ted4leaders

Greetings,

Last week I addressed the fact that every person is three-part in his or her human design and in his or her purpose in life. Every person is made of a spirit, soul, and body. The human spirit is the source of human power. The human soul is the throne of a person’s life and it is the vehicle by which the administration of one’s life is facilitated. The soul is the bridge between the spirit and the physical. If the human spirit is not empowered by the human spirit made alive by the Holy Spirit within them, it can be susceptible to outside spiritual influences that attempt to attach to the soul in a controlling or manipulating way. The physical life of every person is the means by which human authority is manifested to the world. The human spirit was created to be one with God’s Holy Spirit. When God’s Spirit makes the human spirit alive it is prosperous and it floods the human soul with life. A prosperous spirit produces a prosperous soul. When the human soul is made alive by the life of God within the human spirit, the physical expression of one’s life is that of true prosperity.

3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

The apostle Paul addresses the three parts of human purpose in connection with being people who are led by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:1, 2). The subject of his writing was that of power, ministry, and the work of God. More specifically, it is the power, ministry, and work of a person with the life of Christ within them.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 

The power, ministry, and work of each and every person is unique to who they were made to be. Each and every person was formed by their heavenly Father with certain motivational giftings within them (Rom. 12:4-8). The Holy Spirit will give His power to each one in a way that compliments who they are in their God-given motivation. For example, He may manifest with words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discerning of spirits, and prophecy in the life of a perceiver. He may manifest with miracles, healings, and words of knowledge in the life of a mercy-gifted evangelist. He may manifest with discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues in the life of an intercessor. The Holy Spirit knows who each one of us is and He will work with us to fulfill our God-given purpose in life.

Each person also has a role to play in the ministry of Christ. There are many members of Christ’s body, but each is different and each functions for the purpose of the whole. As I stated last week, I believe that “any of the charisma of the Holy Spirit can manifest through us, but the Holy Spirit will work with each of us according to the uniqueness of our motivational gifting and our membership ministry in the Body of Christ” (Rom. 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:12-26). “I believe that the charisma of the Spirit is meant to empower us as human beings, not as workers of religious activities.” The ministry of Christ is not for the purpose of organizational church life; it is for the ministry of life to others in this world. Membership ministry in connection with others is a part of our destiny in Christ. God has determined who we are, where we fit, and how we bring life to others.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.

As Paul describes the membership ministry of Christ he mentions a foot, a hand, an ear, a nose, a head, and some unpresentable parts (1Cor. 12:15-24). This is hardly a description of all of the body parts, but is merely a highlight of some examples of body parts. We can’t even make a good ‘Mr. Potato-head” out of the few parts mentioned.  Perhaps the nine charismas of the Holy Spirit are the same? There are nine categories, but maybe thousands of blends and expressions to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit within and through us. The power of the Spirit and the membership ministry of Christ is meant to reveal the life-giving authority of God to others in this world in a supernatural way. We do not decide who we are in the Body of Christ, we must discover who we are. We must discover our divine connection and function in relationship with others.

I believe that the end of the chapter describes the various works of our purpose in Christ. The power of the Spirit and the ministry of the Spirit through us allow us to be spiritual people in our corporate purpose in life. Just as the body has members, such as a heart, lungs, and various other organs, these things are all part of specific systems of purpose in the human body. There is a repertory system, a circulatory system, a skeletal system, a nervous system, and other systems made of members that work together for a specific purpose. I believe the same is true for human beings made alive in Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:27-31 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.  And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

