ted4leaders

Greetings,

Another Portion of The Now Covenant:

The elements of the New Covenant communion table are revealed in verses 19 and 20 of Luke chapter 22. He told them to do this in remembrance of Him. It was not the cup of verse 17 that he told them to drink. It was the cup of verse 20. The cup of verse 17 was the cup of Redemption that Jesus drank for all men when He shed His blood. The fourth cup of verse 19, was the cup of Praise. It represents the life of the Spirit! It is the cup of Resurrection. It is not the death of Jesus Christ that guarantees our resurrection. It is the resurrection of Christ that guarantees our resurrection! It is the partaking of life that guarantees the fullness of life! The death of Jesus gave all men the right to drink of the cup of resurrection through faith in Him. When we receive the life of the Holy Spirit, we are guaranteed the full resurrection! It is the cup that Jesus drinks new with us in the kingdom of His Father. It is not a cup to be drunk in heaven. The fourth cup was the cup of Praise, a cup to be drunk upon the earth. It is the testimony of His resurrection life that guarantees the fullness of the resurrection to come. It guarantees the resurrection of heaven, because the members of the living body of Christ are drinking the cup of the resurrection of heaven on the earth.

Luke 22:17-20 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

The cup of Christ’s blood for the New Covenant believer is not the third cup. It is the fourth cup! By drinking of the cup of Praise (Resurrection) with God by His Spirit, we proclaim that Jesus Christ has drunk the third cup of Redemption for all of mankind! The communion table of the New Covenant is not set with the third cup of Redemption. It is set with the cup of Praise. When we drink of His resurrection life together as living members of the body of Christ, we truly experience the communion table of the New Covenant. We do this in remembrance of Him! Communion is not coming together to drink the third cup of the Passover again. It is coming to drink the cup that followed the supper. It is not the shadow cup of Praise, but the real cup of Praise! We are called to receive one another as living members of the body of Christ and then drink the cup of His resurrection life together as the body of Christ!

I want to propose that the ‘breaking of bread’ of the early church was not meant to be a ritual of bread and wine. It was meant to be the daily celebration of the gathering together of the body of Christ. It can include the elements of food, but in its greater reality it reveals the food of the body of Christ and the life of His resurrection Spirit. It is a celebration of human brethren living together according to the Spirit of Christ. It is void of judgments according to the flesh. It is a testimony of a love for God as their Father and a love for one another as members of God’s city, His community of sons and daughters in His kingdom.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

There is one body and one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4). True ‘communion’ is ‘an intimate relationship with God through His Holy Spirit, with deep understanding.’  It is also ‘an intimate relationship with one another with deep understanding.’ How is this possible? Jesus is the Living Bread that makes us all ‘living bread’ (Jn. 6:33). He came as a fulfillment of all that was revealed as a shadow in the Old Testament. The Passover meal, with the bread and wine, was a symbol of the true Bread of Christ and the Life of His Spirit. Jesus fulfilled the ‘word picture’ on the very night He was betrayed. He took the bread and blessed it. The bread that he took was a ‘word picture’ of the true Bread that He was. He was about to be broken for the sins of the old Adam, that all might enter into a Living Last Adam. He was opening the door for all to become a part of the body of Christ. That true bread is His body TODAY! He broke the bread so it could be shared. He was broken, as the law had been broken, so that all who had broken the law could be made one in Him as the living body of Christ. His broken body is united as we share Christ in one another. We must eat of His flesh, and to eat His flesh is to judge no one according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16-17). We must recognize that we are members of the body of Christ. We must also recognize that others are members to be received as contributing elements of the life of Christ together. A proper examination is to recognize that Christ lives in each of us (2 Cor. 13:5).

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Audiobooks at Kobo, Nook, Chirp, Apple, Google Play, Scribd, Authors Direct – & more forthcoming

Buy Print or E-book and Audiobook on Amazon:

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

Greetings,

In light of the present season of Easter and the resurrection life that we enjoy in Christ, I felt to post another excerpt from by book, The Now Covenant. This book is available in print, e-book, and audiobook. As New Covenant leaders and New Covenant believers in Christ, we need to walk in the fullness of the life that we have in Christ.

