The Emotions of God 4-7-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In this week, I want to remember Your holy journey to the cross, through the grave, and into glory. Give me grace to take up my cross and follow You on a holy journey of a deeper death to my self, as You raise me up into newness of life by the power and glory of Your name for Your kingdom. … "Now My soul is troubled. And what should I say -- 'Father, save Me from this hour? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again' " (John 12:27-28). Can God be troubled? Can God have emotions, concerns, heartaches, feelings? Does our sin and rebellion bring You pain? Does our obedience and worship bring You joy? As God of all, having all knowledge and all power, does anything bother You? Certainly in Christ, as both fully God and fully man, You experienced the fullness of emotions, even the fullness of all emotions. "Therefore He had to become like His brothers and sisters and every respect, so that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because He himself was tested by what He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tested" (Hebrews 2:17-18). "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). You are not a distant and detached God, You are a deeply personal and compassionate God. You know all the emotions of our humanity -- not only in Your omniscience as God the Father, but also in Your humanity as God the Son. And You give us the power of Your grace to live our lives without fear of being fully alive to all our emotions, as we entrust our emotions to You by God the Holy Spirit living through us (Romans 8:26). You are a God full of emotion because You are a God who is love (1 John 4:8). And love is unafraid to face the fullness of all the emotions of life -- even the shame of our sin upon the cross as God in the flesh, for the sake of the joy to come by Your sacrifice of love for us. We look to You, Lord Jesus, a God full of emotion and love, "who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3). Thank You, Lord, for being fully alive to every emotion for me that I might be fully alive to Your emotion of love for me. You are love, and I love You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays If you're in the Winchester, Kentucky area, please come join us each morning at 7 am for community-wide Holy Week services, where we will worship together and I will share a word each morning hosted at the Winchester First United Methodist Church with Pastor James Williams www.winfumc.org Friends, please Save the Date of Friday Night, April 24th for our annual Messiah Ministries Celebration Dinner in Lexington to celebrate all the Lord is doing through our ministry and share our vision and calling with all our supporters and friends. You are invited and Dinner is Free! Please make plans to come and bring some friends who may have a heart for what we are doing. Our invitation card is attached. For planning, we will need an RSVP to Marilyn or a table host: DirOfMinistries@aol.com We always need lots of volunteers to help also, so please send us a note if you'd like to help in that way. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

The Intimacy and the Fear of God 4-3-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. More of You, less of me; more of Your nature, less of mine. … "I tell you friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear Him, who after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him! … And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges Me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies Me before others will be denied before the angels of God" (Luke 12:4-9). You desire the deep intimacy of a personal relationship; but You also desire the honor and respect of personal surrender. Your first disciples were full of platitudes about their faith and commitment as they journeyed with You through the days of signs and wonders, saying, "I will follow You wherever You go" (Luke 9:57). But in the days of perseverance and sacrifice, they scattered and fled, denying they even knew You (Luke 22:54-62). Lord, give me grace to follow You, be committed to You, be willing to always acknowledge You, refusing to ever deny You. Without the faith of the Son of God living in me, without the power of the Holy Spirit abiding in me, I'll be no different than Peter and the others -- full of platitudes and promises, but empty of integrity of heart and faith. But by the grace of God, I'm not without Your faith or Your Spirit. "And it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). I want to be found faithful to the end, even through the days of perseverance and sacrifice, not denying You in my flesh but standing firm for You in the Spirit (Luke 12:11-12). You gave Yourself for me. And by the power of Your grace, I will give myself for You. Love demands nothing less. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays If you are in the Owensboro, Kentucky area, please come join us this weekend. I'll be speaking at a Pastor and Ministry Leaders luncheon on Friday, leading healing services Friday and Saturday nights, and teaching on prayer ministry Saturday morning. Please contact Gaye Rogers with Healing House Ministries: 270-929-3016 healinghouseky@aol.com www.healinghouseky.com I'll be preaching Sunday morning and evening at the Lewisport UMC with Pastor Rob Hughes. Come if you can and spread the word! If you're in the Winchester, Kentucky area, please come join us each morning at 7 am for community-wide Holy Week services, where we will worship together and I will share a word each morning hosted at the Winchester First United Methodist Church with Pastor James Williams www.winfumc.org Friends, please Save the Date of Friday Night, April 24th for our annual Messiah Ministries Celebration Dinner in Lexington to celebrate all the Lord is doing through our ministry and share our vision and calling with all our supporters and friends. You are invited and Dinner is Free! Please make plans to come and bring some friends who may have a heart for what we are doing. Our invitation card is attached. For planning, we will need an RSVP to Marilyn or a table host: DirOfMinistries@aol.com We always need lots of volunteers to help also, so please send us a note if you'd like to help in that way. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Overwhelm Me 4-2-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. These prayer times are my life lines. You pour Your life into mine through the communion of prayer and the surrender of my heart to Yours. … "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and My covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you" (Isaiah 54:10). Though the mountains may move Though the hills may fall down Though the rivers may rise up and overflow You will not move You will never fail You will rise up And overwhelm me in Your love Though troubles may come Though people may go Though the struggles of life may rise up and overflow You will not move You will never fail You will rise up And overwhelm me in Your love Thank You, Lord, for the life of Your Spirit You pour into me each day. Thank You for Your song of unfailing love and tender mercy. "For those who love Me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know My name. When they call to Me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them My salvation" (Psalm 91:14-16). Thank You for showing me Your salvation every day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus Tommy Hays Friends, as always, I love hear about it when the minstrels and worship leaders take these morning prayers and poems and songs from the Holy Spirit and turn them into worship for others to honor our God and encourage His people. If you are in the Owensboro, Kentucky area, please come join us this weekend. I'll be speaking at a Pastor and Ministry Leaders luncheon on Friday, leading healing services Friday and Saturday nights, and teaching on prayer ministry Saturday morning. Please contact Gaye Rogers with Healing House Ministries: 270-929-3016 healinghouseky@aol.com www.healinghouseky.com I'll be preaching Sunday morning and evening at the Lewisport UMC with Pastor Rob Hughes. Come if you can and spread the word! Friends, please Save the Date of Friday Night, April 24th for our annual Messiah Ministries Celebration Dinner in Lexington to celebrate all the Lord is doing through our ministry and share our vision and calling with all our supporters and friends. You are invited and Dinner is Free! Please make plans to come and bring some friends who may have a heart for what we are doing. Our invitation card is attached. For planning, we will need an RSVP to Marilyn or a table host: DirOfMinistries@aol.com We always need lots of volunteers to help also, so please send us a note if you'd like to help in that way. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

With Me All Along 4-1-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. As I watch and wait for Your leading, I sense Your Holy Spirit writing a new song in my heart this morning … As we walk on this journey As we walk down this path You teach me Your wisdom And how to walk in Your ways Sometimes, though You're near me I wander off on my own Sometimes it takes awhile to find You Though You've been with me all along You're the God who never leaves me You're the God who never fails You're the God who's always with me Always reaching to me, against the nails You never turn Your back to me Though You'd allow me to turn mine to You With a broken Father's heart You'd keep calling Until I came running home once again In You, even my mistakes are my teacher Even my failures become wisdom by Your grace You don't waste a moment of my suffering You cleanse them all through the blood of Your pain You're the God who never leaves me You're the God who never fails You're the God who's always with me Always reaching to me, against the nails … Yes, Lord. I am never alone, never abandoned, never lost without Your love, no matter where my journey leads. When Jacob was cast out from his family, on a journey a long way from home, You opened the heavens over him in a dream to remind him of the God who is always with him. "And the Lord stood beside him and said, 'I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring… and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you' " (Genesis 28:13-15). As I understand the story of this forefather in the faith, You spoke these words to Jacob before he turned to You as Lord and acknowledged You as God. But as he awoke in morning from his dream, he declared, "Surely the Lord is this place!" (Genesis 28:16). I thank You that I know You, and that You know me. You are my Lord and my God. I can wake up every morning, no matter where I am along my journey, knowing You are here with me, even here within me, by Your Holy Spirit. And I can declare with the assurance of faith, "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place!" -- here in this place You've prepared for me in my heart. And I can remember and celebrate Your promise, "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Running Start 3-31-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I rise and follow You, as best as I can and all by Your grace. … "Do you not know that in a race all runners compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it" (1 Corinthians 9:24). In my race today, my competitors are not fellow runners. They are more like fallen angels. My race is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of wickedness and the self-centered desires of my will apart from Your will that give them any room to trip me up or hold me back (Ephesians 6:12). In this race, I must "lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely" to "run with perseverance the race that is set before (me)" (Hebrews 12:1). Only then can I outrun and overcome the fast and fierce competitors, nipping at like angry dogs at my heels, trying to run me down and run me over -- anxiety, stress, worry, fear, doubt, unbelief, regret, shame, resentment, bitterness, anger, rage, discouragement, depression, confusion, deception, arrogance, pride, selfishness, self-pity, and the like. But I will not win this race looking back at them, but looking forward to You. "… and let us run … looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). Like a runner who gets down into the starting blocks at the start of a new race, Your mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). In that sense, it doesn't matter how well or how poorly I ran the day before, this is a new day and a new race. And the way to get off to a running start is to first wait upon You here in the silence of surrender and the communion of prayer. It's taking time to stretch my spirit and open my heart until Your Holy Spirit is burning like fire in the muscles of my soul. "But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). Then I will "not run aimlessly" (1 Corinthians 9:26). In the power of Your strength, I will run like the wind "for the goal of the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). That's my goal and You’re my prize in my race today and every day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Keep Digging 3-27-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit, You're the One I worship and welcome into my heart and my day. … "Now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land" (Genesis 26:22). In the days of Isaac, the Philistines were at war with his people to take away their land and their blessings. They filled up the wells of Isaac's father, Abraham. And when Isaac tried to dig new wells, they filled those up too. They "envied him" and feared him, seeing that the blessings and favor of God were upon him (v. 26:12-16). So Isaac moved from place to place throughout the land of his father, until they "dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, 'Now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land' " (v. 26:22). In the place where You have made room for us we will prosper and be fruitful. We may have to fight many battles to get there. We may have to endure the jealousies, fears, and insecurities of others to keep persevering in obedience and faith. We may have to keep remembering Your promises of hope for our future while we keep thanking You for Your blessings of provision in our past. But