Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

This deals with the relationship between worship and the blessings of God.

The goal of Christ is to remove every deception alive in your heart, mind and soul about God. Jesus has to do this with a sharp sword piercing into your heart.

God is looking for your loyalty for who He is. This loyalty cannot be based on blessings from Him. The blessings will give you a false sense of security in God. They will undermine your motives in knowing Christ.

God has to deeply hurt you to show you what is really important in your life. At times, He will remove His goodness and protection from your life and replace it with deprivation and suffering.

This is designed to cause you to evaluate what is most important in your life. What are the real treasures in your heart? God wants to be in the center of your life even when you are surrounded by darkness, insecurity and desperation.

The spiritual man acknowledges the greatness and glory of God even when he is living in a state of poverty and God refuses to answer His prayers.

The purpose of the deep hurt is to draw you to Jesus without any conditions. The blessings of God should not figure into your relationship with Him. You value God for who He is and not for what He can do for you.

This is a hard lesson to learn but the outcome will give you a new perspective on Christ. You will be free to do the work of God operating with the pure motives of Christ Jesus!

 

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24

First of all, don’t think about outcomes! This will always lead you astray from the heart of God. The purpose of God is for you to live in oneness with Jesus and to be like Him.

This cannot be achieved until you see your separation from God. This distance is caused because you are unholy and your motives are not in accord with God. You and I are self driven people and our underlying interest is in seeking the blessings of God and not the will of God.

Jesus died so you can be holy and reflect His personality in all aspects of life. This is the guiding principle in how God works to fulfill His purpose in your life. Are you conducting yourself with the values of Jesus?

Jesus challenges believers to look into their heart and honestly evaluate what they treasure most dearly. In most situations, this will relate to a self serving motive. This includes doing the work of ministry.

Your openness to God about sin should be your priority above all else. Where is my sin blocking the ability of God to change me into His likeness?

From a spiritual point of view, the purpose of God is different for each person. And, the purpose will always be changing!

However, the purpose will always relate to dying to self and living for Christ. If you are living for Jesus you will find yourself constantly under the conviction of the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit is at work to examine your thinking patterns and motives. What grieves God the most is when you place self seeking motives above the will of God. This usually relates to your material needs or the mistaken idea you can do something for God.

The question is “Are you willing to do the work of Christ and get nothing in return? The spiritual person operates with pure motives and does not seek notoriety, or blessings, or praise.

He is satisfied with the acknowledgement from Jesus “Well done good and faithful servant”.

Holiness will never come through your works! The holiness of God will come to those who recognize they have been “sold under sin” and can never get right with God.

The holy people of God will live by faith and have a zealous desire to understand and live compliant to the purpose of God.

 

“For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you” Obadiah 1:15

We are at a pivotal time in the heart of God. The judgment of God is upon all nations.

This prophesy relates to Jacob and Esau. Jacob inherited the promises God made to Abraham. Esau, his twin brother, founded the nation of Edom.

Jacob respected God and Esau lived a rebellious life. The people of Edom participated in the destruction of Israel and looted many of their valuables.

Today this prophesy is about the outcome of the seed of Jacob and those who live like the people of Edom.

It is important to delineate between the seed of Jacob and those who identify as Christians. There are many so called believers who are no different than the people of Edom.

The favor of God in this prophesy is directed to the holy ones who have laid down their lives for Christ. Where there has been affliction, suffering, and repression there will be deliverance by the hand of God.

The judgment of God will fall on all those who are arrogant, prideful, and live in rebellion against our mighty God.

On Mount Zion there will be deliverance and holiness. The seed of Jacob will possess the riches of the people of Edom just like what happened to the Israelites when they departed from Egypt.

Our amazing God will create a blazing fire in His people unlike anything before while the people of Edom will be destroyed.

Either you are for God or against Him. There is no middle ground!

“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

Jesus asked His disciples to be watchful as He went into the garden to pray. They quickly fell asleep.

The disciples were ordinary people just like you and me. They had a desire to obey God but lacked spiritual discipline. The Spirit of God was not dwelling in them and they were void of the power and vigor of God.

If you are a believer you can avoid the dilemma of the weakness of your flesh. The Holy Spirit lives in you and He is the life of Jesus.

The truth in the words of Jesus is you cannot do the works of God out of your flesh. You will fail God every time!

This is why it is so important to live in oneness with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Begin each day with God and pray He will fill you with His Spirit and guide you in His footsteps. Commit your works to God and ask Him to establish His thoughts in your mind.

The only way you can obey God is to walk consciously with Him through His Spirit. So when God speaks to you with instructions you will have the strength, wisdom, and endurance to fulfill His desires.

Today, you and I face all kinds of challenges. We live in an upside down world which is not a friend of Jesus and His teachings are contrary to the ways of the world.

You will suffocate and get drawn into earthly thinking and actions without the Holy Spirit. He is your connection to Truth and Life.

We are a set apart people designed to walk with God and reflect His renown, praise, and glory. This can only be accomplished by living through the eyes, the mind, and the strength of Christ who resides in you!