Audio Excerpt:

True communion was initiated in the fulfillment of Passover. Jesus became the true Passover Lamb, who took away the sins of the world. In preparation of that sacrifice, Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples. He had eaten that meal with them in previous times. He had most likely eaten the bread of Passover and drank the cup at least twice before with his men. He had experienced the physical elements of bread and wine at numerous settings of his 33^1/2 years of human life. As the Word of God, He had observed the Passover meal hundreds and hundreds of times from the realm of heaven. However, this meal was different. This is the one Passover meal that He had longed to see. This was the one that would fulfill all of the previous meals leading up to that moment. This is why Jesus said, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk. 22:15). This was the one that would reveal the truth of the Passover meal.

The first cup of the Passover meal was a cup of Thanksgiving (Kiddush), a testimony of becoming the people of God through God’s covenant and transformation in the life of Abraham. The second cup of the Passover meal was a cup of Telling, or Testimony (Hagadah), for stories of deliverance from Egyptian slavery. The third cup was the cup of Redemption, or Blessing, to demonstrate God’s redemption power for all who believe in Him. It testified of the death of the flesh of Egyptian inheritance and the protection unto new life for the believer in Israel. The fourth cup was the cup of Praise (Hallel), to testify that God had acquired His people as a holy nation unto Himself (Ex. 6:6-7). Jesus had come to the world as the Word made flesh. He Himself had fled to Egypt to free all who were bound to the bondage of sin. He was born as the cup of Thanksgiving to God. He lived his life as the cup of Telling. His life in the flesh would set precedence for all who would follow Him to become the living testimonies of God’s story in the earth. The time had finally come for Jesus to take the unleavened bread of the Passover and the third cup of Passover wine (the cup of Blessing or the cup of Redemption). Jesus finished its symbolism in the presence of His disciples. He proclaimed to them that He was about to give His life as a ransom for all men. The cup to follow the cup of Redemption would be the cup of Praise. He revealed this truth when He took the cup after supper and called it the cup of the New Covenant in His blood shed for mankind. The cup before supper was the cup of blood, the blood of the Old Covenant. The cup after supper was the cup of Hallel (Praise), the cup of resurrection life in Christ. In this act Jesus proclaimed that the blood of the New Covenant is the life of the Spirit in Christ.

Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

Jesus has become the resurrection life within the body of Christ that we might drink the cup of Praise anew with Him (Mt. 26:29). That cup is not a cup of earthly wine. It is a cup of heavenly wine! It is the cup of resurrection life given to all who believe in Jesus Christ. It is the cup that testifies that the cup of Redemption and Blessing has been drunk once for all men through the shedding of the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. To drink that cup of resurrection life one must first be a partaker of the Bread of Life. By drinking the cup of Praise, we proclaim the fulfillment of the cup of Redemption for all mankind. In sharing the cup of the Spirit, we experience the intimacy of the body of Christ. In experiencing the intimacy of the body of Christ we proclaim the death of Jesus Christ for all men.

The hour had come for the life of the flesh to be exchanged for the life of the Spirit for all of mankind. Jesus had come to complete the death of the old Adam and initiate the birth of a new human race through the seed of His flesh as the Last Adam. His life would be sown in corruption but raised to incorruption (1 Cor. 15:42). He would endure the cross once for all, but for the sake of the joy set before Him (Heb. 12:2). He would prove to be the beginning of the true bread and cup of life for all men (Jn. 6:35, 48). The Body of Christ would become a new creation in the earth (2 Cor. 5:17). The elements of the Passover meal would be revealed in the flesh of the body of Christ and the cup of the Holy Spirit that flows within her being. The Bible teaches that the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). It does not teach that the life is in the blood. The life of humanity is in the Spirit of God, but the life of the flesh had to be given once for all in order for all to receive the life of the Spirit. Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins (Mt. 26:28; Heb. 9:22), thus Jesus shed His blood once for all. The cup of Blessing for the believer was drunk once for all by Jesus Christ. It was His willingness and obedience to love that empowered Him to shed His blood once for us all. We need not drink that cup ever again. He has given to us the cup of Praise. He has given to us the cup of the Spirit. In drinking the cup of the Spirit, we proclaim the death of Jesus Christ. For unless One drank the cup of Blessing, we could not drink the cup of Praise. God has not called us to drink the cup of Blessing. He has made a way for us to drink the cup of Praise! He has the authority to bring all men out of sin as the cup of Thanksgiving. He set precedence for the testimony of all men as the cup of Telling. He has fulfilled the death of the flesh for all men as the cup of Redemption and Blessing. He is now calling all men to drink of the cup of Praise, proclaiming we are a holy nation unto God our Father. Is this not the cup of the New Covenant table?