by Your grace, with Your leading, and in Your power, we will keep digging and keep searching until we find the place where You have made room for us. As we move forward in the journey of faith along the path of our destiny, we will hear You say, "Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you" (v. 26:24). When we find that place of rest and peace, of fulfillment and blessing, even in the midst of a quarrelsome, contentious world, there we will say, "We have found water!" (v. 26:32) And even our enemies who have opposed us and oppressed us at every turn will come to a knowledge of the truth, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you" and will seek our blessing of peace (v. 26:28). You are our well of blessing, our land of promise, and our living waters of life. Only in You will we find fulfillment of our hope and peace. In You, we will find our place and be fruitful in the land. You have already gone before us to prepare that place for us where You will always be with us and where You are always drawing us and leading us to Yourself (John 14:2-3). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Resolution of Support for the People of Israel 3-26-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As much as You will and all by Your grace, use my voice to speak Your words; use my feet to walk in Your steps; use my hands to heal Your people; and use my heart to love Your world. … "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' " (Genesis 12:1-3). You've given my friend Linda an incredibly strong love and burden of prayer for the people of Israel. Your Word calls us all to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and she truly does, for all the people of this land of such promise and prophetic destiny. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.' For the sake of my relatives and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within you.' For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good" (Psalm 122:6-9). A few weeks ago, You kept moving in her spirit that we were to declare as a people in our state that we were choosing to stand with the people of Israel in their desire and their right to peace and security from terror and destruction. She asked me to offer my skills as a lawyer, now hopefully being more sanctified by Your Holy Spirit, to draft a resolution to submit through our elected officials to the 2009 Legislative Session of our state government. Drawing from many resources, I titled it, "A Resolution declaring strong support for all people of the State of Israel to live in freedom and peace, secure from terror, and as a blessing to all nations." Linda took it and ran with it. I was thrilled to just learn that both the Senate and the House of the Commonwealth of Kentucky approved and adopted the language of my resolution. With this governmental proclamation on earth, let there be a spiritual proclamation in heaven (Matthew 16:19; Job 22:28; Mark 11:22-24). As the people of Kentucky, through our governmental representatives, have declared and decreed our support and blessing of the people of Israel, let the people of our commonwealth be blessed and let the people of Israel be a blessing to "all the families of the earth" (Genesis 12:3). The covenant of Your Word to bless the people of all nations through the blessing of the people is this nation of Israel is an everlasting covenant (Romans 11:1-36). It's part of Your end-time prophetic plan according to the Word of God. "It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). Thank You, Lord, for letting me help honor You and the people so near to Your heart, the apple of Your eye (Zechariah 2:8). One day soon in these last days to come, through the prayers of the saints, the people of this nation will turn to You as their Messiah, as "the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem" shall "look on the One whom they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10). "And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, 'Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins' " (Romans 11:26-27). And thank You, Lord, for answering the burden of prayer You set ablaze in my friend Linda's heart. "And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27). "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). So You have. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, for those who are interested, I've included the text from this Resolution below, as approved and adopted from the floors of our state House and Senate in the March, 2009 Regular Legislative Session of Kentucky. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org A RESOLUTION declaring strong support for all people of the State of Israel to live in freedom and peace, secure from terror, and as a blessing to all nations. WHEREAS, on January 9, 2009, the United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by the Speaker of the House and leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties conveying America's unequivocal and steadfast support for Israel's right to the pursuit of peace, security and self-defense in the face of all enemies of terror; and WHEREAS, on January 8, 2009, the United States House of Representatives likewise overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution co-sponsored by leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties to reaffirm Israel's inalienable right to defend itself and America's unwavering commitment to Israel's security and in recognition of the historic bond between America and Israel; and WHEREAS, since the founding of the modern State of Israel just over 60 years ago on May 14, 1948, in fulfillment of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures for the restoration of the Jewish people to a homeland of territory of Israel, the United States of America immediately established full diplomatic relations in recognition of the State of Israel and has continually maintained a relationship of honor and respect based upon mutual values of democratic freedom and desire for peace among all people of all nations; and WHEREAS, respect for the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the dignity of its people is a crucial aspect to the prospect of peace for the people of the Middle East and citizens of the world; and WHEREAS, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky acknowledge and affirm the gifts and graces of the Jewish people who have been vital citizens of great benefit to our nation and our state; and WHEREAS, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky recognize our historical roots as a Commonwealth in that Jewish merchants employed Daniel Boone to venture through the Cumberland Gap and explore the land that is now Kentucky; NOW, THEREFORE, Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Section 1: The members of the House of Representatives proclaim their steadfast support, unwavering commitment, and endorsement of the actions of the United States House of Representatives and United States House of Representatives declaring our strong support for all people of the State of Israel to live in freedom and peace, secure from terror, and as a blessing to all nations.

