Embrace and Engage 8-15-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open my eyes to see and my ears to hear in the spiritual realm of Your manifest presence in prayer. ... "So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing of the work went forward at their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it" (2 Chronicles 24:13). It seems I hear You say, "Embrace and engage." And these thoughts rise up in my mind from the depths of my human spirit now in the communion of prayer with Your Holy Spirit: "Embrace Me first, then engage your day. Too many engage themselves into the works of their day without first embracing Me." Yes, Lord. Draw me to You in the first moments of every morning. Draw me to You to seek Your counsel before making my decisions. Draw me to You in the silence of surrender before I begin to speak and say or even pray. Then like the cogs of a wheel of a well-oiled machine, I can be about my Father's business instead of my own business, submitted to Your plans and purposes rather than my own. My thoughts and desires will be oiled in the embrace of Your Spirit so You can engage the gears of my gifts with the gifts of others to accomplish Your will through our lives. Forgive me for the times I have engaged first, and then embraced -- or never took the time to embrace You at all. Before every battle of the armies of Israel, they were to first hear from You through Your priest before engaging their enemies in battle. "Before you engage in battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the troops" (Deuteronomy 20:2). Now under the new covenant fulfilled in Christ, You are my High Priest (Hebrews 5:5-10). As I embrace You, I embrace the Word and will of God, entrusting my life and the works and battles of my day into Your hands so I can engage in the ministries of Your heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

As They Grow and Go 8-14-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All authority in heaven and earth belongs to You. I entrust all authority of my life to You to this day. ... "Even children make themselves known by their acts, by whether what they do is pure and right" (Proverbs 20:9). This is a big week for our family. My eighteen year old daughter Elizabeth goes off to college and my five year old son Elijah goes off to kindergarten. You have sown Your Word into their minds and poured Your Spirit into their hearts. As best as we could and all by Your grace, we have tried to raise them up in the way they should go so that they will not depart from Your path in the choices they make and the lives they live (v. 22:6). In the broader perspective, neither is all that old, but they both think they are. And, in any event, they are both old enough to take another step of independence from us and dependence on You -- steps in the journey of maturity into Christ-likeness they will continue for the rest of their lives. Give us grace to entrust them to You. Forgive us for our sins in the ways we have not fully represented Your heart and nature along the way. Fill up by Your Spirit where we have fallen short. Guide them in the ways that will lead them to be known as children of God by their acts. Let their acts be a reflection of what You've poured into their hearts (Matthew 15:18-19). Make them sensitive the leading of Your Spirit and the nearness of Your presence, both when they long to be drawn near to You or when they may be tempted to be drawn away. Thank You for the angels You send to watch their steps and clear their paths (Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:14). Thank You for the peace and joy of seeing them grow and now seeing them go, in these next big steps of their journey with You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I thank you for all your prayers for our family -- Tommy, Tricia, Elizabeth, Zachary, Madison, Elijah, and Josiah. And I join my heart with yours in prayer for your family as well. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Above All ... Love" 8-13-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Consume me. ... "Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Colossians 3:14). "Above all" is a strong command of priority. Your Word doesn't say "above all, clothe yourselves with forgiveness," or "good deeds," or "a servant's heart," or any other of the many significant and necessary attributes of Christ-likeness. In fact, the verses just before this command list many of those godly attributes You call us to live out, saying, "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (v 3:12). But love is the priority "above all." Just the other day, I was thinking that my morning prayers are filled with too many thoughts and words about love. I was thinking it doesn't seem manly enough or strong enough, that maybe I only need to write and pray about the cross, and the blood, and the power of God. But You quickly broke through these thoughts from Satan. I am not to try to create You in my own image or clothe myself with any image I feel more comfortable in projecting to You in my prayers and to others who read them. You are who You are. And You are Love (1 John 4:8). If I am to be clothed with Christ and allow You to conform me to Christ-likeness -- the purpose of my existence for these moments on earth -- then I will embrace and exude Your love and Your loving nature more and more every day. After all, Your love is the very source of everything else, including the cross, the blood, and the power of God. So if I am filled with Your Spirit, as I pray every day, I must be filled with Your love. My words, my prayers, my actions, my life will manifest the Spirit of the One I worship and welcome to have priority in my life. So, this day and every day, I choose by Your grace to clothe myself with Your love -- unashamed, unafraid, unrestrained. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Spiritual Kingdom 8-12-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Awaken my soul to seek You and find You in the intimacy of prayer. ... "Jesus answered, 'Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of Spirit is spirit" (John 3:5-6). Last night we watched a movie with the kids about two friends who crossed over a creek and went into the woods to play after school every day. The woods across the water became their kingdom when they "looked hard" with their eyes to see with their imagination. Our journey with You is kind of like that, only the kingdom we seek to see with the eyes of our heart is real, not our imagination, but we have to look hard to see beyond the kingdom of the natural realm into the kingdom of the heavenly realm. We have to cross over through the water of baptism and welcome the presence of Your Spirit in the spiritual communion of worship and prayer. "God is Spirit, and those worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords; You are the King of this kingdom of spiritual reality beyond our natural senses, "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). As I watch and wait for Your leading each day in the communion of prayer, You draw me in to the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of heaven is drawn into me. As You open the eyes of my heart to see You and worship You in spirit and truth, I become more aware of the spiritual reality of Your kingdom and Your spiritual kingdom becomes more real in me (Ephesians 1:17-19). I cross over into the spiritual place You have prepared for me, as You come and take me there as You promised, "I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3). Here in the reality of Your spiritual kingdom, my "life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Here I fixed the eyes of my heart on "things that are above, not on things that are on earth;" here, I "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (v. 3:1-2). In this spiritual kingdom, "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). Lord, help me keep looking and keep living more and more in the eternal reality of Your spiritual kingdom, allowing the reality of Your spiritual kingdom to live more and more in me each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Shocking and Amazing" Worship 8-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and I seek Your face. ... "The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their worship of Me is a human commandment learned by rote; so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing. The wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden" (Isaiah 29:13-14). In the sin of shallow worship, we say the right words and do the right things, but it's only on the surface and not from the depths of our hearts. Someone says "stand," "kneel," "pray," "sing," and we do. Even in more "free" settings, someone says "lift up your hands," "lift up your voices," "give a shout to the Lord," and we do. In whatever form our worship has settled, we are engaged to a degree, we've given ourselves to You in a measure, but do we give to You our hearts unrestrained and unashamed in a passion ablaze with praise and alive with a burning fire of ones who know the extravagance of Your mercy and the Your presence? But in Your mercy and Your desire to awaken us to the worship we were created to experience and express in unveiled intimacy with You, You break through our timidity and complacency to again do shocking and amazing things in our midst. Where we've lost our passion, You want to impassion us again with the power of Your presence. Where our love has grown cold, You want to fire us up with the move of Your Spirit in our midst. Lord, come shock us, come amaze us, come shake us and wake us until we are alive and ablaze with the depth of worship You desire and deserve. Let our honest and genuine, heart-felt response to Your extravagant love and incomprehensible mercy be shocking and amazing worship for You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Restorer of Life 8-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I direct my thoughts to You alone in these first moments of my morning. ... "So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son" (Ruth 4:13). From one perspective, we have the freedom to follow our desires and make our choices. And You want our hearts so yielded to You that we can sense the leading of Your Spirit in every choice we make. But You are the One who speaks Your will into our choices to bring forth life. And if we take time to wait in Your presence and welcome the leading of Your Spirit, You will use our choices to bear sons and daughters of blessing. The son of Boaz and Ruth was Obed -- destined to be "a restorer of life" (v. 4:15). And through his life, he became the father of Jesse, the father of David (v. 4:22). Ultimately, through the generations of choices in response to the leading of Your Spirit to come, David would become the father of Jesus of Nazareth -- the "Son of David" (Matthew 1:1). You are the Son of the simple choices made by Boaz and Ruth and the countless choices through countless generations made by the inspiration of Your Spirit. The generational blessing of "restorer of life" is now fully manifested in You. You are the Restorer of Life, because You are Life (John 14:6). Lord, help me be led by Your Spirit to make the choices You desire to use to conceive the life and blessings for generations to come. Restore life in me and live Your life through me this day and every day. Through my life, pass on Your blessings for generations to come. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God " 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ OUR UPDATED WEB-SITE Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/

