Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Morning by Morning, March 1 - "The Message of the Cross"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your Holy Spirit align my thoughts with the mind of Christ and my desires with the heart of the Father, as I center my spirit in You through the communion of prayer.  ...
 
"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
 
Lord, what is "the message of the cross" You want me to hear and live out today?  ...
 
It seems I hear You saying in my heart:  "The message of the cross is the message of My love. I set aside the glory of heaven to take on the nature of human flesh and blood to live a life completely trusting My Father and completely surrendered to His will in every moment of My life as I walked this earth. And I willingly laid down My life for you and for all so that no sin would ever have to separate you from the love of God revealed in my sacrifice at the cross. Truly, you have no idea of how much a sacrifice I made, but know that it was a sacrifice of love well worth every moment of My suffering for the sake of the joy of My eternal relationship with you and all who embrace the gift and the grace of My sacrifice of love."    ...
 
Yes, Lord. In this moment, my words of my response are so inadequate, but I thank You for this message of the cross. I thank You for this message of Your love, Your sacrifice of love for me. It is "the power of God." It is the power of the love of God poured out for me. Thank You for Your humility of taking onto Yourself humanity to lay down Your life for me (Philippians 2:5-11).
 
"In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10).  "For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:19-20).
 
My Father God, in thanksgiving and praise, in eternal gratitude for the gift of Your eternal grace, I'm "looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of (my) faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). "Surely He has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6).
 
Thank You, Lord Jesus. May I embrace and live out this message of the cross this day and every day -- as best as I can and by the power of Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray that by the power of the grace of God you will embrace and live out the message of the cross, this message of God's sacrifice of love for you and for me, today and every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
       
   

Friends, I'm excited to to be sharing a message of healing and hope at the First Wednesday Worship & Prayer Service at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus in San Antonio Tonight, March 1st at 7pm. All are welcome! Please keep us in prayer and I pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit and power in your heart and life each day! 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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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 28 - "Freely Give"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- as I watch and wait for Your leading in these first moments of my morning.  ...
 
"Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8 NKJV).
 
You've freely given me Your grace. You've freely given me Your love. You've freely taken my sin and my shame, my grief and my burdens, my regrets and my failures, and all that was less than all You have for me and freely given me Your mercy and forgiveness in the eternal embrace of Your love. And just as I've freely received, You call me to free give.
 
You call me to extend mercy, because I've freely received mercy. You call me inspire hope, because I've freely received hope. You call me to love -- patiently, passionately, persistently -- because You've first loved me -- freely and unconditionally, especially when I deserved it the least. Freely I've received and freely I'm to give.
 
Give me the grace to freely give today -- not holding back, not making excuses or justifications or rationalizations, not requiring of anyone else what You never required of me. Rather, give me the grace to embrace Your command:  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back" (Luke 6:37). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray the Lord will pour into your life a good measure of His grace and love, pressed down, shaken together, running over, as He empowers you to freely give as you have freely received, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
       
  

Friends, I'm excited to to be sharing a message of healing and hope at the First Wednesday Worship & Prayer Service at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus this Wednesday Night, March 1st at 7pm. All are welcome! Please keep us in prayer and I pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit and power in your heart and life each day! 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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Monday, February 27, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 27 - From Emptiness to Abundance
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let my spirit arise and embrace Your Spirit -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- as I begin my day in the communion of prayer.  ...
 
"Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?' She answered, 'Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.' He said, 'Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.' So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her and she kept pouring. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another vessel.' But he said to her, 'There are no more.' Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, 'Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest'" (2 Kings 4:2-7).
 
When the widow woman was worried about her family and her future, You guided her to first look and see what she already had (v. 1-2). Her first thought was "nothing" (v. 2). But then You also brought to her remembrance that she still had "a jar of oil" (v. 2). And in the power of Your grace, You took what she had and gave her more (v. 5). You filled every "empty vessel" she brought to You until there were no more to find (v. 6). You canceled her debts, lifted her burdens, and secured her future (v. 7).
 
So many times, we are like that widow woman. We get discouraged or depressed, weighed down by the weights of the burdens we bear on our journey through this broken and fallen world. But You guide us to remember You've not left us without and You've not left us alone. You never leave us nor forsake us. You're always with us.
 
You've given us the "oil" of Your Spirit. And when we come to You in our emptiness, You fill us again with Your abundance. You fill us afresh with Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). You provide for us as the One who is always with us, "Who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20). 
 