"Faith Working through Love" 3-25-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Mighty and merciful God, my Rock and my Redeemer, be with me now and throughout my day. … "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead" (James 2:26). My faith is the root and my works are the fruit. There can be no fruit without the root. Yet even a deep root that's borne much fruit in its seasons, will wither and die without being rooted and grounded in good soil, drawing deeply from Your living waters. That's the principle of the cursed fig tree. When you saw no fruit, You pronounced the truth that its roots were withered and dead, no longer alive to the purpose and nature for which it was created. "In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to them, 'Rabbi, look! The fig tree that You cursed has withered.' Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God' " (Mark 11:20-22). Lord, fill my heart with Your faith every day. Draw me near to You; draw me deep within You. As I abide in You and You abide in me, in a daily journey of faith and trust, my roots grow stronger and deeper. And my life bears the good works of Your fruit. "Abide in Me as I abide in You. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me" (John 15:4). A life without the works of God is a life without the faith of God, because true faith can't help but express the goodness of God. "For in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). True faith moves us to act, to live our faith. When we live in You, You move through us in the goodness of Your nature and in the power of Your love. "The only thing that counts is faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). Lord, I want my life to count. I want the fruit of my works of love to display the depth of my faith in You. That's not earning my salvation by works, that's living my salvation by faith. As You said long ago, "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works that these …" (John 14:12). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please Save the Date of Friday Night, April 24th for our annual Messiah Ministries Celebration Dinner in Lexington to celebrate all the Lord is doing through our ministry and share our vision and calling with all our supporters and friends. You are invited! Please make plans to come and bring some friends who may have a heart for what we are doing. Invitation Attached. For planning, we will need an RSVP to Marilyn or a table host: DirOfMinistries@aol.com We always need lots of volunteers to help also, so please send us a note if you'd like to help in that way or contribute for the banquet. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Wiser Still 3-24-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my lifeline. So I take a firm grip with these first thoughts and words of prayer, as You pull me up and out of my slumber and into my day. … "Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Proverbs 9:9-10). I was so honored and excited to be welcomed by the leaders of the Healing Academy of Asbury Theological Seminary to speak with their students of healing prayer ministry yesterday. Eager minds and hearts gathered around to hear of stories and lessons learned along my own journey of learning to minister the healing love of God, to bind up the brokenhearted, and set the captives free in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Father (Isaiah 61, fulfilled in Christ and being fulfilled through the Body of Christ). I thank You for their humility to hear from my perspective and approach to ministry, as You are teaching, training, equipping, and empowering them to grow into their own, all by Your grace. And of all the things I taught or shared, I'm sure the most important was the necessity of absolute dependence upon You. Depth of prayer life determines the power of ministry life. We have no power apart from the power of Your Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). We have no wisdom or counsel apart from the One who is the Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). We have no Father's blessing to speak or pray apart from the blessing of communion in prayer with our Father in heaven, who is One with the Son and One with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 6:9). You are the source of anything good we have to give. Freely we have received from You so that freely we may give to others. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8, NKJV). Thank You, Lord, for the gift of allowing me to give away to these passionate students of Your healing ministry a measure of all You have so freely given me. May we all continue to grow wiser still as we gain in learning Your wisdom, Your ways, and Your power in our generation and pass it on to the next. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please Save the Date of Friday Night, April 24th for our annual Messiah Ministries Celebration Dinner in Lexington to celebrate all the Lord is doing through our ministry and share our vision and calling with all our supporters and friends. You are invited! Please make plans to come and bring some friends who may have a heart for what we are doing. More details to follow soon. For planning, we will need an RSVP to Marilyn or a table host: DirOfMinistries@aol.com We always need lots of volunteers to help also, so please send us a note if you'd like to help in that way. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

No Matter Where, No Matter What 3-23-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here in these first moments of my morning, I set the course of my day. Your Spirit is my compass, Your Word is my map, and Your will is my destination. … "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fashion your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.' (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this He said to him, 'Follow Me' " (John 21:18-19). In the journey of faith, You fulfill us with blessings beyond our imagination (Ephesians 3:20). You give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). Yet, also along the journey, we will go places where we do not wish to go. We will endure circumstances we do not wish to endure. We may even have to face a death we do not wish to face. But in all these things, we can choose by Your grace to glorify God. We can keep following You and honoring You in the way we choose to live and die, no matter where we have to go, no matter what we have to endure. As I grow older, I want to grow more faithful. I want to grow in the grace to die to my self and my own self will apart from Yours. And as I face the challenges and consequences of my choices and the choices of others in a broken, fallen world where Your love and desire for a relationship of love requires the freedom of human will, I want to still glorify You no matter what choices are made. As I choose to keep following You and keep embracing the power of Your love and the leading of Your Spirit, nothing I endure and nowhere I go will ever separate me from the love and grace of God. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 'For Your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, not things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:35-39). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please Save the Date of Friday Night, April 24th for our annual Messiah Ministries Celebration Dinner in Lexington to celebrate all the Lord is doing through our ministry and share our vision and calling with all our supporters and friends. You are invited. Please make plans to come and bring some friends who may have a heart for what we are doing. More details to follow soon. We always need lots of volunteers to help also, so please send us an email if you'd like to help in that way. Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Here's My Heart, Here's My Hand 3-20-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here's my heart and here's my hand. … Here's my heart Here's my hand Here's my life Here I am You know me, Lord You still love me, Lord You come near to me, Lord, every day So here we go, along the way Hand in hand and heart to heart As You walk with me, Lord, every day … "While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them" (Luke 24:15). When I speak out Your name in prayer, open up my heart in worship, and reach out my hand in obedience, You come near. Though You are always near, whether I know it or not, my deliberate seeking positions my spirit for a deliberate encounter with the manifest presence of Your Spirit. And as we walk along together, hand in hand and heart to heart, throughout the moments of my day, You continue to open the eyes and ears of my spirit to Your constant presence and abiding reality. So here's my hand; here's my heart; here I am. … Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, The Fountain will be held in a different location this month due to a major weekend conference at our normal location. This month we will meet in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern National Bank at Harrodsburg Rd. and Corporate Dr. in Lexington on Friday Night, March 20. Please come and spread the word. Come to The Fountain Tonight! 3/20, on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern Nat'l Bank this month. Brooke and Shannon Barrett will be leading in worship and Laura Beach will be leading in prayer, while I teach on the Holy Spirit at our weekend Alpha Retreat. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 or send Marilyn a note at DirOfMinistries@aol.com Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God"www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order my Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Love and Respect 3-19-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come form Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I yield mine to Yours. … "Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband" (Ephesians 5:33). Love and respect -- loving one another, honoring one another, giving and receiving the gift and grace of God's love through the covenant bond of marriage to one another. These are keys of the kingdom to know Your peace and joy in our homes and hearts. These are weapons of our warfare in the onslaught of attack from the influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. These are words of truth and life that we must learn to embrace and live if our lives and relationships are going to honor our God. Give us the desire and the power to give and receive the love and respect we were created to need. According to Emerson Eggerichs in his book, Love & Respect, and the Focus on the Family marriage conferences he and his wife Sarah lead, marriages have little chance of surviving without understanding the need for both love and respect. They say according to biblical principles and scientific research, a woman receives her primary sense of security in being loved and a man receives his primary sense of security in being respected. While we all need both, it seems women especially need love and men especially need respect, whether we deserve it or not (1 Peter 3:1-7). We may not love or respect all that they do, but we can choose, by God's grace, to love and respect who they are, as sons and daughters of God. When we don't receive what we need, we are in danger of destruction. But if we will humble ourselves to hear Your voice and call on Your name, You will empower us to choose healing instead hurting, fulfillment instead of emptiness, resurrection life instead of hopeless destruction. Yes, there is always the thief who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy" but there is also always the Redeemer and Healer and Deliverer who comes that we "may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Through the grace to choose to love and respect, You protect, nurture, and empower our lives, our marriages, and our relationships to honor You and fulfill us. "Ah Lord God! It is You who made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You" (Jeremiah 32:17). "For nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). My Lord God, into Your hands I commit my heart and my home. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

"Not Without Honor" 3-18-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I fall short, but You never do. I look up, and always find You. … "Then Jesus said to them, 'Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house' " (Mark 6:4). Sometimes those closest to us find it hardest to honor us. They know us too well; they know all our faults and failures, our self-centeredness and sin. And as they say, familiarity breeds contempt. But You know me better than anyone, and You still love me as Your child and honor me as Your son. "As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear Him. For He knows how we were made; He remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:13). "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). So there is not one among us who does not need Your mercy every moment of every day. We all need to know we are honored and loved in spite of our failures and sins -- even in our hometown, among our own kin, and in our own house. "For all of us make many mistakes" (James 3:2). And all of us need the comfort and the grace of the One who makes no mistakes. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may have mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:15-16). Thank You, Lord, for loving me and honoring me, despite all You know about me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, The Fountain will be held in a different location this month due to a major weekend conference at our normal location. This month we will meet in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern National Bank at Harrodsburg Rd. and Corporate Dr. in Lexington on Friday Night, March 20. Please come and spread the word. Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night, 3/20, on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern Nat'l Bank this month. Brooke and Shannon Barrett will be leading in worship and Laura Beach will be leading in prayer, while I teach on the Holy Spirit at our weekend Alpha Retreat. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 or send Marilyn a note at DirOfMinistries@aol.com Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --mailto:--MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/

"Unloved" 3-17-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Like broken bread and poured out wine, I open my heart and pour out my life before You today. … "When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb …" (Genesis 29:31). Out of Leah's season of heartbreak and dishonor, You moved in power to open her womb and began to bring forth the sons of the tribes of Israel. One of those sons would be named Judah, for even in her pain and shame of being unloved, she said, "I will praise the Lord" (v. 29:35). And out of the lineage of this son, conceived in such a season of sorrow, would one day come the One who would be the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He would be "despised and rejected … a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," yet willing to lay down His life in love in the ultimate display of the power of Your love, even for those who didn't want it (Isaiah 53:3, NKJV). When we feel unloved, You fill us with Your love. When we feel despised and rejected, You affirm us and accept us. Through our heartaches, You still touch the hearts of others. And You still move in power to touch ours. "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, The Fountain will be held in a different location this month due to a major weekend conference at our normal location. This month we will meet in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern National Bank at Harrodsburg Rd. and Corporate Dr. in Lexington on Friday Night, March 20. Please come and spread the word. Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night, 3/20, on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern Nat'l Bank this month. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 or send Marilyn a note at DirOfMinistries@aol.com Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order my Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

