Morning by Morning, December 12 - "Lord of All"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up Your name and speak out Your authority over every area of my life and every moment of my day.  ...

 

"Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36).

 

Lordship is relational. You're Lord and I'm not. You're in charge and I'm not. You're in control and I'm not. Any area of my life where I'm still in charge or in control, I'm still being lord of that area instead of yielding to Your Lordship of that area. 

 

Insisting on my lordship instead of yielding to Your Lordship is just another form of pride -- where I'm going to do what I want to do in the power of my strength and in accordance with my will. It's like in the days of the judges where "there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25). That's the opposite of humility. That's an attitude of rebellion, resisting Your will and authority in our lives, rooted in pride, and refusing to acknowledge You as our King, Your Word as our Law, Your Character as our Example, Your Truth as our Standard, and Your Spirit as our Guide.

 

Your Word says "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you" (James 4:6-10). So our pride resists You in the very places where we need Your grace the most. And when things don't go well, when that's not working out so well for us, it feels like You're opposing us but we're really just opposing You and living out the consequence of our rebellion and resistance against You.

 

In the folly and foolishness of our pride that insists on our will and our way, asserting our own lordship, we're basically saying, "No thanks, God. I've got this." Which is just another way of saying, "I don't need You. I can handle things just fine on my own. So just take Your grace and go give it to somebody who really needs it -- somebody who's weak enough to need You and 'humble' enough to admit it."

 

Wow, forgive me, Lord. Uproot that attitude from my heart and my mind, and all the subtle ways it sneaks in under the guide of self-confidence or healthy independence, when it's really just plain ol' pride. It's a modern version of that ancient declaration, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14). It's like saying, "I am Lord of all."

 

Wow, that's ugly. But when You show it to me like that, I want no part of it. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). And I sure don't need more chances to fall, but the power of Your grace to lift me up. And the way up is down -- down on my knees, surrendered in my heart, yielded to Your Lordship in every area of my life -- not doing what's right in my own eyes, but doing what's right in Yours.

 

So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth "that Jesus is Lord" (Romans 10:6). I want to come to place where I can proclaim in both faith and in truth that "Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all" -- Lord of all that I am and all that I have, Lord all I ever will have and ever will be, Lord of my spirit and soul and body, Lord of identity and destiny, Lord of my family and all my relationships, Lord my work and ministry, Lord of my gifts and calling, Lord of my finances and hopes, Lord of my past and present and future, Lord of my eternity, Lord of all. Lord, let it be so. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, I pray you are lifted up in the arms of the Lord, full of His grace and love, and living into the fullness of His favor, as you humble yourself in His sight to yield to His Lordship in every area of your life as Lord of all, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

Morning by Morning. Order my 365 Day Prayer Devotional for yourself or a friend to begin the New Year starting off each day embraced by the Father, centered in Jesus, and filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

 

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Register for the Healing Academy.

Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today:    Healing Academy

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, December 11 - Hope, Patience, and Prayer

 

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

 

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer" (Romans 12:12).

 

You Word invites me to "rejoice in hope." My joy is grounded in hope. And my hope is grounded in the unwavering truth of Your Word and the unfailing work of Your Spirit, confirming my faith and trust in You. Knowing what You've done gives me hope to look and see what You will do. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

 

Your Word invites me to "be patient in suffering." You may not directly will everything I suffer, for You never will what is evil or what is sinful. But we all suffer the consequences of the evil and sinful choices made throughout the generations that set up the circumstances of our afflictions and sufferings on our journey through this broken and fallen world as You carry on Your plan of redemption of all things (Acts 3:19-21). And You don't waste a moment of our sufferings. You use them all, no matter the source, to make us more like You, to teach us to learn to love, to help us understand who we are and who You are in us. That's how You cause "all things (to) work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

 

And Your Word invites me to "persevere in prayer." In that sense, prayer is a choice. Prayer is an act of my will, empowered by Your Spirit, to persist, to press in, to press through, to "p-u-s-h" -- "pray-until-something-happens." Too many times, we give up too soon. We lose heart, we lose hope, we lose patience, and we don't "persevere in prayer" to press through our challenges and prevail over our circumstances and pass our test to be promoted in the Spirit. "In this (we) rejoice, even if now for a little while (we) have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of (our) faith -- being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6-7).

 

Joy, suffering, perseverance, along with faith, hope, and prayer -- I wish it all wasn't so intertwined. But then, my thoughts are not yet like Your thoughts and my ways are not yet like Your ways -- Yours are higher and Yours are better (Isaiah 55:8-9). So my part is to keep learning to trust You, as You keep showing Yourself faithful -- to keep rejoicing in hope, being patient in suffering, and persevering in prayer -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. That's all part of how You are making me more like You each day (Romans 8:29; 1 John 4:7). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, I pray you are empowered by the Spirit and encouraged on your journey today -- rejoicing in hope, being patient in suffering, and persevering in prayer, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Morning by Morning. Order my 365 Day Prayer Devotional for yourself or a friend to begin the New Year starting off each day embraced by the Father, centered in Jesus, and filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

 

Order Morning by Morning through Amazon

Register for the Healing Academy.

Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today:    Healing Academy

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, December 10 - "Meditate on Your Word" to Lead from Your Truth

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of who I am and all I do this day.  ...

 

"I cry out with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord.... I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your Word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may mediate on Your Word.... You are near, O Lord, and all Your commandments are Truth" (Psalm 119:145-151 NKJV).

 

I hope in Your Word; I meditate on Your Word. I welcome Your Word to become a part of who I am -- informing my thoughts, clarifying my choices, and guiding my steps.

 

Let Your Word be my Plumb Line. Straighten out what's crooked and align what's out of place. Make me sensitive to Your conviction and discerning of Your correction. Let me not be deceived or confused, but clear and direct in what is right according to You and Your Word and Your ways.

 

Then "the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart" will "be acceptable in Your sight" because they are grounded in Your Word as my Standard and my Definition of Truth, "O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14 NKJV). When I mediate on Your Word, I can live and love and lead from Your Truth. Lord, let it be so -- in my heart and in the heart of all who would seek to share Your Word and shepherd Your people, in the power and love of Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, I pray you are filled with a fresh hunger to meditate on God's Word that you may live and love and lead from His truth in every place He has strategically positioned you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Morning by Morning. Order my 365 Day Prayer Devotional for yourself or a friend to begin the New Year starting off each day embraced by the Father, centered in Jesus, and filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

 

Order Morning by Morning through Amazon

Register for the Healing Academy.

Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today:    Healing Academy

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, December 7 - Filled Up to be Sent Out

 

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

 

"Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:  Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went..." (Acts 13:1-4).

 

When we're worshiping and fasting, we're positioning our human spirits to hear Your Holy Spirit. When we're setting apart time for You and Your leading, we're available to be set apart for You and Your plans. When we draw near to You in prayer, we're inspired to be sent out by You in power.

 

For me, these morning times of prayer I set part for You are my way of worshiping You in spirit and truth, of fasting from everything else that would fill up this time of these first moments and first fruits of my day, of seeking Your face and listening for Your voice, of being available to filled up and sent out by Your Holy Spirit. 

 

In so many ways, these morning times are my spiritual life-line that sets the stage and prepares the way for me to be confidently secure in who I am and boldly faithful in what You will do through me each day. Thank You for putting this spiritual hunger in me for Your Word, this spiritual thirst in me for Your Spirit that keeps drawing me near, drawing me here, morning by morning, to be filled up and sent out.

 

I'm sure that when they laid hands on Barnabas and Saul for them to be filled up and sent out by Your Holy Spirit, they had no idea of all that would come. I doubt that Saul, also known as Paul, knew this would be the first of many missionary journeys through many lands that would form the basis for much of the New Testament out of all the experiences and challenges that lay ahead him. But he went in faith, with Barnabas at his side, to begin "the work to which (You) had called them."

 

Here I am, Lord. Send me. Draw me near and fill me up. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Prepare the way and order my steps. Assign me and align me with the right relationships for my journey through this season. Open the doors that no man can close and open the doors that no man can open, to fulfill Your plan and Your purpose for me this day and every day to come. By the power of Your grace, may I be confidently secure in who I am in You and boldly faithful to the calling and purpose You put in my heart to fulfill through my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, I pray you are filled up and sent out, hearing what the Spirit to saying to you and those the Lord has aligned with you for this season of fulfilling your destiny, secure in your identity in Him, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Morning by Morning. Order my 365 Day Prayer Devotional for yourself or a friend to begin the New Year starting off each day embraced by the Father, centered in Jesus, and filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

 

Order Morning by Morning through Amazon

Register for the Healing Academy.

Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today:    Healing Academy

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, December - The Secret Place

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with my Father, One with Holy Spirit. Come be One within me, as I look to You and listen for Your leading in the communion of payer to begin my day, O Lord my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 17:21).  ...

 

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:5).

 

Thank You for the gift of the "secret" place. It's the secret place of prayer, the secret place of deeply personal and intimate relationship with You with You where it's only us. It's "the secret place of Your Presence" (Psalm 31:20 NKJV).

 

You draw me close to take some time to come away with You -- behind closed doors to the world and even to the most wonderful things in my life, until it's just You and me alone in the secret place for a little while. It doesn't replace the truth that You're always with me, that You never leave, that You never forsake me, that You hem me in before and behind and all around. But at the same time, it's a  separate time, a sacred time, set apart for You and just the two of us -- my God and me.

