ted4leaders

    Greetings,

We are living in a time where the views and expectations of people are being given in diverse ways. As leaders in the Body of Christ we are challenged to lead people to the truth of the testimony of Christ. All things are common to men and all men have experienced common weaknesses and strengths. It is both the weaknesses and the strengths of humanity that connects us in a common word that needs God’s mercy and grace.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Humanity was created in the likeness and the image of God. To discover the reality of that identity, testimony, and destiny we must find our connection to God as our Father. We must be sons and daughters of God, not just people in a family of man. We must discover the secret to becoming and living as the family of God.

Are we united by our humanity? Our primary connection must be to God. Only Christ in us is the hope of glory. When we are united by His divinity, He unites us in our humanity. When we are merely united in our humanity we are united in our pain or united in our human strength. When we are united by His greatness we soon realize that all the enemies to our humanity are mere grasshoppers in His sight. Christ is the center, not man.

The Jesus way without Jesus is simply kind humanism. We need Jesus more than we need the Jesus way. We need Jesus as both Lord and Christ. The evidence of our connection to Christ will be the Jesus way, but the life and the power of life can only come from Christ.

hu⋅ma⋅ni⋅sm/hju:mənizəm/

noun

1. the doctrine that people’s duty is to promote human welfare 🔗
2. syn:humanitarianism
3. the doctrine emphasizing a person’s capacity for self-realization through reason; rejects religion and the supernatural 🔗
4. syn:secular humanism
5. the cultural movement of the Renaissance; based on classical studies

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Humanism is a seductive force the denies a dependence upon the supernatural power of God’s grace. We come to Him by His mercy and we too become merciful, but the Lamb empowers a Lion to every enemy of the likeness and image of God in our lives. The Lamb empowers an ox, a creature of service, for the worship of our Creator. The Lamb empowers new creations, born again believers in Christ, to make themselves of no reputation and come with a face like a man to their fellow man. The Lamb empowers an Eagle that is led by the God’s Spirit and Word in all things, thus obtaining victory over the weakness of the flesh and becoming one that others can follow in Christ. God’s grace empowers us to become what we were meant to be in Christ. Without God’s grace we cannot receive the heavenly inheritance God desires to bring into our lives.

Acts 2:32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Jesus, as the Lamb, is the testimony of mercy. The Lion, Ox, Face of a Man, and Eagle are the testimonies of God’s grace working in our lives. These are the overcoming attributes of God’s grace working in our lives. God’s mercy embraces us with God’s love in our humanity. God’s grace empowers us by God’s divinity to become like Him in this world. Christ in us is the hope of this glory! He is the hope of heavenly things being expressed in our world through His Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

As leaders we must lead God’s people in receiving God’s mercy. The love of God comes to us all through the Lamb and we show love to others through that same attribute. He offers us mercy that we might be merciful to others. The power of God’s love also inspires us to find God’s grace to become as He would have us be in all things. We must lead to inspire all to find God’s grace working in their lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

#christinyou #Jesusislord #christthecenter

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. With your assistance we can complete our missions for 2018 and move forward into all that God is going to do in 2019. 

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225

    Greetings,

I hear many things taught about grace with little understanding of where grace exists and what grace is. Grace is the manifest presence of God in your life that brings about life and the change of life. We have to come to the throne of God’s grace to find God’s grace. It is found in His presence in our lives when we move into His world in our hearts. When we come to His throne, the power of His presence transforms another measure of our lives.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Did Jesus destroy the law? The law is a shadow of grace and it is meant to be over those who have not yet come to the power of God’s grace. The only law that Jesus destroyed was the law of sin and death. He made it possible for all to boldly come to the throne of God’s grace where each one can receive mercy and find grace. Grace is not a destruction of law, but the real thing that casts a shadow of law. When we live by God’s empowerment of grace, our lives demonstrate the character, nature, way, power and authority that is shadowed in the law. There is no longer a separation of men and God. We have been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Our connection to God produces a testimony of the principles, patterns, and values revealed in the law. The law of disconnection, sin and death, has been destroyed by the higher law of God’s love. God’s love gave us access to His presence and it is His presence in our lives that brings about true change.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 5:8-10 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Our Father’s love has proven to be stronger than our hate for Him. It is the law of the Father’s love that destroyed the power of our disconnection from Him. That love could only be revealed through a Father/Son and Son/Father relationship in God and Human form. Jesus made a way for all men, male and female, to have a relationship with God in an intimate way. He made a way for all men, male and female, to be transformed by a revelation of love within their inner being.

