Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

Jesus never changes. The Holy Spirit told me last night Jesus is resolute meaning He is purposeful, determined, and unwavering.

If you want to walk with Jesus you must be open to change. There can be no status quo in your life. The Holy Spirit looks at your every thought, motive, and decision. Nothing is hidden from Him.

The human nature at birth in all human beings is unacceptable to Jesus. You come into the world to live for self and defy God.

Jesus is without sin. He has no ego. The priority of Jesus is to convert every soul to become a new creature in Christ Jesus.

The gift of salvation gives a believer a new “born again” identity. Your past life and behaviors are replaced by a new life. This change takes many years to develop because your personality must die on the Cross and your ties to the world must be broken.

Salvation is about change. Jesus engineers trials and adversity to convince a human being to live for Him and die to self.

The life of a believer has a new perspective on life. He sees the world through the eyes of Jesus. His thinking patterns change and he develops new values in life. He begins to live for Jesus and seek His will for his life.

He makes decisions through the mind of Christ and walks under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Today God wants to speak to you about change. Are you open to hear His words?

The Christ follower never arrives; He is always under the microscope of Jesus!

Solidarity with Jesus is the most important goal for a believer. This will keep you out of trouble and provide supernatural protection. 

Jesus wants you to walk in oneness with Him at all times. The world is filled with evil and Satan wants to destroy you. And, all humans have an inner nature to live for self and defy God. 

Your life with Jesus begins with a decision to live for Him and forsake all other gods and idols. 

If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart Jesus is Lord you will receive the gift of eternal life. This life starts immediately upon your confession and never ends.

Salvation causes a believer to become a new creature in Christ Jesus and all things become new. The convert will have a new identity and participate in the work of the Cross. The gift of salvation will crucify your natural life at birth and transform you into the character of Jesus.

The decision for Jesus seals a believer with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ in the form of a Spirit.

This will connect you directly with the Living Jesus who has power and dominion over the Heavens and Earth. He will be your best friend and speak to you, teach you His values and fill you with His life.

This relationship is symbiotic which means mutually beneficial for both parties. Jesus gives and He takes. He asks you to let go of harmful or compulsive behaviors. 

Jesus desires for you live in close oneness with Him. This is accomplished by daily prayer, reading the Bible, and listening for His voice.

Most importantly, pray for the blood of Christ to cover you each day and turn away from all forms of darkness. Ask Jesus to show you any attitudes or habits which need to be changed.

Jesus is not looking for perfection just a willing heart to change.

Jesus asks you to live by faith not by what you see with your eyes. 

Faith is believing in the promises of Jesus and learning to be obedient to His instructions. 

The Christ follower will face trials and adversity. They are engineered by Jesus to strengthen your faith and make you “Christ like”. Jesus promises to deliver you from all trials in His perfect timing.

Jesus hates religion. He does not want you to become a religious robut devoted to doing works and keeping laws.

Walk with Jesus by submitting to the authority of the Holy Spirit. He will be alive in your thoughts and guide your decision making.

Jesus asks you to seek Him first above all other things and He will provide your every need. 

Pray each day committing your works to Jesus and seek His will for your life. 

Jesus wants to give you an abundant life filled with His goodness. This supernatural life can never be achieved on your own!

Jesus will make you into a fountain of Living Water touching all those around you.

We all need to take God seriously.

Starting your day without Jesus is asking for trouble. Facing the world, dealing with your fleshly desires, and the attacks of Satan are an overwhelming burden. 

The daily encounter with Jesus is not about a ritual; it is taking time to pray, listen to God, and read the Bible. You want to be in contact with Jesus before you walk out the door.

Faith in Jesus is your most important goal. Faith is submitting your will to God and giving up your independence. Faith cannot be achieved through an intellectual approach or doing works.

Faith is a lifestyle of reaching out to God for your every need. Faith is believing your help comes from the Lord who created the heavens and earth.

The Christ follower must set aside his feelings and yield to the Spirit of God. Walk in oneness with Jesus relying on the promises of God without needing evidence. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

The reality of Jesus is listening and responding with obedience to His instructions.

Faith is living each day in the reality of God’s presence and not through past experiences. 

The reality of Jesus comes to those who surrender to Him and vigilantly seek the will of God for their lives. They submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit and see the Living Jesus in all the moments of life. 

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14

Jesus was with God from the very beginning. Jesus and God are one.

