Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 20 - "Shine like Stars"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is the name above every name. At Your name, my knees bow, my tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, my Father (Philippians 2:9-11). ...

"Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world... holding fast to the Word of Life" (Philippians 2:14-16).

Grounded in Your Word, filled with Your Spirit, let my hope in You shine like a star in the midst of all the darkness going on this world around us today. By the power of Your grace, I'm holding fast to You and holding fast to Your promise that You are with us through all we endure -- fighting for us in ways we don't always see, speaking to our hearts in ways we don't always hear, causing all things to ultimately work together for good, despite how much darkness and evil we see (Romans 8:28).

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness shall cover the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn" (Isaiah 60:1-3). Let my hope shine today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may you shine like a star in the midst of whatever darkness surrounds you in our world today, as you hold fast to the Word of Life. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


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

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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 19 - Praying for Persecuted Christians in Tribulation

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Be my King and Lord over every moment of my day, every desire of my heart, every thought of my mind, every choice of my will.  ...

"And when they had preached the gospel to the that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must though many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:21-22 NKJ).

I keep waking up in the night with a stirring my heart to pray for my persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in the world, especially in Iraq where they are being forced to convert of die in the face of threats of beheading, rape, and torture by the Islamic State terrorists. Their time of tribulation is today. And their faith has to be grounded in much more than correct doctrine or intellectual assent to theological principles. It's Jesus or death in the flash of a moment for each one of them.

 We are to "rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). So I shouldn't be surprised or selfish when Your Holy Spirit wakes me up to lose some sleep with those who have no sleep to cry out to my Father in the name of Jesus according to the Word of God:  "O Lord, You will hear the desire of the meek; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from the earth may strike terror no more" (Psalm 10:17).

A U.S. Senator on our Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees noted yesterday, "Although the Mount Sinjar crisis further revealed to the world the sheer brutality of the Islamic State, for months these terrorists have been occupying and destroying churches across Iraq, pulling down crosses, destroying religious documents and holy sites, and forcing Christians to convert or face death. They have seized bridges, dams, and other infrastructure that Christian towns and communities rely on for survival. Christians have been the primary target in Iraq, raising the stakes and the need for U.S. leadership. Christians have inhabited Iraq and Syria for 2,000 years; but if the Islamic State has its way with its "convert or die" tactics, not a single Christian will be left."

Come, Holy Spirit. Strengthen the faith of the followers of Jesus in Iraq and throughout the earth. Give us courage to endure whatever tribulation may come, as we persist in prayer for one another to "bear one another's burdens" with our intercession and our voices to speak up and take action as we are able, to "fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). In Jesus' name I pray.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  please join with me in prayer for our Christian family in Iraq and around the world facing unspeakable terror in a time of tribulation. I pray you will intercede, speak up and act in the ways you can and the Holy Spirit leads. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!



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

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Monday, August 18, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 18 - Conformed to Christ

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice -- You are our Good Shepard and Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:14).  ...

As I listen, it seems I hear You say, "My son, put your heart in My hands, My nail-scarred hands. I want to lead you by your heart, as I change your heart into Mine. Let Me give you My heart, My mind, My will, My desires. Let Me make you more like Me today."

Yes, Lord. Make me more like You today. Conform me into Your image (Romans 8:29). Help me abide in You as You abide in me (John 15:4). Put Your thoughts in my mind (Philippians 2:5). Put Your desires in my heart (Psalm 51:6). Fill my human spirit with Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).

Together with all who are called by Your name, listening for the leading of Your voice, with our hearts in Your hands, help me grow up, a little more every day, "to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ ... growing up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may you be conformed into Christ a little more each day, as you put your heart in His nail-scarred hands. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

 

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

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Friday, August 15, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 15 - How Beautiful is Love

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I open my heart and welcome You in to lead me in the way of life in Your truth today.  ...

