Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

Every human being is tempted whether you are a believer or not. Temptation is rooted in your human nature.

If you think you are above temptation you are living a lie and will probably fall.

The temptations come from genetic dispositions and weaknesses in your personality.

There is nothing wrong with experiencing temptations. Jesus was tempted three times by Satan.

You can give into the temptation or yield the temptation to Christ.

If you give into the temptation you will face misery and destruction. This is taking a shortcut to the goodness of God.

If you yield the temptation to Christ, He promises not to let you be tempted beyond what you can endure. And, He will provide a way of escape so that you can overcome the temptation.

Paul, the writer of this scripture, cites the Israelites as an example of falling into temptations. They worshipped idols, practiced sexual immortality, and complained bitterly about God’s methods.

God responded by releasing poisonous snakes which killed several thousand of the Israelites.

If you give into temptations, you can expect the retribution of God.

You can avoid falling into temptations if you walk by unyielding faith believing in the promises of God. Submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit and pray for the will of God. When in doubt, inquire of the Lord for wisdom.

Walking with Jesus must be built upon absolute trust and obedience. This begins when you make a decision to live for Jesus above all else.

Your commitment to Jesus triggers the act of sanctification. You become a new creature in Christ Jesus and are born again.

Jesus sanctified Himself so that you can be sanctified by the truth. The believer must worship Jesus in Spirit and Truth. This includes prayer, reading the Bible, and listening for His voice.

Your relationship with Jesus cannot be defined by experiences or emotions. This will just create an up and down spiritual walk and you will never know the Living Christ.

The Holy Spirit is how a believer enters into the reality of Jesus. The Christ follower must live under the authority of the Holy Spirit and be in contact with Him at all times.

The attributes of Jesus are dispensed by the Holy Spirit and He teaches you how to live by the values of Jesus.

The life and ministry of a believer will be a demonstration of the Spirit and power at work inside you. This is what changes lives not religious or intellectual based teaching..

The believer must be living in steadfast faith believing in the promises of God. There is a big difference between someone who proclaims the Word and someone who is a doer of the Word. The evidence of the Living Christ is seen by all.

The Holy Spirit authenticates a believer’s ministry and creates the Living Water which is life changing.

The challenge is to commit your works each day to God and invite the Holy Spirit to transform you into a powerful witness for Jesus.

The Holy Spirit has burdened me lately with believers who don’t listen to God. This is a very dangerous habit and can bring destruction and misery into your life.

It would be nice to sit down a have a cup of coffee with Jesus. Unfortunately, this can’t happen because the person of Jesus lives in Heaven.

God did provide a way to enter into a conversation with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. And, Jesus confirmed how to draw near to God by worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth.

The Holy Spirit is sealed in all believers. He is the essence of Jesus. And, He desires to have a living relationship with you.

Prayer is not a one way dialogue where you unload your needs upon Jesus. Prayer is a rich, two way conversation and part of a symbiotic relationship with Jesus.

Prayer is asking God to convict you of sins and provide forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.

Prayer is committing your works to God each day and seeking His wisdom for your life.

Prayer is coming before God with a quiet mind and listening for His voice. God wants to have a dialogue with you to teach you His values, and guide your footsteps. He wants to protect you from evil with a powerful buttress of support.

Prayer is reaching out to God with all your needs.

Prayer is allowing the Holy Spirit to bring up those people or circumstances He wants you to pray about. And, He wants to show you how to pray powerful words coming directly from heaven. And, not just a lot of religious words.

You have the mind of Christ. It is impossible to walk with God unless you are yielding to the Holy Spirit and hearing His voice.

The Christ follower recognizes his utter lack of self sufficiency and the importance of hearing the voice of God.

God’s voice is not confined to prayer. Be open to hear Him at any time.

Jesus has life changing words for you!

This powerful Bible verse describes the essence of God. If you believe this truth how can you ever doubt God or fall into unbelief.

Faith is not an intellectual concept. It does not come by participating in religion. Faith is not created by doing works or keeping the laws of God.

Faith is total dependence upon God regardless of your circumstances. Faith is reaching out to God for your every need.

Faith stems from the depth of your personal relationship with Living Christ.

Faith is obeying the voice of God even when He makes no sense or the request is costly.

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

Faith is believing and praising God when there is no evidence of His promises.

Faith is having confidence in Jesus while ship wreck at sea and holding onto a piece of debris floating in the water with no help in sight.

Faith is believing in the gift of salvation and walking in oneness with Jesus.

Faith fills you with the righteousness of God. There is no other way to live in the holiness of God.

Without faith you cannot please God.

Your lack of faith makes God angry. He punishes believers who live in fear or doubt and reject the promises of God.

Faith is believing in the miracles of Christ!

We get into trouble by making decisions that seem to be logical but without inquiring of the wisdom of the Lord.

God knows you better than you know yourself. You see a small view of your personality but God sees the essence of your inner being. He sees your hidden motives and desires to live for self.

God sees all your inner depravity and weaknesses.

God is omniscient and knows every detail of your future.

If you are a believer you must commit your works each day to God and seek His will for your life.

Pray each day for the Holy Spirit to convict you of anything that is not of Him. Take all your challenges before God prior to making decisions.

Take the time to listen to God. You have the mind of Christ.

Read the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you the values of Jesus.

Walk with Jesus with an attitude you can never match up to His standards and yield to the authority of the Holy Spirit.

The righteousness of God does not come by works or participating in religion. God calls you to walk by faith in obedience to His voice. Without faith you cannot please God.

Faith is believing in the promises of God and not what you see with your eyes.

The Christ follower is vulnerable to the tactics of Satan. He wants to destroy your life. Wear the armor of God speaking the promises of God and ordering Satan to flee from your life.

At times you will not know how to pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to make intercession for you to break the power of Satan.

As a believer you cannot avoid the trials of life. They are ordained by God. Your steadfast faith, resting in God, and patience will deliver you from all adversities.

You cannot think or act like God but you can live in oneness with the Living Christ.

This is about building your life on the oracles of Christ and rejecting the falsehoods of religion.

There are are several trends taking place today which are corrupting the Body of Christ.

There is a movement to worship God with little attention to true repentance and then attempting to take His blessings.

The teaching in the Body is filled with the practice of claiming the promises of God as if you are entitled to them. The leaders neglect the retribution of God and the importance of a making a serious commitment to live for Christ.

Jesus told believers to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and the other things in life will be added. This is not the priority of most believers.

Seeking God is about prayer, listening for His voice and a genuine desire to do His will. Are you really willing to be crucified and die to self?

Walking with Christ is giving up your freedom and desires for the purposes of God.

Jesus wants your loyalty and obedience to Him whether His instructions make any sense or may be costly.

Repentance tends to be minimized and is usually just a ritual to get out of the way.

The truth is your relationship with God is defined by light and darkness. And, sin is only a moment away from you. You and I are self driven people who need to be covered with the blood of Jesus every moment of our lives.

The great revivals in the past were all started with repentance.

Faith tends to be a topic not an expression of life.

The whitewashing of God’s truths will give you a wall that will crumble and lack any protection.

Stand firm on the precepts of God and do not accept any deviation from the Word.

Walk with the Living Christ in oneness with His Spirit and Truth. This will provide you a wall with the eternal shields of Christ.

This is a important subject and affects every believer. Religion tends to plaster over the troubles of a believer with the promises of God. This might work but many times is merely be a “feel good” ointment.

I have heard so many people say they were told to walk by faith and God would deliver them. Then nothing happens. This narrative will address this issue.

God is not under obligation to do anything for you because of your works.

There were many faithful believers in history that never received the promises of God. You can confirm this in Hebrews 11.

God tests believers through prophesy so every promise or revelation from Jesus may not come to fruition.

The Israelites were tested for forty years and not one adult stepped foot into the Promised Land.

Speaking a promise of God to someone in trouble and saying have faith is merely an act of religion. There is no guarantee the promise will come into fruition.

Listen for the promises spoken to you by the Holy Spirit. Cherish the promises and walk by faith believing God will keep His word.

You can trust the promise of the gift of salvation but promises concerning deliverance, healing, or an immediate miracle are in the hands of God.

How does a believer deal with truth and conjecture concerning the promises of God?

Walk with God by faith.

Live in contrition (repentance) covered by the blood of Jesus.

Listen to the Holy Spirit but take every word captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus.

Do not be afraid to confront God or ask for wisdom about your circumstances.

Release the feelings of anger, fear and betrayal to God and pray for inner healing.

Seek out mature believers who hear from God and ask them to pray for you and confirm the words of God.

Read the Bible under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Pray vigilantly.

God does tend to deliver His people but He works in His ways and in His perfect timing.

You are at the mercy and compassion of God. Remember, He has power and dominion over the Heavens and the Earth and can change your life in a split second.

There is no greater power than God so regardless of your circumstances He is your only true option for help.

Your troubles were engineered by God for His purposes. He wants you to be free of the world and a powerful witness for Christ. The adversities were designed to transform you into the personality of Christ.

The purpose of God is teaching believers how to grow into the roots of Christ. This is a lifelong work and nothing is more important to God.

You were born into the roots of the world and a desire to live for self. And, your roots tend to control your life.

It is impossible to see into all your roots but God sees everything. The roots of the world will lead to misery and destruction.

Growing into the roots of the Cross is contrary to all human wisdom. Your roots are influenced by genetic dispositions, a deep desire to satisfy self, the impressions of family and friends, and the teachings of religion.

Your roots are established by the worship of false gods and idols. The roots of the world lead to compulsive behaviors and greed for the life of luxury.

The challenge is growing new roots into the heart of Christ. This has nothing to do with religion or the ways of the world.

The starting point is to make a commitment to live for Christ. Don’t try to make changes. Leave this in the hands of God. Jesus is just looking for believers who are open to change and desiring to walk in the ways of God.

Jesus wants to build a personal and embracing relationship with a believer. Center your life on Jesus and your roots will change dramatically.

Your commitment to Jesus will become stronger as you grow in spiritual maturity and wisdom.

How do you develop the new roots?

Pray everyday seeking the will of God.

Be open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and lives inside you.

Read the Bible under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Spirit to bring clarity and understanding to the Word.

Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life.

Listen to the voice of God and respond with obedience to His instructions.

God wants you to walk by faith believing in His promises and not by what you see with your eyes. Without faith you cannot please God.

God is most concerned your motives and decision making are compatible with His values.

Change comes through the power of the Holy Spirit working in a believer with an open heart.

The steps above will change your thinking patterns from self indulgent centered thoughts to the thoughts coming from the mind of Christ.

God has made promises about the wicked. They will suffer and eventually be destroyed. There is a reward for the righteous who walk with Jesus. God will judge the earth and disarm the wicked and deliver the righteous.

You may look with your eyes and see evil almost everywhere. Or, you may be in a training season like Job and experiencing misery and destruction.

But remember, God keeps His promises. He is obligated to honor His words.

He is a God of intercession praying through the Holy Spirit when you and I are at a loss for how to pray and cannot see clearly into the war between light and darkness. God makes intercession with deep groanings which cannot be uttered.

The battle today is taking place mostly through prayer and intercession.

The Body of Christ is compromising the values of Jesus to appeal to the changing culture in our world. We are not confronting the new liberal attitudes and laws with the powerful precepts of God. Our leaders are fearful or apologetic to stand up for the righteousness of God.

The eyes of God see everything and are measuring all things in your life through the powerful oracles of God. Walk in the light of Jesus turning away from all forms of darkness.

God is raising up a remnant loyal and obedient to Christ. Your hope is in God. Listen for His voice, live in His Word, and walk by faith yielding to the Holy Spirit.

The battle is not yours. It is not by strength, nor by might but by My Spirit!

Christ disappears, Satan emerges and a believer’s life is shattered!

This change in authority is orchestrated by God. I have lived through and survived this nightmare and can assure you this is a manifestation of God. And, it can happen to any believer.

Jesus does not answer your prayers and gives Satan the green light to disrupt and destroy your life. The believer has done nothing to cause these actions and is walking by faith with Jesus.

What is the purpose of God in taking this course of action? There are many reasons but some of this explanation is buried in the deep mysteries of God.

In the future we all will have to endure the shocking and devastating judgments of God. No one will be able to escape.

God is preparing for the end times by doing what seems like a cruel and brutal work in the lives of many dedicated believers.

God has chosen a remnant of believers to be crucified by the Cross and transformed into powerful witnesses for Jesus. They will be anointed to perform the miracles of Jesus.

Is the extreme testing and suffering really necessary? God thinks so. There cannot be any impurity in the remnant He is raising up for this effort. Suffering and pain creates the righteousness of God. There is no other way.

God likes to attack Satan through intercession. He does this by making intercession through the lives of believers with the power of the Holy Spirit. Intercession is bringing down strongholds and setting believers free.

The intercessor has to be walking in oneness with God and willing to sacrifice his life to achieve the victory over sin.

You cannot have expectations walking with Jesus. The Cross is a mix of joy, sampling the goodness of God and suffering.

We get sidetracked into thinking life will be mostly goodness and forget we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

With God your life is defined by light and darkness. This permeates the thoughts and actions of God!