Morning by Morning, June 4 - Committed to "Contend for the Faith"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I abide in You, as You abide in me. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as I begin this day in the communion of prayer with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"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. For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (Jude 3-4).

 

My faith is precious to me, because my faith is precious to You. You set aside the glory of heaven, You humbled Yourself in human flesh, You laid down Your life on the cross and out poured out Your blood, that I could be forgiven and free, saved by Your grace, to live in deeply personal, intimate relationship with You forever. So it's a faith worth fighting for. It's a faith worth contending for.

 

Like so many of those who have joined in this faith through the generations, it's a faith worth dying for. So let it be a faith worth living for. Let it be faith worth speaking up for, worth standing firm for, worth never surrendering, never retreating for (Hebrews 11:1-14).

 

So by the power of Your grace, make me more bold in my faith, make me more committed to contend for my faith, to be ready and willing to sacrifice for my faith, to honor the One who paid it all so I could have live out each day in the mercy and grace of this precious gift of my faith. My faith wasn't free -- it cost You everything, so that You could be everything to me.

 

"Now to Him who is able to keep (me) from falling, and to make (me) stand without blemish in the presence of His glory with rejoicing, to the only God and Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever!" (Jude 24-25) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be committed to the contend for the faith -- empowered by God's grace and anointed with God's Spirit to stand firm, to never surrender and never retreat, 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 31 - Cheerful and Content

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm listening for Your voice and the leading of Your Spirit -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and being in need. I can to all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:11-13).

 

You've given me great grace to go to many nations many times to share the good news of Jesus Christ that burns in my heart. But like every time before, I'm always challenged by a little "culture shock" when I come home. We have so much and take so much for granted, compared with so much of the world. And it always takes a little time to process the sharp contrast of these worlds. ...

 

As I do, I don't sense a conviction of guilt for all we have, but I do sense Your invitation to be content with all we have. And I sense a reminder to remember the Source of all we have. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17 NKJV).

 

Come, Holy Spirit of God. Set things right in my heart. Set things right in my priorities. Give me grace to treasure the right things and to be content in the great treasure of all the things I have from You. Where my treasure is, there my heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). So may I be content with my great treasure and also moved with Your compassion to use my treasure well. May I seek You first and Your kingdom with all that I have, all that I am, and all that I treasure (Matthew 6:33). "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded" (Luke 12:48).

 

You are a cheerful Giver and You love a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). So by the power of Your grace, may I be cheerful and content, thankful for all I have and ready to give as You would lead. May I remember the inspiration of those I've seen who have so little and yet give so much. And whether I have little or I have plenty, whether I'm giving to those in need or receiving what I need, may I be cheerful, may I be content, always appreciating all that I have and always remembering it all belongs to You (Romans 14:8; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 6:20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend, may you be cheerful and content, full of thanksgiving and praise to the One who gives and empowers you to give, knowing all that you are and all that you have belongs to the One who loves you so, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

A beautiful lady preparing our lunch for us with joy outside the church in one of the refugee camps

African Sunrise in Northern Uganda

Ministry Trip to Uganda

Friends, thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement for our ministry trip to the African nation of Uganda May 16-29 for teaching, preaching, and evangelism in the refugee camps, pastors and leaders conferences, and a variety of settings to spread the Fire of the Holy Spirit and the love of God in Jesus' mighty name! Our team hosted by New Life Endowment with Mike and Norma Scalf, Martha Zaruba, and Gwen DuBose was so delighted and thrilled to see many salvations, healing, freedom, and hope renewed as we were able to share the good news of the kingdom of God in so many settings! We're excited to continue to hear what God has done in them and in us! God bless you!

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 30 - Home from Africa -- Humbled and Inspired

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King of my heart and Lord of my life this day and every day. ...

 

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14 NKJV).

 

After two weeks of ministry in the Africa, I laid my head down in Texas last night, but my heart is still in Uganda. As I begin my re-entry process, I can still heart the beating of the drums and the shouts of praise that filled dirt-floor churches and passion-filled hearts in great freedom of worship. I can still hear the spirited praises rising from hearts who had lost everything in their worn-torn nation of Sudan to come live in the refugee camps, surviving on little more than faith and hope alone. I can still see the smiling, radiant faces of so many who live in what we might call abject poverty but who are richer than we could imagine with the joy of Jesus in their hearts and the freedom and passion of the Spirit in their witness. And I can still sense the stirring and humbling of my own heart from the inspiration of these brothers and sisters who share my faith so far from my world, but who live it out every day with an unshakable hope and unbreakable spirit in their tenacious, persevering faith. 

