrifice of prayer and praise -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all 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).

 

I've read this passage of Your Scripture many times, but this morning Your Spirit is drawing my attention to the word "rest." It's when the feet of the priests came to "rest" in the waters of the Jordan that the miracle happened, that the flowing flood waters of the Jordan River were cut off to stand in a single heap.  When they stood in "rest," You stood in power and You caused what separated them from the Promised Land You had for them to stand back.

 

You could have said in Your Word this happened as the priests' feet "touched the waters" or "stepped into the waters," but instead, Your Word speaks of "rest." The miracle of Your power as You prepared the way for them to cross over happened when they rested their feet in the waters. What are You speaking to me about "rest," Lord? ...

 

I believe I hear You speaking to my heart:  "My son, you must rest in Me if you are to move forward and cross over into all I have for you. You can't do this in your power, your wisdom, your striving, your trying to make something happen, your trying to hurry up My timing out of hastiness or impatience. You must rest in Me. You must trust in Me. You must believe that I have positioned you where and when I have chosen to place you for My purposes in My time. The Promised Land I have for you is for you, but at the same time, it is for so much more, for so many more. The same is true for each of My children in the places and times I have chosen for them to accomplish My purposes for them and within them, and at the same time, for so much more and for so many more. So rest in Me, trust in Me. As you stand in faith, you will see Me stand in power."  ...

 

Yes, Lord. As I seek to discern what I believe to be Your word, as I test everything to hold fast to what is true, as You've commanded me to do with everything I believe I see and hear from You or from You through another (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 14:29), some key Scriptures come to mind:  "Come to Me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). "But with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, if not to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.... For we who believed enter that rest.... So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God's rest also cease from their labors as God did from His. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such obedience as theirs" (Hebrews 3:17-4:11).

 

Rest. Trust. Faith. Obedience. Coming through the wilderness and crossing over to enter into our Promised Land. Your Word of "rest" is coming alive in my spirit this morning! "Indeed, the word of God is living and active!" -- coming alive in my spirit and activating me to respond in trusting surrender and expectant faith (Hebrews 4:12).

 

Yes, Lord. I choose to "come to (You)" and to "rest" in You. Keep teaching me what this means and empowering me to do it, by the power of Your grace at work within me. I'm coming to know that "rest" is important and profound and significant. I'm coming to know that "rest" is a key part of "the deep things of God" You are teaching me (1 Corinthians 2:10). And I'm coming to know that "rest" is a passage way, even a rite of passage, to enter into the promises of God, the fullness of my inheritance and all You have for me -- for me and for so much more, for so many more. 

 

"For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits (who rests, who trusts, who follows only as You lead) for Him" (Isaiah 64:4 NKJV). As we stand in You, You stand in Your power for us. As we rest in You, You move mightily for us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend, may you come to Jesus and rest in Him, only with His burned and His yoke upon you, so can cross over into all the promises of God for you and all He desires to do through 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!