ted4leaders

Greetings,

If submission is not in our hearts we will pretend to obey God’s words. Sacrifice will try to masquerade as obedience from the heart of the non-submissive. Submission is not an action; it is an aspect of relationship. It is part of a culture of honor and it is an attitude of valuing another. When we don’t value someone, we won’t live in a submissive relationship with them. We may pretend to honor them, but our actions will only be a pretend submission through actions of partial obedience.

1 Samuel 15:10-13 Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gulag.” Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”

Pretend obedience will pretend submission. When we make sacrifices outside of the boundaries of obedience we defend our actions and pretend to obey. Notice that the words of Saul were those that pretended honor to God and demanded honor for himself. His words were those of a man who saw Samuel as less than the Lord and himself as wiser. He didn’t want to admit that the words of Samuel were the words of the Lord. Saul’s confession was that he had fulfilled the commandment of the Lord. Partial obedience is not obedience at all, but a testimony of a disconnection from submission.

When Saul chose sacrifice over obedience, he removed the personal relationship with God from his conversation with leadership. Saul did not confess the Lord his God, but the God of Samuel. His pretended action was one of obedience to God, but the attitude of his heart caused him to become disconnected from relationship. When we are disobedient to authority it is because we don’t believe that authority is the voice of God in our lives. We justify our own way by avoiding the responsibility as our own. The actions of disobedience were not seen as the actions of Saul, but of the people. Rather than accepting the responsibility of his lack of action he blamed the people for their decision. He confessed full obedience, but pointed the finger to others in the areas the appeared to be less than obedient.

1 Samuel 15:14,15 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

Have you ever noticed that when we are disobedient we feel like we are separate from everyone else? That’s not the only thing that does that, but it is one thing that will make us feel like that. When we are disobedient we begin to blame others and we remove the personal responsibility and relationship with God from our conversation.

Saul didn’t seek to submit. He sought power and attention before the people. He was making a procession before the people. He was getting the attention of the people. Had he destroyed everything, he wouldn’t have had anything to make a procession with. Had he been fully obedient it would have been hard to proclaim victory before the people. ‘I did it! I did it! I killed the pigs and the oxen! I killed the women and children!’ It would be hard to go before the people with bloodstained hands and gloat in the victory. It would simply be a humbling experience that he wouldn’t want to talk about. Obedience is dirty sometimes. It is not necessarily something to brag about. Obedience is not necessarily glorious. It can be humbling. You work in the nursery. You change a dirty diaper. ‘I did it! I did it!’ Or maybe subtler like, ‘I didn’t take offense’, ‘I didn’t react to your flaws’, ‘I gave a smile, when I felt like firing a glaring glance’. People may never know that you did what you did, but the overall result will be an atmosphere that says all are glad for your obedience.  Obedience can be that mundane and humbling.

Authority is always received and fulfilled. Anything less or anything more is a grasp for power, but not a submission that brings life to others.
1 Samuel 15:16-18 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? “Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’

We must fulfill what we’ve received in order to have authority. Authority builds upon authority. As we are obedient God increases our authority. The increase of authority is always a result of obedience.  Authority is not our own personal property, but rather the fulfillment of our responsibility and accountability to another.

1 Samuel 15:19 “Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”  

When we have been given authority, we always answer to the source that gave us the authority. Authority is not something that comes from us. It is something that flows through us. All authority comes from God and all authority must be fulfilled with accountability to Him. It is being responsible to Him and responsible to give His substance of life to others. Self-seeking is always self-preserving and will not accept responsibility. Authority is not an independent substance; it is a part of God’s flow of life that transfers life through connections of relationship.

1 Samuel 15:20, 21 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. “But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

You can’t go beyond obedience. Saul added sacrifice and called it obedience. It was a testimony of his own agenda. He decided not to take credit for what seemed small, but he tried to focus on the great things. Did the people spare the sheep and oxen? Yes. Who had the responsibility? Headship had the responsibility of carrying out the task and that headship was in the hands of Saul. Saul’s disobedience caused him to manifest a defensive attitude. Defensiveness is a fruit of self-seeking, self- preservation, self-motivation, or some other manifestation of self. Wisdom from God is willing to yield, but self-seeking wisdom is unwilling to yield. It is earthly, sensual, and even demonically inspired (Jam. 3:13-18). This kind of wisdom can have good intentions or bad, but it is self-focused in its endeavors. Life comes out of authority and only God is the source of life. This is a place of submissive dependence, not independent power.

1 Samuel 15:22, 23 Then Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”

To do what you are told is better than the best sacrifice. Divination will cause you to lose inheritance. Stubbornness will disqualify you from inheritance. The land will spew you out.  Saul wanted power but he failed to see a right understanding of authority through submission.

1 Samuel 15:24, 25 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.  “Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.” 

Saul had not repented here. What would repentance look like in this situation? Repentance would have bore the mark of obedience at last. The blood of Agag and all of the sheep, oxen, etc. would have stained Saul’s body. He should have bore the mark of the shame of having to work through the situation late. God would have forgiven him and granted him a different testimony. His willingness to humble himself and look unpopular would have really been a testimony of his love for God. There would have been no shame in that, only the fruit of peace with God and forgiveness of his sin.

1 Samuel 15:26-29 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

Saul’s attitude was one of grasping for power. When he seized Saul’s robe it was a demonstration of what Saul valued in his heart. He valued himself more than the authority of God in his life. He was grasping for power, grasping for honor, and grasping for the blessing of God. His actions were those of ‘taking’, not one’s of giving. These were defensive actions of rebellion, not submissive actions of love. Saul was not concerned with making things right in his heart towards authority; he wanted to maintain a place of power over those he thought were under him. We are never given authority over others. We are given authority to give life to others that flows through the river of submission in our lives. Our authority is not a matter of power; it is a matter of life.

