hballinger2 Comments

Come… and rest a while.

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.
Mark 6:30-32 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/mrk.6.30-32.NKJV

These few verses are encouraging when we find ourselves overwhelmed by the demands of the world – but seeing them in the greater passage of the whole chapter reminds me that there is little time for rest and that Christ will provide the strength, He will be the source of our strength to continue in the work that He has in store for us. It reminds me that we can find comfort in our trials by opening our eyes to the circumstances of others and comforting them.

The beattitudes in Matthew 5 tell us the recipe for receiving the “for they shall” by being “those who”. Verse after verse, we are reminded to look out upon those around us and offer them what they need – even before we realize the treasures of doing so. These verses are asking us to “just trust me I’m the Lord, I know a better way than yours”.

If you’ve ever been mourning and fretting and concerned over your own troubles – can’t you look out onto those around you and find someone else that is greatly troubled and hurting? And when you do something to help them, or when you just mourn along with them, doesn’t it give you a new perspective of freedom from the chains that were binding you? Doesn’t it open your eyes?

It’s only when we bottle it up inside and keep it to ourselves, when we cling to it that we become imprisoned by it. Let it go by letting others in to help you – bless them with the opportunity to listen and to stand with you. And look for others in need and stand along with them. It is hard to be tired and sad when there is work to be done helping others.

Yes, this is the way of Christ – not religious practice once in a while – but a life lived following His example step by step, day by day. And this is the abundant life with blessings poured out onto those you serve and love – and onto your own life as your purpose becomes about more than self.

hballingerLeave a comment

Will we choose peace?

We can have the peace that God wants us to find in His guidance and example, or we can participate in the evil rebellion that hurts us and others around us. He offers us delivery from the traps of our old ways, and the strength to overcome and be set free, it is our choice that remains and that will determine the fruit of our lives.

The old way of the flesh:

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Mark 7:21-23 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/mrk.7.21-23.NKJV

The promise of peace:

Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
Psalms 119:165 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/psa.119.165.NKJV

The strength offered:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/php.4.13.NKJV

The fruit to be born in our lives:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/gal.5.22-25.NKJV

Lord, we imagine how much brighter this world would be if filled with lives bearing your fruit abundantly. And even as we hope for a move of your Holy Spirit across our city, our state, our nation, our continent, our earth – even as we pray for and lay claim to your territory – we realize that we are the vessels carrying your Good News, your nourishing fruit, out to serve the world around us. Let our lives shine brightly reflecting your glory, Lord. Let us continue loving each small opportunity to show your love to others, not to just talk about you, but to live like you, too follow in your footsteps, sharing our life as a testimony, walking with you, and not loving our own lives even unto death. Rescue us, Lord, from that old man, that flesh, that enemy of your ways that wants to cling to us like burdensome chains of sin, death, guilt, shame, bitterness, unforgiveness, or unbelief. Free the captives, Lord, starting with us – equipping us, and guiding us, and using us for your glory and honor, forever and ever, Amen.

hballingerLeave a comment

Tough Love?

And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Jude 1:22-23 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/jud.1.22-23.NKJV

With children, some situations call for compassion and some call for correction. If all we ever offer is compassion,  we will end up with selfish,  manipulative little devils. And if all we offer is correction,  we will end up with resentful,  rebellious little devils. It takes both to be an effective parent. And it takes listening to and receiving both to grow in maturity.

It is the same with the Kingdom of God. We must be willing to receive both His mercy and His discipline. Both are ingredients necessary for growth and survival.

A fool with little vision or understanding, looking at the strong heat of the sun bearing down on plants day after day, might see outwardly that the sun is causing them to bend under its power might, but not having any knowledge or understanding of what is going on inside the plant, this fool might completely misunderstand the purpose for the sun’s brightness shining down on the plants so they can grow closer to the sun.

This same fool might look at the soil of the earth and the rains that come down on the plant and bless the rain for providing the plant with mercy while cursing the sin for the harsh trials that it puts these plants through, not realizing that only through the sun – through its transforming the materials provided by the earth and rain to the plant – can any fruit be grown. Without the sun, no amount of water and soil will rise up to be anything more than water,  dirt,  or mud. It is the warmth of the sun,  and the power of its repeated, powerful shining down on the plants that awakens the seed to burst forth from the ground and reach towards the heavens as it grows.

And this is how our trials grow us. This is why both the mercy and the trials are important. If all we are interested in is the rain of His mercy and the resources of the soil of this earth – if we listen to the twisted message of the enemy and are interested only in receiving the rain of forgiveness and the wealth and comforts of this world,  but we refuse the trials and correction and discipline of repentance – don’t we understand that we are rolling in the mud like the pigs instead of reaching towards the heavens?

And if we will speak to others about Christ, if we will call ourselves teachers of His one way,  one truth,  one life – aren’t we called to follow Him in that way and to share the whole truth of this Christian life – not just the same story of the rain and the soil that even the pigs know how to get excited about – but singing praises of His trials and tribulations and discipline and chastisement and correction and redemption and delivery from the soil to reach for the heavens, yearning to escape the mud and grow closer to the sun?

Yes,  even the pigs get excited about rain and soil. Even the pigs get excited about forgiveness and prosperity. But only the living and growing plants appreciate the heat of the trials and sufferings and persecution that we as, Christians are promised in this life – because we understand that is where the growth happens,  that is where the escape from the ways of this world occurs, that is what draws us closer and closer to the source of our life even while we are still planted in the ground.

The Lord has made the sun shine down,  the rains fall down, and the earth to break open and allow room for our roots to grow deep – not so that we can cling tightly to this world,  but so that we can grow taller and higher and closer to the heavens. But if we are only grounded in the soil and mud, the storms of adversity would tip us over and we would only be useful as wood for the fire. We look to grow upward.

And we are meant to be those who abandon the ways of this world – those who follow Christ faithfully – those who are not just called to grow – those who have been chosen to be grafted into the strong and sturdy vine of Christ. Once we are tapped into that strong vine of Christ, when we are a branch that has been grafted into His tree, when we have Him as our foundation, we are not only growing towards the heavens,  but living alongside and with our Savior daily.

So we should ask ourselves where we are in this journey? Are we still rolling in the mud? Are we just bursting forth from the ground? Are we cursing the strong heat of the trials, wishing we were back in the mud? Are we shooting up fast and high above the mud in pride of our own accomplishments only to be withered away and fruitless because we are looking down on others and not up at the sun? Have we grown in the past,  but we’ve let ourselves become stunted in our growth because of our concern over whether we’ve gathered enough soil and water at the base of our roots,  worried about our toppling over instead of expecting to be grafted into a new vine? Have we been grafted in and we’re excited to see new buds growing on our branches? Have we been bearing fruit for some time but we’re wondering where it all went?

Yes, we are each at a different place in this journey – but we all have the opportunity to continue growing instead of turning back to the mud. There is something much better than the mud, friends, isn’t there? Don’t you know the truth? Tell someone else,  and find out if they also know that there is something better than the mud. Yes,  we all played in the mud at one time, but we have a better destination and purpose available. Are you Called? Following?  Chosen?

hballingerLeave a comment

Electricity, Power

Walter Knight tells the story about a little boy who had recently received Christ. “Daddy, how can I believe in the Holy Spirit when I have never seen Him?” asked Jim. “I’ll show you how,” said his father, who was an electrician. Later Jim went with his father to the power plant where he was shown the generators. “This is where the power comes from to heat our stove and to give us light. We cannot see the power, but it is in that machine and in the power lines,” said the father. “I believe in electricity,” said Jim. “Of course you do,” said his father, “but you don’t believe in it because you see it. You believe in it because you see what it can do. Likewise, you can believe in the Holy Spirit because you can see what He does in people’s lives when they are surrendered to Christ and possess His power.”

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:15-18 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/jhn.14.15-18.NKJV

Lord, you are amazing to not just forgive us for our sins,  to not just show us the way by the example of your walk on this earth, but to come and dwell with us and change or lives,  reconciling us to be more like Christ,  empowering us to put away the ways of the world and the flesh to walk in step with your Holy Spirit – as we surrender to your will. And this surrender is not just once in prayer,  but a daily death to self will and renewal in your grace, as we learn to walk in your Spirit as this new creation being molded and chastened and disciplined and taught by you.

Lord, help us to turn on the lights, to turn on the righteousness, to turn on the holiness, to turn on the sacrificial love in our lives that is clearly separate and different than the ways of this world – not so that we can stand proud of the change – but so that others who don’t yet know this power might understand that it is real. It is easy for someone to deny the existence of electricity if they’ve never seen it at work in a light bulb, television, or other appliance. If we say that power is in the lines,  but refuse to turn on the appliances to prove it, how foolish would we seem to those who don’t believe?

Lord, we want to walk closer to you today, more in your strength and power and less in our flesh nature – we realize this is not an easy walk and that it will put us in opposition to the normal,  natural flow of this world and its agents and influences – but we want to sell our worthless possessions and buy that field that has the real treasure in it,  those eternal blessings. Help us today to follow in your footsteps, bearing the burdens of others, sharing the testimony of you Holy Spirit alive and guiding us.  And this testimony is best communicated through our life example of faithful actions,  even to the point that words are only necessary to explain why our life is so peculiar, so different, so unique when examined by the commonplace ways of the world around us. Lord, let your light shine through us, so that your power cannot be denied, so that all of us might want the one and only thing that we need in our lives daily – more of You.

hballingerLeave a comment

Tell them I AM sent you

Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Exodus 3:13-14 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/exo.3.13-14.NKJV

Like Moses,  we can find ourselves afraid to go and tell people about an awesome God that we cannot even fully comprehend – about a God that we are still getting to know more and more each day. It strikes fear into me each week that I prepare to bring messages to the Internet, to the jail, to Bible Study in our house, and to a congregation on Sunday nights, to those I meet in chance encounters that open the door for sharing my testimony.

But that is a good type of fear,  a humbling fear that leaves us in awe of an awesome God that would use even us. But He is sending us out, friends. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. He has more for you than just one day getting harvested to eternal life in heaven – He offers you the opportunity to participate in His Kingdom today.

Go.

And if they ask,  tell them “I AM has sent me to you”, and tell of the testimony of His impact on your life. And tell them that He loves them so much that His Son died on the cross to deliver them, not just from the eventual consequences, but from the chains of those things in their lives that enslave them. He offers freedom and victory that we don’t just claim with our mouths,  but we can walk in our lives.

He is merciful enough to take you wherever you are, but awesome enough to not leave you there, to deliver you to a new,  abundant life of eternal blessings,  of change,  of freedom from your captors.

hballingerLeave a comment

Vindicate me? What does that even mean?

Vindicate me, O God,
And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
Psalms 43:1 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/psa.43.1.NKJV

“Vindicate me”. I don’t use that kind of language very often. So I wanted to understand better what that meant.

The Hebrew is:
שָׁפַט

shaphat [shä·fat]
– to judge, govern, vindicate, punish
– to act as law-giver or judge or governor
– to rule, govern, judge
– to decide controversy
– to execute judgment
– discriminating
– vindicating
– condemning and punishing

Yes, God is the judge of all.

And He is the defender of His children, those who choose to follow Him, those who choose to yield to His will, those who believe Him.

His goal is not just to deliver us from the punishment. His goal is to deliver us from our old man to the new man. His goal is to reconcile us to be more like Christ. It is right now less about where you will get to spend eternity (even though that is of ultimate importance) – but it is right now about Him delivering us from the traps, the temptations,  the evil, and yes, from ourselves. 

We ask Him now,  while there is opportunity for us to live,  learn,  change,  and shine – to judge us and teach us what chains in our lives need to be cast off and what sin and death needs to be cut out and healed by His Holy Spirit. We are no longer satisfied being filled up by the things of this world, its pleasures,  its enticements, its delicacies, its intoxicating spirits – but we long for that Spirit of Truth and clarity and purpose and direction and eternal value to fill us completely.

Yes, there is a prince of this world and an enemy that surrounds us. We are familiar with those old ways that we walked ourselves. We are familiar with those demons that used to have access to our lives as they hope wrap their chains around us and hold us captive to those old ways.  But we do not have to yield to them any longer. We can choose to walk in a spirit of love, of power, and of self control through believing and following Jesus Christ our Savior and example, and we can refuse to walk in the weakness of this flesh. Because He is greater than the one that is in this world. In fact,  He must increase as we decrease.

So let’s say goodbye to that old man. Let’s cry out to the Lord and ask Him to vindicate us, to judge us,  to discipline us,  to correct us,  to guide us, and to teach us His ways – so that we can know a life delivered – not just delivered from consequences,  but delivered indeed. Not just talking about freedom from sin,  but free indeed. In deed. In our actions,  not just our words.

hballingerLeave a comment

Happy Love Day!

Judas, not Iscariot, asked Him, Lord, how is it that You will reveal Yourself [make Yourself real] to us and not to the world? Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him. Anyone who does not [really] love Me does not observe and obey My teaching. And the teaching which you hear and heed is not Mine, but [comes] from the Father Who sent Me.
John 14:22-24 AMP
http://bible.com/8/jhn.14.22-24.AMP

When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do–with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs. Again He said to him the second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Shepherd (tend) My sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]? Peter was grieved (was saddened and hurt) that He should ask him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.
John 21:15-17 AMP
http://bible.com/8/jhn.21.15-17.AMP

I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].
John 13:34-35 AMP
http://bible.com/8/jhn.13.34-35.AMP

EVERYONE WHO believes (adheres to, trusts, and relies on the fact) that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is a born-again child of God; and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him (His offspring). By this we come to know (recognize and understand) that we love the children of God: when we love God and obey His commands (orders, charges)–[when we keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and His teaching]. For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous). For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.
1 John 5:1-4 AMP
http://bible.com/8/1jn.5.1-4.AMP