God's Answer for Peace in Israel 8-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Father, my Friend, my Lord, my God. May the Father and the Son come abide in me as One by Your Holy Spirit (from John 14:23). Now prompt me to pray as You will, as I watch and wait, listening for Your leading in the silence of surrender. ... "When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:33-34). I have chosen to believe the Word of God is true and to live my life as best as I can by Your grace in trusting surrender and humble submission to Your Word as my Truth. I don't like labels like "Evangelical," "Charismatic," "Fundamentalist," "Bible-thumper," etc. But I am -- or I should say I try to be -- a Bible believing Christian. And to me, believing it means to at least try by Your grace to live it. And when I don't, I believe I am called to admit it and call it for the sin that it is instead of trying to justify it, explain it, compromise it, or try to substitute my own will for Yours' and my own ways for Yours'. Though I know I have sinfully done that many times in my past, I ask for Your conviction that leads me to repentance, to receive again Your forgiveness and restoration of the intimacy of our relationship. But it seems to me that many who claim to believe Your Word are seeking ways to be able to compromise Your Word and still claim to be followers of Your Word -- especially with regard to covenant and promises Your Word expresses to the people and the land of Israel. I know many of my friends will not like my words, but these are the prayers on my heart today. Lord, convict us and remind us of Your Truth and Your Word, so You can forgive us and restore us as people who try to believe and live the Word of God as if it were true, because it is. By Your Spirit, encourage us to encourage others to hold firm to Your Word, Your covenant, and Your promises for the people and the land of Israel and everyone else. We need Your creative and certain answers, not our own, in submission to Your Word and will, not ours. You meet us where we are in our cultures and practices, but never leave us as we are. Then You begin the patient and painful process of bringing order and security, righteousness and justice to our hearts and our homes in the places You position us. The history of nations recorded in Your Word, with Israel and others, is messy and hard to understand as You began to form Your heart and Your will in the hearts and wills of a people whose journey with You would teach us about You and Your desire for relationship with all of us. And You worked out this history -- as You are still working out this history today -- in the context of a land and a people with the promises of a covenant. "I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens" (Exodus 6:4). Whether we like it or not, understand it or not, agree with it or not, this is Your Word. And we need Your wisdom to understand Your will, Your way, and Your answer for all the turmoil and terror in this land of Canaan, the land of Your promise to Your people. We know by Your Word, there will not be true and lasting peace until the Prince of Peace returns (for example, Zechariah 12:1 through 13:6; Isaiah 11:1-16). In the new Jerusalem of the new heaven and new earth, Your Word says, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be His peoples, and God Himself with be with them" (Revelation 21:3). But until that day, Your Word does not teach us to trade land for peace, or force others to sell their birthright and inheritance of God for the porridge of false peace (Genesis 25:29-34). Instead Your Word calls the people of Your covenant to honor the aliens among them. "You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 23:9). Through the conflicts and casualties of war on all sides, as well as the working out of Your will and Your Word in this land, today Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others live in the land of Canaan. Though Your Word seems clear about Your will of ownership of the land, ownership is not the only issue. Honoring one another, loving "the alien as yourself" and respecting them as a "citizen among you" without oppression and with full recognition as a people of equal value and great worth whom You love and gave Your life to save -- these are issues of just a much, if not more, importance. But deliver us and them from the temptation to seek our own answers to satisfy our own sense of righteousness and justice apart from Yours. Let us humble ourselves to seek Your wisdom and submit to Your will in our lives and theirs. We need Your answer to peace in Israel and in our own hearts and lands. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encourage today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Through and Through 8-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come walk with me and talk with me, as I join my heart with Yours' in the communion of prayer. ... I hear in my heart the words, "Through and through." What are You saying, Lord? It seems I hear You say, "I desire to live through you, through each of My children. Allow Me to love through your heart, speak through your mouth, heal through your hands. I do it, but I choose to do it through you, through each of you who make yourselves available to Me." Yes, Lord. You don't want to replace me, You want to embrace me. You don't want to set me aside; You want to send me out. You don't want me out of the way; You want me to walk in Your way. You don’t want me to disappear; You want me to shine with the light of Your glory shining through me. "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing Him ... in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence" (2 Corinthians 2:14-17). Help me know You more fully each day, so Your Spirit can flow more freely through me each day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, in case You might be able to come join us or would like to pray for us, I will be ministering in Pennsylvania and Tennessee in September. I'll be leading a healing prayer retreat at Jumonville Retreat Center 9/7-9 http://jumonville.gospelcom.net (brochure attached). I'll be teaching a workshop on inner healing and deliverance at the "Becoming a People of Prayer" conference at Brentwood UMC outside Nashville 9/21-22 www.gbod.org/peopleofprayer (brochure attached). I'll be leading a Ministers' Conference on prayer and spiritual transformation for the Methodist Church of Estonia August 20-30 http://www.bmk.ee/umc Thank you for joining with us in ministry at home and to the nations. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org UPDATED WEB-SITEDaily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Watching and Waiting for Wisdom 8-7-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead my thoughts and shape my desires, as I willingly yield them all to You. ... "Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord; but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death" (Proverbs 8:34-36). I need Your wisdom, Lord. I need You, for You are "filled with wisdom" (Luke 2:40). You are Wisdom -- "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). To find You is to find Life. And to find You and the wisdom of Your ways, I must be willing to seek You -- daily watching at Your gates, daily waiting beside Your doors, giving my mind to Your thoughts and my heart to Your desires. As I do, You promise to give of Your wisdom to all who seek it from You, "generously and ungrudgingly," if we "ask in faith" (James 1:5-7). Lord, I do ask and I do seek. By Your grace, I choose to listen for Your leading, trusting that You are forming Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, a little more each day, as I watch and wait for You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare messages for my ministry trip at the end of August to Estonia (one of the three Baltic Republics northwest of Russia, who declared their independence from the former Soviet Union). By God's grace, I will be the keynote speaker, preaching and teaching messages on prayer and spiritual transformation at the ministers' conference for all the Methodist ministers' in the country. Thank You for you partnership with us in ministry at home and to the nations. Your prayers, support, and encouragement make this kind of ministry possible for us. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Always Watching, Always with Me 8-6-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me beside Your still waters. Restore my soul, and help to know You are my Good Shepherd, always watching and always with me. ... "The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all humankind. From where He sits enthroned He watches all the inhabitants of the earth -- He who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds" (Psalm 33:13-15). You are the all-seeing God. To You all hearts are known, all deeds exposed, all desires and motives revealed. You see the end from the beginning, the inside from the outside, and everything in between. But Your "all-seeing Eye" is not on the top of a pyramid or any other man-made structure -- contrary to the ancient occultic symbol found on dollar bills and in lodge halls of secret societies. You see from heaven's throne and everywhere the God of heaven touches. You see all, because You created all, and You are in all. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). Knowing that You are always watching, does it bring me peace or fear? I suppose the truth is, it brings both. Part of knowing the fear of the Lord is knowing that You are always with me, in the secret or in the open, in the silent thoughts within my head and in the public actions of my hands. You see it all. I'm not fooling You for a moment. But at the same time, part of knowing the peace of the Lord is knowing You never leave me and never forsake me. You fight for me in ways I can't fully see and love me in ways I can't fully know. So both the fear and the peace come with knowing You're always watching and always with me. "Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love" (Psalm 33:18). Thank You for Your watchful eye and Your loving heart. "Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You" (v. 33:22). You watch from where You sit enthroned (v. 33:14). Be enthroned in my heart from where You are always watching and always with me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare messages for my ministry trip at the end of August to Estonia (one of the three Baltic Republics northwest of Russia, who declared their independence from the former Soviet Union). By God's grace, I will be the keynote speaker, preaching and teaching messages on prayer and spiritual transformation at the ministers' conference for all the Methodist ministers' in the country. Thank You for you partnership with us in ministry at home and to the nations. Your prayers, support, and encouragement make this kind of ministry possible for us. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Believe, Obey, and Become 8-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes toward You and lay my life before You. ... "The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (John 3:35-36). How can I obey You unless I hear know Your words and hear Your voice. How can I know Your words unless I spend time reading them; and how can I know Your voice unless I spend time listening to it. In the seeking and the listening there grows a longing to know ever more deeply and fully the One to Whom I give such attention, such worship. As I long to become more like You, I grow in the desire to obey You, to follow You, to live my life for You. To truly believe You is to truly obey You, desiring to become more like You. We become like the One we worship (2 Corinthians 3:18). And this is life You offer all who will believe, eternal life -- mercy rather than wrath, intimacy rather than isolation, personal relationship with the One who holds my life and all things in His hands. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Honored by God 8-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I rest in You. Form Your thoughts and desires in me. ... "What are human beings that You are mindful of them, mortals that You care for them? Yet You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:4-5). Your love for us is astounding. Your perception of our value and significance is unbelievable. Yet, You want us to believe it, to know how You see us, how You have created us, how You have crowned us and honored us. If we could only see ourselves as You see us and see one another as You see them, our insecurities and jealousies, resentments and hatred would vanish in a moment. What if it really were as simple as loving You, loving each other as we love ourselves? That is what You said (Matthew 22:36-40). What if You really meant it and we really believed it? What if we really could be forgiven of every sin and restored in every relationship -- with You, with one another, within ourselves (1 John 1:9)? Through the calling and cleansing of Christ, we are "reconciled to God" and we have "become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). It all begins and ends with seeing You as You are and seeing ourselves and one another as You created us to be, with the value and significance You created us to have. Help me believe it, receive it, and live it. I honor You, my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Help me honor others today as You honor them, love them as You love them, and do the same with myself. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Love as Strong as Death 8-3-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You cleanse my sin and draw me in, You offer Your cup and fill me up, You lead the way as I watch and pray. ... "My beloved is mine and I am his" (Song of Solomon 2:16). Solomon's love story of the bride-to-be and coming groom speaks of the love story of Your bride and our Groom -- the yearning for intimacy, the aching and emptiness of perceived times apart, the seeking and searching for the fulfillment of embrace and union as one. Because You are Spirit and our union is a spiritual one, even the explicit language of this love story can awaken the longing of our souls for this level of love between our God and Your people, between You and I. Men and women alike can express and proclaim our love for You is as strong as death, our passion for You is as fierce as the grace (v. 8:6). Free me to seek You unashamed and unrestrained with passion and persistence. I am Yours and You are mine. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Apostolic Ministry of Matthias is Missing 8-2-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. It's very early this morning, but I can't sleep -- something is burning in my bones. So I rise and enter in to the holy place of prayer. Speak, Lord, for Your servant and Your son is listening. ... "Then they prayed and said, 'Lord, You know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.' And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:24-26). I've never heard anyone ever teach or preach on the ministry of the apostle Matthias. Maybe because his name is never mentioned again in Scripture after this verse. But there is something here we need to see for our day. The apostolic ministry of Matthias was necessary. Something was missing without him. It stuns me to see for the fist time a connection to the very next verse after Matthias was identified and added to his position of ministry through discernment and prayer: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place" (v. 2:1). Lord, this is a key to the Pentecostal power of Your church taking her place of authority and responsibility in the earth in our day. We are missing the apostolic ministry of Matthias. They are those who have labored among us "during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us," but we have not yet affirmed and embraced our need and their ministry (v. 1:21). We've not always known their names because they've not drawn attention to themselves, but to You alone. But You know their hearts (v. 1:24). And You know our need of their ministry for us to be the church You've created us and called us to be. We have such a tendency to "look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). Many are placed into positions of authority because of education, organizational credentials, and prayer-less presumption. And many essentially place themselves in positions of authority by self-promotion. Forgive us, Lord. Your church has suffered for our sin and the world has suffered for our failure to fully manifest the fullness of Your nature. We have failed to be the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, continuing the ministry of Christ, established in Your biblical order, submitted to Your heavenly will, and empowered by Your Holy Spirit to reveal Your nature as Your "ambassadors" for too many generations (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are not yet spiritually mature as the body of Christ. We are not yet experiencing the fullness of the Pentecostal power and the "greater works" You have longed to demonstrate through a generation desperate enough, humble enough, to be obedient enough so we can be empowered enough to be the hands and feet, heart and soul of the body of Christ on earth You have destined us to be (John 14:12). And part of our immaturity is that we have not set our hearts to seek Your face in prayer for those who are missing in the ministry of gifts and positions of Biblical order, responsibility, and authority of Your church: "The gifts He gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children ... we must grow up in every way into Him Who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-15). Lord, call us to prayer to seek to understand what is missing and identify who is missing. Show us where we have failed to recognize our need and Your gifts of all the positions and callings of spiritual leadership. Forgive us for trying to make pastors be apostles and make apostles be pastors because we don’t' yet fully understand Your biblical order. Call out and raise up all the ministries of Your Spirit and Your body, including the apostolic ministry of Matthias. Appoint and anoint those who have the whole-hearted humility and single-minded devotion to be the nameless, faceless, fearless spiritual leaders of our day. When the gifts of Your grace and positions of Your authority are in place, the day of our Pentecost and Your power will come into and flow out of Your church to manifest the fullness and maturity of Your nature in the ways the world is literally dying to see. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/

Remnant of the Faithful 8-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You and trust You, now I watch for You and wait for You as I start my day with You. ... "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:3-4). Give me courage to stand firm in the faith, to be found faithful as one who seeks to trust You and obey You as best as I can and all by Your grace. Though at times my sin and my self-centeredness have driven me far from the shelter of Your protection and provision, You are the Good Shepherd who comes after me to draw me back. As the pressures of the world, the flesh, and devil increase in their pull and influence even among those of Your fold, I ask You to hold on to me, to keep coming after me, to keep convicting me, to never let me go. When I am afraid or dismayed, when I feel lost or alone, keep reminding me of home -- my home in Your heart as I welcome You to make Your home in my heart. I want to be among the remnant of Your faithful. "So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace" (Romans 11:5). You choose all who have chosen You by the grace of Your love for us all, "not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). By Your grace, help me be among those who turn to You in trusting faith to keep drawing me home and holding me close. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

One Healed Among Many 7-31-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In trusting surrender, I commit this day to Your care. ... "Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Bethesda, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids -- blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?' " (John 5:2-6). Lord, there were many who were broken and hurting by the pool of Bethesda that day. Why where Your eyes drawn to one man? Why did You choose to heal him, and apparently not any others at that time? Was it because he had been there a long time or had been there the longest? Was it because he wanted to be made well or wanted it more than the others? Your Spirit is bringing these Scriptures to mind: "Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise' " (John 5:19). "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own; but the Father who dwells in Me does His works" (v. 14:10). "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands" (v. 3:34). As You walked this earth as Son of Man in human flesh and blood, You were in constant communion with the Father by the Spirit. As a humble, obedient Son, You spent time alone with the Father in prayer and came out of the place of prayer into the place of authority to do what You saw the Father doing and speak what You heard the Father speaking, all in the power of the Spirit without measure. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help me live my life in constant communion with You. I want to see what You are doing and hear what You are saying. I want to come out of the place of prayer and into the place of authority to be Your vessel and instrument of Your healing in the lives of others by the power of Your Spirit anointing me and empowering me to do Your will in Your timing and Your way. Draw my eyes to those You want me to see today, and help me entrust all others to You. And send those who will allow You to draw their eyes to me today, to minister Your love and power in the ways I need. You know every hair on our heads and every hurt in our hearts. Help us trust You to heal and help us in the way and the time only You know best. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Set the Compass of My Soul 7-30-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. May You increase as I decrease. May You be the center of my attention and the focus of my worship in these first moments of my morning. ... "These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord" (Zechariah 8:16-17). Convict me when I'm tempted to lie. Restrain me when I'm tempted to stir up strife. Prompt me when I'm tempted to stay silent in the face of injustice, oppression, and need. Let my words and my actions reveal the nature of a heart and mind entrusted to You today. "May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You" (Psalm 25:21). Set the compass of my soul toward the true north of Your Word and Your ways. Help me chart my course throughout my day by the leading of Your Spirit. It all begins here in these fist moments of worship and prayer, as I yield my unrighteousness to Your righteousness, my human spirit to Your Holy Spirit. "The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, You make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of Your judgments, O Lord, we wait for You; Your name and Your renown are the soul's desire" (Isaiah 26:7-8). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Sowing of Peace" 7-29-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Spirit, Son, come abide in me as One, as I watch and wait for Your leading today. ... "For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all things. Just as you have been a cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong" (Zechariah 8:12-13). The seeds You have sown will all bear fruit in their time. But for a seed to bear fruit, first it must die (John 12:24). And then there will always be a season that looks like the opposite of the harvest to come. But it will yield its fruit and give its produce in its time. In the land of Israel, You have sown Your seeds of peace and blessing. In that same field, the enemy has come in by night to sow his seeds of chaos and cursing, seeds of false peace and confusion, but when the seeds have grown and matured to harvest, You will reap Your harvest as the enemy's harvest is exposed and consumed (see Matthew 13:24-30). In Your timing and Your way, this land that has known so little peace will know the One who is the "Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6). A remnant will persevere in the power of Your strength and persevering prayer. You "will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain" (Zechariah 8:3). They will be a blessing to the nations and "rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest" (v. 9:3). As You open the skies of heaven to give its dew, nurture the seeds You have sown in their hearts and ours. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Apple of My Eye" 7-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before I make any choices today, either in surrender to You or sin against You, I dedicate and consecrate my mind, my will, and my emotions to You alone. ... "Truly, one who touches you, touches the apple of My eye" (Zechariah 2:8). These words have been on my heart for two days now: "Pray for the apple of My eye." Yes, Lord. Of Jerusalem, You declare in Your Word, "I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it" (v. 2:5). I join my prayers with the hearts of the people You are moving with passion to pray for the peace and security of all the people affected by the land and the promises of the children of Abraham. Look upon Jerusalem with fire in Your eyes and the sword of Your Word in Your hand. Be a wall of fire, cleansing within and consuming without. You are "a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). And You burn with a passion for Your people and burn with wrath against the spiritual enemies of her soul bent on her destruction and Your shame. But in the end -- in Your timing and Your way, having fulfilled Your purposes -- it is Your glory that will remain and Your "holy city, the new Jerusalem" that will shine, as Your enemies and hers are consumed forever in fire (Revelation 21:1-8). "Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in your midst" (Zechariah 2:10-11). The circumstances and sins throughout all the generations of all the people with desire and passion for this land complicate matters beyond human reasoning and human resolution. We hardly know how to pray. But "the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). So in obedience to Your call, I seek to sense the leading of Your Spirit to pray with passion for the protection of the people who are the apple of Your eye. And I pray for the people of the many nations who shall be Your people, joining themselves to You on that day -- even in the days of consuming fire -- as You come and dwell in the midst of our hearts, now and forever. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Let Us Go Up to the Mountain" 7-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. On 7-27, I feel drawn to Psalm 27:7. And here I find Your call to prayer for me today. ... "Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! 'Come,' my heart says, 'Seek His face!' Your face, Lord, do I seek" (Psalm 27:7-8). ... As You hear me, I hear You. Your Holy Spirit is stirring in my human spirit a song of seeking and surrender in worship and prayer: My Messiah, My Savior, You’re my Everything. Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, I come to the mountain of my King. I seek You, I need You, I worship and sing. You hear me, You're near me, To Your arms I will cling. Yes, Lord. To Your arms I will cling, safe and secure, surrendered and serene in the arms of my King. You came to David on Mount Moriah, and there You called Solomon to build Your temple (2 Chronicles 3:1). On Mount Moriah, You called Abraham to offer himself and all he held dear in the trusting surrender of worship to You (Genesis 22:2). This is the holy mountain, consecrated and cleansed by acts of holy surrender and sacrifice of heart and soul in worship of You. This is site of Jerusalem, the City of Peace, the City of David, the City of God on this mountain of Zion (Psalm 76:2; 2 Samuel 5:7; Psalm 46:4). You are "the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion" (Isaiah 8:18). This is the mountain of surrender, purchased and made holy by the blood of the Lamb at Calvary's hill, where You surrendered Your life for ours (Luke 23:33, KJV). Let this holy hill speak of our holy hearts surrendered to You in eternal worship in response to Your eternal sacrifice. "Glorious are You, more majestic than the everlasting mountains" (Psalm 76:4). "Many peoples shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the city of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). "So you shall know that I, the Lord, your God, dwell in Zion, My holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy...." (Joel 3:17). Messiah of Moriah, Savior of Zion, Christ of Calvary, my God and my King, I surrender my life as a living sacrifice in response to Your sacrifice of love for me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com