Morning by Morning, March 12 - With Authority and Under Authority

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Lead me in the way that leads to life in You today.  ...

"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:  'Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment" (Matthew 10:5-8).

You gave Your first disciples tremendous power and authority in Your name. You sent them to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God and demonstrate it in the power of God. But at the same time, You gave them instructions and restrictions of where to go and to whom to minister during that particular season of time. Though they had great authority, they were also required to be under Your authority.

Like Your first disciples, we are Your disciples, with great authority to be exercised in faith and obedience under Your authority (Matthew 28:18-20). You send us out into our world to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God and demonstrate it in the power of God. Your kingdom is within us, so Your power flows through us, and Your kingdom draws near wherever You send us (Luke 17:21).

But we must be willing to humble ourselves to seek Your leading, to obey your instructions and restrictions of where to go and to whom to minister. As the Son of Man filled with the Spirit of God, You only did what You saw the Father doing and only said what You heard the Father saying (John 5:19). And though we are sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, filled with the Holy Spirit of the Living God, we also are to look and listen for how You're leading. The Spirit in You is the same Spirit in us (Romans 8:11). And just as the Father sent You, so You send us in the authority and power of Your Spirit within us (John 20:21).

Come, Holy Spirit. Like the centurion commander whose faith was highly commended by Jesus Himself, I know "I am a man under authority" (Matthew 8:9). So as best as I can and all by Your grace I willing choose to submit to Your authority today. Speak to my spirit and guide my steps, as You lead my heart and direct mind. Show me where to go, who to encounter, and what to do in the power and authority of the name of Jesus, as the son of God that I am. Let the kingdom of God draw near wherever I go. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

Friend,  may you see what the Lord is doing, hear what the Lord is saying, and go where the Lord is sending you in the authority of His name in the power of His Spirit everywhere He sends you each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 9 - "New Wine into Fresh Wineskins"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start this day drawing close to You -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit.  ...

"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins" (Mark 2:21-22).

Thank You for the new wine of Your mercies every morning. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23). You have mercy for me in the power of Your grace for all I will encounter and experience today.

Let my heart be Your new wineskin. Give me a tender heart, desperately dependent upon Your tender mercies each day. As You promised long ago, "A new heart I will give you, and a new Spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you..." (Ezekiel 36:26-27). 

Don't let my heart ever get hardened like a stone in self-centeredness or self-sufficiency apart from You. Don't let my heart ever get rigid like an old wineskin in complacency or conformity to the traditions of men. I don't want to settle for the state of my spiritual development from the seasons of the past. 

I want to be filled afresh with Your Holy Spirit, as You keep stretching my heart and my faith, increasing my capacity to love and empowering me to embrace the mercies You have prepared for me, new every morning (Ephesians 5:18). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

Friends,  may your heart be a fresh wineskin for the new wine of God's mercies every morning, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

  

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 6 - "Pray in the Holy Spirit"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and listen for Your voice. You are my Good Shepherd and Your sheep hear Your voice.  ...

"But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (Jude 1:20-21).

My faith is built up when I pray in the Holy Spirit. Praying in the Spirit, I embrace the love of God and trust in the mercy of God. I am "strengthened in (my) inner being with power through (Your) Spirit" (Ephesians 3:16).

We need Your Holy Spirit to stir in our human spirits when we pray so that we pray Your heart and Your desires instead of our own. Then You can "give (us) the desires of (our) heart" because our desires become Your desires (Psalm 37:4). 

Praying in the Spirit keeps us from praying in the flesh, so that we pray for Your will, not our will, to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Father, that's how I know to only do see what I see You doing and only speak what I hear You saying. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 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 8:26-27).

And as I pray in the Holy Spirit, as I allow Your Holy Spirit to pray the heart and will of God through me, my faith is built up. I grow in the security of my identity and the confidence of my destiny, trusting in Your mercy and love for me and for those for whom You lead me to pray. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.... When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:14-16).

Come, Holy Spirit. Thank You for coming to pray through me now and throughout the moments of my day, building me up in my most holy faith. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friend,  I pray you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and pray in the Holy Spirit, secure in your identity and confident in your destiny, building yourself up in your most holy faith, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, March 5 - Speak Life

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, I want to take some time to start my day giving my full attention to You alone in the communion of prayer. ...