You remind us and guide to embrace Your promise that we proclaim in faith:  "My God will fully satisfy every need of (ours) according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever" (Philippians 4:19). That's the miracle and blessing of the Oil of Your Spirit that will never stop flowing into every empty vessel of our hearts we bring to You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you will be filled to overflowing with the Oil of God's Spirit, providing for you exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or imagine, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
       
 

Friends, Thank You so much for your prayers for us this Sunday as I shared the message at Vineyard Church of San Antonio this Sunday. I'm excited to to be preaching at the First Wednesday Worship & Prayer Service at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus this Wednesday Night at 7pm. All are welcome! Please keep us in prayer and I pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit and and power in your heart and life each day! 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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Friday, February 24, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 24 - Friends of the Bridegroom
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, mighty God and best Friend -- come into my heart and every moment of my day.  ...
 
" 'You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease' " (John 3:28-30).
 
Just as John was the friend of the Bridegroom to "prepare the way of the Lord" before Your first coming, we are Your friends of the Bridegroom to "prepare the way of the Lord" for Your second coming (Matthew 3:3). One day You will come again on the earth (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). And at the same time, You desire to come again every day into our hearts -- "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). 
 
Every day, may we "be strengthened in (our) inner being with power through (Your) Spirit, that Christ may dwell in (our) hearts through faith, as (we) are being rooted and grounded in love ... so that (we) may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19). Every day, may we be preparing the way of the Lord in our hearts and in our world, as we "make (Your) paths straight" -- straight to our hearts with humility and hunger, through repentance and faithfulness, in obedience and anticipation for the glory of Your coming (Matthew 3:3; Acts 1:11).
 
As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to all Your disciples of every age, "You are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. You did not choose Me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another" (John 15:14-17). 
 
As Your friends of the Bridegroom, may we be "found faithful" -- all by the power of Your grace at work within, secure in our identity and fulfilling our destiny (1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV). "When the Son of Man comes, (may You) find faith on earth" because You find faith in us" (Luke 18:8). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you will be found faithful, preparing the way of the Lord in your heart and in your world every day as a chosen friend of our Bridegroom to come, in Jesus' name. My He come soon! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
       

Friends, I welcome your prayers for an outpouring of the Lord's Spirit and power as I continue preaching a series on "Knowing Our Identity, Fulfilling Our Destiny" as the guest preacher at Vineyard Church of San Antonio this Sunday. And I pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit and and power in your heart and life each day! 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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Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 22 - Unveiled Face

 Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the hand and lead me by the heart in the way that leads to life today.  ... 

"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). 

Come, Holy Spirit. Unveil my face; unburden my soul. Reveal and remove everything in me that keeps me from seeing the glory of God. And replace it with more and more of Your nature in me. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).  

As Moses said, "Show me Your glory, I pray" (Exodus 33:18). Let "(Your) goodness pass before me" (Exodus 33:19). Let Your presence embrace me and Your love enfold me. Let Your glory transform me and change me into Your "same image from one degree of glory to another," as I behold You, bow down before You, and become more like You each day -- in by the power of Your grace at work within me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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


I pray you will be transformed and changed into the very image of God, from glory to glory, as You behold Him with an unveiled face and embrace Him with an unburdened soul, 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 21, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 21 - Freedom in the Spirit
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and the foundation of my day.  ...
 
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Come set me free -- free from my flesh that resists Your leading and the Lordship of Christ in every area of my life; free from compromise with the ways of the world that are contrary to the ways of the Spirit; free from everything that would hold me back from being all my Father created me to be. Come set me free to be more like Jesus this day and every day (Romans 8:29; 1 John 4:17).
 
"(I) have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God" (1 Corinthians 2:12). Purify me in Your holy fire. Sanctify me in Your Holy Spirit. Burn out of me the branches that bear bad fruit and fail to bear the fruit that glorifies Your name through my life (Matthew 3:10). "For (You are) like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; (You) will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and (You) will purify (Your) descendants and refine (us) like gold and silver, until (we) present offerings to the Lord in righteousness" (Malachi 3:2-3).
 
Give me courage to embrace Your flame. Set me ablaze with a passion for You and Your will for my life. "For indeed our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Come, Holy Spirit. Come, burn in me today. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


I pray you will be set free from everything that holds you back from being all our Father created you to be in the power and fire of His 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
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Friday, February 17, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 17 - Kingdom Global Initiative
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak, Lord, I pray. I am listening.  ...
 
