The Clash of Swords 7-11-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In the communion of prayer, let the fire of Your Spirit consume my soul until we are one. "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). ... "When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, 'Alas, master! What shall we do?' He replied, 'Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.' Then Elisha prayed: 'O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.' So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:15-17). This morning I'm looking across the lake to the beautiful Smoking Mountains of North Carolina. But the despite the beauty I see with my natural eyes and the quiet sounds of the morning I hear with my natural ears, I hear the clash of swords in the heavenly realm. Ironically, in the peaceful beauty of this paradise, You've called me to train warriors for battle, to train and equip them to wield "the weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). And I thank You for the angelic hosts, who are as warriors in "chariots of fire" who join me in the battle every day, as I turn my face and my heart to You in prayer (Daniel 10:10-21). "Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). "Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, obedient to His spoken word" (Psalm 103:20). So I thank You for Your warring angels; and above all, I thank You for the victory of the cross now enforced in our lives through the power of the blood of Jesus. The clash of swords is sound of victory in the heavens. "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" (Psalm 143:1-2). "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with victory. Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands ... this is glory for all His faithful ones. Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 149:4-9). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayer for me and the ministers from the southeastern region of the U.S. coming to this Methodist ministers' conference at Lake Junaluska, NC. I'm really excited and honored to have this opportunity to teach on Wednesday and Thursday, but no doubt there will be spiritual battles as I prepare and teach on this important but controversial topic: "Spiritual Warfare -- The Battle Disciples Can't Ignore; Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith" www.sejumc.org/MinistersConference2007.pdf To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Triumphant and Victorious 7-10-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome Your Spirit to center my thoughts and my heart on You here in the founding moments of my day. ... "For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes" (Psalm 112:6-8). My "foes" are not men and women of flesh and blood, or even the natural disasters and challenging circumstances of life in a broken, fallen world. According to Your Word, my "foes" are "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" who are "the cosmic powers of this present darkness" (Ephesians 6:12). There is a real devil (v. 6:11). And he is really defeated, as we take our stand in Your strength with our faith in You (v. 6:16). So we need not fear when our hearts are firm, secure in You. We wage war daily, overcoming evil with good and overcoming doubt with faith, by choosing that path and persistence to walk it no matter what spiritual force seems to stand in the way. It is "in the end" that we will look in triumph on our foes in the earthly places, as we already stand in triumph over our foes in the heavenly places through Your victory of the cross (Colossians 2:15). I'll be traveling to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina today for the Ministers' Conference for the Methodist ministers of the Southeastern Jurisdiction. They've asked me to teach on the topic of "Spiritual Warfare -- the Battle Disciples Can't Ignore." Thank You for this opportunity to teach Your truth, share my faith, and help "to equip the saints for the work of the ministry" (Ephesians 4:12). In these evil days where the darkness grows darker, the light of Your glory shines more brightly than ever. We need not fear the battle, but we can't ignore the battle either. You train our hands for war and send us into the battle every day, enforcing the victory of the cross in the advance of the kingdom of God against our fallen and defeated foes (Psalm 18:34). With every step we take in the path of Your righteousness following the way of the cross, they are overcome "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of (our) testimony" (Revelation 12:11). This is our battle each day, but the victory is already won. In the end, we will stand with You as You stand in us, looking in triumph over our foes who at last are cast away from us forever (Revelation 20:10). We are triumphant and victorious in Your alone. Praise Your holy name! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I would appreciate your prayer for me and the ministers from the southeastern region of the U.S. coming to this conference. I'm really excited and honored to have this opportunity to teach on Wednesday and Thursday, but there will no doubt be spiritual battles as I prepare and teach on this important but controversial topic: www.sejumc.org/MinistersConference2007.pdf To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"I Die Everyday" 7-9-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these moments, by Your grace, help me seek nothing but Your face, hear nothing but Your voice, and do nothing but Your will. ... "Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor" (John 12:24-26). By Your grace, I choose to surrender my life to You, to die to my self. Help me continually crucify the desire to promote my self, to make it easy for my self, to focus on my self. Help me die to self so I can truly live in You. You don't desire my physical death -- You came to bring life and not death (John 10:10). But You do desire the death of my flesh -- the part of my soul not yet fully surrendered to