Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“Can you discover the depths of God?” Job 11:7

Most people desire a formality in dealing with God. They want a defined and rational set of rules or procedures in a relationship with Christ.

Unfortunately, God does not like to act with formality or predictability.

He wants you to be consistent in worshipping Him through praise and prayer. And, He wants you to be still and listen for His voice.

The challenge is how to deal with the various responses from God?

At times, God will be very close to you and speak with wisdom, clarity, and guidance. He wants to be your best friend!

However, God can also decide to respond to you in ways that seem confusing and makes no sense.

God can choose to be completely silent and seem very distant. At one time, He chose not to speak to anyone for a period of four hundred years.

God can act in ways that are oblivious to your immediate situation in life. For example, He can give you a dream, a vision, or speak words to you that have no context to your life.

God can allow adversity and troubles to overwhelm you which can lead to stress, anger, and fear.

God can ask you to do something which is extreme or costly and makes no sense at all. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son.

God tends to blindfold you from seeing into the future. He desires for you to walk by faith and live with Him one day at a time.

God is never in a hurry. Time is of no consequence to Him. This requires patience and the ability to wait upon the perfect timing of God.

God desires for you to rest in Him. The spiritual principle is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God. Like Josaphat stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!

God operates in ways which are impossible for you or I to understand. Inspite of God’s unusual manifestations, He wants to be a kindred spirit sharing His life with you.

God is an omnipotent spiritual being with power and authority over all things. He is a God of greatness and glory. He is omniscient and sees every detail of your future.

The spiritual approach in dealing with God is to accept Him for who He is without understanding how He thinks or acts. In other words, let God be God!

God does not need to justify His actions. He is a perfect God and our responsibility is to obey Him without any reservations or limitations.

What makes no sense to you is perfect to God!

 

“A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. Matthew 16:4

This vignette between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day clearly distinguishes between living by faith or accepting Christ by a sign.

By asking for a sign the religious leaders were demanding proof of the divinity of Jesus. They would not accept Jesus by faith.

Jesus used the analogy of the weather condition to explain their actions of unbelief. He said you can look with your eyes to discern if the weather today is going to be sunny or stormy.

Jesus calls them hypocrites because they will only believe what they can see. In other words, they can see the condition of the sky but are blinded to the spiritual signs of the times.

Then Jesus calls them a wicked and adulterous generation because they insist on a sign to believe in Him. Jesus refutes their unbelief and says no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah who laid inside a whale for three days before he was set free.

Jesus uses the term “wicked and adulterous” because the religious leaders insisted on worshipping the outcome of the blessings of God but were not willing to live by faith in Jesus who is the author of the blessings. Their hidden interest was in worldly things like power, prestige, and prosperity.

This is a perfect example of how twisted motives have crept into religion. As a believer you choose to worship Jesus for who He is and not what you can get out of Him.

You will find the signs of the times by walking with Jesus and yielding to the Holy Spirit!

The spiritual man judges all things but is judged by no one!

 

“He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” Ephesians 1:9-10

God’s plan is to unite all things in heaven and earth under Christ. This plan will be accomplished in the perfect timing of God.

The question is how does this global plan fit into your life and mine? As mere human beings we cannot grasp the enormity of this mission of God. It is way over our heads. So what is the purpose of Christ for you today?

God wants to unite all things in your life under Christ Jesus. Literally, this covers all your thoughts, words, and actions. And, He is at work in your life to fulfill this purpose.

The catalyst to unite you with Christ begins and ends with your faith in His promises. You cannot leapfrog this priority to pursue works or religion.

The initial building block is trusting God and living out your faith in every detail of your life. You will never be a valuable disciple of Christ until you demonstrate your faith in adversity and all the challenges of life.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is understanding the attributes of Christ and believing He rewards those who diligently seek Him. You seek Him by expressing your faith in who He is!

Your faith in Christ will fill you with His life through the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. Today invite the Holy Spirit to fill you with the Living Water of Christ so you can touch others with the love, joy, and peace of God.

This is how you can contribute to the global plan of God!

 

“He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.” Psalm 33:10

God can see your future perfectly but He does not allow you to look very far ahead. He is content with you living one day at a time and walking with Him by faith.

