Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

There have been many interpretations of the words of Jesus concerning this verse in Matthew.

Many teachers attach religious disclaimers to this promise like you have to ask according to the will of Jesus. Or, you have to ask for spiritual things and be content with what you have in life.

The good news is there are no disclaimers in this promise from Jesus. And, Jesus has the power and ability to grant you anything that you ask of Him.

So the question becomes where do you find reality in teaching and understanding this biblical truth. First of all, Jesus wants you to come to Him with your every need whether it is a big or little thing.

Secondly, Jesus wants you ask by faith believing He calls things that don’t exist as if they did. The moment you speak words out of your mouth asking for something from Jesus believe with all your heart you will receive from Him. And, this will happen in His perfect timing.

Thirdly, Jesus is telling you to be diligent and repetitious in asking and seeking Him out. If you are consistent in knocking on the door, Jesus will open the door and give you more than you ask or think.

There is also a deeper sense of the calling to draw near to God and the promise He will draw near to you. Ask out of oneness and intimacy with your Creator!

Finally, I believe you have to seek out the voice of Jesus and listen to His wisdom and direction for your life. You have the mind of Christ and He desires to speak with you and guide your pathway.

My advice is to accept the words of Jesus as spoken and keep on knocking at His door. Jesus keeps His promises!

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

As a believer, the most important thing you can do is to be centered in your Creator. He is your only hope for an abundant life and the peace of God.

You will never find peace in the world because the world does not operate under the axis of God. The world is an enemy to a believer.

The world will bring many troubles because Satan is at work to steal, kill, and destroy. The world is filled with evil, lust, and greed. You cannot avoid these influences as they are rampant and have infiltrated every phase of the community of life.

Jesus has promised that you can have the peace that passes understanding through Him. Jesus can make this promise because He has overcome the world.

The act of Jesus dying on the cross offers you eternal life and the full embodiment of the life of Jesus.

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” The peace of Jesus lives in you through the Holy Spirit and can be claimed by faith in the Son of God.

You have to approach life like you are living in a swirling storm and stay centered in God through praise, prayer and His Living Word. Live in oneness with Jesus through the Holy Spirit and be still and listen for His voice.

God woke me up this morning speaking this biblical principle; “In Him we live and move and have our being.” This is the secret of living with the peace of Jesus.

“But seek first His kingdom and righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Sometime last night God spoke the title of this blog to me along with the above bible verse.

You and I do not know what the future will bring or the severity of the judgments of God. It is now time to wake up and come to God with sincerity and true devotion to His causes.

Many believers are just going through the motions with God. They are play acting and failing to live out their faith. They are content with a superficial relationship with God and hanging on to control of their lives.

You have to honestly evaluate your purposes in a relationship with God. Do you really want to become a new creature in Christ Jesus and die to your old ways and live in newness with your Creator. The call from God is to be transformed into a spiritual being and live in oneness with Jesus.

Without faith you cannot please Me!

God is very jealous. And, His jealousy is like a consuming fire. He wants all of you! If you are serious about God you have to seek Him first above all things. He has to be the priority of your life. You have to invite God to live in every aspect of your life and be obedient to His voice.

God will never settle for being second in your life or a part time God. Seek out out God with all of your heart. He desires to give you more than you ask or think and reward you abundantly for your diligence and faith in living a Christ centered life.

He is your only hope for life!

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Exodus 3:14

The calling from God is to realize your strength, abilities, and individual efforts are of no value in doing the work of God.

God is not looking for your initiative. He is looking for you to rest in His greatness and glory, cease from striving, and live in the work of the cross.

If you study the ministry of Moses you will find his unyielding obedience to God and total dependence on the power of God to accomplish his mission. There was no “I” in Moses. He approached God with fear and reverence and was submissive to His Creator. He desired for God to get all the glory.

As a believer you are under the authority of “I AM WHO I AM” and you will never be successful without the fullness and anointing of His Spirit. Remember, God is complete and lacks nothing.

