Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“Not by might nor by strength but by My Spirit” Zechariah 4:7

What happens is Jesus gives a believer a vision or prophecy concerning the future and the tendency is to rush out into action.

Abraham was an old man when God spoke to Him about His role in the future. He told Abraham that he would become the Father of many nations. 

Moses waited forty years before his vision came into reality. He spent more time with Jesus than anyone in history. 

We have to live in the vision as we go about doing routine and boring things in life. 

At times, we see no progress towards the prophecies of Jesus and we lose faith and get involved in worldly or religious activities to pass the time away.

Jesus desires for a believer to trust fully in the prophecies and not to discard or treat them lightly.

When the whirlwinds come we must be walking by faith and worshipping Jesus in Spirit and Truth. 

Don’t let the passion fade away. Keep the vision strong through the ups and downs of life.

Wait on the Holy Spirit before entering into a ministry or you will fail miserably. 

Become a powerful prayer warrior, read the Word, and listen for the voice of Jesus. 

The Holy Spirit is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway. 

Commit your works each day to Jesus and live under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Learn to be obedience to the instructions of Jesus in the little things of life and this will prepare you for the big things in ministry. 

Build a personal, embracing and devoted relationship with Jesus. Get to know Jesus intimately and understand His ways.

Jesus will equip and release you into an anointed ministry in His perfect timing. He is a promise keeper!

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

This promise from Jesus will only work if you are vigilantly seeking His will for your life.

The desire of Jesus is to have a personal, embracing and symbolic relationship with a believer. He wants to be your best friend. 

The believer must have a deep love for God, be covered with the blood of Jesus and yielding to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus knows a believer can never be free from all sin and He just asks for an open heart to change.

Jesus asks you to get to know Him through prayer, reading the Word and listening for His voice.

The priorities are to walk by faith believing in the promises of Jesus and not what a believer sees with his eyes. 

Jesus wants a believer to be obedient to His instructions regardless of the personal cost or lack of logic.

The mistakes in life teach a believer about the importance of fleeing from darkness and spiritual decision making.

Most of the bad things are caused because our motives are not pure or aligned with God.

Let the past be a reminder of what it is like to live for self and pursue the desires of the flesh.

The key to doing the will of God is to invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life.

Pray this simple proverb every day in the morning. It will radically change your life.

“Commit your works to God and He will establish your thoughts.” 

The believer has the mind of Christ and Jesus wants to be present in all the moments of life.

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

Jesus sees the big picture but we have limited vision.

Sometimes we just don’t know how to pray over confusing and difficult circumstances in our life. Or, we may be dealing with spiritual warfare and feel defeated.

At times, we become weak and emotionally distraught and have no answers.

This is the perfect time to turn to Jesus and ask Him to make intercession through the Holy Spirit sealed within you. In all likelihood He is already working on your behalf,

The Holy Spirit is the life of Jesus. He will search your heart and discern how to pray for you according to the will of God. 

The groaning of the prayers are too deep to understand but God is precisely targeting your needs and refining you into His character.

Intercession is filling up the flesh with the afflictions of Jesus for His body the church. 

The afflictions of Jesus are laid upon believers according to the work of the Cross.

Salvation comes to non believers when strongholds are broken and they reach out for the redeeming blood of Jesus.

Intercession is an important spiritual tool for a Christ follower and is a pure work of God.

“But where sin abounded, grace abounded more” Romans 5:20-21

God defined sin by giving Moses the law. The law was designed to show humanity the righteousness of God and the fallacy of man. No one can keep the laws of God and all will perish.

The love of God for humanity created a resolution to this conflict. God sent Jesus, His son, to the earth to be a sacrifice for sin and to offer all the gift of salvation. 

Sin abounds because all humanity was born with an inner nature to defy God and live for self. And, there is no way to correct this behavior. All humanity is doomed.

The love of God can forgive all sin and transform a believer into the character of Jesus.

This transformation requires a voluntary decision to live for Jesus above all else.

