Friday, December 02, 2016

Morning by Morning, December 2 - Unchanging God and His Steadfast Word
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You, Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- into my heart and into my day.  ...
 
"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?" (Numbers 23:19)
 
You are my unchanging God. In You, "there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). You are "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). In You, all the promises of God are Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). 
 
And You have spoken Your steadfast word. You have eternally declared, "I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled" (Ezekiel 12:25). "The Lord of hosts has sworn:  As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass.... For the Lord of hosts has planned and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" (Isaiah 14:24).
 
You are faithful and unchanging. You are "Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11). And I trust You and Your Word and Your will. I don't have to worry about You wavering. I don't have to be concerned about Your Kingdom collapsing. When all is said and done, Your Word will stand. And by the power of the grace of God, I will stand on Your Word, as I stand in You. "Now to Him who is able to keep (me) from falling, and to make (me) stand without blemish in the presence of His glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever!" (Jude 24-25) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

May you stand firm in the steadfast word of our unchanging God, 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, December 01, 2016


Jesus Messiah
Dear Friends of Messiah Ministries & Tommy Hays,
 

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light....
They rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest....
For a Child has been born for us, a Son given to us; authority rests upon His shoulders; and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!"
(Isaiah 9:2-6 fulfilled in Matthew 4:16)

As we celebrate this season of the Light of Christ who has come into our hearts to fill us with joy, we pray you would be filled afresh with the Joy of Jesus, as His light shines through you!
And we celebrate all the ways you've joined with us at Messiah Ministries to continue our calling to offer hope and healing through prayer ministry and teaching to our community, and through the strategic opportunities at home and abroad to share minister the healing love and power of God.  Through partners like you, we are able to offer this life-changing ministry freely, without charge to all who come for personal ministry sessions with our ministry partnership with Rapha God Ministries at our base in San Antonio.
 
Please remember us in your year end giving and plans for the coming year. Every gift of any size is truly needed and greatly appreciated! "We thank God for you every time we remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of our prayers for you, because of your sharing in the gospel" (from Philippians 1:3-5).
 
God bless you and Merry Christmas!
Tommy Hays




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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Blue 

   
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries, 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1, San Antonio, TX 78257
Sent by tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org in collaboration with
Constant Contact
Morning by Morning, December 1 - "Do You Hear Me?"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.  ...
 
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 11:15 NKJV)
 
It seems I hear You asking me this morning, "Do you hear Me?"  ...
 
And the first response that seems to rise up in me is, "Lord, I think I try to hear You. What are You asking me? I know by now that You never ask me a question to find out the answer. Laugh out loud. But You're wanting me to take time to dig a little deeper in a measure of revelation by Your Spirit."  ...
 
It seems I hear You saying, "Hear not only My words. Hear also My heart. Hear My heart behind My words. Out of My heart, I speak. And My heart is love. I Am Love. So even My words of correction, even My words of judgment of what is unrighteous, are expressions of My heart of love. I am not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to know Me and My love. So always seek to hear My love in My words."
 
Yes, Lord. Help me do that. Help me grow in that. Help me embrace this as a key when I read Your written Word or seek to discern Your spoken words. Your Word speaks of Your character and Your desire for our character, saying:  "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8 NKJV).
 
By the power of Your grace, help me love. And help me always hear Your heart of love in Your words. Then help me express Your heart of love through mine. When others hear me, may they hear Your character of love in me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

May you hear the heart of God and express His heart through your words and life in His love, 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!

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 30 - Confidence of Faith 
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Let me be of one heart and one mind with You today.  ...
 
"Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet 'in a very little while, the One who is coming will come and will not delay; but My righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.' But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved" (Hebrews 10:35-39).
 
My confidence is in You, Lord. I'm confident that You love me, that You're for me, that You're always with me, that You always go before me preparing the way for me to walk in Your will and Your ways by the power of Your grace.
 
So when challenges come, when battles are fierce, when the enemy of my soul tries to press his attack, I will press on until I press through, by grace through faith, not shrinking back.  "Through faith and patience (I will) inherit the promises" (v. 6:12). May I never surrender and never retreat, but always advance with the endurance and confidence of the faith You're building in me. "So (I) can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?'" (v. 13:6) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

May you be confident in faith, never shrinking back, that you never surrender and never retreat, but always advance into the fullness of the God's promises for you, 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!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 29 - "The Implanted Word"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I begin my day seeking Your face and listening for Your voice.  ...
 
"You must understand this, my beloved:  let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls" (James 1:19-21).
 
With meekness, I welcome Your implanted word. Like a seed planted in a plowed field, plant the seed of Your word in my heart. Help me listen; help me hear. Help me trust and believe by faith that Your word has the power to save my soul and produce in me a harvest of Your righteousness. 
 