I believe that this last list is a testimony of various works of purpose and they too are not a complete list, just as the members listed in this chapter only represent a few of the members found in the human body. There is a brief description of some examples, but it is not a comprehensive list of the works of God. Again, we cannot even get a good “Mr. Potatohead” from the works mentioned. Apostles, prophets, and teachers are a testimony of works of leadership. Workers of miracles are testimonies of service. Gifts of healings are ministries of compassion. I believe these are examples of some of the works of God. A good one in the list is that of speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is like the working of the nervous system of the body. I propose that this not the charisma of the power of speaking in tongues here, but a work of a body system. If I hit my thumb with a hammer, thousands of signals will be sent through my nervous system to my head. The feelings and signals of warning sent throughout my body do not hold a headship decision-making authority. They carry a communication authority. Once the head receives the signal of trouble, the head can assess the situation and make a headship decision. Maybe the thumb is cut off and we need to find the missing piece, some ice, and rush to the hospital? Maybe there is a blood blister beneath the thumbnail and we need to get a sharp needle and pierce a hole in the nail to alleviate the pain? Maybe we need a band-aid or even stitches? Maybe it is not too bad and we just need to be sure to keep it out of harms way again? Headship authority needs communication authority to accomplish a complete work. What if we want to point our index finger in a particular direction? No magical signal goes from the head, through the air, and to the finger. Like the mystery of tongues, many signals will go through the body to the finger to accomplish the task. If the elbow should decide that the signal to point is for it, the elbow might throw itself forward and cause the finger to point in the opposite direction of the needed purpose. The body then becomes dysfunctional and frankly a bit embarrassing to the whole body in the sight of every onlooker. I think this kind of thing happens too often in the work of the body of Christ. It is because we don’t desire the best gift. The best gift is the gift that allows us to be who we are for the sake of others. This is our authority. It is our ability to bring life to others by the power of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of Christ, and the work of God through our lives. We make a fantastic us and a not so good someone else.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Each of us fulfills a unique role in life. Our authority is based upon who we are. Our responsibilities in life define our authority, but those responsibilities are not just the tasks that we do. When we find our true authority in life we also find that the tasks we do match the uniqueness of whom we are. Our authority is based upon our responsibilities, but the fulfillment of those responsibilities is meant to bring life to others in this world. The will of God is not something we do, but something we are. Who we are determines what we should do. We could likely do thousands of things in life and they would all be blessed, as long as the duties of our lives match our unique ability to bring life to others. We were born to live for the well being of others. Metaphorically speaking, the fountain of water looks for the bucket, the bucket looks for the pitcher, the pitcher looks for the glass, and the glass looks for the thirsty mouth it can satisfy with a refreshing drink of life. In the same turn the thirsty mouth seeks out the glass, the glass seeks out the pitcher, the pitcher seeks out the bucket, and the bucket seeks out the fountain of water by which true authority is fulfilled. Each of us must know whom we are and then we must show up for our own lives for the sake of others. We serve to bring life to this world based upon our own uniqueness in this life. God sent His Son Jesus to bring us back into a relationship with God so that we could be who we were made to be for the sake of the world.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Many people believe that what they do determines who they are in this life. This is the way of thinking in the world. Living for what we do is very self-focused and narrow-minded in fulfilling human purpose. People in the world seek to fulfill their own destinies, but they very seldom discover the greatness of living for the life of others. Unfortunately, this same thinking often prevails in the Church. Our thinking must change in order for us to live for God’s purpose in this world. We are all called to the hope of Christ’s calling, we reveal a testimony of His inheritance, and the power of Christ in us is meant to change the world beyond our own lives. This was the way of Jesus. He lived for a calling beyond His natural circumstances, He stood as a heavenly testimony of life in the midst of a dead world, and the testimony of the power of His life was seen in the changed world of others beyond His own natural days. His mindset was one of true authority. He knew that the will of God was who He was; therefore He could do whatever was necessary to fulfill His destiny. He didn’t come to die for our sins. He came to reconcile us to our heavenly Father, but He was willing to die for us to make that happen. He could do the will of God, because He first knew that He was the will of God. He was the savior of the world, therefore, He could do whatever was necessary to save it. We must embrace this same way of thinking.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Our minds are continually being changed so we can stand in the authority of life that God has given to each of us. No one’s measure of authority is less significant. Each and every one of us was born to bring life to others. Each and every person in this world has a value of being a one and only child of God. That value is not determined by what they do. It was determined by the price that God paid for each and every one. He gave His only begotten Son as the redemption value of each one. We must all value who we are and we must seek to live life in the uniqueness of our own authority.

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 

To think of ourselves more highly than we ought is to think outside of the metron or sphere of who God has made us to be. We don’t need to become smaller so that others can be bigger. We need to be true to who we are so that who we are will bring life to those who are what we are not. We each supply life to one another. We cannot live in false humility thinking we are nothing; we must embrace true humility simply living for the sake of others within the boundaries of our own authority. We are all part of a corporate plan of life. Faith comes by hearing God and it is in hearing God that we come to know who we are. We cannot do anything or be anything we want to be in life. We must discover who God says we are. This will fulfill our destiny in this world. Anything less is missing the mark.