You. Expose that part -- the part that is still full of the pride of life, full of the pride of self glory, self gratification, self centeredness -- and kill that part. When that part dies, like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies, then my life will bear much fruit. It's not about what I do; it's all about who I am becoming. As Paul said, "I die every day" (1 Corinthians 15:31). And this is my desire, to become like You, because You have put that desire in my soul. As I become more like You, because Your Spirit is making me more like You, I will truly be following You, serving You, and honoring You. And as Your Word says, My Father will honor me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Everything has Changed 7-8-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Consume me in the fire of Your presence. ... "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). As we ended our day of fasting and prayer for our nation at The Call in Nashville last night in thunderous shouts of praise with three hundred men blowing three hundred shofars, we agreed with the proclamation: "Everything has changed. There is a shift in heavens over our land. We will begin to see breakthroughs in all the circumstances of our lives as never before. I choose to believe it and receive it and be part of it, for the glory of Your name. As representatives of the families, communities, churches, and ministries of our land, we responded to Your call to fill a football stadium in prayer, praise and proclamation in this "sacred assembly" (Joel 1:14, NKJV): "Consecrate a fast; call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord." As so we have. Now let this heart of humility and prayer, repentance and revival, worship and warfare continue in our hearts and be released in the hearts of the people of our nation and all nations. We dedicate and consecrate our lives and our nation to You, Lord Jesus Christ. Through Your forgiveness of our sin and Your awakening of our destiny in Christ, old things have passed away and everything has become new -- everything has changed. Simply, "Prayer changes things." Now it will be exciting to see the manifestation that change. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Perfect, Holy Day 7-7-07

Good morning, Jesus. Today is the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year. Prophetic people say the number seven speaks of perfection. Lord, let this be a perfect day -- a day where I perfectly yield my will to Your will to live my life for Your glory. ... "The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times" (Psalm 12:6). I will join a hundred thousand others who have come to the city of Nashville today to humble ourselves in fasting and prayer for spiritual awakening and revival in our land. We will sing Your praises, pray Your promises, and proclaim Your power. I love Your promises and I thank You for the grace of patience and perseverance to take my place as a watchmen on the wall in my generation to pray through Your promises until I see them established on earth as they are in heaven. And of all the promises of God, one that stirs in my spirit the most is this: "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray, seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). Yes, Lord. Let the hearts of those who fill this football stadium today represent the heart of the remnant of our nation who humble themselves before You to pray and seek Your face and repent of our sins and the sins of our nation and generations. Hear from heaven, forgive us and cleanse us and revive us. Heal our land. Restore us to our destiny as a people who honor You and live for Your purposes. I hear You writing a new song in my spirit: Lord take my words Lord take my heart Let me sing how great Thou art I'll be Your hands I'll be Your feet Lord let Your Spirit live through me Would You come down like rain Would You come down in power Would You revive our land this hour? We seek Your face We need Your grace We want to run this race for You Would You come in Your way Would You come have Your say Would You come in our hearts this perfect, holy day? Yes, Lord. "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let everyone who hears say, 'Come.' And let everyone who is thirsty come" (Revelation 22:17). "Come, Lord Jesus," come (v. 22:20). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Pray for "The Call" -- Nashville 7/7/07

Dear Friends, As you are led, please join us in the agreement of prayer and fasting at our national gathering at Titan Stadium in Nashville tomorrow, 7/7/07: The Call Nashville 07.07.07 I'll be joining a team who will be praying the Father's Blessing over the young men and women gathered in this Joel Fast -- a holy fast and sacred assembly for spiritual restoration and awakening in our land. God bless! Tommy Hays Messiah Ministries 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Lexington, Kentucky 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org

The Father's Blessing 7-6-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Heavenly Father. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Lord God, I worship and welcome You in every dimension of Your Being into every dimension of my being. … "As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, 'Let my father sit up and eat of his son's game, so that you may bless me' " (Genesis 27:30-31). Esau longed for his father's blessing, and so did Jacob. You have created us to need and desire our Father's blessing. And You have chosen our earthly fathers and mothers to be a primary means of releasing Your blessing to us. To bless us is to speak Your life and encouragement into us, to call forth from us our God-given identity and destiny -- redeemed in Christ, and awakened by the Holy Spirit. Blessing is one of Your ways of answering the yearning questions of our soul -- "Who am I?", "Why was I created?", "Why am I here?" You desire that we seek the answers to these questions from You, and in Your sovereignty You have