Monday, March 02, 2015

Morning by Morning, March 2 - "Contend for the Faith"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I am and all that I have, I entrust to You as best as I can.  ...

"Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

My faith is worth fighting for. My faith is worth dying for and it's worth living for. It's worth sacrificing for and risking everything for.

My faith is at the heart of who I am. And the heart of my faith is fully trusting You.

I have faith because You are faithful. I trust You because You are trustworthy. You are forever faithful and true (Revelation 19:11).

You give me the peace to know that I'm forgiven. You give me the joy to know that I'm loved. You give me the assurance to know that I am saved and the security to know You'll never leave me. You give me the hope to know my life has meaning and the satisfaction to know my days in this world have significance (Jeremiah 29:11).

Through faith I know my identity and fulfill my destiny. Through faith I trust Your power to make perfect every weakness and failure, even causing all things to work together for good in my life. And through faith I trust in You to be faithful to bring to completion all You've begun in me (Philippians 1:6).

So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I will contend for this faith. With all my heart and mind and soul and strength, I will passionately pursue the One who is the author and finisher, "the pioneer and perfecter of (my) faith" (Hebrews 12:2). And I have the faith to believe my faith in You will bring a smile to Your face and joy to Your heart (Hebrews 11:6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will stir in your heart to contend for your faith, trusting in Jesus the author and finisher, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
        

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, February 27, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 27 - "Seek My Face, Know My Grace"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today. As I behold You, You are changing me into Your image, from glory to glory. This is the work of Your Holy Spirit at work within me (2 Corinthians 3:18).  ...

As I seek Your face and listen for Your leading in our communion of prayer, I'm hearing You sing a song in my heart. ...

Seek My face
Know My grace
Let My Spirit arise in you
I'll lead your heart
I'll take you far
Into the depths of My love for you

Seek My face
Know My grace
Let My nature be formed in you
I'll lead your heart
I'll take you far
Into the depths of My love for you

Seek My face
Know My grace
Let My power flow through you
I'll lead your heart
I'll take you far
Into the depths of My love for you

Yes, Lord. Let Your Spirit arise in me; let Your nature be formed in me; let You power flow through me. 

Thank You for Your promise and Your desire to live in me. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you.... On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:15-20).

With the Spirit of God living in me, You are conforming me to Your nature and moving through me in Your power (John 14:12). As I embrace the glory of the presence of God abiding in me, You are glorified through my life -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 15:8).

Come, Holy Spirit. Glorify my Father with the nature and power of Christ in me today. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you seek God's face and know God's grace, as His Holy Spirit conforms you to His nature and moves through you in His power, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

      

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Thursday, February 26, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 26 - When to Speak and When to Be Silent

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as I entrust my life and this day into Your hands.  ...

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:13-15).

Make me more like You, Lord Jesus. Give me a fierce love for people, but a true love that does not compromise with truth or cower before those who criticize Your message and ministry of the kingdom of heaven. Lead me by Your Holy Spirit to hear the heart of my Father to know when to be silent and when to speak, when to let it go and when to take a stand. "But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15).

You said, "I must be about My Father's business" (Luke 2:49 NKJV). And so must I. And as You showed us, sometimes the Father's business includes being silent as a lamb led to the slaughter that "opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). And sometimes the Father's business includes responding with truth in love to those who wrongfully accuse the heart of Your ministry (Matthew 12:25-32).

So help me always humble myself to seek Your face and listen for Your voice. Even if there are those who do not believe You speak to us, heal us, free us, and even move in the power of Your love with Your gifts through us today, I do. And I must be true to the calling I believe You've entrusted to me. As You taught, give me grace to pray for those who persecute me, to bless those who curse me, and even love those who hate me" -- even if they think they are doing it in the name of God (Matthew 5:44). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray that in humility before the Lord to listen for His leading, you will know when to speak and when to be silent, as you follow our model of Jesus, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
      

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 25 - Accountable to God at the Judgment Seat of Christ

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You into my heart and every moment of my day.  ...