He will do for you what you can never do for yourself!

“That they may be one just as We are one” John 17:22

There is a big difference between making a decision to accept Jesus and merging your life with Him. It is choosing to enter through the narrow gate which leads to the life of Christ.

The miracle of salvation happens when you agree to live for Christ. This is a life changing moment. You become a new creature in Christ Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit. Your life changes from living for self to living for God. Old things pass away and all things become new.

God changes your thinking patterns and values in life. You see life through the eyes of Christ. The life of a disciple is about change. Every day is different as you understand the knowledge of God and grow in spiritual discernment with Jesus.

What role do you play in merging your life with Jesus? The calling from God is to live by faith in Christ. Your security is in Christ and never in the things of the world. Living by faith is trusting in the promises of God. They become your breath of life and are expressed in your thoughts, words and actions in all the aspects of life.

The disciple of Christ finds the efficacy (fullness) of life in God and self sufficiency fades away. This life changing epiphany is recognizing the greatness and glory of God and the insignificance of self.

You come into oneness with the Living Christ through opening your heart up to Him. All God is asking for is a willing heart! He will do the work of merging you into His personality.

God is a Spirit. You and I have to learn to worship Him through His Word and His Spirit. This is the key to discovering the transfigured life of Christ Jesus.

Jesus lives in you in the essence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit takes what belongs to Christ and literally shares His life with you.

Jesus calls you to live by faith not by what you see with your eyes. You judge God by His Word and never by your experiences or emotions. The circumstances of life will have ups and downs but God never changes.

You will nourish your faith through prayer, dwelling in the Word, and listening for the voice of God.

Without faith you cannot please God!

 “I AM who I AM.” Exodus 3:14

So you think you know Jesus?

It is impossible to understand the person of Christ Jesus. This is because He thinks and acts in ways unlike you. Jesus is unpredictable, controversial, and will never adapt to a definition.

There is nothing normal or predictable about the standard of conduct in the life of Jesus. You get to the point where you think you understand Jesus and are living closely with Him and then He turns your spiritual life upside down.

The disciple of Christ living in oneness with Jesus can expect to face many implausible situations in your spiritual journey.

I have personally experienced all of the manifestations of God described below in my walk with God. This does not mean all believers will have to deal with these characteristics of God but you need to be aware of some of the nuances of our amazing God. He works in mysterious ways and at times can be very difficult to understand.

Jesus will create distance in your relationship with Him and appear as if He isn’t concerned about you. Look at how many times David cried out to God feeling forsaken and forgotten. Or, Jesus suffering on the Cross for three hours and feeling abandoned by His Father.

Jesus will cause spiritual confusion through His Words and actions. You have a dream, see a vision, or hear His voice and nothing fits together or makes any sense. In reality, Jesus is weaving together a perfect plan for your life but He is not allowing you to see the outcome.

Jesus will create isolation in your life and close doors to relationships with others or to the vibrancy of life. Examine the life of Job or consider Moses who was isolated by God for forty years while tending sheep.

Jesus can appear very cold and indifferent at times. You pray for a fish and get a serpent. Or, how did the man feel when he went to his friend in the middle of the night seeking a loaf of bread. The friend would not open the door and from within told him “Don’t bother me”.

Jesus will test you through His voice. He will instruct you to do something or He will speak prophesy about a future event and then nothing happens. You have to deal with a broken promise. How did Abraham feel about the instruction from God to sacrifice his son and then at the last minute God changed His mind?

The goal of Jesus is for you to walk with Him by faith and accept Him without question or second guessing His motives or conduct. He is God and can do as He pleases.

Can you get to the place where you can accept Jesus for who He is without judging His actions?

He is a perfect God!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

This popular bible verse is referred to many times to explain that all the events in the life of a believer will work together for good if you love God and are working under His authority. It is a “catch all” phrase to validate the work of Christ. However, you cannot interpret this as a blank check to do as you please or maintain a lackadaisical attitude towards God!

The reference to “all things” relates to your personality, parental upbringing, the trials of life, your rebellion against God and sinful actions, and the power of God at work in your inner being. The goodness comes from the work of the Holy Spirit who intercedes for you according to the will of God.

There is also the issue of how God works through tragedies or terrible experiences to bring His goodness into your life.

God accomplishes this through His love; “Where sin abounds the grace of God abounds more.”  Jesus is loving and compassionate and will overcome all sinful actions with His unending mercy and love.

Jesus looks at the tragedies of life and rules with justice and honor. He convicts wrong doers of sin, punishes those responsible in His perfect ways, offers forgives through His blood, and heals those who have been hurt. God uses a tragic situation to strengthen your faith and bring glory to His name.

The question is how do you love God and live according to His purpose. You love God by abandoning yourself to Him unconditionally and making Jesus the centerpiece of your life. You give your heart to God with an openness and genuine desire to live under His authority.

The challenge is understanding what it means to be called according to His purpose. Very simply, God wants you to live a life of faith trusting Jesus for your every need. God wants you to find your security in Him and never in the things of the world. You live in oneness with Jesus by yielding to the Holy Spirit.