"Scarcely had I passed them, when I found the one I love ...  Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases ...   How beautiful you are, my love ... You are altogether beautiful, my love ... You have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes ... Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love ... Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it" (Song of Solomon 3:4-8:7).

O Lord my God, in the heart of Your Word is the most powerful, romantic love song ever written. Thank You for the gift of love -- Your deepest expression of who You are -- "So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them" (1 John 4:16).

I embrace Your love and every beautiful way You express it to me. And I love You back, with all my heart, as best as I can and all by Your grace. "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may you be filled with the fullness of God's love for you and every way He expresses His love so beautifully to you through your life in Him. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
I praise God for His beautiful expression of love for me throughRocio, who just accepted my proposal for marriage. I am a blessed man! Thank you for joining me in this journey of prayer in the love of God. I join with you in praying for the desires of your heart too.

     

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

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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 14 - Our Rock and Refuge

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are One and I worship You my God in every dimension of Your Being from every dimension of my being.   ...

"David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:  The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; You save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies..." (2 Samuel 22:1-4).

When we hear the news of the Yazidi people in Iraq driven from their homes and chased up a mountain to escape with their lives, now surrounded by their enemies, my heart cries out to You, O Lord, for Your deliverance. When I hear of the terror raining down on Israel, the riots and mayhem in St. Louis, the rumors of war in Ukraine, the Ebola plague in Africa, suicide and depression, my heart cries out to You, O Lord, for Your deliverance.

You are our only Rock and Refuge, our only Fortress and Shield, our only Savior and Deliverer, no matter what forces of evil we face, injustices we endure, and challenges we overcome. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Jesus, would You come to our rescue. Jesus would You step into the midst of the darkness of our broken and fallen world in the glory of the light of Your Presence. Jesus, would You stretch out Your hands through our prayers, speak out through our voices, reach out through our actions, as the Body of Christ in the Spirit of Christ through the trials and tribulations of these days (1 Corinthians 12:27).

By Your grace, we will not give in and we will not give up, no matter what comes. Your Word encourages us to have hope and trust through every dark day:  "Arise, shine; for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will appear over you" (Isaiah 60:1-2). Lord, let it be so in us and let is be so in the midst of all the tumult and terror in our world today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  I stand with you in prayer for courage, hope, and faith in the midst of every dark day in the world and in your life. May you never give in and never give up, but call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, your Rock and Refuge, your Fortress and Shield, you Savior and Deliverer, and see the salvation of God. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


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

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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 13 - "Come and See"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today.  ...

"The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walked by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and say them following, He said to them, 'What are you looking for?' They said to Him, 'Rabbi' (which translated means Teacher), 'where are you staying?' He said to them, 'Come and see' " (John 1:35).

As I start my day centered in You, I listen for the leading of Your Spirit. I want to follow You. I want to come and see what You're doing, come and see the lives You're changing, come and see how Your Presence and Your power will make a difference in the challenges and circumstances around me today.

You're the One I'm looking for. You're the One I've found. And by the grace of God, I'll never let go and never turn back. Embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit, I'm ready to come and see the spiritual adventures You have in store me today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will fill you with excitement and anticipation to come and see what Jesus will do in all the challenges and circumstances around you today. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

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

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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 12 - Nothing without Love

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I give to You the first thoughts of my day and welcome You into every moment to come.  ...

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

A life lived in love is the "more excellent way" (v. 12:31). And if I do not have love, I really have nothing at all. And You've created us to grow in wisdom and maturity to come to understand that love is the heart of life because love is at the heart of who You are. "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8).

That's why the enemy of our souls hates love so much. He comes "to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10). He loves to crush our hearts and then harden them. He loves to isolate us, disappoint us, betray us and then tries to get us to vow to never love or trust again. But "the One who is in (us) is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). You are a God who is always "near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). Your "love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8, NKJ).