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Audiobooks at Kobo, Nook, Chirp, Apple, Google Play, Scribd, Authors Direct – & more forthcoming

Buy Print or E-book and Audiobook on Amazon:

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I just finished a week in Bulgaria where God moved in a very powerful way. While I was there I released several prophetic words that I feel are very relevant to the body of Christ at large. Today I want to share one of those prophetic words. The following words and prophetic utterance was given in Sofia, Bulgaria on March 17, 2022.

God is releasing a testimony inside of you and out because the voice of the lord is the voice of many waters and you are living in a very unique time on planet earth. And some of you will hear some things in your spirit tonight that will go beyond your head. Others of you will hear some things in your head that need to to go to your spirit, but I feel that Daddy God wants to say some things tonight. He says,

I’ve activated your heart to see Jesus in your midst and I’m pleased with the rejoicing and the sounds of life that are emerging.  Get ready for I’m calling you to a deeper place, God says. For some of you would think that the water is up to the waist and to the chest, but I say the water has not even reached the waist yet, says God, on My body. You’ve experienced the ankle deep and you’ve experienced the knee deep. But you’re about to experience the waist deep and there’s going to be a procreative power of life that’s going to enter into your midst.

And in these past decades I have announced that I was bringing a tsunami wave, and many have rejoiced in the thought that I would bring such a wave, but My tsunami wave is not a wave of blessing. It’s a wave of making you become a blessing. For the tsunami wave is not a wave that is easily ridden to surf. But I declare that I’ve announced my judgment to the nations. And My judgment to the nations is Mercy! Mercy! Mercy to the lawless! Mercy to the legalist! And from mercy will come forth truth and there’s going to be a transformation in the hearts of My people. For when the tsunami wave comes the waters of the world retreat. And it’s not a time to seek the waters of the world, but it’s time to seek the mountain of God. And you’re going to hear such a sound in your hearts and such a sound in the nations that says, Come, let us go to the house of the Lord! Come, let us run to the mountain of our God! For I say to you, My love is stronger than any mountain of stone and My love will lift your vision higher.

Do not be confused with what’s going on in the nations. I’ve made this an impossible time, because you are yet to see what is possible with Me. And I’ve made this a season of miracles, says God. But don’t be those who question the miracles and oppose what I do, and don’t be those who are distracted by the miracles, by the things that I do. You’re going to see such miracles and the temptation will be to rejoice in the miracles, but God says, I’m calling you to a deeper level. Because this is not a season of power. This is a season of intimacy! For there have been those who have camped along the banks of the shores of the world clothed in the clothing of the beach and there have been those who have held unto the pain of the past. But I’ve brought a move of My Spirit, says God. Even now it’s rising up within you. For My voice is the voice of many waters and you’re going to experience such intimacy in Me to know that My mercy has triumphed over every judgment! Because My mercy is the judgment! I have made My judgement and now you will come to My mountain in a deeper place of reality and instead of wearing the clothing of the ways of the world you will wear the clothing of the ways of children of God. The ways of sons and daughters. The ways of princess and princesses. You will wear the ways of being loved by Me and let go of the pains of the past for they are tattoos of the world. This is not a time for the tattoos of the world. This is a time to be marked by Me, says God. To be marked by My healing. To be marked by My life. To be marked by My sweetness. To wear the tattoos of heaven, says God. For it’s not the tattoos of where you have come form that I’ve called to be on your body. It’s the tattoos of where you are and where you are going that I’m placing upon My body, says God. They are not the tattoos of your story. They’re the tattoos of My story! Because I knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb, and I’m the only one who knows the truth. I’m the one who knows the truth about you. For you have looked in the mirror, but I have looked in the heart and you have looked in the mirror to the tattoos of the world. But I have looked in the mirror to the tattoos of heaven. And even tonight I’m marking you with mercy, says God. And you’re going to know that the joy of Me is your strength. And you’re going to get a revelation that My joy is your strength. For God says, you are My voice. I am the word, but you are My voice! But My voice can only be found in Me. You cannot find your voice in where you have come from. Let go of the tattoos of pain. For this is a season of deeper reality, deeper intimacy, says God.   

