Monday, October 22, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 22 - Learning to Live from My High Place in Christ

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

"But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved)! For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in the all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7 NLT). 

My Father God, teach me what it really means that I have already been raised from the dead along with Christ and You have already "seated (me) with Him in the heavenly realms because (I am) united with Christ Jesus." Give me deeper "spiritual wisdom and insight so that (I) may grow in (my) knowledge of God" to understand more clearly the truth of this mystery (Ephesians 1:17 NLT). Help me "understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else -- not only in this world but also in the world to come" (Ephesians 1:19-21 NLT). 

I'm here on earth in this earthly realm. But already, at the same time, I'm also raised up and seated with Christ in the place of honor at Your right hand in the heavenly realm. That's my high place in Christ You've prepared for me. I have such a strong sense that it's so important to grow in my understanding of the truth of this mystery and to live it out. Help me learn to live it out in the way I pray, in the way I speak, in the way I see myself and see all who believe and have been seated with me and united with me and with Christ Jesus in the heavenly realm. 

In the heavenly realm, where I am in Christ and Christ is in me, I am "far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else" (Ephesians 1:21 NLT). In that realm, sin is under me, sickness is under me, selfishness is under me, Satan is under me along with every satanic scheme to steal my identity or silence my voice or suppress my spirit. Discouragement, depression, disappointment, defilement, deception, darkness, and every devil sent to delay or destroy my destiny is under me and defeated by the victory of the cross and the glory of the resurrection. "All praise to God, the Father of (my) Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed (me) with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because (I am) united with Christ!" (Ephesians 1:3 NLT)

Let this truth get into my spirit. Let my spirit come alive in Your truth. 

It's from there -- from the heavenly realm of my identity in Christ, united with Christ in the place of honor as a child of God at the right hand of God -- that I want to learn to live. I want to learn to live from my high place in Christ. I'm alive in Christ and I want to fully live into all that means. Living from there, together with all who believe You and fully entrust ourselves to You, "we are God's masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10 NLT). And living from there, may our "hearts be flooded with light so that (we) can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called -- His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance!" (Ephesians 1:18 NLT) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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




My friend, I pray your heart is flooded with the light of God's truth and love, with wisdom and revelation, to learn to live from your high place in Christ, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
 
  

Friends, thank you so much for all your prayers for us last week at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries outside Nashville, Tennessee for the Annual Gathering of the Board and Advisory Council, where I was so honored to share a keynote address and also teaching on prayer ministry. 
The Holy Spirit moved mightily in our heart with encouragement and strength to grow in God's grace. God bless you and your ministry to Him and His people!


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, October 18, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 18 - "Glorious and Beautiful" Anointed Priests of God
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...
 
"For Aaron's sons, make tunics, sashes, and special head coverings that are glorious and beautiful. Clothe your brother, Aaron, and his sons with these garments, and then anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so that they can serve as My priests" (Exodus 28:40 NLT).
 
Together as "one in Christ Jesus," we are all Your priests -- Your sons and daughters, "heirs according to the promise," faithfully serving You in the ministry of faith, hope, and love to You and Your people (Galatians 3:25-29). "All glory to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God His Father. All glory and power to Him forever and ever!" (Revelation 1:5-6 NLT) In You, "(we) are a chosen people. (We) are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession" so that "(we) can show others the goodness of God, for He has called (us) out of the darkness into His wonderful light!" (1 Peter 2:9 NLT)
 
Our priestly garments are "the garments of praise" (Isaiah 61:3 NKJV). We are clothed in Christ (Galatians 3:27). And the anointing oil of our consecration and ordination is the anointing and abiding Presence of Your Holy Spirit. "(We) have been anointed by the Holy One.... As for (us), the anointing that (we) received from Him abides in (us)" (1 John 2:20-27). Your "glorious and beautiful" nature covers us and changes us from the inside out to be priests of our God and "ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). 
 