We can learn from God about the nature of Jesus. 

God met Moses after forty years of tending sheep. He was ready to give Moses a divine commission.

Moses had trepidation about this commission and unbelief in facing Pharaoh and the Israelites.

God reassured Moses with the words “I am who I am”.  God was saying I do not need an impressive introduction. I am God and there is no one like Me. 

Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites “I am has sent me to you”.

God was confirming Moses was hand picked and anointed with the Spirit of God. He would perform powerful signs and wonders to authenticate His ministry to free the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

Moses had to deal with Pharaoh who had a hardened heart against God.

The lesson for a Christ follower is to respect and honor Jesus. He needs no introduction and has power and dominion over the heavens and earth.

When Jesus gives you a commission this will comprise of a powerful anointing and the equipping of gifts of the Spirit. Most importantly, this commission will be successful because God is I am who I am.

There may be struggles and set backs but there will be a victory. There were approximately two million Israelites delivered out of Egypt.

Nothing is impossible for Jesus!

It is very easy to have a one on one meeting with Jesus to discuss a mutual relationship. 

Jesus has the advantage because He knows you better than you know yourself. And, He is omniscient and can see every detail of your life from the past through the future.

Jesus is very approachable and open to having a personal and symbolic relationship but the conversation must be initiated by you.

Jesus will meet you anytime under any circumstances but you cannot do business with Jesus from a demanding or condescending position. Remember, Jesus has power and dominion over the heavens and earth. Nothing is impossible for Jesus.

The best strategy is to get to know Him and listen for His voice. Jesus will tell you very clearly about His desires for you and changes required in your lifestyle. Jesus is not a tyrant or religious bigot. He knows you can never be perfect and is just asking for an open heart to seek His will.

Jesus desires to enhance every aspect of your life but sin always gets into the picture. This is why the blood of Christ is so important. The blood covers your sins and gives you a healthy relationship with Jesus.

If a non believer is serious about Jesus the starting point is to ask Him for the gift of salvation and be willing to repent from your sins.

The decision to live for Jesus is to seek Him first and reject all false gods and idols. Jesus will not tolerate other gods. He is very jealous and wants all of you.

This decision will remake you into a new creature in Christ Jesus and begin the transformation of change from your natural condition at birth into the character and personality of Jesus. 

God will seal you with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and your access to the Kingdom of God.

The reality of the Living Christ will come to those who invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over their life. Jesus will be anchored in all the moments of your life!

The authenticity of Jesus is awe inspiring and your life will never be the same!

God shook up the world with the Ten Commandments. The perfect laws of God revealed the depravity of man. 

The laws exposed the darkness of humanity and proved that no one could get right with God.

The darkness was overshadowed by the love of God. 

Where sin is rampant and causes destruction and death, the unconditional love of God offered Jesus as a sacrifice for sin to all humanity. This precious gift of salvation allows a human to live with Jesus forever.

The Bible explains that all things (including evil) work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. God takes the evil in the past to create the purity of Jesus in the life of a believer who is serving the purposes of God.

The pathway to God always starts with darkness. The awakening of seeing your depraved inner nature and the futility of life draws people to Jesus. 

God does not like sin but He knows sin is inevitable in all humans. 

Becoming a Christian does not get rid of sin. However, Jesus forgives all your sins with His blood and He gives you the Holy Spirit to transform a believer into the personality and values of Jesus. 

Jesus is perfect and without any sin. He has no ego. You and I are self driven people who desire to live for self.

The Christ follower takes salvation seriously. He seeks the will of God for his life above all else. 

When you see yourself for who you really are Jesus becomes the most important person in your life. He is a loving God who convicts and corrects believers of their many imperfections! He desires to give you an abundant life filled with the goodness of God.

The secret is walking with Jesus by faith yielding to the Holy Spirit. And, Jesus wants your obedience to His voice regardless of the cost or lack of logic. 

He lives so you can live!

This is a valid question for a believer. Unfortunately, most of the future in your life with Jesus is hidden from your eyes.

The Bible explains God prepared a special plan for your life before you were born. This plan is designed to do the works of Jesus.

This plan requires the transformation of your personality and thinking patterns into the character of Jesus.

You and I are self driven people with strong desires to satisfy self. 

The natural life you were born with must be crucified with Christ. You cannot do the works of Jesus until you die to self and live for Jesus. The miracle of becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit to purify your motives and transform you into the character of Jesus.

The works of Jesus is to become a fountain of Living Water touching those around you. This can be accomplished in any vocation and does not necessarily relate to a Christian ministry. The authenticity of Christ comes to a believer through the Holy Spirit and is a powerful witness for Jesus.

Jesus despises religion because it is built on works and keeping laws. It turns most unbelievers off and discourages people from coming to Christ. 

The workmanship of Christ will bring many trials and adversity into your life. They are designed to make you “Christ like” and strengthen your faith.

The authenticity of Jesus will draw many people to God. They will see the purity of Jesus at work in your life. The Christ follower walks by faith and seeks out God for his every need. He rests in Jesus and ceases from striving.

He waits on the Holy Spirit who fills him with supernatural strength, wisdom, joy and protection.

The works of Christ are created by the Holy Spirit to draw people to God. The Christ follower is just a humble volunteer yielding to Jesus!

This is a difficult subject because the ties to the world affect all people. We live in the world but God tells us we are not of the world. So how do we pay our bills and buy groceries?

The Bible instructs Christ followers to listen for the voice of Jesus and to implicitly obey Him. Jesus asks you to come to Him by faith and He promises to provide for all your essential necessities.

We get sidetracked when our motives turn to striving to meet our needs and desires. And, we tend to put Jesus in the passenger seat of the car.

Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness and was tormented by Satan but He did not give into his physical need for food. He waited on God and the angels comforted Him. 

Satan wants to deceive believers by luring you into worldly thinking. He wants to shift you away from God into a self sufficiency mode. 

Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. And, there were leftovers.

This created a strong impression with many of the people that Jesus was a source for all their physical needs but not really important for spiritual food.

This misconception is prevalent among many believers. Jesus said seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things will be added to you.

How do you seek Jesus first?

The priority is to commit your works each day to Jesus and ask Him to fill your mind with His thoughts. Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life.

Pray for wisdom and unyielding faith. If in doubt about making a decision inquire of the Lord. Don’t act until you hear from God.

Ask God to etch the words of Paul on your heart; “My help comes from the Lord who created the heavens and earth”.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5–8

Jesus was a bondservant to His Father. He did not attempt to boast about His standing with God and was a meek and humble servant. He came without a reputation and in a human presence.

The act of becoming a bondservant to Jesus takes place when a human being surrenders to Jesus and gives up all his rights and independence. The only goal is to seek the will of Jesus. The life of a bondservant belongs to Jesus and He can do with His servant as He pleases.

Jesus spoke these words to me yesterday about a bondservant; “A pound of flesh”. This term comes from Shakespeare and refers to an idiom that means an unreasonable demand or something that is owed but is too costly to pay. 

The demand of the Cross is totally unreasonable by worldly standards and is very costly to a human being. To be a Christ follower one must die to self and become a loyal servant to Jesus. The bondservant must give up all desires and goals and live in captivity to Jesus.

The process of dying to self is heart wrenching at times and filled with adversity. The bondservant must sever all ties with the world and learn to act and think like Jesus.

The bondservant lives by faith and is a powerful witness for Jesus. 

He lives in the presence of Jesus and hears His voice constantly. He is a powerful intercessor anointed by God to fight off the darkness of Satan and set those in bondage free. 

The bondservant is a precious friend of Jesus!

Jesus is very easy to access. He does not hide from anyone.

It is not necessary to go through any religious leader to get in personal contact with Jesus.

Jesus does not care about your background or bad habits. He will accept all with unconditional love.

Jesus died so any human being can have the gift of salvation and live with Him forever.

Jesus is alive. The reality of Jesus is in the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and is sealed in all believers.

Jesus speaks to His people by putting His thoughts in your mind. 

Jesus is approachable at this very moment. 

You are a priority to Jesus. He knows everything about your past and future. He wants to be your best friend.

The way to have personal contact with Jesus is simply to make a commitment to live for Him. This is a faith decision but you will know in your heart without doubt Jesus has heard your prayer.

If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart Jesus is Lord you will be saved and belong to Him.

If this is too scary just ask Jesus to show you His credentials. He has power and dominion over the heavens and earth. 

Jesus is perfect and without sin. We are all born to live for self and defy God. The blood of Christ will cover all your sins and restore you to God.

Come to Jesus with respect and a contrite heart. Surrender to Jesus and yield to the authority of the Holy Spirit. This will put you in contact with the Living Christ and He will be in all the moments of your life!