Monday, November 04, 2019

Morning by Morning, November 4 - "Let the Favor of God Be Upon Us"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In humility and faith, in surrender and trust, I look to You and listen for Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands; yes, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17).
 
I do need Your favor, Lord. I need Your wisdom and Your guidance, Your power and provision. I need You to open the doors that no man can close and close the doors that no man can open, as You order my steps and direct my path (Revelation 3:8). Apart from You I can do nothing (John 15:5).
 
And at the same time, even as my spirit rests in You, in desperate dependence upon You alone to be the Source of everything I need and everything I receive, You set my hands to work. Whether typing a prayer on my laptop or casting out a demon by the finger of God in our prayer room (Luke 11:20), let the work of my hands be an extension of Your hands at work through me into my world. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
 
Whether our work is in a prayer room or a conference room, whether picking up a briefcase or a lug wrench, let all we do be done for the sake of Christ. "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17). By Your Holy Spirit who abides in our spirits, we are Your body, about our Father's business (1 Corinthians 1:27).
 
You stretch out Your hands and speak out Your words through us, as Your ambassadors, commissioned in Christ, anointed by Your Holy Spirit to be Your people who display Your glory in the desires of our hearts and the work of our hands. "All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
 
So I do pray for Your favor to fulfill all You've put in my heart to do through the work of my hands today. "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11). By the power of Your grace, empower me to walk uprightly in the steps of Your will through the doors You open today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My friend, may you walk in the favor of God in all you do for the sake of Christ today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer, seeking to begin each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. It's my fervent prayer these devotionals are a blessing and encouragement to you!  Please pass them on to someone who could use the blessing and encouragement of God's Word and Spirit!

 

  
 



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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Friday, November 01, 2019

Morning by Morning, November 1 - The Mind of Christ is a Heart of Humility
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
 
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should ben, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11).
 
To have the mind of Christ is to have a heart of humility. And a heart of humility is a heart of obedience and desperate dependence upon God alone.
 
Lord Jesus, Your life in the flesh is our model for life in the Spirit. We're to "follow in (Your) steps" (1 Peter 2:21). 
 
You humbled Yourself to set aside the glory of Heaven to come into our world as the Son of Man, in the nature of man "being born in human likeness" and "being found in human form." We can't begin to comprehend that sacrifice. You suffering for us didn't begin on the cross, it began in the womb -- in the womb of a young woman named Mary when You were conceived by the Holy Spirit to live out a life in the flesh in our world (Luke 1:31).
 
You were tempted in every way, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). You were confronted by Satan himself, yet without wavering (Luke 4:2). You were challenged to let the cup pass of the sufferings of the cross and all that would mean for You to take upon Yourself the sins of the world and pay our price, yet without resistance (Luke 22:42). You were humble and obedient, desperately dependent upon God the Father in perfect surrender to His will "to the point of death -- even death on a cross." All for us.
 
I know I don't have that depth of humility in me yet. I know my heart is not wholly surrendered to Your holy will yet. So I am desperately dependent upon You to make me more like You -- to "have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), to "let the same mind be in (me) that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). But I do desire this, because I do believe You put that desire in our hearts, to desire to be like Jesus. "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 revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). "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).
 
In humility and faith, as best as I can and all by Your grace, I say, "Lord, let it be so." And I know as I seek to follow in Your steps, allowing You to Your conform my mind and my heart to Yours, as I humble myself in the sight of the Lord, You will lift me up (James 4:10), just as You humbled Yourself before the Father, and He lifted You up to give You the name above every name (Philippians 2:9).
 
As the Apostle Paul acknowledged, "Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind" (Philippians 3:12-15). And I am confident this, from the promise of Your Word:  He who began a good work in me with 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 have the mind of Christ and His heart of humility, that God may lift you up and grow you up into the maturity of all you were created to be and fulfill all you are called to do, following in His steps, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer, seeking to begin each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. I hope these prayers are a blessing and encouragement to 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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Thursday, October 31, 2019

Morning by Morning, October 31 - "Hallowed"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice, for Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:27) and Your children follow the leading of Your Spirit (Romans 8:14). ...
 
"Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10 KJV).
 
As I begin this day many call Halloween, Your Spirit is speaking to me of the Hallowed One.
 
You are the Holy One (1 Peter 1:16). You are the One who is Love, and Your perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).  You are the One who's life delivers us from death and into Your life (John 10:10). You are the One who opens tombs and takes away our grave clothes (John 11:43), who empties graveyards with resurrection power (Matthew 27:52). And the only walking dead in You are those who have died to sin and self to live in Christ (Romans 6:8).
 
Tonight many will fool around in the darkness and seek to have fun with the spirits, wearing masks and taking on identities of something very different from who they were created to be, but You are the One who brings us out of darkness and into the Kingdom of Your marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). You are the One who calls us by name and reminds us of who we are in You, created to live out the fullness of our destiny, secure in our identity in You (Ephesians 1:11). You are the One who casts out every unholy spirit (Luke 11:20) and fill us with Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The only ghost we're to entertain is the Holy Ghost who comes to fills us and comfort us and guide us into all truth in You (John 14:16).
 
On this "Halloween," I choose to hallow You. "Hallowed be Thy name." And hallowed be my heart, set apart to You and filled with Your Spirit. "Be ye hallowed, and be ye holy, for I am holy, the Lord your God" (Leviticus 20:7-9 WYC).  "Neither shall ye profane My holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel:  I Am the Lord which hallows you" (Leviticus 22:32 KJV).
 
I don't want to be overly religious about it, but I do want You to keep my heart right in the midst of it. We're to be salt and light in the midst of our world, not hidden away from our world (Matthew 5:13-16). And at the same time, we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds by the power of Your Spirit (Romans 12:2). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My friend, may you be hallowed and set apart to God in your heart, to hallows the name of the Holy One on this day and every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer, seeking to begin each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. I hope these prayers are a blessing and encouragement to 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, October 30, 2019

Morning by Morning, October 30 - Insatiable Spiritual Thirst
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Be King of every area of my heart and Lord of every moment of my life, as I entrust this day into Your will, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ...
 
"On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, He cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me!" (John 7:37).
 
Lord Jesus, I'm thirsty! I'm thirsty for Your Living Water! I'm thirsty for more of You!
 
Every morning, Your Holy Spirit draws me to my prayer chair to seek You in worship, in communion, and in prayer. It's like coming into the Holy of Holies of Your Presence to pursue You, to hunger and thirst for You, to experience You, to embrace You and allow You to embrace me. And every day that I do, the more I want of You. It's like an insatiable spiritual thirst that grows stronger each day. The more I drink, the thirstier I become.
 
You said the purpose for coming to You and to drink in the Living Water of Your Spirit is so that Your Living Water can flow out of us (v. 38). For Your Spirit to flow out, we must drink You in. We can only give away what we have received.
 
So when You also say that all who drink of Your Living Water will never be thirsty again, You are not speaking of the spiritual thirst for Your Presence and Your Spirit (v. 4:14). You are speaking of everything else we would turn to in order to quench our thirst. We can have an insatiable thirst for all the other things this world has to offer that will only leave us thirsty for more of those things that will never satisfy our thirst. Or we can seek and receive an insatiable thirst for You, where we can never have enough, where we always want more, and we never thirst again for things of this world that only leave us thirsty and dry.
 
Your Spirit in my heart cries out in desperate thirst, "Come, Lord Jesus!" Your Spirit in my heart stirs with insatiable desire, "O God, You are my God! I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh yearns for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1). Your Spirit in my heart remembers the promise of Your Word, "It is done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give Water as a gift from the Spring of the Water of Life!" (Revelation 21:6)
 
Yes, Lord! I thirst for You! And in my insatiable spiritual thirst, I yearn for the fulfillment of all things in the fullness of time:  "The angel showed me the River of the Water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the River is the Tree of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants shall worship Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:1-4).
 
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let everyone who hears, say, 'Come!' And let everyone who is thirsty come! Let anyone who wishes take the Water of Life as a gift!" (Revelation 22:17) Yes, Lord. I'm thirsty. And I come to You for a deep drink of Your Living Water today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My friend, may you hunger and thirst for righteousness, with an insatiable spiritual thirst for the One who longs to fill you up and flow out of you with the Living Water of His Spirit, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer, seeking to begin each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. I hope these prayers are a blessing and encouragement to 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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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Morning by Morning, October 29 - Flourishing Faith through Fiery Trials
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Align my heart with Your desires and my will with Your ways, as I begin my day grounded in Your Word and filled with Your Spirit. ...
 
"Dear brothers and sisters, we can't help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God's other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. And God will use this persecution to show His justice and to make you worthy of His Kingdom, for which you are suffering.... So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call. May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with Him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 NLT).
 
Where faith flourishes, love abounds. And where love abounds, faith flourishes. In the midst of persecutions and hardships, when we endure the sufferings and injustices of the kingdoms of this world and all the global and generational impacts of our fallenness and sin, You never waste a moment of our sufferings. You even take what was intended for evil and use it all for good, as we persevere in faith and live out love (Genesis 50:50; Romans 8:28).
 
You're making us "worthy of (Your) Kingdom, for which (we) are suffering." You're empowering us to "live a life worthy of (Your) call." And by the power of Your grace at work within us, we will "accomplish all the good things (our) faith prompts us to do" and "the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way (we) live."
 
Keep giving me that eternal perspective, Lord. "These trials will show that (our) faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- through (our) faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when (our) faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring (us) much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world" (1 Peter 1:7).
 
Keep my eyes on the prize, Lord -- "I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling (me)" (Philippians 3:14). As Your Word encourages every one of Your persevering disciples throughout the ages, "Don't be surprised at the fiery trial (we) are going through, as if something strange were happening to (us). Instead, be very glad -- for these trials make (us) partners with Christ in His suffering, so that (we) will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world.... For God will never fail (us)" (1 Peter 4:12-19). 
 
Nobody has a testimony unless they've been tested. Nobody's an overcomer unless they've overcome something. Nobody's more than a conqueror unless they conquered what stood between them and their destiny in You -- all by the power of Your grace at work within us.
 
So keep using my trials to make me more like You, Lord. Your Word promises us that You will:  "Dear friends, we are already God's children but He has not yet show us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is" (1 John 3:2). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My friend, may you flourish in faith through whatever fiery trials you're enduring, with your eyes on the prize of your heavenly calling, as the Holy Spirit makes you more like Jesus and reminds you our Father will never fail you through them all, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer, seeking to begin each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. I hope these prayers are a blessing and encouragement to 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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