chosen to answer these questions in a significant way through our earthly fathers and mothers, who are to seek and model Your Father heart to us. But Esau's blessing was stolen away. And, so often, so is ours. None of us are perfect; all fall short of Your glory and Your will for our lives. And so have our earthly fathers and mothers, as well as the other father and mother figures of authority in our lives who You have desired to impart Your blessings. We thank You for those who have and for the measure they have. And we must choose to forgive those who have not and for the measure they have not. We ask You, Father God, to impart to us all the blessings You have desired, but have been stolen away. By Your Word and Your Spirit, speak into our spirits Your words of our identity and destiny in You. We are sons and daughters of God, created to live in the blessings of God (Romans 8:14-17). I'll be traveling to Nashville, Tennessee today for a national gathering of worship, fasting, and prayer known as "The Call" to take place in Titan Stadium tomorrow on 07-07-07. Many passionate young people of the faith will be coming to seek Your face, ready to welcome an awakening of their calling and identity and destiny. I'll be joining a team of spiritual fathers and mothers in the faith who will be praying a Father's Blessing for those who seek it and for those who need it because they've never received it in the fullness of the measure You have desired through their earthly fathers and mothers. As I prepare in prayer, I thank You for the measure of blessing I have received from You and from You through my earthly father and mother and spiritual parents in my life. I pray You would give me Your Father heart of God, and use my words and my hands to release a double portion and more of the Father's Blessing to all You bring to me in ministry tomorrow and throughout my life of ministry to You. We all need the Father's blessing. Give us the wisdom and humility to realize it and receive it by faith, and then to pass it on in double measure and more to the next generation. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Freedom to Choose 7-5-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I open the doors of my soul to You. Possess me with Your Holy Spirit and conform me to Your nature. … "Gladden the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul" (Psalm 85:4). We have the freedom of choice. We can choose to lift up our souls to anything we desire. To open the doors of our heart and the gates of our mind to allow whatever we choose to come in and have room. In one way or another, in one degree or another, we make room for You or "make room for the devil" (Ephesians 4:27). What we willingly submit to gains the power to influence our nature and our choices. You intend this principle to be used to conform us to Your nature and the enemy of our souls intends to use this principle to conform us to his nature. But to every degree we submit ourselves to You, we are refusing to submit ourselves to him. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7-8). By Your grace, I willingly choose to lift up my soul to You alone. I open the doors of my heart and the gates of my mind "that the King of glory may come in" (Psalm 24:7). As I do, You stir up my spirit and gladden my soul, conforming my thoughts to Your thoughts, my desires to Your desires, and my will to Your will. As I behold You and worship You, You possess me in ever-increasing degrees of Your glory to conform me to the nature of Your image. "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Thank You, Lord -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for possessing me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

The Lamb's Book of Life 7-4-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be my vision and my inspiration. ... "I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day -- and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:22-27). On this day in 1776, the names of the forefathers of our nation were written in a document declaring their independence from an empire and their dependence upon You and one another. The final words of their Declaration of Independence proclaimed, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance upon the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor." Their names on this document were an act of treason and a declaration of war against their former ruler. On a day for each of us who have declared our independence from the kingdoms of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of darkness, our names are now written in the Lamb's book of life. We declare our dependence upon You and one another in the body of Christ. We are at war with the enemy of our souls (Revelation 12:17). But he will not blot our names out of Your book of life, for we have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, not clinging to our lives in this world, but fully committing them to You and embracing the fullness of eternal life in the world to come (v. 12:11). Those who have declared their dependence on You from every nation are now citizens of Your nation -- the kingdom of heaven. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). This day and every day, I declare my independence from the kingdoms of this world and the ruler of darkness and death; and I declare my dependence on You, to proclaim Your mighty acts of love and victory through the blood of the Lamb. May my name be forever found written in Your book of life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

