Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Morning by Morning, August 28 - "Have Peace in Me and My Words for You"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, my "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6) -- I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
 
"I am not alone because the Father is with Me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (John 16:32-33 NLT).
 
I'm never alone because You are always with me. Whatever my problems, I can have my peace in You and Your word for me.
 
You're a good Father. You're a merciful Savior. You're an ever-present Comforter. You're with me through the "many trials and sorrows" I endure on my journey through this broken and fallen world, which is really a journey of You making me more like You a little more every day. I can "take heart" in You because You have taken hold of me.
 
I believe I hear You speaking to my heart: "Have peace in Me. Let My words penetrate your spirit and wash over your mind, as you seek to abide in Me and allow Me to abide in you." ...
 
Yes, Lord. Let Your words speak to me. ...
 
With every challenging person, You're teaching me how to love (1 Peter 1:22). With every challenging battle, You're teaching me how to fight the good fight of the faith (1 Timothy 6:12). With every challenging decision, You're teaching me how to listen for Your leading and choose Your ways, trusting You to know what's best (Isaiah 30:21; Joshua 24:15; Romans 8:14). With every challenging obstacle to face and mountain to climb and burden to bear and tragedy to get through and spiritual enemy to overcome, You're teaching me how to pray (Luke 11:1), how to proclaim (Mark 11:23), how to press in and press through and persevere (Luke 11:9), until I'm more than a conqueror in You (Romans 8:37) to look back and see that with my God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) and that all things are possible for the one who believes in You (Mark 9:23).
 
As I remember and hear all that You have told me, I have peace in You (John 16:33). "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Thank You for reminding me and speaking to me Your powerful words today (2 Timothy 3:16). Let them go forth in me and into my every moment of my day. They will not fail; they will not return empty; and they will succeed and accomplish all to which You have purposed for me (Isaiah 55:11; Luke 1:37). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you have peace in the One who is always with you and always speaking His words to you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

      
    


 

Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer -- 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

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Morning by Morning, August 27 - Surrounded by the Wall of Fire
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father and One with the Holy Spirit. Be One within me, as I entrust my life and this day to You.  ...
 
"For I, says the Lord, will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst" (Zechariah 2:5 NKJV).
 
O Lord, my God, You are a Holy Fire around me. And the glory of Your Holy Spirit fills me. Around me and within me, You abide in me as I abide in You (John 15:3). Nothing touches me that doesn't touch You first. Nothing gets through to me that doesn't go through You first. "You, O Lord, are a Shield around me, my Glory, and the One who lifts my head" (Psalm 3:3).
 
Take every attack from the spiritual enemy of my soul and turn it around to make me stronger and wiser in the ways of Your Spirit. Take everything intended for evil and turn it into good (Genesis 50:20). Even in the midst of the battles, I take comfort and find courage in Your ultimate sovereignty to work it all for good -- even the things that break Your heart and seek to break my spirit. The enemy will never have the last word as I keep turning to the One who is the Word -- from beginning to end (John 1:1; Revelation 1:8). "For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory" (Romans 11:36).
 
In Your way and in Your time, Your turn it all around to restore, to redeem, and even to multiply with increase all that it seems I'm losing at the time. From Your very first disciples until today, You continue to speak encouragement and hope to our hearts when it seems we're suffering loss and more than we can bear as we seek to follow You:  "Peter began to say to Him, 'Look, we have left everything and followed You.' Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for My sake and for the sake of the Good News, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age -- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions -- and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:28-30).
 
So surround me in Your Fire and fill me with Your Spirit. Remind me that You're with me and You'll get me through this -- just like You always have and just like You always will. You are the One "called Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11). As You said through Your Word long ago:  "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flames shall not consume you. For I AM the Lord you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.... You are precious in My sight, and honored, and I love you.... Do not fear, for I AM with you!" (Isaiah 43:1-5) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you find hope and take courage in the ever-abiding Presence of the One who is Faithful and True, like a Wall of Fire around you, always with you and always for you, turning everything into good for you in His way and in His time, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

     
    


 

Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer -- 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

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Friday, August 23, 2019

Morning by Morning, August 23 - Persevering Praise!
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I thank You for being with me always, just like You said You would (Matthew 28:20). ...
 
"The magistrates had (Paul and Silas) stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...." (Acts 16:22-25).
 
What a dramatic turn in the story line of Paul and Silas! They were stripped naked, publicly humiliated, beaten, shackled, and shut away in a dark dungeon. You'd expect the next sentence in the story to be something like "Then they cried out to God for mercy" or "Then they railed against their jailers and the authorities for this great injustice and cruelty" or even "Then they began to question the goodness of God and whether they had missed God's will and whether following their faith was worth the cost." But instead, we hear "Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God!"
 
That throws a wet blanket on the bonfire of my little pity parties. That calls out the shallowness of my faithfulness. And that puts a little perspective around my problems.
 