The law is a shadow of the good thing to come. As long as the good thing exists the shadow can still be found, but God never desired for us to live under the shadow of the law. He wanted our lives to cast a shadow that looks like the values revealed through the law.

Hebrews 10:1For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

The good thing is an internal and eternal relationship with God in Christ. Jesus didn’t destroy the law, He destroyed the law of sin and death.  Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Romans 7:9-12 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

We have found grace in Christ, but outside of Christ law is still real. Law is a tutor that leads us to Christ, but until we find Christ we are bound to the laws we find ourselves under. Law does not exist because it is written in a book. Laws exist in creation, and what we find written simply reveals the things that are hidden in creation. We cannot break laws, we can only supersede them with higher laws or violate them. When we violate them, we find ourselves bound to the consequence of another law. Step off a tall building and you will find yourself under the consequence of violating the law of gravity. The laws of density and force prove bring destruction to our bodies as we are broken beneath their reality. Put God first and God will be first in all things, but if we put other things first those other things will be first in all things. We cannot boast that we are no longer under the law and live without the overcoming power of God’s grace at work in our lives. Without the ability to become strong in God’s word and strong in His Spirit we foolishly espouse lawlessness as grace. Lawlessness is not grace. It is simply an excuse for carnality and trying to form God into our own likeness and image. God’s grace will transform us into the likeness and image of God. It will always bring the power of change in our lives to overcome every wicked thing.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. With your assistance we can complete our missions for 2018 and move forward into all that God is going to do in 2019. 

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225

    Greetings,

We live in times where there is much turmoil among the nations in regard to governments, political views, and human perspectives that define words by personal definitions. We should all have views and as Christians we should l stand for the values of God in our perspective nations with our own responsibilities as citizens of countries among men, but the kingdom of God is not an external administration of men. It is an internal transformation of human hearts. As leaders in the body of Christ, we must lead people to seek first the kingdom of God in all things. That kingdom is one of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit within the human heart.

When Jesus lived as a man among men, He did not address the political environments of the world. That does not mean that He condoned them as kingdoms that need not change. He came to give humanity a greater power than the power that comes by the knowledge of good and evil. He came to give us access to the tree of life. He came to invade every environment through the influence of the kingdom of God within the human heart. Being born again is miraculous. It is as miraculous as the virgin birth of Jesus by Mary. Being born again is the entrance to being able to see the kingdom of God. It is the introduction to an internal relationship of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is the entrance to an internal spiritual environment that transforms us from within. Just as we were formed in water in the natural wombs of our mothers, being born again is the entrance to a womb of the Spirit that forms us into the character, nature, way, power, and authority of sons and daughters God in Christ. Jesus didn’t come to reshape religion or to reshape the political environments of the world. He came to bring an internal revolution that would affect every aspect of life. He didn’t protest masters or slaves, He came to put the influence of the kingdom of God within the heart of each. It is that internal influence that changes the heart of the master and changes the heart of the slave. The inevitability of that influence is that of no more master and no more slave. It is the internal influence of the kingdom of God that brings true change that even affects the external realities of the world. The influence of the external kingdoms of men can only find true change for life by the internal influence of the King of kings within our hearts and minds.

The kingdom of God is an internal kingdom of relationship with God in our hearts. It is not a political change of government. It is not a matter of socialism or capitalism, as we find in western societies. Socialism can only offer good if it is inspired by the internal force of God in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. In the hands of human greed, socialism is but another form of taking from others in some form of control. The same is true for capitalism. In the hands of human greed, it is another form of control that takes from others for some personal gain. Capitalism can only offer good if it is inspired by the internal force of God in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It can provide for many in its increase in the hands of righteous thinkers. The redemption of the external systems of the world can only be found in the internal influence of the kingdom of God. When socialism or capitalism are left in the hands of those who do not have the internal influence of the King of kings or the Lord of lords, they will always fall short of life. The answer is not a change of political governing, it is only found in a place of internal governing.

