Hal’s Blog

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!

Jesus desires for you to focus on knowing Him and not on religious habits or laws. 

We can never match up to the standards of God. Jesus encourages believers to forget about trying to be like Him and concentrate on developing a passionate and devoted relationship with Him.

The cornerstone to a relationship with Jesus is built on a deeply personal and symbiotic partnership. The most important characteristic is abandonment to live for Jesus.

The Christ follower consistently hears the voice of God and seeks the will of Jesus above all else. The partnership is grounded on faith, obedience and prayer. 

Christian perfection is different from human perfection. There is no human effort or striving to change for a believer. The perfection comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

The perfection of Christ is learned in all the irrelevant and commonplace moments of life. This is where you learn to think and act like Jesus.

This discipline creates a powerful light touching those around you. They see your lifestyle of faith and reliance on God without striving through human effort. 

The world sees Jesus through the inadequacies of God’s people. They think and act differently!

Jesus wants to be your best friend and He is very accessible. And, He is not looking for squeaky clean people.

Abraham became a friend of God because He believed in Him and was obedient to the instructions of God. Abraham was far from perfect just like you and me.

There are two choices in making a decision for Jesus. You can enter through the wide or narrow gate.

Most believers enter through the wide gate because it is less threatening with fewer hardships.

The narrow gate is very difficult and few enter this gate. They do not want to experience what Paul endured.

He said “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The friend of Jesus is willing to give up his independence and rights to himself. He severs the ties to the world and surrenders to Jesus.

The believer who wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The Christ follower invites the Holy Spirit to have authority over his life.

The friend of Jesus has a personal and passionate devotion to Him. He walks by faith and hears the voice of God. He is obedient to Jesus regardless of the personal cost or the lack of purpose. 

For in Him, we live and move and have our being!

The first step in walking with Jesus is the ability to see yourself through the eyes of Jesus. All human beings have been “sold under” sin due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

We all have a corrupted inner nature stemming from our natural life at birth. This life wants to satisfy self and defy God.

There is dark valley in your personality and spirit which is below human consciousness. Some of this darkness comes from genetic dispositions from your ancestry.

This hidden part of your personality is where you can get in trouble and find yourself in bondage to Satan.

In contrast, Jesus has no ego and is without sin. No one can match up to the standards of God. And, He is omniscient and sees every detail of your past and future.

The epiphany is seeing yourself compared to Jesus. The contrast causes a sickening feeling like Isaiah experienced. He said “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips”.

It takes a very humble and contrite heart to see that all righteousness comes from God.

Jesus is not looking for perfection but he wants you to recognize who you are and how you can be transformed into His character.

The righteousness of God cannot be obtained through human effort, doing works or keeping laws. It comes by your faith and obedience to the voice of God. Nothing else works.

The Holy Spirit lives in all believers. He is the life of Christ. He wants you to walk in the light and avoid darkness. He convicts of sin and teaches the values of Jesus. 

The Christ follower must invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over his life. This action will allow you to walk in oneness with Jesus and be filled with His thoughts in all the moments of life. 

Embrace Jesus and abandon yourself completely to Him. Ask Jesus to cover you with His blood. Seek repentance and be open to the correction of God.

Remember, what may seem right can lead you into misery and destruction!

Christianity has ingrained believers with a false picture of what it is like to follow Jesus.

The leaders have deviated from the importance of developing a personal and loyal relationship with Jesus to creating a disciple model of laws, mandated works and religious habits. 

The easy path with Jesus is to live by rules and habits. It is very difficult to live by faith and submit to the work of the Cross.

Jesus was very unpredictable and controversial in His words and actions but perfectly aligned with His Father. He broke many of the Jewish laws, confronted the leaders over hypocrisy and rejected worldly ways.

God desires for believers to be devoted to Jesus not to a religious culture.

 The spiritual journey is developing consistency in devotion and obedience to Jesus. This is a walk of faith grounded in prayer, studying the Bible and yielding to the Holy Spirit.

The believer who surrenders to Jesus will identify with the Cross. 

The Cross crucifies self motives and creates humility and meekness. It is a life of dwelling in the presence of Jesus and dealing with trials and adversity.

The order of Jesus can be like a roller coaster. Jesus is unpredictable and tests believers endlessly. He measures your faith and asks you to be obedient to His instructions which at times make no sense. 

The reality of Jesus in a “born again” believer is found in all the routine moments of life. This is where you will learn how Jesus thinks and adopt His values.

It is not by might nor by power but by My Spirit!

This begins with your relationship to Jesus. The most important priority is abandoning your life to Jesus without any exceptions.

The Christ follower must have a personal and symbiotic relationship with Jesus. He must know the Living Christ and hear His voice with regularity.

He must be free from religion and the control of laws and mandated works. 

He must be walking in oneness with Jesus by yielding to the authority of the Holy Spirit. 

He seeks the wisdom of God through the Holy Spirit and rejects worldly ways.

He allows God to speak through Him and asks God to keep self motives out of his ministry.

The power of God works through Him and he is anointed with the Spirit and equipped with the gifts of the Spirit.

He is grounded in God and walks by faith. He relies on the Holy Spirit to strengthen his faith during seasons of adversity.

He lives in personal contact with Jesus and inquires of Him in all decision making. 

He is a man of zealous prayer and intercession. He meditates on the truths in the Bible. They are like precious gold to him.

He lives and breathes Jesus!

As human beings, we all encounter difficult trials in life. The trials create a range of feelings including anger, depression, and sadness. 

If you choose to stay in the emotional distress your faith will crash and your confidence in Jesus will bottom out.

Prayer will help if consistent and you seek out the Holy Spirit. But more than likely the feelings will return.

This cannot be resolved by an intellectual approach or “feel good” therapy.

Jesus is in heaven and not available for a personal meeting to help you navigate through your moods.

The most viable remedy is to go back to your beginning with Jesus and rebuild your faith based on your experiences with Him.

Think about the miracle when you received the gift of salvation, meditate on the personal promises made to you from Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to help you recall the visions and dreams in your life and reflect on the signs and wonders witnessed from the transfigured Christ.

These life experiences will embolden your faith and give you steadfast confidence in Jesus.

Finally, read about the powerful attributes of our God in 1 Chronicles 29:11.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all.

Pray everyday. Ask Jesus to take away your mood swings, fill you with joy and restore your confidence and faith in Him.

Jesus reigns!

You might think Jesus is sitting by His Father in a comfortable place in heaven. In actuality, Jesus is surrounded by clouds and darkness and He is preoccupied with fighting off the demons of Satan.

Jesus reigns over the earth but His priority is destroying sin and restoring people to His Kingdom.

The Bible tells us a fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies.

Jesus defeats Satan with the help of a powerful force of angels.

Jesus is omnipotent. He is like lightning covering the earth with His glory and power. The earth trembles at the presence of Jesus. 

The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Jesus. Nothing is impossible for Him.

When you meet the Living Christ and develop a personal relationship with Him the world of intercession, judgment and the righteousness of God is revealed.

Today, Jesus is measuring your faith and looking into your life. He is at work to remove sin and transform you into the character of God. 

At this very moment Jesus is attacking darkness all over the world. He never sleeps.

If you want to be in the presence of Jesus and participate in His work then your priority is prayer, intercession, and living under the blood of Christ. You must be listening for the voice of Jesus with a compliant heart.

The Christ follower submits to the authority of the Holy Spirit and is filled with the thoughts of Jesus.

The reality of Jesus appears in these words. “He is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway”.