1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.”

When we seek to merely exercise power we are self-seeking in our motives. Saul was not truly repentant in his heart. He didn’t see that his real issue was insubordination in his heart towards relationships of authority. He confessed being sorry, but he was not sorry for being insubordinate. He was sorry for the potential consequence of his actions. He still wanted to look good before the elders and the people. He confessed a worship of God, but true worship of God is submission to His authority. Obedient acts of love spawned by relational connections to God’s authority worship God in Spirit and Truth. There was not repentance in Saul’s heart, only self-pity for not gaining the blessings of God in spite of his rebellious ways.

1 Samuel 15:31-35 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD. Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Saul despised authority and therefore lost authority. He was more concerned with how he looked than in being obedient. Samuel had to complete the word of the Lord. He had to fulfill the commission of authority. Saul still would not turn from his way. He was more concerned with how he looked than with obeying the word of the Lord. He was seeking to get something from others. Obedience would have been to give himself fully to the will of God.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Authority only exists in what is real. It is based upon who we are, what is ours today, and how we are empowering others through the substance of the authority we possess now. It is not who are yet to become and or what we are yet to hold. It is standing in our responsibility today. Authority is found in reality and it involves heeding the voice of the Lord today. God sees what we cannot and obedience to Him requires a submission in our hearts. When we know who He is, we trust what He says. When we trust what He says, we can do what He requires. It is a matter of a right relationship with God and with authority.

There is a wonderful story revealing the truth of authority in the book of 1 Samuel. Saul had been chosen king and God was giving him a task of responsibility within his sphere as king of Israel. The prophet Samuel brought the word of the Lord pertaining to the present authority for Saul:

1 Samuel 15:1-3 Samuel also said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish what Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way when he came up from Egypt. ‘Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

Human compassion, reasoning, and rationalization could interfere on this one. How many of us would argue with this order? A problem with authority could manifest here. Fulfilling the task being given to Saul would not make him popular among the people. It wasn’t glorious. It was gruesome. It held difficult decisions. It would challenge human reasoning and compassion. There would be no bragging rights to its success.

Today’s obedience is not necessarily glorious. Authority doesn’t necessarily get great attention. Power seeks a show, but authority simply does the job at hand. Human reasoning will give us power, but only obedience gives authority.

1 Samuel 15:4-6  So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

So far the obedience of Saul looked good. His decisions were life giving and he showed compassion where he should. This is often the case in fulfilling authority. We start out with obedience and we even exercise its implementation with wisdom and life. It is not until the task seems unreasonable that we challenge its fulfillment. As long as our reasoning matches the reasoning of God we are ok. It is only when God’s reasoning collides with ours that we fail in the task. This is why submission is the key to obedience. Submission is not about tasks, it is about relationships. Relationships are about love, trust, and life. Authority is a life-giving substance, but unless we understand the reality of true submission we will make our own judgments in fulfilling its tasks.

1 Samuel 15:7-9   And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Who decided what was good and what wasn’t? Man did, didn’t he? God had already judged it all as being worthless. The reasoning for such a decision by Saul could have looked like this: “Obviously leadership hasn’t seen the full potential that’s here. Obviously leadership is missing giftings and potentials, which should be appreciated here. This isn’t logical. This isn’t fair. Leadership is rejecting what is truly valuable. It’s obvious that God and Samuel just don’t understand. They just don’t have all of the facts concerning the Amalekites. After looking at the situation, after assessing and surveying it, I’ve found that some of the things here are good. It’s not all useless. There’s some good stuff here. If leadership knew what I know, and could see what I can see, they would agree. My decisions to spare what I know is good is better than what leadership sees.”

Saul wasn’t being wicked. He was being reasonable. He was operating in the full manifestation of the gift of reasoning and human empathy. God is reasonable too, but when we are compared to God He can be totally unreasonable to us. Human reasoning will give us power, but only obedience will give us authority. True obedience comes from submission, but Saul’s heart was independent. He was not submissive to the will of God. He desired power more than he desired authority. He wanted blessing more than he wanted to be a blessing.

How many times have we done things in our lives where we have determined that?  How many times have we been told to do something, but we applied our own reasoning to its completion?  ‘My husband doesn’t really understand the whole picture,’ or ‘my pastor doesn’t understand the whole picture, the home group leader doesn’t really understand everything that’s going on here. It obvious to me that there is good to be preserved here. If leadership knew what I know and could see what I see, they would agree!’

This rationalization is human reasoning and not the wisdom of God. There is too much pain in simple obedience, so we look for alternative possibilities. There is not enough glory in obedience, so we look for something more glorious. There is nothing in it for us if we obey, so we look for personal blessings. The real issue is submission. When we choose human reasoning over what God’s authority has said, it is because we don’t trust the source of authority.

Which is more work, sacrifice or obedience? Which requires a decision from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? This is good, this isn’t. Save this one, destroy that one. What God calls good, we often call bad; and what we call bad, God often calls good.

When we make decisions that are outside of the boundaries of God’s word, our decisions will produce death. They could be decisions that do less action than God requires or they could be decisions that do more actions than God requires. In either case those decisions are ones of sacrifice and not obedience. True authority comes from submission and a submissive heart will always exhibit obedient actions.

Food For Thought.