You and I have to come to God as weak and impoverished people and recognize it is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit. Pray for the fear and respect of the Lord and the humility of Moses.

Position yourself today with God through praise, prayer, and the Living Word. Be still and listen for the voice of God.

Then you can stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He is the great I AM and will do for you what you can never do for yourself!

 “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” Philippians 3:10

You become a believer and quickly discover what you see is not what God has promised for you.

God speaks to you about His grandiose plans for you and almost immediately your life goes in a downward spiral. You encounter deprivation and bleakness and have to endure misery and suffering. Sometimes it can last for years.

When God finds a man or woman after His own heart, He has to hurt you deeply and strip away your ego and individuality. This process has to take place before He can use you for His purposes.

God has to refine you with His character and personality so that when He speaks you will respond without questioning Him or requiring proof. God wants your upmost loyalty to Him above all things and a willingness to give up your life for His sake.

This pattern of suffering for a “born again” believer can be validated by many stories in the Bible. Unfortunately, there is no way of escape until God commands change.

You have to walk by faith and pray for strength and endurance to get through the disciplining of God. There is hope for you. God is faithful and just and will raise you up to do great works for Him.

He lives so you can live!

“He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” John 8:47

Jesus was criticizing the Israelites for their lack of hearing and believing His words. The Israelites wanted to continue to live in the Old Testament and cling to the covenant God made with Abraham.

You cannot be a believer unless you hear and accept the words of Jesus. And, you cannot hear God or understand His Words without the power and function of the Holy Spirit.

God is a Spirit and you have to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. You worship God in Spirit by realizing the Holy Spirit dwells in you and desires to speak with you and teach you the truths of God.

Take time to praise God for His greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty and then be still and open up your mind to hear the voice of God. Accept the thoughts of God by faith. Praise God that you have the mind of Christ and thank Him for sharing Himself with you.

It is important to remember that God will choose when and how He desires to speak with you. He might speak to you during your prayer time or when you are driving your car or watching television. You cannot manipulate the voice of the Holy Spirit. God sets the stage and timing for His communications.

The indictment by Jesus against the body of Christ is they are stubborn and unwilling to listen to God and the leaders have failed to teach believers about the importance of the Holy Spirit and how to listen for God’s voice. This apathy will be firmly dealt with by the judgment of God.

“Enoch walked with God.” Genesis 5:24

How can you get into the stride of God and emulate the life of Enoch. You are dealing with a God who is light years ahead of you, sees all things, and lives in heaven.

It is really impossible to get on an even keel with God. You will always be in a catch up position with Him.

God thinks and acts differently than you. He is holy and without sin. He wants you to live with Him understanding you will never live up to His stature and your only hope is to come to Him through Jesus, the Son of God. You have to be baptized into the death and resurrected life of Jesus. And, this does not happen overnight.

It is possible to live a life pleasing to God one day at a time. God will meet you where you are today and provide you with strength, wisdom, and the joy of the Lord. You have to commit your works each day to God and walk with Him by faith. You also have to bathe yourself in the blood of the cross in order to be in good standing with God. Remember, you are only a split second away from sin.

You can find the heart of God through praise, prayer, and the Living Word. This has to be a consistent discipline in your life and will cause God to share the mysteries of His kingdom with you.

Most importantly, you have to live in oneness with God through the Holy Spirit. This happens when you invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over every detail of your life and you take the time to be still and listen for the voice of the Lord.

God desires for you to have a personal and intimate relationship with Him and to be open to hear His voice. You have the mind of Christ and He wants to be your best friend and share Himself with you.

If you want to experience the transfigured life, you have to give up the right to yourself and give Jesus permission to do with you as He pleases. This is living with God without expectations. You respect and honor God for who He is and what He has done for you on the cross.

God has a more global objective for your life but this may take many years to come into fruition. He will give you glimpses of His plan through prophesy, dreams, and visions. However, it takes a long time to develop spiritual maturity and to be transformed into the personality of Jesus. Moses waited 40 years before he was ready to carry out God’s mission.