"The hand of the Lord came upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.... Then He said to me, 'Prophecy to these bones, and say to them:  O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones:  I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live ... and you shall know that I am the Lord.... I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,' says the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

You told Ezekiel the dry bones were Your people who had lost their hope and felt cut off from the promises of God (v. 11). Showing him the dry bones, scattered in a valley, You opened his eyes to see the truth of their present reality. But in asking him, "Can these bones live?' You were inviting him to also see how You created them to be (v. 3). Those dry bones needed to be filled with a fresh breath from God (v. 5). 

So You sent Your servant by the Spirit of the Lord to speak life to them. And as he did what a sight he saw! "Suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.... and the breathe came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude" (v. 7-10).

Daddy Abba, my Father God, fill me with Your Holy Spirit today (Ephesians 5:18). Send me to speak life. Open my eyes to see Your people in the truth of how they are in their present reality; but at the same time, also open my eyes to see them as You created them to be. Give me words of hope for the hopeless, words of welcome for the disconnected, words of encouragement for the discouraged and depressed, and words of life for all who need a fresh touch from heaven through the breath of Your Spirit.

You invite all of us to prophecy and speak life to one another (1 Corinthians 14:1). You invite all of us to encourage and comfort and build up one another with Your words of life, spoken in love, at the leading of Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:3). I embrace Your invitation to speak life wherever You send me today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friend,  I pray you will speak life, in the power of the Holy Spirit, everywhere our Father sends you today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

 

Friends, I shared this message last night, joining Max Lucado at the Healing and Worship Service at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. Thank you so much for all your prayers. We had a beautiful, powerful evening the presence of the Lord. Please come join us if you can on the First Wednesday Night of every month. All are welcome!

We were all so encouraged as Max shared a testimony from a lady who recored his recent prayer of healing on her cell phone and texted it to her son in Ohio, who had a miraculous healing of his vision by the next morning! Praise God! May our mighty healing God move in your life, in spirit and soul and body, bringing His life and power to you and through you, as you call on the name of Jesus!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Max Lucado & Tommy Hays Healing Prayer Service at Oak Hills Church Join Us Tonight at 7PM in San Antonio
Please join us Tonight if you can in San Antonio or join us by prayer if you can't for the First Wednesday Healing & Worship Service at 7pm at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus on I-10 in San Antonio, Texas:  www.oakhillschurch.com I'm excited to be joining Max Lucado to share a message on hope and healing. Our Rapha God Ministries Prayer Team will be joining the Oak Hills Prayer Team to offer personal prayer ministry following the worship and message. We'll also have our Spanish-speaking prayer teams available from Rapha. May the name of Jesus be high and lifted up as we encounter the healing love of God in spirit, soul, and body. May you also experience the Lord's power and presence in your church and community. Thank you for your prayers! God bless you,    Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries Healing from the Inside Out www.messiah-ministries.org     Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries 4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 1 San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

Morning by Morning, March 4 - Eternally Present Grace and Love

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Savior and Strong Tower, my Lord and Leader, my Master and Mentor, my Comforter and Companion, my Father and Friend, my All in All. So I start my day looking to You, O Lord my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

"Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am' (John 8:58).

You are I Am. As You said to Moses through the burning bush, "I AM THAT I AM.... The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.... This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:14-15 KJV).

You are eternal. Your will is everlasting. Your word is established. And Your name is exalted.

And though You are the Ancient of Days, You are also present with me in every moment of my days (Daniel 7:9). Though all time and space, every planet and star of the universe, throughout every moment of eternity past and eternity to come are forever before You, You know every thought in my mind, every desire in my heart, and every hair on my head (Luke 12:7).

And more than merely knowing me, You love me (John 3:16). And not only do You always love me, You are always for me (Romans 8:31). It's utterly astounding to me that the Creator of the universe is also the Lover of my soul (Song of Solomon 2:16). You "chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before (You) in love. (You) destined us for adoption as (Your) children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of (Your) will, to the praise of (Your) glorious grace that (You) freely bestowed on us in the Beloved ... that (You) lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:4-8).

Your grace amazes me and Your love astounds me. The reach of Your relentless grace and unfailing love throughout all eternity astonishes me. But as humbly and faithfully and fully as I can, I embrace Your eternal gifts of grace and love. I will not spurn or neglect this gift of God lavished on me (Luke 11:42). Your love never ends (1 Corinthians 13:8). And the mercies of Your grace are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friencd,  I pray you will experience and share the eternal present grace and love of God every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Friends, please come join us tonight if you're in our area.