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Submission to God is not submission to a religious order, the traditions of men, or strongholds of the mind. It is submission to God’s order. It is submission to God, therefore, it is submission to every expression of God. This involves submission to other people, not some form of law. It comes from a right relationship with God. Without submission there is no Authority. How did Jesus show His submission? Jesus submitted to Authority. He did only what He saw His Father doing.

Jesus didn’t do away with the Law. He fulfilled it. How did He fulfill the Law? Did He fulfill it by submitting to the Law? Or did He do it through relationship with the One that was reflected by the Law? Even Jesus had to be revealed by the authority of a man named John.

Luke 3:3-6 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” 

Luke 3:16-18 John answered, saying to them all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.

Authority is on the King’s highway. Wherever the King is there is submission, because wherever the King is there is authority. It is in the presence of the King that low places are raised up, high places are made low, crooked places are made straight, and rough places are made smooth. It is a matter of submission. It is a matter of authority. Everything is under the King. Everything is under authority and that authority changes everything to manifest the presence of the King. The presence of the King is the presence of authority in all things. It is the presence of the King’s life that brings life to the world.

In order to have the authority of the King we must submit to the places of the manifestation of His authority. Authority doesn’t belong to human flesh. It belongs to t he King. To whom must we submit? There are many examples of submission in the Scripture. That submission is not a thing of control. It is a relationship with life. God has given us gifts and He has given each of us as gifts to one another. One gift that God has given is that of leaders. Leaders are not controllers; they are simply God-graced people to lead. They work with us in the direction of God in our lives. Paul says this about leaders:

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love. I urge you, brethren–you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints–that you also submit to such, and to everyone who works and labors with us. I am glad about the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for what was lacking on your part they supplied. For they refreshed my spirit and yours; therefore acknowledge such men.

We are to submit to those who have accepted the responsibility of leading among us. These are not self-appointed leaders, but God ordained gifts of leadership given to us in the Church. Those who lead must submit to God in receiving the delegation of leading in His Church. They must also submit to others with who they are in relationship with in their responsibility of leading. They must submit to giving life to those they lead. As members of the Body of Christ we must all submit to those who have been given the authority to lead in our lives. We are all part of the Body and God brings direction through the voice of His Holy Spirit within us, but that directed voice is also activated by God-given gifts of leadership.

The writer of the book of Hebrews says this about leaders:

Hebrews 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

As I have looked at these words in the Greek text I have come to my own wording of this verse. Leaders are not those who control your life. They are those who help you in the direction that God is leading. You must rely upon those who lead and induce you toward life, surrender yourself to them, for they are required to be awake concerning your souls, and they must give an account in thought and word for you. They will help keep you from falling into deception and will be alert to the life that God has for you. Let them do this with cheerfulness and joy and do not make them sigh and murmur because of you. Don’t put them in straits, for if they are forced to live in a tight and narrow place because of you it will only be unprofitable for you and prove to cut your purpose short. Leaders are given to those they lead. We do not serve leaders as lords. We submit to leaders because they serve us by leading. We come under the authority of leadership in order to have authority in our own lives for those we influence. Leaders are not a substitute for the voice of the Holy Spirit in the human heart. They merely serve to help us be stable and taught in our hearing of God’s voice.

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood subjects is that of the submission of a wife to her husband.

Ephesians 5:22-23 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.

The wife’s submission to her own husband is not a submission of women to men. It is a submission of a wife to her husband. That submission is not because her husband controls her. It is not a submission where the husband receives what he deserves. It is a submission where the wife can receive what the husband is giving. She is to receive his love, his life giving words, and she is to come alongside of him in everything. Together they are both being led by the voice of the Holy Spirit within their hearts. They are joint heirs in fulfilling the purpose of God in their lives.

Ephesians 5:22-24

1. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
2. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
3. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Ephesians 5:25-27

1. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
2. that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
3. that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or  wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

The Greek word for “present” in Ephesians 5:27 is the GSRN 3936. paristemi, par-is´-tay-mee, and it means, “to stand beside, i.e. (transitively) to exhibit, proffer, (specially), recommend, (figuratively) substantiate; or (intransitively) to be at hand (or ready), aid”. The submission of the wife to the Husband is a relational connection for God’s purposes in their lives. The husband has the responsibility of leading, but he does not have a responsibly of lording.

Even our relationship with God is one of submission. We are to receive Him in His authority in our lives.

James 4:1-8 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Notice that the defeat of the devil is found within the sandwich of submission to God. When we submit to God we resist the devil. It is a matter of drawing near to God and receiving His life-giving authority. Submission to God is the key to authority! It is a matter of relationship, not one of mere obedience to structure. It is intimacy with the life source.

Believers in the Church are to submit to their elders.

1 Peter 5:1-11 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Consider your relational connections of submission. Authority comes from submission to authority and authority is the substance of life. It is not a taking from others, but a giving of life and the function of life in all things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Authority comes from Submission. Authority inhabits a body and therefore, there must be an abiding in the body in order to have authority. Authority is very relational. If we don’t learn submission we won’t have authority. All authority is connected to people. Authority in Christ is connected to other members of the Body of Christ. If I want to point my index finger in a certain direction, there are many members in my body that are involved. I make the decision to point in my mind. I focus the direction of my pointing with my eye. From my mind to the tip of my finger there are many connected members. This includes many unseen sensory members in the cellular make up of my arm. Even my elbow has to be involved in the pointing of my finger, but if my elbow should decide to point in the process of the signal being sent to my finger the results will be disastrous. My elbow will throw my finger in a ridiculous direction and the result will be a body lacking control of direction. The end result will be a potentially embarrassing movement, but there will be no signal of pointing in a clear direction. This is how it works in the life flow of authority. There is a process of submission that must be connected in the very task of pointing.