Romans 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

We have each been given a combination motivational gifting from our heavenly Father that serves the uniqueness of our ability to bring life to others. Those internal motivations determine our ability to function in various realms of responsibility. Those realms of responsibility are the place of our destined authority. Those who are motivated to perceive are not greater than those who are motivated to serve. Those who teach are not greater than those who are motivated to exhort others. Those that exhort are not better or less than those who are motivated towards mercy. Those who lead are not greater than those who join to their leadership for the purpose of God’s life in this world. We are each motivated to fulfill a measure of authority. That authority will bring life to others.

We must be true to whom God has made us to be. When we embrace who we are in life, we can bring life to others. We were created to bring life to this world!

Food For Thought,

Ted Hanson

Greetings,

In order to function in the authority that God has given us, we must fully accept our responsibilities. This is an embracing of who we are with our whole spirits, souls, and physical lives. In order to function fully in the authority given to us we must stir our spirits up towards the purpose of that function. We must fill our souls with thoughts, strategies, plans, and dreams in the direction of our authority. We must physically do something that is an action in the direction of our authority. This is a daily process of maintaining an active spirit, soul, and body posture towards our responsibilities. This is a proper posture for authority. Remember, authority is your ability to bring life to others. When we accept our authority we must become purposed and focused in giving life to others in that area. This can even be in the practical way that we serve others. It can be a very simple menial task, but it takes on a spiritual life when we unite our spirits, souls, and physical lives in the direction of that task.

If you have been given the responsibility of leading others, you must fully embrace that responsibility for the sake of bringing life to those you lead. This involves stirring your spirit up in that direction. This includes praying in the Spirit with an aim of stirring up your leadership ability within you. It involves putting your attitude, your emotions, thoughts, and complete focus in the direction of leading where you are responsible to lead. It also includes taking physical actions. It includes envisioning the daily footsteps and future expectations. If you are over a business you may walk through your work place expecting to receive thoughts. You might physically touch the equipment your employees work with and release a blessing. If you are over a church walk through the rooms of the ministry and bless the chairs, speak life to the various departments, imagine what you see in your spirit in the room while you physically do what you feel to do. Remodel a room, landscape a yard, do something in the physical that matches what you see happening in your spirit and your soul. This is a proper focus of a leader who intends to lead. It will release a spiritual force of life for those you lead and will activate your ability to hear God in the direction He desires for you go lead. If you are a farmer, walk through your field and envision the crops you hope to see. Think of ways to prepare for the harvest. Grease the machinery, sharpen the things that need to be sharpened, oil what needs to be oiled, foresee the unexpected before it happens. Prepare the irrigation system, stock the needed supplies, and put the equipment in working order. By doing these things you are positioning yourself for a harvest. If you don’t do these things, you are positioning yourself to not receive a harvest. These are the proper position of accepting your God-given responsibilities in life.

It is also possible to improperly position yourself in areas you are not responsible. If you are an employee and you begin to think of what you would do if you were the employer, you are positioning yourself to hinder the company business. You are crossing a boundary in the sphere of your influence. If you are an intercessor in a church and you begin to think in ways of governing in the church you actually release an illegitimate power that is like a force of spiritual witchcraft. You have a responsibility of sensing things, but it has not been given to you to govern in areas you are not responsible. If you pray in areas you are not responsible and decide what should or should not happen you are releasing an illegitimate power that will even hinder those who are responsible in those areas. A proper way to pray is to pray under those who are responsible. Thank God that they hear Him. If you sense something, pray in a way that you acknowledge you don’t know what to do, but those responsible will hear what is needed in order to rule in their area of responsibility. Communicate with those in authority what you sense or see, but don’t decide in your heart or mind what should or should not be done. Sow the substance of authority. Authority is a testimony of relationship. One sphere of influence serves another sphere, but each work together to fulfill the God-given roles of each part.

Any delegated authority must respect the higher levels of authority. Those higher levels would be the Holy Spirit speaking to the heart of individuals, the conscience of individuals, and other levels of delegated authority. When we cross the boundaries of our authority and put ourselves over a higher authority than our own we cannot give life. We will actually resist the flow of life through the proper lines of authority.