"Come Walk with Me, My Friend" 7-3-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm honored to be Your disciple and humbled to be Your friend. ... "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father" (John 15:13-15). Lord, help me do what You command me. Help me know what You are doing and hear what You are saying, my Master -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By Your love, I am Your son. By Your grace, I am Your friend. By the sacrifice of Your blood, You laid down Your life for me, proving forever I am loved as Your son and embraced as Your friend. "So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God -- all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God" (Romans 5:11, NLT). It seems I hear Your Spirit singing in my spirit: Would you come walk with Me, My friend? Would you believe how much I love you? Would you know that I'm with you? I'll never leave you nor forsake you. So don't worry about things That would bow your heart down. Give them all to Me, As You come and walk with Me. Yes, Lord, I will walk with You. I will choose to believe it's true. I give my life into Your hands, As I come and walk with You. Thank You -- my Lord, my God, and my Friend. If Your desire for such intimacy with us where not written so clearly in Your Word, we wouldn't dare believe it's true. But it is in Your Word and it is true. So I will not deny You or the relationship of friendship and love You want with me and all of Your children. Yes, Lord. By Your grace, I will come and walk with You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I have made more progress on my book on healing prayer ministry this week and would appreciate your prayers. I am trying to write out the principles of God's transforming power I've been learning and experiencing in ministry to share with others in this way. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Clean Heart, Pure Motives 7-2-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As the worship song says, "Change my heart, O God; make it ever true. Change my heart, O God; may I be like You." ... "For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts" (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4). I know I don't fully know my own heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, NKJV). But You know it. And You are changing it. Though my heart was deceitful and wicked apart from You, You are creating in me a clean heart and renewing a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). So I entrust my heart and my motives to You. Give me a clean heart and pure motives. Test them and conform them to Your nature and Your purposes. Free me from self-deceptive tactics -- whether conscious or not -- to seek the approval of man instead of the approval of God, to find my significance in how pleasing I feel I am to others instead of to You alone. Let the message of Your gospel I share with my life be Your gospel and not mine, delivered in Your way and not the ways of man, glorifying Your name and no other. This alone is the "eternal gospel" that will live forever in my heart and in the hearts of all who hear it and receive it (Revelation 14:6). This alone is the eternal gospel I've laid down my life to live and to share, by Your grace and for Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Inspired to be More than I am 7-1-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I set my eyes to seek Your face. ... "It is He whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that He powerfully inspires within me" (Colossians 1:28-29). Lord, You inspire me to be more than I am. You empower me to grow up into maturity in You, into "the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). To grow into maturity is to grow into Christ-likeness -- "we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (v. 4:15). And You inspire me to seek to inspire others, through encouragement and through experience, all by Your grace and all in the energy You inspire within me. This is my heart's desire because You've put this desire in my heart. And because I agree with Your Word and embrace Your will, I believe by faith You will bring it to pass in Your timing, in Your way, and in Your power. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Words of Faith 6-29-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. By Your grace, I consciously and deliberately choose to put my hope and faith in You. ... "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours" (Mark 11:22-24). Lord, I need more of this kind of faith. Your Word commands me to "Have faith in God" -- without doubting in my heart, believing what I say will come to pass. I have no power to obey Your Word apart from Your grace. So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I humble myself before You to ask for this kind of faith. Bring my faith into agreement with Your Word. Then bring my words into agreement with my faith. As I understand these red letter words of Yours, this is not presumption or pride; this is Your will, revealed in Your Word. So purify my heart and purify my faith that You can use my words for Your purposes. Let whatever I ask for in prayer be what I speak with authority because You have purified my heart and faith to pray what You desire and to speak what You will. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Blessing of Peace 6-28-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I feel weary from traveling through the night. Sometimes I feel weary from traveling through life. But You are my rest and my strength, my passion and my purpose. Renew me in the newness of Your life today. ... "As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to it (Matthew 10:7-13). Your news is so good, but my time to proclaim it is so short. Keep me focused to be as obedient and efficient and effective with the gifts and calling You have given me. Help me use my time well to become who You want me to become and to do what You want me to do in my generation for Your kingdom. The power of the blessing of peace is a precious gift You have given to me and to all Your disciples. Give me Your discernment to know the heart and the house of those You have determined to receive it. Give me Your courage to know those who will not. And give me Your humility to know those You have sent with Your blessing of peace for my heart and my house. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Battle for the High Places of Praise 6-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I honor You, Lord. Let me honor You with my heart and not just my lips, with my actions and not just my intentions, with the journey of my life and not just a moment of decision. ... "Once again the Philistines made a raid in the valley. When David again inquired of God, God said to him, 'You shall not go up after them; go around and come on them opposite the balsam trees, then go out to battle; for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.' David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer" (1 Chronicles 14:13-16). The physical battles and enemies of the Old Covenant speak to us of the spiritual battles and enemies of the New Covenant. "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction" (Romans 15:4). "These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). As someone wise has said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." So we are to learn from the history of Israel's physical battles -- both defeats and victories -- how to fight our spiritual battles. "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Every enemy is different and every battle is different. So, like David, we must always look to You and inquire of God for the divine strategy to win the battle of the moment and enforce the victory of the cross in the war already won for eternity (Colossians 2:15; Revelation 12:11). A common strategy from the lessons of the Old Covenant is to reclaim the spiritual ground of "the high places" in a territory or region (For example 2 Kings 18:4; 23:19; 2 Chronicles 33:17; Micah 1:3; Psalm 78:58). The physical high place of a region speaks of the spiritual seat of authority (1 Chronicles 16:39; 1 Kings 3:2). Where the One, True God is worshipped and honored, holy authority and blessing is released over the people of a region; but where the false gods are worshipped and honored, unholy authority and curses are released instead. So the battle for the high places of praise is a persistent and powerfully significant strategy of spiritual warfare. This is one of "the weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). This past Sunday after church, my five year old son Elijah and I made our first journey together up the mountain in the center of Ruidoso, New Mexico, where my mother and brother now live. I've climbed that mountain with all of my older kids through the years of our summer trips out here to see our family. It's become a tradition for us to take a moment to pray and praise at the peak of this high place in the center of the community. We've often built a cross of branches and twigs to mark and seal our prayers and proclamations of Your Word and Spirit over this region. This year, as Elijah and I made it to the top, we saw that someone else had already planted a cross at the peak. As in the days of David, it was like God had gone out before us to reclaim the ground and strike down the army of the enemy (1 Chronicles 14:15). So we added our voices of prayer to the song of Your Spirit like "the sound of marching in the tops of the [pine] trees" (v. 14:15). Lord, let Your holy authority and divine blessings be released in the high places of our hearts and homes. "Let God rise up, let His enemies be scattered; let those who hate Him flee before Him.... Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides upon the clouds -- His name is the Lord -- be exultant before Him" (Psalm 68:1-4). Pull down the false altars to every false idol lifted up in the place of authority in our souls, as we lift high the cross and exalt Your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we will be heading back to Kentucky in the morning. I will be teaching and preaching on spiritual warfare in a number of settings during the remainder of this summer and would really appreciate your prayers: Aldersgate Renewal Ministries' National Conference of the Holy Spirit in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in July; Southeast Jurisdictional Ministers' Conference of the United Methodist Church in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina in July; and the National Ministers' Conference for the Methodist Church of Estonia (next to Russia) in August. And I'll be joining others to pray a father's blessing over the young people gathering at The Call in Nashville, Tennessee on 7-7-07. Thank you for joining me in the battle and declaring the victory of the cross at home and around the world. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/

No Longer Just Scratching the Surface 6-26-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me center my heart and my thoughts on You. ... "When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, 'There seems to me to be some sort of leprous disease in my house.' ... He shall examine the disease; if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish and reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, the priest shall go outside to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days" (Leviticus 14:34-38). Through repentance and faith, we enter into the promised land of salvation in Christ. Now our bodies are the house of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Yet even now sin can enter in and plague our house as a leprous disease. So we need to keep short accounts with You and with one another, ready to have the house of our hearts examined and any disease of sin exposed. Every place touched and tainted must be "scraped thoroughly" and we must see it that "the stones in which the disease appears be taken out" and cast away and replaced with the clean stones of a holy heart (Leviticus 14:39-42). If not, the disease will spread until the whole house becomes "unclean" and "the house torn down" (v. 14:43-45). But by Your grace, You have made provision for cleansing from the disease of our leprous sin through the water and the blood (v. 14:48-53). Through the confession and cleansing of repentance and faith in the tainted walls of our hearts and souls, You "pronounce the