Freedom comes from submission. Without submission there is no freedom. Without delegation there is no authority. Authority is delegated power. Power without delegation is merely a force of destruction or a force of distraction. Authority is always received and fulfilled.  Authority isn’t chosen. It is always received from a source of authority and fulfilled as a source of life-giving authority to others. It is connected to the purpose and direction of others.

Jesus had to walk a life of submission to the Father’s will and in submission in His service of mankind in order to establish the authority of heaven in the earthly seed of man. His relational passion and endurance in life granted Him the authority of heaven and earth. Jesus didn’t grasp for that authority, it was given to Him. He had to stand in the place of relationship to receive that authority as a man.

Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Daniel 7:13, 14 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

Authority isn’t based upon who you say you are, but upon receiving and fulfilling who you are meant to be in God’s purpose and manifestation of life. Jesus lived His life under the authority of His heavenly Father. This was the source of the power of life to the world. He didn’t act on His own. He walked as a man under the authority of heaven.

Matthew 21:23-31 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  “The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ “He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. “Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.  “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.”

Jesus revealed that the source of His authority was the authority He was under. The religious leaders of His day were not under the authority of God, but sought to control the lives of others through a grasping for power. They sought to take control, but Jesus stood in authority. You can only have what you receive. True authority is the ability to be and to do the will of God. You can only fulfill what you are. You can only give what you have. You can only have what you have received. It is dependant upon your relationship with God and your relationship with others in life.

Authority is found in the place of being awake to God. It found in the place of being awake to authority. It is a place of being under authority. It is a place of watching someone else. It is found in the place of watching the authority of God in the earth. Watching is being who you are now! Watching involves doing what you are supposed to be doing today. You must fulfill who you are today or you will not be able to do so tomorrow. Your authority tomorrow is not better than your authority today. Both are dependant upon your being awake to God and awake to others. You can only do that through relationship with those in authority. Jesus fulfilled who He was on the earth so that we might fulfill who we are. It was with authority that Jesus manifested who He was.

Mt. 7:29  …for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Jn. 12:49 “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.“

There is no authority where authority has not been given. Are you watching? How are you standing in the authority of today? It is connected to God and to other members of His kingdom. We can only bring life to the world through the authority of life we carry.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

What was the purpose of Jesus? Did the devil legally own the kingdoms of the world?  Who had the birthright? The devil had the birthright. Jesus came to take it back. Jesus came to take back all of the kingdoms of the earth. He knew that the devil had the deed, and He came to take it back.  However, Jesus didn’t come to take it through a grasping for power. He came to take it thought the power of legitimate authority. The devil came pretending that he was the voice of God. Destiny for Jesus at the time was to conquer the devil.  We are more than conquerors.  Jesus gave us the deed and the devil wants to take it back again. Don’t let him do it!

Jesus was secure in His purpose because He knew that the glory of the natural seed had to be fulfilled first.  Was it destiny for the kingdoms of the world to be given to Jesus? It was destiny, but it wasn’t time yet.  Authority is not who you are called to be, or what you are called to do. Authority is who you are today and destiny is who you will be tomorrow. If we are not faithful in who we are we can thwart God’s plans for who we are destined to become. The devil will always try to get you to grab tomorrow’s piece today.  The end does not justify the means to the end. If you compromise, you will destroy the end.  Many are called, but few are chosen.  The devil came as the voice of God. Jesus knew that authority was not about what He could get or do in life. It was about bringing life to others. Jesus had to find His family before He could take the deed of the kingdoms of men from the hand of the devil. He was looking for His brothers, sisters, and mothers. He was a sole Son looking for the family of God. He came to find those who would be the will of the Father.  He came to reconcile the world to the Father.

We have a birthright as a son of man and as a son of God. We must be both in order to enter the Kingdom of God. We cannot neglect either. We are not just spirit and we are not just natural. We are spiritual.

Luke was a physician and a son of God. Matthew was a tax collector and a son of God. What are you? As a young man I had to learn the chastisement of my heavenly Father in the natural world of life. When I was in the military I thought that being spiritual was seeking only the things of the Spirit. I had enlisted in the military on a delayed enlistment plan, but had met the Lord in the process of waiting for my entrance into basic training. My conversion was quite radical and my whole focus was one of seeking God, telling others about Him, and serving Him in any way that I could. The military had placed me in an electronics career field, although I sought to be reassigned to become a chaplain’s assistant. I didn’t apply myself very well to my electronics training and sought to pass each test with prayer and seeking God. I would have been much better off applying myself to my electronic studies and simply prayed as I studied. Looking back I can see all kinds of errors in my application in life because of a religious mindset.

Many believers tend to think of church activities as being spiritual, while seeing their daily jobs as something less. We must all understand that everything we do in life has a spiritual reality to it. We must be both natural and of the Spirit. This is what makes us ‘spiritual’ and there is a birthright for both of these aspects in life. There is a training involved for both of these birthrights. Training could include typing, schoolwork, learning technical skills, study, prayer, learning the word, standing in faith, living with mercy, and exhibiting grace. If using a computer would sharpen your job skills, you had better take a computer course. Read a book!  If you are a public speaker then you need to learn some communication skills. If you work with people you need to walk out a process whereby you experience fewer complaints to no complaints from those you work with. Our training process includes learning to pray in the spirit. When we have children we have to learn how to be a parent. Life includes the elements of learning to be a father, a mother, or a friend. If you hold a practical job of painting houses, you need to learn to paint without any drips. We must seek to be the best employees or the best employers we can be. We must learn to pay your bills on time, or to make wise decisions in crisis situations. Life involves learning to be both a Martha and a Mary. We must learn to do the practical things of life and to apply ourselves fully to knowing the presence of God in all things.