Outside of Christ there is still a need for external influences that will create an environment that announces to mankind their need for God. The influence of law and conscience is still true for those who do not have Christ within them, so they can know their need to receive God’s mercy and find His grace to reign in life. Jesus made a way for all of mankind to boldly come to the throne of God’s grace and receive mercy and find grace to help them in their need (Heb. 4:16). We can hope that those in the systems of the world will be influenced by the internal kingdom of heaven, but by themselves the external systems cannot offer true life or change. External systems are needed for those who have not yet discovered the internal influence of the kingdom of God. Whatever external systems exist there must be an environment that makes known to men their need for mercy and their need for God’s grace. Mercy from God justifies all men to live and all they need to do is come to Him to receive it. Grace is the power of God’s presence in human lives that empowers them to become strong as expressions of God’s word and intimate with God’s Spirit, so they can overcome every wicked thing. Anything that pursues a governing that is disconnected from the only One who can give life is wicked. It is a governing that can only bring death and dysfunction and it is wicked. The ability to overcome is found in the ability to be a testimony of God because there is no longer a gap between us and Him. We are being transformed by who He is and it is changing who we are in our character, nature, way, power, and authority. This is grace! Only the kingdom of heaven can transform the kingdoms of this world to take on external realities that testify of the truth that is found to Jesus of Nazereth in Christ. Jesus is the Only Way, the Only Truth, and the Only true Life. There is no other name by which man can be saved!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. With your assistance we can complete our missions for 2018 and move forward into all that God is going to do in 2019. 

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225

    Greetings,

The kingdoms of the world are external kingdoms ruled by external laws or self-governed ideas motivated by a human spirit that knows there is something good beyond what can be seen. That good thing can even be perceived to be what is good in one’s own eyes. The external voices of law and creation only invoke the internal human spirit, the human conscience, to seek to know God. It starts with the question, who is God? That question can only be answered when one finds a connection with Holy Spirit in their own spirit within. He makes us come alive! When this happens, the question is answered. God is the One who makes me come alive! He gives me life!

Jesus did not come to change the kingdoms of the world by external influences. He came to transform the kingdoms of the world by the force of an internal kingdom that is greater than the external kingdoms of men. That kingdom is the kingdom of heaven. It is a kingdom where Jesus is both Lord and Christ of the hearts and minds of men. It changes things from the inside out and writes a higher law than all other laws upon men’s hearts and minds. That law is a revelation of love that inspires life-giving thinking and life-giving actions that demonstrate love. It is the place that proves Jesus is Lord, because our desires are changed from within. We become empowered to desire what God desires. It is not based upon a knowledge of good or a knowledge of evil. It is based upon a knowing of the One who is good. It is based upon a connected and growing intimate relationship with the One who gives life, gives breath, and gives life-giving things in all situations of life. This is the testimony of the kingdom of heaven empowering mankind to live for the well-being of others. This is not a political stand for socialism or capitalism. Jesus lived in a day of Roman rule, but He never externally protested the unjust schemes of greedy rulers or greedy people in the systems of Roman society. If you read history, you will find that there were plenty of injustice issues going on in the Roman empire. Jesus wasn’t interested in taking a stand for justice amidst an unjust worldly society. He came to His own, those who professed to know God, so that He could also go by His Spirit to those who did not know God. Jesus didn’t come to people who could not receive Him, He came to people of a Torah (law) / tabernacle society.

Matthew 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

John 1:1 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

He sent His disciples to the same while He was alive:

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

The message of the kingdom of heaven is at hand was to those who viewed the kingdom of Israel as the way unto salvation. That which was true was now in the face of that which had only been a shadow of the good thing to come (Heb. 10:1). The people that Jesus came to was the Jewish society that already knew the Law. Jesus didn’t talk to them about things they already knew, He came to bring them a way of governing their lives that they had never known. The law had clearly revealed to them their needs and their failures. The Jewish people didn’t need Jesus to tell them what to do or how to act. They already knew that. They needed Jesus to expose their hearts to a new and living way.

God had plenty to say to the Gentiles as well. These were the peoples and nations that did not know what to do or how to act. God’s arm of salvation would come to the Gentile world with the writings of Paul, a man who knew the law fully, but now would be a man of mercy and grace to those who had previously only been governed by the human conscience. God extended the arm of salvation to the Gentiles through Paul as a testimony of resurrection life found in the tribe of Benjamin. Israel, the patriarch, had prophesied that the ‘last day’ of Benjamin would bring the blessings of the kingdom of heaven to the nations of the world. The completion of the tribe of Benjamin would prove to be life to those bound in darkness and they too would become sons and daughters of God’s right hand – His hand of resurrection life and grace (Benjamin means, son of the right hand).

