Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
As leaders we are called to walk in the authority of Christ and to lead to see others empowered in that same life-giving testimony. Authority is not a matter of control. It is never a matter of taking from someone else. It is about empowering others to be who they are for the sake of bringing life to their world. Everyone was born into this world to cause their world to become a testimony of the life-giving authority of Christ. This can be spectacular, but it is also spectacularly practical, visible, and real in the everyday lives of everyday people. Authority activates, facilitates, and releases life to and in others.
Authority is very real, and it is what gives us the ability to rule today. It is about being life-givers to our families as dads, moms, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. Authority is not measured by our anointing or our gifting. Authority is measured by our responsibility and being responsible enough to embrace the anointing of God to be a life-givers in our everyday testimonies of life. It is about embracing who we are with our abilities, talents, and personal gifts and then serving others in the act of giving life to them by who we are in Christ.
Authority is always now. It includes our calling in Christ, our appointments to the various phases of that calling, and embracing the anointing and the power of Christ to fulfill our purpose as sons or daughters of God who give life to our world in every season of our lives. It is not about what we get so we become successful in life. It is not merely about the things that we can do in life. It is about who we are for the sake of others to be significant in our world. I believe that true significance is measured by fruit and fruit gives life to others. Fruit never serves to merely gratify ourselves. Fruit is the testimony of the life on a tree that gives life to others. Whatever has been given to us in life is so we can give life to others. God is the source of the life that is given to us, and God is glorified when we live to be real people who give the life that God has given us, to our world.
Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
We must embrace a revelation of our destiny in Christ. We were not born to simply have our own personal needs fulfilled. The dreams and visions of our lives are not about our personal desires. They are valuable tools for Christ’s kingdom purpose. We were not born for the comfort of houses; we were born for the destiny of barns and vats! What are the barns and vats of our lives? Barns are supply houses for seed and bread. They provide for others in the world of today and supply seed for the harvests of tomorrow. Vats are huge containers to fill the bottles of celebration for relationships that inspire the communities of today and the life of friends and family to come.
Our firstfruits and our possessions are about our Father’s business and a testimony of Jesus’ name. We were born for greatness. We had to be born again to come to the knowledge of what greatness we were really born for. We were born for the glory of God – to bring glory to His name. This is the testimony of restored authority in Christ.
Authority is a process. It is a process of being who we are in every season of our lives. Who we are today includes the testimonies of who we were in the past, but we are not bound to the past. We are empowered to be givers of life to our world today. The authority of yesterday is not the authority of today.
What is the firstfruit in our lives of what we have not been before? What is the firstfruit of the harvest that is before us? If we give God the first of every season in our lives, He will have access to the full measure of every season of our lives. Acknowledging God in every season of our lives invites Him into every season of our lives. He is in our lives so that the fruit of our lives can bring life to our world.
We are to honor God with all that we possess. What we possess is not what we don’t possess. Who we will be is not greater than who we are today and who we are today is who we really are. When we honor God with who we are and what we have today, we grow in being able to give life to our world today. When we honor God with what we possess, we grant Him the ability to increase what we possess by all that He possesses in His heavenly storehouse of life.
Authority is always connected to today! As believers in Christ, the date on our calendars is TODAY and time on our watches and clocks is NOW! As leaders, we hear God TODAY so we can give life to our world NOW! We lead others to embrace this same authority. It is an authority of life where our vats overflow with the celebration of life and our barns are filled with the bread and seed of life for the world we live in, for the sake of the world that is yet to come.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728 