When someone in a local church disagrees with leadership and they assume the responsibility of the congregation they will hinder the leadership of that church. If their attitude is one of, “I know what I would do” they are grasping for power, but not functioning in a proper role of authority. When they do this, they begin to draw people unto themselves. They are assuming a responsibility that is not theirs. They have become thieves without realizing it. They are trying to get purpose, determination, and focus in an area of responsibility that was not given to them. It might be just sitting in the chair and manifesting their thoughts against leadership. The next step may be some form of further detachment. They are no longer seeing themselves as a part of the whole. They have disconnected from relationship and are attempting to rule by gift or function. They are attempting to take a role of leadership by seeing themselves a step ahead of the whole. They have assumed a role of leadership in the congregation. They will refer to the leadership and the congregation as being separate from them. They are releasing a spiritual energy into that congregation. Their hearts are hardening. It releases energy and even opens the door for demonic influences. It is an illegitimate flow of spirit, soul, and physical energy. It won’t stop the leadership of that ministry from hearing God, but it can hinder the free flow of life in the congregation. When I pioneered the ministry that my son now pastors, I faced this on several occasions. When someone in the congregation assumed the responsibility of leading from among the people I experienced resistance in my responsibility of leadership. It would even affect my thought patterns and my ability to think freely. Many thoughts would begin to bombard my thinking. When this happened I had to become more focused and determined to lead. If you are a leader and you feel resistance from those you lead, you must position yourself to lead all the more. Don’t cross the boundaries yourself. Don’t seek to control people’s thoughts or personal responsibilities. Just fully embrace your God-given responsibilities and step into it with strong confidence and focus. Stir your spirit, fill your soul with a purposed attitude, emotion, and thoughts, and do something physical that is part of your God-given responsibility. Do it with a spirit of life, not a spirit of defensiveness. You have the authority to lead and that authority is your ability to give life to others. Position your prayer, attitude, emotions, thoughts, strategies, and actions in a life-giving way for the sake of those you lead. Embrace the presence of God in your responsibilities and seek the joy that comes from His presence. Don’t let others put a heavy burden upon you, simply step into your role of leading.

Jude 8-11   Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.  Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”  But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.  Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Michael the archangel wouldn’t bring a reviling accusation against the devil, a fallen archangel, but appealed to the authority over the devil. He refused to revile his own kind even in a state of fallen identity. When believers resist the sent authorities of other believers they are acting as brute beasts, different flesh than those of their kind. They look for opportunities to see what is wrong with those sent to them in authority. They may even find things that are naturally true that justify their thinking. Their vision will be obscured because they are crossing a line of their own God-given authority and their perception of the truth will be twisted. Their error is that of Cain, Balaam, or Korah. They are seeking to take something that is not theirs out of jealousy, or taking something to become something they are not for their own personal gain, or exalting their ability to hear God as an excuse for not hearing the voice of God through the authorities sent to them by God. They are grasping for power in some way, but they are not seeking to give life to others. They are grasping for power and the result is a resection of the life source of authority in their lives. When these things happen to a leader in a congregation the leader must become stupid to their resistance, stir his or her spirit by praying in the spirit, and attach his or her heart to the place where God’s voice can be heart. God’s voice will build up their most holy faith and the life-giving grace of leadership will flow for the sake of those they lead. Wisdom, strategy, action, and an outcome of life will follow.

Jude 20,21   But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Every human being has a measure of authority. That authority is based upon who each person is. It is relationally connected to others, but it is unique to who they are. Authority is connected to responsibility, but responsibility is also connected to a person’s ability to function in a specific area. Each of us makes an effective us, but an illegitimate someone else. Every person is born with unique motivational gifting given to them by God in their creation (Rom. 14:4-8). A secret to authority is to find the measure of who we are in life. It is a gift given to us by God, the source of all authority.

Romans12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 

To think more highly of ourselves than we ought to is to move beyond the boundaries of who we really are. This is moving beyond the boundaries of our authority. Authority is our ability to bring life to others. When we move beyond the boundaries of our authority we cannot give life, but we become takers of power. It is an illegitimate function and is not true to who we were created to be. A step beyond who we really are, is a step past security. It is moving into insecurity. When we find ourselves in insecure places we grasp for security from other sources around us. This can happen when we don’t have a revelation of who we really are and also when we move beyond the measure of who we really are. We must grow in knowing who we are and then me must be fully secure in our own identity. This is where our authority lies. It is in our ability to bring life to others.

We were created spirit, soul, and body. Each of us is to be fully human in spirit, soul, and body within the boundaries of our God-given authority. It is important to unite the spirit, soul, and body in order release a true measure of the authority of our lives. When we unite the fullness of who we are within the sphere of who we were created to be it releases a powerful flow of life. The source of the human spirit is God’s Holy Spirit. The legitimate source of life for the human soul is one’s own spirit made alive by God’s Spirit. Our lives are to be an expression of the fullness of who we are. When we are united in our spirits, souls, and bodies we release a power that influences the lives of others. We must be both united and focused in our purpose in life, because we are not our own. We were born to bring life to the world.

