"Stand Your Ground" - September 1, 2020

Morning by Morning, September 1 - “Stand Your Ground”

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Keep me grounded in Your Word and filled with Your Spirit. ...

 

As I listen for Your leading this morning, I hear in my heart, “Stand your ground.” ...

 

Yes, Lord. Show me what You mean for me today...

 

This Scripture immediately comes to mind:

 

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:10-18).

 

I know this Scripture well. I’m often led to “put on the whole armor of God” piece by piece in prayer and proclamation in the morning before I step out of my shower and into my day. In putting on the armor, I’m putting on Christ, to deliberately, intentionally affirm and declare that I am “clothed in Christ” (Colossians 3:27). 

 

Lord Jesus, You are my Belt of Truth (John 14:16); You are my Breastplate of Righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30); You are my Shoes of Peace (Ephesians 2:14); You are my Shield of Faith (Hebrews 12:2); You are my Helmet of Salvation (Acts 4:12); You are my Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (John 1:14). And when I “pray in the Spirit at all times,” Your Holy Spirit is building up my faith (Jude 1:20), continually clothing me in Christ, and empowering me in Christ to stand firm in You.

 

That’s how I’m “strong in the Lord.” That’s how I “stand firm” all “in the strength of Your power.” That’s how I “stand against the wiles of the devil.” That’s how I “overcome” my spiritual enemies and “overthrow” what would seek to stand against me and steal away from me my “ground” and all You’ve entrusted to me (Revelation 12:11).

 

By the power of Your grace, in the whole armor of God, continually clothed in Christ as I pray in the Spirit at all times, I will not “shrink back” from my trust and faith in You (Hebrews 10:39). By the power of Your grace, may I never surrender nor retreat before the enemies of the cross and the wiles of the devil! “Having done all” because You’ve done all this in me, I will stand my ground. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you "stand your ground" in the power of God's grace, clothed in Christ and the whole armor of God, praying in the Spirit at all times, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

              

Healing Academy Tonight.

Friends, please keep us in prayer as Rocio and I travel to Fredericksburg tonight to continue teaching our Healing Academy at the Bridge Church. Praying for anointed teaching and equipping, but also powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit! I pray those encounters for you!

I'll be teaching from the Biblical Principles of my book:

Free to Be Like Jesus!

--Transforming Power

 of Inner Healing & Deliverance

   

Amazon.com/AuthorTommyHays

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!

Displacing Principalities by Living in the Opposite Spirit of Christ - August 31, 2020

 Morning by Morning, August 31 - Displacing Principalities by Living in the Opposite Spirit of Christ

 

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

 

"The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of His grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them" (Acts 14:1-3).

 

In our days, as in the days of Paul and Barnabas in the city of Iconium, there will be opposition to the Word and the Spirit of God in any city where the presence and power of God is on the move. Those whose minds are blinded to the truth of the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ, will resist and riot, stirring up strife, and trying to poison minds and harden hearts. But like Paul and Barnabas, we must keep "speaking boldly for the Lord."

 

When we're speaking boldly for the Lord, we're speaking against the so-called "god of this world (who) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4). "For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

 

As we speak boldly for the Lord, He moves in His power and displays His glory. He begins to "testify to the word of His grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through (the Body and the Bride of Christ)" in our city and our world, beginning in our hearts and then changing the heart of our city (Acts 14:3).

 

As Francis Frangipane teaches, "It takes a city-wide church to win a city-wide war." It takes a growing unity of the Body and the Bride of Christ, living by the Spirit of Christ, shining with the light of Christ in the midst of the darkness of our world. Just as Christ is "the Light of the world" (John 8:12), so we are "the light of the world" with the Light of Christ shining through us, pushing back the darkness and opening up the heavens wherever we are (Matthew 5:14).

 

We don't cast out the principalities and powers and ruling authorities of the kingdom of darkness over our cities like we would cast out a demon. And we don't pull down spiritual strongholds by pulling down people or burning down buildings or coming down to the level of the spiritual forces of evil that seek to divide us and destroy us. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (of the spiritual realm around us)" (Ephesians 6:12).

 

No, we displace principalities by living in the opposite spirit, by the power and the grace of God living in us. Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good" (Romans 12:21).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Empower us -- in our hearts and our cities -- to walk in the opposite spirit than the spirit of the world around us, to shine with the light of the glory of God that pushes back the darkness. By Your Word and Your Spirit, may we live our lives to honor Christ in the opposite spirit of the world, so that "now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the  principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him" (Ephesians 3:10-12). In Jesus' I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be empowered by the love and grace of God to live in the opposite spirit than the spirit of the world, as the Lord confirms and displays His glory through His Word and His Spirit in your life and your city, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

            

Free to Be Like Jesus!

--Transforming Power

 of Inner Healing & Deliverance

   

Amazon.com/AuthorTommyHays

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!

