hballingerLeave a comment

YOU are an Ambassador

I don’t claim to be perfect, I don’t claim to be faultless, but I do claim to know Jesus Christ as my Savior, and He is transforming my life, from the inside out.

It makes me laugh at the love and sense of humor that the Lord has, to send you such an unlikely ambassador as myself. I look around and think, “Really? Why me, Lord?”

And the answer that I think matters most is that I KNOW YOU.

…

And YOU are that next ambassador for the Lord that will touch lives and hearts with the message of your testimony. YOURS is the testimony that touches lives and makes the difference. YOUR salvation and witness is what turns the tide and wins your battle. YOUR love is the love that spreads the fire of Christ throughout your life and the lives around you.

I’m just passing the torch, knowing that YOU will make a difference. And maybe together, I might make a difference as well.

I love you, friend.

Please, pass the torch. Keep the fires burning bright.

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

hballingerLeave a comment

Do You Hear It?

LUK 2:20 ESV
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
——————————————–

…

We have heard this good news and have ears to know the truth. We have a great reason to celebrate each day, because we are no longer condemned. We are so thankful for this free gift of salvation that we want to glorify God with our renewed lives of repentance. We lift our praise to God not just in our words and songs, but in a life seeking His will.

We obey as the result of our seeking God’s will and as a result of the Holy Spirit abiding in us and guiding us – not as an attempt to “earn or gain” our salvation. Because true belief leads to repentance. We can see the change in our own hearts and lives that is the result of our faith.

Let’s keep this good news fresh in our hearts, so that our faith will continue to grow – watering it with time in prayer, mediating on the scriptures, fellowship and encouragement with fellow believers, sharing this good news with the world in our actions of a fruit filled life, and even sharing this good news shouting it from the housetops in joy and love and excitement for this rescue from condemnation.

hballingerLeave a comment

He loves YOU

Yes. Christ loves YOU.
Yes, He loves even YOU that laughs and mocks posts like this.
Yes, He loves you who claim to be a Christian but are far from God, living deep in sin and rebellion against God’s will.
Yes, He loves you who judge and condemn others, not seeing that you are blind, naked, and in darkness.
Yes, He loves even me, the great hypocrite who wallowed in my sin like a happy pig in mud, who myself mocked and scoffed at the truth, but who now speaks of f…aith and righteousness and repentance.

Jesus.
There is such power in that name.

Jesus.
There is healing in that name.

Jesus.
There is life in that name.

Jesus.

Is He yours tonight, friend?
Have you spoken with Him lately?
Is He alive in your life, touching hearts, serving others and bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit through your daily walk?

I encourage you, friend. We can each be blessed with more love in our lives.
Remember your first love.
Hear His voice, feel His redeeming touch on your life tonight.
Jesus.

1 John 4:19

We love because He first loved us.

hballingerLeave a comment

Fire saves too

Most of my Facebook posts focus on the message of grace, forgiveness and love, because that is an area of great need. However, I would rather share an open rebuke than foster a hidden love, because I get the feeling that not everyone sitting in pews on Sundays knows the information shared in this picture (because I didn’t just a short time ago).

Please, if we call ourselves Christians, let’s not just read Matthew 7:1, John 13:34, and Ephesians 6:12 – and then overlook Ga…latians 5:19-21 and Hebrews 10:26-27. We aren’t meant to use our freedom in Christ to continue in our sin. This is shared in love and is not directed at anyone specifically, but if this message convicts you, I encourage you to please dig deeper into this.

This was a game changer for my walk, when I realized that I had called myself a Christian for 30 years, only to find the scriptures bearing witness to my stumbling blind and lost in the darkness as a prodigal son. I thank God for healing me and opening my ears to what I NEEDED to hear instead of shut to only receive what I WANTED to hear.

God bless.

FORGIVENESS

We don’t know the heart of a person,

or the future of a person, therefore

WE LOVE ALL PEOPLE

and consider no man to be our enemy.

[Matthew 7:1] [John 13:34] [Ephesians 6:12]

But we who follow Christ

ARE NOT BLIND

but recognize those things that are the

ENEMY OF GOD

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery,

idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy,

fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions and envy,

drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

I warn you as I did before, those who live like this

WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

[Galatians 5:19-21]

For if we

GO ON SINNING DELIBERATELY

after receiving the knowledge of the truth,

THERE NO LONGER REMAINS A SACRIFICE FOR SINS

BUT A FEARFUL EXPECTATION OF JUDGEMENT

and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

[Hebrews 10:26-27]

hballingerLeave a comment

Feel the Nudges

When God pulls at our heartstrings, it’s because He has something in store for us. How many blessings have I overlooked in my life because I wasn’t listening? And I don’t just mean blessings for myself, I mean blessings for others.

How many others’ lives are missing the love and hope that I could have given them with a hug, a word of encouragement, a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen. My friends and family have poured so much love into me over the years, and I fear that… I was a sponge soaking up their love and not a pitcher pouring it back out onto those around me. I didn’t feel those nudges and hear those whispers from God and missed so many opportunities to pour out love.

I’m so thankful for my friends at 4 Points Church. Together, we are learning and encouraging each other to feel the nudges, hear the whispers, and get up and act, loving and serving those around us with the blessings that we all need in our lives. This is how we change the world – loving and serving and encouraging one another, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, not just in our words, but in our actions.

hballingerLeave a comment

Empty Chairs

Many of us will have empty chairs at our tables this Christmas.

The empty chairs, oh the empty chairs.

And yes, we will miss their smiles, their laughs, their hugs, their words, and their touch this Christmas –

…

But we do not have to miss their love –

It is planted in our hearts, even in our lives. It is their love that helped mold us into who we are today, it is their love that gave us hope that they were for us even in a world that seems so much against us.

Love does not die with the body, it lives on in the lives that it touches. It lives on in the memories that we carry with us.

So let’s remember the love that we have received, and use it as an encouragement to plant abundantly the seeds of love in those around us.

Let’s keep this thread of love going on – for them, for ourselves, and for those we can touch

hballingerLeave a comment

Faith is Righteousness

Grace.
Mercy.
Forgiveness.
Love.

“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”

Romans 4:1-8 ESV
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Love is the nature of God. See His fruits:

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

He counts FAITH as righteousness, not works:

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So it is not about working to earn it, it is about receiving this free gift and then watching the change that He will have in our lives.

It isn’t about acting good, or following the rules in order to earn a prize! It is about accepting the prize free of charge, and believing that it is real – because that belief generates grattitude in our being, in our attitudes. And that change on the inside is what matters.

Works don’t save us. A lack of works don’t condemn us.

But works that are the result of this change in our own lives – this is what provides us the personal assurance that this belief of ours is real. The works that Christ does through me are for me to see as evidence of the truth of my own salvation – they aren’t so they can be seen by others, they are for my benefit and reassurance. They are not so that others can try to judge the state of my salvation, they are my personal proof of the truth of Christ’s promises.

However, in fairness and truth for those that might misunderstand this as a license to continue in sin – we need to be aware that there are some things that are evidence that we don’t believe and we haven’t received:

Galatians 5:13-21 ESV
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So we want to be sure that we have believed and received, because Christ came to save because “those that do not believe are already condemned”:

John 3:17-21 ESV
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

hballingerLeave a comment

Do I believe?

This Grace thing sounds awesome, but how do I know that I believe and that I have received?

There are several things that are evidence of belief.

Jesus told us that all the commandments hang on love:

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

I find it very important that these commandments speak to the state of our heart, which is more important than just our outward actions.

Also, he tells us the types of things that are “the works of the flesh” and that “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”:

Galatians 5:13-21 ESV
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So we want to be sure that we have believed and received, because Christ came to save because “those that do not believe are already condemned”:

John 3:17-21 ESV
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

If we believe, if we have Christ in us, we will bear fruit:

Galatians 5:22-25
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

If we have Christ, we are not to live by the flesh, we are to live by His Spirit, because the Christ in us is greater than the flesh and evil that is in this world:

1 John 4:3
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

And if we say that we have Christ in us, but are still a slave to the flesh, are we not calling Christ a liar? Isn’t continued rebellion without repentance blaspheming the Holy Spirit that we say lives in us?

Mark 3:29
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin

So let us be sure, and prove ourselves in our belief, let us repent if we say that we have Christ in us.

hballingerLeave a comment

Let’s Celebrate!

1 John 4:7-17 ESV
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
———————————————–

Let’s Celebrate! Let’s Love each other!

It’s time to celebrate our Savior’s birth. Oh how we want everyone to see Christ in the love that we show them!

If we do not have love, we do not know God, because God is love.

There is one true God, and He is the God that through His Holy Spirit bears fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There is hoeever, an enemy spirit that produces hate, depression, fear, impatience, selfishness, evil, doubt, aggression, disobedience and rebellion – these things are not of God but reflect a separation from God – a vacuum where there is a separation from God’s will and nature.
That enemy spirit also tries to trick us by offering us counterfeits of the real fruits. These counterfeits fall short, and their flavor does not last, leaving us trapped in the death of our sin – out willful decision to live separated from the one true God – in lives devoid of His fruits, instead choosing these sad substitutes instead.
False fruits are things like lust, physical pleasures, denying others’ needs to fulfill our wants, immediate gratification without concern for consequences, manipulating others through false acts of kindness to get what we want from them, acting good in front of others with the purpose of receiving their praise and honor, practicing religion in the effort to earn a ticket into heaven, judging ourselves worthy of pointing out the speck in others’ eyes, the lie that accepting Christ so we can go to heaven allows one to continue being slaves to our old sinful nature (no repentance).

God doesn’t desire disobedient children that are “using” Him for His forgiveness – He wants obedient children that He knows are grateful and trying, but that will stumble at times.

Sin is the disease in us, the reaction of our flesh to this disease of evil, producing things like sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these are evidence of the death and disease that leads to death.

So let us test the spirits. Let us be sure that we are celebrating the one true God, and that we are loving and filled with the fruits of the Holy Spirit – not mislead or lacking in understanding of this God that we serve.

He sent His Son for us. This is the depth of His love. Hear His voice. Feel His touch.

Please don’t let me be a noisy gong, I want to love so much more in my daily actions than these words that I share occasionally. Let my actions speak, and my words back it up – not the other way around.

hballingerLeave a comment

Mary had a little Lamb

Mary had a little Lamb,
He washed me white as snow,
These sins He cleanses from my life,
In Calvary’s crimson flow.

…

He leads me along this narrow path,
By His Word, His Truth, His Life,
Though I stumble over my own feet,
I have faith amongst this strife,

For He alone is victory,
I rest beneath His wings,
He purchased me at Calvary,
And it’s life to me He brings.

His grace is overwhelming,
It is not what I’ve earned,
For without Him, I’m bound for hell,
Yes, this is what I’ve learned.