 

Here in the secret place, You remind me that You're my Father and I'm Your child (Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:1). You remind me You're my Savior and I'm Your servant, Your disciple, and even Your friend (Luke 2:11; Matthew 10:24; John 15:15). You remind me You're my Comforter, my Counselor, my Advocate, and the One who leads me in truth and empowers me to be all You've created me and called me to be (John 14:16, 26; Acts 1:8). You remind me of all the gifts and graces I have in You as one of Your children "who dwells in the secret place of the Most High" and seeks to daily "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1 NKJV).

 

Here in the secret place, I rest in You so I can then arise in newness of life, refreshed and renewed, encouraged and empowered, secure in my identity and fulfilling my destiny -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. These are just a few of the priceless rewards for me when I come and meet You in the secret place I have in You and that You have in me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, I pray you are drawn into the secret place of deeply personal and intimate encounters with God, along your journey with Him every day, embracing all the rewards of His Presence He has for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  

Morning by Morning. Order my 365 Day Prayer Devotional for yourself or a friend to begin the New Year starting off each day embraced by the Father, centered in Jesus, and filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

 

Order Morning by Morning through Amazon

Register for the Healing Academy.

Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today:    Healing Academy

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, December 5 - Courage that Overcomes Cowardice

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your leading, as I wait on You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- in surrender and silence, in the communion of prayer.  ...

 

"Next to him was Shammah son of Agee, the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the army fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory" (2 Samuel 23:11-12).

 

Israel battled the Philistines, who came to plunder their land and steal their harvest, time and time again. All that happened to them under the Old Covenant is to serve as an example to us under the New Covenant, to teach us the spiritual lessons and spiritual principles to face our spiritual enemies, to embrace our spiritual promises, and receive our spiritual inheritance. "These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). 

 

Under the New Covenant in Christ, our battle is not against the physical Philistines but the spiritual Philistines, not defending our harvest field of lintels but our harvest field of the fullness of the kingdom of God. "For our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the principalities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). And in our daily struggle to live by the grace of God into the fullness of the kingdom of God, we continue to face our spiritual enemy, "the thief (who) comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10a). But at the same time, we look to the One who has overcome our enemy and empowers us by Your grace to overcome him as well in the power of Your name and the character of Your nature You're forming in us. "(You) came that (we) may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10b).

 

We have much to learn from the example of Shammah, one of David's "mighty men" (2 Samuel 23:8). He refused to run. He refused to compromise or appease. When others fled away, "he took his stand" (2 Samuel 23:12). His courage inspired courage in his companions; his stand encouraged others to stand. "And the Lord brought about a great victory!" (2 Samuel 12:12).

 

Give me more courage, Lord. Deliver me from the "snare" of people-pleasing, rooted in "the fear of man," insecurity, false humility, self-centered pride and self-preservation, that would keep me from standing firm in the faith, defending the truth, and honoring Your name, no matter the cost (Proverbs 29:25). Give me a holy disgust for cowardice that masquerades as tolerance and appeasement that disguises itself as cultural correctness and social sensibility. By the power of Your grace, may I be done with that. "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted ... their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). And that's no place for anyone who is called by Your name and being conformed to Your nature to proclaim Your truth and live it out by the power of Your grace.

 

You didn't die for a lie, but that I would live in Your truth. "For God has not given (me) a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). The "spirit of fear and timidity," the "spirit of cowardice," must go in Jesus' name! (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT, NRSV). And in it's place, come, Holy Spirit, and give me courage -- courage to take my stand for the truth, to take my stand for You and the honor of Your name. "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel" (Romans 1:16).

 

Your Word commands me to "stand firm" against "the spiritual forces of evil" however they manifest in my world -- whether through people, through culture, through institutions, or even through a compromising church (Ephesians 6:12). Your Word commands me to "Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around (my) waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness" along with "the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:13-14). 

 

So by the power of Your grace, I do so. By the power of Your grace, may I continue to do so. And by the power of Your grace, may I "be strong and very courageous" to take my stand in Your truth and the honor of Your name, to live into the fullness of the kingdom of God, and to lead those You've entrusted to my charge to live there too, in the promise of Your harvest and the fullness of our inheritance in You (Joshua 1:6). In You, I can be "strong and very courageous; (not) frightened or dismayed, for the Lord (my) God is with (me) wherever (I) go" (Joshua 1:9). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Beloved one, I pray you are empowered to be strong and very courageous, to take your stand and see a great victory of God in the power and love and sound mind of Christ in you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Morning by Morning. Order my 365 Day Prayer Devotional for yourself or a friend to begin the New Year starting off each day embraced by the Father, centered in Jesus, and filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

 

Order Morning by Morning through Amazon

Register for the Healing Academy.

Friends, I'll be teaching at the Healing Academy on Healing and Deliverance Prayer Ministry this coming February 5-8, 2019 in the Nashville area at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Center. Please come join us if you're being called to healing prayer ministry! Sign up today:    Healing Academy

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!