This is a commitment from the heart to follow Jesus not religion. 

The red flag is most people make a  partial decision to live for Jesus.  This might be ten, twenty or fifty percent their life.

This leaves the door open for sin and denigrates the process of sanctification. 

If a believer wants the fullness of Jesus he must devote one hundred per cent of his life to the Lord. He must turn away from the darkness of the world and seek the values of Jesus. 

God is not looking for perfection but a willing heart to change.

The gift of eternal life is a command to die to self and live for Jesus.

Seek the blood of Christ for repentance and forgiveness. 

Walk by faith anchored to the Holy Spirit.

Give Jesus all and He will give you all of His life.

He lives so you can live!

“And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.” John 16:3-4

The world is greatly influenced by Satan who wants to destroy Jesus and His followers. 

Persecution comes because light cannot coexist with darkness.

The Christ follower can expect persecution from those who do not know God. 

Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy believers. Flee from all darkness and do not be yoked to an unbeliever.

We live in an invisible war between Jesus and Satan. Pray for wisdom and be alert to the attacks of Satan.

The Bible instructs believers not to believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God or the Antichrist.

Satan’s attacks are vicious and damaging.

Pray for inner healing from the scars and pain caused by persecution.

The Christ follower must submit to the authority and protection of the Holy Spirit. He must learn to be quiet and humble with his words and actions.

Jesus promises that no weapon formed against a believer shall prosper. Fight off Satan with the words of Jesus.

The name of Jesus terrifies Satan and the blood of Jesus is your protection against Satan’s tactics.

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world!

Walk with Jesus in boldness and confidence. He has power and dominion over all things.

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 14-15

Jesus forgives all sin and makes a believer clean through His blood. However, we are all accountable to turn away from darkness and walk in the light of Jesus.

This blog discusses how we get entangled in sin and spiritual insight to overcome the temptations of Satan.

The conflict between Jesus and sin goes on every day of your life. No one is immune.

The driving forces that lead to sin are the desires of the flesh and the attraction of the world.

James explains very clearly how this happens. The believer is tempted by some form of evil. This happens to every one. But when the temptation is allowed to turn into a desire then sin is conceived in the believer’s inner being and will be lived out in his life. If the sin continues Satan can easily create a stronghold and the believer will be in bondage.

The remedy is to immediately flee from any temptation and pray for protection from Jesus.

Another spiritual tool is to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus. He will provide wisdom and discernment between light and darkness.

The world’s standards of life and moral values are contrary to Jesus. The world is a temptation and will cause a believer to be led astray. He should sever all evil ties and compulsive behaviors of the world and be grounded in Jesus.

The spiritual solution is to walk with Jesus anchored to the Holy Spirit. Jesus desires to be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway but this will only happen to those who invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over their life.  He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Pray, read the Bible and listen to the voice of Jesus. He desires to protect you from all evil!

You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:14-15

Jesus desires to be your best friend and have an intimate and embracing relationship with a believer. 

The scripture above explains the contrast between a servant and a friend. The servant must obey his master without any knowledge of the master’s business or reasons for his commands. 

Jesus educates His friends in all spiritual truth. Jesus shares all of His life and powerful attributes with a friend. 

Jesus is not a brutal taskmaster. He just wants a friend to obey His commands. The commands bring salvation, abundance and protection against evil.

He is obedient to the instructions of Jesus regardless of the personal cost or lack of logic.

The friend of Jesus is “sold out” to the Lord. He lives for Jesus above all else. He develops a friendship with Jesus through prayer, reading the Bible, and listening for His voice.

The friend of Jesus submits to the authority of the Holy Spirit and walks in oneness with Jesus by faith and obedience.

Friendship is built on honesty, trust and transparency in a relationship. Jesus is a true friend. He laid down His life for you!

“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” Luke 19:42

Jesus entered into Jerusalem and saw the crowds. He wept.

The Israelites thought Jesus was going to become a king not a martyr for humanity.

