ted4leaders

Blog In Audio:

      Greetings,

On Monday night we had our weekly prayer gathering at Alife and I heard God say some things in regard to this present season in the earth. I feel that is very key to who we are as the people of God and key to how we lead those within our spheres of influence in this hour.

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.  

This prophetic word is true to the promise of Abraham as found in the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

As leaders we must embrace the covenant of faith. We must embrace the covenant of Abraham and not be distracted by the shaking things in this world. The world is shaking as deceptions, deceptive ways, lies, and pretenses of many kinds are being exposed as the mountain of Lord increases in the nations. The covenant of Abraham was that in blessing, God will bless us, in multiplying He will multiply us, our descendants will possess the gates of the enemy, and through our seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. This is not about us being blessed. It is about the people of God being the blessing of God to the nations and the generations of men. It is about an expansion of the life-influencing power of the kingdom of God in and through us as salt and light in the kingdoms of this world. We must keep our focus on faith. Faith comes by hearing God in our hearts, it is not an adherence to what we know, but a journey of walking forward with the life of the One we know.

The good news that God gave Abraham was not that He would merely bless him. It was that in blessing He would bless him. The Hebrew expression for blessing is placed in a double. It is the word blessing repeated twice. It can mean great blessing, but it more clearly states that in blessing God would bless. This is the foundation for belief of every human being. Do we believe and know that we are the blessing of God in the earth? When we realize who we are, we will live to be who we are. We are a testimony of God’s likeness and image in this world and we were born to bring glory to His name. As leaders, we must lead people in a way that they know who they are in Christ. They are not only blessed by Him they are His blessing in the earth. While the enemy pronounces “shame on you” words of bondage and death, God pronounces “shame off you” words of freedom and life. Being a blessing starts with believing who God is so you can believe who you are in Him. This is the foundation of the good news preached to Abraham. God’s plan was to make a way for humankind to be restored in the likeness and image of their heavenly Father in the earth. As leaders, we must lead others with a foundation of believing God and believing who we are in Him. It is the power of God’s Word and Spirit conceived in the human heart that establishes a foundation of believing God and believing who we are in Him. As leaders, we must be facilitators of God’s Word and Spirit in the hope of transforming the beliefs of men. Our weapons of warfare are weapons of life! Life destroys death by the transforming power of grace.

Living to be a blessing is the first step in doing our part in the calling of Christ, as part of the inheritance of Christ, by the power of Christ, for the purpose of Christ in all things. Our focus cannot be one of opposing the enemy. It must be one of embracing Christ in all things. By this we can believe the things that have held people captive, things that have held them twisted and deceived in their understanding of truth, will be freed as spiritual powers of darkness lift their anchor and set sale. The anchor of our hope is in Christ!

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

Blog In Audio:

      Greetings,

I am finding that God is speaking a lot to my spirit in the last few weeks. Though I do believe there are some naturally difficult things to walk through in the coming year, I am finding my heart is stirred in hope as to what God is doing to perhaps even cause things to shake for a positive outcome of life. At the close of 2019 I heard God say that 2020 for me would be a year of faith. I didn’t like that word, because I immediately believed that it would be about not knowing what to do. God quickly spoke to me that the kind of faith needed for 2020 would be a more intimate faith. It would not be a faith to know what to do, but a faith to know God more intimately in my life. It would be about Him resting in my life, more than about me knowing what to do. It would be a year of having to live in the moment and not for the purpose of momentum in what I was doing. This word proved to be hugely true for me and perhaps for us all in a year of unknown direction. If you didn’t find God resting in your life in this past year you no doubt had a difficult time in the moments of 2020. The year of 2020 was not about being stuck in the moments of the year, but about finding God in every moment of the journey. God’s word to me at the beginning of the year proved to be far more true than I could have imagined. It was a challenging year, but I have found God in a fresh new peace.

As we close 2020 I hear God speaking to me about being ‘renewed’. He has told me that this word is connected to trust, but it is not a trust in me. It is a time of God demonstrating how He can be trusted. It is not just because of what He will do in the coming year, but because of what He has been doing for many years. There is a further progression of His plan at work in our lives and living in the moment has not stopped His momentum in our lives. I believe that these words are true for me and for the body of Christ in the nations. On Monday night I was directed to research the word ‘renew’ a little. I found the following in the front of my electronic version of the book of Haggai:

Haggai preaches a fiery series of sermonettes designed to stir up the nation to finish the temple. He calls the builders to renewed courage in the Lord, renewed holiness of life, and renewed faith in God who controls the future.

