Hal’s Blog

The word from God today is “I don’t want a superficial relationship. I want all of you without restrictions.”

You cannot please God with a cursory attitude or lifestyle about Him.

Christ lives without boundaries and will not allow you to define Him. You and I tend to question or defy the jurisdiction of Christ.

If you are a believer, Christ is alive and lives within you. He wants you to walk with Him by faith and invite Him to live in every aspect of your life.

Christ wants to fulfill your every need. He does not want you to look elsewhere for help. This is the defining quality of a believer. He seeks out God for His every need through prayer, the Word of God, and listening to the Holy Spirit.

The spiritual person walks by faith believing in the sovereignty of Christ–He is a God of greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty. These are not just words but come from a personal witness with the Living Christ.

When trouble comes your way or a special need arises, God wants you to come to Him. Christ is a complete God. He died to give you an abundant life. Many times He is our last resort for help after all else fails. How do you think this makes God feel?

The superficial believer attempts to control God! Or, appease Him through works or religion. The spiritual person lives for God with a genuine desire to know Christ.

For in Him, we live and move and have our being. This is the essence of a disciple of Christ. Nothing else matters!

“But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.” Psalm 37:39

The word from God today is “I am the Living Christ and desire to meet you today at your point of need.”

You cannot fully understand Christ or approach Him through logic or predictability. He is an esoteric God so don’t try and figure out His ways. Or, try to appease Him through works or religion.

Christ lives in heaven and rules with power and dominion over all things. So how can you and I find Christ today?

You can touch the Living Christ through the Holy Spirit who dwells in all believers. Worship Christ in Spirit and Truth and you will discover the reality of our omnipotent God.

The purpose of a believer is to walk by faith trusting implicitly in the promises of Christ. Nothing else really matters.

The salvation of a believer is from the Lord. It is a method of living with God. He is your strength in time of trouble and promises to help you.

God wants to rescue you from the evils of the world. Reach out to God with an open heart and He will deliver you. This is an infallible truth from the heart of God.

God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He keeps His Word. The promises of God are sealed in the blood of Christ.

 

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

The Lord relates to you and I through the Holy Spirit. He lives in you and guides you into the pathway of Christ. He fills you with the peace of Christ and gives you the freedom to walk with God and enjoy life.

If there is some area of your life where there is no freedom or peace you are probably overstepping the boundaries of the Holy Spirit.

Striving, feeling stress, or encountering failure are symptoms you are out of sync with God. The Spirit of the Lord is not with you.

This is the perfect time to go before God and repent of your actions and pray for wisdom and protection. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the path of Christ and keep you away from distractions that inhibit the freedom of Christ.

There may not be anything morally wrong with what you are doing but it might not be acceptable with God for His unique reasons.

Sometimes it is impossible to understand the logic of God. And, God may choose not to give you an explanation for His actions. The spiritual response is to just accept that He is God and can do as He wants with your life.

Give Christ whatever is causing the disruption in your life. Place it on the altar of Christ and leave it in His hands. It now belongs to Christ until He chooses to release it back to you.

This action will immediately bring the freedom and peace of Christ back into your life through work of the Holy Spirit.

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

“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.” Luke 13:6

You and I are very much like the fig tree.

God looks at your productivity measured by the Living Water flowing out of your heart. This is the love, joy, and peace of Christ.

If there is an absence of the Living Water, God threatens to cut you down like the fig tree. In His eyes you are no longer useful.

Christ Jesus is a merciful God. He says “I see this person is not fruitful but I will loosen the hardness of heart and nourish him with My life.”

If this doesn’t work after a while, then God will allow the person to be cut down like the fig tree.

The Spirit of God will not always strive with the spirit of man. If you continue to refuse God, He will eventually deal with you like the fig tree.

The productivity of Christ comes to those who are anchored in the tree of life. If you are in Christ you will be productive in your marriage, your relationships with others, and your work.

The productivity comes from the Holy Spirit who fills you with the strength, wisdom, and joy of Christ.

The productivity of Christ is the reflection of the Living Water in your every endeavor. Your faith in Christ is manifested in your words, actions, and demeanor. People see the Living Christ at work in your life.

He lives so you can live!

“Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” Hebrews 5:8-9

Jesus was born as the Son of God and lived a perfect life without sin. But Jesus was not born with an understanding of obedience. He had to learn obedience through the trials of His life.

The suffering of the Cross taught Jesus the purpose of obedience to His Father.

Jesus knew He was created in the form of God but He did not make it His goal to be equal to God. He did not strive for the greatness or glory of God.

Jesus agreed to empty Himself by taking the form of a servant born in the likeness of man. And, a servant is not above his master.

The lesson in the role model of Jesus is learning obedience to God is your purpose in life. And, you learn obedience through the trials of life.

What is obedience to God?

It is not seeking the greatness or glory of God or trying to become like God. This is how Satan failed God and led to the demise of Adam and Eve.

Obedience is seeking the will of God through the trials of life. You cannot find God living in a perfect utopia of prosperity, health, and success.

You have to become a servant of Christ for His purposes. God has to empty your self nature and fill you with the life of Christ.

To become “Christ Like” your motives have to be in sync with God. This requires learning to worship Christ in Spirit and Truth and inviting the Holy Spirit to live in every moment of your life. Then you will come to know the Living Christ.

When you become a servant with no ambition other than to please God you are ready to do the work of Christ.

The greatness sin is thinking you can be like God. Make your goal to be a humble servant of God seeking His will not yours!

“Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” Galatians 3:11

The biggest deception in Christianity is believing “If I do good works for God, He is entitled to bless me.”

There is no obligation on the part of Christ to bless you because of your good works or efforts to conform to the laws of God.

You can’t earn a pay check from God. It comes by your unyielding faith in Christ expressed through your thoughts, words and actions.

The laws of God live in the hearts of believers through the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is by faith yielding to the Spirit of Christ that enables a believer to live a life pleasing to God.

The works ethic of pleasing God died on the Cross. The favor of Christ comes to those who live by faith. If you attempt to live under the laws of God you will fall under the curse of the law.

The righteous shall live by faith!

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Romans 13:11

The time is now with Christ! He sees the blight of society and the decay in His Church.

This narrative is not about bibles stories that took place thousands of years ago and have lost significance in our society. It is about the judgment of God today.

The word from Christ today is “Now is the time change your ways.”

If you have been reading my blog you probably think I am fixated on the truths in Romans 13 and my comments tend to be repetitive. You’re probably tired of hearing the same old thing. I’m tired of this too!

However, God is fixated on this subject. He will not release me from His feelings about the importance of coming awake to Christ and realizing that your salvation is near and is the most important priority with God.

The virus is a precursor of things to come from God. How many plagues does God have to inflict upon us to get our attention?

God will no longer tolerate those who straddle between light and darkness. You and I have to stand in the bright light of Christ devoted to His values.

Imagine a fence constructed by God separating light from darkness. You cannot cross this fence into darkness and then return to the light.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Your inner nature has been designed to live for self and this will never change.

There is only one way you can awaken from your sleep and walk in the light of Christ.

Accept the reality of Christ crucified and live through the work of the Cross. This is asking for the blood of Christ to cover your sins and giving God permission to crucify your self nature.

This has nothing to do with religion, laws, or works. It is a decision to be born again and live in the character of God. It is not a free pass from sin; it is an invitation to the Holy Spirit to take authority over your life.

You agree to live by faith trusting Christ to meet your every need and walk with Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. This decision will give you tremendous freedom because you do not have to try and change yourself. It is up to God!

The Living Christ will make you into a new creature reflecting the character and personality of God.

 

“He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:15

The intrinsic quality of Christ is He lives in all believers in the person of the Holy Spirit. And, Jesus has commanded you and I to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

This narrative is about the purpose and function of the Spirit of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the life of Christ. He wants to share the Living Christ with you but will only come by invitation.

Think of the Holy Spirit as a person who wants to be your close friend.

The Holy Spirit will introduce you to the reality of Christ and He gives you the ability to live in oneness with God.

This is how He works in the life of a believer:

He speaks to you. Be still and listen for a His voice.

He gives you wisdom and protection through the omniscient eyes of Christ.

He teaches you the values of Christ.

He gives you visions and dreams.

He perform signs and wonders through you.

He convicts you of sin and causes you to look at your motives.

He is grieved by your unconfessed or habitual sin. This will cause Him to distance from you.

He fills you with the fruit of the Spirit including the love, joy, peace, and patience of Christ.

He brings the scriptures to life. They become alive and powerful. You see Jesus for who He is.

He equips you with the gifts of the Spirit to be an effective witness for Christ.

He blinds you at times making it impossible to see ahead.

He tests you to prove your faith is steadfast in Christ regardless of the troubles in your life.

The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to help you know Christ and to prepare you to be a strong witness for Him.

The Holy Spirit hates religion. He gives you the freedom to operate for God without becoming encumbered by laws or rules.

The works of Christ were finished on the Cross. The Holy Spirit is the source enabling you to do the works of Christ. All else is just empty religion!

 

The word from Christ today is “Take Me seriously” and is based on text in Romans 13.

“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:11-12

The most important thing to understand today is lethargy and apathy will no longer be tolerated by those who desire to live with Christ.

The status quo of your life has to change regardless of who you are. This transition has to be from living for self to coming under the authority of Christ through His Spirit.

You and I cannot straddle between light and darkness. The judgments of Christ are here and all are accountable for their actions. The virus is just a wake up call to prepare us for the future actions of God.

You cannot sidestep Christ any longer. You must choose to live by the values of Christ; “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

The righteous shall live by faith not by sight. This has to be the guiding principle in your life. It cannot be just a nice platitude or an intellectual concept.

You cannot be crucified with Christ unless you give up your independence and right to yourself.

Christ crucified is your only hope for life. Jesus died for all. The Cross offers forgiveness for sins and the authentic life of Christ.

The work of the Cross has set all free from the laws of religion and the work ethic taught in our churches.

The Cross is alive today through the intercession of Christ to break the manacles of sin and draw all to the Living Christ.

He lives so you and I can live!

The love of Christ is epitomized in the words of Jesus; “Not My will but Yours be done.” 

Christ is a God of love and compassion. The love of Christ is demonstrated in convicting you of sin. This is an endless process. You see yourself for who you are.

The love of Christ causes you to examine your motives. You quickly learn that you are a self driven person and can never come close to the holiness of Christ.

The love of Christ puts you through severe testing. He wants to break your self reliance and desire to live for self.

The love of Christ does not protect you from the world; it provides you with wisdom and peace to deal with the challenges of life.

Christ will never allow you to frame Him as a predictable God. He thinks and acts unlike you and His ways will always mystify you.

Christ wants your devotion to Him above all else. He works in diverse ways to create your obedience and loyalty to Him.

At times, Christ will seem harsh and aloof. This a part of His learning process.

Christ knows you better than you know yourself. His purpose is to do a deep work within your personality to refine you into the character of Christ. This can be very painful at times. You are forced to see your inner self and you become filled with remorse over your sinful condition and actions.

Christ wants you to live with Him through the Holy Spirit. Walk with God in your “born again” identity as a new creature in Christ Jesus. This is where you will find the life of the transfigured Christ.

The love of Christ lives in the moments of your life. Forget the mountaintop experience and find Him in the ordinary and difficult moments of life. He thrives in meeting you in the challenges of everyday life.

The overriding goal of Christ is to teach you to live by faith. He wants you to believe in the promises of God and not what you see with your eyes. And, the promises of God come by faith and are not influenced by your works, good deeds, or keeping laws.

Faith is the biggest obstacle for all believers. Your natural tendency is to try and please God through works. And, religion teaches you to substitute works and laws for faith in Christ.

Without faith you cannot please God!