Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“No one can serve two masters.” Matthew 6:24

Christmas should be about worshipping the giver of the gift of eternal life and not the gifts under your tree. The gifts will bring cheer when you open them Christmas morning and then they will slowly fade away and you be thinking about replacing them with new gifts.

The gift of God is eternal life and will never fade away. Jesus is complete and lacks nothing. He is your only hope for life.

Devote yourself to the miracle of Christmas through praise, prayer, and living in oneness with the indwelling Spirit of God.

Present yourself as a living sacrifice to Jesus and ask Him how you can please Him this Christmas.

When you seek first the kingdom of God above all other things your priority will change from the gifts to the author of life.

Experience a transfigured Christmas this season filled with the life of God. He lives so you can experience the abundance and splendor of God!

 

Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” John 4:50

Jesus was approached by a nobleman whose son was close to death. He asked Jesus to come to his home and heal his son.

Jesus said to the nobleman, “Go your way, your son lives.”

The spiritual truth in this story is you and I have to accept the words of Jesus by faith. Jesus speaks and we believe without any proof or evidence.

Jesus told the nobleman to go about his business and not worry about the outcome of his son’s illness. Jesus was in actuality telling the nobleman to have confidence in His words; “I have spoken and your son has been healed.” So it was just a matter of the healing taking place in real time.

In this situation, the healing took place at the same moment Jesus spoke to the nobleman.

The words of God are alive and powerful so when God speaks to you accept His words without doubt or compromise. Jesus creates all things by His Word. They are invisible to you until they come into existence in His perfect timing.

The promises of Jesus may come into your life today, next week or several years from now.

The point of this story is to listen for the voice of God speaking to you through the Holy Spirit and believe with all your heart in the promises of God.

Go out into life today and enjoy the Christmas season. You can live with hope because Jesus has spoken to you and He keeps His Word!

 

 

 

“I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:41-44

Jesus never looked for honor from men or women. He had no need for worldly honor or prestige. Jesus had one goal in life; to honor and please His Father.

You and I want to be honored and respected by our family and friends. And, we honor those people who are successful and have accomplished great things. However, we tend to look for honor in the wrong places and overlook the honor and majesty of the gift of Christmas.

You have to accept and honor Jesus, the Son of God, for who He is—a gift from heaven. He is above all things, through all things, and in all things. He is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no one like Him!

Make your priority to seek the honor of the High Priest of God above all else. The world will fade away but God will endure forever.

Honor God by dedicating your life to Him. Choose to live for God and not for self. When you make this decision, Jesus begins to honor you with His life.

Seek the honor of Jesus by trusting in the greatness and glory of your Creator. Live by the precious Word of God and reach out to Jesus for your every need.

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Give honor where honor is due! Jesus didn’t die for good people. He died for sinners like you and me.

This Christmas season is a perfect time to honor the King of Kings. He lives so you can live!

 

“Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.” Psalm 33:20-22

The miracle of Christmas is you can live with eternal hope. You can find hope every day of your life through the gift of eternal life.

God offers you help and protection that you cannot find anywhere in the world.

You and I can wait on the Lord filled with His strength, joy, and the encouraging promises of God.

The miracle of Christmas is the transforming quality of God to create a new creature in Christ Jesus filled with His passion for life.

You have a sustaining hope that can never be taken away from you. The Son of God lives in you and through you and shares Himself with you.

Abiding in God allows you to experience the transfigured life and see a glimpse of the greatness and glory of God.

I was deeply touched last night by this word from Isaiah; “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”

Jesus died to heal and restore you to Himself through the work of the cross. Live today in the redeeming grace of God and give all the glory to your Creator.

God works in mysterious ways beyond your capability to understand. He cannot be defined by human thinking. God reveals Himself through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. However, you will only see a partial view of the wholeness of God while on this earth.

God is a spiritual being with unlimited power unlike anything on this earth.

God has a personality and emotions just like you and me.

God is holy and perfect. He is without sin and will always protect His holy dominion. He will not allow your sin to taint His kingdom.

God is very jealous and His jealousy is like a consuming fire. God will not share Himself with your other gods or idols. You have to abandon yourself completely to God and hold nothing back if you want to experience the transfigured life.

You will never understand how God thinks or be able to justify His actions. He functions according to His Word and is firmly opposed to the ways of the world.

God wants you to live with Him by faith. Faith is believing in what you cannot see and trusting the promises of God with all your heart. Faith never judges God by the circumstances in your life. God lives above your life.

Without faith you cannot please God. You have to accept He is a God of greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty and will reward you abundantly for your diligence in seeking Him out.

This all sounds good until you experience the trials and tribulations of life. This is when most people fall into unbelief. They cannot understand how a loving God can allow adversities to ruin their life. They question and blame God.

God never changes. He is the same today, tomorrow, and forever. The secret to living with God is to accept Him for who He is without any doubts or reservations.

This Christmas accept the inexplicable nature of God and praise Him for His greatness and glory! There is no one like Him!

“For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:10

God worked for six days to create the foundations of the world and then He rested.

To enter the rest of God you have to accept the Word of God by faith. The concept of resting in God is living in the work of the cross. You give up your life for the life of God.

