Steady Steps - July 13, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 13 - Steady Steps

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your sheep hear Your voice, and I'm listening for Your leading, to begin my day centered in Christ, grounded in Your Word and filled with Your Spirit. ...

 

"Keep my steps steady according to Your Promise, and never let iniquity have dominion over me" (Psalm 119:133).

 

Let the Promises of Your Word set the path for my day. Go before me and order my steps to lead me where You will and according to Your will. Though You've given me the freedom of will to choose, I choose You -- Your will, Your plan, Your purposes according the Promises of Your Word for this day and all of my life. "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).

 

There are consequences for every choice I'll make and every step I'll take (John 3:18). But I've known You long enough and You've seen me through so much, that I've learned to trust Your ways and follow Your will to let You make my steps steady according to Your Promises -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. With Your Spirit in my heart and Your Light leading my way, "Righteousness will go before (me), and will make a path for (my) steps" (Psalm 85:13). 

 

Lord, lead on today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- as I seek to "follow in (Your) steps" (1 Peter 2:21). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be grounded in God's Word and filled with His Spirit, allowing Him to steady your steps according to His Promises and fulfilling His plans for this day and your life, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

Friends, I'm excited to be part of a group of prayer warriors in our community planning times of prayer for awakening and revival in our community and beyond, being led by Max Lucado in San Antonio. 

We're meeting today in the parking lot where the San Antonio Spurs play basketball to scope out the land and pray. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word when the time comes, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

We Choose Life. We Choose Love. We Choose the Cause Worth Fighting For - July 10, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 10 - We Choose Life. We Choose Love. We Choose the Cause Worth Fighting For.

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me into the abundant life You have for me today. ...

 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" --Jesus (John 10:10).

 

There's a "thief" at work in our world. And his work is "to steal and kill and destroy." Right now, we see his "handiwork" everywhere we turn.

 

One of his most wicked works is to turn us against one another, to divide us and conquer us. He knows a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. When President Abraham Lincoln said those words in the midst of the horrendous civil war in America, he was not quoting some social philosopher or politically astute sage of his times; he was quoting the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:25).

 

As we read and hear the violent and hateful rhetoric of our times in this horrendous civil war being waged before our eyes, we know the "thief" is at work again. But Your Holy Spirit reminds us that our true enemy is not one another. Our true enemy is our enemy. Our true enemy is the thief at work in the weakness of our flesh, in the unhealed wounds of our past, in the strongholds of our selfishness and self-centeredness, in the places where we've made room for the devil and given him a foothold in our hearts and minds, in our words and actions, in our rebellion and pride, in our arrogance and attitudes of insisting on our own ways instead of following Your ways. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

 

There is a fight that is right. There is a cause that is worth fighting for and dying for. But that fight is not against one another and that cause is not to come into agreement and become a part of the wicked purposes and plans of the "thief" who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy."

 

The fight that is right is "the good fight of the faith" as we "take hold of the eternal life to which we were called" (1 Timothy 6:12). The cause that is just is the cause of the Kingdom of God that we would stand up for one another, speak out against what is wrong, and fight for one another with "the weapons of our warfare" of love and truth, of humility and faith, of proclamation and prayer, as a people grounded in God's Word and filled with God's Spirit to be ambassadors of His light in the darkness and His hope in the midst of despair (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). For God "has given us the ministry of reconciliation.... Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

 

So by the power of Your grace, I choose life this day. I renounce death this day. I renounce the "thief" and all his works in my world to "steal and kill and destroy," to divide and conquer. And I choose the One who is Life, the One who laid down His Life that all may live and love and overcome in the authority of His name, the power of His grace, and the mercy of His love to make a difference in our world. "For God so loved the world that He have His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Tommy, may you be grounded in God's Word and filled with His Spirit, choosing Life and Love to overcome the evil of this world and the thief of our souls in the Cause worth fighting for, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Aldersgate National Conference on Spirit-Filled 

Living - Free Virtual Conference with Prayer Ministry Opportunities this week.

Friends, please register for free at the Virtual On-line Conference of Aldersgate this year (evenings July 8-11, 2020) with anointed speakers and opportunities for prayer ministry. I'll be part of the Prayer Ministry Team in breakout prayer ministry sessions. Come join us!

Register for Aldersgate 2020 Virtual Conference

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

Friends, I'm excited to be part of a group of prayer warriors in our community planning times of prayer for awakening and revival in our community and beyond, being led by Max Lucado in San Antonio. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word when the time comes, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

God's Sovereignty is Our Security -- The Lamb will have the Last Word! - July 9, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 9 - God's Sovereignty is Our Security -- The Lamb will have the Last Word!

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of Kings and Lord of Lords, come rule and reign as King of my heart and Lord of my life, this day and every day (Revelation 19:16). ...

 

"They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful" (Revelation 17:14).

 

I praise You, Father God, that the Lamb will have the last word in this spiritual war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. I praise You, Holy Spirit of the Living God, that You are not absent from our world or blind from our plight or indifferent to our pain. Now and throughout the end of the age and the ages to come, the Lamb of God will have the full measure of His reward and will reward with His presence and power all who are with Him, who are called and chosen and faithful. "The words of God will be fulfilled" (v. 17). The One who is the Word of God will win and already has eternally won!

 

O Lord my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- Your sovereignty is our security. Your power to redeem all things -- even the wicked things of the world, the flesh, and the devil -- and even cause those things to work together for good to fulfill Your words and Your will through our lives and our world in every generation is our hope. Your sovereignty and presence gives us all the hope and courage and faith we need to endure and overcome. 