Harold Eberle has written a great book, God’s Leaders For Tomorrow’s World, and in it is a chapter concerning the poise of soul. In his book he addresses the importance of the poise of soul. Harold Eberle states that, “When one’s soul is aligned with and in agreement with his spirit, the spiritual force from within is strong.” When the human spirit, soul, and body are in full agreement there is a powerful testimony. This can be either a flow of life or a flow of death. Jesus said to come to Him and drink and from our hearts would flow rivers of living water (Jn. 7:38). Jesus came to restore the purpose of every human being. From within each of us should flow a river of life-giving water. This is part of our purpose in Christ. This is not just a generic promise, but also a specific promise for the uniqueness of each and every one.

We must each be secure and confident in whom we are. Being confident includes a determination to be fully focused on our responsibilities in life. This includes the determination of our spirits, souls, and bodies. When we do this in the legitimate areas of our responsibilities we release life to others. If we do this in areas we are not responsible we will release a powerful energy that resist those who carry the true responsibility in that area. We will actually hinder the flow of life that comes from them to others. I will address this in next week’s blog.

We must live our lives in accordance with our own responsibilities. When we accept our responsibilities we will hear God in the area we are responsible. I made an error in this in my early years as a pastor. I was so concerned with communicating to the people that there was no difference between them and me that I forgot there was a difference between them and me. I was among them, but I was also called by God to lead them. I smelled like a sheep, but I didn’t smell like a shepherd. A shepherd must smell like sheep or he is not living among them, but he must also smell like a shepherd.

You can’t be so involved with the building project that you can’t see what’s being built. You can’t be so involved with the trees that you can’t see the forest. There is a grace given to leaders to see the big picture and not be affected by the little details that would hinder the overall plan. The leader must see the big picture and not be pulled down by the little details that would hold him back. A leader must be several steps ahead of those he or she leads. This involves accepting the responsibility of leading with all one’s heart, soul, and strength. It involves being determined and focused to lead in one’s spirit, soul, and physical life. When a leader does this, there effectiveness as a leader will become clear and strong. Others will follow such a leader.

What is your responsibility? What have you been asked to do? What has been delegated to you?  What is your purpose in this responsibility? When you accept who you are you can become purposed in who you are. Who you are is always connected to others. It is a matter of relationships that bring life to others. When you know this, you can become purposed in who you are. You can become determined and focused in your spirit, soul, and body. This will release a strong flow of life to others.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Each and every one of us is unique and each of us has a role to play in the big picture of God’s plan in life. You are who you are and you have no idea how significant your life is to others.

When Christ was born, there was an old man named Simeon in Jerusalem waiting for the Consolation of Christ. Simeon was there before Jesus was brought on the eighth day. Chances are, Simeon was there for years being just and devout.  Simeon had a great authority even before Jesus was born. God created Simeon because He had to have a Simeon in the house of the Lord on the eighth day of Christ’s life. God knew Simeon before he was formed in his mother’s womb and He knew there would be a day when Simeon would speak the word blessing over the Christ Child.

Luke 2:25-32 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

There is a widow woman in the Bible named Anna. Anna was a prophetess and she was a widow of about eighty-four years. She spent her time fasting and praying at the temple.

Luke 2:36-38 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

I am sure there was a little familiarity with others in the temple in regard to Anna prophesying. She had no doubt prophesied many things. One day she likely prophesied the approaching day of the Messiah. Perhaps people around her said, “Oh! Its just Anna prophesying again!” They may not have taken her too serious. After all, she didn’t have too much of a life. She spent her time praying and fasting at the temple.  She was destined to prophesy one time on one particular day, though for seventy years she had fasted and prayed and who knows how many good prophecies she had declared.  For about seventy years Anna went to church.  If you asked her, “What do you do Anna?” She might say, “I pray.”

“What do you do Anna?” – “I go to church.”

“How many churches you been to?” – “ Just one.”

“Who notices?” – “I just go to church.”

She was destined to hold royal dainty Christ in her hand. This is what Israel had prophesied over the tribe of Asher, Anna’s tribe. To Asher he pronounced the blessing of riches and the yielding of royal dainties (Gen. 49:19). Anna the prophetess was of the tribe of Asher. Her eyes beheld and witnessed to the riches of the Christ child and the royalty of His name (Lk. 2:36-38). These were the “last days” of the tribe of Asher.

What if she had a stomach ache that day? She might think, “Maybe I should stay home today? I am eighty-four and its not so easy to get there anymore you know.”