In You, we are "holy partners in a heavenly calling" looking to "Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (Hebrews 3:1). You are our faithful "High Priest of the good things that have come" -- the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, here in our world and available to be right here in hearts (Hebrews 9:11). And as You are, so are we to be in our world (1 John 4:17). In Jesus' name I pray.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays




My friend, I pray you are freed in Christ to fully embrace your identity and destiny as a child of God and one of His glorious and beautiful anointed priests of God, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
 
  

Friends, please keep us in prayer this week. I'm at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries outside Nashville, Tennessee for the Annual Gathering of the Board and Advisory Council, where I'm excited to be sharing a keynote address and also teaching on prayer ministry. 
God bless you and your ministry to Him and His poeple!


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, October 16, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 16 - Relentless Love
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, You are the same yesterday and today and forever. Steadfast and true, faithful are You. Empower me to be faithful too.  ...
 
Some speak of Your reckless love -- reckless because it's so overwhelming and we're so undeserving. Some speak of Your unfailing love -- unfailing because it never ends and always wins. But above all, I've experienced Your relentless love -- relentless because You never relent, You never retreat in Your passionate pursuit of my heart -- no matter how undeserving or unfaithful, how timid or compromising, how I've been tempted to turn to the world or put up a wall or settle for something less than all You've desired for me. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23). That's relentless love.
 
So who could resist Your relentless love? Why would we run from Someone running so hard after us? What a picture You gave us in the parable of the prodigal son when You showed us the relentless love of a father running to embrace his lost son. "But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). You are that Father, just as we are that son that could never run far enough away and never do wicked, selfish enough things that could make You stop loving us. "If we are faithless, He remains faithful -- for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). That's relentless love.
 
Father, forgive me for ever resisting Your relentless love. Forgive me for ever taking it for granted. Forgive me for ever squandering the blessing and invitation of a lifetime of intimacy with You. You are so worthy of my relentless love in return. I love You because You first loved me; I pursue You because You first pursued me (1 John 4:19). You "have loved (me) with an everlasting (relentless) love" when there's nothing I could ever do to ever earn it or deserve it (Jeremiah 31:2). So this day, here in a deeper surrender of my heart and vulnerable intimacy in Your presence, I embrace Your relentless love for me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays




My friend, I pray you fully embrace the relentless love of our passionately pursuing God in a deeper surrender of your heart and vulnerable intimacy in His presence, 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, October 11, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 11 - Hell Can't Stop What Only Heaven Can Do
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my heart and speak out Your name and welcome You in to every moment of my day.  ...
 
"(Jesus) said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven'" (Matthew 16:15-19).
 
You've given us these keys of Your kingdom that unlock the gates of heaven, that invoke the presence of Your Spirit, and embrace the blessings of God when we put our faith in You and our lives in Your hands. And You've given us our identity as the sons and daughters of God, the church of Jesus Christ, declaring our hope and trust in You, that breaks through every gate of hell and breaks off every chain of bondage to set us free to be all You created us to be (Romans 8:29). In You, the gates of hell will never prevail against us. "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
 
So with the authority of the name of Jesus on my lips and the maturity of the nature of Jesus being formed in my heart, let the gates of hell fall before me today. In their place, let the kingdom of God advance in my spirit and through my life today. Let the gates of heaven, the gates of "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" be open wide, as Your kingdom comes and Your will is done in me and through me as a catalyst of change and messenger of hope in my world today (Romans 14:17). 
 
Hell can't stop what only heaven can do! And the gates of hell will never prevail against the advancing armies of the kingdom of God! "This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says:  'The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her massive gates will be burned!'" (Jeremiah 51:58 NLT)  Come, Holy Spirit, "consuming Fire" of God, to burn in me with "righteousness and peace and joy" as You burn down and break through the gates of hell today! (Hebrews 12:29) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays




My friend, I pray the kingdom of God advances powerfully in you and through you today, as hell can't stop what only heaven can do, 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, October 10, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 10 - The Day to Run to the Battle!
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as I begin my day in the assurance of faith that I am in Christ and Christ is in me (Colossians 1:27).   ...
 
"When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; and David heard of it and went out against them. David inquired of God, 'Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them in to my hand?' The Lord said to him, "Go up, and I will give them into your hand.' So he went up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. David said, 'God has burst out against my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.' Therefore that place is called Baal-perazim. They abandoned their gods there, and at David's command they were burned" (1 Chronicles 14:8-12).
 
Lord, let the temple of Baal and all that it represents come down! Drive out the Philistines and all that they represent! Let their gods be abandoned and their idols be burned! Get them out of our hearts and out of our land! Come "like a bursting flood!" Come like "a rushing mighty wind!" (Acts 2:2 NKJV) Come fill our hearts and our land with Your Holy Spirit and the Spirit of revival and awakening!
 
The enemy of our souls and our land will not run away with a whimper. There will be a battle. But this is the day to run to the battle! When the Philistine sought to regroup and rebound, You told David and his armies, "When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle; for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines!" (1 Chronicles 14:15). They charged ahead and did not retreat; they ran to the battle and did not shrink back. And You gave them great victory in their land!
 
By the power of Your grace, may we never surrender and never retreat before the enemies of the cross. Our true enemy, our true battle is not against the kingdoms of man, but against the kingdoms of darkness. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand!" (Ephesians 6:12-13)
 
I hear in my heart, "Press the battle! Press the battle! Sound the alarm and run to the battle! No surrender; no retreat! No shrinking back! Press ahead and do not withdraw! Pray and proclaim! Worship and rejoice! Victory, victory, victory is in your midst! Do not slumber; do not sleep! Do not grow weary and do not faint! Awaken and arise, for the day of the great battle is at hand!"  ...
 
Yes, Lord. Your Word comes now to my heart: "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.... be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!" (Ephesians 5:14-20) These are mighty "weapons of our warfare (that) have divine power to destroy strongholds!" (2 Corinthians 10:4)
 
We are in Christ and Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27). And as we stand in Christ, Christ stands in us. When our spiritual enemies are under the feet of Christ, they're under our feet, as we stand firmly in the victory in Christ (Acts 2:34-25; Colossians 2:15). So despite the intensity of the battle and the fierceness of the threats and battle cries of retaliation and intimidation from the enemy of our souls, Your Word will surely come to pass: "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under (our) feet! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with (us all)" -- here in our hearts and here in our land (Romans 16:20)! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 


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




My friend, I pray you are stirred your spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit in a fresh anointing to run to the battle, that you never surrender and never retreat before the enemies of the cross -- whether in your life or in our land -- 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, October 09, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 9 - Death has No Victory when We Die in Christ
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- help me sense Your presence, hear Your voice, and follow Your leading, as I begin my day seeking You.  ...
 
"For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:  'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' This sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
 
A dear friend of mine and faithful minister in our prayer ministry passed on from this side of eternity to the next over the weekend. He fought and overcame so much so many times. He was literally a fighter pilot who became a mighty spiritual warrior. And in his last breath of his last battle here on this earth, death had no victory and death had no sting. He was delivered through death into eternal life in You, the One who is "the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:25). Truly he has "fought the good fight" and received his eternal reward in the fullness of Your presence (1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Corinthians 5:8).
 
So I join with his wife and family and all who love him dearly to both celebrate his victory and his life in the Spirit with You in heaven, even as we also mourn and grieve our loss of his life here in the flesh with us on earth. Thank You that in You, we do not have to "grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have died" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). 
 
Through Your victory of the resurrection, we will all rejoice with You and with one another again. In that way, even through hard times like this when our hearts are both full of hope and sorrow at the same time, we hold fast to the promise of Your Word, "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5). My dear friend is experiencing the healing of the resurrection; and at the same time, we need the comfort of Your resurrection love here in our hearts as we celebrate his victory in You.
 
Holy Spirit of God, comfort us and strengthen us through the night times and hard times we endure through the battles of this world, as we look forward to that glorious morning to come. "Thank be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 

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




My Friend, I pray you are strengthened and comforted through every battle you'll face through the night time, knowing joy comes with the morning in the resurrection love of God in Jesus Christ, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
 
Friends, please join with me in prayer for the family of Gary and Judi Cheek of San Antonio, Texas. Gary is deeply loved and will be greatly missed. Judi shared this photo of Gary that really captures his personality and this beautiful note to their friends: "Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my wonderful husband of 60 years. I will miss him terribly but I know that he's with Jesus which brings me much comfort And I'll see him again. Until then, my love...."
  