Flesh is not bad; it’s the works of the flesh that are bad. Being in the flesh keeps you in your chair and allows you to drive your car. It makes you human. God wants the sons of men to walk with a divine authority. He wants us to be anointed mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, servants, and ambassadors of Christ.

There is a double portion. We are of the firstborn in Christ.  In Christ we’ve become the original mankind. We are both spirit and natural. We are the son of man and the son of God. The Spirit of God is in us and the Spirit of God is upon us. Our goal is not to get to heaven, but to get heaven to earth. The fullness of LIFE on earth! Eternity is now and forever!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Authority is a process. Within that process there is a birthright, training, and a testimony of becoming the substance of a specific measure of authority. Authority doesn’t come merely from birthright. There must be a receiving of that birthright and then a training process to become what that birthright proclaims one to be. Authority requires an appointment from God and that appointment comes in the timing of God. There is an age of authority. It is not a set age in the natural, but it is a moment of appointment for authority. Authority requires a time of appointment. There is an anointing in authority, but that anointing is only proven to be legitimate when there is a God-ordained appointment for that anointing to function. I believe that authority is a measure of inheritance from God. That inheritance is given to bring life to the world. When Jesus was thirty years old He received the first measure of His authority for His heavenly inheritance as Lord and Christ.

Matthew 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus proved that His inheritance was not just natural, but also Spirit. After He received His appointment of authority the Spirit led Him into the wilderness. It was there that He manifested the full authority to defeat the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride life for mankind. He defeated the power of the devil by walking in the authority of the Spirit. He opened the door of the Kingdom of God for the spirits, the souls, and the bodies of all humanity. Jesus could only defeat the devil because of birthright and years of training. He re-established the truth that man lives, moves, and has their being in God. He was a living testimony of a man who loved God with all His heart (spirit), soul, and life (body). He was a walking demonstration of authority that comes by faith. As a man, Jesus lived by faith, walked by faith, and His full being in God by faith. He could walk in the kingdom business of His heavenly Father, because He had become a testimony of a manifested Son. Let’s look at His first temptation.

Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

I don’t believe that Jesus was quoting Scripture to the devil. He wasn’t quoting Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy was quoting Him. Jesus said that the Scriptures were a testimony of Him (Jn. 5:39). The Old Covenant was a shadow of that which was to come (Heb. 10:1); it was not a testimony to be copied to bring to pass that, which was to come. Jesus was a living testimony that the word was written in His heart and in His mind. The devil thought He was quoting a book, but Jesus was simply confessing the testimony that was within Him that gave Him discernment as to the voice of God. He knew that the voice promising bread was not the voice of His heavenly Father. The devil probably didn’t announce who he was. He is a deceiver and his voice was no doubt a deceiving voice of temptation to Jesus. Jesus discerned that the Spirit of the words spoken were not the substance of His Father’s voice. Jesus was walking in His God-given authority as the Son of Man.

Jesus had come through the process of training to become that He was in the authority of life. He had the sound of God in His character, nature, way, power, and authority. The sound of God had come into Jesus’ name through a process of training. It wasn’t just an anointing given to Him at the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of John.

What was the process that brought to Jesus this place of authority? Was Jesus ever chastised?  We tend to think of chastisement as a punishment for being wrong. We do this because we filter things through a paradigm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Chastisement is not a punishment; it is a part of our training process in life.  Jesus leaned things like patience, endurance, long suffering, mercy, and grace. All of those things are testimonies made manifest through chastising events.  The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. In the flesh He was chastised because of the sin of man. In the Spirit He was chastised by the Father of Spirits that He would have life. Chastisement is an expression of love. It is in the disciplines of life that we manifest for who we really are. It is pressure that reveals a diamond and irritation that reveals a pearl.

Hebrews 12:3-14 for consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord…

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

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Authority is not merely based upon the tasks we do in life. It is based upon who we are. Who we are determines the authority for the tasks we do in life. Being faithful in the tasks we do have more to do with the substance of our authority as sons and daughters of God, then it does with the tasks themselves. It is part of the process of training and of receiving the substance of God’s name.

Authority begins with a birthright and then progresses through a process of training to the times of appointment in our lives. It is not training that qualifies us for authority. It is the process of authority that demands the necessary ingredients of training. Training can give us a skill, but skill alone doesn’t qualify us for authority. It is the sound of God in our name that qualifies us for an appointment that warrants a legitimate anointing for authority. Something of the substance of God has to be a part of who we are in order for us to exhibit the authority of God. This is all a process, and as I have stated, within the process of authority there are years of training. We must be faithful to who we are in every step of the journey. Some things that seem to be practical are really the spiritual ingredients to the authority of our lives.

Many years ago I worked as an operations technician for an oil company. During that time God was calling me into ministry, yet I was also excelling in my secular job. I was advancing in my secular training for the company and being promoted in the workplace faster than my peers. I had a lot of favor in the company. God had also broken my heart to pursue Him and His call upon my life. The favor of God was on me for things of the Spirit. I was seeing many supernatural experiences as well as daily encounters with God and spiritual revelations. I was in the midst of training that was both natural and of the Spirit. I was writing many songs and ministering in various places on my time away from work.