Genesis 49:1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

Genesis 49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.”

Saul of Tarsus, a Benjamite, became Paul the apostle in Christ. He was a ravenous wolf, one who persecuted the church, that when he was born again brought light to those who had been previously been bound to darkness. Those held in bondage would be freed from death and their would be a dividing of the spoil among the nations. The writings of Paul addresses different things than the testimony of Jesus the man sent to the people of Law. His writings were still the words of the Holy Spirit to people who had no idea how to think or what to do. His writings were not a return to law, but a challenge to formerly ignorant people in receiving the true ways of God. We cannot merely look at the writings of the four written accounts of what we call the gospel and ignore the writings of Paul and think we have a full perspective of truth.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. We are reaching the nations and the generations with New Covenant life and grace.

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225

    Greetings;

God has not called us to merely know some revelation of God or some revelation from God. He has called us to a living relationship with God and with one another because of a revelation of God. Relationship is the point of life and it is the point of Christ in humanity. Our focus cannot merely be ministry or prophetic revelation. Our aim in life cannot be an experience with the power of God. Our aim must be community that comes because of the power of God and that true power is one of God’s love. The manifest presence of God and the supernatural power of God is essential for this to happen, but it is not the end goal. The end goal is covenant relationships that endure the shakings of life. I am 63 and the only thing that I have found to be unshakeable in life is love! If we focus on something less than the power of God’s love, we will fall short of God’s glory. We will find ourselves in some cave, where humans do not gather. A cave is a hiding place from the community of life. It is not a residence for a community of life. Satan wants us to retreat to the isolated spaces of being cave dwellers apart from the community of Christ. This is why relationships are targeted by the enemy of our faith in Christ. Sometimes it is easier for a believer to relate to someone who is not a believer, because Satan is an accuser of the brethren and he seeks to blind the eyes of believers towards one another. He seeks to deceive them to become accusers of one another. This is because there is greatness in the relationship of believers with one another. They are the place of God’s habitation. The enemy sees the value of our relationships and he seeks to damage them, corrupt them, and destroy them in some way. For this reason, New Covenant leaders must lead others into community and not merely a knowledge of the power of God.

God is powerful! He is supernatural! But the purpose of God’s power is to destroy the things that prevent us from having an intimate relationship with God and with one another. The Old Testament prophets lacked the understanding of the mystery of the fellowship that we can now find in Christ. They sought the power of God, but they lacked the internal understanding of a revelation of love that comes by Christ within. Elijah was such a prophet.

1 Kings 19:8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” 11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” 15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

When we retreat to a cave of isolation and separation we become blind to the faithfulness of others. Our own objective in all things must be faithfulness to God and to others, not some power of work of God. Ministry is far less valuable than the reason for which we minister. Our goal must be the testimony of Jesus. Signs and wonders are to follow the believer, not to lead them. The wind, the earthquake, and the fire happened because God was present, but God was not in them. The power of God was demonstrated on the mountain before Elijah, but a relationship with God was more important than any demonstration of His power. If we expect the sign and wonder to lead us, we may plunge from the peak of powerful performances to the pit of self-pity and pessimistic death-wish praying.

1 Kings. 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

I alone am left – no one understands me.Anytime we start thinking that way, we are headed to a cave. We are headed to the despair of some pit. A pit is a hole in the ground. It is a dead spot. There are only two things that God will say to a prophet in the cave! Prophet, what are doing here?” “Get out of your cave and on the mountain before the Lord and listen for the voice of God!”

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. We are reaching the nations and the generations with New Covenant life and grace.

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225

       Greetings,

Abraham sought God’s plan of community. He didn’t just leave his old country to go on a journey of finding some Spirit led moment in life. He entered a journey of a Spirit led life that would ultimately lead to an increased community of life and a testimony of God among the nations and generations of men. He went on a journey in search of a city that would be built and made by God.