When I read these words, my spirit was stirred in faith as I heard the builders were ‘renewed’ in courage, holiness of life, and faith in God. I heard in these words that God can be ‘trusted’. As leaders we are called to lead people in becoming the house of God’s manifest presence for His purposes and glory in the earth. We are not called to merely lead people through hard times. We are called to lead them in becoming the body of Christ, the spiritual house of God’s presence in the earth. This is the place of knowing the trust of God.

1 Peter 2:4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

In the shadow of the Law, the rebuilding of the temple had ceased in its construction and the prophets Haggai and Zachariah were called upon to speak the word of the Lord to cause courage, holiness of life, and faith in God to be aroused in the hearts of the builders. The name Zachariah means “memory of the Lord” and the name Haggai means “feast” or “feast of the Lord”. To be renewed in our courage, our holiness of life, and our faith in God we must have Him in our minds and His manifest presence in our lives. I believe that 2021 is going to be a year of putting God in our minds and His presence in our lives to become the place of His dwelling in a greater way. As leaders we must seek the keys of the kingdom of God that will put God in the minds of His people and His presence in their lives as a testimony of the celebration of life. When the words of these two testimonies become the words in the mouths of God’s people, God’s house will be built for such a time as this. The year of 2020 has been a year to know God resting in our lives, but for some it has been a year of isolation, separation, and a place of finding comfort in their own paneled houses. God is calling us to be His house of God’s glory and 2021 is an opportunity to be renewed to be the house of God’s glory.

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

Blog In Audio:

      Greetings,

I have been blogging in my Monday Blog (www.ted4you.com) in regard to some things I am hearing for the coming year. Today I want to challenge us as leaders to embrace the substance of Christ in a greater way and to inspire those we lead to embrace a closer, deeper, and stronger connection to God, His way, and His purposes in the earth. Some of what I write today, I have written before; but the Spirit of God has impressed my heart to stand fast on the Rock of Christ in the midst of our day. We are in the midst of a wrestle of grace. The giants before us are only meant to inspire our connection to God to become people who are steadfast, anchored, trustworthy, enduring, immovable in our faith, dependable, habitations of precious treasures, authentic testimonies of truth, faithful, solid in the character of Christ, strong in the Lord, unshakeable in our love, foundations for generational inheritances, refuges of hope, shelters of life, strongholds of God’s love, and ambassadors of the salvation God in the environment of our word. To be the community of the people of God we must come-to-unity, come-to-union, and manifest that we are for His story, His plan, and His glory in all things.