Part of my daily job was to work the computer with lots of time just watching the computer screens. During one night shift I decided to print some of my latest spiritual songs on the printer. When I hit the print button, nothing printed. I tried printing several times, but nothing happened. Following that work shift I was off for a couple of days. When I returned to work I logged into my work computer and saw an email entitled, “Separation of Church, State, and ARCO”. The letter read something like this: “Dear Mr. Hanson; I am sure the refinery wide evangelism was not your goal, but you’re your recent compositions were received by all of the managers. Please refrain from such activity in the future…” My work foreman called me in for a conversation as well. His advice to me was to not use the company computer for personal business in the future. I had made a mistake. I was on company time doing ‘spiritual’ things. It was a big blow to my favor at work. I was about to discover that the authority of my life for my spiritual destiny was directly connected to my diligence in the practical things of my present work responsibilities. Wherever we are that is where we need to be. Tomorrow’s authority is not today’s, but how we live in the present moment is an essential ingredient to our authority tomorrow.

I asked God for His forgiveness in my error and I began to pray that He would give me my favor back in the workplace. I was walking through an area of my outdoor technician responsibly and the Holy Spirit spoke to me about a practical innovation that would save the company a lot of money. He told me what to do, how to design it, and how it would work. I spent several days drawing up the plans and presenting my idea to the management of the company. To make a long story short, the idea proved to be a good one and they implemented my suggestion. It saved the company money and I got my favor back. I got to make a short speech to the managers as to my suggestion and I even received a small financial bonus. I took my bonus money and bought a word processor so I could print my songs at home and not at work. It was a good lesson for me in being faithful to every task of life in the process of authority. I had to work hard in the natural to be qualified in my spiritual destiny. My favor didn’t just magically return to me, I had to apply myself fully to my present job. Where you are is where you have to be. You must be faithful to every step of responsibility in your life in the process of authority.

Jesus established His birthright but was immediately submissive to additional natural training and further spiritual training. Being misunderstood is part of the training process. Jesus, with a right heart, probably built a chair or two that was misunderstood. Joseph might have said: ‘Jesus, run that chair down to Eleazor’s house. He’s been waiting for it.’  Upon delivering the chair, Eleazor might have said; ‘I can’t believe this. This is a lousy chair.’  How would Jesus react? They said it was a lousy chair.  What do you do when you are mistreated and accused of wrong doing over a chair?

Jesus learned and received training from His natural father and His spiritual Father. He was likely wrongly disciplined and misunderstood. He learned obedience to His heavenly Father in the practical things of life.

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

At the age of 12 Jesus laid hold of His birthright. At the age of 30 He laid hold of His inheritance.  Age 30 is an age where the Jewish man could hold a place of eldership. They could enter into a living inheritance of the family business. At age 30 Jesus didn’t ask his natural father, Joseph, for a piece of the carpenter business. He asked His heavenly Father for a piece of the family business of the nations. The baptism of John revealed that Jesus was ready to receive the appointment for the anointing of the family business. His heavenly father announced His favor upon His Son and Jesus commenced to defeat the devil’s stronghold upon God’s people and Jesus began to heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, multiply bread, and many supernatural miracles of life. He went about destroying the works of the devil by manifesting the works of His Father in heaven.

Unless we are born of the water and the Spirit we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. We cannot deny the glory of each seed. Our natural seed has a glory that must be seen. It is directly connected to our spiritual destiny. We must be who we are today or we will never be who are meant to be tomorrow. We must embrace the YEARS of training. God did not intend for us to reject the glory of one for the glory of the other, but rather to fulfill the glory of each. Like the plant that is first a seed, then a sprout, then a stalk with the head that develops to supply food for others; we must embrace the process of authority in our lives. Today is not worse than tomorrow, and tomorrow is not better than today.

When Jesus was a baby the old man Simeon prophesied over him. Simeon prophesied over Jesus, not Jesus over Simeon.

Luke 2:25-35 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; 30 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.” And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

The King of kings fit in an old man’s hands. God was willing to place destiny in the fragile hands of an old man. Simeon was fulfilling destiny. Jesus was fulfilling destiny as well. The hands of blessing were the hands of lesser gifting. The hands of blessing were the hands of lesser ability. The hands of lesser gifting and lesser ability were the hands of authority essential for the process of the authority in Jesus’ life.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

When Jesus was twelve years old His parents, Joseph and Mary, took Him to the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem. When they had finished the days of celebration, Jesus remained in the temple, while Joseph and Mary began their return trip home.

Luke 2:41-49 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you sought Me? Did you not know hat I must be about My Father’s business?”

At the age of twelve Jesus was found in His Father’s house, the temple, because in Him was a burning desire to bring His Father’s life to His Father’s house (Lk. 2:41-49). He had a longing for the destiny within Him, but He was not at the age of inheritance. God was calling Jesus out of His own country that He might be found among His own people. Who were His relatives? Jesus said later in His ministry that His family were those who do the will of His Father (Mt. 12:50). Something inside the heart of the twelve-year-old Jesus was looking for those who did the will of His Father. He was looking for His true country. What was the perception of those in authority in Jesus’ life? What did this look like to his natural parents, Joseph and Mary?

Luke 2:50-52 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

This is how you confirm you have authority: While your sitting in the synagogue, and destiny is burning in your heart, you know that this it’s your Father’s house, but you willingly choose to submit to the natural authorities of today.  No one seems to be catching it, but the proof that you are catching it is that you remain submissive in the natural. To be in authority, you must continually walk away from that which is going to be, and step fully into that which is. You must remain under authority. Jesus continued to receive training from those who were confused. It took them three days to find Him, though it was a two-day journey. They couldn’t figure out why Jesus would be in the synagogue, though the word of God had been given to both Mary and Joseph at His birth that He would be the savior of His people. The confusion of Joseph and Mary didn’t change who they were in Jesus life. They were the voice and expressions of authority. Jesus wasn’t thirty years old. He was twelve. He had to be faithful in the authority of a twelve year old in order be prepared for the day of the inheritance of a thirty year old. There is an age of inheritance and an age of changing authority. It is not necessarily a hard-set time in your life, but it is according to the timing of God and it includes a process of training.

Jesus began to establish His birthright as a twelve-year-old man. He let tomorrow’s destiny wait for tomorrow. He went back home and faced the reality of today! He wasn’t found among the relatives of the flesh. He was found seeking His relatives of the Spirit, but He let tomorrow’s destiny wait for tomorrow. He went back home and faced the reality of today! Like Abram, His call was to get out of His country. Abram had to get His Father’s sound in his name before he could receive the inheritance.  Abram walked for thirty years before he birthed Isaac. Jesus walked for 30 years before He became Jesus, son of David. Each went through years of TRAINING!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

I have been addressing the first stage of authority. Authority begins with a birthright. We were all born with destiny in our very beings. We were born to exercise the authority of God in this life. That authority is the substance of life given to us to influence others with life.

The starting point of authority is birthright. We are who we are. There are certain things that are formed in us from our natural birth. Some of us have had to learn to give, while others have a birthright to give. Some of us have had to learn to serve, while others have a birthright to serve. Some of us have had to lean mercy, while others have a birthright of mercy. We all have motivation gifts given to us by our heavenly Father that determine how we see and do things in life (Rom. 12:6-8). The motivational giftings of our lives are not enough to reveal God’s authority in our lives. The motivations of our lives also require the spiritual realities of the ministry of Christ in our lives. They also require the anointing of the Holy Spirit that compliment and advance the purposes of who we were meant to be. We need the power of the Spirit, the ministry of Christ, and the works of the Father in order to reveal the glory of God’s authority in our lives. These things begin with birthright.

The second step toward authority is training. The training process in our lives is also natural and spirit. You cannot separate the two; they are divinely joined in our lives. The training of Jesus was both earthly and heavenly. Jesus grew in the process of authority.

Luke 2:40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

When Jesus was twelve years old His parents, Joseph and Mary, took Him to the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem. When they had finished the days of celebration, Jesus remained in the temple, while Joseph and Mary began their return trip home.

Luke 2:41-49 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Age twelve was the age of manhood. Jesus was found in His Father’s house, the temple, because in Him was a burning desire to bring His Father’s life to His Father’s house. He had a longing for the destiny within Him, but He was not at the age of inheritance. He was merely at the age of manhood. This was not the age of maturity and eldership. It wasn’t the age of inheritance.  Jesus was being identified as a man. He was a spirit-natural man. He was both a man of natural flesh, but also a son of His heavenly Father in the Spirit. His journey as a man had caused Him to become strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.  For certain there was a sense of destiny within Him. I don’t know that He fully knew who He was. For sure He had a strong sense of who He was. Although the passion of His heart was to be who He was destined to be, He had to go through the training process that was both natural and of the Spirit. He had to both a natural man and a man of the Spirit.

Let me share a story from my own destiny into ministry. I came to Christ as a young man and I was fully involved in a strong relationship with God and a strong connection in the church. I felt that I had a role of influencing the earth with the kingdom of God, but my sense was that it was in the area of business. I pursued the construction trade and even became a general contractor with a business of my own. As the years progressed I found that God spoke to me many times in very practical ways. He would tell me how to bid jobs. He would tell me how to run crews. He would even give me instructions in the practical skills of construction. I heard Him quite clearly, but something in me was calling out for more. God told me many practical things, but I never received what I considered to be any revelation in the Spirit. One day I was heading up a crew on a construction site and I expressed my frustration to God. I sat down at lunch and I said to God, “Why don’t you ever give me any revelation?” God then told me to go get my Bible. I sat and opened my Bible and God told me to look up the beatitudes. I turned to the book of Matthew and as I began to read, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” God stopped me and told me to look at that same verse in the book of Luke. As I looked at the account of Luke I found it to say, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” God stopped me again and said, “Which is it?” “Is it poor in spirit or poor?” I didn’t know what to say. Then God instructed me to look of the story of the Centurion in the book of Matthew. As I read the story I saw that the Centurion went to Jesus to request healing for his servant. God told me to read the same story in the book of Luke. As I read the story in Luke, I found that the Centurion never talked to Jesus. Luke wrote that the Centurion sent elders and servants to Jesus on behalf of his sick servant. God then proposed a question to me. He said, “Who’s telling the truth?” I didn’t know what to think. Then God proceeded to say to me. “Matthew was a government man. He was a tax collector. He wasn’t a government man because he was a tax collector. He became a tax collector because he thought like a government man. I made him to be who he was. He would never tell you that the poor are blessed, if in fact the poor in spirit were blessed. He would understand the root of the matter. He would never tell you that he had come to collect taxes, but rather the government was there to get your taxes. Matthew would not bother to mention elders and servants, because they came in the name of the Centurion. In his mind, the Centurion came.” God then talked to me about Luke. He said, “Luke was a people person. He wasn’t a people person because he was a physician; he became a physician because he was a people person. I made him that way. He would not tell you that the poor in spirit are blessed if poor people were also blessed. He would never tell you that the Centurion had come if there were elders and servants involved as well. Luke would mention the people involved because his heart was for people.” Then God said to me, “Now, you’re a builder. Now build!”

One of my greatest strengths in ministry is ‘revelation’, but my anointing for revelation is the same as it was for construction. I am a builder. I am no longer building structures of wood, stone, iron, or some natural material for material dwellings. I am a builder in the body of Christ. My process of authority included learning how to run a construction crew, bid a construction job, be successful in construction areas, be a failure in construction areas, hear God for practical instructions in construction so that I could be a builder in the spiritual realities of the church. The two were not different. They came from whom I am. I am a builder. I think like a builder.

Who you are today is not disconnected from who you will be tomorrow. What you do doesn’t determine who you are, but who you are will determine what you do in life.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

I have been addressing the first stage of authority. Authority begins with a birthright. We were all born with destiny in our very beings. We were born to exercise the authority of God in this life. That authority is the substance of life given to us to influence others with life.

The starting point of authority is birthright. We are who we are. There are certain things that are formed in us from our natural birth. Some of us have had to learn to give, while others have a birthright to give. Some of us have had to learn to serve, while others have a birthright to serve. Some of us have had to lean mercy, while others have a birthright of mercy. We all have motivation gifts given to us by our heavenly Father that determine how we see and do things in life (Rom. 12:6-8). The motivational giftings of our lives are not enough to reveal God’s authority in our lives. The motivations of our lives also require the spiritual realities of the ministry of Christ in our lives. They also require the anointing of the Holy Spirit that compliment and advance the purposes of who we were meant to be. We need the power of the Spirit, the ministry of Christ, and the works of the Father in order to reveal the glory of God’s authority in our lives. These things begin with birthright.

The second step toward authority is training. The training process in our lives is also natural and spirit. You cannot separate the two; they are divinely joined in our lives. The training of Jesus was both earthly and heavenly. Jesus grew in the process of authority.

Luke 2:40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

When Jesus was twelve years old His parents, Joseph and Mary, took Him to the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem. When they had finished the days of celebration, Jesus remained in the temple, while Joseph and Mary began their return trip home.

Luke 2:41-49 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Age twelve was the age of manhood. Jesus was found in His Father’s house, the temple, because in Him was a burning desire to bring His Father’s life to His Father’s house. He had a longing for the destiny within Him, but He was not at the age of inheritance. He was merely at the age of manhood. This was not the age of maturity and eldership. It wasn’t the age of inheritance.  Jesus was being identified as a man. He was a spirit-natural man. He was both a man of natural flesh, but also a son of His heavenly Father in the Spirit. His journey as a man had caused Him to become strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.  For certain there was a sense of destiny within Him. I don’t know that He fully knew who He was. For sure He had a strong sense of who He was. Although the passion of His heart was to be who He was destined to be, He had to go through the training process that was both natural and of the Spirit. He had to both a natural man and a man of the Spirit.

Let me share a story from my own destiny into ministry. I came to Christ as a young man and I was fully involved in a strong relationship with God and a strong connection in the church. I felt that I had a role of influencing the earth with the kingdom of God, but my sense was that it was in the area of business. I pursued the construction trade and even became a general contractor with a business of my own. As the years progressed I found that God spoke to me many times in very practical ways. He would tell me how to bid jobs. He would tell me how to run crews. He would even give me instructions in the practical skills of construction. I heard Him quite clearly, but something in me was calling out for more. God told me many practical things, but I never received what I considered to be any revelation in the Spirit. One day I was heading up a crew on a construction site and I expressed my frustration to God. I sat down at lunch and I said to God, “Why don’t you ever give me any revelation?” God then told me to go get my Bible. I sat and opened my Bible and God told me to look up the beatitudes. I turned to the book of Matthew and as I began to read, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” God stopped me and told me to look at that same verse in the book of Luke. As I looked at the account of Luke I found it to say, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” God stopped me again and said, “Which is it?” “Is it poor in spirit or poor?” I didn’t know what to say. Then God instructed me to look of the story of the Centurion in the book of Matthew. As I read the story I saw that the Centurion went to Jesus to request healing for his servant. God told me to read the same story in the book of Luke. As I read the story in Luke, I found that the Centurion never talked to Jesus. Luke wrote that the Centurion sent elders and servants to Jesus on behalf of his sick servant. God then proposed a question to me. He said, “Who’s telling the truth?” I didn’t know what to think. Then God proceeded to say to me. “Matthew was a government man. He was a tax collector. He wasn’t a government man because he was a tax collector. He became a tax collector because he thought like a government man. I made him to be who he was. He would never tell you that the poor are blessed, if in fact the poor in spirit were blessed. He would understand the root of the matter. He would never tell you that he had come to collect taxes, but rather the government was there to get your taxes. Matthew would not bother to mention elders and servants, because they came in the name of the Centurion. In his mind, the Centurion came.” God then talked to me about Luke. He said, “Luke was a people person. He wasn’t a people person because he was a physician; he became a physician because he was a people person. I made him that way. He would not tell you that the poor in spirit are blessed if poor people were also blessed. He would never tell you that the Centurion had come if there were elders and servants involved as well. Luke would mention the people involved because his heart was for people.” Then God said to me, “Now, you’re a builder. Now build!”

One of my greatest strengths in ministry is ‘revelation’, but my anointing for revelation is the same as it was for construction. I am a builder. I am no longer building structures of wood, stone, iron, or some natural material for material dwellings. I am a builder in the body of Christ. My process of authority included learning how to run a construction crew, bid a construction job, be successful in construction areas, be a failure in construction areas, hear God for practical instructions in construction so that I could be a builder in the spiritual realities of the church. The two were not different. They came from whom I am. I am a builder. I think like a builder.

Who you are today is not disconnected from who you will be tomorrow. What you do doesn’t determine who you are, but who you are will determine what you do in life.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson