"The Time of Darkness and Despair Will Not Go On Forever" - July 27, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 27 - "The Time of Darkness and Despair Will Not Go On Forever"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead my steps in Your ways today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever" (Isaiah 9:1 NLT).

 

Thank You, Lord!

 

In these days of darkness and despair, violence and vengeance, sickness and sorrow, where things seem out of control and people seem out of their minds, so many wonder if there's light at the end of this tunnel. So many wonder if there's any hope to hang on to. 

 

It was the same in the days of Israel when You spoke a word of hope through Your prophet Isaiah. At a time when the people could "see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish " (Isaiah 8:22), You spoke words of Spirit and Life, to turn their hearts to the One who would come in His Light in the midst of their darkness and shine His Hope in the gloom of their despair. Their time of darkness and despair would not go on forever! (Isaiah 9:1)

 

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burned from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod, just as You did when You destroyed the army of Midian. The boots of the warrior and uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire" (Isaiah 9:2-5).

 

Isaiah was speaking of the coming of Christ, the Messiah of Israel, the coming of the One who would be their Light and be their Hope. And they would rejoice at the harvest of their salvation.

 

"For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice form the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!" (Isaiah 9:3-7)

 

This was a Word of Prophecy fulfilled in part at Your first coming and a Word of Prophecy to be ultimately fulfilled at Your second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 19:11-16).  And it's also a Word of Prophecy being fulfilled in our hearts and our land every moment we humble ourselves in Your sight to pray and to turn from our ways and everything that would overwhelm us in our world to call on Your name and cry out for the help and hope that only You can provide (2 Chronicles 7:14; James 4:10).

 

So in repentance in prayer, in faith and hope, we call on Your name and cry out to You on behalf of our communities and all our land. Come Lord Jesus! Come in revival! Come in awakening! Come in our hearts and our communities and all our land!

 

You're the Light at the end of this tunnel! You're the Hope that lifts us up out of darkness and despair! It will not go on forever! A great revival, a great harvest of salvation is on its way in the hearts of all who will call on Your name! (Matthew 13:39) All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved! (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with hope to know this darkness and despair will not last forever, as you humble your heart to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with expectant faith for yourself, for your community, and for all our land, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

PraySA --Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!  www.PraySA.org

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.

Plans are coming together for a citywide prayer for revival gathering in the parking lot where the San Antonio Spurs play basketball and our city holds the San Antonio Rodeo at the Freeman Coliseum/AT&T Center. This will be a Solemn Assembly and Holy Convocation of heartfelt humility and repentance through citywide prayer for ourselves and our land on Sunday Nights, August 9th and 16th. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word, 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!

"One" with God - July 24, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 24 - "One" with God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit. And by the mystery of faith and the grace of God, You are One within me and with all who believe in You. ...

 

"After Jesus had spoken these words, He looked up to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent... As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given them, so that they may be one, as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.... I have made Your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:1-26).

 

"One." How can it be that we could be "one" with You, "one" with God -- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit -- "the only true God"? ... It's only by Your grace. Only by Your love -- Your love for us in ways we can't even begin to ask or imagine.

 

If these words were not in the Bible, these "red letter words" of Jesus Himself, it would almost seem like blasphemy or something surely less than the reverence and respect and fear of the Lord that You're so worthy to receive. But yet, here it is: "As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us.... The glory that You have given Me I have given them, so that they may be one, as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may become completely one" (John 17:21-23). As Your Words of Scripture confirm, "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).

 

Lord, give me grace to embrace this depth of intimacy with You. Give me faith to believe it's true and wisdom to understand what it means. Give me courage to live my life in the reality of this truth with the humility of heart to know this eternal expression of Your unfailing, unfathomable love for me and for all who believe in You. 

 

This is life. This is the purpose and meaning of life on this adventure of life we've each been given, from conception to consummation. "This is eternal life, that (we) may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3). 

 

Help me know You more. In knowing You, I am loving You. And in loving You, Your Word is being fulfilled in me:  "Righteous Father, the world does not know You, but I know You; and these know that You have sent Me. I made Your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:25-26). 

 

Knowing Your love is how I come to know You, how I become "one" with You and You with me. "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.... God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:13-17). Lord, let it be so! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

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

My friend, may you embrace by God's grace all His love for you as "one" with Him -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

PraySA --Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!  www.PraySA.org

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.