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, October 05, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 5 - Pursing Both Peace and Holiness
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my steady Rock and the Anchor of my soul. You are one with the Father, one with the Holy Spirit; and as I entrust to You my heart and my life, You make me one with You (John 17:21).  ...
"Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:14-15).
Your Word compels me and commands me to pursue both peace and holiness -- not just peace and not just holiness; not peace without holiness and not holiness without peace. And it's only by the grace of God that I can. 
In my pursuit of holiness, help me never become religious, self-righteous, and "holier-than-thou" in some kind of spiritual pride as if it's by my own goodness or wisdom. Holiness is Christ in me (Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Holiness is my heart surrendered to Your heart, allowing You to form Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, and Your nature in my nature. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
And at the same time, in my pursuit of peace, help me never compromise with holiness and truth, just "going-along-to-get-along," excusing and condoning something less than Your will and Your ways, for the sake of being liked or not being rejected, maligned, or misunderstand for simply seeking to walk in Your Truth and honor Your Word. That's appeasement, not peace. That's the world's peace, not Your peace (John 14:27).
Pursuing both peace and holiness -- all by the power of Your grace at work within me -- is impossible apart from a living, vibrant, and deeply personal relationship with You. Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). So I praise You and thank You that I never have to spend a single moment of my life apart from You. You are with me always (Matthew 28:20). I am in You and You are in me (John 15:4).
So You lead me by Your Spirit to walk in both peace and holiness, growing in grace and the nature of Christ, step by step, seeking to "follow in (Your) steps" on my journey of faith through every challenge and question I face (1 Peter 2:21). "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this:  when He is reveled, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2).
My Father God, I welcome Your Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus today. "Love has been perfected among us in this:  that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). As You do -- with "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" -- You empower me to pursue both peace and holiness with all my heart because You're changing my heart every day from the inside out (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


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




My friend, I pray your heart is being changed from the inside out every day in your deeply personal and intimate journey with God, empowering you to pursue both peace and holiness, 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, October 04, 2018

Morning by Morning, October 4 - "Wonderful Joy Ahead" through the "Many Trials" We Endure
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name over every moment of my day, that everything I encounter must bow it's knee to Your name (Philippians 2:9-22).
 
"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting in Him will be the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9 NLT).
 
Sometimes it may look like there is anything but "wonderful joy ahead." Sometimes it may look like things are growing worse, darkness is growing darker, division is growing deeper, and hope is growing fainter. And it will, just as You said (Matthew 24:1-28). But at the same time, the light of the glory of God in those who believe, in those who love You and trust You, will arise and shine within us, as the glory of the Lord arises upon us! (Isaiah 60:1-3)
 
When "(our) faith remains strong through many trials," we see our faith grow brighter than the darkness; we see our hope overcome every moment of despair; and we see our God display His glory through every trial we face. That's how we can "rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy" that the world around us can't understand and even our own hearts find hard to believe, as we see You bring us through the battles and storms and every trial of our faith. And that's worth so much more than any false peace or hollow victory this world could ever offer. That's the gift of God -- "the reward for trusting in Him" -- that lasts forever as eternal treasure in our souls "far more precious than gold!" 
 
These days we live out on this earth, through the trials of this broken and fallen world, are the flames of the Refiner's fire (Malachi 3:2; Daniel 12:10; Revelation 3:18). But it's only in the fire You refine our souls into the pure gold of Your glorious love and "inexpressible joy" You've created us to know by learning to trust in You. Holy Fire of God, All "Consuming Fire," burn in me today, as I encounter and overcome ever trial I endure (Hebrews 12:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


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




My friend, I pray you are filled with "inexpressible joy" as you faithfully endure every trial you face in the power of God's grace and love for you, 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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