Jesus saw the coming devastation to Jerusalem and the suffering of the people.

Jesus wept because of the future destruction and lack of faith of the people.

The Israelites were not willing to repent from sin and accept the teachings of Jesus.

The future could have been filled with the goodness of God, supernatural protection and the peace that surpasses all understanding.

The Israelites heard the words of Jesus but were blinded to understanding His wisdom and prophecies about the future. They did not take Jesus seriously.

We have all failed God’s warnings at times. The “might have been” did not happen because we were not listening or obedient to God’s voice. 

The future is going to be tumultuous for all humanity so we have to pray seeking the will of God and listen for His voice. When God speaks do not reject Him like the Israelites.

Follow the instructions of Jesus with complicity and without hesitation.

Jesus is omniscient and desires to protect a believer but we must submit to Him. The Holy Spirit is your safety net so invite Him to have authority over your life. He speaks for Jesus!

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37

The decision for Christ causes a human being to die to self and live for Jesus. The believer’s life no longer belongs to him. It belongs to Jesus. He must live by the oracles of Jesus or face the judgments of God.

The challenge is profiting to meet your needs under the guidance and authority of Jesus.

This is where greed and self interests get entangled in our motives. 

The Bible instructs believers to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things will be added.

This is a direct command to elevate Jesus above everything else in your life. Make Jesus first by seeking His will through prayer, reading the Bible and listening for His voice.

We get priorities out of order in dealing with the difference between needs and wants. 

Jesus promises to provide for a believer’s basic needs but his wants have to be submitted to the perfect timing of Jesus. 

Jesus desires to give a believer abundantly more than he asks or thinks according to the Holy Spirit dwelling inside him.

Profiting for Jesus is binding evil and loosing the salvation of Jesus to others. We bind evil through prayer and intercession and loose salvation through the Living Water in our words and actions.

Jesus does not want a believer to attempt to enhance his life and gain prosperity. Let Jesus pour out His goodness on your life and rejoice in the words “My cup runneth over”.

Jesus wants a believer to lose his life for the purposes of the Kingdom. This will give a believer a new life and identity built on the principles of Jesus. 

We cannot buy or earn the gift of salvation. It is a gift from Jesus that comes by faith and obedience.

For in Him, we live and move and have our being!

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 6:12

Satan is not a fantasy. He is alive and wants to steal, kill and destroy believers. He is very powerful and has an army of demons.

Satan can hear all your words and knows all your weaknesses. He cannot hear your thoughts. 

Satan is a liar and will attempt to lead you into darkness with assurance this evil behavior is acceptable and condoned by society. 

If you are serious about Jesus you will be in a war with Satan. This war is not about flesh and blood. It is a war against principalities and the rulers of darkness. This wickedness originated in Heaven and desires to defame and destroy Jesus Christ.

We are told in the Bible to fight this darkness with the armor of God which provides believers with an array of weapons to defeat the evil intentions of Satan.

The armor of Jesus is an outfit with many spiritual weapons!

We abide at all times in the truth and righteousness of Jesus.

We wear the shoes of peace to guide our footsteps and make safe decisions.

We walk with unwavering faith believing in the promises of Jesus to quench the fiery darts of Satan.

We ask Jesus to enfold our mind, spirit and body in the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

We speak the words of Jesus and pray guided by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, we must be watchful with perseverance and make intercession for those in bondage to Satan. 

Jesus has delegated His authority to believers to cast out demons. Pray for the gift of discerning of spirits. This will allow you to identify the specific workers of Satan. 

Ask Jesus to identify the name of the lead or host demon holding the afflicted in bondage. This will enable you to call the lead demon out by name and any other demons must also follow. The name of a demon is always related to an evil activity like lust, greed, anger, or addictions. 

Make sure you are covered with the blood of Jesus before entering into this warfare.

Remember, the demons must leave by speaking the words of Jesus and commanding them to flee by the blood of Christ.

This is intense work and requires fasting and prayer. Jesus is a God of victory.