ted4leaders

Greetings,

Last week I addressed the need to embrace the authority of each season we find ourselves in. Authority comes from responsibility. Who you are today is as essential as who you will be tomorrow. We are called by God to bring life to this world wherever we find ourselves in life’s journey. We are called to be people of authority in this world.

Authority is both relational and functional. Responsibility is connected to our ability to respond to authority and therefore carry the authority for which we are responsible. There is therefore a need for the right gift and the right relationship. It is like the parts of a body. If you need a lung transplant you need both a lung and a compatible lung for your body. A kidney won’t do, nor will a non-compatible lung. If it is relationally non-compatible the body will reject its DNA. If it is the wrong organ it will not accomplish the needed function. Authority for membership and function in the Body of Christ is the same. You must be the right gift in the right place. You must be relationally compatible to the congregation that God is joining you to and you must be the right gift in the right placement. You must be relationally connected to the authority over your and not merely functionally joined. Relationship is as essential as gifting. This is how a healthy body functions in true authority.

I have presented that power doesn’t equal authority, but authority will equal power. We can grasp for power and miss the God-appointed authority in our lives, but if we find our God-appointed authority we will also find God’s anointed power for the appointment. Authority will produce fruit. That fruit will bring life to others and will even increase in the lives of others. Like the placement of a relationally compatible lung, the fruit is the supply of oxygen throughout the body. Fruit is always seen as life energy to someone else’s life. Authority is evident if it is there. God will not call us to do something that He has not gifted us to do and what He has truly gifted us to do will bring life-energy to others if we embrace God’s process and plan of authority.

Sometimes God will allow us to receive a word of direction that is simply a test of who we are. I knew a person who had a word that they would be a worship leader, but the problem was they couldn’t sing. God may have said they would lead worship, but it was not for a platform ministry. It may have been to inspire others to worship God by simply worshipping God with all their hearts. God’s authority in your life will match the gifting of your life.  When God calls you to do something, He wants you to be good at it. The craftsmen of the temple were good at it! God gave them an ability to do what they were to do. Those who led in the craftsmanship were also likely those who made perfect bricks in Egypt. They had a God-given skill for their God-given appointment. No ability is better than another. Teaching, prophesying, exhorting, serving, giving, showing mercy, administration skills, or leadership are all equal in value when measured by the value of each and everyone who functions in them. Some may carry more responsibility, but each is a one-and-only value in being a unique person in Christ. They all carry different measures of authority in themselves, but they all contribute to the full authority of the corporate body.

Our identity doesn’t come from our abilities. Our identity doesn’t come from the authority that we walk in. Our identity comes from our Father.  If we are secure in our identity it will affect our authority. Authority doesn’t give us our identity. Identity comes from being in the corporate body of Christ, not our individual gifting.

The source of all authority is God. God is supreme in His authority and Jesus is the supreme Authority over all the earth. Why?

Colossians 1:15-18 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Jesus is the supreme authority because he holds everything together. Everything has its source in Him and He is the one who sustains all things. The proof is who and what He is. Because He is who He is He fulfills certain requirements and can accomplish certain tasks. He was born the Son of Man and the Son of God. He was the first of God substance and Man substance together without sin. He is and was the Firstborn of a new race of human beings. He is and was the first of all creation and the first Adam of eternity. Jesus had the birthright to be the savior of the world and the source of authority for redeemed humanity. This is why He was destined to manifest in the authority of King of kings and Lord of lords in all things. All who seek to rule in life must come under Jesus’ authority of life.

The first thing that we have to have for authority is the birthright. God cannot bless us apart from your birthright. We must be who you are. In the same way that Jesus has the birthright to be who He is, we must discover our birthrights in life. Just as a woman cannot produce the fertilizing seed of life and a man cannot birth a baby, a grasping for power alone will not produce the inheritance of authority. The enemy wants nothing less than to deceive us into hating who we are. His strategy is to get men and women to grasp for power and to lose their true authority. No individual is better than another and no measure of authority is better than another. The authority for thousands is not better than the authority for fifty or even five. More is not better. Who we are is best!

We cannot set ourselves up in a position that is not ours. Who we are is rooted in our birthright in life. Jesus had and has the birthright of life for all men. He was the firstborn from the dead and is therefore the source of eternal life for all who believe. Jesus was also the Word of God from the very beginning. In the beginning God “said” and what He spoke was made to be.  It wasn’t because of the words that He used, but rather the substance of who He was. Authority is a substance and not a mere theory or testimony of simply using the right words.

Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Why could God “SAY”? God is who He is! The words He said were the substance of who He is! If we were there, we could have said let there be light and there still wouldn’t be light. Why? Without God we are not the substance of light. God is the one who makes us the substance of light. Unless we are under authority we cannot receive authority to become a measure of what we are under. God is Light! Because God is who He is the substance of light has to be made manifest when He declares there to be light.

The Devil will always try to trick us to do something that we don’t have the authority to do.  He will try to make us discontent with the authority that we have. He will belittle us to make us think that who we are and what we have are not important.  He will try to make us focus on something grandiose that is beyond our measures of rule to make us ineffective with our present responsibilities.

If you are 75 years old and leading 50 people, it is not likely that you will suddenly start ministering to a congregation of millions. If you get a prophetic word about going to the nations and affecting millions, you probably need to focus on the 50 and equip them and send them for the purpose of the nations and the generations. Who you are is enough to fulfill God’s promises, but those promises might get fulfilled differently than you expect. You may be going to the nations, but it may be through the lives of your spiritual children and their children.

The Devil will try to get us to think that someone else’s authority is better than the authority that we presently have. He will try to get us to do something that we are not called to do, or that is out of timing with our calls in Christ. Tomorrow’s destiny today will only produce the Ishmaels of the flesh. Abram’s authority was not the authority of Abraham and only Abraham could produce Isaac.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

We have been looking at the topic of authority. Authority is not the same as power, but authority will manifest in power. You can have power without having authority, but you cannot have authority without access to the power needed to demonstrate that authority. A lot of people want power, but not so many want true authority. Authority relates to responsibility. It is a God-given substance that requires us to be responsible to God for receiving it and giving it for the life and well being of others. We need to be a people who want authority. This has nothing to do with control or power. It has to do with the ability to give life to others.

We don’t get our identity from our authority. We get our identity from being children of God. Authority is a measure of responsibility given by God to bring life to the world. Everyone has an authority. We need to learn to be who we are and we need to learn to live in the measure of authority given to us by God.

Authority is not who you will be, or who you want to be. It is who you are. We might be called to be a prophet, but today we are serving with the responsibility of a janitor. Our authority is as a janitor. We must prove to be faithful in our responsibilities as a janitor. We may be the parents of three children, but we are not the parents of everyone’s children. Our authority today is directly related to our authority of yesterday and it is paramount to our authority tomorrow.

Today some receive me as an apostle in their lives. Some people receive me as a prophet, or a teacher, a mentor, or an instructor of some kind. I have been a believer for forty years and I did not imagine that I would one day have the responsibility of bringing God’s word and life to the nations. Thinking back I can see how my responsibilities in the journey have related to my authority today. In 1974 I was a young man in a growing church and I found myself serving in many practical areas. One area was that of taking care of a dog named Smokey. He was a black chow and he belonged to an apostolic leader in the church. It was my job to make sure that none of Smokey’s dog droppings remained in the yard. I was a super-duper-pooper-scooper! There were times when I did yard work, washed the car, or even watched the man’s children. I believe that my role of service was instrumental to the apostolic call that is upon my own life. When Smokey got out it was my job to find him. I was a servant to that dog so that one day I could be a servant to men. We must be faithful in every phase of our lives in order to be faithful in the furtherance of our lives.

What is the basis of authority? The basis of authority and the basis of dominion is who you are. Authority is received and fulfilled. It‘s not who you want to be or what you decide to be. Authority is not what you do. It is who you are. You could do many things! No matter what you do, your authority is going to be seen. Others will recognize it! Your faithfulness in one area will be seen in every area of your life.

There are practical authorities as well as spiritual ones. If you are a painter, your authority is to paint. If you are a man you have the authority to be a man. If you are a woman you have the authority to be a woman. You can seek to be what you are not, but the evidence will be proven by your inability to bear the fruit of inheritance. If you cannot paint you won’t be able to bear the fruit of being a painter. You will produce the works of a mess, but you won’t bear the fruit of the necessary testimony of painting. You may be a man who wants to be a woman but you cannot bear the fruit of a woman. You can change your appearance and even your actions, but the testimony of who you are will prevent you from bearing the fruit of inheritance. The best you can attain to is a right or a power to be, but you do not carry the authority of life. If you are a man grasping to be a woman, your influence as a woman will be a measure of power for self-will, self-gratification, and a self-minded destiny.

