Friends of the Bridegroom 6-18-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Form Your thoughts in my thoughts, Your desires in my desires. Cleanse me from my sin and fill me with Your Spirit. Make me more like You each day. ... John the Baptist "grew and became strong in the Spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day He appeared publicly to Israel" (Luke 1:80). He listened for Your leading and prepared for Your coming. Some thought he was the Messiah, but his calling and ministry was always to point others to the Messiah. Some came to listen to the leading of his voice, but he always called others to listen for the leading of Your voice. He said, ' "I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of Him.' He who has the bride is the Bridegroom. The friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly at the Bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease " (John 3:28-30). Help me mature and grow in Your Spirit, Lord. Let me be one of Your witnesses preparing for Your coming in my heart and in our land and throughout the earth. Let my voice lead others to Your voice. Let my words lead others to Your Word. You are the Bridegroom coming for Your bride -- a bride made "holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word, so as to present the church to Himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind -- yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). Let me stand and hear You, rejoicing greatly at Your voice. Help me grow in a relationship of trust and obedience to You as a "friend of the Bridegroom." As I wait this morning for Your leading and the inspiration of Your Spirit, it seems I hear You say: "Awaken, arise. Do not hesitate; do not look back. Look to Me and follow My lead. Be still and listen for my leading, then move quickly at the command of My voice. Many pieces are in place; many more are coming into place. Your part is to make sure your piece is in place. Only I see all the pieces in all their places, but I am opening the eyes of My children to see more than they have ever seen. You will need to see more to see where I am leading in these days. Fear not, and follow Me." Yes, Lord. Help me stay in a place of stillness in the silence of surrender to listen for Your leading. Help me find my place and do my part as You call others to find their places and do their parts. Fit us together and purify our souls. You are calling Your bride and preparing her for Your coming -- coming first in our hearts and one day in the fullness of Your glory to receive the glorious bride You have prepared. Those who will come to follow Your lead and learn Your ways, You call Your "friends" (John 15:15). As we do our part in our generation -- all by Your grace and Your Sprit, preparing Your bride for Your coming -- we are Your friends, friends of the Bridegroom. "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' " (Revelation 17:17) In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Rooted and Built Up in Him" -- 6-16-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my spirit with Your Spirit, draw me up into the heavenly dimension of Your presence I pray. ... "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6-7). We've been staying with my mom in the little village of Ruidoso tucked away in the mountains of central New Mexico. It's a unique setting of rocky mountains covered with tall, cool pines, surrounded on every side by vast desert. This region is ruggedly beautiful, but suffering a severe drought. Though the rocky soil is hot and dry, the pine trees seem to smell just as fresh and stand just as tall as they do every summer when we come out here. They've been built up be the cycles of winter snows, spring rains, and summer droughts for years. Their roots sink deeply into resources of water beneath the surface of current circumstances. Keep teaching me how to live my life in You, rooted and grounded in the faith, built up in praise and prayer. Teach me how to flourish with the fragrance of Christ even in the dry seasons -- "the fragrance that comes from knowing Him" (2 Corinthians 2:14). Teach me how to abound in thanksgiving for the hidden resources of Your Word and Your Spirit that sustain me and empower me to stand firm in the faith through every season until the rains of blessing come again. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. http://www.messiah-ministries.org Daily archives: http://morningbymorning.injesus.com Come to The Fountain This Friday Night 6/16 -- the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel at Centenary United Methodist, 2800 Tates Creek Rd in Lexington. All are welcome!

"The Present Age" 6-15-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. The closer I get to You, the closer I want to be. The more of I see of Your glory, the more I see how far I fall short of Your glory and how much I need You and Your grace every day. But here You are -- answering my need and my desire. ... "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 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). There is a present age and there is an age to come. While I wait with eager anticipation for the age to come, I don't want to be passive or complacent about my part in my generation of the present age. By Your grace and love, You desire to bring "salvation to all" and then to convict us and redeem us from "all iniquity" as You purify us and empower us to live our lives for Your glory and Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. As the body of Christ on earth, being cleansed from our sins and being filled with Your Spirit, we are created and called to be "the manifestation of glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." We wait for the hope of Your coming, but at the same time, we embrace the coming of Your kingdom and Your nature in our lives now. This is "the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Thank You, Lord, for saving me and forgiving me. Thank You for purifying me and redeeming me. Thank You for convicting me of my need for Your grace every day. Thank You for calling me and empowering me to keep welcoming the glory of Your presence in my heart and my life a little more each day. Make me more "zealous for good deeds" for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done in my life and through my life for the hope of Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. http://www.messiah-ministries.org Daily archives: http://morningbymorning.injesus.com Come to The Fountain This Friday Night 6/16 -- the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel at Centenary United Methodist, 2800 Tates Creek Rd in Lexington. All are welcome!