I have believed for the past twenty years that we are in the midst of a sixth thunder of God’s grace working in the earth. As we look at the ages of the past we can see the fruit and the seed of harvest of God’s kingdom. In the early 1500’s there was a Reformation in the Church. The grace of the Spirit of the Lord and a revelation of justification by faith was released into the earth. I believe that reformation opened the door to an increasing revolution in the church. The church is the gate of heaven in the earth and it is through the church that the influencing power of true revolution and reformation is released into the earth. “The just live by faith” is still a resounding testimony in the nations. We can all experience the increasing fruit and testimony of the desire of the nations. We have been granted the power of repentance unto life and a testimony of repentance from dead works in Christ. The Reformation opened in the 1500’s continued to sweep the nations as we came into the 1600’s and 1700’s. In the last half of the 1700’s to the first half of the 1800’s there was a great Holiness Movement. Over 150 denominations were birthed based upon the testimony of sanctification. I believe that the diversity of denominations reveals a truth of individual revelation in works that speak of our faith. Our faith cannot be a sanctification unto God based upon unified conformity. It must be based upon a personal revelation of faith towards God and our own works that speak of that faith. A grace of the Spirit of Wisdom and faith toward God was released as fruit and seed to the progressing generations. At the close of the 1800’s and the beginning of the 1900’s there was a Pentecostal Movement. A grace of the Spirit of Understanding and the testimony of Holy Spirit submersion was released as fruit and seed to the generations. The testimony that comes by submersion in God has become an increasing unstoppable reality in the earth. We are submerged in His presence and there is a supernatural testimony of His presence available for us all. At the middle of the 1900’s there was a Later Reign Movement and a Charismatic Renewal that brought a grace of the Spirit of Counsel and the testimony of the authority of body membership and ministry. The authority of the laying on of hands with the testimony of Christ’s healing life was released as fruit and seed to the coming generations. The testimony of authority that gives life to others was ushered in through the gate of heaven and it continues to grow, to thrive, and to mature in the generations. At the close of the 1900’s there was Faith that comes by hearing God, Prophetic ministry as a testimony of His voice, and a testimony of Renewal given to the Church as a response to His manifest presence in our lives. A grace of the Spirit of Might with the testimony of the resurrection life of Christ was given to the progressing ages of men. The fruit and seed of hearing God, speaking God’s words, and knowing God’s manifest presence was given to the generations. As we have entered this 21st Century we are being called to an increasing testimony of Communion and a reaching of the communities of the world with the community of Christ. We can expect weapons to be formed against this, but God’s plans are more powerful than the defensive strategies of the enemy. Unity through diversity is the call of the day and a demand for a justice system of love overshadows the need for a justice system of mere right and wrong. Spiritual powers of darkness are reacting to the onslaught of the light of God’s grace and in the natural it appears to be a time of information, but God is bringing about a testimony of intimacy. A grace of the Spirit of Knowing with Christ’s eternal judgment of love is being given in our present generation. A dependency upon God and His heavenly communion is becoming the available testimony for those hungry for life, but there is a spiritual resistance of demonic powers reacting to the uncovering of intimacy. We are masked, divided, isolated, deceived, and bound to judgments that come by human knowledge and judgments according to the flesh. In the midst of this present reality in the earth there is a Jacob generation, a generation of God-seekers, that desires the blessing of God to be God’s blessing in the nations. The resistance to this present grace is only manifesting to prove the strength of God’s grace of the Spirit of Knowing. A Jacob generation is being transformed into an Israel generation, a generation of princes and princesses with God who bring a culture of inheritance into the earth and a testimony of the true Israel of God is being called for among the peoples. The earth will see the people of God revealed in a greater way. The kingdom of God is continuing to increase with the testimony of food and seed to the ages to come.

We must embrace the reformation of today and not merely call for a repeat of something in the past. Does God do something every 500 years? Or has He been doing something amazing for the past 500 years that is available for those who have eyes to see it and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church? The coming of the Lord is a constant and increasing coming that leads to deeper measures of His river of grace and greater testimonies of His glory in the earth. The leaven of the kingdom of God is meant to fill the life-giving bread of humanity as heavenly food to the generations. The mountain of God is filling the earth and rising up as a testimony to God’s ways, God’s path’s, His law of love, and His testimony of peace to all men. The government of God is increasing in the nations and the generations of mankind. The coming of the Lord is not a fearful thing for those in Christ. The end of every age is harvest and there is a coming of the Lord in all the generations of men. The Spirit and the Bride still cry out come Lord Jesus, come! He is riding on the clouds of His manifest presence in the earth. The church is the gate of heaven and angels are ascending and descending to bring about the influence of the Kingdom of the Lord and the will of the Father is being made known by the presence of Christ in the church. As leaders, let us lead others into the present manifestation of grace in the earth. It is time for another measure of life.

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

Blog In Audio:

     Greetings,

What does it mean to be saved? Is being saved merely a ticket to heaven when we die, or is it a matter of bringing heaven into our lives now and for eternity? Jesus was the Father’s gift of love to redeem humanity. We were looking for a way to get to God, but He wanted us to understand that He desired to make a way to get to us. Religion alone seeks to get to God, but the intimacy of Christ within us seeks to bring God and heaven into our world. God has always desired to live with mankind in all things. He wants an intimate relationship that can support His purpose in all things. We were the ones preventing Him from coming near to our hearts, but the Father’s gift of His only begotten Son made it possible for us to see Him for who He really is. Seeing God for who He is has inspired us to invite Him into our lives, inside and out! This is the testimony of heaven’s grace, an administration of God’s transforming love. The administration of love cannot live in the atmosphere of law or promiscuity, but God has made a way by His gift of mercy to free us from the administrations of death.