Their answer was not to whine and complain and sulk. Their answer was to worship and pray and sing, to lift up their eyes to the heavens and their voices to their God. Their voices filled that prison. And their voices moved Your heart. "Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened!" (Acts 16:26)
 
Praise is powerful! Worship opens the windows of heaven! Persevering through persecution shakes everything and everyone around us! By the end of it all, the jailor and all his family were saved (Acts 16:33), the authorities were confronted and humbled (Acts 16:39), and Paul and Silas were set free to carry on with their mission of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ everywhere they went! (Acts 16:40)
 
Lord, set things right in my spirit. Give me a perspective that perseveres through whatever persecution or problems I face with a heart that won't stop worshipping You and praising You through it all. Even when it seems like it's "about midnight" -- at the darkest moments when I've almost lost sight of any light at all, and no matter how deep in the dungeon I feel -- give me faith and hope to believe You're the God who can suddenly move in a moment. You're the God who can send an earthquake to shake up everything around me and shift my circumstances for my good and Your glory. 
 
Remind me that I don't always know who's watching me go through it, looking to see how I'll endure it. But You're at work in it all, not wasting a moment of my sufferings, to make me more like You and bring more people into the grace of Your mercy and love (Romans 8:28-29). Persevering praise is a great principle of breakthrough prayer and a mighty "weapon of (our) warfare!" You've entrusted to us (2 Corinthians 10:4) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you persevere in praise through whatever problems you're facing and experience breakthrough in your prayers, 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)
    


 

Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer -- 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

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Thursday, August 22, 2019

Morning by Morning, August 22 - "Right with God" Who is Right Here with Me
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I abide in You and You abide in me, to begin my day in the communion of prayer -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit (John 15:3). ...
 
"Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who through our faith has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory. We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out His love to fill our hearts. He gave us His love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us" (Romans 5:1-15 NCV).
 
It's good know you're "right with God." And it's so freeing to know there's nothing I can do that makes me right with God and there's nothing I can do that can keep me from being right with God. It's through my faith that You've brought me into this blessing of Your grace. "I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift of God. It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. God has made us what we are" (Ephesians 2:8-10 NCV).
 
My faith in You is what makes me right with You. "Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who truly want to find Him" (Hebrews 11:6 NCV).
 
So when I go through the "troubles" -- the troubles we all go through in one form another on our daily journey of faith through this broken and fallen world -- it's knowing I'm "right with God" in my heart that gives my heart the peace and patience and perseverance I need to get through whatever troubles I face. That's how You keep building my faith and forming my character. That's how I can even have "joy with (my) troubles" because I know in my heart I'm right with You through my faith in trusting You. That faith tells me I'm "right with God" and my God is right here with me.
 
Holy Spirit, keep filling my heart with faith and hope and love. Keep assuring my heart I'm "right with God" and my God is right here with me through every trouble I face. By faith I believe You won't waste any of my troubles as an opportunity to keep growing my character and my faith. I can't mess this up by anything I do, as long as I keep opening my heart to Your Spirit and trusting in You. So I begin the journey of my day declaring by faith what I believe in my heart -- I'm right with God and my God is right here with me! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be filled with the Holy Spirit, who is filling your heart with love and peace and joy to know that you are right with God and He is right here with you through every trouble you face, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

         


 

Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer -- 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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Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Morning by Morning, August 21 - Dust into Mud into Me!
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me hear Your voice and be led by Your Spirit, as I begin my day centered and grounded in You and Your Word -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
"For He knows how we are made; he remembers we are dust."
 
You know all my fears and failures, all my insecurities and insensibilities, all my sins and selfishness. You see me and You know all about me. And yet, You love me. You remember that I am dust, but You also remind me that I'm Your dust.
 
You keep gathering me up in Your hands and soaking me in Your living waters until my dust becomes Your mud in Your hands. You keep taking me on the turns around Your potter's wheel, applying just the right pressure I need to be shaped into the one You've created me to be. "In Christ (I) also have obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all things according to His counsel and will, so that (I) ... might live for the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:11).
 
Soak me and shape me today, My Father. Mold me and make me with Your nail-scarred hands, Lord Jesus. Breathe the breath of Your life into me, Holy Spirit of the Living God. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I yield to Your will and Your ways.
 
One day it will be "ashes to ashes and dust to dust" for me. As it is for us all:  "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you were dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). But every day until then, I'm trusting You to keep working in me to make something beautiful out of my life. "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10 NLT).
 
Though I began as "dust," I'll also always be Your dust -- dust that's "fearfully and wonderfully made!" (Psalm 139:14) and being fearfully and wonderfully made a little more every day into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). In Your loving and gracious hands, I'll "grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). In Your hands, my dust becomes Your holy mud! Dust into mud into me! And this I know:  He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be soaked in the Living Waters and filled with the Holy Spirit, growing up in every way into the image of the Son of God -- from dust into mud into who you are and destined to be, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

        


 

Thank you for joining with me on this journey of prayer -- 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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