Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:9

Last night God spoke to me about the transparency of Christ Jesus. He is not an intangible God. Jesus is alive and wants to share Himself with you.

Think about living with God through this example of transparency. If you live in a house with the windows shuttered you are surrounded by darkness and not open to the light. However, if you unshutter the windows the light shines into your house.

You have to take the initiative and reach out to God. Jesus is standing outside your front door and asking you to invite Him into your life. There is no hesitancy on His part.

There was also a warning from God last night. The Holy Spirit told me that He will uncover the secret parts in the Body of Christ and expose the deceit and treachery against the Word of God.

If you are a believer, you have to take your commitment to Jesus seriously and seek Him first above all other things. There is no stopping point (or time out) with God!

God made Jesus a little lower than angels because He wanted Him to live on the earth in a human form.

Jesus can relate to you because He experienced life on your terms. He lived in the world and faced all the same temptations from Satan that you have to deal with every day of your life.

Jesus knows your personality better than you know yourself and can identify with all your feelings. He also grasps the challenges of trying to live in the world but not conform to the ways of the world.

God orchestrated for Jesus to come to the earth in a human form and die on a Cross. This is the only way you and I can inherit the gift of eternal life. Jesus died so you can have an abundant life and live in oneness with Him.

Jesus was destined to experience a suffering death and was crowned with glory and honor by God. He tasted the agony of death so you can live with Him forever.

God has placed all things in heaven and earth under the subjection of Christ. There is nothing left that is not under His authority.

The miracle of salvation is you can meet the Living Christ and live in communion with Him. He lives so you can live.

You can share anything with Jesus without shame or embarrassment. Your deep secrets and failures in life are not hidden from God. He died to forgive all your transgressions. They are no longer a hindrance to living with Him.

Jesus desires to be your best friend and confidant. He wants to have conversations with you and pour out His wisdom, strength, and joy into your life.

If you are a believer, Jesus is alive in you through the function and power of the Holy Spirit. He desires to walk closely with you and help you meet all the challenges of life.

Commit your works each day to God and yield to the Holy Spirit. This is like turning on your navigation system and allowing God to steer you through life. It is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God.

Jesus is a transparent God and wants to share His resurrected life with you!

There is no one like Him!

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

The example of perfect obedience was displayed by Jesus who gave up His life on the Cross. This was an extreme act of obedience and is unlikely to be a calling in your life.

The challenge is to understand how to be obedient to God? You probably failed God several times today even though your intentions are to please Him.

You were created to be in relation with God but your inner being is evasive to the authority of God. So you live in conflict every day of your life choosing to obey God or live for self.

The first step is to recognize it is impossible to live the perfect life of Jesus so don’t even try. You will fail God because you are a self driven person and cannot think or act like God.

Jesus knows you will never live up to His standards. The journey of a disciple is to come to know Jesus and walk by faith believing in His promises.

The transformation of the inner person is the work of the Holy Spirit and mostly takes place below your consciousness. This is a lifelong process and you will not be complete until you meet Jesus in Heaven.

Christianity promotes the importance of obedience to God and doing good works but fails to explain the methodology of walking by the Spirit of God and how your faith leads to righteousness and doing the works of God.

Your faith in God will fill you with the righteousness of God. There is no other way. Abraham believed God and it was credited to Him as righteousness.

Your works are born out of the Holy Spirit. You hear the voice of God and are obedient to God following the example of Abraham who was willing to sacrifice Isaac, his son, to the Lord.

Your faith and your actions have to work together and they originate with the Holy Spirit.

You can live obedient to God by yielding to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

This is an act of voluntarily choosing to yield (or live through) the Holy Spirit dwelling within you and rejecting the urges of the flesh. This is the only way you can live in obedience to Christ Jesus.

Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life and you will be able to lead a life pleasing to God. You won’t be perfect but you be free from the bondage of sin.

The Holy Spirit will guide you into the truths of God and show you how to appropriate the values of Jesus into your life.

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

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11

The walk of a disciple is not easy. Who wants to suffer and die to self? The world worships success not martyrdom.

Christianity is filled with both lukewarm believers and disciples of Christ. The difference is a disciple knows Christ and lives out His life. He participates in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ and dies to self to live for Christ.

The disciple lives through the resurrected power of Christ and understands there is no sufficiency within himself.

The disciple is grounded in Jesus through prayer, praise, and His Word. He is sustained by the breath of Christ.