 

Worthy is the Lamb! Majestic and Mighty is the Lamb! -- the One who is and who was and who is to come! (Revelation 1:8)

 

Trusting in Your sovereignty and Your ever-abiding presence and power in our lives, we press on and persevere, not just surviving but even thriving, to see Your Kingdom come in our hearts and our world even in the midst of all that's going on. We long for "the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which (You) will bring about at the right time -- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!" (1 Timothy 6:15) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be confident and secure in the sovereignty of our soon and coming King, thriving and overcoming in His presence and power with you every day between this day and that day to come, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Aldersgate National Conference on Spirit-Filled 

Living - Free Virtual Conference with Prayer Ministry Opportunities this week.

Friends, please register for free at the Virtual On-line Conference of Aldersgate this year (evenings July 8-11, 2020) with anointed speakers and opportunities for prayer ministry. I'll be part of the Prayer Ministry Team in breakout prayer ministry sessions. Come join us!

Register for Aldersgate 2020 Virtual Conference

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

Friends, I'm excited to be part of a group of prayer warriors in our community planning times of prayer for awakening and revival in our community and beyond, being led by Max Lucado in San Antonio. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word when the time comes, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Everlasting, Never-Changing God who still Hears and Answers our Repentant Cries - July 8, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 8 - Everlasting, Never-Changing God who still Hears and Answers our Repentant Cries

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Holy, holy, holy, Lord -- God of power and might -- heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Fill my heart with Your glory as I abide in Your presence, here in these first moments of my morning with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:6-7). 

You are the everlasting God, the never-changing God. Like the children of Jacob, we have not perished because You keep Your promises. We have not been utterly destroyed because You come to save us to the uttermost. When we return to You, You return to us. When we humble ourselves to call on Your name, You lean in and You draw near to remind us You know us by name and we are still precious in Your sight, even when we, like sheep, have gone astray (Isaiah 43:1-7). When we draw near again to You, You draw near to us (James 4:8). When we abide again in You, You abide in us (John 15:4). 

With the words of the Psalmists in Psalm 107 and all who have found themselves in desperate need of Your everlasting mercy and never-changing love, we turn to You and cry out to You for the help and hope only You can provide: 

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

    for His steadfast love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

    those he redeemed from trouble….

Some wandered in desert wastes,

    finding no way to an inhabited town;

hungry and thirsty,

    their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and He delivered them from their distress;

He led them by a straight way,

    until they reached an inhabited town….

Some sat in darkness and in gloom,

    prisoners in misery and in irons,

for they had rebelled against the words of God,

    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;

    they fell down, with no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and He saved them from their distress;

He brought them out of darkness and gloom,

    and broke their bonds asunder….

For He shatters the doors of bronze,

    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

Some were sick through their sinful ways,

    and because of their iniquities endured affliction;

they loathed any kind of food,

    and they drew near to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and He saved them from their distress;

He sent out His word and healed them,

    and delivered them from destruction….

Some went down to the sea in ships,

    doing business on the mighty waters;

they saw the deeds of the Lord,

    His wondrous works in the deep.

For He commanded and raised the stormy wind,

    which lifted up the waves of the sea.

They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;

    their courage melted away in their calamity;

they reeled and staggered like drunkards,

    and were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and He brought them out from their distress;

He made the storm be still,

    and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad because they had quiet,

    and he brought them to their desired haven.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

    for His wonderful works to humankind!” (Psalm 107:1-31).

Everlasting, never-changing God, come change our hearts and heal our land. Throughout the ages and even in these days, You still hear and answer our repentant cries.  Come remind us we're still loved and still precious in Your sight. Come revive us and reawaken us to know who we are in in You and who You are in us, that we may yet fulfill our calling and destiny in You. "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be revived and reawakened in your heart and in our land, as you cry out in repentance and faith to our everlasting, never-changing God, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Aldersgate National Conference on Spirit-Filled 

Living - Free Virtual Conference with Prayer Ministry Opportunities this week.

Friends, please register for free at the Virtual On-line Conference of Aldersgate this year (evenings July 9-12, 2020) with anointed speakers and opportunities for prayer ministry. I'll be part of the Prayer Ministry Team in breakout prayer ministry sessions. Come join us!

Register for Aldersgate 2020 Virtual Conference

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

Friends, I'm excited to be part of a group of prayer warriors in our community planning times of prayer for awakening and revival in our community and beyond, being led by Max Lucado in San Antonio. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word when the time comes, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

"Keep It Simple, (Saints)" - July 7, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 7 - "Keep It Simple, (Saints)"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear Your heart to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ... 

"Keep it simple, (saints)." ... 

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:1-8). 

Yes, Lord. Pandemics fail. Economic panic fails. Political striving and manipulation fails. All our man-made efforts to solve our God-sized problems will fail. But "Love never fails."  Empower us to get back to Love. Equip us to stand up and speak up and reach up in Love. Then we can reach out in Love and release the Power of Love through our words and actions, in our hearts and attitudes, for You are Love (1 John 4:16). And as You are, so are we to be in our world (1 John 4:17). 

It really is as simple as that. Help us keep it simple, in the simplicity of Your love that never fails. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friends, may you be empowered and equipped to love, simply and powerfully, with the heart of the One who is the Power of Love, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Aldersgate National Conference on Spirit-Filled 

Living - Free Virtual Conference with Prayer Ministry Opportunities this week.

Friends, please register for free at the Virtual On-line Conference of Aldersgate this year (evenings July 9-12, 2020) with anointed speakers and opportunities for prayer ministry. I'll be part of the Prayer Ministry Team in breakout prayer ministry sessions. Come join us!

Register for Aldersgate 2020 Virtual Conference

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

Friends, I'm excited to be part of a group of prayer warriors in our community planning times of prayer for awakening and revival in our community and beyond, being led by Max Lucado in San Antonio. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word when the time comes, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!