John 3:18-21 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

God does not condemn the world. The administration of the knowledge of good and evil condemns the world. True light is love. It includes mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, and all the things of true life. We cannot hold on to a justice system that demands others pay their debts to us when the gift of God to us was one that paid the debts of us all! Outside of Christ there is still a need for all to acknowledge the condemnation that they are bound to because of the administration they embrace. Only in Christ is that condemnation lifted. The New Covenant does not exist for all simply because Jesus died for all. The New Covenant is available to all, but it can only be attained through an exchange of administrations.

Mercy is obtained by an acknowledgement of mercy given. God loves us, but we don’t deserve His love. To think we deserve His love is an injustice in the covenant of law and conscience. The justice system of grace is available for all, but one must first receive the end of the justice system of law and conscience. That requires God’s mercy, and it can only be obtained through a revelation of the cross. The revelation of the cross is the love of a Father and a Son. It is the sacrifice of the Son for the sake of the Father’s will. It is the sacrifice of the Father to give His only Son that all might come and know the life of a son or daughter of God. It is the love of God for humanity that all might come to know the love of God. When we know the love of the cross we boldly come to the throne of God’s grace to demonstrate the love of the cross for the sake of others in our world.

Love is a revelation, and it includes God’s mercy and His grace. His mercy justifies us to live and His grace empowers us to live in life. It is a transition in the administration of each of our lives and it invokes the scandalous justice of God’s love. As leaders, we must demonstrate the love of God in our own lives for the sake of those we lead. We must lead others into the path of life, a path of being life for others in our world. It is a testimony of God’s love among the communities of mankind. It is not about works of ministry. It is about being a family of God’s love.

Leadership is a matter of becoming for the sake of others becoming also. We are not leading others to merely do what we do. We are leading them to invoke and inspire each one to find a relationship of life with God in all things. It is not a matter of doing; it is a matter of being. The word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood so that anyone and everyone in the neighborhood could become expressions of the life and love of God to their world. This is the testimony of God’s grace working in and through our lives.

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

Blog In Audio:

   Greetings,

God has hidden the path of life in creation. This has been true from the beginning of time. It is still true in the lives of all people. Although the path is hidden in creation, the key to living a life that creates a path of life for others is to live in an intimate relationship with God as the Creator of all things. When we have an intimate relationship with God as our Father, the One who creates all things, we become creative sons and daughters of God in all things. As leaders we must be creative in all that is given to us for the sake of those we lead. We cannot just find the path of life; we must create a path in our world that empowers others to find and be a path of life in the world given to them for the sake of others. In a covenant of information, the path of life is merely a shadow of an intimate relationship with God that creates a path of life for others. In a covenant of intimacy and transformation, the path of life is being the substance of life in every situation of our lives.

Today I feel impressed to post portions of a blog that I presented several years ago. I believe that the issue of government in the earth is a matter of knowledge (information) or a knowing (intimacy). There is a place for both, but only one leads to life. An administration of a knowledge of good and evil only serves to direct us to the administration of knowing, an administration of God’s grace that transforms our lives. The administration of information serves as a teacher to direct everyone to the administration of life. God doesn’t want anyone to live their lives with an administration of information. He wants everyone to be governed by His grace, His manifest presence working in our lives by the grace of His Spirit in and with us in all things. The world of information alone is only a tutor meant to communicate to us our need for an administration of grace made possible by the judgment of God’s love that comes as mercy to justify us to live by grace.

The kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of the world. The justice system of the kingdom of God can transform the kingdoms of the world, but until the kingdoms of the world choose to embrace the kingdom of God they are still stuck in the administration of the kingdoms of the world. The administration of the kingdoms of the world is one of a knowledge of good and a knowledge of evil. It is an Old Covenant administration, and its base of justice is established upon what is right and what is wrong. That administration most commonly becomes expressed as what one thinks is right and what one thinks is wrong. It is a system that constantly battles to define what is good and what is evil. It is self-preserving in its character and therefore the definitions of good and evil within its sphere of influence often becomes defined by its own self-preserving mentality. This is the way of the world. It is the way of the kingdoms of the world. It is the way of the kingdoms of self. Every war is fought over a knowledge of good and a knowledge of evil. Every relationship is disintegrated over a knowledge of good and a knowledge of evil. The only eternal judgment that can release someone bound to a worldly kingdom is one of triumphant mercy. A judgment of mercy will not prevent evil from happening again, it only clears the way for grace to transform the heart and mind of the one who receives mercy. This is the power of grace. Mercy justifies us to live, while grace empowers us to live. Jesus made a judgment of mercy for all of mankind by being a man of love and not a man of law. His exit strategy for the kingdoms of the world is a death of the administration of the kingdoms of the world and a new birth with a new administration of the kingdom of God. Only in Christ can we find the true substance of life. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Secularism, Atheism, Sikhism, Judaism, Shamanism, Satanism, Paganism, Spiritism, Mysticism, Agnosticism, or any other religion of the world is not a way to life. Not even Christianity as merely a religion. No religion is a way to God; only truth within the human heart can lead to true life. Only Christ inside the heart of humanity is the way of life. The kingdom of God can only be discovered within the human heart and the testimony of life is only discovered through Christ in each of us. This is not the same as mere Christianity. It is Christ in the heart of humanity. Religion alone still leaves mankind bound to the system of the knowledge of good and evil, it does not transition them into the administration of true life. Only an administration of love can transition us from the kingdoms of the world to the kingdom of life in Christ.

Colossians 1:13-14 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (NAS)

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Ephesians 1:7-10 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth…

True creativity is revealed in the ability to make things come alive for the sake of life for others in our world. As leaders we must find the grace of God to be creative in every situation of our lives to bring life at all times to our world. Our role as leaders is to lead others into this truth where each one has an intimate relationship with God, the Creator of life in all things.

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

Blog In Audio:

   Greetings,

God has put the path of life and the path of death in creation. That path is not meant to merely bring blessings into our lives. It is meant to reveal who God is in our lives and to beckon a response from us to know God in and from our hearts. It is through a relationship with God that we become the true likeness and image of God with the revelation and authority to open the path of life in the earth for creation and the world in which we live. We become like Him when we seek and find Him. It is not Him knowing us that makes us like Him. It is us knowing Him that empowers us to become expressions of Him and His life. God wants us to find Him that we might know Him and become who we are meant to be for the glory of God in the earth. God has hidden the mystery of His godhead within the fabric of creation. Creation is an expression of the Creator and like the Law, it is a shadow of what is really true and good. It is a reflection of who God is. When Abel gave God his offering of the first and of the best it was at a discovery of something hidden in the laws of creation that were a shadow of an intimate relationship with God. An intimate relationship with God will reveal that He is first in life and that the best of life belongs to Him. When we put God first, God becomes first in all that we are and all that we have. When God is first all of the rest is blessed. An intimate relationship with God will also reveal that when we give God the best, even the least in our lives becomes the best by God’s presence in even the least. These things are hidden in creation, but they are made fully real in our lives as new creations in Christ. Abel discovered these truths by revelation.

Genesis 4:1-5 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Abel’s offering of the first and of the best were a testimony of honor to God. As leaders we must set an example in honoring God and in inspiring others to honor Him. In this, the path of life is found. Mankind is the highest level of creation in the earth. Men and women were created in the likeness and the image of God. When the highest form of creation honors the Creator, the rest of creation honors mankind. Able discovered this truth hidden in the fabric of creation. Cain, the firstborn, did not understand these truths because his focus and desire was for himself. As a self-seeking man he failed to discover the secret of honor to God. His end result was that of murdering his brother Abel, leaving the presence of God, and becoming a vagabond and wanderer in the earth. God didn’t put those things upon him, he embraced a path that was less than the life that God had place before him in the earth. God has placed a path before us all that is a path of life, but we must honor God to find the path of life set before us by God in the earth. Although Cain killed Abel, Jesus was the redemption of the path of Abel that gave all of mankind an access to God as Father in a path of honor in the earth. The blood of Jesus is the life-force for redemption of all of mankind whereby we can each hear God in our hearts and live a life of honor to God in all things. The blood of Jesus is the gift of God’s mercy that leads to the power of God’s grace that we might know God intimately and find the path of life set for us all in the earth.