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

God’s plan has always been a plan of connection with Him and with others. God doesn’t just want to get us out of our past lives. He doesn’t just want to give us personal testimonies of His presence. There is more to life than supernatural moments. God wants to lead us into community connections. This is what the enemy resists. He forms weapons against community. Anything that is attacked so aggressively by the enemy must be the very thing that is most valuable and most important to God. Satan’s plan has always been one of division, isolation, and separation from God and from others (Isa. 14:4-17, Ezek. 28:12-19). His testimony was one of self. He sought what he could get, not what he was destined to become through an intimate relationship with God and others. His testimony included thinks like:

• I need to be able to express myself
• I’ve got to me
• No one understands me
• If it were up to me

These are all statements that express an attitude of disconnection. These things oppose true relationship and community. They are attributes that isolate us from others. When we take a step towards isolation, we are moving away from God’s plan. His plan is a city. God is light and not darkness. Light is a place of openness and connection. It is the testimony of a city, not a cave.

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”

The light fills the house and a house filled with light shines as a beacon of welcoming hope to the world. Caves are places of darkness and isolation, cities are places of connection an abundance of diverse life. Caves are hiding places. People run to them out of fear. They are places to bury the dead. They are lifeless places to decompose. They are places to relive oneself, a private place to discard waste. A cave is a place to visit briefly, but it is not a place to dwell. If we focus on Spirit led moments instead of a Spirit led life we will find ourselves in a cave. Caves are not meant to be permanent dwelling places. If we see them as such, they become places of deception and despair. As leaders in the body of Christ we must set an example in leading others to the place of community, not a place of isolation or despair.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. We are reaching the nations and the generations with New Covenant life and grace.

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225.

     Greetings,

As leaders in the body of Christ, we are called to lead others in a Spirit-led life. A Spirit-led life is not the same as merely living a life with Spirit-led moments. Spirit-led moments without a Spirit-led life will lead to deception and despair. Spiritual moments do not necessarily lead to a Spirit-led life, but a Spirit-led life will be filled with Spirit-led moments. Elijah was a great prophet in the Old Testament. He had a great moment with God when he called down fire upon Mount Carmel after 3 ½ years of silence and hiding (1Kin. 18). I believe the Elijah is an example of a man who had a Spirit-led life, but I also believe that his life is an example to us concerning what happens when we believe in the power of Spirit-led moments above a Spirit-led life. Elijah experienced a great display of power of Mount Caramel, but he ended up in a place of discouragement and self-pity.

1 Kings 19:10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

God continued to tell Elijah that he was not the only one who remained. God had seven thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal.

1 Kings 19:14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

God’s plan is always a plan of relationship. It is a plan of a family – a community of people where God dwells in their midst and they dwell with Him and one another. Whenever we think we are alone, we are missing God’s focus in life. God’s plan is a plan of community. His heart is for every individual, but His plan is for the many. This is the way of God and the goal for all generations of mankind.

Psalms 92:13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing…

As leaders in the body of Christ we must set an example in living a Spirit-led life that results in increased relationships. The older we get, the more committed we should be to the corporate plan of God. We should live for the generations of destiny. This is a place of corporate inheritance and destiny. The enemy will fashion weapons against that happening, but God loves the corporate place of relationship more than He loves any individual who seeks His name. He loves each of us, but His plan is one of community. He was for each of us to embrace a revelation of the corporate destiny of the body of Christ.

Psalms 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains. 2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah

The mountain that God lives in is a mountain of many stones. It is a mountain of many dwelling places. It is a mountain of human hearts that know the power of God’s love, in them and through them. It is a mountain of community. God’s desire is a community of life. This has always been His plan. The enemy seeks to destroy it, but God seeks to establish it among all nations. This was the promise to Jacob, a man who sought to be the blessings of God in the earth.

Genesis 28:3 “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples…”

The benefits of community spring out of community. We cannot know the benefits of community when we live isolated and separated lives. We must never fall for living a life focused upon Spirit-led moments. If we do, we will become disillusioned on the days we cannot hear Him speak. We will become discontent on the days that seem like valleys, because we will fall for the lie that only mountain tops produce the true testimony of God. It is in the valley that the seeds of the present are planted for the harvests of tomorrow. If we miss the importance of living Spirit-led lives in all seasons, we will fall into some form of deception and we will enter to a cave of discouragement and self-pity. As leaders in the body of Christ we must lead to empower those we lead to seek community and a Spirit-led life.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Thank you to all who support House of Bread Ministry. We are reaching the nations and the generations with New Covenant life and grace.

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225.