 

Truly I received so much more from them as I was ever able to give. I may have been preaching this gospel of Your kingdom in their land, but their lives and their witness were preaching this gospel of Your kingdom into my heart. By the power of Your grace, may none of us ever be the same! 

 

As we all continue to preach this good news with our lives and our words, in hope and in love, in all the world and to the ends of the earth, one day "the end will come." But every day between this day and that one, may we inspire one another and "encourage one another, and this all the more, as (we) see the day drawing near!" (Hebrews 10:25 NAB) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you live out your faith in your life and your words every day, inspired by the tenacious, persevering faith of those you encounter along the way, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

African Sunrise in Northern Uganda

Ministry Trip to Uganda

Friends, thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement for our ministry trip to the African nation of Uganda May 16-29 for teaching, preaching, and evangelism in the refugee camps, pastors and leaders conferences, and a variety of settings to spread the Fire of the Holy Spirit and the love of God in Jesus' mighty name! Our team hosted by New Life Endowment with Mike and Norma Scalf, Martha Zaruba, and Gwen DuBose was so delighted and thrilled to see many salvations, healing, freedom, and hope renewed as we were able to share the good news of the kingdom of God in so many settings! We're excited to continue to hear what God has done in them and in us! God bless you!

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 15 - "Pray in the Holy Spirit"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In worship and prayer, in spirit and truth, I commune with You to begin this day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...

 

"But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (Jude 1:20).

 

Thank You for the grace and the blessing to "pray in the Holy Spirit," to allow Your Spirit to pray through my spirit, to allow Your words to flow through my mouth, as I deeply abide in You and You in me (John 15:5). As Your Word says, "the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).

 

Come, Holy Spirit. Pray through me the perfect prayers of God, perfectly aligned with the will of God for every person, every region, every nation, every situation for which I'm interceding. I yield my thoughts to Your thoughts, my words to Your words, my prayers to Your prayers. And I believe as I "pray in the Holy Spirit," the word of the Lord is going forth and it will not return empty, but will accomplish all for which You have sent it (Isaiah 55:11) and that Your words are sending forth Your holy angels to accomplish Your will on earth as it in in heaven. "Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, obedient to His spoken word. Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers that do His will" (Psalm 103:20-21).

 

So by the power of Your grace at work within me, "I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also" (1 Corinthians 14:15). I will praise You until I run out of words from my mind and begin to praise You through the words You pour out of my spirit. I will intercede as best as I can and all by Your grace according my understanding of Your will in my mind; and at the same time, I will also intercede with my spirit yielded to Your Spirit, like the clay that yields to the potter, like a child who yields to their father, and like a disciple who yields to their master, as I "pray in the Holy Spirit." 

 

All the while, You're "building up my most holy faith" to believe it's Your Spirit moving through my spirit and Your word going forth through my prayers, my praises, and my proclamations, through my declarations and decrees by the leading of Your Spirit, in agreement with Your will, and in the authority of Your name. This is one of the ways, You allow me to become more like You (1 Peter 4:11; 2 Peter 1:4; Romans 8:29; 1 John 4:17). For "anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). 

 

"Praying in the Holy Spirit" is one of the ways You have entrusted us with Your "keys of the Kingdom of Heaven" that "whatever (we) bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever (we) loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). And not even "the gates of hell" can prevail against Your Word going forth in Your power through Your people who are called by Your name to advance Your Kingdom "on earth as it is heaven!" (Matthew 16:18 and 6:10) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you yield your mind to God's Spirit to pray in the Holy Spirit through you with power and authority in the mighty name of Jesus according to the will of God in every situation for intercession He puts on your heart, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Leaving in the Morning! -- Ministry Trip to Uganda

Friends, please keep us in prayer as our team travels to the African nation of Uganda May 16-29 for teaching, preaching, and evangelism in the refugee camps, pastors and leaders conferences, and a variety of settings to spread the Fire of the Holy Spirit and the love of God in Jesus' mighty name! We're expectant and excited to see what God will do! Thank you and God bless you!

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 14 - Prepared for Action to Produce a Harvest from the Imperishable Seed of God

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You, Lord, and I begin my day looking up to Your face and listening up for Your voice -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... 

"Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when He is revealed.... He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through Him you have come to trust in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.... You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:13-23). 

With "the living and enduring word of God in my heart" I can "prepare (my) mind for action." Your "words are spirit and life" (John 6:33). And Your words that have gone into my heart -- Your spoken word and Your written word -- are imperishable, incorruptible seed that will spring forth, that will never die, that will grow up and produce the fullness of life You've always intended in me and through me for my time in this world. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but is shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10-11). 