Maybe she got a revelation when she was sixty-five, “The Messiah is coming to this church.” Maybe she prophesied at sixty-eight, “The Messiah is coming here.”

At the age of seventy others may have asked her, “Anna, what about the word you gave?”

At the age of seventy-five they may have said, “Anna, it must have had a ‘spiritual’ meaning?”

At age eighty the thoughts and words of others may have been, “Anna, you can’t expect too much. You need to expect less.”

At age eighty-three they may have been even a bit more aggressive towards her, “You’ve missed the great opportunities of life, Anna!”

Anna had no idea about the importance of her words that day. She just knew who she was and she was faithful to be herself.

What about the centurion Cornelius? He was the first of the Gentiles to receive Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. He didn’t know who God was, but he was earnestly seeking to know Him. He had a respect for God that revealed a hungry heart to receive the things of God in his lifetime. He was faithful to pray and to give alms to the less fortunate (Acts 10:1-8). When he heard the words of Peter the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household. This was the open door for God’s life to the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-48). The significance of Cornelius and his family was huge to the open door of salvation to the Gentile nations of the world.

In the village of Joppa there was a special lady named Dorcas. She made special clothing for forgotten widows. Her story is a testimony to the need for us all!

Acts 9:36 At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.

No one could tell the widows of Joppa about the love of God like Dorcas. Although heaven was a great destiny for her, there was still need in Joppa for the widows to know how much God loved them. The apostle Peter was less important than Dorcas that day, other then he was needed to raise her from the dead so others would know how much God cared for them. Dorcas made one of a kind articles of clothing for those who perhaps thought they were forgotten.

You don’t really know how significant your life is to others, but who you are affects the lives of more than you know. We must be faithful to be who we are in this world so that God’s glory fills every space and every corner of this earth. Be faithful to be who you are! It is your authority of life for the sake of the world!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Each of us has an important role in life. As believers in Christ, we are members of the body of Christ. We each have a role to play as individuals in life, but we also have a responsibility to others. Who we are affects the lives of others. We must be faithful with what is in our own hands. When we are faithful with what God has given to us, it serves the purpose of others in the body of Christ. When we fail to be responsible with who we are in life, we fail in helping others be who they are meant to be. Each part of the body is meant to contribute to the other members of the body so together we fulfill the purpose of being the body of Christ. Our individual authority in life contributes to the corporate authority of who we are together. The authority of our own lives contributes to the authority of others. Remember, authority is not control. It is the ability to bring life to others. It is the substance of life given to us to bring life to others. Each of us must do our part. There are many members in the body of Christ, but there is only one body. We each carry a responsibility for our corporate destiny in life.

1 Cor. 12:12-20 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.  

We are one body with many members. There is only one of us. We each make a great us, but a lousy someone else. Unity is not everything the same, it is everyone working together for the same purpose. Harmony makes a fuller and more powerful sound than mere melody. When we each find our role in life we contribute life to the roles of others.

Psalms 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing–life forevermore.

It is the anointing upon the whole body that makes the whole body come to unity. It is the diversity of each part working together that produces the fruit of unity. The many sounds of harmony working together reveal the full blessing that is running down upon the body. Unity is seen in diversity working together, not in conformity. Conformity is death by control, while harmony is the fullest expression of life to the whole. The blessing is not merely on the head, but upon the ground where the body stands. It flows through and upon every member to reveal the fullness of the whole.

We need to be the functioning body of Christ. As members of Christ’s body, we were born to live for the hope of Christ’s calling. We were born to reveal Him as a testimony of His inheritance in the earth. We were born to release a power that changes the world behind us. Together we are the substance of the calling, the inheritance, and the power of Christ in the earth! We each have a part in the calling of Christ. Calling is what we are not yet. We must each be willing to embrace what we have not yet become so we can fulfill our role of giving life to others. This means we must be willing to embrace new thinking, new levels of development, new means of training, and increased levels of dependency upon God to be who we need to be for the sake of others. We must be faithful in who we are today. Inheritance is not who we are yet to become, but who we are today. We are the riches of His inheritance and who we are allows others to be who they are for His glory. We must stand in who we are today. Power is the effect of our lives for the sake of others. Power is revealed in the world we leave behind us. Christ’s power at work in our lives changes the world behind us. Others can follow and step into new territories in God because of Christ’s power at work in each of us. We must be responsible with His calling, His inheritance, and His power in life (Eph. 1:17-19). It a testimony of our authority and authority always produces life! If we live in authority we live to embrace the new things that are coming, we stand in faithfulness to who we are today, and we live to transition wealth of who we are to the world behind us.