    Greetings,

We are joined to one another for the purpose of bringing God’s life into the earth. We are the fullness of Christ in bodily form, but without one another we lack the ability to be the full expression of the body of Christ. Only as joined members can we express the fullness of Christ in bodily form. This is the church. It is not meant to be a religious organization filled with rules and forms of structure, but a living body filled with the life and presence of Christ for the purpose of the kingdom of God upon the earth.

I believe that the body of Christ is the virtuous wife of eternal Adam, Jesus Christ. We are members of the help-mate of Christ, the help-mate of Christ in all things. The attributes of the Proverb’s chapter 31 woman are to be attributes each of our lives as members of the body of Christ. Let’s look at some of those attributes and I will continue with this in my blog next week.

Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

The help-mate of Jesus, the church, lives to do good. She lives to make the world around her a better place. She is the life-giving womb of God that changes the environment around her to an environment of life. She changes thigs to become things of true value. She is secure in who she is. She lives for the family name. This is true for each member and for the corporate expression of the body of Christ in every form.

Proverbs 31:11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain.

She is trustworthy and has full access to all that her husband has. The church is growing in the character of Christ and has access to the full name given to her in Christ. The name of Jesus is the head of her life and His salvation brings to her the true identity of all that she is. She knows her husband and her husband knows her. She expands the boundaries of her husband’s posterity, because she comes alongside of Him in all things. All that is His is hers and she brings the fullness of His life into all that she is and does.

Proverbs 31:12 She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

The church does good for her husband’s name. When you see her, you see her husband and she walks in all of the life-giving authority that is found in Christ the head and Christ the body. The will of the Father is made known in all of her ways.

Proverbs 31:13 She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.

Wool and flax are the substance of weaving. Weaving consists of intertwined stands that bind together to create a strong material of purpose. The strength of woven material is found in the relationship of strands intertwined with one another. The Church sees ‘relationship’ as the purpose of her hands and her hands empower ‘relationships’. She lives for significance, not success. She lives to empower others, not to become powerful because of them. She is the substance of Christ and she lives to love and doesn’t get her identity out of what she does.

Proverbs 31:14 She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.

The Church lives to embrace new things. She is willing to reach for her supply, like a merchant ship is willing to trust the wind in its sails to go on ventures that secure provisions for visions beyond the present horizon. The Church, like the Proverb’s 31 woman, is willing to stretch to do new things and go new places. In this venture, she is willing to discover new things for the purpose and glory of God in the earth. She seeks new things for the family inheritance.

Proverbs 31:15 She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.

She lives for purpose and not comfort. She is not afraid of the unknown, for faith is her motivator and that faith is facilitated by love. It is that love that inspires her to rise in the darkness to provide food for her household. She lives for the wellbeing of others. She provides for friends and servants of her household. Her destiny is that of Christ, to bring life to the world.

Proverbs 31:16 She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard.

She has a 100-year plan. The plan includes a third and fourth generation. She knows that the things that cannot change today will be changed tomorrow because she lives to be a blessing and to multiply life in that is beyond her own generation. In this, she purchases real estate and establishes vineyards. She seeks to possess the earth and to cause the earth to give life to the community. She invests her profits for future generations. She lives to change the world through generational inheritance. This is the ekklisea, the Church, the sanctified wife of Jesus, the body of Christ.

Proverbs 31:17 She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms.

She strengthens herself for she knows her purpose to reach out to others.  She knows that her destiny is to bring salvation to people and situations. Her strength is not the strength of the flesh, but the power of the Spirit within her. She is one who carries an anointing and an impartation of life. She knows how to be strong in everyday situations. Her strength comes from within her.

As leaders in the body of Christ, we must set an example in and leading others in:

• Living to do good, being secure in who we are, and living for the family name.
• Being trustworthy and knowing we have full access to all that Jesus has.
• Knowing Jesus and knowing Jesus knows us.
• Expanding the boundaries of the posterity of Jesus.
• Doing good for Jesus’ name.
• Being living examples of who Jesus is.
• In seeing ‘relationship’ as the purpose of our hands and our hands as the empowerment of ‘relationships’ in life.
• Living to embrace new things.
• Living for purpose and not comfort.
• Having a 100-year plan and seeking to change the world through generational inheritance.
• Strengthening ourselves because we live to bring salvation to people and situations around us.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Please consider helping us by your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.

Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225.