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

What is the key to happiness? True happiness comes when we discover God’s wisdom and God’s understanding in our lives. This is not our own wisdom or our own understanding. It is what God knows and how God directs. The wisdom of mankind is self-motivated, self-focused and self-preserving, but the wisdom of God is life-motivated, life-focused, and life-giving in all things. His life-giving wisdom always pursues life-giving knowledge to establish life-giving understanding. This should renew our strength!

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her.

Wouldn’t it stand to reason, that leaders should be happy people? Leaders should be people who know how to discover the wisdom and understanding of God; thus, they discover the happiness of the will of God in their lives for the sake of leading others to finding the same. Wisdom is not a depending upon what we know. True wisdom is depending on the One who knows. God writes the beginning from the end and His end is always redemptive in its purpose. If we seek to know God’s wisdom, we also seek to know His redemptive end. We can have an expectation of this. God ends with life, so He seeks constant and continual beginnings of life. Knowing this should make us happy!

The world is facing shaking and difficult times, but we have an internal kingdom of life that empowers our way in the natural world of our surrounding. Believers need not be afraid. Leaders in the body of Christ should lead others to not be afraid. God’s wisdom gives foundations and creates new things. From what is formless, void, and dark He brings forth order, fullness, and light. We must be seekers of Him in order to be seekers of His wisdom.

Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; 20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. 21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes—keep sound wisdom and discretion; 22 So they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. 23 Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; 26 For the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.

These truths should inspire us to be stable in our walk in life. These words address the fact that the wicked will inspire trouble, but we need not be afraid. We can be like Jesus Christ as the body of Christ. We can be unshakable as the rock of Christ. Let’s not be easily moved by the events of the world. Let’s be determined by our access to heaven and heaven’s access to our lives. Our God is the Lord and we can be happy people, even in difficult times.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

Leaning of God in Order to Lead

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we are called to set an example that others can see of what it means to be a little child before God in our hearts, an overcomer in the testimony of God’s word and the presence of His Spirit, and someone who gives their life to give life to those in their world for the sake of the generations to come. All believers are to live in this way, but leaders simply lead to inspire others to do the same. It is more about who we are than it is about the works that we do. It is about the core of our being that inspires all our doings in life. This is dependent upon our personal connection to God in all things.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.

Leaders are not leaders because of what they know. That is often the way of the world. Leaders in Christ are leaders because of Who they know. Knowing God intimately will inspire those we lead to know Him in the same way. We are not the voice of God for people, we are a testimony of what it looks like when someone knows the voice of God in their life. The strength of leadership is not in their understanding of things, it is in their connection to the One who understands all things. There are plenty of things that we cannot understand in our world. There are spiritual powers that we cannot see that influence the circumstances that we can see. Only God sees all things and only God knows the end from the beginning. Leaders set an example in trusting God above their own understanding. They know He is the One who directs the paths of men. Leaders are not wise in the own wisdom; they are dependent upon God’s wisdom in finding their way forward in life. It is in trusting God, knowing God, and always depending upon Him, that we find health in our lives, inside and out.