Plans are coming together for a citywide prayer for revival gathering in the parking lot where the San Antonio Spurs play basketball and our city holds the San Antonio Rodeo at the Freeman Coliseum/AT&T Center. This will be a Solemn Assembly and Holy Convocation of heartfelt humility and repentance through citywide prayer for ourselves and our land on Sunday Nights, August 9th and 16th. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word, 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 Fills Our Empty Jars with the Oil of Hope - July 23, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 23 - God Fills Our Empty Jars with the Oil of Hope

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, so turn my eyes and my heart to You at the beginning of my day so I can go through my day and end my day well -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. ...

 

This morning in prayer, I'm also listening for a fresh word from Your heart to share with the people in Pakistan, where I'll be preaching through the internet in a couple of hours. This message of hope in the midst of hard times comes to mind:

 

"Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, 'Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.' Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?' She answered, 'Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.' He said, 'Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. Then go in and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.' So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another vessel.' But he said to her, 'There are no more.' Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, 'Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest'" (2 Kings 4:1-7).

 

This woman and her husband and her family loved the Lord and served the Lord. But even so, they're weren't immune to the struggles and heartbreaks of life in a broken, fallen world where sickness and death, where fears and debt, came pounding on the door to take away even what they had left.

 

But she was not alone. Her pain was not unseen and her cries were not unheard. You sent Your servant Elisha to hear her cries of grief but also to turn her heart to You in hope. She felt she had nothing left, but in speaking out her thoughts and feelings with the man of God, she discovered she still had something to offer -- a jar of oil. 

 

And as she offered up what she had, as she stepped out in obedience and faith at the word of the Lord, You began to multiply what she had. She didn't do it alone. By Your leading and at Your word, she reached out for help from her neighbors around her, she gathered her family to join with her in this adventure of faith, and she kept pursuing what she knew to do by the leading of Your word until there was nothing left to do.

 

Through obedience and faith, even in the midst of her grief and fear, You filled her jars with oil to pay all her debts and provide for all her needs.

 

Help us trust You, Lord. You see us and hear us; You care about us and all we're going through. We're not alone. And You'll bring us through, just as You always do.

 

Thank You for the grace to speak out our needs and even our hurts and disappointments. And thank You for the grace to help us not stay stuck in that place. Thank You for sending Your word of hope, Your words of Spirit and Life and Truth that lift us up and show us the way.

 

In a way, our hearts are the jar of oil that we have. In way, our hearts are really all we have to offer -- a heart surrendered to You, trusting in You, willing to hear and obey You, even when we feel empty and forgotten and alone. But if we're willing, You're so ready to fill our jars with Your oil -- the Oil of Your Spirit poured into our hearts. You fill our hearts with hope -- a living hope in the Lord our God who sees us and hears us and helps us through whatever we face.

 

"May the God of hope fill (us) with all joy and peace in believing, so that (we) may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!" (Romans 15:13) And You fill our hearts with Your love. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). Lord, let it be so in our hearts today! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with the Oil of Hope in your heart, fully surrendered and trusting in the One who sees you and hears you and brings you through all that you face, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Preaching in Pakistan Today through our Skype Internet Ministry. 

Friends, please keep us in prayer as I preach in Lahore, Pakistan through our Skype Internet Ministry in a new ministry partnership pastor and evangelist Haroon Masih of Power Prayer Ministry of Pakistan, in addition our monthly evangelistic crusades with Pastor Rizwan Fazal. We are praying for a mighty move of the Holy Spirit for salvation, healing, deliverance, and revival! We praise God for these open doors to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God at home and abroad to the nations! Thank you for all your encouragement and support for this evangelistic dimension of our ministry to be possible and continue!

 

  (Photo from one of our monthly crusades in Pakistan through our Skype Internet Ministry)

PraySA --Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!  www.PraySA.org

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

Plans are coming together for a citywide prayer for revival gathering in the parking lot where the San Antonio Spurs play basketball and our city holds the San Antonio Rodeo at the Freeman Coliseum/AT&T Center. This will be a Solemn Assembly and Holy Convocation of heartfelt humility and repentance through citywide prayer for ourselves and our land on Sunday Nights, August 9th and 16th. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word, 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!

"Spring Up, O Well!" - July 22, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 22 - "Spring Up, O Well!"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear Your heart -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- as I wait for Your leading in worship and prayer, here in these first moments of my morning. ...