"Be My Witnesses" 3-16-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I wait in the silence of surrender and listen for the leading of Your Spirit. … "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). I spent last weekend sharing a series of messages of encouragement for an annual gathering and retreat for evangelists of the Lay Witness Mission. They go as teams of witnesses into churches and other settings to share their journey of faith and the hope that burns within them with a passion for Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. We were all encouraged and inspired, refreshed and renewed, to hear the ways You are moving in power and changing lives even in these days of such desperation. Humble desperation and passionate faith always seem to draw Your attention and enable us to embrace Your power to change our lives. We gathered for our retreat in the beautiful setting of St. Simons Island, on the Georgia coast, south of Savannah. Before the Methodist revival that set the world ablaze in the 1700s, this was where John and Charles Wesley came to the new world of America to begin their ministries. I had a chance to walk along the path where Charles Wesley walked and prayed, near Christ Church, which he planted with such deep roots that a congregation continues to meet there today. Upon arriving on the beach with General Oglethorpe from England, Charles Wesley wrote in his journal, "Tuesday, March 9, 1736, about three in the afternoon I first set foot on Saint Simons Island; and immediately my spirit revived. No sooner did I enter upon my own ministry, than God game me, like Saul, another heart." Yet John and Charles Wesley, though full of passion and ideas of how to evangelize the Indians and settlers into their idea of religion at the time, were not yet full of the Holy Spirit. That would come later, after this time they considered a great failure in their missionary journey to America. But on the perilous journey over to America, they witnessed the Spirit-filled faith, passion, worship, and prayers of a band of Moravian Christians. The witness of their passion, combined with the emptiness of failure and brokenness of pride would drive the Wesleys to a holy jealousy and desperation for true faith that would later lead to their famous "heart-warming" experiences with the Holy Spirit of the Living God and ignite the great revival that began in John Wesley's heart in the prayer meeting at Aldersgate Street in London on May 24, 1838. Though John and Charles Wesley thought of their time in Georgia as a great failure, it was a great step in their journey to come to the end of themselves so they could be filled with You. You love to redeem our failures into faith, our desperation into utter-dependence, and our brokenness into breakthrough. Those Moravian lay witnesses shared their journey of faith and the hope that burned within them with the Wesleys by living out their faith in the face of adversity by the power of Your Spirit. And in the fullness of time, the Wesleys were changed and so was the world. Lord, thank You for the witnesses of faith and hope You've allowed me to see through the journeys of others. In my times of brokenness, desperation, or failure, let the memory of their witness drive me to closer to You. Let me never be satisfied with anybody's ideas of religion apart from Your invitation to a personal and passionate relationship with You. Let Your Holy Spirit continually come upon me, to fill me and empower me to be one of Your witnesses wherever I am and wherever You send me -- to the ends of the earth and to the end of my self. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'm really excited to be invited to be a Keynote Speaker at the Aldersgate '09 National Conference on Spirit-filled Living this summer, July 1-5, 2009 in North Carolina. Please come join us. Register online now for a discount: www.Aldersgate09.org ("Aldersgate" is the name of the street where John Wesley was filled with the Holy Spirit at a prayer meeting in London and his heart set ablaze with a passion for Jesus that ignited a great revival across England that changed the world).] The Fountain will be held in a different location this month due to a major weekend conference at our normal location. This month we will meet in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern National Bank at Harrodsburg Rd. and Corporate Dr. in Lexington on Friday Night, March 20. Please come and spread the word. Come to The Fountain! This Friday Night, 3/20, on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern Nat'l Bank this month. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 or send Marilyn a note at DirOfMinistries@aol.com Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org

Both Weeds and Wheat "Until the Harvest" 3-13-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and go before me into my day. … "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well…. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn' "(Matthew 13:24-30). We are nearing the very end of the age. And we should not be surprised that both the weeds and the wheat have grown into full maturity. What the Owner has sown and what the enemy has sown will begin to bear the fullness of the fruit determined by the source of its seed. Good and evil, righteousness and selfishness, blessings and curses, truth and deception, abundance and famine, faith and fear -- both the wheat and the weeds growing together into maturity "until the harvest." In explaining this parable, You said, "The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age" (v. 13:37-40). In our human wisdom, we want to say to the Owner of the field, "Why are You letting the evil continue to grow among the good? Why do You allow the thief to come kill, steal, and destroy when You want us to have life and have it abundantly? Why do You allow such injustice and suffering in a world You created as a paradise of peace? Don't You see? Don't You care? Won't You do something about it? Can You do something about it?" But as the master of the field said to his servants who discovered that bad seed was sown among the good, "An enemy has done this." When they wanted permission to go ahead gather up the weeds and uproot the bad fruit from the bad seed, the master replied, "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them" (v. 13:27-29). The master had wisdom and ways that were different from the servants, though all desired the same goal of a good harvest of good seed from good soil. You are the Master of the field of our world. You are the Master of the field of our souls. You value Your children, Your good seed. And You value our maturity. And though it's hard for us to see and understand, there are things we must endure and overcome in order to grow up into full maturity. And though in our impatience and pride we think we know what's best for us, You are steadfast in Your mercy and Your purpose to work within each of us and within the generations of the earth all that You have always intended. On the day of harvest to come, we will be thankful that You did. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, The Fountain will be held in a different location this month due to a major weekend conference at our normal location. This month we will meet in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern National Bank at Harrodsburg Rd. and Corporate Dr. in Lexington on Friday Night, March 20. Please come and spread the word. Come to The Fountain! on the 3rd Friday night of every month for our ministry's gathering of the body of Christ from every tradition and stream to worship the Lord in Sprit and in Truth. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters in the freedom of the Spirit. 