As children of God, we must grow in thinking as our Father thinks. There is plenty to think about and the thoughts of God are always thoughts of faith, hope, and love. They are thoughts of life and they are life-giving in their nature. Knowing God as our Father empowers us to know that we are sons and daughters of God. Being a leader is not about leading people into the ways of ministry. It is not about leading people into being successful in life. Our role as leaders is to serve those we lead into knowing who God is and knowing who they are in life. When we know who we are, our thought life will be true to who we are.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
These verses are true to the thought life of sons and daughters of God. These thoughts are true to the character of our Father God. The thought life of a leader must set an example for all to follow. They must think on noble things. Noble thoughts are filled with reasoning, strategy, imagination, emotions, and desires that seek to live for the wellbeing of others. This is the testimony of knowing we were born to live as and to be expressions of God’s kingdom in all things. His kingdom is a kingdom of life and a kingdom of giving life to others in our world.
Sons and daughter of God think on things that are just. Leaders must set an example in this. Just things are not necessarily fair things. It is just in the kingdom of God to forgive the unforgivable. It is just in the kingdom to love the unlovable. The justice system of the kingdom of God is based upon the tree of life, not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is a justice system of making decisions for others based upon who we are, not what they deserve.
A leader must think on things that are pure. As sons and daughters of God our true nature is to be authentic with a desire to find good and to be innocent to evil in all things. Pure thoughts are thoughts that are within the sphere of one’s own business. They are thoughts of believing the best for others and not the worst. Pure thoughts are innocent to evil and wise to good.
A leader must maintain thoughts that are lovely. Lovely thoughts are thoughts that are motivated by love. Those thoughts are motivated by a love for God and a love for people, especially those we lead. I believe that lovely thoughts exhibit a kindness of heart. Leaders must be kind and facilitate kindness in those they lead. God is kind in His heart and the attribute of kindness is in the heart of sons and daughters of God.
A leader must think on things that are of a good report. When a bad report comes, a leader must know that love covers a multitude of sins and that looking for the good report is the aim of every child of God. God’s report is always a report of life. Even what the enemy has intended for evil in our lives is turned for good by our Father’s love. In the world it is easy to be distracted by the bad reports of death, dysfunction, debilitation, and the many attributes of darkness. Leaders lead in being sons and daughters of God’s good report. It is an expectation in their hearts and minds.
If there is any virtue a leader must think on that. Virtuous thoughts are thoughts of helping others. It is not a matter of what we can or cannot do in life. Life is a matter of being life for the sake of others. Something of heaven should be coming off of each of us to others in our world. Even as it was when the virtue of God came off of Jesus and healed the woman with the issue of blood as she reached out to touch Him in the crowd, God virtue can only flow from us if our thoughts are to be givers of life to others at all times in our world.
A leader must think on things that are praiseworthy. Praiseworthy things are things of honor and even a willingness to be misunderstood or unpopular in some way for the sake of someone else. I believe that praiseworthy things are things of the excellence of who each and every one is meant to be in Christ. We must live to be praise to God in the excellence of each of our own identities and we must also look to see the excellence found in others for the glory of their Father in all things.
A leader must meditate upon these things in order to lead others to do the same. These things are part of guarding our hearts before God. All believers must embrace these things, but leaders must excel in these attributes. It is part of keeping our hearts with all diligence. These things are the natural fruit of knowing God and knowing who He is. It is the testimony of being known by God and knowing we are sons and daughters of a Father of life and love. There’s plenty to think about. Think on these things.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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As leaders, what manner of people must we be? We must be sons and daughters of God who can lead others to be the same in their world. Being sons and daughters of God in the world enables us to be givers of life to our world. Paul wrote some wise words to the Philippian church in a day of difficult situations.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
These words were written by Paul during a time of great glory in Christ, but also great trouble in the circumstances of their world. We can be encouraged by these words today. As leaders, we can lead by these standards. We must choose to always rejoice. It is our choice. To choose to rejoice is to choose to be well in any and every situation. It is not a state of happiness, it is a state of cheerfulness. We can decide what to fill our hearts with. In truth, we decide to let the life of Christ in our hearts outweigh the circumstances of our surroundings. Paul states this twice, perhaps because it is easy to forget or perhaps because we are often faced with circumstances that resist us in being cheerful. We choose to be well, even in a storm. This is also our witness to those we lead. It is our witness to our children and our grandchildren. It is our witness to our family, friends, and our community. We decide to rejoice. As leaders we are called to lead people into the character of Christ, not works of ministry. When we have the character of Christ we will do the works of Christ. We must lead by example and then we must seek to activate, facilitate, and release those we lead into the same reality in their world.
Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
When we choose to rejoice we can be empowered to be gentle. To be gentle is to be equitable, fair, mild, and gentle. I think that true gentleness is an attribute of being concerned about others in our world. I believe that gentleness is an undergirding foundation for being compassionate for others and perhaps being compassionate is the true fuel for being gentle. We are givers and not takers. As leaders we are leading others to be givers of life in their world for a testimony of life and the glory of God – the Father of all.
Paul wrote in this letter that the Lord is at hand. I believe he was not talking about the end of the world, but the availability of the Lord. This church was living at the time of the end of the Torah / Temple age, but Paul’s words were an encouragement as to the availability of the Lord in each and every person’s life. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is true liberty and the Lord is within our reach at every moment of need in our lives. As leaders we must know that the Lord is within our reach in every step of our path in life. We must lead others to know how to connect to the Lord in both easy and difficult times.
Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We know that God always has more for us in life. God is always leading us into His greater promises in our lives, but we are not to be anxious when things don’t happen as we have anticipated they will. God will even work things out for good in our lives when the enemy seeks to derail our course of destiny. As leaders we must set an example in this and in our example we choose to walk with a face-to-face listening relationship with God, a face-to-face connection with Him making petitions before Him, and we must be consistent with making our requests before Him without losing heart or shifting to some accusatory attitude towards Him. The key is in our thankfulness. All of our prayers, supplications, and requests are to be bathed in an atmosphere of thanksgiving. As leaders we must live with these attributes in our lives and lead others into this same testimony.
When we choose to rejoice, live to be gentle, and embrace a way of life that is filled with prayers, supplications, and requests in an atmosphere of thankfulness and gratitude to God, we find that a supernatural peace of God fills our hearts and minds. I have found that this peace is a faith in God. It is not a faith that comes by hearing Him, but a faith in Him even when we don’t hear His words. We know that God is one with us and we are one with Him in all things. I believe that these things are things we must walk in and lead those in our world to know. These are the foundation for true ministry of life and are therefore prerequisites to being able to live life in a life-giving way in our world. In these things we live and in these things we lead.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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On Sunday I was surprised by God speaking a phrase to me. It was almost audible, though it wasn’t. It was as stark as an audible voice though. The phrase was: The Season Has Changed. When I heard it, it shocked me! I don’t know what that means, but I sense something has happened. Something has happened in the Spirit. On Monday night during our corporate prayer time God brought this phrase to me again. The season has changed!
Isaiah 60:2 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.
I sense that God is calling His people. He’s returning those who have been captive. He’s calling them home. He’s calling there to be a return, that there would be a rising up. Not by the power of the flesh but a readiness for what I am about to do, God says. A readiness for what I am bringing, for I am the Light! You cannot make light. I am Light! And God says; This is a season you are going to see Me like never before and in seeing Me, that’s when you are going to realize it’s time to rise up. But it is not a rising up to do a work of the flesh. It’s a rising up to receive what I am bringing to you. Don’t look to the darkness that is in the world but look to Me, because I am the Light. If you look to Me as I am the Light, you too will be as the light.
Psalms 126:5 Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed (or with a bag of seed) for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
I sense that this season is not about sowing for things or reaping for things. It’s about sowing for who we are and it’s about reaping for who we are. I hear the Lord saying that; There is a new mantle that’s coming on My body, a mantle to take your place for the sake of those who will join you in that place. For this is a season of empowerment, of empowering people to be who they are. For the true treasure is not what I give you, the true treasure is seen in the rising up of who you are. The true treasure is seen in the seed and the bread that I have called you to be.
Today I am calling a return of the captives of Zion. I am calling for those who will find their place in the wall, not as block layers of a human house, but stone layers of God’s holy house – His habitation. Let each one find their place for the sake of what we are to become. I call in those who have seed bags for the children, seed bags for the youth, seed bags for young adults, seed bags for families, seed bags for the old, seed bags for the bread of many lives. I believe that the season has changed and the greater measure for the day is in seed and bread. This in not just the seed and bread of leaders, but the seed and bread of each and everyone in the community of God. The days of the church are not behind us. The days of the church are at hand in a greater way than every before. The church is the gate of heaven to bring the life of heaven to the nations and generations of the earth.
Let me encourage you as sons and daughters of God, as leaders in the way of life for such a day as this! Don’t stop sowing for we are about to see a new measure of seed time and harvest together for the glory of our Father and the glory of Jesus name. Well done for sowing seed when it has been difficult. Thank you for not losing heart in the day of weariness. Thank you for not forsaking who you are when others accused you of being something different than you know you really are. It is who you are that is going to empower life to others so they can also know the joy of seed time and harvest in their lives. Seed is for sowing and bread is for eating, but in our seed time and our harvest we celebrate the abundance of life as children of our heavenly Father and as the light of His community to our world. This is a season to build people, but not unto themselves. This is a season to build people for the glory of God. The silver chord of our lives is a measure given to each of us to live in the redemptive call of God in Christ. The golden bowl is the testimony of worship that we give to our Father in being the substance of prayer and intercession for all that has been given to us for our world. The pitcher is our ability to give a measure of water to someone in thirst. It is a flow of life to make our world a place of life. Our wheel at the well is our purpose in God to grind out a measure of posterity for others in the world behind us. It is time to rise up!
Ecclesiastes 12:6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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We are in a time of lots of natural sight. Natural sight is the opposite of faith and natural sight manifests as sight, sound, feelings, and anything that is propagated by creation and created things. Faith comes by hearing God in our hearts and it is the voice of the Creator that spawns creative vision from within our hearts. As leaders we must lead in faith and inspire faith in those we lead. Faith towards God is a testimony of the Spirit of Wisdom working in our lives. Wisdom is the knowing of God that takes us from today through the door of life to the destiny of tomorrow. Faith towards God is exhibited through a trust in God, a childlike receiving of every new thing that He gives, an internal motivation empowered by an awe of Him, and a total dependance upon Him for every moment of standing and measure for our footsteps to tomorrow. I believe that these attributes were manifested through the lives of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah who were taken captive into the nation of Babylon. These men demonstrated faith towards God in the midst of a worldly environment that was totally contrary to the culture of their faith. They did this by their internal connection to God in their hearts.