I'll be joining Max Lucado to share a word of encouragement at the First Wednesday Healing and Worship Service at 7pm at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus in San Antonio. Our Rapha God Ministries team will be joining the Oak Hills prayer team to pray for anyone personally after the message. All are welcome!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, March 3 - Faith is Boldly Trusting God

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start this day centered in You.  ...

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8).

Faith is not blindly wandering around through life; faith is boldly trusting You. 

You called Abraham to go to a place he'd never been by a way he didn't know. He had to trust You every step of the journey. And he might have thought twice before he ever began if he had known what lay before him or how long it would take. But by the power of the grace of God, he chose to trust You "because he considered Him faithful who had promised" (v. 11:11).

If I would have known all I would face along this journey of faith or how long it would take, I might have thought twice. But with the dawning of each new day, I find myself trusting You more. I don't trust that I'll always get everything I want or think I need. I don't trust that I'll never have some challenging days that may even break my heart or bring me to my knees. I don't trust that I always know what the next day holds. I trust You.

My faith is not in some false promise or mistaken perception of an easy life. My faith is in You -- that You are with me and You are for me and You will always love me (Matthew 28:20).

I'm not blindly wandering around, even though I rarely know exactly what I'm doing and where I'm going. And I'm not shocked when everything doesn't always go my way and in my time, even when there are moments or even seasons that rock my world and challenge my faith. Instead, I'm choosing to consciously, deliberately start each day choosing to follow You on this journey of faith.

I have found Him faithful who has promised. And I look forward to the day when I look back and see every promise fulfilled. "For I know the One in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend,  I pray you will boldly trust God, knowing He is with you and He is for you and He will always love you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Friends, please come join us tomorrow night if you're in the area.

I'll be joining Max Lucado to share a word of encouragement at the First Wednesday Healing and Worship Service at 7pm at Oak Hills Church, Crownridge Campus in San Antonio. Our Rapha God Ministries team will be joining the Oak Hills prayer team to pray for anyone personally after the message. All are welcome!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, March 2 - "Contend for the Faith"

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

"Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

My faith is worth fighting for. My faith is worth dying for and it's worth living for. It's worth sacrificing for and risking everything for.

My faith is at the heart of who I am. And the heart of my faith is fully trusting You.

I have faith because You are faithful. I trust You because You are trustworthy. You are forever faithful and true (Revelation 19:11).

You give me the peace to know that I'm forgiven. You give me the joy to know that I'm loved. You give me the assurance to know that I am saved and the security to know You'll never leave me. You give me the hope to know my life has meaning and the satisfaction to know my days in this world have significance (Jeremiah 29:11).

Through faith I know my identity and fulfill my destiny. Through faith I trust Your power to make perfect every weakness and failure, even causing all things to work together for good in my life. And through faith I trust in You to be faithful to bring to completion all You've begun in me (Philippians 1:6).

So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I will contend for this faith. With all my heart and mind and soul and strength, I will passionately pursue the One who is the author and finisher, "the pioneer and perfecter of (my) faith" (Hebrews 12:2). And I have the faith to believe my faith in You will bring a smile to Your face and joy to Your heart (Hebrews 11:6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friend,  I pray the Holy Spirit will stir in your heart to contend for your faith, trusting in Jesus the author and finisher, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

        

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 27 - "Seek My Face, Know My Grace"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today. As I behold You, You are changing me into Your image, from glory to glory. This is the work of Your Holy Spirit at work within me (2 Corinthians 3:18).  ...

As I seek Your face and listen for Your leading in our communion of prayer, I'm hearing You sing a song in my heart. ...

Seek My face

Know My grace

Let My Spirit arise in you

I'll lead your heart

I'll take you far

Into the depths of My love for you

Seek My face

Know My grace

Let My nature be formed in you

I'll lead your heart

I'll take you far

Into the depths of My love for you

Seek My face

Know My grace

Let My power flow through you

I'll lead your heart

I'll take you far

Into the depths of My love for you

Yes, Lord. Let Your Spirit arise in me; let Your nature be formed in me; let You power flow through me. 

Thank You for Your promise and Your desire to live in me. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you.... On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:15-20).

With the Spirit of God living in me, You are conforming me to Your nature and moving through me in Your power (John 14:12). As I embrace the glory of the presence of God abiding in me, You are glorified through my life -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 15:8).

Come, Holy Spirit. Glorify my Father with the nature and power of Christ in me today. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friend,  may you seek God's face and know God's grace, as His Holy Spirit conforms you to His nature and moves through you in His power, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

      

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 26 - When to Speak and When to Be Silent

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as I entrust my life and this day into Your hands.  ...

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:13-15).

Make me more like You, Lord Jesus. Give me a fierce love for people, but a true love that does not compromise with truth or cower before those who criticize Your message and ministry of the kingdom of heaven. Lead me by Your Holy Spirit to hear the heart of my Father to know when to be silent and when to speak, when to let it go and when to take a stand. "But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15).

You said, "I must be about My Father's business" (Luke 2:49 NKJV). And so must I. And as You showed us, sometimes the Father's business includes being silent as a lamb led to the slaughter that "opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). And sometimes the Father's business includes responding with truth in love to those who wrongfully accuse the heart of Your ministry (Matthew 12:25-32).

So help me always humble myself to seek Your face and listen for Your voice. Even if there are those who do not believe You speak to us, heal us, free us, and even move in the power of Your love with Your gifts through us today, I do. And I must be true to the calling I believe You've entrusted to me. As You taught, give me grace to pray for those who persecute me, to bless those who curse me, and even love those who hate me" -- even if they think they are doing it in the name of God (Matthew 5:44). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friend,  I pray that in humility before the Lord to listen for His leading, you will know when to speak and when to be silent, as you follow our model of Jesus, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

      

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 25 - Accountable to God at the Judgment Seat of Christ

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You into my heart and every moment of my day.  ...

"For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

There will come a day when all of us "will have to give an accounting to Him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead" (1 Peter 4:5). "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.... So then, each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:10-12).

One day we'll more fully understand just how thankful we should be for Your unspeakable grace that forgives our sins and saves our souls through the power of the blood of Jesus (Romans 8:25). And at the same time, You desire for us to love and honor You and one another, fully surrendering to Your will and embracing Your ways for our lives. "If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanse us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

In our personal relationship with You as Lord and Savior, we have our salvation and we also have Your invitation to each of us "so as to live for the rest of (our) earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). And what is Your will for my life? "This is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Your will according to Your Word is to make me more like You.

When all is said and done, when I stand to give an account for my life before the judgment seat of Christ, I believe You will ask me, "Did you seek to become more like Me?" (John 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 19:7)

With all my heart I want to be able to say Yes to You. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I want to be more like You each day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Yes, Lord Jesus. I want to be like You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend,  I pray the Spirit of God will move in your heart to make you more like Jesus each day. May you be filled with joy when you give an account at the judgment seat of Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

     

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 23 - "Will You be like Me?"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my spirit as I listen for Your voice, I pray.  ...

It seems I hear You say, "Will you be like Me? Will you allow Me to conform you into My image? This is My desire for each of My children."    ...

As I seek to discern Your words, to seek to confirm I'm truly hearing from You, Your Word comes to mind:  "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of the His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified" (Romans 8:29).

Yes, Lord. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I seek You and willing choose to allow You to conform me into Your image. As You know, I have far to go in this spiritual journey of a lifetime. But this is the lifetime You've given me to seek to be 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 of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

From one degree of glory to another, from one day to another, I welcome Your Spirit to be at work in me to make me more like You each day -- "the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Let this be the goal of my life, to be "mature in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). 

For me, it's impossible. But with You, all things are possible. I can't earn this or deserve this; I can't ever do this on my own. But I can willingly choose by the grace You've given me to embrace the power of Your Spirit to work within me to make me like You. My I "be found in (You), not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that come through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith" (Philippians 3:9). "For it is God who is at work in (me), enabling (me) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

In this sense, I seek to surrender all my life to be conformed to the image of Christ. "Thus He has given us, though these promises, His precious and very great promises, so that through them (we) may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.... Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm (our) call and election, for if (we) do this, (we) will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for (us)" (2 Peter 1:4-11).

Yes, Lord Jesus. I want to be like You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

 

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

My Friend,  I pray you will be like Jesus, as the Spirit of Christ works within you to conform you into the image of the Son of God more and more, every day. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

     

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 20 - Seeking God's Strategy for Every Victory

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Be King and Lord of my life and every moment of my day.  ...

