hballinger3 Comments

Still the rebellious son, even at 42

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
Ephesians 6:1‭-‬3 NKJV

I just want to tell my mom and dad how much I love them and am grateful for them.

The other night they came to help me with some urgent items. I was stressed and grumpy because we are down to just the car (with the truck in the shop for some major repairs). We have so much going on with selling our house, getting ready to live in a camper, and getting ready to build a new house –  and I REALLY don’t like having to rely on others for help. (I tell myself that I like “feeling like” I’m being a blessing and not a burden – but honestly, it’s just my pride.)

In my rush trying to get things done, I was disrespectful at one point to my dad who was there to help me. We’re both type A personalities and we clash at times each wanting to do things our own way – because I don’t submit to his authority as my father like I should. I told him as we were finishing up last night that I was sorry, but I don’t know if he realizes that I really am sorry in my heart for letting circumstances take hold, which led to me disrespecting the closest thing I have on this planet as an example of a Good, Good Father.

You see,  my dad chose me, he adopted me, and gave me his name. And he has always been an amazing dad to me. No one would ever think otherwise watching his love towards his “adopted” son. No, in his eyes and in mine,  I’m not adopted. I’m his and he is mine – exactly like it is with my Heavenly Father who chose me and adopted me to be His child.

I’m glad that they both will forgive me for my foolish behavior last night, and I love them both enough to try to learn from it and change. I’m not just remorseful about it, I want to not be that way anymore. It is embarrassing and humbling to see myself still as the rebellious son, even at the age of 42.

I love you, dad.

Friends, tell your dad that you love him today. Even if you “don’t say stuff like that” – ESPECIALLY if that is the case. Call him and ask him for some wise advise over something in your life today and actually listen to what he has to say.

Then, pray to your heavenly Father and tell Him that you love Him – ESPECIALLY if you haven’t done it recently. And open that Bible and listen to His wise advice for your life today.

hballingerLeave a comment

We have escaped, the victory is His!

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say—
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters
Would have gone over our soul.”
Blessed be the Lord ,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
The snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord , Who made heaven and earth.
Psalms 124:1‭-‬8 NKJV

[There are people in this world who appear strong and powerful and influential,  but who are spiritually weak and powerless and impotent. And there are people in this world who appear weak and poor and needy, but who are spiritually powerful and rich in His mercies and grace.

Many of the “rich and powerful” of this world are pawns of the enemy, seeking to oppress and control others for their own benefit and profit. There is a new kind of slavery being sold to the ignorant as they are promised worldly wealth and possessions and debauchery while they are maintained and controlled under the pitchfork of addiction, debt, greed, and pride. Yes, these are prison walls not made by the hands of men, but by the choices of our lives – and they come with heavy burden and consequences.

But we can live as proof that the snare is broken, that what the enemy intended to harm us is now what has humbled us and demonstrated to us our great need for hope, for salvation, for repentance, for deliverance from our old ways to walk in His way. Yes, it is His victory,  because all we did is surrender our lives to Him. He gives us the strength and His is the victory.

He is glorious.
He is victorious.
Forever and ever,  Amen.]

hballingerLeave a comment

Do we?

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
John 7:38 NKJV

Do we believe?
Do we love Him?
Do we know Him and not just know about Him?

Asking ourselves these questions is not harmful when we ask and examine ourselves to PROVE that we are walking in faith. But if we are just content answering yes to these without any real examination and comparison of our lives to Christ, aren’t we instead trying to CONVINCE ourselves instead?

So the Word of God teaches us ways to know whether we are true or whether we are deceiving ourselves.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22 NKJV

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.
Galatians 6:1‭-‬5 NKJV

Living water flows from the heart of a believer, the annointing of the Holy Spirit – Christ lives in the hearts of those who are born again as children of God. And these living waters “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment”. So we should ask ourselves – Is the example of my Christian day to day life a light shining in the darkness proving that I have been convicted regarding sin and righteousness and judgement?

Additional Reading

Some verses and notes from a related article about examining ourselves:

“There are many ways you can deceive yourself and believe what you’re doing is right. Many Christians deceive themselves by thinking they can’t stop a certain sin, but truly just don’t want to stop a sin. Many people deceive themselves by believing something bad is good. They go out of their way to find a false teacher who will justify their sins when the Bible and their conscience says no.”

Lying to yourself and telling yourself you’re not sinning.

1. Romans 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

2. Proverbs 30:20 “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’

3. James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

4. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

Thinking you’re a Christian when you don’t live a Christian lifestyle.

5. Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

6. James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

7. 1 John 2:4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

8.  1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

9. 1 John 3:9-10 Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness—the one who does not love his fellow Christian—is not of God.

Thinking you will get away with things.

10. Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

11. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

12. Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Saying you don’t sin

13. 1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

14. 1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Deceiving yourself with friends.

15. 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Wise in your own eyes

16. Isaiah 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

17. 1 Corinthians 3:18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.

18. Galatians 6:3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.

19. 2 Timothy 3:13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

20. 2 Corinthians 10:12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

How to know if I’m deceiving myself?

Your conscience.

21. 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

22. John 16:7-8 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

23. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

24. 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Reminders

25. James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it–not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it–they will be blessed in what they do.

Bonus

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

hballinger1 Comment

Choices – Life or Death Decisions

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Deuteronomy 30:19‭-‬20 NKJV

Yes, God made us with the ability to choose between life and death. We are not robots following a lifeless script – we have the freedom to respond to life’s circumstances as we see fit. Our hearts desires influence our decisions and choices, and we get to choose moment to moment where we are headed – towards life or towards death.

How we choose to live demonstrates what we value – sin that leads to death – or living, obeying, and clinging to the Lord.

How will we live today? Wisely or foolishly?

hballingerLeave a comment

Forgiven little? Or much?

I now realize that it upsets some people that we get excited and are filled with joy and raise our hands and sing out from our hearts with everything when we get to praise our Lord and Savior together.

I now realize that it upsets some people when others in the pews want to actively participate in praise and worship and not just watch a performance by those on the stage and behind the podium.

I now realize that some will snarl with judgemental,  religious faces when the name of Jesus is sang about from a place of joy and love and worship or when He is preached, practiced, and lived out in the places outside the church and the days other than Sunday.

I’m not making a judgement about the hearts of those who are quiet and reverent about Christ in their lives and in their weekly church services.  I realize that the Holy Spirit in them might be on fire and active and moving in amazing ways underneath the surface as they worship in truth and spirit. However, I used to be quiet,  and it was because there was no fire burning in my bones,  there was no active grattitude in my moment to moment life for what Christ has done for me, and it showed because there was no joy feeding me. I was just going through the motions of empty, dead, religion.

I don’t mock and judge and scoff at those who aren’t excited about the opportunity to actively praise and worship the Lord of Lords, King of Kings. I hope that they are genuinely in love with him and are getting to enjoy the opportunity of praising Him and worshiping Him. I hope that it goes deeper in their heart than what the eye can see. I hope they are being fed and nourished by the Lord the same as we are and that they truly just praise Him “in a different way”.

I just hope that they can understand my excitement, my grattitude, my love for the Lord that cannot be held back because it is like a flood of living waters flowing out of my chest. It is like a fire shut up in my bones that has to come out. It is like I have the very spirit and nature of God in me that wants to be seen and heard by a world in need of Him.

Yes, they will call me crazy. And they are right, because I’m crazy in love with Jesus.

Yes, they will call me irreverent. And they are right,  because His light in me breaks through the darkness and crafts a disturbance in this world and the traditions of men.

Yes, they will call me peculiar. And they are right, because He has set me apart for His Holy use, as a vessel for His Holy Spirit to dwell, for His Kingdom come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I am not pretending like I’m grateful in order to convince you of my love for Jesus. Who would waste their time with such foolish things if they didn’t truly believe – especially when it is clear that living openly and vocally excited about this Good News brings more persecution and objection from both the religious and the worldly than just holding your tongue. 

No, I’m thankful,  and I aim to please God, and to follow Christ, and to share truth so that someone else might know this joy add well when He calls them into this crazy,  irreverent, peculiar life of being a follower of Christ,  not just a Church goer,  and not just a child of the world.

As I seek to make sense of the difference without judging – I wonder if it is simply my realizing how much He has truly forgiven me. Maybe He didn’t have to forgive them very much at all. Maybe their lives were never turned away from Him in sin like mine was. Maybe they are great in the kingdom because of their lives of dedicated obedience with only little stumbles since birth, living all their days in the house with our father,  and I made it only after returning as the prodigal son.

Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
Luke 7:47 NKJV

hballingerLeave a comment

Paul Worked

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
II Thessalonians 3:7‭-‬12 NKJV

Great Article about “Why Paul Worked”: http://www.bible-bridge.com/pauls-income-four-reasons-why-paul-worked-day-job/

hballingerLeave a comment

I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever

The Lord  is  my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
Psalms 23:1‭-‬6 NKJV

Today is my birthday, and I have been blessed with 42 years of life. But these last few years have been abundantly blessed – with a new direction, with a new purpose.

You see, I met a man that I had heard about,  but that I never really knew. I fell into a close relationship with someone that I knew about from afar, but who I hadn’t loved up close and personal. I met a man who touched me and healed me and set my life on fire, and His name is Jesus Christ.

He changed my desires and my direction. He has me looking outward at how I can love and serve others and be a good steward of this life that I’ve surrendered to Him – instead of only inward serving myself. Many people will look at me and only see “another religious person” – and I understand, there are many of those around,  and I was once too blind to know the difference myself.

But I’m no longer rebellious or religious – I’m just in love with my Lord and Savior. I just want my life to be a blessing, to bring honor and glory to His name – not so that it will earn me anything, not so that people might think that I’m a good person – but so that they might realize that He is real.

You see, He isn’t that far away God that I would remember only in times of trouble. He is that loving Spirit that has come and made my house His home. He is changing my life. He is sending me out with His Good News that He loves you.

You don’t have to buy salvation with your silver pieces, but if you cling to them as your own, you will lose what is truly most valuable, and you will receive what you desire most instead.

You don’t have to work for your salvation with charitable gifts and religious practices, but if you remain idle and fruitless in what you call faith, can expect anything but to be cut away and burned with the other dead branches?

You don’t have to be a slave to the law, but if you are a slave to sin, how can you say that you have a permanent place in the Lord’s house and that His Holy Spirit lives in you and is Lord of your life?

The Good News is that He tells us, repent of your sins, believe in your heart,  and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of your life, follow Him and do not turn back,  run this race to the end, because He has gone to prepare a place for you good and faithful servants.

hballingerLeave a comment

Mercy

Oh, give thanks to the Lord , for He  is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalms 118:1 NKJV

הֹודוּ לַיהוָה כִּי־טֹוב כִּי לְעֹולָם חַסְדֹּֽו׃

Strong’s H2617 – checed
From חָסַד (H2616)

The KJV translates Strongs H2617 in the following manner: mercy (149x), kindness (40x), lovingkindness (30x), goodness (12x), kindly (5x), merciful (4x), favour (3x), good (1x), goodliness (1x), pity (1x), reproach (1x), wicked thing (1x).

חֶסֶד cheçed, kheh’-sed; from H2616; kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opposition) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty:—favour, good deed(-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.

image

[Godly mercy is not passive – it is active. It is not simply an exchange of forgiveness for sacrifice,  that is religion. It is an exchange of His active participation in our lives for our belief and surrender,  that is Christ. God’s ways are quite different than the ways of men.

His mercy endures forever towards us – we cannot escape it no matter what we do – because His mercy is poured out the same to all, but is received quite differently depending on our hearts.

He is merciful enough to chasten us when we are in rebellion, He is merciful enough to forgive us when we are repentant,  and He is merciful enough to surrender the reprobate to their true desires.

This is why the very same truth of the Word of God can produce revelation in one, conviction in another, and rejection in yet another. His mercy, His Truth, His way does not change, it endures forever, it abides, it is eternal and victorious.]

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13 NKJV

hballingerLeave a comment

Do they realize that you have been with Jesus?

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:8‭-‬13 NKJV

How often or how rarely do people see the example of our good deeds and bold proclamation of Christ? Is it so much that they must marvel and realize that we have been with Christ?

Or do we look so similar to the world, that it is hard to tell if there is any faint glimmer or touch of Christ in us at all?

When we see a man or woman in need, is our thought whether or not our good deeds will result in any change or consequence, whether it will appear that we’ve done good or bad when measured and weighed by the scale of the religious and legal minded?

Or are we eager to show love and tell them that we serve them and love them because Christ first served and loved us?

Do we stand firm against those temple builders – those blind religious leaders leading the blind into destruction – who have turned their backs to the cornerstone, to that perfect stone set forth as our example, because their eyes could not see what their hearts could not comprehend?

Are our lives evidence of having more concern about being judged by men today than about being judged by God – foolishly saying things like “only God can judge me” as we laugh in His face doing the very things that please men and not God?

Do we really love God?

Will we love Him today,  by serving and loving our fellow man?

Will we look for the opportunities to make ourselves seem foolish and peculiar today for the purposes of God, not caring what the world thinks or says about us?

Is He worth it to us?

We were worth the cross to Him.

hballingerLeave a comment

ALL Devoted Themselves

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity — all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. – Acts of the Apostles 2:42‭-‬47 NLT

What a church! And I don’t say that because of grand buildings, or leaders with doctorates in theology, or a charismatic leader with controversial messages that appeal to the hearts of the worldly. This was a beautiful community of people sacrificing for one another because they loved God and loved one another. ALL of them devoted themselves, not just a few that claimed a “higher calling” while the others remained satisfied lukewarm and complacent and religious. They actually took to heart the teachings of Christ who wanted us putting the needs of others above our own wants. They actually sought Him and His ways diligently. They actually loved God.

So shouldn’t we ask, Do I love God? Do I love others? Does “my church” love God? Does it love others? Does it resemble this alive and thriving body of believers?

God of wind and fire, whoever would have guessed that ac ragtag band of Jewish followers could be bound together in a movement that would turn the world upside down? Only because of your Holy Spirit, who is fully God. Do that work again in our day; take a wildly diverse people who don’t naturally fit together, and make a peculiar and compelling community, beautiful because of Jesus. In His name we pray,  amen. (HC 53)

We need your revival, Lord. A change and a fire so peculiar that the world cannot hide from the bright light of our house upon a hill. Let us be the church publicly and unashamedly in our lives every day, not just privately in our buildings and prayer closets.

What a high calling, to be your church – not to just go to church – not to just be a church member, volunteer, teacher, preacher, evangelist, pastor, or servant – but to take up the call to be a disciple of Christ, a student of the Word of God, a Child of the most high God, a vessel of His Holy Spirit, a royal priesthood, the Body of Christ,  the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. Help us to do your will today, Lord. Establish our footsteps so that we will walk upright in righteousness, truth, mercy and love. Fill our lives with the fruit of your Holy Spirit, and may our lives bring nourishment to those in need of hope, encouragement, love, and repentance – and bring honor and glory to your name.  Amen.