Daniel means, ‘God is my judge’. To him the Babylonians gave the name Belteshazzar, a name meaning ‘one who knows secrets’. When we trust the One who speaks it will appear to those who don’t understand faith that we know secrets. The name Hananiah means, ‘God is merciful, gracious and a giver of gifts’. It is a name that implies being willing to receive everything and anything from the One who speaks. To Hananiah the Babylonians gave the name Shadrach, a name meaning, ‘one who sucks the nipple’. A culture of faith inspires an attitude of being willing to receive everything and anything that God gives. When we are willing to receive anything that God gives it will appear to those who don’t understand faith that we are childish and foolish in our actions. The name Mishael means, ‘who is asked for or lent’ in the sense of ‘in awe of God’ or ‘God is awesome’! This name implies an awe for the One who speaks. To Mishael the Babylonians gave the name Meshach, a name meaning ‘drawn or controlled by force’. When we are willing to respond to the One who speaks with actions of honor, those who do not understand faith will accuse us of being controlled by force. They will interpret our honor for God as some cultic force of control in our lives. The name Azariah means, ‘God is my help’ or ‘he that hears the Lord’. It implies not knowing anything and being completely dependent upon God. The Babylonians called Azariah, Abed-nego, a name that means you are ‘in league with the god of knowledge or science’. It implies that you ‘know things’. When we are completely dependent upon the One who speaks it will appear to those who do not understand faith that we are in league with some form of knowledge or enlightened truth. These are the attributes of a culture of faith.
We are in a season where God wants us to find our strength in Him. I believe that one of the greatest realities of present faith is seen in the testimony of Azariah. We are in a season to be completely dependent upon God in all that we are and all that we do. This can only happen by abiding in the presence of God. It is not a matter of waiting for God to do something, but a matter of waiting in His presence. It is a waiting upon Him as the prophet Isaiah declared.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
The word wait in this verse is the Hebrew word H6960, a word meaning, to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect. God wants us to find our salvation in Him in all things and our strength in Him in every situation of our lives. God has been stirring these things in my Spirit and I have been hearing Him prophetically. Here is another word God stirred me to declare in the past week.
I just keep hearing the Lord say; In returning and rest you’ll find My salvation and in confidence in Me, you will find the deliverance from all that is against you. The Lord says; this is a season to learn Me more than ever before. To know My goodness. To know who I am. To be intertwined with My presence, knowing that in the season I’m not just bringing you through. I’m bringing you out of things. Some things are even being stripped off that you didn’t even know were upon you. There are garments that you wore that you didn’t even know were garments that were not yours to wear. The Lord says, I’m bringing you into a season of new liberty, a season of hearing Me more clearly. But not just hearing the words I say, but hearing the liberty that I bring. For there is a new confidence that comes in you because of the confidence that you find in Me. There’s a new freedom that you find in you because of the freedom that you find in Me. And I’m stripping away the garments that have been laid upon you that have been garments that have not given you the true identity of the son or the daughter that I ‘ve called you to be. And this is a time to find yourself entwined in My presence – A time for quietness in Me, a confidence in Me, a returning to Me and a finding of My rest. For this is a new day! This is a new season. Don’t think that this season is going to end in difficulty. This season is going to end in greater grace. This season is going to transition into greater glory.
Returning to the Lord and resting in Him is most important for us to exhibit the attribute of dependence upon God. In confidence and quietness God will demonstrate His strength in our lives. As leaders we must lead by embracing God resting in our lives and of resting in Him. We must lead by a peace in our soul that is inspired by our spirit that trusts the Spirit of God in all things.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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As leaders we are called by God to lead others into the things of God. We are not just called to lead them into the things that God has done in the past, we are called to lead them into what God is doing right now. That ‘right now’ is not about what is going on in the earth right now, but the heavenly things that God is bringing to pass in the earth in this present season of relationship with Him. I am sensing that we are living in a great season of God. For this reason the seasons of men are shaking that they might find the season of God in their lives.
On Sunday I released a prophetic word at Alife Church, here in Bellingham:
The Spirit of the Lord says: In this season that you have been in, there’s has been a cry for justice. But My justice supersedes the justice of men and I’m bringing you into a place of great grace, says God. Great grace, where you will hear a voice behind you. When all the voices of distraction come, there’ll be a voice of motivation of My presence. For I am calling you to see Me like you have never seen before. Watch Me rise up in the nations! Watch Me rise up among the people! Watch Me transform hearts! Watch Me break chains and shackles! Watch Me bring My deliverance and healing of deep pain! For My justice is a triumph of mercy and My power is a power of grace! This is a day for My voice to be behind you, says God. And you will know the way, for I will make the way before you. For I am the voice of life that motivates you to move into the true justice hallways of destiny, says God. For I have heard the cry of My people. I’ve heard the cry of the nations They’ve cried out for justice and now you shall see it. But don’t be distracted by the judgments of men. Let the judgments of My love Prevail. For My word is true. It’s gone forth! It’s germinated! And it will not fail, says the Spirit of the Lord.
What is the justice system of God? I believe that the justice of God leads us into life. I believe that it is a justice of life and the end of His justice is a testimony of God’s goodness and mercy being revealed in our lives. He prepares a table for us in the midst of our enemies and the end result is the testimony of life. The evil of our enemies cannot overpower the goodness of God.
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
These words of the psalmist should inspire our hearts to know that God is good, and that God is leading us into testimonies of His life. I believe that this is a comeback year. It is a year to come back to the Lord, to come back to victory, and to come back to the expressions of being the community of God in a greater way. It is not a coming back to the way things were in the past, but a coming back to God that enables us to find victory that we have never seen before. It is a coming back to God to find community in a way that excels all that we have previously known. The community of God is merely the fruit of communing with God. As leaders we must be in and lead others to find the presence of God for who He is and all that He is doing and blessing in this hour. We must live in and lead others into the path of God’s true justice.
Jesus is our Savior, our Deliverer, and our Healer in all things. He knows the injustices of the world. The testimony of great pain in the world is not meant to end in the testimony of great pain. The end of the story is God’s great love. The voices of the world are motivated by the dysfunction of the world. God’s voice is always motivated by His love. When men cry for justice, their hungry mouth often drives them. This is the default way of the flesh. Their own desires and agendas end up being the passion of their judgments. Those desires are based upon what men think is right, but only God knows what true life is. If we pursue the way of justice of the world we will only bring division. Only God’s justice can bring about true remedy and life.