You are an important part of a resurrected body. It is by the power of resurrection that you are a body member! It’s not just our natural abilities. It is according to the grace given to you by God. Who you are today, affects how the body will be today and tomorrow. We must each know who we are. We must each know what God has placed in our hands for the sake of others.

Romans 12:3-8 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

To not think more highly than we ought to think is to not think beyond the boundaries of whom we are. We are each valuable. We don’t need to try to be someone we are not. We must do what we are good at. It is not necessarily easy, but we are good at it. It is not just a matter of being good at it; it is a matter of bringing life to others in the process. When we are who we were meant to be, others benefit.

Many years ago I went on a quest to discover who I was. In my way of thinking, I needed to know what I was in the hand of God. If God were to build something, what tool am I in His hand? That statement alone gives a little indication of who I am. In my journey of discovering this, I decided to go pray and fast in a secluded place in the mountains for a week. Before I went I told my wife Bonnie what I was going to do. I suggested that she do the same. Her response to me was that she didn’t need to know, but she would be glad to pray for me (that statement gives an indication to who she is). I suggested to her that it was very important that we both had a purpose statement from God. She insisted that she was ok, but that she would pray while I was gone. I went to the mountains expecting to pray and fast for several days before God would answer my question. When I arrived I settled in my sleeping arrangement for the week and then proceeded to take a walk in the mountain to begin my quest of asking God what my purpose was. As quickly as I asked the question God gave me an answer. He said, “You expose the walls of the false and activate the pursuit of truth.” He then began to show me how this had been true throughout my entire life. He showed me how this even worked in natural jobs that I had held in life. One time I was given an inventory job to do in a commercial warehouse. I quickly saw that the company could have been much more efficient in their warehousing if they made some simple adjustments in their warehouse stocking practices. This wasn’t the job, however. The task was to simply take an inventory. Everything in me wanted to expose the false limitations of the system and stir them to seek a better alternative. God talked with me that week in regard to how this had worked in my daily life, my business life, and my ministry life. God then told me that my wife Bonnie was like the keel of a ship. He said that she keeps things upright and on course. He told me that she runs deep. She will never be at the forefront leading things, but she will undergird everything she is part of and help keep it upright and on course. He told me that in rough water or smooth, she is always the same. Then He said to me that I was rough water. I was meant to stir things up.

God continued to show me many things in regard to my purpose and Bonnie’s purpose throughout the week. When I returned home I asked Bonnie if she had prayed. She said that she had. I asked her if God had told her what her purpose was. She simply said, no, I am ok. You see, she being a ‘keel’ didn’t need to know. She proceeded to say that God had showed her my purpose. She then told me a phrase that God had told her that had the same meaning as exposing false walls and activating the pursuit of truth. I told her what God had revealed to me about her. When I shared what God had told me about her, she clearly saw that she was just as God had told me. She is like a keel and I am like rough water.

When we were first married Bonnie would sometimes say that something wasn’t right in a certain area. It could be in a situation or even with some person. I would then say, “What’s not right?” She would say that she didn’t know, but something wasn’t right. I would get upset and tell her that she couldn’t say that unless she knew what wasn’t right. You see, I needed to know what the false wall was and I needed to activate the pursuit of truth. She didn’t need to know that. She simply discerned something wasn’t right. I have now come to know that it is not her job or her gifting to know what isn’t right in a situation. She simply knows when something is not right. It is my task to seek what it is that is not right when she discerns something is wrong. You see, the two of us together make the complete picture of our combined gifting. When she senses I have a word for someone I can trust that God wants me to see something. When she senses something I seek to see what she senses. This is how it works in the Body of Christ.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

When God appoints you to a place of responsibility, He also supplies the anointing needed for that place of responsibility. All authority comes from God; therefore, all God-given responsibility is God’s responsibility. He will anoint each of us to fulfill what He has given us to do. The more we attach to what God has given us, the more focused we become in the task. The more focused we become in the task, the more able we become in walking in an anointing for the task. The anointing doesn’t come from some far away place. The anointing is within each of us.