7 pm in the upstairs Community Room of First Southern Nat'l Bank this month. All are welcome. Call for details: 859-422-1794 or send a note to us at MessiahMin@aol.com Come to the Mountain! every Monday night at 7 pm to pray for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem led by Doris and Bob McCray of our ministry. Hosted at Southland Evangelical Methodist Church 2601 Clays Mill Rd (corner of Clays Mill and Hill n' Dale). Contact Doris & Bob at bndmccray@windstream.net All are welcome! Friends, I'm excited to be the Keynote Speaker at the annual Lay Witness Mission retreat at St. Simon's Island, Georgia this weekend ( Lay Witness Mission ). I'll be preaching four times to encourage law witnesses from across the United Methodist Church and other denominations and traditions in their ministry of evangelism, and I would appreciate your prayers for us. I know I'll be inspired by their stories of God's glory, love, and power. And I pray they'll be inspired by mine. Find out more about having LWM teams come to your church through Aldersgate Renewal Ministries ( www.aldersgaterenewal.org ). God bless you! Do you know any women on the front lines of ministry who need the encouragement, renewal, or Sabbath rest? Consider inviting them to attend a day retreat of spiritual refreshment for women of faith led by Laura Beach, Equipping Lydia in association with Messiah Ministries. The testimonies that have come from past retreats have been rich with the Lord’s healing and restoration. The next open retreat dates are March 23 or 24 in Bryantsville, Kentucky, 30 minutes from Lexington. For more information, email laurabbeach@insightbb.com . Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling to the Kingdom of God through Messiah Ministries On-line at http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/

Wise and Ready 3-11-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Live in my heart and lead in my life. … "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps" (Matthew 25:1-4). Father God, You have poured out Your Holy Spirit to prepare a holy bride for Your coming Son. As the people of the church of Christ and the kingdom of heaven, we are to be that pure, spotless bride -- radiant and glorious, passionate and pure (Ephesians 5:27). At the same time, we a like the friends of the bridegroom, looking forward to the day of the coming of Christ and preparing the way of the Lord (John 3:29). And also, we are like the bridesmaids watching and waiting, longing for the day the "bride has made herself ready … clothed with fine linen, bright and pure" for "the marriage of the Lamb" (Revelation 19:7-8). But of the ten bridesmaids, only five were prepared to greet the bridegroom and enter in to celebrate the joy of the wedding feast (Matthew 25:10). All ten went out to meet the coming bridegroom. All ten were looking forward to the coming day of celebration. All began on the journey together and all had a measure of oil in the lamps to burn through the long watches of the night, through the times of weariness and slumber, until the darkest time of the midnight hour (v. 25:4-7). But when the shout rang out, "Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!", only five were found to be "wise"; only five were found to be "ready" (v. 25:10). At the beginning of the journey and throughout the long wait for the bridegroom to come, outwardly they all appeared to be the same, outwardly they all appeared to be ready, both the wise and the foolish. "Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds" (Matthew 11:19). It was at the midnight hour, in the times of deepest darkness, heaviness of spirit, and weariness of soul that the bridegroom came. That's when it was revealed who was ready and who was not, who was wise and who was foolish, who had prepared the way of the Lord and who had just come along for the ride. They were wise who had taken the time to fill their vessels with oil (v. 25:4). "Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:15-20). Lord, fill my vessel with the oil of Your Holy Spirit. Surround me with people who are hungry and thirsty for more of You, worshipping You in Spirit and truth, thankful for our blessings through the darkness and delays. Give me the wisdom to be ready for Your coming, "filled with the Spirit", having prepared the way of the Lord in the earth and in my heart (Ephesians 5:18). Some will think they have. Some will think they're ready. But many will be heartbroken to find they are empty of Your Spirit when they hear Your haunting words, "Truly I tell you, I do not know you" (Matthew 25:12). Some will think they have done enough good works of religion, even under Your name, to earn the right to live forever with You. But many will be convicted of their failure to have committed to a living and personal relationship with You when they hear Your horrible words, "I never knew you; go away from Me; you evildoers" (Matthew 7:23). By Your grace, I want to be ready to enter "into the wedding banquet" (v. 25:10). I want to be filled with Your Holy Spirit. And I want to be anointed and empowered by Your Spirit to help prepare the way of the Lord in as many hearts as are willing to hear Your call to fill our vessels with oil and be ready. I want to be wise and ready -- before it's too late. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'm excited to be the Keynote Speaker at the annual Lay Witness Mission retreat at St. Simon's Island, Georgia this coming weekend ( Lay Witness Mission ). I'll be preaching four times to encourage law witnesses from across the United Methodist Church and other denominations and traditions in their ministry of evangelism, and I would appreciate your prayers for us. I know I'll be inspired by their stories of God's glory, love, and power. And I pray they'll be inspired by mine. Find out more about having LWM teams come to your church through Aldersgate Renewal Ministries ( www.aldersgaterenewal.org/events/lwm/index.html ). God bless you! Do you know any women on the front lines of ministry who need the encouragement, renewal, or Sabbath rest? Consider inviting them to attend a day retreat of spiritual refreshment for women of faith led by Laura Beach, Equipping Lydia in association with Messiah Ministries. The testimonies that have come from past retreats have been rich with the Lord’s healing and restoration. The next open retreat dates are March 23 or 24 in Bryantsville, Kentucky, 30 minutes from Lexington. For more information, email laurabbeach@insightbb.com . Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling to the Kingdom of God through Messiah Ministries On-line at http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/

"Good Morning, Lord Jesus" 3-10-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name and open upon up my heart, my spirit always seems to awaken and arise to enter in to our morning communion of prayer together. Thank You for always being here to hear and embrace my morning greeting of love and respect, honor and surrender. … "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22, NKJV). As I look to You in worship and prayer, I honor You and submit to You; I bow down before You and lift up my heart to You. I acknowledge that You are God and there is no other. I worship You in every dimension of Your Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- with every dimension of my being -- spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). And I am saved -- forever safe and eternally secure by the grace of God that draws me and empowers me to continue to call on Your name, embrace Your love, and surrender to Your will. You always give me freedom to turn away, but I choose by Your grace to turn to You. You always give me freedom to look to myself as my own savior and lord, but I choose by Your grace to look to You. As I have come to know You more each day, I continue to find Your Word and Your ways to be faithful and true. It's only in Your embrace that I am truly free. It's only in Your power that I am truly strong. It's only in Your love that I am truly loved. I know I'm not yet and far from it; but I really do want to be more like You -- all by the grace of our Father and the power of Your Holy Spirit. So I try to begin each day looking to You, calling on Your name, welcoming You into my day, and opening my life to be filled with Your Spirit. That's what I mean by "Good morning, Lord Jesus." And according to Your Word, as I look to You, I become more like You: "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 to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). As I continually come to know You, worship You, and surrender myself to You, You