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). So as I listen and as I hear, Your words, implanted in my heart, are "spirit and life" to my soul (John 6:63). Let them find "good soil" in my heart that's wide open to Your will and Your words (Mark 4:8). Let them grow to maturity and produce the full measure of the harvest You've purposed for my life -- "growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold" (Mark 4:8). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray "the implanted word" of God will find good soil in your heart to produce God's great harvest through your life today and every 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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Monday, November 28, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 28 -- Ask for Wisdom
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit. Be One within me today in the communion of prayer and throughout the moments of my day.  ...
 
"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who give to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you" (James 1:2-5).
 
You invite me to ask You for wisdom. And You promise You'll give it. You know I need it. Because without Your wisdom, I can't grow to be mature and complete and I can't embrace and endure the trials and tests of my faith until they have their full effect. 
 
My wisdom would say, "Run." The world's wisdom would say, "Fight back by any means necessary." Yet Your wisdom says, "Embrace. Endure. Press through. Learn and grow and overcome." That's the nature of Your "wisdom from above" that "is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy" (v. 3:13).
 
Good Lord, give me Your wisdom from above today. Give me Your grace to live it out, humbly and willingly choosing to be desperately dependent upon You alone. Give me faith to believe, without wavering or doubting, that this is Your good will to give me this good gift of Your wisdom to address and overcome every challenge I'll face this day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you receive the widow of God you need to endure and overcome every trial and test you face, as you keep growing every day to be mature and complete in Christ , 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!

Friday, November 18, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 18 - Eyes of Eternity
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me see as You see, hear as You hear, so I can walk as You walk. Now help me look and listen to see what's on Your heart today for me to pray today, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   ...
 
"For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17).
 
Help me see with the eyes of eternity. Help me "walk by faith, not by sight" (v. 5:7). Help me trust that You are at work in all things, causing all things to work together for Your plans and Your purpose. What looks messy to me, looks like a masterpiece to You. Help me see the masterpiece, as I keep looking to the Master and trusting in Your master plan. 
 
"As it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him' -- these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). By grace, through faith, I choose to see with the eyes of eternity and trust in this "eternal weight of glory beyond all measure" You are preparing for me and all who are willing to believe. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will see will the eyes of eternity and embrace by faith all our awesome God has prepared for you , 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!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Morning by Morning, November 17 - "Live in Harmony" to "Speak with One Voice"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good Shepherd, let me hear Your voice. ...
 
"May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:5-6).
 
These days we don't have to go far to hear a different opinion -- most of them firmly-held and fiercely-defended. In fact, that's one of the gifts of our freedom and even the beauty of Your creation -- we are all fearfully and wonderfully made, growing in our uniqueness of experience and diversity of personality. So when we respect one another's opinions, even and especially if we don't agree, it's respecting You and Your creativity and it's respecting the hard-fought freedom of our country.
 
And at the same time, in the midst of all the creativity and diversity, Your Spirit draws us to "live in harmony with one another." It's not "conformity to one another" but "harmony with one another." Though maybe a lot less challenging and much more peaceful, the conformity of all opinions being exactly the same would be so much more boring and would provide so little opportunity for growing in maturity.
 
So how is it that You create us with diversity but also call us to live in harmony to the degree that we speak with "one voice?"  ...
 
It seems I hear You saying, "You speak with one voice when you remember to glorify Me in the expression of your thoughts and opinions. When you speak from a heart of honor and respect, even when you speak your different opinions from your different perspectives, you speak with one voice because you speak by My Spirit. Do you not know that you are My temple and My Spirit dwells in each of you?"
 
Yes, Lord. We are Your temple and Your Spirit dwells in each of us -- individually and personally, but also together as one (1 Corinthians 3:16). You call us to "be one" (John 17:11). You call us "to lead a life worthy of the calling to which (we) have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as (we) were called to the one hope of (our) calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:1-6). 
 
Sometimes, we have to ask ourselves "What part of 'all' am I not understanding?" and "What part of 'one body' have I forgotten?"  Probably the answer is it's the "the unity of the Spirit" and "the bond of peace" that I'm breaking by my bad attitude of giving in to my flesh instead following the leading of Your Spirit to respect and honor the one who disagrees with my opinion from my perspective. It's hard to speak "with one voice" to "glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" when we're all speaking by our flesh instead of living by Your Spirit.
 
"Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh.... By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16-26).
 
Come, Holy Spirit. Come fill Your temple -- each one personally and in our together as the body of Christ. Crucify our flesh. Purify our hearts. Sanctify our tongues. No matter our opinions -- only You truly know who is right and who is wrong -- by the power of Your grace at work within us, let us "live in harmony with one another" and speak "with one voice," with honor and respect for You and one another, that we may "glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

I pray you will be filled with the Holy Spirit, united as one in your heart with the body of Christ, living in harmony, speaking with honor and respect, to glorify God with your words and opinions, 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!