The best advice I can give you is to abandon yourself to your Creator, walk with Jesus by faith believing in His promises and never judge God by the circumstances in your life.

The secret to living with God is to cease from your works (striving) and to enter into the rest of God. It is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God!

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” Romans 12:1

The definition of consecrate is to make holy or dedicate to God. How do you or I consecrate ourselves to God?

You offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God and give Him permission to do with you as He pleases. You have to let go completely and hold nothing back. There can be no pretensions with God!

You also have to leave the outcome of your life in the hands of God without any expectations. He is God and can do with you as He pleases.

You choose to devote all of yourself to Christ Jesus, the Son of God. You make Him the center of your life and reach out to Jesus through praise, prayer, and His Word. You live in oneness with God through the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you.

You can never achieve a holy stature like Jesus. Don’t even try. And religion, works, or sacrifices will never make you holy in the eyes of God.

Your only option is to bathe yourself in the blood of Jesus, walk by faith, and learn to be obedient to the voice of God.

Jesus wants your obedience to His voice regardless of your circumstances or the controversial nature of His request. Your obedience to God will cause His favor to fall upon your life!

Your genuine expression of faith in God will bring His holiness to you. Faith is believing in the promises of God and reaching out to Jesus for your every need.

Consecration is not about religion, it is about a readiness to please God!

 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Jesus lived and died by the Word of God. He is a steadfast and faithful God and will never change.

You and I have to change. The compelling issue is to come into a relationship by faith with the Son of God and live in the promises of God and not by what you see with your eyes.

Faith is believing in what you cannot see and understanding God calls things that don’t exist as if they did.

Jesus operates according to the Word of God so you have to be anchored in His Word through praise, prayer, and obedience to His voice.

The trials of life will come sooner or later and you can only respond to them by faith in your Creator. The trials are foreordained by God to strengthen your faith and teach you patience.

Believers get mislead thinking Jesus is about doing great works and living immersed in religion. Walking with Jesus is about a moment by moment oneness with Him and inviting the Holy Spirit to live with you and through you in every aspect of your life.

The reality of the New Testament is to live in a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus for who He is and not for what you can get out of Him.

Don’t think results when you come to Jesus. The results were accomplished on the cross. Think devotion and loyalty to Jesus. Live in the baptism of the death and resurrected life of Jesus and be obedient to His voice.

Your faith in God will bring the evidence of His greatness and glory into your life! There is no one like Him!

“That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” Philippians 2:15

God created man and woman in His image and without sin until Adam and Eve disobeyed God. From this point on, all humanity was born with a natural condition to rebel against God and live for self.

This is why the term “crooked and perverse generation” is mentioned several times in the Bible. And don’t forget to include yourself as someone who was born into this generation.

As a believer, you become a member of the “set apart” people chosen by God. However, your inner being is not in compliance with God and you lack the ability to live a spiritual life unless you are anchored to God through the Holy Spirit.

Life is not simple for a believer. You live in the world but you are not of the world. It has become increasingly difficult for believers to live in the light and not get drawn into the darkness of the world. The darkness is pervasive and has infiltrated all of society.

This has happened because the world does not function under the laws or authority of God. And, Satan has been very successful in trying to remove the influence of Jesus Christ and redefine the moral and value systems in our world.

As a believer, you have the challenges of avoiding the temptations of Satan and giving no power to the desires of your flesh. This is an impossible situation without understanding the reality of God.

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

The precious secret is understanding you have Jesus Christ dwelling in you in the essence of the Holy Spirit. He is your lifeline to God and your only hope to escape the evil influences of the world. He will convict you of sin and lead you into the paths of the righteousness of God.

Invite the Holy Spirit to live in every aspect of your life—your personality, thoughts, words, and actions. Learn to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus.

This will make you an overcomer and a powerful light for God! He loves you!