Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 9 -  "New Wineskin"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I worship You and welcome You to rule and reign in my heart, in my land, and in all the earth.  ...
 
"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins" (Mark 2:22 NKJV).
 
Whether we love him or hate him, we have elected a new President of the United States. By the act of our votes, we made choices with our hearts for each individual person and also made choices together as a nation. Our choices matter; our choices determine our identity; and our choices determine our destiny in the mystery and the grace of both Your sovereignty and our freedom (Deuteronomy 30:9; Joshua 24:15; John 15:10).
 
The days and years to come will reveal the consequences of our choices, both personally and as a people. And so we are forever in need of Your mercy and grace, Your presence and power, Your correction and discipline, Your redemption and love.
 
But as the dust settles this morning, the words and the image that comes to my heart in prayer for Your will and our nation is "New Wineskin."  ...
 
At the very least, there will be a "new wineskin" in Washington for sure. And we have yet to see or imagine all that may imply or entail. But as the people of God turn to You in prayer from across our land, we pray You would pour the "New Wine" of Your Holy Spirit into the "new wineskin" of governmental authority in our land. Whether it was our personal choice or not, You call us to pray for those in authority:  "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. We turn to You in prayer and ask that You would heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Pour Your New Wine into the new wineskins You are preparing in us, that we might know our identity and fulfill our destiny, as a people of God in our generation. Your grace is sufficient for us -- it always has been and it always will be (2 Corinthians 12:9).
 
As some celebrate today, as some commiserate today, let us all begin today the journey to arise and embrace the new day, the new wineskin, and the New Wine that is set before us. None of us knows what all that may mean, but I do know this by the certainty of Your Word:  "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you we will all be filled with the New Wine of the Holy Spirit of God, in our hearts and in our land, as we pray for those in authority and for one another to know our identity and fulfill our destiny as a person and as a nation, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for America to be a nation under God, honor the Lord our God with the gifts and calling He has entrusted to us as a nation in our world. 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, November 08, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 8 - Voting "The Straight Ticket" of the Lord
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're the Lord and Savior of my life. And I welcome You here in the center of my heart and the beginning of my day.  ...
 
"Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness; ... make Your way straight before me" (Psalm 5:8). 
 
It's Election Day in America. My wife and I got up early to go vote early before the lines got too long. Now, we've done our civic duty and participated in the process of governing our nation and determining the course of our land. As President Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, we have the freedom to be a "nation, under God" which is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people, (that) shall not perish from the earth." May our votes count as an expression of our heart that we desire the direction of our nation to honor You. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12 NKJV).
 
Like so many, I wrestled with my choices. And in the end, I decided to vote "the straight ticket" -- not voting a "straight ticket" for democrats, republicans, libertarians, green, blue or anything else, but seeking the leading of Your Holy Spirit, as best as I could and all by Your grace. I prayed Psalm 5:8 that You would lead me in Your righteousness and make Your way "straight" before me.
 
Your Word says we don't even know how to pray as we ought, so we need to ask Your guidance even in our prayers. "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).  So just like my prayers, I want my votes to be led by Your Spirit so that I can say from my heart, "not my will buy Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
 
In the midst of all the issues of character, personalities, policies and platforms, I ultimately want to exercise my freedom of choice by freely choosing to follow You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. I know none of us hear Your voice perfectly and that on this side of heaven we only "know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9). "For now we see in a mirror, dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12). But as the children of God, we are called to seek the leading of God in all things, even in our votes as a free people of a free nation. ""For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14).
 
So when I wake up in the morning and find out who won, I can have the peace of knowing I made my choices as best as I could seeking the leading of Your Spirit. And I can also rest in the truth of Your promise that whether good or bad, You are the God who is sovereign of all, at work in all things for our good and Your glory, according to Your purpose that is far beyond anything I could choose or plan or control. "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). And at same time, You invite us to take our place and play our part in Your process "like good stewards of the manifold grace of God" with all the freedom and gifts You've entrusted to us as the people of God in the midst of our world (1 Peter 4:10).
 
Seeking to vote "the straight ticket" of the Lord, I'm trusting You to cause it all to work together for good, far beyond my understanding of Your will and Your ways. But I know this, by the truth and promise of Your Word:  "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 40:4-5 NKJV, confirmed in Luke 3:5-6). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you will be led by the Spirit of God as a child of God in all your choices each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for America to be a nation under God, honor the Lord our God with gift and calling He has given us as a nation in our world. 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, November 07, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 7 - "Where Righteousness is At Home"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In silence before You, I watch and wait for Your leading, as I begin my day in Your embrace -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"In accordance with His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation" (2 Peter 3:13-15).
 