Multiply the Moments 6-14-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before the day begins, it's good to come away with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I give to You my first thoughts, my first emotions, my first words. ... As I watch and wait for Your leading in the silence of surrender, it seems I hear You say, "Multiply the moments." I think of these moments with my children and family during our time away. Yes, Lord. Multiply the moments -- these moments together with one another, set apart from the intensity of our regular daily lives. Multiply the investment of love and time in these moments with my children. "Then Peter said, 'Look, we have left our homes and followed You.' And He said to them, 'Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life' " (Luke 18:28-30). These few weeks near the beginning of each summer have become some of the most important weeks of my life. These are the times when I "get back very much more in this age" some of what I seem to have lost "for the sake of the kingdom of God." As those who have known me in the journey of my life and those who have come to know me in the journey of my prayers have found, I share the pain and the joy of both a broken family and a blended family. After my first year of ministry in the transition of my worlds from lawyer to minister and from Texas to Kentucky, my first wife divorced me, despite all the counseling and prayers and offers to return to the our old world. My three older children from that first marriage -- Elizabeth, Zachary, and Madison -- are only able to be with me part of the time now. So this block of time when I bring them "back home" to see my family out here in Texas and New Mexico and to spend uninterrupted weeks rather than days and hours with them carries a significance far beyond a family vacation. These moments of talks and laughs, arguments and prayers -- these moments of real life together -- are worth their weight in gold. This year has been a little harder without my two youngest children -- Elijah and Josiah -- since it seemed a little too early to travel for my wife with our newborn son. But at the same time, it's allowed a little more focused time with my older children in a rare gift we seldom share. Somehow by the power of Your grace and Your love, You have brought us through and are bringing us through the journey of brokenness and healing, blending our old life into our new life -- our redeemed life. I have no idea how anyone could try to make it through this kind of journey without You and I'm so glad we have never had to try. Multiply the moments, Lord. Thank You for putting this prayer of Your will on my heart this morning. Do in these moments what might otherwise take months that we no longer have to give and to share with one another. Thank You for the gift of "very much more." In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. http://www.messiah-ministries.org Daily archives: http://morningbymorning.injesus.com Come to The Fountain This Friday Night 6/16 -- the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel at Centenary United Methodist, 2800 Tates Creek Rd in Lexington.

The Breath of Your Spirit 6-13-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I come away from the world for a moment to seek You alone and wait in the silence to listen for the leading of Your Spirit. ... "We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). I cannot see the air I breathe, but it is real. And it is essential for my life. I cannot see You, but You are real. And You are essential for my life. If in my pride I were to stubbornly insist that I would not allow air into my lungs because I could not see it and therefore could not believe it was real, I would surely die. Having known the Breath of Life, I know my life would be as dry as a bone and my spirit would surely die if I were to stubbornly refuse to allow the life breath of Your Spirit to fill me afresh every day. The same Hebrew word for breath is the same word for spirit -- ruach. As the worship song says, "You are the Air I breathe. I'm desperate for You." From the very the beginning, we have lived by the breath of God alone: "The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7). You are Spirit (John 4:24). And Your Spirit brings new life to dry bones and weary souls. "Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live" (Ezekiel 37:5). By Your grace and my faith, I choose to believe and I choose to receive the breath of Your Spirit, the breath of Your Life. Breathe Your life into my spirit afresh and let these bones live for You today. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com "Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.orgCome to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Before All Things" 6-12-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me see You in Your Word and hear You in my spirit. ... "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He himself is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything" (Colossians 1:15-16). Come to "have first place" in my life, Lord Jesus. I know there are still so many areas where I turn to myself and my will before turning to You and Your will. There are still so many times that You come in second -- or far worse -- on my list of priorities and guiding principles for my decisions. Not only is that sin, it's also foolish, because in You "all things hold together." When things are not holding together well in my life, I know it's time reorder my priorities, seek the wisdom of Your ways, and look to You and Your leading "before all things." In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com "Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

More Fruit of Your Spirit 6-11-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your desires on my heart and Your thoughts in my mind. Lead me in prayer and throughout my day by Your Spirit. ... "The fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things" (Galatians 5:22-23). Lord, let me see more fruit of Your Spirit in my life. But even as I pray this prayer, I know You will be doing Your part by providing Your power through Your grace, and calling me to do my part by faith and obedience to Your will. Your answer will come as You bring the circumstances into my life that will become the opportunities for me to choose to bear this fruit or not. Your Word calls us each to "live lives worth of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, as you bear fruit in every good work as you grow in the knowledge of the Lord" (Colossians 1:10). It is our choice how we chose to lead our lives, but You are there to provide the desire and the power to live a life that pleases You. You have put this prayer on my heart because You want to bring this answer in my life. It's only possible by Your grace, but Your grace is sufficient for me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribewrite to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com "Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Times of Refreshing 6-9-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Awaken my hunger for the fullness of Your presence in my heart again today. ... "In this way God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through His holy prophets" (Acts 3:18-21). Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. We prepare the way of the Lord as we repent of our sins and turn to You. So repentance brings refreshing. Returning to You allows You to return to us in the fullness of Your presence, unhindered by sin. May the hunger for Your presence intensify to the time of universal repentance when You send Your Messiah for the time of universal restoration. You long to restore every heart that turns to You in repentance. You long to refresh every heart that longs for Your presence. Father God, send your Messiah. Fulfill the fullness Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Come, Holy Spirit. Convict us of our sin. Convince us of our need for the refreshing and restoration that only the coming of our Messiah can bring. Call us to repentance as we turn to our God and cry out in prayer for the presence of the Lord in measures of intensity that touch the heart of heaven. Come, Lord Jesus. Refresh us and restore us with the fullness of Your presence in our hearts and throughout the earth. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com "Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Faithfulness as Firm as the Heavens 6-8-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me entrust all things to You. ... "I will sing of Your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that Your steadfast love is established forever; Your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens" (Psalm 89:1-2). Steadfast and steady, faithful and true I find my rest and security in You. Others may falter and others may fail But Your goodness and mercy will always prevail. Why do I doubt and why do I fear? Through every challenge, You're always near. So help me let go and help me to trust To rest in You and not worry so much. You hold my life in Your hands, from beginning to end Every hope and dream, every struggle with sin. Keep lifting my eyes to see as You see Not looking around or looking at me. I give You my burdens and release them to You I find rest in Your peace as You want me to. There's no better place than the security of Your presence Your faithfulness to me is as firm as the heavens. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Dominion 6-7-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart to seek You. ... "When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars that You have established; what are human beings that You are mindful of the them, mortals that You care for them? Yet You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under their feet" (Psalm 8:3-6). You are the Creator and we are the created. Yet You created us with love and given us glory and honor in measures we could never deserve and never earn just becuase it is Your will to do so. You have entrusted the rest of Your creation to our care. In Your dominion, You have given us dominion. Forgive us for failing to care for Your creation as You have cared for us. Give me grace to see that part of Your creation You have put under my feet. Give me Your heart to love it and Your wisdom to steward it with glory and honor. This is not pride, this is obedience -- not to honor ourselves, but to honor You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

Away with You 6-6-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I have come away from my world for a couple of weeks of vacation, but I don't want to come away from You. Though my mornings may start a little later, I still want to start them with You. ... "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle in the farthest limits of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me fast" (Psalm 139:7-10). Wherever I go, You are there. And in a truth that is beyond my comprehension, You are there waiting for me. You are there waiting for each of us to acknowledge Your presence and welcome Your life into our lives. The moment I lift my face to Your glory and open my heart to Your Spirit in worship and prayer, You are there. You have been there all along, but I come to know that truth more surely as I consciously and deliberately direct my thoughts to know and acknowledge Your presence with me. It's not getting away from work and daily responsibilities on vacation that will bring me the deepest rest. It's having a little more time to linger in Your presence and look more deeply into Your glory that will renew me and refresh me to return home in a fresh power of Your Spirit. As You said to Moses, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14). The last thing I did at "work" was to preach and pray on Pentecost Sunday for all of us to be filled afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Now You are answering my prayers as I have a little more time to pursue Your presence. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Dear Friends, I will be away on family vacation for a couple of weeks and will send out my devotional as I am able. We usually take the kids out to spend time with my family in Texas and New Mexico each summer. But I will be keeping you in prayer and ask you to please keep us in prayer. God bless you and thank you for coming along with me in the journey! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Omen of 666 6-2-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let the truth and light of Your Holy Spirit shine in my soul. Bind back the darkness and deception of these days and open my eyes to see the One who is the Truth. By Your grace, You are my Way, my Truth, and my Life. ... "False christs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be alert; I have already told you everything. But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then He will send out the angels, and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven" (Mark 13:22-27). Last week, all the famous "double-decker" buses in London we saw had advertisements pasted on their sides for the movie coming out on 6-6-06 called "The Omen." It is an obvious reference to the antichrist and the mark of the beast "who performs great signs" and "deceives those who dwell on the earth" (Revelation 13:11-18, NKJV). "Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666" (verse 13:18). He comes looking "like a lamb" but speaking "like a dragon" (verse 13:11). But You have warned us to hold fast to what is true, to test everything against the truth of Your Word and Your Spirit. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-16). The enemy of our souls "is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). His fruit is doubt and unbelief, confusion and fear. He is a counterfeiter of the truth. The movies and books in the media of our day are flooded with deception and distortion of the truth. "The DaVinci Code" book and movie present as facts a litany of outrageous lies easily contradicted by even the secular, historical record; yet the faith of many is being shaken by the false appearance of objectivity and supposed revelation of hidden conspiracy. "The Gospel of Judas" has surfaced as an ancient document but also an ancient distortion of the truth in line with the Gnostic philosophies that were asserted in contradiction to the truth of the Gospel. These are days of relentless and accelerating deception. "Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood" (Revelation 12:15). But Your truth will prevail over every counterfeit and deception for those who choose to seek Your face and stand firm in Your Word by Your grace. "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19, NKJV). A counterfeit only has significance because it is a counterfeit of what is real. There are false signs and wonders because there are true signs and wonders. There are false christs and prophets because there is a true Christ and His true prophets. "And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved" (Mathew 24:11-13). These are exciting days! The seeds of truth and deception, of good and evil have grown into maturity for the time of harvest (Matthew 13:36-43). Lord, give me grace to stand firm in the faith. Give me grace to endure to the end. Let the banner of Your cross, the standard of Your Word, and the power of Your Spirit be the true omens of our day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, one good web site with excellent material on these issues is: www.JesusAndDavinci.com Also, one of the professors I had at Asbury Seminary, Dr. Ben Witherington has written an excellent book called The Gospel Code on this subject. Please check out the Global Day of Prayer events this Sunday June 4th in your area: http://www.gdop-usa.com/ Our events in the Lexington, Kentucky area for the 3:00 gathering at Rupp Arena and the prayer sites across town for the 10 Days of Preparation are at: http://www.metrolexprayer.org/ Messiah Ministries will host the Friday prayer time focused on healing at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm at the Prayer Tower at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Please come join us! Also, I am very excited to be joining in the preaching on Pentecost this Sunday at Centenary for all three services -- please come join us if you can and pray for us if you can't. To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Preparation for Pentecost 6-1-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch and wait for the coming of Your Spirit afresh in my heart again today. You are always with me, always within me, but in these moments of deliberate surrender, I am more with You. Help me decrease as You increase more and more each day. ... "While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. 'This,' He said, 'is what you have heard from Me; for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now' " (Acts 1:4-5). There are fifty days of preparation from Passover to Pentecost. These are days of preparation in the seasons of our heart in faith from the crucifixion of our flesh, the cleansing of the blood of the Lamb, and the resurrection of new life at Easter until the fresh filling and baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It speaks of the life-long process of spiritual transformation -- being sanctified in spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We must continue to decrease as You continue to increase in every area of our lives (John 3:30). As we are continually emptied of ourselves, You are continually filling us with You -- baptizing us, immersing us, saturating us in the fullness of Your Holy Spirit to transform us into Your holy nature layer by layer, step by step, "from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). This coming Sunday, we will join the body of Christ throughout the earth to celebrate the day of Pentecost. Again this year, there is also a call going out to the nations for a Global Day of Prayer. You will be glorified in our prayer and worship so that on this Pentecost Sunday "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). But there is a preparation before Pentecost. You continue to call Your disciples "to wait for the promise of the Father." There is something in the waiting that causes us to focus on the One we are waiting for, the One who comes to baptize us with His Holy Spirit not many days from now. In the watching and the waiting, we begin to hunger and thirst in growing anticipation for a fresh encounter of Your living presence where we "may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). Your first disciples heeded Your call and obeyed Your command. They pulled away from the labors of life and ministry, "constantly devoting themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:14). Prayer is the preparation for Pentecost. Watching and waiting in constant devotion is the attitude of heart You long to fill with the fullness of Your Spirit. Let me sense Your leading and obey Your commands for the ways You are calling me to watch and wait in constant devotion for a deeper baptism of Your Holy Spirit in my life. "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:1-4). On Sunday, let Your people who are called by Your name throughout the earth gather "together in one place" -- the place of prayer, the place of surrender, the place of hungering and thirsting for more of You, more of Your nature, more of the fullness of Your presence and power in our lives. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Let Your mighty rushing Wind come set our hearts ablaze with the Fire of Your Spirit 'til we run out of our own words to praise Your holy name! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please check out the Global Day of Prayer events this Sunday June 6th in your area: http://www.gdop-usa.com/ Our events in the Lexington, Kentucky area for the 3:00 gathering at Rupp Arena and the prayer sites across town for the 10 Days of Preparation are at: http://www.metrolexprayer.org/ Messiah Ministries will host the Friday prayer time focused on healing at 12:00 noon at the Prayer Tower at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Please come join us! Also, I am very excited to be joining in the preaching on Pentecost this Sunday at Centenary for all three services -- please come join us if you can and pray for us if you can't. To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Stump and the Shoot 5-31-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with the life of Your Spirit as I open my heart and spirit to You in worship and prayer. ... "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:1-2). As we gathered each day for worship and teaching in the sanctuary of Holy Trinity Brompton in London last week, I was struck by the marriage of ancient and modern. We were surrounded by centuries-old gothic arches, stained glass, and organ pipes; but spiritual life was teaming from every corner from casually-clad worshippers, led by guitars and drums. An ornately carved pulpit with steps leading high above us stood off to the side with the marble baptistery and other antique religious artifacts stacked underneath to make room for expressive worship and extensive times of prayer ministry following the messages. Across England, most of the old churches are no longer even churches, being used for museums and remodeled as bookstores, boutiques, and bars -- drying up and falling away like the lingering stump of a felled tree. As in so many of the main-line traditions and ritualistic religion without living relationships, the generations begin to turn away from church as a relic of the past and turn to culture to try to find the answers to the emptiness of their souls. But You began breathing Your Spirit of Life into the dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-6). You began speaking to the mountains of lifeless religion and dying tradition to cast them into the sea (Mark 11:23). You began to call forth a fountain to spring up and flow out with Your Living Water to touch the nations (Joel 3:18). Out of the dead and decaying stump rose a tender shoot of new life in Your Spirit. Though the Alpha Course You birthed in this church, generations were drawn back to the ancient wells of truth in welcoming relationships with the safety to ask hard questions and express honest ideas. This movement is now flowing to the nations in every stream and tradition of Your Church as part of Your renewal of resurrection life. Lord, continue to awake Your New Life in me. Continue to put Your axe to the root of what is dead in me and my church and my tradition, pruning the branches of what is bears no fruit so that the life of Your Spirit may draw the hearts of this generation to You. Deliver us from pride and fear and renew us with courage and life. Let this tender shoot rise up from the ancient stump into a Tree of Life that bears fruit for the glory of Your name. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

In the Steps of Heroes 5-30-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I've come to worship You with the offerings of my time and the devotion of my heart. ... "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). On May 24, 1738 John Wesley went to the evening worship service at St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral in London, then walked down to a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. There his heart was "strangely warmed" as he recorded in his journal that day. A movement was birthed in that divine encounter with the living God, which would become a spiritual and cultural transformation of England, then the frontiers of America, and ultimately the world. Even the secular historians acknowledge that moment as a wellspring of great revival. Those who followed Wesley in this movement were mocked as "Methodists" for their radical and methodical devotion to Christ in daily worship, prayer, and service. Wesley often explained these whose hearts were strangely warmed as his in light of this Scripture: "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5, KJV). On May 24th last week, we went to that same evening service at St. Paul's and followed the steps of John Wesley down Aldersgate Street. The actual place of the historic prayer meeting no longer stands -- destroyed by Hitler's campaign of terror against the innocent civilians of London in World War II. But the spirit of revival remains, burning brightly in the spirit of all whose hearts are strangely warmed by the power and presence of Your Holy Spirit. You are still meeting each of us in the divine encounters that transform our lives and the world around each of us who follow after You. Let the love of God be shed abroad in my heart again this day. Encourage me and inspire me to follow those who follow You, to imitate those who imitate You. Let me look to the example and follow in the steps of Your heroes of the faith (1 Peter 2:21). As I do, let my heart be strangely warmed every day by Your love and presence and power. In Jesus' name I pray. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"I am the Alpha" 5-29-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. It's good to be home and find the familiar place where I settle in for my morning moments with You -- to seek Your face and listen for Your voice, to follow the leading of Your Spirit as I begin my day with You. ... " 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). I'm still processing all I experienced in London last week with my pastor and a small team of leaders from our church at the International Alpha Conference. We worshiped and prayed, learned and listened along with delegates from over seventy nations of the one hundred and fifty nations around the world now using the Alpha Course as a means of evangelism and discipleship -- a means of providing a safe place for those seeking God in any culture to ask their questions and find the One who is the answer. You are the Alpha. And living life in You is the course You have set for our lives. You created every heart with a hunger for relationship with You, and we will never be satisfied and never be fulfilled apart from a living relationship with You. But all who seek You will find You (Jeremiah 29:13). The Alpha Course is way for people who don't know You but sense a need to know God to come and ask their questions, express their frustrations, and begin to experience the kindness of the community of Christ willing to listen to their questions and walk with them in the journey. What an eternal blessing it is for them and for us to see the hunger of their hearts satisfied by the One who is "the Bread of Life" (John 6:35). Thank You for letting me see more of the breadth of this movement that is touching the nations of the earth across all barriers of denominations and traditions -- Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox -- because You are drawing our eyes to You. You are our Alpha and our Omega, the beginning and the end of all we need and all we were created to believe and to receive. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I have missed being with you in prayer with you this past week. Several logistical problems made it hard to keep up with sending out my devotional, so I'm glad to be back with you now. Thank you for your prayers for us and our families while we were away at the International Conference of Alpha -- www.alpha.org Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to seek the Lord's direction in this coming season of ministry. God bless! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Traveling to meet the Trinity 5-21-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You Lord, and I come to You in these moments of the morning to linger with You in Your presence alone. ... "Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp" (Exodus 33:7). I'll be traveling far off from the camp today. My pastor and I will travel with a small team to London for a leadership conference on evangelism and small group community life through the Alpha Course. We will meet with leaders and learners from many nations to share experiences and gain insights of reaching the lost and bringing them into lasting relationships in the bonds of community. But mostly, I will be coming to meet with You. Even the name of the church You have used to birth and mature the Alpha Course which will be hosting our conference reminds me of the goal of our travels -- Holy Trinity Brompton. It is not man but the Holy Trinity I'm coming to see. It's the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I'm coming to meet. You are always with us and You never leave us. But sometimes we need to come outside the camp of our everyday lives and responsibilities to seek Your face and listen for Your voice with renewed focus. Sometimes it helps to get far off for a little while to encounter You again in a fresh way. I pray for a fresh encounter of Your presence as I come outside the camp to meet with You this week. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers us as we travel and for our families as we are away in England this week. I plan to keep up with sending my devotionals as best as I can. Here are some related web sites if you would be interested: www.thealphacourse.com and www.htb.org.uk God bless! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"A Threefold Cord" 5-20-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Bind my heart with Your heart, my mind with Your mind, my spirit with Your Spirit in the communion of prayer. ... "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). You have been showing me an image in my spirit this past week. I saw it again last night at The Fountain. It is the image of a climbing rope -- a thick rope woven together with many strands that we had in our gym in junior high school. It would be almost impossible to climb a smaller rope of only one strand, but when the cords of rope are bound together, there is a multiplication of strength and stability that comes. We need one another. We need the strength and stability that comes when we allow ourselves to be bonded together -- together with You and together with one another. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. The sum is greater than the parts. There is a synergy of relationship. You are calling us to climb higher in this season, but there are heights of our calling and destiny we can only reach together. Empower us to be flexible enough and humble enough to be joined together in the strength of Your bonds. "Woe to one who is alone." But blessed are they who are strengthened in the bonds of relationship You and with one another. As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are a threefold cord. As we are bonded to You and one another, so are we. Give me the wisdom and grace, the humility and flexibility, to be bonded together with You and with others in the threefold cord of Your strength. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's (and now cd's) for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com"Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.org Come to The Fountain the 3rd Friday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Relationship is Risky 5-19-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I open my heart to as widely as I can -- a little more today than yesterday, a little more tomorrow than today -- in this life-long journey of growing in the grace of trust and love. ... "I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 3:1-3). Relationship is risky and unity requires effort. The bond of peace must be maintained. To love one another means we must work at bearing with one another. None of this comes easy; none of this comes without deliberate choices and committed effort. But this is our calling and this is our life in the Lord. As You said long ago, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.... I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another" (John 15:12-17). Without love, without risking our hearts in relationship despite all the struggles and disappointments, woundedness and pain of making ourselves vulnerable to one another, there is no true unity of the Spirit and no true bond of peace. Anything else is a shallow illusion of the family of faith. But You have given us Your Holy Spirit to lead us and empower us by Your grace to live out our lives in the community of relationship with one another. And You have given us some keys to live this life that would be impossible without Your grace -- humility, gentleness, and patience. These do not come easily either. Nor were they intended to. They must be worked into our souls through the risks of relationship. But the more we learn to use these keys and walk in this nature, the more rich and true our relationships will become. These are the bonds of unity that cannot be broken. Though it's risky, though it can be painful, keep working Your nature into my nature. Keep calling me to risk loving others as You have loved me. Keep reminding me that the relationship is worth the risk. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Friday night 5/19 for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Paul Cooper will lead in worship and I will lead in prayer. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! Please forward this on and tell a friend! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. On the Web: http://messiah-ministries.orgDaily archives: http://morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Well Done, My son" 5-18-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me humble myself in the silence of surrender before You now -- Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ... Draw me close and hold me tight, Take my life and make it right. Forgive my sins and heal my pain, Set me free from bonds of shame. Fill me up with Your Holy Spirit, Speak Your Word and let me hear it. Let me know that I am Yours, Whether peaceful seas or troubled shores. Help me to rest in Your steady hand, To rise in faith and take my stand. Teach me to trust and to obey, Give me Your words to speak and Your heart to pray. I offer my life a living sacrifice, I bring my flesh under Your holy knife. I have so far to go and so much to learn, But Your grace is sufficient at every turn. Make me more like You more every day, Give me Your will and teach me Your ways. Cause Your thoughts to be my thoughts and Your desires mine, Help me respond as You would more every time. I need Your peace and seek Your joy, To need You alone and nothing more. Little by little and step by step, I'm growing up with Your Godly help. Don't let me give up and don't let me turn back, But keep seeking the things that will always last. I long for the day I see Your face, And know You as You are in the fullness of Your grace. I want to hear those words from the Holiest One, "Welcome home. Well done, My son." Thank You Lord for writing these words on my heart this morning. I offer them to You as my prayer this day. "His Lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter in to the joy of your Lord' " (Matthew 25:23). I choose by Your grace to live my life to please my Lord. Keep putting that desire in my heart and keep giving me the grace to live it out. Keep forgiving me when I fail, keep lifting me up when I fall. Keep turning my heart toward my home in You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if you are in the Lexington area, please Come to The Fountain this Friday night 5/19 for our monthly, citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship -- 7 pm in the chapel at Centenary, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. People come from all traditions and denominations for a time of intimate worship in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our prayer ministry team will be available throughout the evening for prayer ministry. Paul Cooper will lead in worship and I will lead in prayer. Come and bring a friend. All are welcome! To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. On the Web: http://messiah-ministries.orgDaily archives: http://morningbymorning.injesus.com