Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
As leaders we grow in knowing who God is, who we are, and who we are sent to in order to give them the life that we have received from our heavenly Father. We lead others into this same understanding. God knows who He is, and He is not defined by who we think He is. He is who He is, and He brings life to us and to our world. He doesn’t need anything from us because He is a sufficient giver of life. He gives us life, breath, and all things. We find our identity in Him, our testimony in Him, and our purpose in Him in life. When we find our true identity, we give life to others.
God determines who you are. We will never discover who we are by looking to ourselves. We can only discover who we are by looking to God and finding how we give life to others in our world. We are like our Father. We are to be givers of life.
The enemy uses the environment of our world to tempt us to trade for something less than who we really are. The environment of our world can wound us and cause harm, dysfunction, and even death. That environment cannot define who we are. It can only challenge us to rise up in our true identity. Who we are will always bring life to our world. Therefore, who we are is not defined by our needs. It is defined by the empowerment of God in our hearts to overcome every wicked thing. Our source of identity is only found in Christ by our connection to Holy Spirit.
Wicked things are things that prevent us from being givers of life to our world. They prevent us from receiving life from our heavenly Father and alter us in our course of life to distract us from the true path of greatness. That path is a path of giving life to others in our world.
Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
There is a race to run! There is a divine commission for us to labor in. Our lives are to be poured out to give life to others. It is a sacrifice and service on our part to empower the faith of others in Christ. When we find our true identity, we find ourselves living for the wellbeing of others. We don’t seek a freedom for ourselves, but a freedom for others because of us. This doesn’t mean that we don’t find freedom. We find the freedom of being a giver of life to our world. This is the likeness of our heavenly Father.
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
When we discover our true identity, we can become empowered by God’s grace to edify others. How do we bring life to our family? How do we bring life to our friends? How do we bring life to our relational connections in this world? When we give life, we receive life. We receive life that we might give more life to others and in giving more life to others our heavenly Father gives life to us.
We can only give life to others when we acknowledge the truth. Grace comes on truth. That truth is to say to those whom God gives us in life, “Here I am. I am here for you. I am here to give life to you that you might know the greater measure of life that can only come from the One who gives life, breath, and all things. He is our heavenly Father.”
Everything in life has a corporate purpose. Every member of our physical body lives for its joining parts to bring health and life to our whole being. We were born for our friends, for our spouse, our family, our connection in the body of Christ, and our purpose in giving life to our world.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