Our Transitions from Rapha God Ministries to Messiah Ministries -- Morning by Morning -- "Sent Out by the Holy Spirit"

My Friends,  we are so grateful for all your encouragement and prayers as Rocio and I continue our transition from Rapha God Ministries, where I served as Pastoral Director for seven years and Rocio served on the Spanish Ministry Team, to our reengagement of leading Messiah Ministries full-time. We're thankful for all the Lord has done and excited for all He is doing. Thank you for being a part and joining with us on the journey!

This morning, I was reflecting on our beautiful season at Rapha with Tammy and all our loving friends there, and felt I would re-share my prayer from that last morning, where we wanted to honor God and our friends for all the blessings of our last season, as we take hold of His calling for us in this next season:

Morning by Morning -- "Sent Out by the Holy Spirit"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Good Shepherd, my Lord and Savior, and I want to seek Your face, hear Your voice, and follow Your steps, this day and every day, as best as I can and all by Your grace -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... 

"Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went...." (Acts 13:1-4). 

My wife Rocio and I have been so honored to be part of a ministry so much like the gathering of the people of God at Antioch these past seven years -- Rapha God Ministries.  It's a vibrant, loving, powerful ministry called to minister and teach the healing love of Jesus Christ. Like Antioch, it's a ministry of prophets and teachers, saturated in a spiritual atmosphere of worship and prayer, seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit to be faithful and obedient to God. It's led by my life-long friend of over thirty years, Tammy Watts as its founder and executive director. We have been so honored to be so loved and saturated in such a rich and deep, authentic and genuine, atmosphere of our Father's love. 

Now, throughout the body of Christ today, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us all about the next season in the Kingdom of God and the unfolding plans of God in our world and in our lives. In different ways and step by step, the Holy Spirit is aligning and realigning, directing and redirecting our steps to fulfill His mandate and commission of the body and bride of Christ in our day. 

When Saul and Barnabas were sent out from Antioch, they carried with them the prophetic and teaching anointing that the Lord had done in them, but also went out in what was evangelistic and even became apostolic in time to go forward as they were led, in agreement with the leading of the same Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of all the leaders at Antioch. No doubt Antioch was different after that, just as Saul and Barnabas were different after that. Nothing went back to the old normal or how things were. Instead everything was becoming new and springing forth into what it was always intended to be. It wasn't denying or regretting the past; it was taking all that was learned and developed to go forward into the present and future in right alignment and fulfillment all the plans and purposes of God. 

While at Rapha God Ministries, I've also continued aspects of the ministry the Lord entrusted to me over twenty years ago called Messiah Ministries, called to "prepare the way of the Lord" in the hearts of His people, at home and to the nations. Several months ago, the Lord called us each to be fasting and praying about the original roots of what has grown into the tree of life and ministry for both Rapha God Ministries and Messiah Ministries. In obedience to this directive, like the leaders at Antioch, we've been fasting and praying and worshipping the Lord for several months about all this, each in our own way. 

The Lord has been speaking to all of us in different ways and providing different parts. It's all been in deep prayer and preparation for what He's about to do, in and through all of us. We see in part; we prophesy in part; we each share the parts we sense are from the Lord with testing and discernment to seek God's will and leading. He's the One who sees all the parts together and shows us what we need to know, when we need to know it. And now we believe the Lord is showing us how He is putting the parts together in exciting ways that stir up great joy and expectant faith for what is to come; while at the same time, there is also deep sorrow that comes from true hearts letting go of what has been so nurturing and beautiful in order to take hold of what lies ahead. 

Rocio and I seek the blessing of the Lord and loving release from our friends who have become our forever family at Rapha God Ministries to now go forth into what we believe the Holy Spirit is calling us to in the season ahead as we fully reengage the calling of Messiah Ministries. We know the Lord will continue to lead both of these ministries of His, step by step into the fullness of all He has always intended. With each ministry, separately led but both led of the Holy Spirit, just as the ministry of Antioch and the ministry of Saul and Barnabas were separate but blessed in their obedience to the Lord, both were able to grow and mature and expand the Kingdom of God in different ways. Both ministries were eternally connected in the bond of the Spirit, in the bonds of encouragement and love, with deep honor and respect for the Lord and for another. We desire the same.  

Rocio and I thank You, Father, for all You have done in us through our time of being deeply loved and growing deeply in the good soil of Rapha God Ministries. So much of who we are is what we have become through all the love and prayers, the nurture and growth, the healing and freedom You have done in us through our loving family at Rapha God Ministries. We honor them and we honor You for all You have done through them in our lives that will never be the same. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

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

My friend, may you be blessed in all your Holy Spirit-filled relationships whether those of your past, your present, or your future, as the Lord aligns you, empowers you, and sends you out in His love by His Spirit for His Kingdom, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

 

 

    

Tommy & Rocio Hays 

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Learn from Our Past, Face Our Present, Press On to the Destiny of Our Future - August 28, 2020

 Morning by Morning, August 28 - Learn from Our Past, Face Our Present, Press On to the Destiny of Our Future

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart so I can walk in Your steps and live in Your ways today. ...