The disciple is like minded with Christ and consistently hears His voice.

You come to know Christ when you make a decision to give up the things of the world to follow Him.

The most important priority for a disciple is to live by faith and please your Savior through your thoughts, words, and actions.

The disciple realizes in the depth of his heart “Christ is all and in all.”

He is the essence of life for a disciple of Christ!

 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7

The definition of oblique implies something indirect or obscure. You see an object without clarity or understanding.

The challenge is how can you see the reality of the Living Christ and increase in His wisdom and knowledge.

As a believer, you have received Christ Jesus so the command is to walk in Him. This is a statement of action and commitment! It is not about apathy or disillusion.

You make a decision to live rooted and grounded in Jesus and established in faith believing in His promises. You become alive to God and dead to sin. Your substance of life is Christ.

The life of a believer is participating in the baptism of the death of Christ and becoming raised with Him through faith in the work of the Cross.

You are transformed into a new creature in Christ Jesus and are complete in Him. Your sins have been forgiven, you are restored to God, and Christ lives in you.

The goal is to live in Christ through the Holy Spirit and walk in oneness with your Creator. This is the only way you can defeat the indulgences of the flesh.

In Christ, you are free from regulations and religion. You will fail God attempting to live by self imposed restrictions or religious practices. They have no life changing power.

Come to the Living Christ and walk in Him! You will see His greatness and glory and Jesus will become your best friend.

He lives so you can live!

 

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

The first premise about syncing with Christ Jesus is understanding it is very possible to sync with Him and that your Creator desires to be linked to you. Believe me, He is not too busy to enter your life.

You can have a personal and vibrant relationship with Christ Jesus today. He wants to be your best friend and enter into conversations with you.

It is possible to hear His voice consistently and live in oneness with Jesus. This can happen in spite of your sinful condition and many character defects.

The question becomes how can this happen?

The starting point is making a decision for Jesus. This is the act of declaring He is your Lord and Savior. You agree to die to self and live for Him.

This is the stumbling block for most believers. They make a decision for Jesus but it stops with the gift of salvation or they are reluctant to let go completely and abandon all to God. They hold back components of their life for fear they will lose things they cherish. Or, they do not want to give up their independence or autonomy.

The good news is God understands how difficult it is to let go completely. He will accept you just as you are today with your reservations about giving Him your all.

When you make a decision for Jesus, He places the Holy Spirit to live within you. This is the life of Jesus in the form of a Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a person and He will share the life of Jesus with you and teach you how to appropriate His values into your life.

You now have the mind of Christ so think about prayer as a conversation with God. Learn to be still and listen for His voice.

The Holy Spirit wants to be active in all of your life. So if you are serious about syncing with God, invite the Holy Spirit to enter into all the aspects of your life.

You will quickly discover He will be alive in all that you do whether it is your work, family, shopping, eating lunch, or filling up your car with gas. He meets you in the moment!

The Holy Spirit will enhance the quality of your life with His wisdom and guidance. Jesus is omniscient so He sees your future and wants to protect you and help you make good decisions.

The Holy Spirit is your conduit to experiencing the reality of the risen Christ. You will see the greatness and glory of God and your life will never be the same!

There is no one like Him!

“The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau.” Obadiah 1:18

Esau was the founder of the nation of Edom. He belonged to the family of Jacob. Esau’s spiritual heritage came from the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham. However, Esau did not respect God and his influence contributed to the values of the Edomites.

Edom became a proud and arrogant nation and believed they could do as they pleased without any recourse from God. They participated in the destruction of Israel and rejoiced in the demise of God’s chosen people.

This was a big mistake by the people of Edom. They misjudged God and His ability to bring retribution on those who defy His ways. Edom was destroyed and Israel was restored to the kingdom of God.

This story is a microcosm of life today in our nation. We are on a parallel course with Edom. We have defamed the name of Christ Jesus and have attempted to remove His influence in our society.

We continually violate the laws of God and act is if He has no authority in our country.

We are a promiscuous nation without moral accountability. This will lead to our downfall and destruction.

You and I are accountable to God for all of our actions. Light cannot coexist with darkness. As believers, you cannot participate in or condone the evil ways of the world.

Stand up for the values of Christ Jesus and become a powerful beacon of light touching those living in darkness.

We live in the world but we are not of the world! We belong to Christ Jesus and live in the kingdom of God!