Leaders are not the smart ones who bring correction to God’s people. They are sons and daughters of God who set an example in responding to the corrections of the Lord in their path in life. God doesn’t chasten us according to a family tree of a knowledge of good and evil. He chastens us for a family tree of life! Chastisement is about keeping us in the path of life that empowers us to give life to others. This is the chastisement received by Jesus, the perfect Son of God.

Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.

Hebrews 5:8 …though He was a Son (Jesus), yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

We are not to despise the chastening of the Lord. We are not to be discouraged when we are rebuked by God. He scourges every son He receives by allowing them to go through hard things. Leaders set an example to those they lead in desiring, embracing, and responding to the chastisements of God in their lives. The don’t just seek God in the crisis moments of their lives. They willingly seek Him, and they willingly adjust the steps of their path in life to be who God says they are and to do as they see Him doing in all things.

Jesus never sinned, but He was scourged. He never looked for love in the wrong place, but He was tempted with everything we are tempted with. God, His Father, allowed Him to be chastened. He allowed Him to be disciplined. What did that look like? It very often looked like being treated wrongly. God allowed His son Jesus to be despised, rejected, hated, lied about, misunderstood and many other things. All of this was for the sake of manifesting as God’s Son.

Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered. Do you suppose He ever hit His hand with a hammer in the carpenter shop? Do you think He may have been misunderstood and wrongly disciplined by His natural father Joseph? He knew how to be led by the voice of His heavenly Father even in everyday life. He knew that it was the instruction of the Spirit that strengthens hands and the word of God that strengthens knees (Job. 4:3,4). He knew how to walk in a practical world in a spiritual reality. This is how He could defeat the devil in life.

As leaders, we must embrace the voice of God on good days and on bad. We depend upon every expression of His voice in our lives, and we are not to be easily shaken by the current events of our world, our circumstances, or our immediate environment.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

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

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings;

Knowing who God is, knowing who you are, and knowing who others are in your world will lead to life. God is a giver of life and each and everyone of His children were born to bring life to their world. This is the testimony of true authority. Authority never takes from others. True authority gives life to others. God is a giver, not a taker. If our perception of Him is that He seeks to take from us, we don’t know Him. When we know Him, we become like Him.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

The more we get to know our heavenly Father and Jesus His Son, the more we discover the testimony of life. When we know Him, we become testimonies of His mercy. We become givers of His mercy to others in our world. The more we get to know Him, the more we discover how good He really is. If we don’t see Him as a great God, a good God, and a merciful God, we don’t know who He is. As His children we should grow in being great for the sake of others. We should increase in doing good for others. We should grow in showing mercy to others in our world.

Exodus 34: 5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…”

Here we find the introduction to the name of God is “the Lord, the Lord God”. In the Stone’s edition of the Hebrew Torah, the rabbinical commentators address this double “Lord” as implying to the love and goodness of God. They state that when the Lord is put in this double context it implies two things. It means that God is the one who forgives us of our sins knowing the full extent of everything we are ever going to do, and He forgives us after we sin knowing the full extent of everything we have ever done. The very first experience, atmosphere, ambiance, and reality received by God’s presence coming into our lives is that of forgiveness. What a wonderful thing! The verses go on to read that God is merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness, and abounding in truth. These are all wonderful experiences that flood our lives when God comes to us.

As leaders, we lead others into a personal relationship with God by setting an example in our own relationship with God. That example should exhibit the attributes of who God is. God is forgiving, even when He knows what should not be forgiven. He is loving in spite of our short comings. If He is forgiving, we should grow in being forgiving. If He is loving, we should grow in loving others. If He His merciful, we should grow in showing mercy to others. If He is gracious, we should grow in being gracious to others in our world. If He is longsuffering, isn’t it reasonable that we should have to forbear some things with others? We are His offspring empowered and transformed by His Holy Spirit! If He abounds in goodness, shouldn’t we have goodness increasing in our lives? Shouldn’t we have enough goodness to overcome the bad things that come our direction? If He abounds in truth, shouldn’t we grow in truth so that we will not be shaken by lies? When we know truth, we can live free. No false accusation can shake us when we know truth in our hearts and minds.  When we know God, the testimony of our life is seen in the giving of life to others.

True authority gives life. To have authority means to be a source of life to others. It means that you have too much of something and you have to give it away. It is not about what you can get from others, but what you have to give to them. Authority is always connected to an us, a we, and a corporate testimony of some kind. It is never focused on me, myself, or what can I get or do. It is a servant role of receiving life and giving life to others. It is an aspect of giving life to others and this is the testimony of leadership that leads others to lead others into the path of knowing God. If we do something to ‘get’, we are crossing the line of authority to mere power. You can seek power and live to get something, and you will never discover the true authority of who you really are. The way of the world is to seek to get something so you can be something and do something great in this life. The way of our heavenly Father, and Jesus His Son, is to seek to give something because you are something and therefore you live to reveal how great God is in other’s lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we lead others into their true identity in Christ. We cannot tell them who they are, but we can inspire them to find an intimate connection to God where they hear the voice of God within their hearts to be who they are called to be. We do this by being an example that inspires them to do as we dare to do. We pursue life to become life for the sake of our destiny in Christ.

Authority is connected to our identity; identity is not rooted in our authority. Our identity is who we are, not what we can do. Authority is relational and not merely a matter of function. Relationships bring life to joining relationships.

Authority gives life, it never takes life from others. Power alone will take from others, but true authority will give life to others. Authority is not defined by our anointing, but our anointing will serve our authority. True authority is not defined by our gifting, but our gifting is meant to serve our authority. True authority is connected to our responsibilities in life.

As a dad I have a responsibility of being a dad to my children. This means, I have the authority to give them life and to empower them to come alive as my children. My anointing as a dad and my gifting as a dad only serve in enabling me to exercise the authority of life for my family.

When we discover who we are, we bring life to our world. Jesus didn’t come merely to meet our needs. He didn’t just come so that we would go to heaven when we die. He came to empower each of us to bring life to our world. This is to bring life to our families, to our friends, to our communities, and even to our enemies. I believe that this is the true testimony of being able to subdue and have dominion in life.

The original mandate to mankind was to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue and have dominion (Gen. 1:28). When Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they forfeited their ability to live by an administration of the tree of life. Their decision to choose knowledge over intimacy with God caused them to sacrifice the key to true authority. Living by an external influence of information caused man to fall for the deception of power and control that led to an exaltation of anointings and giftings over covenantal connections that lead to greater life.

The result of Adam’s fall was an administration of information that left mankind with only an ability to be fruitful, multiply, and fill. There was no possibility to subdue and have dominion. The rule of mankind was bound to the informative administrations of human conscience and law. Neither of these have the power to bring life, or to transform us to a testimony of life. They only have the ability to control and serve as teachers revealing our need for God. They can only reveal our need to find true life in God.

Genesis 9:1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Jesus came to restore the human mandate. Our reconciliation to God in Christ is a reconnection to the One who gives life, gives breath, and gives all things. Our connection to life empowers us to be givers of life to our world. To subdue is to bring life to the places of death in our spheres of influence and to exercise dominion is to crumble every lie with truth in every area of our responsibility.

Our responsibilities in life are places that we are called to bring the influence of God’s grace. To be responsible is to be true. Being true to who we are is being able to be responsible. God defines truth as the substance by which all are made alive in Christ and the substance of who we are to bring the life of Christ to our world. Jesus is the truth and knowing Him makes one free and able to freely give life to their world.

John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The rivers of life that flow from our lives are rivers of the authority of God. Authority flows out of who we are, not what we do. All authority in heaven and earth comes from God, but everyone is meant to manifest a testimony of truth and the authority of life. Authority is the ability to give life to others. This means that authority only comes from truth. When we are true to whom we are and true to the boundaries of what is given to us, it can give life to others. When we cross the God-given lines of authority, we become takers. We become people who grasp for power. Truth crumbles the lie, but a lie cannot overpower the other lies of the world. We are called in Christ to be real. We are sons and daughters of God, and our Father is a giver of life in all things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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