"For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

There will come a day when all of us "will have to give an accounting to Him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead" (1 Peter 4:5). "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.... So then, each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:10-12).

One day we'll more fully understand just how thankful we should be for Your unspeakable grace that forgives our sins and saves our souls through the power of the blood of Jesus (Romans 8:25). And at the same time, You desire for us to love and honor You and one another, fully surrendering to Your will and embracing Your ways for our lives. "If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanse us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

In our personal relationship with You as Lord and Savior, we have our salvation and we also have Your invitation to each of us "so as to live for the rest of (our) earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). And what is Your will for my life? "This is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Your will according to Your Word is to make me more like You.

When all is said and done, when I stand to give an account for my life before the judgment seat of Christ, I believe You will ask me, "Did you seek to become more like Me?" (John 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 19:7)

With all my heart I want to be able to say Yes to You. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I want to be more like You each day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Yes, Lord Jesus. I want to be like You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray the Spirit of God will move in your heart to make you more like Jesus each day. May you be filled with joy when you give an account at the judgment seat of Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
     

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Monday, February 23, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 23 - "Will You be like Me?"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my spirit as I listen for Your voice, I pray.  ...

It seems I hear You say, "Will you be like Me? Will you allow Me to conform you into My image? This is My desire for each of My children."    ...

As I seek to discern Your words, to seek to confirm I'm truly hearing from You, Your Word comes to mind:  "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of the His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified" (Romans 8:29).

Yes, Lord. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I seek You and willing choose to allow You to conform me into Your image. As You know, I have far to go in this spiritual journey of a lifetime. But this is the lifetime You've given me to seek to be more like You. "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

From one degree of glory to another, from one day to another, I welcome Your Spirit to be at work in me to make me more like You each day -- "the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Let this be the goal of my life, to be "mature in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). 

For me, it's impossible. But with You, all things are possible. I can't earn this or deserve this; I can't ever do this on my own. But I can willingly choose by the grace You've given me to embrace the power of Your Spirit to work within me to make me like You. My I "be found in (You), not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that come through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith" (Philippians 3:9). "For it is God who is at work in (me), enabling (me) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

In this sense, I seek to surrender all my life to be conformed to the image of Christ. "Thus He has given us, though these promises, His precious and very great promises, so that through them (we) may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.... Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm (our) call and election, for if (we) do this, (we) will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for (us)" (2 Peter 1:4-11).

Yes, Lord Jesus. I want to be like You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray you will be like Jesus, as the Spirit of Christ works within you to conform you into the image of the Son of God more and more, every day. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
     

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, February 20, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 20 - Seeking God's Strategy for Every Victory

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Be King and Lord of my life and every moment of my day.  ...

"Then Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.' So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalke prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword" (Exoudus 17:8-16).

Joshua fought with the sword while Moses fought with the staff; one in the physical realm and one in the spiritual realm. Both were necessary. On that day, there would be no victory without prayer, and there would be no victory without action.

In the battles for their inheritance, You sometimes You led Your people to simply lift up their prayers and their shofars in spiritual warfare, saying, "This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 20:12). And other times, You led Your people to actively take up their swords in physical battle of messy, bloody, hand-to-hand combat, saying "Drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their figured stones, destroy all their cast images, and demolish all their high places" (Numbers 33:52).

Always, the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:47). And at the same time, we must always humble ourselves before You in prayer to seek Your strategy for the battle at hand. Whether You lead us to take up our shofars or take up our swords, or both, our part is to seek Your will and act upon it in trusting obedience and faithful diligence. 

You are the staff of God we lift up with our arms in Your authority, and You are the sword of the Spirit we stretch out with our hands in Your power (Ephesians 6:17). You are the "Commander of the Army of the Lord" (Joshua 5:15).

