Greetings,
When everything goes perfect and well there is no proof that we truly are members of the body of Christ. But when we are tempted to leave and we stand fast to stay, we become a testimony of Christ’s faithfulness. Our membership in the body of Christ should be like being a part of family. God is the one who divinely joins us as He pleases. We must stay awake and not lay down on the rock. We must stand as part of the rock that is a testimony of Christ. It is not always easy. If it was easy, animals would do it. But is not easy. It is supernatural. Only sons and daughters of God can do it. It is the place where we manifest. It can also be the place where things manifest. It can be the very place where the gates of hell manifest. Why? So that the gate of heaven can prevail!
If we are the house of heaven, we cannot be afraid when the house of hell knocks on our door. When the house of hell knocks on the door of the house of heaven, the house of heaven takes another dimension of territory. The overcoming grace of the Holy Spirit is ready to work for the sake of relationships and love. When this happens, the house of heaven grows. When offenses come, the house of heaven proves that it has the grace to not take an offense. When disconnection comes, the house of heaven proves to be strongly connected. It never lays down. It stands and the overcoming anointing of Christ comes on that house. It proves to be the house of peace. It proves to be the house of God and then, like Jacob, we responds with a tenth. We respond with a judgment of love. If you are now wanting to debate the validity of the action or not, you are missing the whole point of what I am presenting.
Let’s just use money as an illustration, because we have taught that tithe is 10% of our money. Tithe symbolizes much more than that, but money is included in the testimony of tithe. Our money represents our time and even most of our time. It represents most of our days. Because money is not just given, it is earned. We work, why? We work so we can eat. We work so we can live. My grandson wants all of his time to be with is grandpa or his dad. He tries to convince us often not to go to work, so that he can have time with us that he so greatly values. He thinks my few chickens are enough to provide us with food so his dad doesn’t have to go to work. God knows that our money is earned by the sacrifice of our time. My grandson understands the value of time. He knows that the presence of his dad and his grandpa is more important than work, but dad and grandpa still have to make the sacrifice of their time for the sake of work. That work includes both the purpose of destiny and provision.
Much of the world is bankrupted, because people don’t know they have to work so they can eat. When it comes to money, it represents our time. It represents our pain. It represents something we did that we did not necessarily want to do. It represents a sacrifice on our part. We did not want to be at work earning money. We wanted to be on vacation and now we come to church and the preacher says we need to give 10% of our money. I agree. Each of us needs to give 10% of our money, time, attitude, and dreams, but it is not just 10%. It is 100%. The 10% is simply a prophetic symbolism that testifies of a judgment of love to the giver of bread and wine in our lives. It represents all of us.
Let’s say I receive $35. I need to give $3.50 to be a testimony of tithe. How do I get those coins? I am looking for the least I can do for what is required of me. It is not about the least. It is about responding to something outside of me that represents all that I am inside and out. It is saying I am here for us. Whether it is with my money or my time or my attitude or supernatural gifts of the Spirit, it represents my response to us. It is not about the legalism of the amount, but the prophetic significance of the action.
Genesis 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
God, I will respond with a tenth if you are with me, and You give me bread and clothing to wear. If You prove to be in me and on me I am going to tithe. If You prove to cause me to be me, I am going to live for us. It has nothing to do with what is required. It has to do with the revelation of us. It has to do with saying yes! We are the family of God. We are the house of God and the gate of heaven. It is not about us as individuals, but us as individuals in the testimony of Him. It is not about our individual ministries, but our ministering for the testimony of the house. In the Father’s house there are many rooms, but all the rooms exhibit the testimony of one house. We are together for the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance and the working of His power in all things. Yes, Yes, Yes! We are each part of the demonstration of His power for His purpose and His glory. How awesome is this place! This is the gate of heaven! This is where angels ascend. It is not about my money. It is about us! I have seen that when people become offended with us, the first thing they do is they change where they sit and then they withhold their time and their money. They separate in the room and they become tight with their money, their time, and their attitude. They are confessing that they no longer here for us. That is when caner destroys the body. When we see the church as a place where our needs are met we open our hearts and minds to entertain cancerous thoughts and attitudes towards who we are as the house of God.
I want to challenge us all to embrace the value of responding to the giver of bread and wine with the prophetic demonstration of a judgment of love. It is not about law or about the amount. It is about what is represented in the action. It is not just a responding to God, but a response to the place of being us for His purpose, His testimony, and His power.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