As we humble ourselves to entrust our hearts into Your hands, You heal our broken hearts and set our spirits free to live and love with all hearts again (Isaiah 61:1-4, fulfilled through Jesus Christ in Luke 4:18-19). So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I entrust my heart into Your hands. Help me grow in the wisdom and maturity of love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may you grow in the wisdom and maturity of love and may you experience the fullness of the love of God through Jesus Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, thank you so much for all outpouring of kind notes and wishes on the announcement of my engagement with Rocio! May God be the Lord of our hearts for Him and one another! God bless you and thank you for joining with me in this journey of prayer at the heart of my life.

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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Monday, August 11, 2014

Morning by Morning, August 11 - "Everlasting Love"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me hear Your voice and follow Your lead. Help me start this day and every day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued My faithfulness to you" (Jeremiah 31:3).

My Father I thank You for Your everlasting love, for Your consistent faithfulness, and for Your overwhelming grace. You've been so good to me so many times. Truly Your steadfast love never ceases and Your mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness, O Lord (Lamentations 3:22-23).

You have a way of always turning my ashes into beauty and my mourning into dancing (Isaiah 61:3). Even when I stumble and fall or lose my way, You always lift me up and dust me off and set me back on the path of my identity and destiny in You (Proverbs 24:15-16). By the power of Your mercy and grace, as You lead me to entrust all things into Your hands, You cause all things to work together for me in Your passion to conform me into the image of the Son of God You've created me to be (Romans 8:28-29).

I love You, Lord --Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank You for first loving me (1 John 4:19). Thank You for always loving me with an unfailing, everlasting love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may you know the unfailing, everlasting love our our Father through every season and moment of your life. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, thank you so much for all your prayers for our ministry trip to El Salvador with our Spanish Team from Rapha God Ministries and a mission team from Oak Hills Church. The Holy Spirit moved so beautifully and powerful in so many settings -- ministering in churches with an amazing outpouring of healing and reconciliation, at the Dreams Foundation for the youth, coming alongside Project Red for humanitarian ministry for orphans, training and equipping for inner healing prayer ministry, and powerful personal ministry times of inner healing and deliverance. We experienced such exciting salvation, healing and deliverance and we could never minster in this way without you and your prayers for us!

 
The most exciting part of the trip for me though was when I proposed to Rocio Caballero on the last day! She's part of our Spanish Team and we've been dating for about a year. I finally had to courage to ask her to marry me and she said Yes! I haven't stopped smiling since! Thank you for joining with me in my journey of prayer and now in my journey of joy! She's now part of God's heart of unfailing, everlasting love to me. God bless you my friends!

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

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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Morning by Morning, July 31 - Prepare the Way for the Healing Power of the Lord

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I am and all that I have, I entrust to You as Lord of all, as best as I can and all by Your grace.  ...

"It shall be said, 'Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from My people's way.' For thus say the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:  I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite... I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort... Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them" (Isaiah 57:14-19).

Tomorrow I'll be going with our Spanish Team from Rapha God Ministries and a Mission Team from Oak Hills Church to minister to youth and their leaders in El Salvador. These will be young people who have been abandoned, rejected, lost and afraid, living much of their young lives in brokenness, abuse, terror, trauma, and shame. And You deeply love every one of them.

Lord, as You lead us to minister the healing love of God to their wounded hearts and break every chain that would hold them back from being all You created them to be in the power of the name of Jesus, let us minister and love from humble hearts that always remember we've always needed just as much of Your healing and freedom and grace. May You use us to prepare the way of the Lord in their hearts, just as Your Holy Spirit has prepared the way of the Lord in ours.

With these children and youth, along with their spiritual family and leaders, may we experience Your Presence and Your power, embraced in the peace of Your love. Revive our spirits and our hearts. Remove every wall and break every chain, as You come into every place where we need You the most. "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved"--saved, healed, and delivered in the mighty name of Jesus (Romans 10:13). In Jesus' name I pray.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  I pray you'll experience the Presence and power of the Lord, as His Holy Spirit prepares the way in your heart every day. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Friends, please pray for us as we prepare for our ministry trip to El Salvador. We leave early Friday morning for a week of ministry to a group of youth and teaching inner healing prayer ministry with our Spanish Team from Rapha God Ministries and a mission team from Oak Hills Church. As always, our schedule is packed with teaching and ministry, so please pray for our energy and passion to minister the healing love of God in the mighty name of Jesus! God bless you!

