Friday, July 19, 2019

Morning by Morning, July 19 - The Secret
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by the heart and lead me by the hand into Your will for my life today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
"And this is the secret:  Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works in me" (Colossians 1:27-29 NLT).
 
All the world wants to know "the secret" -- the secret to life, the secret to success, the secret to power, the secret to riches, the secret to fame, the secret to a stress-free life, or whatever else they long to have to fill the emptiness inside. But You are The Secret. And You long to live in us, to display Your glory through us, through every one of us, "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27 NKJV).
 
Lord Jesus, help me take hold of this mighty secret. Help me take hold of this "mighty Power that works in me" -- this "mighty Power" that abides in me as I abide in You (John 15:4), that becomes one with me as I become one with You (1 Corinthians 6:17).
 
And Something moves in my heart to "work and struggle so hard, depending on (Your) mighty power that works in me" to see Christ formed in everyone I know who will listen and hear this Good News of Your mercy and love, this Amazing Grace of Your heart to come and live by Your Abiding Presence in every heart. This is the Secret! You are The Secret! You are "The Way and The Truth and The Life!" (John 14:6)
 
But it's a secret I can't keep. It's a secret I'm going to share and shout from the rooftops and from my blogposts and from everywhere You send me to share the hope that is within me by "Christ's mighty power that works in me!" (1 Peter 3:15, Colossians 1:29 NLT) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be fill afresh with Christ's mighty power that works in you -- Christ in you, the hope of glory -- to boldly live and share the Good News and great hope that flows through you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
   

Preaching in Pakistan This Saturday. Friends, please keep us in prayer this weekend (Saturday morning in Texas / Saturday night in Pakistan). If the weather permits, I will be preaching another one of our outdoor evangelistic meetings in Pakistan through our Skype Internet Ministry. Each month, I am preaching in different villages around Lahore, Pakistan in the Punjab Region. Through our team there with Pastor Fazal and Brother Suleman, we set up a tent or facility with a big screen, projector, interpreter, and prayer team. Thank you to all my friends who pray for us and support us to make this ministry possible each month! God bless you!
 
"And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come!" (Matthew 24:14)

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, July 18, 2019

Morning by Morning, July 18 - Rejoice. Be Patient. Persevere.
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Be King of all I'm entrusting to Your care. Be Lord of all I'm submitting to Your authority. Rule and reign over my life today. ...
 
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer" (Romans 12:12).
 
Your Word is the answer for every question I have. Your will is the way through every need for wisdom and discernment I have. And Your Word reveals Your will. So let Your Word penetrate my heart, my questions, and my needs. It will not return empty; It never comes up short; but "It will accomplish that which (You) purpose, and succeed in the thing for which (You) sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). For with Your Word comes all the grace and faith I need to see it come to pass, as I take hold of Your Word and trust in You.
 
Rejoice. Be patient. Persevere. When I need hope, You call me to rejoice. When I'm suffering, You call me to be patient. When I'm wavering in what seems like unanswered prayer, You call me to persevere. Your Word never calls me to sit back in passivity or wallow in self-pity or allow my soul to sink into miry bog of hopeless despair. 
 
No. Ours is not a passive faith, but an active faith -- where I'm actively, intentionally, deliberately choosing to hope, choosing to be patient, choosing to persevere. Just like "the Word of God (that's) living and powerful" (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV). So may I be not only a "hearer" of the Word, but also a "doer" of the Word -- "not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work," knowing "this one is blessed in what he does" (James 1:22-25 NKJV). May I be one who hears and does, who trusts and acts, who believes and perseveres, "to contend for the faith" by the power of Your grace at work within me (Jude 3). "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
 
And I believe it pleases You when I persevere in prayer, when I'm patient in suffering, and when I rejoice in hope. It pleases You to empower me to be an overcomer in You. "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith!" (1 John 5:4 NKJV) My faith and hope is in You and Your Word for me, my Lord! Let Your Word come alive in me with all the faith I need to believe It and to live into It this day! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering and persevere in prayer, trusting in God and His Word for you, overcoming all you face in the power of His grace, 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, July 17, 2019

Morning by Morning, July 17 - Refiner's Fire and Fuller's Soap
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit. Here in the communion of prayer, embracing the intimacy of Your Presence, make me one with You, for "anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). ...
 
"See, I am sending My messenger to prepare the way before Me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.... For He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap; He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.... Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:1-7).
 
Holy Spirit of the Living God, You are the Messenger who prepares the way of the Lord in my heart. You are the Refiner's Fire who burns away the chaff of my sin and everything in me that's not yet like Jesus. You are the Fuller's Soap who washes me clean and sanctifies me by the washing of the Water of Your Word to make my soul whiter than snow by the Blood of the Lamb as a beloved child of my Heavenly Father. And You are the Glory of the Lord who comes suddenly to fill the temple of my spirit with the fullness of Your Spirit in the manifest Presence of God like a mighty rushing Wind.
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Prepare the way of the Lord in me today. Set things right within me, that I become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. Christ in me, the hope of glory. 
 
AbbaFather, Lord of hosts, refine me and cleanse me. Prepare Your way within me. Turn to me as I turn to You, return to me as I return to You -- again and again, deep to deep, morning by morning. I present the offering of my life and every moment of my day to You as a living sacrifice, here on the altar of my heart and here in the holy place of prayer. Make me one with You, one with Your Body of Christ, and one in ministry to all the world until I feast with You at Your heavenly banquet in final victory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you turn to the Lord and open your spirit through deep communion with Him, that He may come suddenly into the temple of your spirit to refine you and cleanse you and set things right within 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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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Morning by Morning, July 16 - Strengthened in the Lord
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In response to Your invitation and grace, I enter in to the holy of holies of Your Presence, here in the communion of worship and prayer, to begin my day with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
"But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God" (1 Samuel 30:6).
 
How do I strengthen myself in You, Lord?  ...
 
As I listen for Your leading, I believe I hear You speaking in my heart:  "By the power of My grace, you strengthen yourself in Me when you humble yourself before Me. When you are weak in Me, then I am strong in you. When you willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon Me alone, I rise up in you to encourage you and empower you, to lead and guide you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness and when you humble yourself in My sight, I lift you up." ...
 
Yes, Lord. Your Word comes to mind:  "He gives more grace. Therefore He says:  'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:6-10 NKJV). "He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Corinthians 12:8).
 
I strengthen myself in You when I allow You to make me strong, when I allow You to be my Strength. Then You make me strong to face the day, to resist the devil, and to live into my destiny in You -- as best as I can and all by the power of Your grace.
 
So now, as I get up from prayer chair and step out of my prayer closet into my day, I am "strong in the Lord and in the power of (Your) might!" (Ephesians 6:10 NKJV) "You have armed me with strength for the battle!" (Psalm 18:39) "Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle; my Rock and my Fortress, my Stronghold and my Deliverer, my Shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me! ... Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" (Psalm 144:1-15) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you strengthen yourself in the Lord today by the power of His grace in you -- strong in Him to face the day, resist the devil, and live into the fullness of your destiny in Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   



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

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Monday, July 15, 2019

Morning by Morning, July 15 - Longing for My Heavenly Habitation
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- as I begin my day passionately pursuing Your Abiding Presence. ...
 
"Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven. For in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly habitation if indeed, when we have taken it off, we shall not be found naked. For while we are in this tent we groan and are weighed down, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the One who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a first installment" (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5 NAB).
 
My Father, You renew me day by day, step by step, layer by layer. You're faithful to bring to completion the good work You've begun in me. And even when I feel weary or discouraged or weighed down, You use even that to remind me that You're not finished with me yet. You have something more, something greater, something I can't even begin to comprehend -- "an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."
 
You've given me Your Sprit who bears witness with my spirit that there's more -- more than I can see right now, more than I can know right now, even more than I can bear right now. And it's Your very Spirt who is groaning within me for more, "longing to be further clothed with (my) heavenly habitation."
 
No wonder I can feel naked or lacking or less than I'm created to be -- some days more than others, despite every good and perfect gift You've already lavished upon me in all Your mercy and grace. But it's just an expression from the depths of "(my) inner self" that I am in the process of "being renewed day by day" into the image of Christ, with the heart of my Father, by the transforming power of Your Holy Spirit at work within me. 
 