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. 26 The person who labors, labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on. 27 An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire. 28 A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends.
The ways of man, the personal desires for vindication or self-righteousness fall short of the purposes of God. They are voices of evil that only bring about disconnection and disunity. God’s voice is a voice of His presence and it is the presence of God that brings true unity to our lives. It is the voice of God that wakens our hearts and transforms our hearts and minds from within. It is time to see God like never before! There is a new liberty of life within our reach. It is a freedom and a deep healing from within. God’s word has germinated the seed of a new reality in the earth. God’s word will not fail! As leaders we must embrace God’s presence for all that is to be new in the world of men.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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As leaders, what must we teach those we lead in regard to hearing God’s voice? We must know how to hear God so that we can inspire those we lead to hear God too. We must also know the reason we hear God, and we must lead others to embrace what is most important in regard to hearing God.
In the present world, there is a lot of emphasis on hearing truth. There are mass amounts of information available, and that information is filled with truth, partial truths, deceptions, and blatant lies. The information available is presented as truth, but what is truth? Jesus said that He is the truth. He is the substance of all that is real, true, and life-giving. God wants us to become expressions of truth, but truth is not merely a matter of being right. It is a matter of being real! It is a matter of being true to the likeness and the image of our heavenly Father. It is a matter of being alive and being life-givers to our world in all things. This is the testimony of being family members in Christ. Our family tree is life and not merely a family tree of knowledge. A tree of knowledge seeks to know truth based upon what is good and what is evil, what is true and what is false. For us as believers, we must be the light of life to the world in a greater way than mere knowledge. We must become light and life by way of substance. As leaders we are called by God to lead the family of God into this increasing testimony in the earth. Hearing God is not about knowing what to do. Hearing God is about knowing God. I believe I can explain this best by using an example of an everyday relationship. As a husband, hearing my wife is not about knowing what to do. It’s about knowing my wife. It is about relationship. It is about me becoming real as her husband and her becoming real as my wife. We are one flesh to bring life to our world! If I don’t understand this, I will grow cold in my relationship with my wife and I will no doubt estrange her from me. In the same way, we are to be one flesh with Jesus as Lord and Christ to bring life to our world! God is our Father, and we are His light to our world! Hearing God is a matter of a relationship with God. Our calling in Christ is not merely about knowing what to do. It is about becoming who we are meant to be by a fellowship with Jesus as both Christ and Lord in our lives.
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The apostle Paul was by nature and training a man of law. As Saul of Tarsus, he prided himself in knowing good and evil. His persecution of the church, his assault on what was real was an assault of being right seeking to destroy what was wrong. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, but his encounter with Jesus Christ the Son of God transformed his life. It transformed him to know his own true identity, to live with a true testimony of life, and to commit his life to a life-giving purpose as light to those who had been bound to darkness.
Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
The true wisdom that exercises authority over principalities and powers in heavenly places is the testimony of our lives as in the mystery our fellowship with God our Father, and Jesus Christ the Son by oneness with Holy Spirit. This is the true life that makes us one with God and one another as the family of God. This is the foundation of our leadership and our membership in the family of God. Hearing God is for a healthy, intimate, life-changing relationship with God!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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On Thursday night of last week, I had a very disturbing dream. It was disturbing to my spirit, but it didn’t lack a peace in its inspiration. I wasn’t sure about the dream at first, as to what the source of the dream might be, but as Friday progressed God stirred my spirit to understand some significant things in the dream. Sometimes God gives us dreams that are outstandingly God dreams, while at other times He inspires dreams that get our attention and inspire us to seek an understanding that has a better outcome than the literal dream itself. Let me begin by saying that the graphic experiences in the dream are not meant to be taken literally, nor are they a condemnation to us in our journey. As I describe them, please consider that prophetic dreams reveal things expressly in order to inspire present decisions that lead to increasing life. In my dream I was traveling to Madeira Island by boat and plane. I believe it began with boat, a transfer of my luggage to airplane, and then a final flight to Madeira island. Madeira Island is a Portuguese island to the west coast of Northern Africa. It represents my last new connection in Portugal of 2020. I believe it is significant of new things that are about to take place in my ministry life. I don’t believe that dream was merely about me, but what it represents for us all as we move forward into new things that were added in 2020 but seem to be on hold. They have been on hold, but in 2021 there will be a moving forward into the things that God has already set in motion to come to pass.
In my dream I was traveling to Madeira Island and I was transporting the body of my dad who passed away many years ago in order to bury him on the island when I arrived. In the dream I thought this was strange, since my father was never there while he was alive. My thought was that he would not even want to be buried there, since it was not a place that he ever knew, loved, or valued. In the dream I felt it was wrong for me to take his body there and there were extreme challenges to accomplish the task. I wasn’t allowed to transport a casket, so I had to figure how to transport his body in my luggage. The first stop was a transfer from a dock setting to an airport setting. Somehow my father’s body had gotten there without difficulty, but now putting him into my airplane luggage required a creative way of putting his body into my luggage. Someone was helping me. There were a couple of options. The thought of cutting his body in half to make it fit into my luggage came to me, but I felt it best to keep his body whole. It actually repulsed me to consider the thought of cutting his body in two. I also knew that his body would have to be kept cold or it would begin to decay and smell in travel. The person preparing my luggage for the plane took my clothes out of my bag and stretched them out on the ground. It seemed to be upper garments first and then pants last. They were laid upon the ground stretched out in a neat and orderly fashion. Once the clothes were spread out he laid my father’s body in them and rolled the garments around him. Everything was then placed into my bag. It seemed that he was concealed enough that no one on the airlines would know there was a dead body in the cargo. Before the luggage was ready to load in the airplane I was troubled that my clothes would be ruined because of the smell so I began to consider how my father’s body could be kept cold so it wouldn’t give a decaying smell to my clothes. Dry ice was considered. Even a large cooler was considered, but for some reason he had to be placed into my luggage and a cooler wasn’t allowed. There were several options considered for both the outside and the inside of his body in order to keep him cold for the transport. There seemed to be a conversation with others as to what was needed. The feeling was that a lot of ‘reasoning’ was taking place as to how this might work. The thought of draining the blood from his body came, but then there seemed to be a realization that the mortician had already removed his blood and replaced it with embalming fluid. Even though this was the case, I knew even the slightest smell would affect my clothes when I arrived at my final destination. I don’t believe the dream was about me or my dad. I believe it was about bringing the past into the present in bodily form. This dream reminded me of the prophetic word I received in October of last year in regard to the ‘backyard fence’ ( https://ted4leaders.com/the-backyard-church/ and https://ted4leaders.com/the-backyard-of-today/).