Due to our schedule and availability of internet connects, I may not be able to send out my morning devotional next week, but please keep joining with me in prayer. Thank you for joining me in the journey!


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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Morning by Morning, July 30 - "Will You Follow Me, My Son?"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start this day and every day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

As I watch and pray, waiting in silence before You, it seems I hear You singing out to my heart ...

Can you hear Me?
Are you listening?
Will you follow Me, My son?

I am with you
I'll never leave you
Will you follow Me, My son?

And I sing back to You from my heart ...

Daddy Abba
I am listening
I will follow You, my Lord

Where you lead me
What you show me
I will follow You, my Lord

I wouldn't miss it
This great adventure
I will follow You, my Lord

I want to see men free
As You heal their hearts
I want to see Your Word
Going forth in power
I want to do Your will
And see Your Kingdom come
I want to live each day
Like there's no tomorrow
I want to put my heart
In Your mighty hands
I want to know who I am
A son of the great I Am
I will follow You

Yes, Lord. I will follow You, as best as I can and all by Your grace. Like Caleb, who put his heart wholly in Your hands, followed You into the fullness of his inheritance, I want to follow You through every adventure every day into the fullness of my inheritance in You. What Your Word says of him, I pray Your heart will say of me:  "My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it" (Numbers 14:24). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  I pray you'll hear and respond to our Father's voice, calling you to come follow Him wherever He leads you in His great adventure for your life today. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 
Friends, please pray for us as we prepare for our ministry trip to El Salvador. We leave on Friday for a week of ministry to the leaders and a group of youth, teaching inner healing prayer ministry with our Spanish Team from Rapha God Ministries and a mission team from Oak Hills Church. As always, our schedule is packed with teaching and ministry, so please pray for our energy and passion to minister the healing love of God in the mighty name of Jesus! God bless you!


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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Morning by Morning, July 29 - They Say, "Let the Name of Israel be remembered no more" (Psalm 83:4)

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- I worship You and welcome You into the moments of my day. Some show me now how to pray, as I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit. ...

As I try to focus in prayer, You keep bring my mind to the terror and war in Israel.  ...

"O God, do not keep silence; do not hold Your peace or be still, O God! Even now Your enemies are in tumult; those who hate You have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against Your people; they consult together against those You protect. They say, 'Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more' " (Psalm 83:1-4).

You see past all the propaganda. All wickedness of heart is open to You. Every plan and scheme to turn the hearts of the nations against the nation of Your heart is laid bare before You. You are not deceived, but You are moved -- moved by the cries of Your people who long to live in peace but live in an endless nightmare of terror that rains down as rockets on their cities. And yet the whole world somehow sees their tormenters as the victims and justifies the hatred in their hearts and their strategies of terror.

You care about every heart and every home on every side of every border. You hear the cries of every child who can't sleep for fear and the explosions of war. And You hear the cries of every mother and father who can't bear see their children in pain, their homes destroyed, their hopes of peace shattered and crushed.

O God, You alone are the Peace they seek. You alone are their Rock and Refuge. You alone are their Messiah and Lord -- Messiah and Lord of Arab and Jew, of every Gentile of every nation. You alone are Lord of all.

Come open the eyes of every heart to see You as You. Come expose every evil, reveal every deception, and establish Your righteousness in the hearts of every person of this land and every nation. "O God, do not keep silence; do not hold Your peace or be still, O God!" (v. 1). "Let them know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth" (v. 18). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may the Holy Spirit move in your heart how to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the people of the land of Israel, on every side of every border (Psalm 122). Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Monday, July 28, 2014

Morning by Morning, July 28 - "Live in Love"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Teach me Your ways and forgive me for mine that are not yet like Yours. Come fill me with Your Spirit in these first moments of my morning.  ...

