To my Brothers and Sisters in Christ

This is a challenge to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I would encourage you to read and reevaluate your walk with God. This is not something I would take lightly. Think on it and, more importantly, pray on it.

When you decide to lay everything aside for the sake of Christ your life becomes more simplistic. The little things don’t matter anymore. You begin to see the big picture; the eternal picture. Knowing that this world will pass away and that you will be stepping into the eternal presence of The One and only Almighty God makes everything else seem so futile. Magnifying the urgent reality that your friends and families will go to hell unless you tell them about the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ becomes top priority. Your concerns will become less about yourself and more about the everlasting destination of the ones around you. This, my friends is life; giving up yourself and your life, and serving the Lord in words, deeds, and actions for His sake. Let’s put on the full armor of God and stand firm in Him.

How do we prepare ourselves for such a self-abandoning lifestyle? By shedding off our flesh and living by the Spirit. Do not pervade your mind with ungodly music, television, and movies. Keep a tight rein on your tongue. Purify yourselves before God. Stew your heart and mind in the Word of God and let it change your mindset.  Lie in the warmth of his embrace and cry out to Him for his will. Pray with thanksgiving and praise. Pray with an open spirit so He can pour His passion into you. Devote specific times to Him. Do not try to just fit Him in your schedule. Tell Him you will do whatever it takes for His glory to be known and His Kingdom to expand. It is all about Him. Let’s live like it.

 I am not telling you all of this to say that I am perfectly where I need to be in my walk with Christ. No, I press of towards the goal. I am always straining ahead; I say this to challenge you. I tell you this to let you see the hand of God direct your life like never before. I am in the midst of learning more about my Heavenly Father and I want you to experience this renewal and refreshment of the soul.

Do not accept this challenge and make this commitment to God unless you are ready to makes changes in your life for Him.

Refresh• Renew •Revive

Much Love,

Hannah Hollis


References: (Philippians 3:7-11) (Colossians 3:17) (Ephesians 6:10-17) (Romans 8:1-17) (Ephesians 4:29, James 1:26) (James 4:7-10) (Ephesians 5:3-11) (Philippians 3:13-15)

Living or Dying?

"To live is Christ and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:21) Can we truly say this, and mean it? Close your eyes and focus your attention on God, and ask yourself, "is this what my heart says?’To live is Christ and to die is gain'?" If we are honest, most of us would say no. Let's break down this verse. What Paul is saying is that if I go on living, it will be for Christ. I will spread his name; I will show people his love. If I die, I gain the glorious gift of heaven and the presence of my Almighty God. It is a win-win situation for us as Christians! But do we look at it this way? I think the reason some of us do not feel like they could state this verse with no hesitation is because we have too many earthly things hindering us. We value the things and even people in this world too much. Christians, I do not think we realize how radically God has called us to live. Let's look at Luke 14:26-27.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Okay, so let's not sugar coat this passage. Let's look at the stark truth of this. Jesus says to hate your father, mother, children, brothers, sisters, and his own life! Wow, now that is intense living. Can we say that we hate our family and friends and even our own life compared to the passion we have for following Christ? Jesus clearly says if not, you cannot be my disciple. He does not stop there though; he goes on to say we must carry our cross to be a disciple. Who in their right mind would want to hate everyone and their life, and carry a huge cross? Sounds pretty crazy, huh? Guess what? We are called to do this! Our life is a complete LOSS for the sake of Christ.
Too many times, in our fleshly eyes, we desire the world's pleasures instead of the pleasures of picking up our cross. Too many times we tweet a bible verse instead of meditating on scripture. Too many times we tell someone we are praying for them instead of spending hours in your prayer closet. Too many times we talk about how lost someone is, instead of weeping over the reality that they are going to burn in hell for eternity. Too many times we complain about someone not coming to church, when we are not showing them the love of Jesus in the first place. Guys, what are we doing? Our faith is shallow. We need to take a look at our spiritual lives. Are you truly seeking God? Are you daily soaking up the Word? Are you praying and fasting? Or are you just going through the motions; go to church, tweet a bible verse, pray at church, go on church trips. Don’t get me wrong, all those things are awesome, but that is not the type of devotion God has called us to.  Let's get real. Can you honestly say that you are being a disciple of Jesus Christ like he is describing in these verses above? Because if not, he says "he cannot be my disciple."  

Radically following,

Hannah

"Because You Say So"

Obedience. Why is it so difficult to be obedient sometimes? Why is it that when God calls us to do something we don't just say, "OK Lord!" Oh wait, I'll get you on this one..."I just need to pray about it a little more, Lord." This makes you feel a little more spiritual when you say this, since you are "praying about it." You know you've said it before, or at least thought it! We are all guilty of being disobedient to God's calling and commands. By me saying we are all guilty of being disobedient does not mean it is acceptable, as a disciple of Christ. It is actually opposite of what the disciples in Luke 5:1-11 did. I would encourage you to read it now, if you have access to the scripture. In this passage we see some unlucky, sleepy, soon-to-be disciples calling it quits on the day. Then, Jesus comes along and tells Simon to put the boat out in deeper water. What a request! These men had tirelessly worked all night and had not caught a single fish, and now Jesus was asking him to put out into the water again? Try to put yourself in Simon's shoes, how would you respond to Jesus' request? Would you say, "Are you kidding me?! We just fished all night and caught nothing!" Maybe your response would be, "Let me pray about it for a while, Jesus." Or would it be similar to Simon's response. Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Wow. Now that is obedience. Did you notice what he said? He did not ask questions, he did not say maybe later, he did not say, "Let me pray about it more." No, he said, "But because you say so." What more of a reason do we need to be completely obedient to God than that he says so.  When he says so, do it. When we feel the conviction or confirmation of the Holy Spirit pressing our hearts, obey. 
God is calling us all to live a life that is out of the ordinary. God is wanting to press each of his children toward holiness. The only way we can take steps towards holiness is by being obedient, whatever the cost; which brings me to verse 11. So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. These men just saw Jesus perform a miracle. They caught TONS of fish! Then Jesus told them from now on they would be "fishers of men." Notice Jesus did not ask Simon if he wanted to be a fisher of men, but told him he would be. When you are God's child, his calling and plan for your life is a command, not a request. He is calling you to obey him, and to obey him promptly. The disciples'  response? Total abandonment to their family, job, friends, and home to follow Jesus. Our response? The same, follow Him; leaving everything else behind. I know what you're thinking, "Come on Hannah, I can't leave everything and follow Christ." Why not? You say you are a Christian and you love God, but would you give up everything to follow him? That is what the disciples did here, and are we not disciples? I am not just talking about giving up "bad things." It may be a person or an item, that isn't necessarily bad, that is hindering you from running after Christ with a passionate drive that will push you to holiness; that will push you to fresh discovery of His Word. When you cut the strings that attach you to this world and your fleshly desires you will begin to see God's plan for your life in a whole different light. His plan may be a little blurry to you right now and it may seem hard to take that step of obedience, but friend it is so worth it. The result of being obedient to God is seeing the sweet reward of His presence and peace. I pray that your heart would turn to obedience. I also pray your eyes are opened to the seriousness of obedience. God is calling you to obey him, to follow him, to give up everything for him. Are you being obedient?

Much Love,

Hannah Hollis