My word to us as we move into the new things of this season is: Don’t bring the dead past into the present. Don’t try to pack what is dead in the past, even what you loved, it will affect what you wear when you arrive at your present destination. If you put what you loved, or who you loved, in your luggage you will find that the contents of your bags will carry an aroma of death. There is no way around it. You can’t find enough ice to keep things from thawing. We have a heritage from our past, but the past is not alive in our present circumstances. We can’t return to the circumstances of the past and we can’t deny the circumstances of our present. Our past is not meant to be buried in our present, but to be valued in our hearts from the past. What was alive yesterday is dead today. What died yesterday doesn’t need to be buried as dead today. It needs to be remembered for the value of life, but we must move from the backyard boundaries of the past and find our purpose in the relational connections of today. Only what we inherit in our hearts and minds is the reality of who we are today. What we loved yesterday can’t be buried in what God wants us to love today. What was life yesterday, will affect today with an aroma of death. The aroma of life can only be found in what is life today.
Matthew 13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
A scribe in the kingdom of God allows God to put new things in their hearts and minds that open doors to things that have never been seen, heard, or thought before. A scribe in the kingdom of God allows God to redeem antique and lost things in their family line for the family purpose of today. The past is not lost, and the present cannot be despised because of a longing for tomorrow. Embracing our true today will open the legitimate doors of the kingdom of God in our lives in the path of our true destiny in Christ.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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During our corporate prayer time on Monday night, the Lord stirred my heart that God is faithful. I heard Him say, What I’ve begun, I finish, What I say, I do. I began a good work and I complete that which I begin. So, set your face on the things that I have put in motion because what I’ve put in motion there’s no end to the increase.
The Lord directed me to Proverbs chapter 4 beginning at verse 18.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
That word “perfect” there, could mean “fullness”. It’s a very broad meaning on that Hebrew word. It actually means until the day is totally day. That light shines ever brighter on to the fullness of that day. So whatever God says, the path of the just shines like the sun, shines ever brighter unto the perfect day – the fullness of what that day is.
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. 20 My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. 27 Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.
I hear the Lord saying in this, that this is a year to walk the path. This is a year to pay attention to your feet. This is a year to pay attention to what I have set before you and don’t think that I’ve set it long way off. I’ve set it for your feet to fit, for your feet to find. So, don’t t look for that which is beyond what you can see, but look to what you can see which comes from Me. For you are not walking the path of the wicked, you are walking the path of light. You are not walking a path that stumbles, but you are walking a path that leads from strength to strength, glory to glory, increase to increase. So, pay attention to My words. This is a year where I am speaking much and I’m calling you to hear much, if you would pay attention to the words that I say. Incline your ear to My sayings and don’t let them depart from your eyes. Let what I say be what you see. Let what I say be what you see. And keep them in the midst of your heart. Let what I say become that which you cherish, that which you value, that which you feast upon, that which you feed upon. For they are life to those who find them. You will find My words and then health, health, health, health will come to their flesh. Health will come to My body. Health will come to My body. Keep your heart with all diligence and the evidence is it springs forth with life. It springs forth with life from within you. This is not a time to act as those who stumble. This is a time to act as those who walk the path of life that they might bring life to the world. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your eyelids look right before you, right before you. You don’t need to know what you don’t need to know. You don’t need to see what you don’t need to see yet. You don’t need to think what you don’t need to think yet. So, let your eyes look straight ahead and your eyelids look right before you, because I’m putting things within your path. I’m putting things within your footsteps this year, says God. And I’m going to cause My body to rise up in new heath and new purpose – new focus. And the focus will not be what I’m going to do the focus will be seeing what I am already doing within them. For it’s the feet that you shall see, and you will know that I have declared that lovely are the feet of the body that move forward in My purpose with good news. So, ponder the path of your feet and let your ways be established. Let your ways be established, let YOUR ways be established, for your ways will be seen as My ways, says God, because you pay attention to what I say, and you let what I say be what you see. Don’t turn to the right or to the left, simply remove your foot from evil.
God is speaking and we are hearing. We hear God as sons and daughters. We hear God as a family who hears our heavenly Father. The greatest thing that is going on in the earth is that the path of the just is growing brighter and brighter every day. As leaders we must set an example of keeping our focus on the path that is set before us so we can inspire others to choose the path of life in a day of many wandering paths of those who stumble. We must lead in hope, because we are living in a day of greater hope. It is a day of greater light and light will shine in the darkness to reveal a path of our Father’s glory.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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During our corporate time of prayer on Monday night, the Lord brought me the thought of the stone at the entrance of the tomb where Jesus had been laid after His crucifixion. The stone was a large stone, and it was rolled to secure the entrance of the tomb so that no one would steal the body of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus was at hand and the religious leaders and world leaders feared that report. For fear of a loss of power and change, they chose a report of death over the promise of new life. The religious leaders demanded the ruler of the day to order that a stone be placed in front of the tomb where they laid the body of Jesus and a seal was placed upon that stone to prevent anyone from opening the entrance to the tomb.