house clean; the disease is healed" (v. 14:48). Forgive us for not humbling ourselves to acknowledge we need Your Holy Spirit to continually search our hearts for the leprous diseases that defile our spirits, souls, and bodies in many ways -- sin, shame, false beliefs, unbelief, unhealed hurts and wounds, bondage and barriers, resentment and regret, rebellion and pride. Though we are saved and living in the land of Your promises in Christ, the house of our hearts can still be defiled and unclean, needing to be exposed and cleansed. This is the ministry of inner healing and deliverance -- binding up the broken-hearted and setting the captives free (Isaiah 61). This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, preparing the bride of Christ -- in "the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 96:9, KJV). You don't want us to just scratch the surface with a promise and a prayer. You want us to allow You purify us and sanctify us in the holiness of heart and life. Come search our hearts and see if there is anything in us that needs to be scraped thoroughly, taken out, and cast away (Psalm 139:23-24). You are calling us to be cleansed and free, redeemed and restored, committed and empowered -- to display Your glory through our lives throughout all the earth (Isaiah 60). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I am convicted as never before to no longer be willing to waste my time just scratching the surface any more. I hope you are not either. Let's pray for one another, for our ministries and churches and communities. It seems I hear the Lord saying, "I will have a holy people, a holy bride. I will settle for nothing less. And I don't have to. My grace by My blood is sufficient for all who will choose to humble themselves in repentance and faith to receive it." If this rings true with you, please join me in this covenant of complete abandonment to God. By God's grace, through His cleansing process and in His power, "Holiness unto the Lord." God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Spirit of the Sovereign Lord 6-25-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I worship, I hear You writing a new song in my heart -- Lord I am waiting To hear Your voice again. Lord I am seeking Your face. Lord I am watching To see You come again. Lord I am longing For Your touch. Lord I am walking To where You want to lead. Lord I am willing To follow You. You are my King My Savior and my Friend. You're Everything to me. You are my Lord My Father, Almighty God. You're Everything there is to me. Yes, Lord. I wait and watch for You. Help me humble myself to listen for Your leading and follow where You lead, my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come, and with it, the day of the Lord's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, He will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the Lord has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for His own glory. They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed. They will revive them, though they have been empty for many generations. Foreigners will be your servants. They will feed your flocks and plow your fields and tend your vineyards. You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You will be fed with the treasures of the nations and will boast in their riches. Instead of shame and dishonor, you will inherit a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy" (Isaiah 61:1-7, The New Living Translation). Yes, Lord. You are Sovereign and You are Lord. You have called me by name and I am Yours. You are reminding of this Scripture You gave me as I began the journey of my calling through Messiah Ministries over ten years ago. Others have come and gone -- to encourage and inspire me, to help and correct me, even to test and tempt me -- and I am thankful for how You have used each one in my life and used me in theirs'. But You alone have been with me every step of the way. As it should be, for each of us -- so that we are all ultimately dependent upon no one but You alone. "Messiah" from the Hebrew and "Christ" from the Greek of Your Scripture means "the anointed one." Anointed by the Spirit of God and appointed in the power of God to share the good news of the Gospel of Christ, the Anointed Messiah of God. You spoke this Word of Scripture to Isaiah, and through Isaiah to Israel, and through Israel to the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And through Christ, You speak this Word to all who are in Christ, in Messiah -- anointed by the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord to display Your glory through Your people (Isaiah 60:1-3). This time away with my family has also been a time away with You. I needed to be refreshed, renewed, and refocused. And I believe You are showing me I needed to be reminded of my calling and destiny, but also always to be reminded of the One who called me and destined me for Your purposes through relationship with You. You are also showing me I needed to be reminded of the simple truth that You are always much more concerned in who I am becoming than in what I am doing. As You taught me through a spiritual teacher along the way, "I am a human being, not a human doing." It seems I hear You say, "Will you allow Me to bind Your submitted will to My sovereign will?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you allow Me to conform your nature to My nature through the trials, the troubles, and the tribulations I allow through the mystery and marriage of My sovereignty and your submission?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you receive My power and My provision to accomplish My purposes in your life and through your life?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you choose, in the freedom I have given you required by a true relationship of love with Me, to be desperately dependent upon Me alone with the means I choose to bring fulfillment of life to you and to your generations?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you humble yourself in My sight, that I may lift you up into My arms and under My shelter and over the enemy of your soul?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you remember the roots of My Word, receive the nurture of the Water of My Spirit, seek to grow daily into newness of life in Me, and become an oak of righteousness to display My glory through the brokenness and healing of your life?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you believe that you are My son, that I am bringing many sons to glory, as I live in and through the hearts of My children and redeem My creation?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Will you trust Me? Will you love Me? Will you allow Me to love you?" Yes, Lord, by Your grace, I will. "Then let it be so; for it is so, by the sacrifice of My love and through the covenant of My blood." Thank You, Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for Your sovereign will and Your steadfast love. As I rise to embrace this day and every day You choose to give me in this journey of faith in relationship with You, help me remember and believe that this moment is real and this memory is true. "I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. The Sovereign Lord will show His justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise Him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, filled with young plants springing up everywhere" (Isaiah 61:10-11, NLT). Lord, let Your righteousness spring up in me and in the hearts of all the sons and daughters You are bringing to glory throughout all the nations and generations of the world. Let us display Your glory -- "For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in His glory" (Colossians 1:27, NLT). "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (NRSV). Yes, Lord, let it be so; for it is so, by the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for joining me in this journey and for all your prayers, support, and encouragement for me and my family and Messiah Ministries. We have a few days left of our two weeks away for our family vacation we spend with my mom and family out in New Mexico and Texas. We would appreciate your continued prayers for us personally and as a family for all the Lord intends to do in us in these special days. Our family has been broken, blended, and blessed. I know yours has too in different ways, so I join in the agreement of prayer for your life and family and ministry as well. God bless you! Come to The Mountain! on Monday Nights for our ministry's weekly prayer for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room at First Southern National Bank on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 The Fountain is not meeting this summer, but will resume in September for our monthly, city-wide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Whole-Hearted Devotion 6-24-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before I think of anyone or anything else, I think of You. Be the beginning and the center and the end of my day. ... "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you" (Psalm 73:25). This relationship with You requires my all. You will have no other gods before You. You will have no other gods along with You. The foundation and the capstone of my faith must be "a sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3). Anything less is being led astray and led away. But as I seek You and Your kingdom, looking to You first and You only, then all I need will be added to me (Matthew 6:33). By Your grace I choose to ground my faith and my life in You with single-minded focus and whole-hearted devotion. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Prepare Me for Your Purposes 6-23-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I dedicate and consecrate my life and this day to You and Your will for me and for those under the covering of my care. ... "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands" (Psalm 138:8) A yielded vessel in the hands of a compassionate and wise Creator, a sharpened sword in the hands of a mighty Warrior -- I am available to You. Prepare me for Your purposes. Let me be rested up and tested up. Let me be trained and equipped, inspired and empowered. Give me patience to wait for Your timing and courage to advance at Your command. Bring those alongside me who will move forward with me in accordance with Your strategy and will. "May we shout for joy over Your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners" in celebration of our participation in Your purposes and plans in our generation (Psalm 20:5). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com

Make a Difference 6-22-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. With all that I am, I worship all that You are -- my Lord and my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ... "Your wickedness affects others like you, and your righteousness other human beings" (Job 35:8). Our lives affect one another -- for better or for worse. We make a difference in each other's lives -- one way or the other. Lord, I want my life to make a difference -- a good difference -- in the lives of others. I want my life to have significance, to be an encouragement, in the lives of those around me. So I ask You to keep exposing and removing the wickedness of self-centeredness and selfishness that remains in my soul. Help me live more into Your righteousness through Your grace and by Your power. You said, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35). I know I have so far to go to have this heart of Christ in me. So help me to be more teachable, more conformable to Your nature and Your ways. Then my life will make a difference in the ways that matter, in the ways that have eternal significance. Lord, I look to You for both the desire and the power for that to be my perspective, my life, and my legacy. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 www.messiah-ministries.org Daily Archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com