"Then Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.' So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalke prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword" (Exoudus 17:8-16).

Joshua fought with the sword while Moses fought with the staff; one in the physical realm and one in the spiritual realm. Both were necessary. On that day, there would be no victory without prayer, and there would be no victory without action.

In the battles for their inheritance, You sometimes You led Your people to simply lift up their prayers and their shofars in spiritual warfare, saying, "This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 20:12). And other times, You led Your people to actively take up their swords in physical battle of messy, bloody, hand-to-hand combat, saying "Drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their figured stones, destroy all their cast images, and demolish all their high places" (Numbers 33:52).

Always, the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:47). And at the same time, we must always humble ourselves before You in prayer to seek Your strategy for the battle at hand. Whether You lead us to take up our shofars or take up our swords, or both, our part is to seek Your will and act upon it in trusting obedience and faithful diligence. 

You are the staff of God we lift up with our arms in Your authority, and You are the sword of the Spirit we stretch out with our hands in Your power (Ephesians 6:17). You are the "Commander of the Army of the Lord" (Joshua 5:15).

Our hearts can be secure in the confidence of Your victory, all according to Your time and Your way, as we obey Your command to be still and know that You are God (Psalm 46:10). And at the same time, we actively engage the battle according to Your strategy, both spiritually and physically, in worship and in warfare, all at Your command. But we'll never know Your command and Your strategy for each battle unless we are willing to first humble ourselves before You in prayer. As King Jehoshaphat famously declared, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You" (2 Chronicles 20:12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend,  I pray the Lord will reveal His strategy for every victory as you seek Him in prayer and arise in action however He leads you in the battle at hand, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

     

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 19 - "He Utters His Voice"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and everywhere in my world.  ...

"The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.... 'Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth' " (Psalm 46:6-10).

You are the Lord my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are mighty to save, mighty in battle, mighty in word. You are sovereign, and I am secure, in the eternal refuge of Your power and love.

When I look around me at whatever is in an uproar and whatever is wavering, You remind me to look to You. You remind me You're always with me. You remind me to be still and know that You are God, that You are in control, that You are always at work to cause all things to work together for good, according to Your purposes and timing and way.

So it's good to start my day looking to You, listening for Your voice, deliberately entrusting my self and my day and my world to You. Then You will fill my thoughts and guide my steps. Then I can rest and trust in the sovereignty of Your will and the power of Your peace, as You send forth Your word into my life and my world.

"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth" (Psalm 96:11-13).

 

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

My Friend,  I pray you will rest secure in the sovereignty and power of our God, looking to Him, listening for His voice, and following His lead, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!  

Morning by Morning, February 18 - Maturity of Good and Evil in the Harvest at the End of the Age

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch and wait, leaning in to listen for the leading of Your Spirit in the communion of prayer.  ...

"(Jesus) put before them another parable:  '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. And the slaves of the householder came and said to them, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 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 in to my barn' " (Matthew 13:24-30).

You said "the harvest is the end of the age" (v. 13:39). And You said "the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one" (v. 13:37-38). So as we approach the time of the harvest at the end of the age, we should not be surprised to see the wheat and the weeds growing up together, the followers of good and the followers of evil, growing up into full maturity.

In our world today we see the dark growing darker. But at the same time, we should also look to see where the light is growing lighter. So many of the prophecies of old are now being fulfilled in our day, before our eyes. "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. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isaiah 60:1-5).

Though the battles are real and the casualties of war immense, though it may seem for a season as though evil is overcoming good, the time of harvest will come and victory will be won. "Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice... Violence shall be no more heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.... I am the Lord; in its time I will accomplish it quickly" (Isaiah 60:5-22).

So let us be vigilant, let us be prepared. It was "while everybody was asleep, an enemy came" (Matthew 13:25). So let us awaken and arise. Let us shine. " 'Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:14-15). "For once you were in darkness, now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). 

In the confidence of Christ alive in our hearts, let us "be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which (we) shine like stars in the world" (Philippians 2:15). Let us be in position and prepared to join in the great harvest at the end of this age growing closer each day (Matthew 13:38). "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!" (Matthew 13:43) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend,  I pray you will arise and shine as light in the midst of the darkness, positioned and prepared for the great harvest to come. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

   

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Share this word to encourage a friend!