Our hearts can be secure in the confidence of Your victory, all according to Your time and Your way, as we obey Your command to be still and know that You are God (Psalm 46:10). And at the same time, we actively engage the battle according to Your strategy, both spiritually and physically, in worship and in warfare, all at Your command. But we'll never know Your command and Your strategy for each battle unless we are willing to first humble ourselves before You in prayer. As King Jehoshaphat famously declared, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You" (2 Chronicles 20:12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


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


My Friend,  I pray the Lord will reveal His strategy for every victory as you seek Him in prayer and arise in action however He leads you in the battle at hand, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
     

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 19 - "He Utters His Voice"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and everywhere in my world.  ...

"The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.... 'Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth' " (Psalm 46:6-10).

You are the Lord my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are mighty to save, mighty in battle, mighty in word. You are sovereign, and I am secure, in the eternal refuge of Your power and love.

When I look around me at whatever is in an uproar and whatever is wavering, You remind me to look to You. You remind me You're always with me. You remind me to be still and know that You are God, that You are in control, that You are always at work to cause all things to work together for good, according to Your purposes and timing and way.

So it's good to start my day looking to You, listening for Your voice, deliberately entrusting my self and my day and my world to You. Then You will fill my thoughts and guide my steps. Then I can rest and trust in the sovereignty of Your will and the power of Your peace, as You send forth Your word into my life and my world.

"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth" (Psalm 96:11-13).

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


My Friend,  I pray you will rest secure in the sovereignty and power of our God, looking to Him, listening for His voice, and following His lead, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
    

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 18 - Maturity of Good and Evil in the Harvest at the End of the Age

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch and wait, leaning in to listen for the leading of Your Spirit in the communion of prayer.  ...

"(Jesus) put before them another parable:  'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to them, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat in to my barn' " (Matthew 13:24-30).

You said "the harvest is the end of the age" (v. 13:39). And You said "the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one" (v. 13:37-38). So as we approach the time of the harvest at the end of the age, we should not be surprised to see the wheat and the weeds growing up together, the followers of good and the followers of evil, growing up into full maturity.

In our world today we see the dark growing darker. But at the same time, we should also look to see where the light is growing lighter. So many of the prophecies of old are now being fulfilled in our day, before our eyes. "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isaiah 60:1-5).

Though the battles are real and the casualties of war immense, though it may seem for a season as though evil is overcoming good, the time of harvest will come and victory will be won. "Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice... Violence shall be no more heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.... I am the Lord; in its time I will accomplish it quickly" (Isaiah 60:5-22).

So let us be vigilant, let us be prepared. It was "while everybody was asleep, an enemy came" (Matthew 13:25). So let us awaken and arise. Let us shine. " 'Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:14-15). "For once you were in darkness, now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). 

In the confidence of Christ alive in our hearts, let us "be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which (we) shine like stars in the world" (Philippians 2:15). Let us be in position and prepared to join in the great harvest at the end of this age growing closer each day (Matthew 13:38). "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!" (Matthew 13:43) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


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


My Friend,  I pray you will arise and shine as light in the midst of the darkness, positioned and prepared for the great harvest to come. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 17 - "Even in the Face of Death"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I thank You for the freedom to speak out Your name and lift up my prayers to worship my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- in spirit and truth.  ...

"But they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death" (Revelation 12:11).

Twenty-one Egyptian Christians did not cling to life even in the face of death, as the spirit of evil moved in the minds and hearts of their ISIS murderers to cut off their heads in the name of "global jihad." In their bloodlust, the terrorists were excited to send their video around the world with the title "A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross."

We are the Nation of the Cross. "From every tribe and language and people and nation" around this world and every generation who willingly choose to be called by Your name, we are the Nation of the Cross -- "a kingdom and priests serving our God" (Revelation 5:9).

And Your Word specifically warns us there will come a time when many will be called to lay down their lives for the sake of Christ -- even in the face of having their heads cut off by the bloody hands of evil men trying to force them to bow down to a false god:  "I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands" (Revelation 20:4).