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 4:30-5:1-2).

No grief. No regrets. Help me live each day in the life of Your Spirit. Help me live in love, as You love me -- slow to anger, quick to forgive, doing my best, all by Your grace to live and love in the way that honors You with all my heart. It's as simple as that. ... In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  may you live in love today, doing your best, all by God's grace, to live and love in the way that honor the Lord our God with all your heart. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Friday, July 25, 2014

Morning by Morning, July 25 - "See What God has Done!"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings, King of glory, come into my heart and rise up in my spirit, as I begin my day in prayer with You.  ...

"God is not a human being, that He should lie, or a mortal, that He should change His mind. Has He promised, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? ... The Lord their God is with (Israel), acclaimed as King among them.... Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, 'See what God has done!' " (Numbers 23:19-23).

In the days of the conquest of the Promised Land, as Israel prepared to cross the Jordan to embrace her inheritance of God, her enemies was afraid of what their God would do on behalf of His people (v. 22:1-3). Before the battle for Jericho, the King of Moab sent for the prophet Balaam to curse the people and the armies of Israel (v. 22:4-6).

But God would not permit His people to be cursed (v. 22:22-35). Balaam could only pray for Israel and declare the blessings and victories of God (v. 22:38).

All the eyes of the world are upon Israel again today. In the face of the daily rain of rockets fired indiscriminately upon her cities to inflict as many civilian casualties of men, women, and children as possible in waves of daily terror we can't even imagine taking place in our own nation, Israel is again moving in conquest of the land. And it seems all the world is again cursing Israel.

The Word of God has not changed:  "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 12:2-3). And Your call to prayer for the people and the land of Israel has not changed:  "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6).

Lord Jesus, You are the Messiah of Israel; You alone are her "Prince of Peace" and the Savior of all (Isaiah 9:6). And one day to come, she will look to You, repent of her sin of unbelief and embrace You as Lord and Savior (Zechariah 12:10-13:1). But until that day, we are to pray. We are to bless and not curse.  We are to stand firm in our faith with Your people against the injustice and terror that would seek to destroy her from the face of the earth before her destiny is fulfilled.

So Lord, teach us to pray and to speak the words You put in our mouths to declare and our hearts to embrace on behalf of Israel. Then let us be astounded as we look and see what God has done. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will show you how to pray for the people and the land of Israel and all her neighbors. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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Thursday, July 24, 2014

Morning by Morning, July 24 - "Pure in Heart"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Heavenly Father. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Lord God, You are One and You are holy. I worship You in every Dimension of Your Being and welcome You into every dimension of my being.  ...

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8).

Make my heart pure, O Lord -- pure and holy, undefiled and unbroken. Forgive me of my sins; heal me of my hurts. Fill me with Your Spirit -- Your holy, pure Spirit.

Cause me to desire what is good and pure. Cause me to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Take away my hunger and thirst for all that is less. Free me from everything that would divide or defile my heart so that nothing can hold me back from boldly embracing You and the fullness of Your love and grace for me. "And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him" (1 John 3:19-22).

With a pure heart, I can see You. With a pure heart, I can embrace You and Your ever-abiding Presence, here with me and even here within me. "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts ..." (Psalm 24:2-4). So forgiven and free by Your mercy and grace, I lift up my hands and open up my heart "that the King of Glory may come in" (v. 24:7).

King of Glory, come into this heart You've made pure by the sacrifice of Your love and let me see You in my life today. "Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart" (Psalm 73:1). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


My Friend,  embracing all Jesus has done for you through His sacrifice of love in His mercy and grace, may you see God in every moment of your life today, with clean hands and a pure heart as the child of God that you are. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!


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

Share this word to encourage a friend!  Blue 

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