A lot of people want power, but they are not interested in authority. If you walk in a realm of power alone it will produce death. What you are going to do to be tomorrow has nothing to do with what you are doing today, but what you are doing today will prove to be valuable tomorrow. What you are today is really for eternity!

What you are doing today is the most important thing in your life because it has everything to do with what you are going to be doing tomorrow.

Years ago I had a job delivering packages for UPS. I had the responsibility of delivering packages in a professional and timely manner. I had to be both diligent and efficient in my job. Because I was a believer I knew that doing my job well was very important. I also had a desire in my heart to understand what my spiritual destiny was in this world. One day God spoke to me, “I have called you to be an intercessor”. My first thought at His words was that intercession is something that women do. All I could think of was women who prayed with mystic sensitivity and diligence. I questioned Him about perhaps the call of an apostle, a prophet, and evangelist, a pastor, or a teacher. His confirming words to me were those of being an intercessor. I spent the next week praying and seeking God on the subject. I read a book written by Derrick Prince on the topic of prayer and fasting. At the end of the week I received a revelation that intercession was the highest call that anyone could have in life. I realized that intercession was the very job that Jesus was doing at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Intercession was what the Holy Spirit was doing in the life of every believer. I remember answering that call. It was a sunny morning in Fort Worth, Texas when I stepped out of the door of my UPS truck and said yes to the call of intercession as I walked up a sidewalk to deliver a package to a door. Today I am considered by some to be an apostle. To others I am a prophet. To many I am a teacher, a mentor, and an instructor of life. In all of these things I am still an intercessor. Even as a UPS driver I was an intercessor. An intercessor is someone who has one foot in heaven and the other in the earth and draws heaven into every earthly place he finds himself. I did that as a UPS driver. I didn’t just deliver packages. I delivered a touch of heaven to every person I delivered a package to. My attitude, words, ambiance, and every form of expression were about bringing life to those that I came in contact with. My call as an intercessor delivering packages was as essential as my role as an intercessor in the role of an apostle. I am called by God to bring the power of grace and the life of His living covenant to the barren places of this world.

If you don’t focus on today, you will be discontent, disillusioned, and disconnected.   Authority comes from responsibility. Who you are today is as essential as who you will be tomorrow. We are called by God to bring life to this world wherever we find ourselves in life. We are called to be people of authority in this world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Last week I began to address the subject of God-given authority. I revealed that the most common understanding of authority by men is seen in the Greek word katexousiazo, a word that means to take your given responsibility as an opportunity to exercise control over someone else. This is a view of authority by people who do not understand covenant and those who exercise it seek to lord over the lives of others. God’s most common word for authority is exousia. It simply means to be who we are. We have to become what and who we are in order to have exousia. Purpose doesn’t come from what we do. It comes from who we are. Authority is rooted in our substance and not merely our actions. Power can be an action, but authority is a substance of life. The enemy wants us to seek power more than we seek authority. Power implies being able to be in control, while authority requires us to lose control and become servants of others. Authority involves giving a measure of substance to others that can make them become alive in who they are. Power alone seeks to take from others in order to have control, while authority advances those within its sphere of influence.

We see this seeking for power in the societies of the world around us. When men seek to be women or women seek to be men they are seeking power, but losing true authority. Authority has the power to produce life, while power alone can produce self-satisfaction or self-gratification, it cannot produce the fruit of inheritance. It cannot produce generational life. Authority is generational, while power alone is lifetime focused. Power alone is focused on self, while authority seeks the betterment of others.

In the nature of mankind women are comparable to men, but not meant to be competitive with them. They are different. They are equal in value, but comparable in nature. While a man is to be the head of a household, a man is  never to be the controller of the house. This is a Gentile mentality. It is a mentality of people who do not understand a covenant with God. Men and women are joint heirs. Elders are not better than the saints of the church, but they are elders. Leaders are not better than followers; they are simply leaders. They are each comparable, not competitive. Elders or leaders in a congregation do not represent the people. They represent the next level of authority. The Holy Spirit is the highest authority among men. What Holy Spirit says to the human heart is the highest form of communication on planet earth and it carries the authority of life. When lesser authorities violate the greater authority of the Holy Spirit they diminish and destroy their own authority. We are who we are and this is the exousia, the authority of our lives. Exousia is the substance of true authority. It is a delegated influence. It is received and then manifested in our lives. That is the kind of authority that Jesus walked in. God says; “I Am who I Am”. It is not a lordship authority, but it is a freedom and it brings freedom to others.