All that's happening on the earth in these days is a precursor and foretaste of what is yet to come in the unfolding of time. And at times it may seem like evil is prevailing, but in the end the people of God will prevail in the grace and power of our mighty God:  "As I looked, this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them, until the Ancient of Days came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom" (Daniel 7:21-22).

Through every season of torment, testing, and tribulation that has come against the people of God, demanding faith and worship to a false god, You've always encouraged Your people to hold fast to their faith even the face of persecution and death:  "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God:  every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:1-4).

Give me courage to overcome. Give me the grace to stand firm in my faith no matter what may come. Give me the conviction to be convinced of the truth that Jesus is Lord and worthy of laying down my life even in the face of death. As You said long ago:  "If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:34-38).

Thank You for the victory of the cross and the victory to come. In the end, as You showed John in the visions of what is to come, even those beheaded by the beast for the sake of Christ and the gospel of the kingdom of God "came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years" as "priests of God and of Christ" (Revelation 20:4-6). Let me not wait for the end or the moment I'm forced to make a choice to be settled in my heart of my faith and unfailing commitment to You. Every day between now and then, give me the power of Your grace to take up my cross and follow you, not seeking to save my life, but willing to lay it down, in the face of every challenge, for sake of Your name. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray by the power and grace of God you will be convinced in your heart of the truth of your faith that Jesus is Lord, willing to lay down your life and follow Him every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Monday, February 16, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 16 - "Enlightened"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to begin my day seeking Your face, listening for Your voice, walking with You by the heart on this journey of prayer. ...

"I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power for us who believe, according the working of His great power" (Ephesians 1:17-19).

Some say we are "enlightened" when we grow in the wisdom of this world, when we grow in our tolerance to accept as truth whatever anyone else believes to be truth, when we set aside our narrow-minded view that some Spiritual Being that we can't really see and can't really hear and can't really know has the right to reign as sovereign Lord of our lives, even determining for Himself what is to be our way of salvation and our way of life. If we could just let go of all that religious nonsense and spiritual bigotry to only imagine the world to be as one, then we would be enlightened, they say.

Lord, what do You say? I want to be enlightened with the truth, not confused or deceived by what someone says is the truth or wishes to be the truth or believes ought to be the truth. Lord, what is the truth?  ...

As I read Your Word and listen for the voice of Your Spirit, it seems I hear You say:  "My son, I am the Truth. As you welcome My wisdom and My revelation, I enlighten the eyes of your heart to know Me. As you seek Me with all your heart, I lead you to find Me. I want to be found. I want to be known. I want you to seek Me and desire to know Me, but only those who seek Me with humble hearts to know Me as I am, rather than seek to create Me in their own image, will ever begin to know Me, much less embrace Me and honor Me as Lord of their lives and Lord of all."

Yes, Lord. This Word is coming to mind, as I seek to discern whether what I believe I've heard in my heart is true:  "When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart, I will let you find Me, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:13-14). And this:  "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that He may have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:6-9). "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, and to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to a nation that did not call on My name'" (Isaiah 65:1).

And just as David spoke these wise words of a father's blessing to his son Solomon, so Your Word speaks these words to all who would be Your sons and daughters today:  "And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with single mind and willing heart; for the Lord searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will abandon you forever" (1 Chronicles 28:9).

Lord, forgive me and the people of my land, for our sins of pride and arrogance whenever we seek to create You in our own image or dictate to You what we believe in our own thoughts and our own ways should be Your truth. "Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its Maker, 'He did not make me'; or the thing formed say of the One who formed it, 'He has no understanding'?" (Isaiah 29:16)

Give me Your Spirit of revelation and understanding. Give me a deep desire to seek You and Your truth with a humble heart, to seek Your wisdom and Your ways, to seek to know You as You are, not as I believe You should be. I know with all my heart that as I seek You with all my heart, I will find You and I will know You. Let me be "enlightened" with Your truth alone. You alone are "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will move in your heart to seek the Lord and to know Him with all your heart as He is. May you be enlightened with truth by the One who is the Truth, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, February 13, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 13 - "The Surpassing Value of Knowing Christ"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Change me into Your image from the inside out, morning by morning and step by step.  ...