are making me more like You each day, conforming my nature to Your nature, enmeshing Your life in mine (Romans 8:29). By the mystery of Your grace and the power of Your Spirit, all who look to You and submit their will to Your transforming power actually "become participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Together in You, we are growing up "to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). So thank You, Lord, for waking me and leading me to come seek Your face and embrace Your grace in these first moments of my morning and throughout my day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'm excited to be the Keynote Speaker at the annual Lay Witness Mission retreat at St. Simon's Island, Georgia this coming weekend ( Lay Witness Mission ). I'll be preaching four times to encourage law witnesses from across the United Methodist Church and other denominations and traditions in their ministry of evangelism, and I would appreciate your prayers for us. I know I'll be inspired by their stories of God's glory, love, and power. And I pray they'll be inspired by mine. Find out more about having LWM teams come to your church through Aldersgate Renewal Ministries( www.aldersgaterenewal.org/events/lwm/index.html ). God bless you! Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling to the Kingdom of God through Messiah Ministries On-line at http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/

We The People Who Pray 3-9-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Keep coming into my heart, keep pouring Your Spirit into my spirit, keep living Your life through my life. … "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here I am, Here I am,' to a nation that did not call on My name" (Isaiah 65:1). Our nation needs answers. We need wisdom beyond our capacity to know. We need power to overcome beyond our capacity to release. Questions of our security, provision, and peace are never far from mind. The search for answers and the frustration of failing to find them is ever at hand. We are a nation of increasing awareness of our own incapacity to work out our problems in our own wisdom and power apart from You. But at its heart, a nation is not its leaders or its form of government. A nation is its people. And as a people we do have the capacity to humble ourselves together in prayer, to call upon the name of the God who is ready to be found, and to seek the wisdom and power of the One who is the only answer and our only hope. Our hope is not in a man or a government. Our hope is in You alone. No matter what our leaders of our government may choose, we the people can choose You. All may not turn to You. Some may continue to spurn You and mock You and those who do. "I held out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke Me to My face continually…" (v. 65:2-3). But our actions need not be controlled by their actions. Their rebellion need not be our rebellion. You always set before us the choice of humbling ourselves in prayer, repentance, and faith for the healing of our land and the restoration of the blessings and favor of God (2 Chronicles 7:14). We the people who are willing to humble themselves to call on Your name together in prayer in gatherings of two or three across this land have the capacity to welcome the wisdom and power of the very presence of God in the midst of all our problems and questions. "Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them" (Matthew 18:19-20). Holy Spirit of the Living God, move among us. Bring us together in prayer. Out of our desperation, let there be intense intercession. Out of our isolation, let there be a hunger for community in faith. Out of our fears and anxieties, let there be a deeper surrender to the One who is our only hope. In that way, You will use even these times of tribulation to work together for good, reminding us of how firm our foundation has been all along. "Therefore thus says the Lord God, See I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: 'One who trusts will not panic' " (Isaiah 28:16). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling to the Kingdom of God through Messiah Ministries On-line at http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/

You are Always There 3-6-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You were and You are and You always will be. You are the same yesterday and today and forever. You are holy, holy, holy. You are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all there was and all there is and all there ever will be. You are I Am. And yet You are here with me, even while You are always enthroned in the highest heaven and always ever present even in my lowest valley. "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, You are there, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me fast" (Psalm 139:7-10). You woke me up with shaking and trembling again early this morning. That led to intercession; and that led to spiritual warfare; and that led to triumphant proclamation of our victory in Christ; and that led conviction and repentance of sin in such an awareness of Your Presence; and that led to worship and praise in the Spirit; and that led to this song of Your faithfulness and nearness You're writing right now in my spirit: You are there when I rise in the morning You are there through my afternoon You are there when I lay down in the evening You're always there with me through and through You are there when I walk in Your righteousness You are there when I fall down in sin You are there when I'm too weary to walk at all You're always there with me no matter where I've been You are there when I worship and praise You You are there even when I'm self-absorbed in worshipping myself You are there when I pour out my heart in the service of love and life You're always there with me when I'm poured out with nothing left You are there when my heart is soaring You are there when my heart is breaking You are there when everything's victory and shouts of praise You're always there with me even when I feel forsaken You are I Am That I Am You are The One Who Ever Will Be You are the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all that there is Yet You're always there with me with Your heart always towards me Yes, Lord. That's who You are. You are the God who never leaves, never forsakes me, never lets go of me. You bridged the gap between my sin and Your Self, between my brokenness and Your healing, between my suffering and Your sacrifice long ago on the cross of Christ. From that moment on, You have been with me, even living within me by Your Spirit (Romans 8:9). I may never know how much that really cost You to take upon Yourself all my iniquities and infirmities, my insecurities and fears, my pain and shame, and all things that would keep me from being with You and keep You from being with me (Isaiah 53:4-6). But I thank You with all that I am for loving me and being for me all that You Are. "For He has said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you.' So we can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?' " (Hebrews 13:5-6). You are a good God. You are always there. You are I Am (Exodus 3:14). And I am Yours. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends I apologize if you are getting multiple emails of the same message. I'm working with my internet provider to identify and fix this problem. Many friends of mine sense a major spiritual assault that's been coming against us right, especially against relationships, finances, and health. But when the enemy comes in like a flood, sensing and fearing the move of God in His people, the Lord raises up the banner of the victory of the cross through the power of the blood of Jesus (Isaiah 59:19, NKJV). In Christ, we stand in prayer and faith with one another, knowing "The One who is in you is greater than the one in the world" (1 John 4:4). "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (Romans 16:20). God bless you and God be with you my friends and fellow prayer warriors! Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling to the Kingdom of God through Messiah Ministries On-line at http://www.shop.messiah-ministries.org/