"For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
 
There is a day to come when You will set all things right (Isaiah 11:1-9). There is day to come for the "universal restoration that God announced long ago through His holy prophets" (Acts 3:21). This will be "the times of restoration of all things" -- "the times of refreshing (that) come from the presence of the Lord" when the Father sends the Son to return in victory and glory (Acts 3:19-21 NKJV). The glory of the presence of God will fill the earth (Habakkuk 2:14). Your kingdom will come and Your will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
 
And between this day and that day, our part is to pray for Your glory to come in the earth and in our hearts (Colossian 1:27). We are Your forerunners, Your messengers, Your ambassadors -- "We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). You have entrusted this "message of reconciliation" between God and man to us to live and to share (2 Corinthians 5:19).
 
Your heart is to "bring salvation to the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:47). "This good news of the kingdom will proclaimed through the world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). This is Your Kingdom Global Initiative -- initiated by You to be fulfilled by You through us, as we allow the glory of Your presence to fill our hearts and flow through our lives to change our world (Matthew 5:14).
 
By the power of Your grace flowing through us, we will do our part in our generation to fulfill Your prophetic command:  "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.... Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice.... and I will glorify My glorious house.... Violence shall not more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.... the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.... I am the Lord; in its time I will accomplish it quickly" (Isaiah 60:1-22).
 
We say, Come, Lord Jesus. "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17) Come in our hearts and come in our world, until all the earth is filled with Your glory. By the power of Your grace, empower us to fulfill Your Kingdom Global Initiative. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


I pray your heart will be filled with the glory of the Lord in the fullness of His manifest presence, shining through you with the light of His glory, to be His ambassador and fulfill your destiny in His Kingdom Global Initiative, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

     


Friends, please keep us in prayer as I begin a preaching series this Sunday as the guest preacher at Vineyard Church of San Antonio -- Knowing Our Identity, Fulfilling Our Destiny.  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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Thursday, February 16, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 16 - Savior of All
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, be Lord of every area of my life and save me from everything that's anything less than Your will for me.  ...
 
"You are My witnesses, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I Am He. Before Me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after Me. I, I Am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior" (Isaiah 43:10-11).
 
Thank You for Your heart to "save to the uttermost" (Hebrews 7:25 NKJV). Thank You for the gift of the fullness of salvation in You. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:14). "Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.... Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:9-13). "God's love was revealed among us in this way:  God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).
 
As I begin my day, I believe You're reminding me to never "neglect so great a salvation" and never take for granted this great gift of God that I have through my personal, intimate, daily relationship with You -- my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:3). You are "the Savior of all" (1 Timothy 4:10). And as I remember and thank You for what You've done for me and all You're doing in me, it's makes me want to share this great gift of Your great love with all those You bring across my path today.
 
"But how are they to call on One in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in One of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim Him? And how are they to proclaim Him unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10:14-15)
 
Here I am, Lord. Send me (Isaiah 6:8). Send me to live out and to share Your good news of Your great love -- "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). "For by grace (we) have been saved through faith, and this is not (our) own doing; it is the gift of God -- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
 
Thank You for reminding me to remember this firm foundation of Your truth for my life today. May I never neglect it and never take it for granted, for it is the deepest expression of Your love me and every one of us:  "For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17 NKJV). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.  
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


May you know and live and share the love of God and the fullness of your salvation in Jesus Christ 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
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Morning by Morning, February 15 - Boundaries of Peace
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my spirit and lead me in the path You have for me today.  ...
 
"If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18).
 
Lord, increase my wisdom and discernment to know the boundaries of my responsibilities in the matters that touch my life. Show me how far it depends on me -- and how far it doesn't. Show me how far I'm to carry the load, bear up under the burden, hang on and hang in, press on and press through -- and how far I'm not. Show me how to do my part -- as best as I can and all by Your grace -- no more, and no less, but what is pleasing to You and right in Your sight.
 
Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and the heart to know where You've set the boundary lines of authority and responsibility for each of my relationships and all my assignments. "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel.... I keep the Lord always before me.... Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.... You show me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:5-11).
 
As far as it depends on me, I choose to depend on You. You are my Wisdom (Proverbs 5:1). You are my Strength (2 Corinthians 12:9). You are my Guide (John 16:13). And You are my Peace who sets for me Your boundaries of peace and empowers me to "live peaceably with all," as much as "possible" and "as far as it depends on (me)" (Romans 12:18; Romans 8:6; Isaiah 9:6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


May you know the boundaries of peace in every relationship and assignment entrusted to you, with the wisdom and discernment of the One who is your Peace, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

Friends, please keep us in prayer as I continue my weekly teaching of Free to Be Like Jesus -- Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance tonight at River of Life United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, based upon the spiritual principles in my book. The Holy Spirit is teaching us by example and encounters, as we seek to learn and grow each week. I pray the same for you. God bless!

 



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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