 

"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind" (Philippians 3:10-15).

 

As we come to know You more, we come to know Your resurrection power more. In humility and faith, in the light of Your power and love, we don't have to hide our past, deny our failures, or try to cover up our mistakes -- whether as a person, as a people, or even as a nation. We can bring it all to the foot of the cross in confession and under the blood of Jesus in repentance (1 John 1:9). We can learn from our past, fearlessly face our present, and boldly press on to the destiny You've determined for our future with the hope You've sealed in our hearts.

 

When the Apostle Paul speaks of letting go of his past, "forgetting what lies behind" so he can devote his heart and focus "forward to what lies ahead," he's not denying his past. Like all of us, he had a past. And despite the good things of his past, his past was also full of the sins and failures of violence, racism, religious pride, persecution, injustice, oppression, cruelty, and even murder in the name of God (Acts 7:58; 8:1-3; 9:1-2; 22:3-4; 26:9-11). And at the same time, he didn't let his past define him or limit him or disqualify him from "the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" upon his life and destiny.

 

That's resurrection power! That's the power of the blood of Jesus to change our hearts and even the course of our lives, to set us free from the chains and shame of our past, so we can learn from our past and even let our past become our testimony to Your love and power and grace for us all!

 

It was true for Paul. It's true for every one of us. It's true for people; it's true for cities; it's true for nations.

 

When all nations are judged -- and all nations will be judged as either "sheep" or "goats" (Matthew 25:31-46) -- we want to be judged as "one nation under God" who has acknowledged and repented of the sins of the past and did not get stuck in the past, but chose to "press on" in her "heavenly call" in the mercy of God and the resurrection power of Jesus Christ! (Philippians 3:14)

 

Father, let me and my nation be found faithful, "forgetting what lies behind" because we've acknowledged it, repented of it, learned from it, and let it go, so that we can be about our Father's business, "straining forward to what lies ahead" (Philippians 3:13). 

 

We can't make any of that happen in our power or wisdom or goodness apart from You. Apart from You, we can do nothing (John 15:5). It's only by Your grace and mercy. And it's only available to those who earnestly seek "to know Christ and the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). Lord, let it be so -- here in my heart and here in my nation. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be set free from your past, letting the Lord redeem it all into a testimony of His resurrection power to fulfill the heavenly calling of God in your life and your nation, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

  

Healing Academy in Fredericksburg, Texas

Wow! What a powerful start to our Healing Academy at the Bride Church in Fredericksburg, Texas this week! Thank you for your prayers! Please keep us in prayer as Rocio and I travel to Fredericksburg, Texas each Tuesday night for the next several weeks teaching our Healing Academy. I'll be teaching from the principles of my book, 

Free to Be Like Jesus!

-Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance

   

Amazon.com/AuthorTommyHays

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!

August 27 - "Battleground States"

 Morning by Morning, August 27 - "Battleground States"

 

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

 

At election time, they talk about "battleground states" -- the places of the greatest battles because they're the most strategic battles that can decide the election. Each side devotes tremendous energy, attention, and resources to overcome the opposition and establish a position for victory. Victory in these battles prepares the way for victory in the war, so that the election is won. 

 

And our human soul is the greatest "battleground state" of all. This is where the strategic battles are fought and the wars are won.

 

In the words of the Apostle Peter: "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles (where you are passing through this world as strangers in a foreign land which is not your home) to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among (your neighbors), so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when He comes to judge (1 Peter 2:11-12).

 

And the words of the Apostle Paul: "I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me" (Romans 7:22-23 NLT). And this: "Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other" (Galatians 5:16-17).

 

How do we position ourselves for victory in the battleground state of our soul? As the Apostle found, when he humbly sought the answer to this battle in his own soul: "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25 NLT)

 

Come, Lord Jesus. Come by Your Holy Spirit -- "the Spirit of Christ" -- who comes to live and abide in our hearts to rule and to reign as Lord in our souls (Romans 8:9). The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, giving us life and victory in You (Romans 8:11).

 

In this battleground of my soul, my victory is won through my surrender to You. By the power of Your grace at work within me, "I die daily" to my flesh and surrender daily to Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:31). Day by day, battle by battle, my flesh is put to death and Your Spirit arises in new life in me. "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him" (Romans 6:8). 

 

I want to come to the place where I experience and proclaim Your victory in my soul: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!" (Galatians 2:20) That's the victory I seek and the victory I have in You! "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:57) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be victorious in the daily battleground of your soul, putting death the flesh and surrendering more and more of you to more and more of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ abiding in you, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

  

Healing Academy in Fredericksburg, Texas

Wow! What a powerful start to our Healing Academy at the Bride Church in Fredericksburg, Texas Tuesday Night! Thank you for your prayers! Please keep us in prayer as Rocio and I travel to Fredericksburg, Texas each Tuesday night for the next several weeks teaching our Healing Academy. I'll be teaching from the principles of my book, 

Free to Be Like Jesus!

-Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance

   

Amazon.com/AuthorTommyHays

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!