You will find His purpose through prayer, dwelling in His Word, and listening for His voice. God’s ultimate purpose will never relate to works.

Jesus wants you to live in a passionate and intimate relationship with Him. The real purpose of a believer is to know Christ and identify with His suffering on the Cross.

The outcome of the life of a believer is to live with God forever. The journey is understanding your inner fallacy and lack of ability to please God. Then God can do great things through you!

 

 

But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11

Let’s explore the beginning of a new life in Christ Jesus. This happens by the work of God and was initiated before you were born.

At some point in time, you hear the truth of Christ crucified and accept this by faith into your heart.

This experience of salvation happens without any contribution on your part except the act of opening up your heart to Jesus.

God will not allow your flesh to play a part in the decision for Christ because you are tainted with sin and unacceptable to Him.

It is the work of the perfect and holy God who creates the gift of salvation. And, only God can boast of this life changing experience.

With this decision, God implants the Holy Spirit to live in you and share the life of Jesus with you. The Spirit is the source for doing the works of God.

The God who supplies His Spirit to you and performs signs and wonders in the Body of Christ does this through your faith in Christ. Your flesh died with Christ on the Cross and has no value or role in walking with God.

What happens to believers is they start a relationship with Jesus by faith and then quickly turn to works and religion to please God. They are trying to perfect their walk with God through their flesh.

Do you really think you have the ability to do anything for God who created the heavens and earth? It is God working through you in the person of the Holy Spirit who can perform miracles and do the work of Christ.

If you attempt to justify yourself with God by works you will fall under the curse of God. This is because you have to keep all the laws of God which is impossible. No one on this earth has been able to do this except for Christ Jesus. In actuality, you are defying the work of the Cross and replacing Jesus with the efforts of self.

The good news is the curse of the law died on the Cross with Christ. As a new creature in Christ Jesus, your obligation is to live by faith believing in the promises of God and to become obedient to His voice!

Walk with God yielding to the Holy Spirit and you will experience the grandeur of the transfigured Christ!

There is no one like Him!

 

 

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.“ Philippians 2:13

Today God is at work in you to fulfill His good pleasure. Some of His work is accomplished through your prayers and the act of worshipping Jesus in Spirit and Truth.

The Living Water (the life of Christ) flows out of you touching others with the love, compassion, and joy of God. People see Christ in you and are attracted to God.

God will speak to you through His Spirit to instruct you to do acts of kindness to those in your life.

However, the significant part of His work is done below your consciousness. He is changing your personality to mirror the image of Jesus.

God is at work through the Holy Spirit to refine you like precious gold. This is the process of dying to self and living for Christ. Most of this work takes place in ways not visible to you.

The Spirit of God also makes intercession through you to bring down demonic strongholds over others. At times, the Holy Spirit will fill your body with the afflictions lacking in Christ to bring glory and honor to His body, the church.

The fallacy of Christianity is urging believers into a doctrine of works. The works of God are very important but they come out of your faith in God, obedience to His voice, and are born by the Spirit.

Believers become so consumed by the idea of serving God they lose the importance of knowing Christ and walking by faith. This has to precede any work for God.

The disciple of Christ lives out his faith every day of his life and believes God calls things that don’t exist as if they did.

Your faith in God has to be reflected in your thoughts, words, and actions. Faith is a discipline of living in the promises of God and not allowing your faith to be compromised by the circumstances in your life.

The reality of the Cross is understanding you are unable to do anything for God. And, you are deceiving yourself if you think the works of God can originate within you.

The works of God were finished on the Cross. It is Christ working in you that draws others to God. Your individuality (or ego) has no value in doing work for God and will lead you astray.

Demonstrate your faith in God through your words and actions and Jesus will release His resurrected power enabling you to do the mighty works of Christ and bring glory to His name.

Remember, your ministry for Jesus begins with Him. It is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit!

 

“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance”
1 Thessalonians 1:5

The gospel comes to you in words, in power, and in the Holy Spirit.

The beginning is the words of the gospel. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You hear the gospel and accept Jesus by faith. The power of God convicts you of sin and demonstrates the greatness and glory of God.

This begins the action of becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus. You become baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. As a believer, you are born again into the life of Christ and all things become new.

God confirms His Word through the Holy Spirit. Christ becomes alive in you through the indwelling Spirit.

The Holy Spirit authenticates the truths of God and shares the life of Jesus with you.

The assurance of the gospel is to live with Christ forever and to participate in the treasures of God. In this journey you will be tested by God, suffer at times, and experience the abundant life of your Savior. You will see the transfigured Christ and fall to your knees in awe of His grandeur and glory.

The gift of salvation is to be able to have a personal and vibrant relationship with Christ Jesus every day of your life. You can have conversations with the Living God and enter into an intimate and caring friendship with your Maker. Jesus becomes your best friend and confidant.

It is amazing that almighty God who created the heavens and earth wants to share His strength, wisdom, and joy with you along with all of the fruit of the Spirit.

The reality of Christ is you live with Him through the resurrected power of the Cross. There is no one like Him!