Matthew 27:62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.
The sealing of the stone was a placing of the mark of the authority of the world upon the stone so that no one would move it for fear of the penalty of death. Jesus is our victory in all things. There are many things in our lives that appear to be sealed in death, but God promises that all things work out for good in the lives of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Our focus in all things must be upon the life of God and His purpose in all things. When the enemy puts his seal of decision upon our lives we can trust that the greater seal of God’s presence and authority will change everything. When the Rock of Christ is in the space of the large stones of death in this world, the large stones of death have to roll away. Life is more powerful than death. The true seal of authority in all things comes from God and His true seal is one of life! Authority from God produces life! No aspect of our story is though until it ends in life. Even in the final transition of our lives, the transition is not to the defeat of death but to the testimony of resurrection life in Christ. No death has any power over us, not even the second death. We were dead, but we have been made alive in Christ by the resurrection power of Christ and no power of death can destroy this great hope.
There is great testimony of this in the story of Daniel when he was thrown in the lion’s den. He was thrown into a den where all flesh would be devoured by the hungry mouths of the beasts therein. It was the presence of God with Daniel that delivered him from the devouring mouths of lions.
Daniel 6:16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” 17 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.
The authority of God in the den with Daniel proved to be greater than the stone of death that had been sealed at the door. The Holy Spirit is the signet ring of life in our lives. What God says, is the final say in all things. When things appear to end in death, we have this hope. The testimony of our lives is the salvation of the Lord in all things. This is the will of God for us all. Jesus Christ is salvation in every situation of our lives. As leaders we must keep our focus on the testimony of life in all things. We must keep our focus on the salvation of the Lord in every situation and we must lead others to have this focus in all things. As we make disciples, we must make disciples that keep Christ as their hope and Christ as their salvation in all things. There is power in the name of Jesus and in the name of Jesus the last word in our lives is always one of life!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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I felt it important to post some prophetic words and and exerts from prophetic direction that I presented in my blogs of 2020. The following is a copy of prophetic words, audio versions of those words, and links to prophetic blogs where these words were referenced throughout the year. God is doing good things.
January 3, 2021 – Ted J. Hanson –
I heard the Lord speak to me to hoist the Gollywabbler sail. The Gollywabbler sail is a very light weight sail and it’s really big and it goes between the masts and it’s used when there is almost no wind. You hoist this giant square sail it’s called a Gollywabbler and it’s able to catch the wind when no wind is coming in the sails. And I heard God say, This is not the season of strong sails, it’s the season of trusting sails. That if you will be light weight and you’ll extend the full extent of who you are to Me, God says, you will find that My wind really is blowing and that I will move you in the direction I need you to go.
I just hear God saying that the past decade there were many things that were not necessarily wrong that you held on to. They were enough for the time to get you to the future, but they weren’t enough to get you into now. And I hear God saying; today if you’ll hear His voice, today if you will hear His voice. So, God wants you to exchange the future for today, because the future as you saw it is stuck in the past. And God has better things for you than you could imagine, but the time is now. And God is releasing a grace for His body to be able to enjoy the moment, enjoy the hour, enjoy the day – today if you’ll hear His voice. Don’t even look at this year as; ‘how am I going to get to the end of this year?’, because that’s how you looked at last year. And last year, God says, I gave you enough to get you to the end of this year, but I didn’t give you enough for today. But now I am releasing My grace for now, and there’s a grace that’s coming on My family, a grace that’s coming on My people to appreciate the time called now. And don’t let now be tainted by what was; or diminished by what you think is yet to come. But let now be, be juicy, let now be full of life. Let now enter into your mouth, let now enter into your taste buds, not just your stomach. And live for the moment, live for today – today if you’ll hear My voice. But God says, there’s a grace for this. So today is the beginning of a moment of reality, and it will be real, unlike any time before.
And the Lord says, I’m exercising My righteous decree to declare to you the opposition of bondage and promiscuity. I am bringing forth My true Spirit of Liberty. My true Spirit of Liberty will be a spirit of passion, it will be a spirit of compassion, it will be a spirit without compromise. It will be a releasing of those who have been held captive to the bondage of legalism, and a releasing of those who have been held to the bondage of liberality that goes beyond the boundaries of life.
The Lord says, I’m exercising My righteous decree even now to declare, “Will you be My people? For My anointing oil is here for you. Will you be My people? Will My anointing oil flood your soul? Will you rise up and touch the nations and make them whole? For I am God and I decree My righteous decree in the land this day.”
In the full delivery of the prophetic word, God declared that He was moving into the earth in a spirit of adoption to declare the treasures of great worth. At the giving of this word, I heard millions of voices in the spirit being called into their destiny. One of my lead intercessors in the church saw me in a vision as a father’s womb. God showed me people as gems and jewels coming from the core of the earth to be found in the common realities of mankind. I saw the core of the earth as a means of heaven entering the earth for the glory of God’s name. As the Spirit moved me to prophesy, I declared a release of gems, a releasing all the jewels, and a breaking all the boundaries and all the human rules. Bringing forth the glory of His destiny. Causing all the hearts to be opened to see. He’s forming with the dust a people who can trust. He’s blowing by His Spirit into their very souls. Raising up a people that are strong and whole. The Father sent His love (x 8). End the debates. It’s not time to be late. End the discussion, the time is now.