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Abel recognized that God was the first and God was the best. There was no commandment. There was only a revelation of honor hidden in creation that was discovered by Abel. Because He saw who God really was, it was easy for Him to give offerings that were expressions of who God was. God honored Abel because Abel’s offerings were ones of honor to God. Jesus offered the greater honor to God as a man. He gave His life as a firstborn for all who find themselves in Christ. He was the best who enabled even the least of men to become the best in all that they are in Christ. Jesus did these things because He saw who God really was. He saw Him as the Father of life, the One who empowers us all to be the likeness and image of God in the earth. Jesus was the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person in human flesh. This is the ultimate destiny for us all. As leaders we must lead others in becoming lights of the Father’s glory and expressions of His image to the world in which we live. This is the path of life that brings life to our world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of

Blog In Audio:

    Greetings;

Last week I began with a theme of leading others in a path of life and salvation in our journey as children of God and overcoming sons and daughters growing in maturity. Our salvation is not merely a matter of going to heaven when we die. It is a matter of bringing the influence of heaven into our lives in this earth. The internal kingdom of God within each of us causes our external kingdoms to be expressions of the kingdom of God in character, nature, way, power, and authority. As we saw last week, Paul’s words in Romans chapter 10 were not merely words of receiving Jesus into our lives. They were words concerning living our lives as sons and daughters of God with Jesus as Lord of all that we are and do. They were words of God’s salvation in every situation of our lives. Paul was quoting the Old Testament word of Moses as a shadow of our walk in life in Christ.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

God’s words were to His people in regard to their possession of, and their testimony in, the Promised Land. As I have written, I believe that the true Promised Land is to know righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit in our hearts (Rom. 14:17). The mystery of the word of God being in our hearts and mouths is only made known through the power of Christ within us. It is not some mystery. It is a revelation of Christ within us. It is not a matter of good and evil, it is a matter of life and death. God has always desired to give mankind the option of choosing life in all things. That life inspires a love for God with all of our hearts, souls, and lives. It is a testimony of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles in the lives of those who believe. The New Covenant is the means by which Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles finally become a reality among men.

Jesus said that when the seed of His word falls on good soil it can bring a harvest that is one hundred, sixty, or thirty fold (Mt. 13:8). I believe that these measures are symbolic of Tabernacles, Pentecost, and Passover. Passover is the testimony of loving God with all of our hearts. To have a Passover confession of Christ in our hearts is a ‘God did it’ thing! It is the testimony of Christ within us that inspires us to confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. The shedding of the blood of Christ has granted us the grace of God’s Spirit within us. God’s mercy justifies us to live and His grace empowers us to come alive in Him (Rom. 5:9-10). Like a blade of wheat that breaks through the soil, we have a testimony of being alive in Christ. Jesus has passed over our sins and empowered us to confess our love for God from within. We have been granted a revelation of God’s love for us in Christ and by this we have become empowered from within to confess that God is our God. If 3 is a prophetic symbol of God (Trinity) and 10 is a prophetic symbol of God’s judgment of love (as 10 commandments is a completion of the law with a testimony of loving God and loving others) a thirty fold harvest (3 x 10) is at least a confession of the human heart that declares we are alive in Him. He is our God! ¹

As leaders, we must embrace a path of being an overcomer and we must lead others into that same destiny. Death is not something that God puts upon anyone; it is the result of not choosing the path of life that God has set before us. The internal kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit is the life-force of destiny in our journey as sons and daughters of God in this world. God has established the truth of life and death in the very fabric of creation. In Christ we become the body of Christ that exhibits the characteristics of being sons and daughters of God. Creation honors the likeness and image of God in the earth when the likeness and image of God honors God. When those who are meant to be the likeness and image of God honor a lesser likeness and image than God they bind the earth from being a life-giving resource to men. The land will eject men and women who are not true to who God made them to be. Only in our true identity as sons and daughters of God can we release the life and liberty of God in creation.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

¹  Ted J. Hanson, The Now Covenant – Christ In You The Hope of Glory, (Bellingham, WA: House of Bread Publishing, 2015), pp. 108-109.

The Now Covenant

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

Blog In Audio:

    Greetings;

As leaders our ultimate goal is to lead others to become growing, maturing sons and daughters of God. The role of leaders is that of fathers and mothers, parental attributes of knowing the value of being a child at heart but also an overcomer as a maturing son or daughter of God. Today I am going to present some text from my book, The Now Covenant, to inspire us to lead others into a path of life, overcoming, and salvation in any situation in life. The kingdom of God is an internal kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is an internal relationship of knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior, Holy Spirit as God in His power and presence, and our Father God in partnership of purpose and destiny. That internal kingdom of God causes our external kingdoms to be expressions of the kingdom of God in character, nature, way, power, and authority.

Being a manifested son or daughter of God is not just an instant manifestation upon accepting Jesus into one’s life. It is an ongoing process that daily happens because Christ lives within the believer. In the New Covenant we are internally empowered to go through whatever is necessary to be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory. It works on good days and on bad days. It is a place of finding God’s life in every moment of our journey in life. It is a place where the believer is changed from glory to glory from within. It is a testimony of the Holy Spirit at work in the human heart. We aren’t merely granted a ‘get out of hell free card’ or an ‘entrance ticket to heaven’ when we die. We were given the power of God’s grace that changes us on a daily basis. We are disciples of Christ walking under the influence of Christ’s life. We are under the discipline of God’s grace. This is not a discipline of instructions concerning what to do or how to act. It is not a discipline of law, as was the case in the Old Covenant. It is a discipline of God’s presence at work within us. It is the very presence of Christ within us that changes our character, nature, way, power, and authority. The word of God is near to us. It is in our hearts and in our mouths that we may walk in the ways of God in this life. This was promised in the Old Covenant, but the shadow of the Old only pointed to the reality of what can only be found in the New Covenant life of Christ.

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

These verses are often used to inspire someone to confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Although there is a certain measure of truth in that application of this Scripture, these verses are talking about something much more. In order to understand these verses written by Paul, we must also read the verses written by Moses. Paul was quoting the words of Moses that pertained to the ability of God’s people to walk and live in the Promised Land given to them by God. These verses are not about a confession that grants us entrance to heaven when we die. They are verses that pertain to a heavenly testimony within our lives in this world. I believe that the Promised Land of the New Covenant is to live in this life with a testimony of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit within our hearts (Rom. 14:17). It works in any life, any circumstance, any situation, any generation, any nation, and any time in humanity’s journey. The testimony of Christ within us grants us a transition to heavenly glory when we die, but it also grants us a daily change in our lives in this world. Let’s look at the words written by Moses that Paul is quoting in this text of Romans.

Deuteronomy 30:11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

God’s promise was that He would be with His people on a daily basis and that He would make it possible to walk in the life He had promised. This pertains to confessing from our hearts that God is our God. It pertains to conclusive evidence that reveals an outward testimony that we are God’s people. It also pertains to a daily reality of living together with God in all things. It is not some testimony that is yet to come from heaven. It is not the result of a further sacrifice of the flesh. It is the testimony of Christ within the believer.¹

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

¹  Ted J. Hanson, The Now Covenant – Christ In You The Hope of Glory, (Bellingham, WA: House of Bread Publishing, 2015), pp. 106-107.

  The Now Covenant

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

     Greetings;

Today I want to remind us as leaders to keep the main thing, the main thing. The main thing is Jesus is Lord and Christ. Together we are the body of Christ at all times for all things in every situation. We as leaders must keep our focus right in order to lead others to have a right focus at all times. The desires of our hearts and the thoughts of our minds must be motivated by a love impassioned by Jesus. We have just come through another political season in America and are still in that battle. Some are rejoicing with what they believe to be a great victory, while others are standing strong believing for a different outcome. No matter what the end result will be, we must keep the main thing, the main thing. We must embrace a prophetic spirit with a prophetic attitude, prophetic thoughts, prophetic words, and prophetic actions at all times. I define prophecy as God speaks and life happens. God’s words of life are not words bound by good and evil or right and wrong. They are words that express our Father’s heart of mercy and forgiveness with a willingness to partner with us in all things for an outcome of life. God is calling us all to be a part of the bride of Christ that brings the life of God to the earth in every situation at all times. As leaders we set an example in being part of the body of Christ with the anointing and life-giving testimony of Christ. This involves a right attitude of our hearts at all times. The apostle Paul encouraged the church of Thessalonica to keep a right focus in difficult times. God is not wanting us to escape this world, but to be life in every season and in every situation we find ourselves in in this world.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

Rejoicing is a decision of our hearts and it is an attitude of our souls. Praying is a face-to-face relationship with God ever hour of every day. Being thankful is not merely reserved for good days, but it is a thankfulness for God’s presence in our lives even on days that to appear to have a different outcome than we desire. Letting the Spirit of God flow in our lives is a matter of having an attitude of being life-giving at all times. Wrong decisions may not grieve the Holy Spirit; but having a wrong attitude will surely grieve the Spirit of God. We can be adjusted in our path if the attitude of our hearts allows the Spirit to flow in our life. Not despising prophecies is to choose to have a strong value for, use of, and a declaration of God’s voice in and through our lives at all times. God speaks and life happens! His voice is not a voice of vindication from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is a voice inspired by the justice system of life from the tree of life. We must walk a path of peace where perfect peace will guide our hearts at all times. By this we can test all things. There will be plenty of bad things that come our way in life. There will be a lot of unfair situations that will occur, but we must hold fast to all that is good even in difficult times. Abstaining from evil is to choose not to act as those in the world even when those in the world treat us as people in the world do. God’s promise is one of sanctification of our whole being. We can be assured of God’s salvation for our spirits, souls, and bodies in every situation we find ourselves in life. As leaders we must set an example in these things and we must lead others to embrace this way of life. It is a way of those who are part of the family of life. Our family tree is the tree of life and nothing can alter this truth or our purpose of life in this path. God is faithful and He will help us at all times.

Our passion must be for Jesus! We must take the same stand as Jesus when He stood upon the judgement nail of the knowledge of good and evil and pronounced a judgment of mercy and love. We must be merciful, gracious and forgiving of others at all times. If we keep the main thing, the main thing we can be assured of a future and a hope in every season of our journey in life. As leaders, let us lead others in the path of life.

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

Blog In Audio:

     Greetings;

As I shared last week, I received a prophetic picture through a member of G42 where a young lady 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.

As I previously wrote, 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. 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 fence was not painted. It was restored to the past condition for the sake of the present, it didn’t seek to be a fence that tried to put the things of the past into my backyard. 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. The substance of the past is 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.

Wisdom is found in the path that is furtherance of where we have come from, but it doesn’t hold us in what was yesterday. Like the ant, the street of our journey defines the season of today and we can recognize the change of seasons. The season has changed, but the path is a continuance of where we have come from.

Wisdom also raises her voice in the open squares; it is like a rock badger in its quest to live. Though the rock badger is small and not considerably strong, it uses its natural environment to get its foods. It builds it home in the crags of the rocks and uses its house as a place of protection and a way of surprising its prey to sustain itself in life. What in the open squares of our lives leads to the destiny of God’s glory? What is obvious around us and can serve us in our roles in the destiny of life? Some of the obvious things are the things that have been established in our surroundings by the work of others. We must be attentive to what is working today and we cannot mourn for the loss of what worked yesterday. We may seem feeble and small, like the rock badger, but something in our present will empower us to be all we are called to be in Christ. I am not merely talking about natural things, but things of the Spirit of God that are working today. We must be led by the Spirit of God to be people of faith. This is the testimony of being sons and daughters of God.

Wisdom cries out in the chief concourses; it is like the locust. The locust realizes that if it lives in close relationship with other locusts it can do impossible things. What relationships are in our lives? How do those relationships serve the purpose of who we are? Who are we joined to? Our direction forward is connected to the relationships given to us in life. Our relationships in life are part of our inheritance in life. Those relationships are meant to lead us to others even as Paul told Timothy to find faithful men who would be able to teach others also. What God is doing today is connected to the relationships of our past, but not restrained by them. Relationships of life always lead to increased life! It is time for a furtherance of community and testimony of the family identity, testimony, and purpose in all things. This is not merely a day of great ministry; it is a furtherance of great family purpose!

Wisdom speaks at the gates in the city; it is like a spider or a lizard. Spiders or lizards are small, but they are faithful with what they can grasp hold of, and they end up in influential places. Their influence in the city comes from their personal abilities. Those abilities are part of who they are, and they are merely faithful with what is in front of them. What are our present abilities and how are we being faithful today with what is directly in front of us? This will lead to a journey of influence in life. Our abilities were given to us for advancing God’s glory in the earth! How our abilities worked for us yesterday may not be how they work for us today. We must know who we are and what we are able to do in every season of our lives.

What are the things that we inherit? What is it that we must advance in the generations of men? The instructions of our fathers with the principals, patterns, and values given to us are the substance of inheritance to the future. Cultures and societies of the world reject the instructions of their fathers and the substance given them by their mothers. They think themselves to be wiser than the past. Wisdom is not found in the past; it is found in the things that are being given to us by God in heaven. It is found the instructions, principles, patterns, and values of the past set as a foundation for our hearing of wisdom today. The back fence of our back yard must be a present reality, but it is a present reality to define the back yard of our place of kingdom influence today.

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