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

When a leader is not confident in the task of leading it can open a door for other influencing factors to have an effect on his or her leadership. I have found this to be very true in my personal journey of leadership in the church. I never asked to be the senior leader of a ministry. I never saw that as a role of calling in my life. I had served for many years in the church as a worship leader and a worship director. One day I was asked by the leader of the church to come on staff as a youth pastor and as an administrator for the church. I felt God’s calling on me and I knew these were steps to take in my journey of ministry. I was happy to serve in those positions of responsibility, since I saw my role as a service role to the church and to the leader. Through the process of accepting those roles I soon became an associate pastor in the church. This was ok by me, since it was still a role of serving the leader and the church. One day there was a big split in the ministry and the leader felt that he had to leave town to see the ministry survive. I felt that he was to stay and that we would stand together in whatever we had to face in the fallout of the ministry. He insisted that this was the only way that it could be done. He instructed me to move my office into his office after he drove away and I was to command his presence to leave the city. I am not sure that he realized what this would do and I didn’t realize what it would do either.  I insisted that this was not the course of action to take, but as the leader he had the right to decide what his course of action should be for the ministry. After he drove out of town I did as he had instructed me to do. I told no one in the office staff. I moved my office into his office, closed the door, got on my knees and commanded his presence to leave. It was a very tearful and difficult task. When I did this, a spiritual reality of authority happened. The responsibility of leading the remaining 60 wounded and bleeding people came upon me. The responsibility of facing 140+ angry people in the community also came upon me. There were three businesses along with the ministry that also needed to be closed and cleaned up in the mess of the falling debris and the responsibility of these also fell upon my shoulders. There were a lot of financial, spiritual, emotional, and practical responsibilities that came upon me that day. The leader who left had hoped that the leadership team would ask him to come back, but they didn’t. I asked him to return several times in the next few months, but none of the leaders on the team did. I believe that the mantle had shifted and the responsibility was now resting upon my shoulders. For the first month and a half of the process I was plagued daily by thoughts of suicide. I was resisting the mantle of leadership, since I still saw myself as an associate minister and not the leader of what had been given to me to lead. Something had shifted in the spirit and I was still holding on to what had formerly been. I faced the daily responsibilities of ministry decisions, business decisions, conflict resolutions, and even the practical duties of closing the facilities of the ministry and seeking affordable accommodations for what had remained of the ministry. I even had angry individuals in the community come looking for the leader who had left and I met them telling them I was him and asked what it was that I needed to do for them. After they spewed a series of cursing words and violent accusations I would agree to make things right for them. They never knew I wasn’t him and I strategically solved each problem that came my way. I was making needed decisions, but the thoughts of suicide continued to plague me. I had moved to the city many years earlier based upon a personal word from God, but I had never imagined that this is what I would end up being or doing in the community. I didn’t see myself as the leader I needed to be, I saw myself in the responsibilities of a former time. Then I had a dream. In my dream there were two of me. One of me was going to Florida. This person of me said, “I’m going to Florida. I am going to start a ministry.” The other person of me responded by saying, “You can’t go to Florida. You don’t have a ministry. You have been sent, that is why you minister. You weren’t sent to Florida. You were sent to Bellingham.” This same scene repeated several times in the dream throughout the night. When I woke up I knew that I knew I was sent for such a time as was the present time for the city of Bellingham. The moment I accepted that reality the spirit of suicide left. I no longer had thoughts of despair and wanting to escape. My focus became clear and strategies for healing and deliverance began to come with confidence. After a couple more months the leader returned and publicly laid hands upon me to release the responsibility the local congregation to me. It was from that that a new ministry was birthed, Abundant Life. The initial foundation was about 20 people of the previous work of 200. Those 20 were what remained after the shaking of the remaining 60 of the previous ministry. That core of people became the foundation of the ministry that I have since transitioned to my own son. The mantle of responsibility for what is to come now rests upon his shoulders and he too must attach to the responsibilities given to him so that the strategies of heaven come to him with a clear path of authority. A leader has to be confident in the task given to them in order to lead with the anointing given by God that comes from within them and rests upon them. The Holy Spirit will give clear thoughts of direction when a leader accepts the responsibility to lead. Accepting the responsibility opens the effective door of legitimate anointing. It is not a responsibility taken from another; it is the acceptance of all that has been given to them. When a leader accepts this they become focused and miracles from heaven happen. In my own case, I saw financial miracles, healing miracles, strategy miracles, accommodation miracles, and many supernatural testimonies confirming my role of authority. The anointing of leadership came by the anointing of the Holy Spirit within me. It came by me accepting who God was making me become in the journey of authority. Whatever God appoints you to be also releases His anointing for the task given.

Philippians 2:13   …for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson