Morning by Morning, May 25 - Jesus, the Face of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my day, all I do and all I say.  ...

 

"For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:5-6).

 

Lord Jesus, Your face reveals the glory of God. You are "the image of God" revealed in human flesh to show us the heart of God in ways we can see, to speak the words of God in ways we can hear, to live the will of God in ways we can embrace (v. 4). 

 

And through faith in You, Your Spirit lives in me. "(We) are not in the flesh; (we) are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in (us). Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him" (Romans 8:9). And by Your Spirit in me, let the light of Your glory shine through the countenance of my face today. May everyone I encounter throughout the adventure of my day see Your love in my eyes, hear Your truth in my words, and experience Your grace through my ways. 

 

Through "prayers and the Spirit of Jesus Christ," let me be a faithful and true witness and ambassador of the heart of God today (Philippians 1:19). "We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will shine with the light of the glory of God through your face, your words, and your ways in God's grace today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 24 - "Come Trust Me"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Keep changing my ways, all of my days, to make me more like You by Your Spirit at work within me.  ...

 

I hear Your Spirit speaking to me, singing to me, down in my heart and rising up in thoughts.  ...

 

Come trust Me

Walk with Me

I put My hand within your hand

I put My heart within your heart

I change your ways all of your days

To make you more like Me

 

Surrender control

Trust Me alone

I put My thoughts within your mind

I put My Spirit within your soul

I change your ways all of your days

To make you more like Me

 

Yes, Lord. Make me more like You today. 

 

Keep transforming me by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:1). Keep conforming me into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). Keep renewing a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). Keep softening my heart and giving me Your heart (Ezekiel 36:26). Keep giving me the grace to fully embrace the promise of Your Word to keep changing me as I keep seeking 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 3:18). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will keep trusting in Jesus, letting His Spirit keeping changing you into His image more 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

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 23 - Safety and Joy in "The City of God"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King of my heart and Lord of my life, as I commit my day to You.  ...

 

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. 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" (Psalm 46:4-7).

 

The city of God is a community of faith. It's a place of genuine relationships and authentic love. It's a place in our hearts, in our attitude, in our perspective where we seek to love God and love one another with all our hearts, all our minds, all our souls, and all our strength. It's a place of safety and joy where we are glad in the salvation of our God.

 

It's a city of refuge and a city of revival. And when the nations are in an uproar and the kingdoms of this world totter and tumble, we are safe and secure in the holy habitation of the Most High. Our city shall not be moved. Our city is founded upon Your Rock and our city will shine upon the hill of the Lord, the mountain of our God.

 

When all things are shaken, the city of God will remain. And all who seek their refuge in You will be safe in the strong tower of our God. It's always Your heart for all to come and find their city of refuge in the city of God. "See that you do not refuse the One who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the One who warns from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of what is shaken -- that is, created things -- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:25-29).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. In the salvation of Jesus, my heart is "the holy habitation of the Most High" (Psalm 46:4). As child of God, my Father is my city of refuge and my source of revival. Let the river of life -- my eternal life in Christ -- flow in me. Let the streams of Your river make glad the city of God. In this city, I'm never alone and never have to fear. "God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved" (Psalm 46;5).

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

I pray you will be safe and glad in the city of God -- embraced by our Father, secure in Jesus, and filled with the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 20 - "Water of Rebirth and Renewal by the Holy Spirit"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today.  ...

 

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure" (Titus 3:4-8).

 

Every day I want to drink deeply from the "water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." Every day I want to "draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3). Fill me up and overflow, afresh and anew. Let Your living waters never run dry in my soul. "Those who drink of the water that (You) will give (us) will never be thirsty. The water that (You) will give will becomes in (us) a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:14).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. I pray for Your renewal. Fill me afresh with the living waters of life in Christ today (Ephesians 5:18). It's not by any works of my righteousness, but all by Your great mercy, by the goodness and loving kindness of God my Savior, that I am saved and being saved, that I am filled with Your Spirit and being filled with Your Spirit, that I am a son of God and continually being conformed into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). I pray for Your renewal in me and in Your Church throughout our land and all the earth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be refreshed and renewed by the Holy Spirit today and every day in the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me and for all the Church of Jesus Christ in our land and all the earth. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 19 - "Close to the Father's Heart"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the hand and lead me by the heart, as I begin the journey of my day with You.  ...

 

"And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.... From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made Him known" (John 1:14-18).

 

Lord Jesus, You are the Son of God; You are God the Son. You are "close to the Father's heart" because You and the Father are "One" (John 10:30). You are "the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very Being" (Hebrews 1:3). You are "the image of the invisible God" for "in (You) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:15-19).

 

Just as You are "close to the Father's heart," You long for every one of us, as sons and daughters of God, to be just as close. You passionately prayed that prayer for us when You walked this earth:  "As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. That glory that You have given Me I have given them, so that they may be one, as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me" (John 17:21-23). That's a deep expression of the desires of Your heart that we fully receive "grace upon grace" (v. 1. 16).

 

My Father God, I draw near to You, close the Father's heart, as best as I can all by Your grace, through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I embrace Your Holy Spirit, abiding in me -- living in me that I may live in You (John 14:17). "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 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

I pray you will draw close to the Father's heart -- closer every day, with grace upon grace in deepening communion with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit abiding in you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 17 - Boldness in Prayer through Boldness in the Heart of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm looking and listening, watching and waiting, to see and to hear where You'll lead me today, as I begin my morning with You in the communion of prayer on my adventure of faith.  ...

 

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him" (1 John 5:13-15).

 

I can have boldness in prayer because I have boldness in You. I can have faith for what I ask because I have faith in You. I can have boldness and faith in Your heart for me that is always good (Matthew 19:17). As I seek You first -- seeking Your will, Your way, and Your heart for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done in my life -- I can boldly trust in Your promise "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33 KJV).

 

By the grace of God, I do believe in Your name and I seek to pray in Your name -- in Your nature, with Your heart, in alignment with Your will. And by the grace of God I choose to believe the promise of Your Word:  "Very truly, I tell you, that one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in My name you ask Me for anything, I will do it" (John 14:12-14).

 

Increase my faith, increase my boldness -- in prayer and in life. Increase my desire to align my life, my heart, and my will with Yours  -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. Not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). As I seek to pray in both deep humility and faithful boldness, give me greater faith to believe that You will be answering my prayers. Give me greater faith to believe Your Word that whenever I pray according to Your will I know that You hear me; and if You hear me, I know that I will have the petitions of my heart (1 John 5:15). Make my heart more like Yours every day (John 15:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will grow in your faith, grace upon grace, believing God and His promises for you and your destiny in Him, in Jesus' name. May you in your soul that your faith in Him is reckoned to you are righteousness by the power of the grace of God at work within you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 17 - Boldness in Prayer through Boldness in the Heart of God

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm looking and listening, watching and waiting, to see and to hear where You'll lead me today, as I begin my morning with You in the communion of prayer on my adventure of faith.  ...

 

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him" (1 John 5:13-15).

 

I can have boldness in prayer because I have boldness in You. I can have faith for what I ask because I have faith in You. I can have boldness and faith in Your heart for me that is always good (Matthew 19:17). As I seek You first -- seeking Your will, Your way, and Your heart for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done in my life -- I can boldly trust in Your promise "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33 KJV).

 

By the grace of God, I do believe in Your name and I seek to pray in Your name -- in Your nature, with Your heart, in alignment with Your will. And by the grace of God I choose to believe the promise of Your Word:  "Very truly, I tell you, that one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in My name you ask Me for anything, I will do it" (John 14:12-14).

 

Increase my faith, increase my boldness -- in prayer and in life. Increase my desire to align my life, my heart, and my will with Yours  -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. Not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). As I seek to pray in both deep humility and faithful boldness, give me greater faith to believe that You will be answering my prayers. Give me greater faith to believe Your Word that whenever I pray according to Your will I know that You hear me; and if You hear me, I know that I will have the petitions of my heart (1 John 5:15). Make my heart more like Yours every day (John 15:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will grow in your boldness in prayer, believing God will give you the petitions of your heart, as you allow Him make your heart more like His 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

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 16 - By the Word and the Spirit

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit and make me more like You today.  ...

 

"Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what My Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high'" (Luke 24:49).

 

Open my mind to understand Your Word. Open my heart to embrace Your Spirit. Help me grow in Your wisdom, clothed in Your power to be Your witnesses in my world (Acts 1:8). 

 

"In Him (we) also, when (we) had heard the word of truth, the gospel of (our) salvation, and had believed in Him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14). By Your Word and Your Spirit, let my life be a witness of Your love, Your mercy, and Your power. "The Spirit is the One who testifies, for the Spirit is the truth" (1 John 5:6). Come live Your truth through me today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be filled with the Word and the Spirit of God to be a witness of Jesus and the good news of His love, mercy, and power everywhere He sends you today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 13 - Come to Jesus Meeting

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to begin my day in the communion of prayer -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

 

"Then they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house He asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the way?' But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:33-35).

 

Sometimes we need a little realignment of our priorities or a little reassessment of our motives. Sometimes we need to search our hearts or listen to our words and ask ourselves "Whose kingdom are we really building?" and "Whose name are we really promoting?" So sometimes You need to sit us down and have a little Come to Jesus Meeting with us.

 

In Your Kingdom dynamics, the way up is down, the way to lead is to serve, and the place of honor comes from the place of humility. "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). In that way the last become first and the losers in the eyes of the world become the winners in the kingdom of God.

 

"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away" -- and yet, You still love me; and yet, You still patiently bear with me (Psalm 139:1-2). "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).

 

Thank You for the times You sit me down and then sit down with me. Thank You for our little Come to Jesus meetings where You lovingly and firmly realign me and remind me of Your kingdom ways so I can be a better servant of my God and ambassador of my King. "We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). I want Your appeal through me to be pure and inviting, exalting Your kingdom and You name alone. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be a mighty messenger of God and ambassador for Christ, with a humble heart and serving spirit, always honoring and exalting the name of Jesus with your life and ministry, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, May 12 - Simply "Believe"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and into my day. Be Lord of my life and every moment.  ...

 

"When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, 'Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.' The jailer called for lights, and rushing in he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They answered, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.' They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.... He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God" (Acts 16:27-34).

 

"What must I do to be saved?" It's simple -- simply "believe." It's not " work hard and believe." It's not "be good and believe." It's not "be holy sanctified and sinless and believe." It's not "memorize all the Scriptures, pray all day, spend your day giving doing only good things and believe." And it's certainly not "learn all the doctrines and dogma, all the rituals and rules, all the traditions and trappings and believe." It's simply "believe." "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (v. 31).

 

And just as You invite me to be saved from my sins, that's how You invite me to be saved from my sickness, from my fears, from my addictions, from my shame, from my bitterness, from my poverty, from my regrets, from my confusion, from the self-centeredness of my selfishness and pride and everything else that's anything less that all You created me to be. It's simple -- simply believe. "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and (I) will be saved" (v. 31).

 

You said to Jairus, the leader of the synagogue whose daughter was sick and died, "Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved" (Luke 8:50). You said to the man whose son struggled with fits and seizures from demonic attack, "All things can be done for the one who believes" (Mark 9:23). When the father cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" You set the boy free and saved him from his oppression (Mark 9:24-28).

 

Lord Jesus, I believe. And at the same time, I pray You help my unbelief in every place where I'm not yet able to fully believe. I want to live my life simply believing, simply trusting in You alone for the fullness of Your salvation in every area of my life. And I renounce in the name of Jesus every additional burden or requirement imposed by man or myself or the enemy of my soul. I choose by the power of the grace of God to simply "believe." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray by the power of the grace of God at work within you, you will simply believe on the Lord Jesus and embrace the fullness of your salvation in every area of your life, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!