Hal’s Blog

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Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! Luke 19:41-42

Jesus wept on his entry into Jerusalem. As He looked at the people He knew they were facing a disastrous future.

Jerusalem would be destroyed, families killed, and many scattered into desolations.

All this would happen because the people were blinded from the peace offered by Jesus to those who live for Him.

The Israelites wanted a king not a savior.

The religious leaders of the day rejected the teachings of Jesus and plotted to kill Him.

How do we translate this spiritual moment of Jesus into our lives today?

How can we find the peace and protection of Jesus in this muddled world?

Jesus is omniscient and know every detail of your future. He promises you His peace which is not of the world.

The key to living in the peace of God is repentance. Seek out God and ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you are blinded in your relationship with Jesus.

We are human beings engineered to live for self and persue our own desires and needs. We are unable to understand the depth of our personality and corrupt inner nature. God sees everything about you. Nothing is hidden from His eyes.

Christians believe the answer comes from religion, works, and keeping the laws of God. But this will never bring the peace of God.

Many people don’t take God seriously or fear and respect Him. The priority of a Christ follower is to seek the will of God and live in harmony with Jesus.

Today we are living on a sinking ship and it will eventually disappear into the depths. The judgments of God are all over the world. The future is not bright; it is bleak.

The peace of God will come to those who enter into a personal and embracing relationship with the Living Christ. You must lay down your life for Jesus and give up all independence and control.

This is not a call to religion. It is a decision to seek the will of God above all else and turn away from all forms of darkness. You must be open to the conviction and correction of the Holy Spirit.

The promise of the peace of Jesus will come to you even while living in tumultuous conditions.

The peace of God comes to those who walk in oneness with Jesus under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

As a believer you must live by faith not by what you see with your eyes. The Christ follower doesn’t talk about Jesus; He emulates the teachings of Jesus in every aspect of his life.

Things might look good today but are you prepared for adversity tomorrow?

“Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” Philippians 2:17

The decision for Christ ignites a transformation from your natural condition at birth to a new creature in Christ Jesus.

God’s aim is to make your life a sacrifice for Christ. This begins with a deep and at times painful work of God. There will be suffering and loss. This is the preparation to be poured out touching others with the life of Christ.

Everything thing that takes place after conversion is designed so you can pour out the Spirit of Christ on those around you. The moments with the transfigured Christ, the revelations of truth, the testing, and the challenges of life are all arranged to equip you with the ability to pour out the Living Christ on others.

Jesus emptied Himself for you. He poured out everything so you could receive the gift of salvation and be restored to God. And, He is preparing you to walk in His footsteps.

Your priority is to seek the will of God and walk in oneness with Jesus. God doesn’t care about religion because it will cause you to stray away from the authenticity of Jesus.

God ordains ministry. You do not have to look for your role or strive to be a light for God. If you are pushing to start a ministry your motives are wrong.

The ministry of Jesus works through the Holy Spirit. As a believer, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and the source of wisdom and the gifts of the Spirit. He will anoint you and equip you for His perfect ministry.

Most believers are called by God into a lifestyle ministry. They are a light for God in their work, with family and friends, and in all the pursuits of life. This might be a training ground for a more formal ministry in the years ahead or just His plan for your life.

The New Testament definition of poured out is to be a sacrifice for Jesus operating under the power of the Holy Spirit. You become willing to give up your life so others can experience the life of Jesus.

The great works of God are done in the ordinary moments of life. Jesus was thirsty after walking all day and sat down beside a well. He saved a woman with an immoral past and this led to the conversion of many of her companions.

Jesus will guide you into the dark places of the world to do His work. You cannot hide in religion if you want a powerful ministry.

All the experiences in your life are orchestrated to develop you into the character of Jesus. Self seeking has to die if you want to be a powerful vessel for God.

Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.”

The plumb line was created by God and was installed to teach believers how to navigate through life.

The plumb line defines the truths, righteousness, and justice of God. These everlasting standards will never change and are to be followed by the Body of Christ.

God looks down from Heaven to see if you are operating within His plumb line. He is a God of retribution and punishes those who stray outside of His boundaries.

God is talking to me today about licentiousness which is a lack of moral restraint. This has infiltrated every thread of our society.

This immoral quality lives in most people to some degree whether they admit it or not.

Your moral compass must be under the authority of the Holy Spirit. If the Christ follower creates his own boundaries he will displease God and suffer greatly.

The Holy Spirit is designed to harness your fleshly desires and keep you away from temptations. This is why it is so important to be linked to God through the Holy Spirit.

The Christ follower has been “set apart” by God. He is called to be a fountain of Living Water reflecting the renown, praise and glory of God. You cannot move back and forth between God and the world.

We live in the world but we are not of the world. We belong to God and must walk in the light.

The danger is developing a superfluous attitude about life. This is seeking extravagance and not accepting what is sufficient. The attitude is “I deserve more from life.”

This behavior is attempting to take control and reject the provisions of God. You are guided by your emotions and worldly views not by the Spirit of God. This will only bring destruction and misery into your life.

The plumb line is for your own protection. It has nothing to do with religion, laws, or works. You simply agree to live with God under His authority.

You can’t think like God in understanding His purposes or relate to His global initiatives.

However, you can ask God for His thoughts relating to your daily life and decision making. This happens when you abide in the Holy Spirit and give Him authority over your life.

You learn the values of Jesus through the routine moments of life. Abiding in God is taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus. This is how you walk in oneness with Jesus.

Are your thinking patterns in accordance with God? The Holy Spirit hears all your thoughts and will point out those that are self seeking or initiated by the wrong motives.

Thinking like Jesus is nurtured through prayer, reading the Bible, and listening to the voice of God.

You and I are self driven people with a big ego. God has no ego and operates with perfect motives. We are in a process of transformation into the character of God but will never achieve perfection here on earth.

God creates checks and balances to keep us in harmony with Him. The Christ follower must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and open to correction and change.

We falter by taking a timeout from God to satisfy our compulsive needs. If only we could understand God wants to give us more than we ask or think in His perfect timing.

The Holy Spirit will show you when to put on the breaks and abide in the patience of God.

The order of God will never comply with humanistic logic. We want action today but God wants you to rest and wait upon Him.

The Holy Spirit speaks to the life of Jesus residing in a believer. He does not speak to your human logic or what you think Jesus should do in your life. The Spirit speaks to your Spirit.

If you want the witness of the Holy Spirit you have to be living in submission to God and yielding to the authority of the Holy Spirit.

You cannot barter with God. The transaction with God is “I give all of myself to you Jesus without any expectations.”

Redemption is accepting the life of Jesus without compromise and allowing God to crucify your natural life.

You cannot debate or argue with God. The Christ follower lives in submission to God and accepts the will of God.

The Holy Spirit never speaks to your natural thinking process or what seems like common sense to you. God is not interested in what you think He should do in your life. God is unpredictable and thinks and acts in ways beyond your understanding.

Religion teaches many ill conceived ideas about how God operates in the life of a believer. God works on the principle of faith not laws, works or predicted outcomes.

When you give your life to Jesus you lose your independence and the ability to control your life.

The goal of a believer is to live in oneness with Jesus yielding to the Holy Spirit. You walk by faith and live in obedience to the voice of God.

The priorities of God will become very clear when you live in abandonment to Jesus with no priorities except to seek His will for your life.

Expect the unexpected with Jesus!

It is very simple to engage Jesus. This begins with today. Jesus lives in the now. He does not want you to dwell in the future.

Jesus is alive and wants to be real in all your endeavors today. Forget about religion if you want to engage Jesus. Come straight to Jesus with an open heart to hear and obey His voice.

Remember, God knows you better than you know yourself and He is omniscient and sees the future. It is pretty dumb to think you can supplant your judgement and ideas over the sovereignty of God. This is what causes troubles in life whether you are a believer or not.

Jesus wants to show you the good, acceptable and prefect will of God in the context of today. This not about learning big spiritual revelations but simply about how you should go about today. What you eat, how you spend your money, relationships with family and friends, bringing order to you life and helping you to excel in your work.

I just heard Jan, my incredible wife, ask God to show her the best jogging or walking route for today. This is what I mean. God wants to enrich your life and protect you in all the moments of your today. They may seem trivial to you but not to God.

If you are a believer, the Living Christ dwells in you in the essence of the Holy Spirit. He wants to speak to you and infuse you with His thoughts. He wants to make you aware of both light and darkness and steer you into the acceptable will of God.

Walking with Jesus is not complicated.

Come to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you for your mistakes and cover you with His blood. Everyone falls into this category. There are no perfect saints.

Reach out to God with all your needs.

Commit your works each day to God and invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life. This for your own good and protection. He is not interested in making you into a religious robot.

Make a decision to trust God implicitly and believe in all His promises. Faith is believing in God and not what you see with your eyes. Without faith you cannot please God. You will just end up walking in circles.

Listen to the voice of God and learn to be obedient to His instructions.

Spend a few minutes each day reading the Bible. The words are powerful and life changing. Jesus will come off the pages and enter into the reality of your life.

Jesus wants to be your best friend and give you an abundant life!

The word from the Holy Spirit today is correlating (coming together) with God which is defined as a mutual relationship or connection, in which one thing affects or depends on another. Or, in the words of the Holy Spirit you become cross-pollenated with Christ.

This act of coming together causes changes in God and in the life of a believer.

The synergy between man and God creates combustion which leads to change.

The combustion is the work of the Holy Spirit to baptize you into the death and resurrected life of Christ.

God never changes His mind about biblical principles and He is without sin. He is a perfect God. But He does change in how He interacts with a believer.

As a believer you become born again and enter into the process of transformation into a new creature in Christ. Your thinking patterns and values change.

God engineers changes or trials in your life designed to cause you to die to self and live for Him. The changes can relate to your employment, relationships with family or friends, or your economic conditions.

Correlating with God begins with the seriousness of your decision to live for Christ. God looks at your motives and thinking patterns to evaluate self seeking behaviors or a genuine desire to pursue the will of God.

Correlating with God is abandoning yourself to the Living Christ. You make a heart decision to live by this precept: “Not my will but yours be done”. This will create significant changes in your life.

Correlating with God is walking by faith and yielding to the Holy Spirit. You seek the will of God for your life through prayer, meditating on the Word, and listening for the voice of God.

God wants your undivided loyalty to Him and will go to extreme and sometimes drastic measures to get your attention and compliance to His instructions.

Walking with God has nothing to do with religion, keeping laws, or attempting to do works for God. The works will come out of your faith and obedience to God. Works begin with God not man.

Correlating with God is committing your works each day to God and inviting the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life.

The Cross is a pattern of suffering and learning obedience to God. Jesus takes you on a journey to be a light for Him and draw those around you to the gift of salvation.

The goal of Christ is to create a broken and humble believer with a zealous desire to live for God.

“Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.” Galatians 3:15

This refers to a man’s relationship with God which originated with the covenant God made with Abraham. This covenant is everlasting and nothing can be annulled or added to this promise.

This covers all mankind and there are no loop holes. You cannot obtain the righteousness of God through laws, works, religion or any other means.

You were born under sin and this can only be broken by the blood of Jesus. You stand before God unacceptable in His eyes and nothing will change this except entering into the covenant God made with Abraham. You must come to God through faith in Jesus.

Living by faith is trusting in the promises of Jesus. Faith is listening to the voice of God and responding with obedience. The instructions of God may not make any sense or seem very costly but if you want the fullness of God you must obey the Holy Spirit without compromise.

Abraham gave up his homeland, security and inheritance to comply with God. Abraham had no idea of what was ahead or the dangers he would face. He just believed God and knew He had power and dominion over the heavens and earth.

If you are a Christ follower God speaks to you through the Holy Spirit. You have the mind of Christ.

It is your responsibility to spend time with God each day seeking His will through prayer, meditating on His Word, praising Him, and listening for His voice.

Come before God with an open heart and transparency. Be open to correction and change.

Abraham became the father of all the descendants of Christ. There is only one seed to come to God.

Before Abraham was Jesus!

Understanding biblical truth is of no value unless you experience the truths of Jesus in your life. Living the words of Jesus will draw you into a personal and embracing relationship with God. He will be real in your life and not just a character in the Bible.

Your experiential knowledge of the Living Christ will give you the ability to deal with the most difficult challenges in life. You can be as secure as God Himself.

Experiential knowledge comes through walking by faith and living under the authority of the Holy Spirit. He teaches you how to apply the values of Jesus to every aspect of your life.

The decision comes down to living for Jesus above all else or practicing religion. Religion sounds good but cannot produce any results. You will suffocate under religion but breathe and live with abundance with Jesus.

Jesus wants a one on one relationship with you built on faith, prayer, and the word of God. He wants you to know Him intimately and listen for His voice.

Walking with Jesus through all the trials of life will build a strong bond of trust and friendship. Religion talks about Jesus but the Living Christ delivers His people. Jesus is life changing and works powerfully in the lives of believers.

Jesus keeps His word and wants to be alive in every moment of your life. He lives so you can live!

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37

I parked my car at the grocery store today and God spoke this verse to me. God told me it is very easy to lose track of your priorities in the pursuit of money. Greed creeps in through the insidious work of Satan.

We all want to be cozy and secure in the world. There is nothing wrong in working diligently to meet your materialistic needs. The sticky issue deals with your priorities.

God wants you to be productive working under the authority of the Holy Spirit. You must commit your works to God each day and seek His wisdom. God must come first in your every endeavor. Live in harmony with God and nourish your soul with prayer, the Word of God, and listening for His voice.

There is nothing you can trade of any value in the world to please God. He wants all of you with an open heart to seek His will for your life.

Your motives must be to please God and operate with integrity and the values of Jesus. He desires to embellish your labors and give you more than you ask or think.

Jesus said man small not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Have you integrated your work under the authority of the words of God?