It is very uncomfortable to live in uncharted waters. You and I want security but God wants your security in Him. The security of the world short circuits your faith in God. You begin to take liberties and God loses His importance.

God prefers to work in ways that can create feelings of desperation and chaos. God does this because His priority is for you to trust Him unequivocally when all you see see is a dense fog with no answer to your prayers.

God removes the foundations of your world so you will cling to Him and come to know His ways. This pleases the heart of God. He is doing something very special within you!

Your faith has to be put through the fires of God. It has to be lived out in your journey with Christ. The purpose of God is to get you to the place where you will never allow the ups and downs of the world to influence your faith in Christ.

God wants to create this attitude in your heart; “Who am I to question Christ. He can do with me as He pleases.”

From your point of view life today may seem upside down but God sees your life as perfect!

 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.” John 3:11

You can read or hear about Christ Jesus and gain an intellectual understanding of who He is. This may give you some inspiration and hope but it will be short lived. This is because Christ does not live in the fullness of your life and you do not know the reality of Christ.

Christ is a God of power, greatness, glory, victory, and majesty. He has power and dominion over the heavens and earth. There is no one like Him!

How can this concept of Christ move into the reality of your life? Very simply, you have to accept His testimony by faith. This requires you to build your life on His promises and abandon yourself to Him without any reservations.

Jesus is not asking you to concern yourself with trying to do things for Him. He is a complete God and lacks nothing. Jesus will not respond to you through works. He wants your unyielding faith to follow Him.

Think about Jesus as a Living God who wants to share His life with you. He works on the principle of faith. Your faith in Christ will introduce you to Him and allow you to experience His greatness and glory. Faith opens the door to see the transfigured Christ.

Knowing Christ begins with an open heart to receive Him without any limitations. Until you get to this point you are just going through the motions with God.

You can receive Christ today by faith in His testimony!

Jesus will deliver you from a beleaguered life to the abundance of His splendor and glory!

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

When nothing seems to make sense and you feel torn from many directions find your refuge in the Living God.

The world doesn’t function under the authority of God. And, you will never find peace and security in the world. The world creates a false illusion and will always betray you.

What happens is you and I find security and hope in the world and unconsciously make this our God. Then comes a whirlwind of troubles and our emotional being becomes shattered.

The only constant in this life is almighty God. He is perfect and lives above the world. God never changes!

Come to God by faith and ask Him to be your refuge and fortress. Take a time out from life and start afresh with God. Let go of everything in your life and seek God out for wisdom and protection.

Place all your values in God alone and ask Him to create the building blocks for today. When you let go completely and make God your refuge He will do great things for you.

The peace of Christ which transcends the world will come upon you and suddenly you will have clarity and renewed hope. You will see life through the eyes of Jesus!

Build you life on the Word of God and His promises. Do not stray away from God or allow the influences of the world to distract you from Him. Make your fixture Christ Jesus!

The favor of God falls upon those who trust God implicitly and live by His Word!

 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6

The definition of the term unequivocal is “in a way that is clear and unambiguous and not subject to any conditions or exceptions”. It is espousing an attitude that is absolute and without doubt.

Your response to Christ has to do with yielding your will power to Him.

God wants you and I to come to Him with an unequivocal commitment. This means you unquestionably accept Christ for who He is and submit your will to Him.

The concept of abandoning yourself to God is difficult for most people. It is just to costly for some and many times is easily misunderstood.

Your will power is the stumbling block for almost all believers. We come into the world as ego driven people and strongly desire to keep our autonomy and independence.

The question becomes “Who is going to exercise the will power in your life—you or God?”

In facing Christ we tend to yield a little of our will power and as we grow in maturity we turn over more of our independence to Him. It is easy to give the non important things to God but when it comes to work, security, or money it is another matter.

Then there are those who agree to jump wholeheartedly into God but have a mistaken concept about abandonment. They believe the path to God is to practice religion and do works.

Abandonment is not about works, keeping laws, or religion. It is simply submitting your will to God unconditionally and without any limitations. It is giving God the freedom to do with you as He pleases!