“In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
Yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.
They will call on my name and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” Zechariah 13:8-9

The judgments of God are inevitable! They are written in His heart.

You and I can choose to accept His judgments or you can distance yourself from something that seems so surreal and impossible to take place.

The reality of God is His judgment is over the world and He plans to punish us for our sins and lack of respect for the Creator of the heavens and earth.

In the perfect timing of God, He plans to strike down two thirds of the population of the world and leave a remnant of one third.

The remnant will be refined by the fire of God and severely tested to measure their faith and obedience to God.

The remnant will live with God and call on Him for their every need. They will walk by faith and not by sight.

The circumstances of life will never effect their loyalty to Christ Jesus. They will be firmly grounded in the bedrock of Christ Jesus and nothing will be able to shake them away from God.

The question to ask yourself “Is the Lord your God”? Where does He rate in the priorities of your life?

Have you built your life on the words proceeding out of the mouth of God or are they in competition with your worldly needs?

You cannot compromise the Word of God. You have to accept the wholeness of God if you want to belong to the remnant.

God never changes. His character lives forever! You and I have to change and come under the authority of God.

What impresses God is your unwavering faith in His promises. You live in the world but you are not of the world. You live through the breath of God!

Come to God without any exceptions and He will respond “You belong to Me!”

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16

Prayer is engaging God in conversation. You talk to God and He talks to you.

Prayer has no beginning or end. It is the integral part of your relationship with God. Prayer is living with God and inviting Him into every aspect of your life.

Prayer is a recognition of your utter helplessness and the greatness of God.

Prayer is reaching out to God by faith and believing in His promises.

Prayer is offering yourself as a living sacrifice to be used as He pleases.

Prayer pleases the heart of God. He wants you to submit your every need to Him.

Prayer is a pure and holy approach to plead with God for those who are suffering, living in bondage, or lacking the salvation of the Lord.

Prayer keeps you honest with God. You invite Him to search your thoughts and ways and correct you from any actions not pleasing to Him.

Prayer is speaking and singing praise to the Creator of the heavens and earth whose name is exalted above all names.

Prayer is allowing God to go below your consciousness and make intercession through His Spirit for those living in bondage to sin.

The prayers of a righteous man avails much. The eyes of God are on the righteous and His ears are open to their cries.

Prayer fills you with the wisdom of God and teaches you how to appropriate His values into your life.

Prayer causes the joy and peace of God to fall upon you.

Prayer is acknowledging the greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty of God!

 

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest’” Hebrews 4:3

This amazing truth about entering the rest of God will change your life forever. You will understand in the depth of your heart the power of God and your inadequacy as a human being. The Cross will become a reality in your life.

God created the heavens, the earth, and every living being in six days and then He rested.

God made a promise to you to enter into His rest by faith.

The rest of God is an acknowledgment of the greatness and glory of your Creator. It is a recognition to cease from your works as God did from His works and walk by faith with God. You see the futility of self sufficiency and the grandeur of God.

Resting in God is expressing your obedience to God and living by faith in His promises. It is a commitment to walk by faith and not by sight.

Today, when you hear the voice of Christ Jesus accept Him unequivocally without any doubt or unbelief.

God swore in His wrath that the Israelites would never enter His rest. They fell into unbelief and died in the desert. They did not receive the precious promises of God.

As a disciple of Christ Jesus you enter into His rest by faith and understand it is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God.

He lives so I can live in His rest!

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25

Jesus has been resurrected and lives with His Father. This is your only hope for life today.

If you are a believer the resurrected power that lifted up Jesus and took Him to heaven lives in you.

This is the miracle of life for a believer. This is the source of your wisdom, strength, and joy. You will never understand the reality of God unless you live with Him through the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit brings life to the scriptures. They become alive in your heart.

Jesus prayed that you might be one with Him even as He was one with His Father. Come into oneness with Jesus by yielding to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will reveal the transfigured Christ and He will share the life of Jesus with you.

You can choose to accept Jesus as a figure in the Bible or invite Him to be your best friend and walk closely with you through all the challenges of life.

You have the mind of Christ! Be still and open up your mind to hear the voice of God. He desires to fill you with wisdom and protect you from the perils of the world.

Experience the resurrected Christ who promises He will do for you what you can never do for yourself.

The resurrected Christ is your hope for life today. There is no other way!