You no longer have to strive through life trying to make ends meet. And, you are not under obligation to keep laws, do works, or participate in religious activities. Your sustenance comes from God to meet your every need.

Like David, you believe in your heart that your help comes from the Lord who created the heavens and earth.

God laid down His life so you can have the gift of eternal life. This gift is at work in you every day of your life. The Holy Spirit who conceived the life of Jesus lives in you. Jesus wants to share His life with you and supply your every need according to the riches in His glory.

The spiritual man or woman draws upon the work of the cross to meet the challenges of life. They understand they were born with an inner condition that wants to live for self and is in rebellion against God. They exist by the precept of “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”

Resting in God is a step of faith believing God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself!

“The Lord is the strength of my life.” Psalm 27:1

David lived by his words and the Lord was the strength of his life. David could be living in a whirling storm with no way out but He found strength and hope in God.

The strength of God is made perfect in your weakness. This strength comes from Heaven and not from your inner being.

You can find the strength of God when you recognize you are an impoverished and incomplete person and your only hope is in God.

When you meet the Living God, you see the greatness and glory of your Creator and your insignificance in this world.

It delights the heart of God when you come to Him and confess your weaknesses and insecurities and ask for His strength to meet the challenges of life.

God wants to meet you this very moment at your point of need. This is the only reason to worship God. He will do for you what you can never do for yourself. God lives above your life and His characteristics are greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty.

The spiritual man or woman seeks the strength of God each day to overcome the troubles of life. Commit your way to the Lord and live by faith in the promises of God.

My strength comes from the Lord and He will supply my every need according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. There is no one like God!

Christmas is living through the life of Jesus. He lives so you can experience a joyful and prosperous life!

“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” John 17:21

It is impossible to walk with God and not hear His voice. It is a vital part of worship and your personal relationship with your Creator.

You have the mind of Christ and He desires to be in communion with you. God is a Spirit and you must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Listening to God is a discipline of your daily life. God lives in you and His Spirit wants to communicate with you. Learn to be still and listen for His voice. This is more important than doing works for God or other perfunctory activities.

Your walk with God should begin every day with worship. This consists of praise, prayer, and living in the Word. And, you have to take time to listen for the voice of God.

Every footstep in the life of Jesus was ordained by prayer and listening to the voice of His Father.

Abraham heard the voice of God and believed in His words. In contrast, the Israelites fell into disfavor time and time again because they refused to listen and obey God.

The voice of God will establish your works each day and provide you with wisdom and protection. If you begin your day without inviting the voice of God to speak to you, this will eventually lead to chaos and disorder. In reality, you are telling God you know what is best for you and are denying the divine nature of God.

There is a richness in living with the person of Jesus Christ and sharing in His kingdom. Do not deprive yourself of this richness and intimacy with the Living God.

The miracle of Christmas is the ability to live in oneness with Jesus, the Son of God.

My sheep hear my voice!

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21

I have been praying about the significance of Christmas as we enter into the holiday rush. How can you and I be enriched with the miracle of Christmas?

Christmas was born in heaven so to experience the reality of the holiday season you have to be born of the Water and Spirit. The Water creates a new person in Christ Jesus and the Spirit gives you the indwelling life of Jesus.

The spiritual person lives in the world but he is not of the world. He experiences Christmas through the eyes of Jesus. He understands the gift of God is eternal life and this life is filled with the abundance of God. This gift is more important than any present you will unwrap on Christmas morning because Jesus opens the kingdom of God to a believer.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to accept by faith this miracle from Heaven. Christmas is alive with God. He lives so you can live and draw upon His strength, joy, and peace.

The reality of Christmas is Christ in you!

 

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Matthew 4:1

The temptations of Christ are a microcosm of the conflict today between mankind and Satan. You and I have to face this dilemma every day of our lives.

This is a fascinating story that begins with the Spirit of God leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by Satan. To prepare for this encounter, Jesus fasted forty days to consecrate Himself before God.

The first temptation came at the point of need of Jesus. He was hungry and was tempted to turn stones into bread. This is where you can expect to find Satan at work in your life. He knows your needs and will entice you to do something evil, unethical or immoral to fulfill them.

Remember, Satan is very deceptive and wants to give you the impression his plans for you are okay with God and that most people bend the rules to meet their needs.

Jesus was very firm in dealing with Satan and told him man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. You have to build your life on the Word of God and live in communion with Him through the Holy Spirit. Resist all temptations from Satan and come to God by faith for your every need.

The second temptation was an attempt to get Jesus to test God. Satan told Jesus if He was really the Son of God then jump off the high pinnacle and God would save Him. Jesus responded you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

This is a warning not to take risks thinking God will protect you. God has to go before you in all your plans and actions and you follow in His footsteps. Pray each day the Lord will be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway.

The final temptation was an offer by Satan to give Jesus worldly glory and power if He would bow down and worship Satan.

Jesus responded you are to worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve. You have to live under the authority of God and refuse the ways of the world. You live in the world but you are not of the world. Live for God with a desire for Him to get all the glory.

Prepare yourself for the temptations of Satan through prayer and worship with your Creator. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you with all wisdom and understanding. Finally, live in oneness with God through the Holy Spirit.

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