Walking with God is a lifestyle of prayer, worship, dwelling in His Word, and yielding to the Holy Spirit. This is how you will find the will of God.

Abandonment is knowing Christ and living through Him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31

After speaking to the masses in a remote location, Jesus dismissed the crowd and told His disciples to take the boat to the other side of the lake. He needed to be with His Father to pray for wisdom and direction.

It was just before dawn and Jesus was alone. He saw the strong wind and in the far distance was the boat with His disciples.

Jesus began to walk on the water towards the boat. The disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus and believed He was a ghost.

Peter said if this is you Jesus tell me to come to you. Jesus replied “Come”.
Then Jesus said “Have courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter acted on the words of Jesus and got out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus.

Peter briefly took his eyes off Jesus and saw the strong wind and became terrified. He started to sink and cried out to Jesus to save Him.

Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter. Jesus responded “you of little faith,” and said “why did you doubt?”

There are so many truths in this story that are helpful in walking with God. However, I am going to focus on Peter. He is just like you and me.

First, Peter understood the authority and power of Jesus. He was not going to attempt to walk on water until He heard the voice of Jesus say “come”.

Peter trusted Jesus and all was going well until He took His eyes off Jesus. At this moment he reverted from walking by faith to yielding to his human emotions. And, Peter failed in his command from Jesus.

Today, you will hear the command of Jesus to “Come”. This might be in reference to your work, dealing with family or others, or the responsibilities of life. Your success will come by walking in unyielding faith with Christ and keeping your eyes focused on Him.

Like Peter, there will be distractions around you today and they can easily create confusion, anxiety or doubt. And, the moment you succumb to these feelings you will start to drown.

Without faith it is impossible to please God!

 

 

“He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

What happens to all believers is we come before God in prayer and worship and acknowledge His Word which is alive and powerful.

At this time we become filled with faith in God understanding who He is and what He can do for you and me. We have the feeling nothing can daze our strength and faith in God.

Then we go out into the world and this feeling of overwhelming faith in God begins to gradually fade away as the challenges of life appear.

Fear and doubt begin to arise and we question the sovereignty of God. And, this happens to everyone including the great pillars of faith.

The question becomes is there anyway you and I can avoid this seesaw effect moving from faith to doubt?

Can you find permanency in Christ? The correct response is you can find permanency but it requires perseverance and maturity in dwelling in the Holy Spirit. There is no other way to escape from the ebb and flow of trusting God.

First, you have to accept the Holy Spirit is alive within you and desires to strengthen your faith. Think of the Spirit as a real person whom you can have conversations with and receive the attributes of the life of Christ.

Secondly, learn to listen to your feelings and thoughts and the moment you sense doubt or fear arising within you take a timeout. Try to determine what is causing these feelings and then turn to God.

Ask the Holy Spirit to remove the fear or doubt and replace it with faith in Christ. Then pray for any wisdom to deal with the source of your difficulty.

At this point, let go completely because the difficulty is in the hands of God and belongs to Him to resolve.

If the fear or doubt returns (which is probable) then repeat the same sequence above.

Fear is a integral part of life for a human being. You need the supernatural strength of the Holy Spirit to overcome fear and live in the permanency of Christ.

It also helps to be grounded in Christ through prayer, His Word, and like minded believers.

Remember, God wants you to judge Him by His Word and never by the events of life. The ups and downs of life are a constant but the Word of Christ will never fail you.

 

 

“He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Matthew 13:11

How can you be the person Jesus is referring to in the above scripture?

The answer to this relates to the heart of God and your response to Christ Jesus.

God shares Himself with those who are unconditionally open to follow His ways. This is someone who has laid down his life for Christ and will not be deterred by the circumstances of life. He is willing to lose everything for Christ.

This is a deep condition of the heart and can only be determined by Christ himself. This commitment cannot be made with intellect or emotions because they will fade away in the face of adversity.

God will put you through severe testing to determine your loyalty to Him. This loyalty has to be void of intellect, emotions, or experiences.

God will take you to the point where you will finally accede “He is God and can do with me as He pleases.”

This is the perfect place to be with God. You will see the transfigured Christ and He will share the greatness and glory of His life with you!