Lord, I want righteousness to be at home in my heart -- right with You, right with others, right within myself. I want to be found by You at peace -- at peace with You, at peace with others, at peace within myself. Thank You for Your patience with me while Your Spirit is at work within me, setting things right in Your righteousness and bringing Your peace to my soul in the fullness of the salvation You're working out in me every day of my journey of faith in You. "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).
 
So what can I do in my heart to make righteousness more at home?  ...
 
It seems I hear You saying:  "My son, My Spirit is at work in the heart of each one who welcomes Me to do My work within you. Your part is to allow Me to form My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart. Be willing to be sensitive to My leading, to respond to My correction and embrace My affirmation. I'm aligning your thoughts and your desires with Mine, as you willingly choose to allow Me to do so. This is My good pleasure, My son." 
 
Yes, Lord. I willingly choose to allow You to be at work in me. By the power of Your grace, let Your righteousness be more at home in me each day. "For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray the righteousness of God will be more and more at home in your heart, as you allow the Holy Spirit to work within you to make you more like Jesus 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
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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Thursday, November 03, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 3 - "Rejoice in God"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm so grateful for Your grace, that it's the heart of my God to welcome me into the embrace of Your love every morning and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation" (Romans 5:11 NKJV).
 
Sometimes I feel I don't rejoice enough in You and all You've done for me and all You are to me. I suppose the honest truth is that sometimes I even begin to take my grace for granted. But Lord, let it not be so. Remind me every morning, as I begin each new day to "proclaim the praises of Him who called (me) out of darkness into (Your) marvelous light; (we) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV).
 
Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). But I praise You and rejoice in You that I never have to be apart from You, that You are "with (me) always" (Matthew 28:20). That's not something I ever earned or deserved, but it's something You yearn to have in the loving relationship You offer to all who embrace Your love and grace (2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16).
 
I embrace Your love and grace today, my Lord. I rejoice in God through my Lord Jesus Christ, who saved me and raised me up into this embrace of love, setting me free to be all You've yearned for me to be in You. By the grace of God, may I never take Your grace for granted. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you will be filled with joy, as you rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ in the grace and embrace of His love for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

Jesus holding lamb
 
Friends, sorry to be out of touch for a couple of days with my morning prayers. A team from our ministry were in Austin for further equipping through Dr. Charles Kraft's ministry on healing and deliverance prayer ministry. Please keep us in prayer as we continue our own Level 2 School of Ministry back here in San Antonio tonight. God bless you and may He continue to equip and empower you to fulfill your ministry where the Lord has strategically positioned you for this season. Please pray the same for us. 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

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Monday, October 31, 2016

Morning by Morning, October 31 - "Ghost" Story
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart to see You and open the ears of my spirit to hear You, as I begin my day in the depths of communion with You in prayer -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when He comes to set up His kingdom:  Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching" (2 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT).
 
In the culture of our day, there will be must fascination with darkness and death on this night our world calls Halloween. But even in the midst of darkness You're always shining Your light. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world" (1 John 4:4 NKJV).
 
Some will be focused on the dark spirits of this world and the walk of the living death. But as this day begins Your Holy Spirit is reminding me to seek to walk in the ways of the One who is the judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 1 Peter 4:5).
 
The greatest "ghost story" ever told is not about a ghost who comes to haunt the living from the dead but about the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead into the resurrection life we can all have through faith in Him (Romans 8:11). "According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7 KJV).
 
In the ways of the world this may be the night of the walking dead. But in the ways of the One who gave His life for me, I can arise and "walk in newness of life" by the grace of God, "just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father" (Romans 6:4). And now, for all who trust and believe in the death and resurrection of Christ, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us" (Romans 5:5 KJV). That's the only "Ghost story" I want to be telling my kids and my friends tonight. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray the love of God will be poured into Your heart by His Holy Spirit, as you arise and shine with the resurrection light of Christ, walking in newness of life in your world today (and tonight), in Jesus' name. 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, October 28, 2016

Morning by Morning, October 28 - True Heart of True Worship
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Thank You for the gift of the communion of prayer, as I begin my day centered in You.  ...
 
"Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven" (Lamentations 3:40-41).
 
If we're not careful we can slip into religious routines, even in our worship and prayer. We may still be lifting up our hands, but no longer lifting up our hearts.
 
We can go through the motions, go on autopilot, and go about our lives with an outward appearance that no longer reflects our inward desires. We can grow weary from the cares of this world and challenges of the battles of the day until we grow numb and detached, worn out or burned out. And You warned us that even among the body of believers "the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).
 