 

I'm hearing in my heart, "Spring up, O well!" ...

 

And You're bringing to mind this Word of Scripture from the journey of Israel through the wilderness times. You commanded Moses, "'Gather the people together, and I will give them water.'  Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! -- Sing to it!" (Numbers 21:16-17)

 

Your Holy Spirit is gathering Your people together -- across our land and out of every tongue and tribe and nation. In these wilderness times we're facing in our world, You're gathering Your people to pray and to proclaim Your goodness and grace, Your provision and power, Your faith and hope for what is about to come.

 

Empower us to sing and to shout, "Spring up, O well!" ... "Spring up O wells of revival, wells of awakening, wells of salvation, wells of the Living Waters bursting forth in the wilderness of our world!"

 

"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing! ... They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God! (Isaiah 35:1-2)

 

In the name of Jesus, we gather together in our hearts and in our cities and in every place where we feel we're wandering in the wilderness places of our world right now; and we prophesy to the wells of the mighty salvation of our God, "Spring up, O well! ... Spring up and flow forth Living Waters of the Holy Spirit of God! Bring new life to our land, new hope to our hearts! Revival! Awakening! Salvation and Harvest! The arising and shining of the Bride of Christ as the mature sons and daughters of God to be Your ambassadors and messengers of hope in the midst of our world!

 

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy! For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert! ... The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away! (Isaiah 35:5-10)

 

Lord, let it be so! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with joy and singing as you prophecy to the wells of God's Living Water in your world to spring up and flow forth and bring His Life to all He touches through your prayers, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

  

PraySA --Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!  www.PraySA.org

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.

Plans are coming together for a citywide prayer for revival gathering in the parking lot where the San Antonio Spurs play basketball and our city holds the San Antonio Rodeo at the Freeman Coliseum/AT&T Center. This will be a Solemn Assembly and Holy Convocation of heartfelt humility and repentance through citywide prayer for ourselves and our land on Sunday Nights, August 9th and 16th. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

Preaching in Pakistan on Thursday through our Skype Internet Ministry. 

Friends, please keep us in prayer as I preach in Lahore, Pakistan through our Skype Internet Ministry in a new ministry partnership pastor and evangelist Haroon Masih of Power Prayer Ministry of Pakistan, in addition our monthly evangelistic crusades with Pastor Rizwan Fazal. We are praying for a mighty move of the Holy Spirit for salvation, healing, deliverance, and revival! We praise God for these open doors to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God at home and abroad to the nations! Thank you for all your encouragement and support!

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!

While "We Wait for the Blessed Hope" - July 21, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 21 - While "We Wait for the Blessed Hope"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to You (Matthew 28:18).  So I yield to You and Your authority in my mind, my heart, and every moment of my day. ...

 

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people of His own who are zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:11-14).

 

Lord Jesus -- "our great God and Savior." You are our "Blessed Hope." And we long for the great "manifestation of the glory" of Your coming! 

 

One day soon, You will come in the clouds "with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trump" when You "descend from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). And at the same time, every day between this day and that glorious day to come, You want to come into our hearts and manifest Your glory in us. "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). 

 

Every day between this day and that glorious day to come, You want to empower us by Your Spirit to "live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly." While we look forward with expectant faith for the age to come, You also remind us to fully present with all our hearts fully devoted to You here "in the present age" as well.

 

While we "wait for the blessed hope" to come, empower us to be manifestations Your "blessed hope" now. You are our "Living Hope" and You desire to express Your "living hope" through us in our world every day (1 Peter 1:3).

 

So "redeem us from all iniquity" and "purify (us from all impurity)" by the power of Your grace at work within us, that we can be the "people of (Your) own who are zealous for good deeds" and zealous for the One who is good -- zealous for the good deeds of love and zealous for the One who is love. As You are, so are we to be. "Love has been perfected among is in this:  that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). "Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with faith, hope, and love, living each day in the power of God's love as a manifestation of His hope in our world, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

PraySA --Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!  www.PraySA.org

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. 

Plans are coming together for a citywide prayer for revival gathering in the parking lot where the San Antonio Spurs play basketball and our city holds the San Antonio Rodeo at the Freeman Coliseum/AT&T Center. This will be a Solemn Assembly and Holy Convocation of heartfelt humility and repentance through citywide prayer for ourselves and our land on Sunday Nights, August 9th and 16th. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word, 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!