You've "prepared (me) for this very thing." My step by step journey through this sliver of eternity here on this earth is Your plan to work this out in me for this very thing. Christ in me, the hope of glory -- the Abiding Presence of Christ in me, the nature and character of Christ being formed in me to display Your glory through my life surrendered to You as a holy, living sacrifice (Colossians 1:27; Romans 8:29 and 12:1; Isaiah 60:1-2).
 
So morning by morning, day by day, step by step, I surrender to You and Your plan for me. I yearn for Your Presence and lean into Your leading. I long for more -- more of You being formed in more of me, more of my heart becoming more of Your home, Your "heavenly habitation" here on earth, here in me, as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you keep longing for your heavenly habitation as the Holy Spirit keeps groaning in you for more of all he has for you, both now and throughout all eternity, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

Friends, it's good to be back with you on our journey of prayer after spending some time away these past two weeks on our family vacation. I pray you're having a great summer! Thank you for joining with me in this journey, morning by morning. It's good to be back in my "prayer chair" to share this part of my daily devotional time with you. 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, June 28, 2019

Morning by Morning, June 28 - The High Place of His Presence
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. Lead, Lord, for I am following. I want to begin my day listening for Your leading, watching and waiting in Your Presence, deeply in the communion of worship and prayer. ...
 
"After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.' At once I was in the spirit..." (Revelation 4:1-2).
 
In the mercy and love of Your grace, I feel like every morning when sit down here in my prayer chair to have my personal time of communion with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- You open up the door of heaven and call me up in the spirit into the high place of Your Presence. Here, You speak to my heart. You renew my mind. You refresh my soul. You awaken my spirit. And You set before me the open of door that invites to me come enter in to Your embrace before we step out on the journey through the moments of my day. Just like in the words of my grandmother's favorite song, You walk with me and talk with me and tell me I am Your own, when I come to You alone in this garden place of worship and prayer.
 
Here in this high place of Your Presence, all the other "high places" and "everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" must come down (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV). Here in this high place of Your Presence, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills -- from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:1-2 NKJV). Here in this high place of Your Presence, I "lift up my eyes on high and see (the One who) is great in strength, mighty in power ... the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of earth ... (who) gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless ... (that I) renew (my) strength (and) mount up with wings like eagles (to) run and not be weary, (to) walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:26-31).
 
It's here in the high place of Your Presence that You, my heavenly Father, as You fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit, where I know and embrace the truth that You have made me "alive together with Christ -- by grace (I) have been saved -- and raised (me) up with Him and seated (me) with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7). Because I am in Christ and Christ is in me (Colossians 1:27), I'm also "seated (with) Him at (Your) right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And (You) put all things under His feet and (have) made Him the head over all things for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all!" (Ephesians 1:20-23).
 
It's only here in the high place of Your Presence, that I can even begin to comprehend all You have done for me and all that You're doing in me, that I may begin to "know what is the hope to which (You have) called (me), what are the riches of (Your) glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of (Your) power for us who believe, according to the working of (Your) great power" (Ephesians 1:17-19).
 
Lord, take me higher still! The higher You take me the better I can see, the farther I can see, the more clearly I can see with the eyes of heaven from Your eternal perspective. Here in the high place of Your Presence, You open the eyes of my heart with "a spirit of wisdom and revelation" so I can see You and all You desire me to see in myself and my world through the eyes of Your truth and the security of who I am in You and who You are in me (Ephesians 1:18).
 
What a door that stands open to me every day! What a gift You're so ready to give to all who will answer Your call to come up here with You, to let You take us by the heart and lift us up in the spirit into the high place of Your Presence! Here I am, Lord -- coming up here with You today, ready to stay up here with You every day -- for (You) are with (me) always" so I can always be with You! (Matthew 28:20) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you keep coming up into the high place of the Presence of God, learning to live there in His heavenly realm, always in Christ and Christ always in you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

Friends, we will be away for some family time away the next two weeks, so I am may not be sending out my daily prayers from vacation. We'll be going up to "the high place" of the mountains in Ruidoso, New Mexico where Mom lives! But I join with you in prayer to experience the Presence of God every day. Thank you for joining with me in this journey, morning by morning. 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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