Don’t ask questions. Don’t ask reasonings. Don’t ask for wonderings of how. Just receive the glory that He sent unto you. Rise to a higher ground – release condemnation. Let go of the fear. Come to the throne of grace. Come stand here. Release the glory that is due unto My name because you’re the reason that My Son came.
It’s the day of inheritance, of distribution. It’s the day of handing out the treasures of My heart. It’s the day of new beginnings. It’s time to start. I send My love to you.
I didn’t just come to break off the shackles. I didn’t just come to rebuke the enemy’s tackles. I came to endorse you. To seal you with My name. I came that I might send you, that is why I came. I send My love to you (x 8).
You’re not the earth’s refuse. You’re not the earth’s outcast. You are the eternal. The everlasting grace. Because you are a people that I have called My own. You are the house. You are My home. I send My love to you (x 8).
Then I heard God say, if the Bride would call the winds of change winds of increase, she would rise up in her brightest hour and she would become the life-giving womb of God in the earth. I was reminded of this vision this morning.
At the close of 2009 I released the following prophecy:
I keep hearing ‘God’s purposes’ – the hatching of this egg is not a revealing of who you are or who we are corporately. It is the revealing of the bigger plan of God. It’s going to bring great excitement. I’m reminded of the vision I had at the beginning of the year – if the Bride would call the winds of change winds of increase, she would rise up in her brightest hour and she would become the life-giving womb of God in the earth. Another name for an egg that is hatching is ‘womb’. “There is a womb that is an ancient womb – it’s a womb that at times has seemed almost barren, at times it has seemed abandoned, not connected to the will or intent of My people. But,” God says, “it’s right on time and this is the season where My life-giving place is going to be revealed. But it’s not going to be life-giving to you, it’s going to be life-giving because of you. It’s not going to be something that comes merely to do something that meets your needs – it will go way beyond that. It’s going to come forth and be an influence that is world changing – not just world shaking, world-changing. There are many world-shaking things that are going on, but God says He’s bringing forth world-changing things.
God wants the fruit of the tree of life to be the testimony among men, but bitter roots in our hearts will thwart that destiny. It is time to be healed of our bitter roots, but even more – it is time to bear the fruit of the tree of life among men in a broader way than ever before.
I hear the Lord saying that, this season is a season that you cannot see yet. For I proclaimed that there was a new season before you and even as My children crossed the Jordan to come into a land where they were strong in Me, I’ve called you to cross to a place where you become strong in Me. But the crossing of the Jordan was with an ark, and the crossing into that which I have called you is as a body. But not a body as it has been, a body as I have called you. And the Spirit of the Lord says that, this 2020 season is going to have 2020 vision, but that 2020 vision is hindsight. For the Lord says, when you put your foot in the water there was that which had to pass by before you knew there was a path. And even as there was eleven miles of water that had to stop and elven miles of water that had to pass before the eyes of the Israelites, the Lord says, do not be dismayed by the months that pass by you, for the months are passing by that I might bring forth My victory. And you’re going to see that in this season as you stand fast to be My body that My miracle is going to cause self-seeking and bitterness to melt before you. But the greater miracle is what I am doing in you, for the Lord says, I am doing a new a circumcision of your hearts. And I’m causing you to see Me and to see you more clearly and I am going to roll away the reproach, says God. I am going to roll away the reproach on My body. I am going to roll away the reproach on you. And It doesn’t come without participation, for it’s in your circumcision and it’s in My miracle. For the Lord says, the miracle is already passing by in front of your eyes. So, do not be dismayed by the months that flow before you. For I have determined that there is a new thing and that which stood in the past as a warrior’s strength no longer stands for those warries have died, says the Lord. And there’s a new warfare, there is a new warrior that’s rising. The body of Christ is rising in a new victory and a new testimony. The body of Christ is rising in a new victory and a new testimony. And it’s a rolling away of the reproach, says God. For it is not in the memories of what has been, it’s in the testimony of what is about to be. And you will see as the months pass by before you there will be a passing through and then there will be a great victory, for there will be a testimony of that which I have done and a testimony of that which you have responded to. You shall be the people of God in a new measure and you shall see that bitterness and self-seeking shall melt before your eyes.
In the giving of this word, I heard the Lord say, eleven months – eleven months like eleven miles. That is eleven months from January, that when your foot went into the new thing in January that the miracle was already there, but eleven months have to pass before you see the fruit. And 2020 vision is actually also an English idiom for hindsight. So, the vision for 2020 is not what you see with foresight, it’s what you see with hindsight in what God did. And there is going to be a great celebration, I believe, in the twelfth month.
I hear God saying that, I am establishing My mountain in another measure, but My mountain is made of life-giving stones. My mountain is the stature of Christ. And It’s in this season and in this time that you’re going to see high things come down because something higher is rising within you. For I have declared that this was a time for you to arise and shine, for your light has come. And you’re going to see that that light is going to expand. I’m replanting, I’m rebooting, I’m remeasuring, I’m reviving, I’m renewing, and I’m bringing forth another measure in My grace, says God. And you’re going to see that there is going to be a change because I am changing your beliefs. I’m changing your beliefs. I’m even changing your ability to believe; to believe Me, to believe one another. Not in the stories of men apart from Me, but in the stories of Me within them. For I am the desire of the nations and I am the testimony of the generations. So, it’s another measure in this season that I’m raising My mountain. And I’m going to demonstrate that My love is strong. Beliefs are being drawn to Me; beliefs are being inspired by Me. I’m teaching you My ways, you’ll walk in my paths, from your heart will go my law of love and you’ll become a greater expression of My community as My heaven invades your earth, says God.
The Lord says He’s seeking for a Jacob generation that He might turn the Jacob generation into the “inheriting ones”. “And even now, there’s a transition”, says God, “in My Body and those who have sought to seek and find Me are going to discover that I’m the One Who seeks to find them. And in the place of wrestling, there’s a breakthrough.” For God says, “I’m bringing forth My ‘inheriting one’. I’m bringing forth My Israel. I’m bringing forth My Prince with God. There was a time and there was a season when I sought for those who would be a Jacob generation, but hear the Word of the Lord! Hear the Word of the Lord! Hear the Word of the Lord! This is the day for Me to lay hold of you! This is not the day for you to lay hold of Me! This is the day for Me to lay hold of you – and in Me laying hold of you, it’s time for you to endure! It’s time for you to hold on, and it’s in that place of wrestling that there’s going to come forth as an inheritance – there’s going to come an inheritance!”
There’s a shift in the Spirit. Don’t seek the thing that was before. Seek that which is beyond that which was before. Seek that which is the increase. Seek that which is the ‘more’. For this is not a time to break away. This is a time to stand fast and say, ‘Our God has come! He has laid hold of us and we will not let go of that which He has laid hold of!’”
Last week I spent the week training, activating, and facilitating prophetic words in the lives of some great young people at the G42 Leadership Academy in Georgia. When I do this I often get some great words myself. I sometimes step in front of a student in training and inspire them to declare what they see. In such a moment, a wonderful young daughter of God said that she saw me in a backyard setting and I was working on the back fence of the backyard. It was a wooden fence and I was making sure it was in good repair, but I was not making it new. I wasn’t painting the fence. I was buffering the wood to make it look as it had been. As I presented this word to God in my own personal meditation I felt that God spoke to me clearly.
I believe that 2020 is a season of living in our backyards. All through the summer I have been functioning in the backyard of my home. It is in the backyard that my garden grows, the fruit of my garden in harvested, and I reap the benefits of what grows in my plot of ground. My backyard has grape vines, apple trees, pear trees, raspberry bushes, strawberry plants, blueberry bushes, all kinds of vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and decorative plants of a diverse nature. My backyard has lawn chairs, a table, a hammock, a barbeque grill, and lots of things that pertain to enjoying life personally as well as with family and friends. My backyard represents a place of God’s presence for me in my possession of property. In 2020 I have had conversations over the fence with my neighbors, because it seems the families in my neighborhood have become backyard inhabitants in this season. I believe the church is in a backyard season. It is a season of intimate connection, but not one of performance and visible outreach. This is not a front yard season, but a time to live in the space of more personal connection with God and a few others who are close. It is a time of family, and not a time for strangers. I know that each yard that connects to my yard is also defined by the same things that are going on in my space. I can hear the sounds of children jumping on trampolines, playing with balls (that sometimes stray over into my yard) and I can smell the acroama of barbeque grills making family favorites. Everyone’s backyard is defined by the expressions of family and close relationships.
What is the significance of by backyard fence? My back fence is what defines the beginning of my backyard. Where the church is today is defined by the end of what God did yesterday. Without a visible fence in the back of my backyard, there is no defining point of where my space is now. I believe that God showed me that restoring the fence in a condition of wood that looks as it was is significant of being sure that the principles, patterns, and values of the past are not lost, but also that they are not walked out in the same activity and cosmetics as the past in the present. The methods and means of the past are not the methods and means of the present, but the principals, patterns, and values of the past must define the boarder that allows us to live as we should today. We cannot lose the gold, silver, and precious stones of the past. We can only move beyond the straw, hay, and wood of the past. I believe that the wood of the back fence represents the substance of the past that is intended to be generational in purpose, but we must find the treasures of heaven in the ground of today or we will only have the human efforts of men in what we do today. We must let go of methods, but we cannot let go of values. When we lose the past, we don’t know where we are today.
2021 is a ‘Come Back’ year. A year to come back to Him, to come back to victory, and to come back to one another. There will be some tough things to walk through, but God is birthing something new and stripping away the non-important things in our lives. He is stripping away performance and birthing authenticity in who we are and what we do. This is the story of being the people of God.
The Spirit of the Lord says that in living in the moment you have not lost My momentum in your life. I am your Father and ours is a business of purpose and destiny. You will find that this year is a year of a great come back. Nothing that I have set in motion will be lost. What looks like loss in your life will prove to be great gain because I am the God of ‘Come Back’. Though it looks like the path is a path of depletion things will turn and what seemed to be lost will come back again. I am birthing the fruit of generations and the plans of men will not thwart My path of life. I am the God of redemption and the price has been paid for mercy and for grace.
I heard God say that He is the anchor of our soul and in this season you are going to see that things are going to be more anchored in Me, God says. More anchored in who I am. Anchored in the stronghold of My heart. You are going to see that as you are anchored in Me, as my people are anchored in Me, there are things that have been anchored in the earth that will have to set sail and leave. For I have declared that signs shall follow. You shall take serpents and they shall by no means harm you. You shall take them up! You will literally lift their anchor and cause them to set sail, but it’s not because of your aggression towards the enemy; it’s because I am your hope, says God. And as your soul is anchored in Me, you will find there is a new anchor in Me that is going to cause there to be a strength that is beyond what you have known before. Not a strength of the flesh, but a strength of My Spirit. You will see that things that have held people captive, things that have twisted and deceived, will have to lift their anchor and set sail because you have put your anchor in Me. So, don’t look to set the sails of the enemy, but look to your heart and let your heart be anchored in Me. For I have set a hope that is beyond the veil and that hope that is beyond the veil is even now coming . For I have declared that you would be a blessing and I have declared that you would multiply. I swore it by Myself, says God. And this is the day that I shall cause there to be a greater anchoring in Me. Let not your heart be troubled, but let your souls be encouraged; for the anchor of your hope is in Me, says God.
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