So my faith and hope are set on You and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I may not always see the seeds of Your word that are growing in me, even though at times I may get the blessing of seeing some growth spurts, but I know I will see the harvest of the fullness of life and all that You've purposed. It will be good and it will be of God, for every seed must produce fruit after its own kind (Genesis 1:11). And the seeds You've sown in me and every disciple of Jesus Christ are the good kind of God. I "have been born anew" (1 Peter 1:23); I "have been born of God ... because God's seed abides in (me)" (1 John 3:9). And that God seed in me and in every one of the children of God who carry Your seed in our hearts will be prepared for action to produce the harvest You've intended for our time since "before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My friend, may you keep your faith and hope set on God, prepared for action to produce the harvest eternally intended by God through the imperishable seed of His words of spirit and life He has sown in your heart, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Preaching in Pakistan through our Internet Ministry

Friends, we are praising God for a great move of His Holy Spirit in Pakistan through our Internet Ministry last Saturday! Received this report from Pastor Fazal: "Dear Pastor Tommy, Thanks very much to share Powerful Sermon in Village. Thanks Lord 318 Souls are saved and 88 People are healed from different things! We give all Glory to Jesus Christ!"

 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement, my friends! Every month I am preaching in a different village with a big screen and interpreter in outdoor meetings. Praise God for the great things He is doing!

Ministry Trip to Uganda

Friends, please keep us in prayer as our team prepares to travel to the African nation of Uganda May 16-29 for teaching, preaching, and evangelism in the refugee camps, pastors and leaders conferences, and a variety of settings to spread the Fire of the Holy Spirit and the love of God in Jesus' mighty name! Thank you and God bless you!

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 - Fire Down in My Bones

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I humble my heart and speak out Your name over every moment of my day -- that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God my Father. ...

 

"If I say, 'I will not mention Him, or speak anymore in His name,' then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.... But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail" (Jeremiah 20:9-11).

 

Jeremiah suffered much for standing firm in his faith and speaking the truth in his heart. His words weren't always easy to hear in the prevailing culture and religious traditions of his day (Jeremiah 20:1-6). But in the midst of his battles -- coming against his mind and his heart from without but also from within -- he spoke of worship and praise, trusting in Your hand of deliverance and Your heart of redemption to cause it all to work together for good in Your time, no matter how hard it seemed and how long it seemed to take for Your promises to come to pass (Jeremiah 20:12-13). For even in the midst of the judgments to come that righteousness requires, You also always spoke through Your servant of the promises and provision of Your mercy and redemption to come as well (Jeremiah 23:5-8).

 

Holy Spirit, be a Fire down in my bones. Move in my heart and my mind to set things right within me and to speak the things that are right through me. In Your Fire and in Your power, may I faithfully speak the truth in love and live out Your truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Thank You, Father God, that Your "mercy triumphs over judgment" and that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, (Your) mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (James 2:13; Lamentations 3:22-23). Come, Lord Jesus. In Your mercy and love, You have taken all our sins and failures, all our griefs and sorrows, all our impurity and infirmity upon Yourself that we can be forgiven and free, healed and whole, to receive God's mercy because You have taken God's judgment -- "the punishment that made us whole" (Isaiah 53:4-12; Matthew 8:17).

 

With a heart full of worship and praise, even when it's hard -- especially when it's hard -- let me be found faithful to go where You send me, to speak what I hear You saying, to do what I see You doing, trusting in Your mercy that always triumphs over judgment and Your love that always overcomes a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8; James 5:20). For "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). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you burn with a holy Fire down in your bones to speak and to live the truth in love, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ everywhere the Holy Spirit sends you to the glory of God our Father, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Preaching in Pakistan through our Internet Ministry

Friends, we are praising God for a great move of His Holy Spirit in Pakistan through our Internet Ministry last Saturday! Received this report from Pastor Fazal: "Dear Pastor Tommy, Thanks very much to share Powerful Sermon in Village. Thanks Lord 318 Souls are saved and 88 People are healed from different things! We give all Glory to Jesus Christ!"

 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement, my friends! Every month I am preaching in a different village with a big screen and interpreter in outdoor meetings. Praise God for the great things He is doing!

Ministry Trip to Uganda

Friends, please keep us in prayer as our team prepares to travel to the African nation of Uganda May 16-29 for teaching, preaching, and evangelism in the refugee camps, pastors and leaders conferences, and a variety of settings to spread the Fire of the Holy Spirit and the love of God in Jesus' mighty name! Thank you and God bless you!

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!