I am continuing to fix my blog to you problem. Some of you have been receiving it while others are not. Please be patient with me in this process.
Here is another thought for today:
As leaders, the effectiveness of our leadership is directing connected to our connections in relationship to members of a body of believers. We are an expression of that body. If we’re not connected to something living, we cannot give living words to others. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in their older age. Our ability to flourish is directly connected to our planting in Christ-life relationships.
When we read about the church in the New Testament, none of the New Testament letters existed for the first 20 to 30 years of the church. There were no buildings or structures called the church in the foundation of the New Covenant. So when the Scripture refers to the church, it’s not referring to something that is locational. It is referring to something that is relational. When we study the scriptures as leaders, we must keep this in mind.
We’re called to help those we lead to find a relational connection with God and relational connections with one another. For this to happen, we must be connected in relationship ourselves. Our first relationship is with God and our second relationship is with the body of Christ. It’s all for love that we do anything, not for the power of ministry. All we do is for the testimony of powerful love.
We must be planted to plant others. Unless we have a spiritual letter that is joined to us, we don’t have credentials to speak to others. The testimony of our leadership is the fruit of our leadership. That fruit is seen as life-giving people. Human lives are the testimony of a spiritual letter written by the Holy Spirit. It is written in the heart of leaders first. We lead people in a direction that is led by Holy Spirit, not the will of leaders. It’s not the will of a Christian belief system that we stand for. It’s the life-giving testimony of Christ. We believe Christ and lead others into that reality of believing Christ. When we believe Christ, we join ourselves to Him. When we join ourselves to Him, we become an expression of Him. We cannot just say we are joined to Christ by being joined to Jesus as our head alone. We must be joined to Christ in His body and His headship to lead others into the path of Christ-life relationships.
I have been having a problem in sending blog postings to my subscribers. I am working on fixing the problem. Please be patient with me as I work through the process of rectifying the situation.
We can’t experience a deep relationship with God merely by informational truth. We need a relationship with God that inspires dreams, visions and experiences that are not just inspirations for surface understandings, but they invoke deep revelations in the heart. They’re like mysteries revealed. They’re like hidden treasures buried in a field. They’re like groves of truth hidden in a forest. We want to experience things that cause our own lives to become testimonies that activate stories in the lives of others. We want a relationship with God that transforms our lives by the testimony of His powerful love.
Look to see Jesus and the Father through the indwelling connection of Holy Spirit in your heart. Know God today in an intimate way. He is your friend and He desires to give you life!
I hope you are all well. It has come to my attention that my leader’s blog has not been posting to my subscribers. I believe I have fixed it and I will be resending previous blogs over a process of time. I am sorry that this problem occurred. I hope this blog goes out as it should today.
The secret to the external presentation of our lives is what happens within us. We have entered a New Covenant where God writes His law upon our hearts and minds. That law is a law of love. It is a testimony of the character, nature, way, power, and authority of God. It is the inward testimony of grace in Christ that transforms our lives from glory to glory.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Leaders don’t lead others to know the outward testimony of their lives. They lead them to know the process by which that outward testimony was attained. The testimony of our lives comes about by an internal manna that enables us to experience a change of name in Christ. Our name is our character, nature, way, power, and authority. We are changed in the substance of who we are by an internal work of Holy Spirit. The hidden manna is a hidden “what is it?” The word manna means, “what is it”? This is a very personal thing. It is the testimony of faith that comes by hearing God in our hearts. God doesn’t just speak to us so we will know what to do. When He speaks, it changes us and we become different. God speaks to empower us to become who He proclaims us to be.
God has called us to be obedient to the faith. Faith comes by hearing God speak to our hearts. When God speaks to our hearts, faith happens. It is faith that changes our lives and it is faith that changes the world. Faith works through love and faith is the testimony of love working in us. It is not God’s instructions that change us. It is intimacy with Him in connection with the words that He speaks to our hearts.
We are not here to fashion and form God in our likeness and image. We are here to see the likeness and image of God formed in us. When we hear God in our hearts, we think we understand His words, but the understanding comes through a walking out of internal change that comes from intimacy with God in what He says to us. Leaders are an example of change and they inspire those they lead to also find the internal change that comes by hearing God in one’s heart. The process of change is more important than the final change. The process of change is the process of trust and intimacy with God in our hearts. The change can be seen as a white stone in our lives, but the name on that stone is a personal thing. The change can be seen by others, but only we know the change of name that has been given to us through our relationship with God in our hearts.
Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”‘
This is not a promise for us in heaven. It is a heavenly promise in our lives today. It is progressive and real. Leaders set an example for others to follow but each one must find the intimate connection with God in their hearts.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
It has come to my attention that my ted4leaders blogs have not been mailing to my subscribers. I believe I have fixed it and tomorrow’s post should deliver. Because my blog has not been mailing I am sending some of them so you will receive them and have a chance to listen to them or read them. I am very sorry for the problem.
As leaders we lead people to know Jesus, to be transformed by Jesus, and to partner with Jesus for the will of the Father in the earth. Jesus came to our world as the word made flesh. He was fully man, but He was also fully God. He acknowledged that He was God, but He gave His life as the Son of Man for all of mankind.
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Jesus made it possible for us all to be a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. Whether we are men or women, we are called sons of God in Christ. Those who are led by the Spirit are sons. Holy Spirit is a sevenfold Spirit and Holy Spirit testifies of the name of Jesus. He testifies of the salvation that we find through Jesus’ name in the testimony of the body of Christ.
Jesus made seven confessions as to His identity and those seven realities influence our lives with the testimony of God’s saving grace.
John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
Jesus is the bread of life. He is the bread that gives us life. He is the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord empowers us to live on every word and expression of Jesus in our lives. He is the bread that we live upon that we might also become life to our world.
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Jesus is the light. He is the wisdom that leads us from today to tomorrow. Holy Spirit leads us into the path of light by the Spirit of Wisdom in our hearts. We walk by faith in Jesus’ name.
John 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”
Jesus is the door. He is our access to heavenly things. He transforms our lives through an understanding that surpasses our own. Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and minds by the Spriit of Understanding made known by being one in peace with God.
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Jesus is the good shepherd. He is the counsel that leads us into the life-giving authority of Christ. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Counsel that testifies of the authority of the good shepherd in our lives.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
Holy Spirit empowers our lives by the Spirit of Might. This is not the strength of the flesh but a testimony of who we are in the works of Christ according to His resurrection life. To be clothed in Him is to be clothed in His resurrection.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus leads us into the testimony of community. We are one with God, and we are one with one another by the knowledge of His love. Holy Spriit leads us by the Spirit of Knowledge that gives us an identity, testimony, and purpose as the family of God.
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”
Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. He is the vine and the Father is the vinedresser. We are branches called to bear fruit for God’s glory. Holy Spirit leads us in the purpose of the Father’s will. The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord empowers us to open the door of our hearts to a partnership with God in all things to bear the fruit of His will in the earth.
Leaders lead in a way that enables us all to grow in knowing the fullness of Jesus in our lives. Jesus is the living bread; He is the light; He is the door, He is the good shepherd; He is the resurrection; He is the way, the truth, and the life; and He is the vine for the fruit of the Father’s kingdom and will in our lives. When we are led by Holy Spirit we grow in the realities of this great and wonderful salvation in Christ.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
This is a test to see if I have repaired my mailing to subscriber issue. This is a blog from a couple of weeks ago that you did not receive in your mailbox.
Leaders in the New Covenant, lead others to embrace the administration of the New Covenant. That administration is not one of information; it is an administration that transforms our hearts and minds from within. This is the testimony of New Covenant. The New Covenant is a NOW relationship with God each day. It is a testimony of divine empowerment in our lives through a personal relationship with God in Christ.
We live in a world bound to Old Covenant realities, but we must live as New Covenant sons and daughters of God in Christ. The Old Covenant was an administration of the knowledge of good and evil. This is an independent administration of human strength. Whether it be by human conscience or some form of law, this administration is one of information. It creates a world where one strives for what they believe to be good and they judge others as being evil. That administration is the way of the world, and it is the means of living for those who live for themselves. It is way of the flesh.
The fall of Adam left the world in a condition of futility whereby man was left striving in their human pride to overcome the difficulties in the world. Only sons of God can find victory over this futility in the earth. Sons of God find an administration of life in Christ. That life is eternal life, and it is a testimony of being loved and it empowers us to love others.
Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
In the world there are many lords. Wherever there is a dry place there is a devil bound to the dust of that dry place. Where there is unforgiveness there is a spirit of unforgiveness. Where there is fear, there is a spirit of fear. Where there is a form of dysfunction there is spirit that inspires that dysfunction. That spirit is the desire of that dysfunction. That desire is a lord of one’s heart and mind. The antidote is to turn the dry places to a watered garden of God’s presence. The desires of the flesh must be transformed by a desire of God’s Spirit. The lords of this earth are only conquered by the testimony of Jesus as Lord in our hearts.
In the natural world there are many lords, many temptations to fear death, and many false identities through submersions in created things rather than their heavenly Father. People in the world see authority as a matter of power and they govern others through control or manipulation to get what they believe should be theirs. People in the world are distracted by worldly things, influenced by too much natural knowledge, and bound to dysfunction and death in the circumstance of their lives. How are we to live in a futile world?
To live in a futile world and to bring life to it, we must be connected to God and dependent upon Him. We must receive our life from Him, and we must experience Him in our lives each day. We are in the world, but we are not people of the world. We are children of God. We live by an administration of grace and God’s grace empowers us to be different than we were in the world.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
The days before us are not days of despair. They are days of increasing glory. In the world there is darkness and the people of the world are in deep darkness, but we are not the people of the world. We are sons and daughters of God, and we are to arise and shine in the darkness. Leaders lead others in being the light of Christ to the world around them. When we are the light of Christ, those in the world will be drawn to our light. We are not to worry; we are to shine! Christ’s administration of grace in our hearts transforms us from glory to glory for the sake of the world in which we live.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
As leaders we lead others into the growing testimony of being New Creations in Christ. We don’t lead people to merely discipline their flesh through the Old Covenant standards of the Law. We lead people to know the saving grace of Christ working in them. This is how the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the earth.
Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears…
Jesus is our salvation. He is the eternal Adam by whom we are born again. The old tree has been cut down, and the eternal tree of life has sprung up where our self-seeking nature once ruled. We are new creations in Christ, and the sevenfold Holy Spirit transforms our lives by God’s work of grace within our hearts. He gives us new desires, as He works as the Lord in our hearts. We are empowered by faith as Holy Spirit is the source of God’s wisdom from within. Holy Spirit gives us understanding through heavenly transformations seen as the mystery of God’s word working in our hearts and personal experiences with His presence that changes the testimony of our lives. Holy Spirit is the counsel who anoints us to be givers of life to others in our world. We are clothed in the resurrection life of Christ by the supernatural might of Christ to walk in the works of Christ as members of His body. We have become members of the family of God with the intimate knowledge of God’s love. We are growing in the zeal of His house as Holy Spirit gifts us with the fear of the Lord in our lives.
Jesus made a way for us to be delivered from the old Adam of flesh and to know the life-giving testimony of sons and daughters in Christ. Jesus is the head and we are His body. Jesus is the tree and we are His branches. The Branch from the Rod of Jesse is both Christ the head and Christ the body. Jesus was manifested as both the head and the body of Christ that made a way for us all to become part of His body through the blood of His mercy and the Spirit of His grace. The sevenfold Spirit upon our lives anoints us to live by a different justice system than that of the knowledge of good and evil and mere judgments of right and wrong. Holy Spirit empowers us to delight in the awe of God and to judge things by a different standard than what can be seen or heard naturally.
Isaiah 11:3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears…
Holy Spirit empowers us to make judgments for the poor by a righteousness of life. With the equity of who we are we can make decisions for those who do not qualify according to the standards of right and wrong. They simply qualify through a judgment of love. As people of God, we must set the example of destroying evil through the power of love. When the devil strikes the earth, it is with a blow of hate and death, but the breath of God is a wind of love, and the measure of His mouth is a life-giving expression that destroys the power of evil.
Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.
The substance of who we are in Christ is enough to give life to those who lack it. We are the substance of good news to the destitute, healing to the broken hearted, liberty to the captives, an open door to freedom for the bound, restored heritage and inheritance to the enslaved, deliverance to the controlled, comfort to the mourning, clarity to the confused, beauty to the destroyed, joy to the sorrowful, and praise to the oppressed. Who we are is a testimony to who all can become! We are the people of God and our love for another is not dependent upon them loving us – it is an anointing upon our lives given to us by our Father in heaven! We are trees of righteousness; the planting of the Lord that God might be glorified! This is the growing testimony of leaders in the body of Christ, and this is the testimony that leaders lead others to know.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:www.ted4leaders.comwww.ted4you.com orwww.houseofbreadministry.org.Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is:House of Bread Ministry3210 Meridian St.Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
As leaders, we are to lead others in their obedience to God. Their obedience is an obedience to the faith. Faith comes by hearing God in our hearts. Faith is not a discipline of the flesh; it is an empowerment of the heart from within. When we hear God in our hearts, faith happens. Faith toward God is seen in actions of love. Leaders set an example in this, and they lead others to walk in this same way.
Faith toward God is not a means of merely getting His blessing to endorse our personal desires in life. We live in a world where personal desires are exalted, and personal opinions are encouraged like fanning the flames of a fire that seeks to consume the opinions of others. Whether it be our own opinions or the opinions of others, only God’s desires can lead us to life. We must learn to be led by God’s Spirit in all things and not by our personal desires.
Bonnie and I raised three children, and all our children were raised to have faith towards God. They were raised to hear God’s voice within their hearts. I have written of these things in my book, Grafted Into Love. This is an exert from my book:
“Submission is an attitude of love, while mere obedience can be a bitter action of resentment. How we teach our children to respond or not respond to us is how we expect them to respond or not to respond to God’s voice in life.
When our children were little, we always sought to reach their spirits, not just their heads. Solomon recognized that true wisdom is found in reaching the spirit of a child. It is in the place of their spirit that their lives will either be safe or left defenseless from some enemy.
Proverbs 25:28 Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.
It is our job as parents to train our children in knowing how to rule their own spirits. In the Hanson house, we had what we called the happy up discipline. It was a means by which we taught our children to rule over their spirits. It involved deciding to draw happy from their spirits to their soul. We would say, I want you to fold your hands, calm yourself down, and happy up. Where’s happy? Give me happy!
“This discipline empowered our children to have souls that are like a city with walls, because we taught them how to rule over their spirits. It was not an exercise to teach them to be fake. It was an exercise in teaching them to be real. It was an exercise to teach them how to draw life from within and not to allow the things around them to determine what was in their hearts and minds. This was also an exercise in learning to respond to God’s voice and be connected to the Rock. The place of true strength doesn’t come from our souls. True strength comes when our spirits are one with God’s Holy Spirit, and then that strength from within floods our souls with the strength of life.”[1]
God wants to give us desires. His understanding will surpass our own, and His understanding will lead us into life. The testimony of life is found in being empowered to give life to others. The influence of our lives will empower others to know the love of God in their hearts and minds.
Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
When we delight ourselves in the Lord, we don’t get what we want. The desires of our hearts change to desire what He wants in our lives. We must know how to rule our spirit by submitting our hearts to the Spirit of God. When we quiet our souls and look to God in our hearts, God puts desire in our spirits, and our spirits flood our souls with thoughts, reasoning, imaginations, emotions, and desires that come from God. Leaders must rule their spirits and teach others to do the same.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Grafted Into Love: Parenting, Family, and the Destiny of LIfe
Available on Amazon in Print, E-Book, and Audiobook
[1] Ted J. Hanson, Grafted Into Love: Parenting, Family, and the Destiny of Life,(Bellingham, WA: House of Bread Publishing, 2022), pp. 48-49.
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
We were born to be loved, not because we are worthy but because God is good. He is a good Father and His nature is to love us. He gives life, breath, and all things. It is not fair that God should love us. It is simply His nature. Leaders know that God is not fair. He is better than fair, He is good.
In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard hired people at the beginning of the day and promised them a certain wage. He hired people at the middle of the day and promised them the same wage. He hired people at the end of the day and also promised them the same wage. When the day was finished, those who were hired at the beginning of the day complained because those hired later received the same wages as them. They thought they should have received more, since they worked longer than those hired later.
Matthew 20:10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.’ (Mt. 20:1-15).
The owner of the vineyard didn’t pay his workers an unfair wage. He gave a generous wage for a days’ work, but he decided to give that same generous wage to everyone. He didn’t pay them for their work; he paid them from his generosity. This story is a testimony to the nature of God our Father and His desired nature for His children.
Leaders don’t set an example of who God is by being fair. They set an example by being good, as our Father is good. We are all to be good. This is the nature of God!
Isaiah 55:1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. 3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you—the sure mercies of David.
God’s ways are ways of generosity. They are ways of love. His thoughts are always life-giving thoughts. They are thoughts of redemption and reward. This same mindset should be in us as leaders and in every member of the family of God. God gives, because He is a giver. He doesn’t think according to right or wrong. He doesn’t think according to fair or unfair. He thinks according to His nature as One who is good. His nature is that of a Father who loves His children. As leaders and members of His family our ways and thoughts should be the same. We are to be generous in the ways of love towards others.
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
These verses are not about how bad the thoughts and ways of men are. They are about how good God is. God’s heart is to cause all to prosper. He doesn’t speak words to condemn us, but to give us life! He is good. This same nature is to be in the heart of every leader and in the hearts of those they lead.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
Leaders know how to be strong in the Lord and strong in His Spirit. They lead others into this testimony. Being strong in the Lord is being strong in His word. His word inspires His desires in our hearts. A willingness to know His word is a willingness to receive His desires in our hearts. What has He said? What is He saying? What is His general will? What is His specific will? If we don’t know the general will of God, we have no foundation for knowing the specific will of God in our lives.
To be strong in God’s Spirit is to know His presence in all things. It is a matter of being dependent upon His presence in all things. A discernment of His presence will give as a discernment of His will. It will manifest the fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The discipline of God’s word and Spirit lead us into the path of life. We are givers of life to our world when we trust the One who gives life to us. We demonstrate our trust in God by listening to and responding to all that He says.
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
How do we keep strong hands, strong knees, and straight paths before our feet? We can find these answers when we consider God in the entirety of His word. There are some key words written in the book of Job in regard to the character of the righteous man Job.
Job 4:3 Surely you have instructed many, and you have strengthened weak hands. 4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees…
If the instructions of a righteous man can strengthen weak hands, the instructions of God’s Spirit can do even more. Our hands are a testimony to what we give to our world. The blessings of being life-givers comes from our ability to bless our world with life. When we trust the instruction of Holy Spirit in our lives and when we respond to His instructions, we will be givers of life to all that we touch. His instructions surpass our own understanding so we must discern His presence and trust His presence to guide us in all things.
If a righteous man can strengthen the knees of others by his words, how much more can God’s word strengthen our knees? When we stand on God’s word, we can overcome all things that seek to cause us to bow our knees to things that are less than truth. I believe God’s instructions are the testimony of His Spirit and God’s words are a testimony of His truth. When the Word and the Spirit come together in our lives we can surely be who we are meant to be for the sake of our sphere of influence in this world.
What about finding the straight path for our feet? I believe the key to our straight path is the manifest presence of God in our lives. It is not about knowing what to do. It is about knowing God in all things. His presence will give us the path of life in all things.
Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Isaiah 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.
As leaders we must face everything in life for the sake of others. This is not just a testimony of leaders; it’s a testimony for us all. Leaders lead to inspire this truth in others. If we follow the instructions of God’s Spirit in every situation of our lives, we will be givers of life to our world. If we stand fast on all that God has said and is saying in His word, we will not bow our knees to compromise to the ways of the world. We will be overcoming sons and daughters of God in all circumstances. If we hold fast to God’s manifest presence in our lives, we will find the path of life and light before us in every step of our journey in life. These things are attributes of sons and daughters of God in Christ.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
As a leader, what is the priority of my life? For what do I lead people to know? I believe that being loved by God, loving God, and loving others is the testimony of life. We were all born to be loved by God. We are born again to love God and to love others in life.
Knowing God’s love in our lives leads to knowing who God is. Knowing who God is, leads to knowing who we are. Our identity, testimony, and purpose in life are dependent upon God’s manifest presence in our lives. I lead others that they might be envisioned, impassioned, and transformed through knowing God.
Knowing God is not a matter of knowing the correct theological information concerning who He is. It is personally knowing Him. We grow in knowing His person. We experience His presence, His touch, His words to us, His impartations, and the activations of life that He puts within our hearts and minds. We cannot know who we are without first knowing who He is. We cannot walk in the testimonies of transformation without experiencing the supernatural touch of His Spirit. We cannot live for His purpose without a partnership with Him in all things.
The identity of our lives is made known through God’s presence in our lives. The testimony of our lives is the fruit of His promises manifesting in our lives. The purpose of our lives is the result of our partnership with God in all things. This process begins with allowing God to love us. He doesn’t love us because of what we have done or what we will do. He loves us because of who He is. A leader must grow in knowing who God is before they seek to grow in the skill of leadership. Our gifting and anointing are not the goal. These are but tools that help us to lead others into a relationship with God. Without the manifest presence of God in us and in those we lead, we have nothing.
To know God and to become who we are meant to be in life, we must be loved by God, we must be transformed by His love, and we must become the substance of His love to our world. God is love so He will always act in love. He will not act according to our understanding. Our perceptions of Him must be shaped by His love working in our lives, even through difficult situations. We can trust Him because He is our Father, our Savior, and the empowerment of life within us.
These things can only be understood through the tree of life. They cannot be understood through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of the tree of life is life to us and to our world. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil only leads to judgments of right and wrong. It leads to offenses, even to being offended by God for lack of understanding.
As leaders, we can know much, but our message is simple. Embrace God’s presence, overcome all wickedness by His Spirit and Word within you, and live to give life to others. Like our heavenly Father, live to give life!
Seek to know Him, let Him know you, receive His presence, be transformed by His promises, and become an expression of His love to your world. For this I lead!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
Thank you so much for your donations to House of Bread Ministry. Your commitment to House of Bread helps us serve the Body of Christ with the ministry of life.