So come, Holy Spirit. Keep a true heart of true worship thriving in me. Come burn in me. Keep the fire of my faith burning in my heart. Rekindle the flame every day. Breathe on the embers of my spirit in the passionate pursuit of the Lover of my soul. "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).
 
Let the songs that I sing to You be an authentic expression of my love for You. Let the lifting of my hands be a genuine manifestation of the lifting of my heart. Keep stirring in me and burning in me until it's totally true in every depth of my being that I "love the Lord (my) God will all (my) heart, with all (my) soul, with all (my) mind, and with all (my) strength," (Mark 12:30). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

May the Holy Spirit burn in your spirit every day with a true heart of true worship for the Lord our God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 

(from a time of ministry in The Philippines)
 


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, October 27, 2016

Morning by Morning, October 27 - Jesus, the Lover of Righteousness Who is Full of Joy
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart to begin my day pursuing the Presence of God -- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  ...
 
"Of angels He says, 'He makes His angels winds, and His servants flames of fire.' But of the Son He says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness beyond Your companions'" (Hebrews 1:7-9).
 
Though You are fully God, You are also fully man. Though in one dimension You are eternally enthroned in the heavenly realm in the Oneness of God, at the same time, You also humbled Yourself in the likeness of human flesh and blood to walk among us in the perfect expression and revelation of the nature of God in a way we can begin to grasp through the limitations of our human understanding (Philippians 2:5-11).
 
In Your human expression of the nature of God, You are a lover of "righteousness" who is also full of joy -- thoroughly "anointed" by God the Father with "the oil of gladness" beyond the measure of anyone else who's ever lived (Hebrews 1:9). Just as You lived Your life on this earth in human flesh and blood for those thirty-three years, You invite me to live out my life in that same way. Just You are, so am I to be in this world (1 John 4:17).
 
So come, Holy Spirit. I want to embrace the anointing of my Father -- the anointing to be a lover of righteousness and the anointing to be full of joy at the same time. As I embrace Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done here on earth, here in my heart, as it is in heaven, I'm embracing Your love for righteousness and a heart full of joy. "For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
 
Give me the grace to grow in righteousness -- right with God, right with one another, right within myself. Give me the grace to grow in peace -- at peace with God, at peace with one another, at peace within myself. And give me the grace to grow in joy -- overflowing in the anointing of Your oil of gladness "that (my) joy may be complete" (John 16:24). In these ways, You're giving me the grace to be like You -- conformed to the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you'll grow in God's grace to become more and more of a lover of righteousness and full of joy, just like Jesus, in Jesus' name. 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, October 26, 2016

Morning by Morning, October 26 - "Come Walk with Me"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, One with the Father and One with the Holy Spirit, be One within in me, as I abide in You and You abide in me.  ...
 
As I wait on Your leading and embrace Your Presence here in the stillness and silence of surrender before You, I believe I hear You speaking in my heart, "Come walk with Me."  ...
 
Yes, Lord.  ... What do You mean by "Come walk with Me?"  ...
 
This Scripture comes to mind:  "Enoch walked with God..." (Genesis 5:24). And then the rest of that Scripture comes to mind:  "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him." Are You about to take me, Lord? Am I about to be "no more?"  ...
 
It seems I hear You laugh. 
 
And now You're drawing my attention to a previous verse:  "Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters" (v. 22). I believe what You're speaking to me is that You're inviting me to walk with You every day of my life -- to talk with You and listen with You, to be consciously aware of You and that You're with me on my journey. As I walk it out, I can talk it out with You in our personal time together. 
 
Just as walking helps keep us fit physically, walking with You helps keep us fit spiritually. Just as physical walking stretches the muscles of the body, spiritual walking stretches the spiritual muscles of our soul. In the natural realm we can breathe in the fresh air of the morning and in the spiritual realm we can breathe in the refreshing breath of Your Spirit. Just as physically it gets our blood flowing, spiritually it gets our heart going, as we come walk with You in the cool of the day and the depths of our spirit.
 
I believe You're speaking to my spirit that to come walk with You is to come abide in You and allow You to abide in me (John 15:4). It's allowing Your Spirit to lead me in Your ways and Your will (Romans 8:14). And it's a way I can "live and move and have (my) being" in You throughout the moments of my day (Acts 17:28). So Yes, Lord; I will. I will come walk with You each day -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you'll live and move and have your being in the Lord who walks with you every moment of every day, as you abide in His Presence and seek to follow His leading, in Jesus' name. 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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