"Yet whatever gain I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:7-11).

Paul cared deeply for all that was entrusted to him, with both responsibility and authority, always seeking to serve You and serve Your people in love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). He said he was like a woman in labor, in the anguish of childbirth, yearning to see the nature of Christ formed in those who were touched by the words and ministry that flowed through his life in the power and grace of Your Holy Spirit (Galatians 4:19). 

At the same time, nothing compared to his passion for You. In comparison to his pursuit of knowing You, everything else -- even every person, every gift, every blessing, every calling and responsibility You personally put in his heart and life with even eternal value and significance -- was as nothing in light of Your place in his life. You were his Foundation; You were his Center; You were his "All in All" (Ephesians 1:23).

Lord Jesus, according to Word of God, nothing surpasses the value of knowing You (Philippians 3:8). Help me know You more. Help me pursue You more. Help me keep You in Your rightful place at the foundation and the center of all of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  may you continue to grow in your knowledge and experience of the surpassing value of knowing Christ, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Thursday, February 12, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 12 - "Go On Toward Perfection"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, I look to You and listen for Your leading. ...

"Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation:  repentance from dead works and faith toward God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment" (Hebrews 6:1-2).

Thank You for teaching me the foundations of our faith. And thank You for giving me a hunger and a thirst to learn more. "Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God" (v. 6:7). I want my heart to be good ground for the rain of Your Spirit and Your Word, as I seek to press on toward perfection and to grow up into spiritual maturity.

Even the Apostle Paul, after all he learned and experienced with You and for You, never grew satisfied in his passionate pursuit for more. "Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind" (Philippians 3:12-15). In the power of Your grace, let me be that same mind and same heart in my personal, passionate pursuit of more of You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will stir in your spirit to press on toward perfection in your passionate pursuit for more of Christ, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 11 - "Clothe Yourselves with Humility"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I humble myself to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone.  ...

"And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:5-6).

Keep me free from every prideful desire that wants to exalt myself. Free me from every temptation to put someone else down in order to build myself up and from every insecurity that says I only find my worth in the unworthiness of someone else in comparison to myself. Give me a hatred for any seed of self-centered, self-serving pride hidden in my heart and put the axe of Your Spirit to every root that bear the ugly fruit of self-righteousness and vainglory.

Give me a humble heart. Give me a heart that exalts Your name alone instead of ever trying to make a name for myself. Give me a heart that honors You and honors others. As Your Word says:  "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to eh interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who ... humbled Himself ..." (Philippians 2:3-8). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will lead you to seek to clothe yourself with humility under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, secure in your identity and fulfilling your destiny in Christ, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  
  
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Morning by Morning, February 10 - One God in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

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

"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said He will take what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:13-15).

Come, Holy Spirit. You are always leading me to Jesus. Lord Jesus, You are always perfectly revealing the Father. Father God, You are always sending Your Holy Spirit to lead me to Jesus.

Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- You are One God in three Persons. And You desire me to know You in every dimension of Your Being. You're the One who created me, the One who saves me, the One who changes me into Your image. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as (we) were called to the one hope of (our) 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).

In the mystery of faith, You live in me and through me (John 14:23). You make me one with You, one with the Body of Christ, and one in ministry to all the world, until I feast with You at Your heavenly banquet in final victory. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God (our Father), and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of (us)" (2 Corinthians 13:13). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


My Friend,  I pray you will know the Lord our God in every dimension of His Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Friends, thank you so much for your prayers for me and all of us while I was away last week speaking on Spiritual Maturity, Healing & Freedom at the annual retreat of St. James United Methodist Church of Athens, Georgia. Words can't describe what an incredible, powerful, intimate time we had in the presence of the Lord away in the northeast Georgia mountains. I pray for a mighty move of God's Spirit in the heart of your church as well. God bless you!

 
  
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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