Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.” Deuteronomy 13:11

Jesus is very jealous and His jealousy is like a consuming fire. He takes after His Father’s heart. 

The worship of false gods is a very serious matter to God. He demands that anyone involved in this deception is be killed.

This chapter in Deuteronomy deals with lying prophets or dreamers who entice the Israelites to seek false gods. 

God is testing the Israelites to see whether they love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul. 

The punishment from God to the lying prophets or dreamers is to be stoned to death. 

God speaks in further depth about this subject. If a family member, spouse, or a close friend secretly entices an Israelite to serve other gods he shall not consent or listen to them. They are to be killed along with anyone else involved in the conspiracy.

God also tells the Israelites if people living in a nearby town attempt to entice them to seek other gods the Israelites are to verify the accuracy of the report and if true then they are to kill every human being in the town. They are also instructed to take the valuables of the people and burn them up. 

The Christ follower cannot have anything to do with false gods or associate with any person attempting to entice you away from God.

God hates the worship of false gods and idols. He does not want you to be contaminated with this darkness. 

Jesus wants all of a believer. He is not willing to share you with any form of darkness!

This is a very difficult issue because we live in the world and depend on the world for our resources. We have been taught from an early age to seek out the world for our desires. We all have worldly thinking patterns.

As Christians, we set our minds on the things above through prayer, worship, Bible study and listening to the voice of God. Then we tend to turn off God. This causes us to get sidetracked by our desires and temptations from Satan.

It will never work to separate your life into Jesus time and worldly time. The two will never be compatible. The solution is to give Jesus authority over all of your life through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is omniscient and knows your every need. He even knows of needs that are unaware to you. Jesus lives in you and wants to bring order to all of your life.

The Bible tells us we live in the world but are not of the world. But we all have bills to pay and many needs so we have to interact with the world.

The world is not your friend!

Commit your works to God each day and ask Him to fill you with His thoughts. 

Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life. This will release the wisdom and order of Jesus into your thoughts and actions. Jesus will be guiding all your routine and important decisions during each day.

Be sure to inquire of Jesus on the big decisions and wait for His response. Avoid impulsive decisions. They usually bring misery.

Waiting on Jesus will bring a quality lifestyle and perfect timing. 

The moment you make a decision for Jesus you lose ownership of your life. In the spiritual realm you now belong to Jesus and He can do with you as he desires.

The transfer of ownership does not happen in the reality of most Christians. The sacrifice is too great. This grieves the Holy Spirit and causes distance in your relationship with Jesus.

Jesus will spend a life time of engineering trials to get your attention to release your life to Him.

Releasing ownership to Jesus will draw you into the reality of the Living Christ. He will be very present and alive in your life. This will not allow you to escape trials because they are the work of Jesus on the Cross. 

As a believer you will personally identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus. This causes pain and suffering as you sever ties with the world and let go of your independence.

Jesus is unlike a human being. He does not think or act like you. So there is a huge transformation required to become a valuable witness for Jesus.

The Christ follower is a humble disciple and has pure motives. He operates under the authority of the Holy Spirit and does not seek self acclaim.

There is a tremendous sense of freedom when you live by “Not my will but yours be done”. 

The big difference is you are walking with the Living Christ and living in His reality.

The privilege of living for Jesus is to wake up every day in the presence of the Son of God and hear His words spoken to you. 

Jesus has an abundant plan for your life that you can never achieve on your own!

Faith is believing in the invisible which is very difficult for a human being. We all like proof or evidence.

Without faith you cannot please Jesus. We get excited and our faith is boosted when Jesus gives us a mountain top experience. But when an arduous trial comes along the experience fizzles.

Don’t try to build your relationship with Jesus on experiences. They come and go. 

Jesus wants your faith to be without emotional attachments because when things are good, Jesus is good. And, when things are bad Jesus has failed you.

Your mood swings determine your standing with Jesus. Trials bring anger, fear, and disappointment. They weaken your faith and distance you from Jesus.

The challenge is learning how to walk with unyielding faith regardless of your circumstances. This is almost impossible for a human being unless you are walking in close oneness with Jesus.

Practice strong faith building principles!

Pray every day and commit your works to Jesus. Seek His will for your life.

Listen for the voice of Jesus. He desires to encourage and protect you. As a believer, you have the mind of Christ.

Read the Bible daily under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He makes biblical words into powerful spiritual principles.

Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life. He is the life of  Christ and is sealed inside a believer. This will bring the presence of Jesus into all your daily tasks.

Give your negative feelings to Jesus and ask Him to strengthen your faith.

Reach out to Jesus for your every need. He may not answer the big prayers right away but He will meet your basic needs.

Jesus operates in His perfect timing. He asks you to wait upon Him because He is doing a deep surgical work to refine your personality and character to align with His values.

Jesus will deliver you. He always keeps His promises!

Someone would have to be crazy not to want these promises for their life.

Christianity is not relevant but the Living Christ is essential to a human being.

I am talking about Jesus who is alive and has power and dominion over the heavens and earth. Jesus is not elusive and can become your best friend and protector today.

Forget about religion, rules, and laws. Jesus wants nothing to do with them. 

Jesus desires to have conversations with you and be very present in your life. This is not fantasy; it is the authenticity of Jesus.

Jesus is not looking for perfection because He knows you can never match up to His standards.

Jesus wants to have a personal and embracing relationship with you. 

What is required to inherit these powerful promises?

Make a decision to live for Jesus by faith and reject all false gods and idols. 

Jesus hates sin because it will ruin your life. He is not asking you to conform to religious standards. Jesus is simply saying walk with Me by faith and seek My will for your life.

Faith is trusting in the promises of Jesus and not what you see with your eyes. Jesus wants to give you an abundant life filled with His goodness.

Jesus wants to make you clean from your past so you can stand blameless in His sight. This happens by asking the blood of Jesus to cover your sins and be willing to turn away from darkness.

Salvation is a living gift from Jesus and starts with your decision to live for Him. This gift does not relate to a timeline. It is experiencing the Living Christ every day of your life. 

Jesus wants to be your best friend in a symbiotic relationship where both parties mutually benefit from each other!

The Holy Spirit spoke to me last night with words and visions. He announced the beginning of the great tribulation. There will be economic woes, wars, diseases, and famine. Many people will die.

The judgement of God will touch every human being. Jesus is a God of retribution and this is a time of punishing the world for defying the ways of God. 

Many in the Body of Christ and non believers operate with clandestine behaviors. They attempt to hide their secret sins. This is foolishness with God. Jesus sees everything and nothing is hidden from His eyes. 

The goal of many is to achieve a comfortable life and they operate with twisted motives, lies and boasting. 

Sexual immortality is rampant. There are no rules and anything goes. 

Christianity is not relevant. The leaders push laws, works and religion. 

Walking with the Living Jesus is not a priority and the importance of the Holy Spirit is minimized or rejected.

There is little or no respect for Jesus.

This a time to come clean with Jesus. Confess your sins and turn away from darkness. Ask Jesus to cover you with His blood and be open to His correction.

Make a decision for Jesus and seek His will for your life. Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life and He will be very present in your thoughts and actions.

The decision is either turn to Jesus or face misery and destruction!

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.

This is the most difficult challenge you will ever face in life if you are serious about Jesus.

It is easy to initiate a relationship with Jesus but this is just the start of a very arduous journey. 

Christianity promotes all the wonderful attributes of life with Jesus but mostly leaves out or minimizes the sacrifice of the Cross. 

The most important goal for a believer is to know Jesus. This is difficult because Jesus does not think or act like you. 

We are self driven people who desire to have a comfortable life and Jesus has no ego, is without sin, and is motivated by unconditional love. The personalities do not mesh and Jesus is not going to change.

You and I have to change if we want to walk with the Living Christ. The change takes place through the efficacy of the Cross. 

The salvation gift is about becoming a new creature in Christ. This means we die to self and are transformed into the character of Jesus. We learn to let go of self sufficiency and live under the power of the resurrected life of Christ. 

We enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Jesus. The life is characterized by fiery trials, suffering and pain as we are conformed to His death and dealing with the need to let go of our ties to the world.

The Christian life is characterized by unpredictability and controversy following the model of Jesus. It is a roller coaster ride which makes no sense at times.

Jesus desires to give you an abundant life filled with His goodness but He has to come first in your life. This means giving up your independence and right to yourself. We are required to seek the will of God above all else.

Jesus is the way the life and the truth!

If you are someone who does things you don’t want to do this is perfect for you. This law of Jesus will overcome your weak will power.

Jesus has defined the laws in effect concerning sin. He created the law of the Spirit of life in Christ to defeat sin. Jesus did this by sacrificing His life on the Cross. 

If a person makes a decision for Jesus they are sealed with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ. This allows any believer to walk in oneness with Jesus and avoid presumptuous sins. 

Choose to walk under the authority of the Holy Spirit and you will be free of the bondage of sin. You will not be perfect but you can live a life pleasing to Jesus.

Jesus also created the law of sin and death. If a person lives in his natural state at birth and rejects Jesus he will become a prisoner to sin which leads to death. 

Start off each day by committing your works to Jesus and invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life. This will release the thoughts of Jesus to guide your day and protect you from evil or disorder.

Jesus desires to bring His order into your life and enhance your productivity. The believer has the mind of Christ. Jesus desires to speak to you and guide your footsteps and decision making.

Inquire of Jesus before making important decisions. We get into trouble when we make impulsive decisions or operate with the wrong motives.

Pray to Jesus and ask Him to cover you with His blood and show you anything in your life which is grieving the Holy Spirit.

Walk by faith reaching out to Jesus for your every need. Trust the promises of Jesus and not what you see with your eyes!

This is one of the most powerful promises of God and will work for anyone. 

The story is in Psalm 55 and the setting is David hiding in the wilderness from his enemies. The subject is dealing with the oppression caused by the wicked. 

David is overwhelmed with trembling and fear over his enemies.

David cries out to God for a way of escape but realizes God created the mayhem and the attacks of the enemy.

David replied to God it was you a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance who created this adversity.

God has placed the oppression and darkness upon David’s physical and spiritual being. He can identify with the evil feelings and actions of his enemies.

God tells David to cast his burden upon His shoulders and He shall sustain him. God reassures David He will never permit his righteousness to be shaken.

God took down the wall of protection around David. He did this to strengthen David’s faith and show him the greatness of God.

This experience with David is something every believer has to deal with at some time in life. God allows Satan to attack a believer for His purposes.

God will place afflictions on a believer. He will feel the oppression and the darkness. This is the work of intercession which causes a believer to identify with darkness. It can be horrifying and physically exhausting fighting off the darkness.

The next time you encounter a difficult burden turn to our powerful God. Cast your burden upon His shoulders and do not take it back. It now belongs to God and He will bring the victory.

God may not take the burden away immediately but He promises to sustain you with strength, patience and endurance. God promises nothing will shatter your relationship with Him or cause you to be deprived of His righteousness.

Jesus delivers His people!

The Christ follower cannot take Jesus for granted. The promises of Jesus require unyielding faith, listening and obeying the voice of God, and seriously seeking the will of God for your life. Develop the discipline of yielding to the authority of the Holy Spirit and you will hear the voice of God with regularity.

Jesus is not about living in the history of the Bible. He is a Living Christ and has a divine plan for your life. It is impossible to find this plan unless you are encountering Jesus everyday of your life.

The Israelites were destroyed because they did not listen to God. He told the Israelites on Mount Sinai “You shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine”. They blew this promise because they did not trust God and turned to false gods. 

This precious promise is available to every human being on the earth. Jesus who controls the earth will favor you and treat you as a special treasure above other people. The gift of salvation places you into the “set apart” people of God.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is designed to fill you with the renown, praise and glory of God. The contingency is your obligation to listen and obey Jesus. If you choose to live for self or seek worldly things you will grieve the Holy Spirit and the anointing will diminish. 

The Christ follower has the mind of Jesus. What is He saying to you today?