Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

The word from God today is scapegoat. God spoke this to me last night in reference to Jesus. He also told me apostasy is increasing in the Body of Christ. Believers are rejecting Christ for more contemporary versions of God.

The term scapegoat originated in Jewish tradition. It was a biblical ceremony honoring God. A goat was selected and upon his head was symbolically placed the sins of the people and then the goat was released into the wilderness.

God is holy and will not be contaminated with your sin. There has to be an atonement or cleansing of your sin in the eyes of God. This is the only way you can live in contact with Him.

The animal sacrifices did not work. They had no sustaining ability to purify a human being. Once a sinner always a sinner.

God replaced the scapegoat and the system of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament with Jesus. 

God created a son in His image. Jesus was appointed to be a sacrifice for sin and the method for a human being to be reestablished with God and to be transformed into the character of God.

Jesus was the lamb led to the slaughter by His Father. This is the Messianic complex. Jesus died so we can live with God forever and experience the richness of the gift of salvation every moment of our life.

The point of this discussion is you and I have an impoverished soul and can never get right with God through our own efforts or religion or doing works. You are stuck in the mud and on the outside looking at a closed door.

Jesus was innocent but prosecuted. He was punished for your sins. 

Today the term scapegoat is used to blame someone for the mistakes of others. He is a target of abuse and persecution. 

The scapegoat is Jesus. He is the only way you can be reconciled to Jesus and inherit the treasures of our great God.

“We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” Hebrews 10:19

The word from God for today is surrogate referring to the concept of a substitute.

Last night God gave me a vision of people traveling on an airplane without a pilot. The plane was spinning out of control. This why you and I need a surrogate Christ!

The surrogate can replace our impoverished souls with the life of Christ.

The surrogate is like a legal guardian looking over your interests.

The surrogate takes the place or stands in for your weaknesses.

The surrogate is a substitute for your sins, compulsive behaviors and rebellion against God. He substitutes the life of Christ for your natural condition at birth. He transforms you into the character of God. Your sinful condition is replaced by the righteous of God.

The surrogate is the resurrected power of Christ. This power comes from heaven and cannot be found in a non believer.

You have to get out of the way if you want the surrogate power of Christ. This power does not think or act like you. He replaces your mind with the mind of Christ.

The surrogate power comes to those who walk by faith and are obedient to the voice of God.

You can trade in your life for the surrogate life of Christ. It is a decision to live for Jesus above all else.

The surrogate is a person. Jesus is alive and desires to have a personal and embracing relationship with you.

The surrogate wants to fight for your rights and protect you.

The surrogate changes ashes into beauty!

Why waste your time chasing a storybook Jesus? The word from God today is esoteric referring to the myth about the person of Jesus.

First of all, Jesus is alive and wants to be a living reality in your life. Jesus does not live in history; He desires to live in every moment of your life. He is not illusive or distant.

Jesus is an every day God who wants to come down from heaven and meet you personally. Jesus desires to have conversations with you and share the attributes of His life with you.

Jesus is not religious man. He is not asking you to keep laws, practice religion or do works to please Him.

How do you remove the esoteric label? This happens through prayer and opening your heart up to Jesus. You don’t have to jump in with both feet. He will definitively prove to you that He is worth more than anything in the world.

Reach out in prayer by speaking honestly about your feelings and ask Him to help you with all your needs. This is not a monologue; you must listen to what Jesus has to say.

The cornerstone in a relationship with Jesus is built on faith. He wants you to believe His words and walk by faith and not by what you see with your eyes.

The government of God is on the shoulders of Jesus. He wants you to obey Him and live under His authority. This is for your own protection and to provide you with an abundant life which you can never achieve on your own.

Now lets deal with the Bible. Jesus doesn’t look upon the Bible as a historical manuscript. Jesus lives and communicates through His words. He desires for you to extract the truths from the Bible and appropriate His values into your life.

The miracle of Jesus is the gift of salvation. This has nothing to do with time. Jesus seals you with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and is your direct link to the Living Christ. He is the source of the unlimited strength, wisdom, joy and protection of God.

Jesus does not want you to live on the surface and short change yourself. He wants you to live in the depth of His heart and receive the fullness of His greatness and glory.

How can you say no this awesome God?

“Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord” Isaiah 43:10-11

Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” Matthew 3:7

The word from God today is intrinsic which is defined as belonging to the essential nature or constitution of something. In the context of a believer this refers to belonging to God.

The intrinsic nature of God does not exist in you at birth. The gift of salvation comes to all those who make a decision to live for Jesus. You then belong to God and are born into His nature.

The Holy Spirit seals you with the life of Christ. He is the intrinsic nature of God. Jesus lives in your mind, soul, and personality.

The desire of the Holy Spirit is to transform you into the character of God.

This cannot happen unless you are totally devoted to God and seeking His will for your life.

The intrinsic nature will remain at a static or dormant stage until you abandon yourself completely to God. And, religion will stifle the growth of God in a believer.

This is a decision to come into oneness with Jesus and seek His will for your life. This cannot be consummated by words, emotions, or works. You must come into a personal and embracing union with the Living Christ.

God wants you to be obedient to His voice regardless of the cost or sacrifice.

The purpose of the intrinsic quality is to allow the translucent light of God to pass through you touching others

The Living Christ wants to fill you with strength, wisdom, joy and protection and help you deal with the troubles of the world.

Salvation is not an escape from troubles, it brings more troubles.

The advantage of Christ is that He is on your side fighting for your needs and working to deliver you. He is advocating with God on your behalf.

Make your goal to know the Living Christ and walk in oneness with Him.

Jesus will give you a life you can never achieve on your own!

“It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” Matthew 10:15

I did not want to write this narrative but I have to comply with God.

This is about the reality of God and the future for believers. The compunction of God is coming like never before. I have witnessed this wind of judgment. It is frightening and all powerful.

We are in the end times and believers have to understand the night is over and the day is here. Your salvation is nearer then ever before.

There is a brandishing light coming from heaven.

This light is a powerful beam bringing conviction on all believers

You can no longer shuffle between light and darkness. This is about insatiable greed, sexual immorality, and debauchery. The list goes on and on. They grieve the heart of God.

The days of mediocrity are over.

If you are not all in with God and living in the light you will be subject to the consequences of His judgment.

God has taken me into the eddy of this brandishing light. Believers will collapse, lose consciousness and stumble to the ground. This is the hand of God dealing with conviction and judgment.

This will happen because God is angry over sin and the lack of respect for His name.

You will not be able to argue or compromise with this light.

God told me the impunity (exemption) to escape His judgment is to turn away from sin and open your heart up to God with a desire to seek His will for your life.

Jesus loves you! He has power and dominion over the heavens and earth.

“Salvation belongs to the Lord” Psalm 3:8

God spoke to me last night about understanding the reality of the gift of salvation and the relationship of God to man.

Salvation is God at work in a human being. It begins with God and has no ending. Salvation is God transforming you into His character. You have no control over your salvation or the ability to manipulate this gift to your advantage.

Salvation is yielding to God without any purpose. Salvation is not writing your own script; you allow God to do with you as He pleases.

Salvation is the work of breaking your compulsive behaviors and fleshly desires.

Salvation is living by faith with obedience to the voice of God.

Salvation has nothing to do with religion. You worship God in Spirit and truth.

You lose your rights to the will of God.

Salvation does not operate on human logic or make any sense in how God directs your pathway.

The goal is to live in oneness with God without seeing any purpose or goal for your life.

Salvation can be nourished by prayer, meditating on the Word, listening to the voice of God, and living under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

The practice of religion, doing works or keeping laws will not enrich your salvation. It will deter you from the heart of the Living Christ.

We attempt to manipulate God by thinking if we do something good for God He is under an obligation to bless us. This is a heresy perpetuated by religion. The blessings of God come by your faith in Christ and in His perfect timing.

Salvation is asking God how you can please Him without any strings attached.

Salvation is the revelation of Christ in the life of a sinner!

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.” Psalm 34:15

You can’t get the attention of God unless you reach out to Him.

You need two things to get the favor of God; a clean heart and unyielding faith and obedience in His words.

The clean heart comes through the blood of Christ. Confess your sins and turn away from darkness. Jesus will cover you with His blood and make you blameless in His sight.

The righteousness of God comes through your faith in His promises and your obedience to His voice. It will never come to you through works or sacrifices.

God isn’t looking for perfection; He is looking to accomplish His work through an imperfect believer filled with character defects.

Abraham believed God and was obedient to His instructions. He followed God and was credited with the righteousness of God.

Reach out to God with a serious desire to do His will. Ask God “How can I please you today?”

Then be still and listen to the Living Christ.

God will speak what is on His mind in His perfect timing.

The eyes of God see everything about you. He knows you better than you know yourself.

God will honor your prayers and cries if you walk by faith and are obedient to His voice.

All you need is a heart willing to follow God regardless of the cost or lack of any logic.

This will get His attention!

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight” Psalm 19:14

We all complain about our troubles. At times, I have been a chronic complainer and have faced the rebuke of God.

We complain because we don’t get our way.

Complaining starts with the onset of troubles. Grumbling diminishes the power of the Holy Spirit and takes away your joy and peace.

God hates grumbling and complaining. He considers this behavior an insult to His character.

We have the mistaken mindset that troubles are not the will of God. Troubles are created or permitted by God.

The revelation of Christ is accepting that troubles perfect you in the sight of God.

God delivered the Israelites out of slavery and got very mad at them over their continued complaining and lack of faith.

God punished the Israelites by sending them on a forty year zig zag journey. All the adults died in the wilderness and never entered the Promised Land.

The mature Christ follower is a powerful witness for God and a fountain of Living Water on the outside but on the inside he is an embattled individual facing crushing burdens.

Complaining provokes God because you are doubting His power and dominion.

The challenge is to accept that burdens are the will of God and cast them on the shoulders of God. This will give you freedom, peace and joy.

The burdens are the way of life for a believer. You are called by God to die to self and live for Him. This cannot happen unless you become crucified like Jesus who carried the burden of dying on a cross with Him every moment of His life.

God promises to deliver you but in the seasons of troubles Jesus wants you to praise Him with a heart of thanksgiving.

“The peace that surpasses all understanding” Philippians 4:6

There is a direct relationship between the peace of Jesus and the circumstances in your life. When life is good God is great.

Peace tends to disappear when the troubles come. We become overcome by fear and anxiety. And, many times we blame God for our troubles.

If you lack the peace of God you have to look into yourself. Something is blocking the Holy Spirit. It might be your lack of faith, emotions or a specific behavior.

We wake up each morning with challenges, feelings and needs.

The junction always leads to two different roads; we either trust God implicitly or yield to self. Or, sometimes we agree to trust God on some matters and yield to self on other matters.

Let’s look at the burdens you face each day. They may have been engineered by God, your mistakes or the actions of others.

Does it really make any difference? You cannot assign blame for the troubles. They exist and God wants you to give them to Him.

The mature Christ follower accepts the troubles without blaming and casts them on the shoulders of God. He walks by faith believing God will deliver Him regardless of the mountains to leap over. This attitude will cover you with the peace of Christ.

Now back to the junction and making choices for today.

Develop the mindset God wants to bless your desires. Then give the Holy Spirit authority over your actions. He will guide you in a smooth pathway and show you what to do and what to let go of for today. God has taught me over the years there is a time for a Macdonald’s burger and a time for a more lavish meal. Yield your decision making to Him.

The peace of Christ will allow you to live above your troubles!

“There is no one righteous, not even one” Romans 3:8

God spoke to me recently about the contrast between Jesus and a human being.

The revelation from the Holy Spirit is you can never match up to the standards of God and don’t even try.

Jesus doesn’t want you to try to be like Him because this is impossible. Jesus wants you to be yourself and ask Him to fill you with His life. Then you can live and move and have your being centered in Him.

As a human being you and I are plagued with moral decay. This nature just doesn’t disappear in a flash through a prayer or self control. In fact, it never completely leaves you until your entry into heaven.

Jesus desires to give you a strong compunction about sin and a moral compass aligning with His values. The goal is steady improvement and never perfection.

The Christ follower accepts his impoverished condition and doesn’t come across as a religious or pious individual.

This attitude of the heart comes through prayer, an open heart, and the blood of Jesus.

You have to be “In Christ” to live a life pleasing to God. The conflict is between the Spirit and the flesh.

To be “In Christ” invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life and old things will pass away and all things will become new.

People will see you as a genuine Christ follower with humility and respect for others.