In the story of the Centurion, the Centurion was a man under a tangible authority. He was who he was (Mt. 8:5-13). He had the exousia of a commander. The Centurion wasn’t a controller. He was a commander. Something in him inspired him to be a commander. He had the responsibility and he also possessed the necessary attributes and charisma to fulfill the responsibilities of being a commander. We need more privates than we need sergeants, but they have a different authority. An irresponsible private won’t be a responsible general, but a responsible private might make a responsible general some day, providing he or she also possesses the necessary attributes, charisma, and completes the appropriate measure of training.

Authority comes from ability and the ability to respond. If you are to live in authority you must prove to be responsible. If you can’t fulfill the authority of paying bills, how can you fulfill the authority of prophesying? Your unreliability in one area will eventually bleed over into the other areas of your life. This doesn’t mean we are disqualified from having authority if we face challenges in our responsibilities. It means that when we face difficulties we stand fast to work a way through our difficulty and prove to be responsible to the best of our ability.

Jesus was who He was. There was a tangible evidence of His authority (Lk. 4:31-37). He didn’t have a method, He was who He was.  There was a time when Jesus was in the city of Capernaum being who He was and manifesting the authority that He was. A man with an unclean demon was in the synagogue and Jesus rebuked the demon and cast it out. The remark of the crowd was that of being astonished with His demonstration of authority (exousia). Jesus was who He was!

The apostle Paul commended the church of Rome to submit to governing authorities for they were appointed by God (Rom. 13:1-3). Our submission is to the authorities (exousia), not the controlling ways of those authorities (katexousiazo). Submitting as unto the Lord is submission is to exousia, not domination. The exousia of governing authorities lies within the boundaries of their God-appointed responsibilities, not everything in life. A president has the authority of a president, but not a dictator in telling you what you can and cannot do in your daily life. His exousia is within the sphere of presidential responsibilities. A pastor has the exoduses of a pastor within the sphere of his pastoral responsibilities, but not in every area of your life.

The apostle Paul had authority (exousia) as an apostle to the churches God had sent him, but he did not abuse his authority in the gospel (1 Cor. 9:18). He didn’t use his authority to demand financial support, even though financial support would be an honorable thing for them to give. His authority wasn’t because they paid him. His authority was because God sent him as an apostle in their lives. Authority is not marked by domination and control. It is facilitation and release.

There is another form of authority and it is the Greek word exousiazo (GSRN # 1850).  It is the same as exousia, but in a controlling sense. It is sometimes bad and sometimes good. An example of a bad use is when the kings of the world seek to lord over their subjects and they seek to exercise their authority in a controlling sense (Lk. 22:24-26). An example of this same word in a good sense is found in the testimony of a husband and wife relationship. Because a man and a wife are in the covenant of one flesh, the wife does not have controlling authority (exousiazo) over her body, the husband does. The husband does not have authority (exousiazo) over his body, the wife does (1 Cor. 7:4). This is not a dominating, dictating, control. It is not a taking thing. It is a giving one to another for the purpose of a healthy and full life.  The issue is one of life.  Authority always produces life!

There are some other words for authority that are also presented in the subject of leading. One word is the Greek word proistemi (GSRN # 4291). It is used twice in the Scripture (1 Tim. 3:5; 5:17).  It means to stand before in rank, to preside, to practice and it comes from a word that means to be in front of, a word rooted in a word meaning to stand in various applications. There is a Scripture in James that says that if anyone is sick they should go to the elders and they will anoint them and pray the prayer of faith. I don’t believe that praying for the sick is reserved for elders, but we should be confident that elders know how to pray the prayer of faith. This is one of the reasons they are elders. They stand before the people in the practice of a Christ empowered life. To be an elder they must be able to pray the prayer of faith. Others should also know how to pray prayers of faith, but elders must be out in front of the people, standing before, leading. Like the lead goose of a flock of geese, those who lead carry the point in order to create a direction and a breaking through in the path of resistance for those that follow. It is a matter of leading and not lording. It is a leading, not a controlling or an act of manipulation. This doesn’t mean there can’t be commands. Leaders can give commands within the sphere of their responsibility, but their commands are for the freedom of those they lead and not their control. When a worship leader leads a congregation in worship they must be out in front of the people, standing before them, and leading them as the Spirit of God directs them. Leaders in the church must walk out truth, they must be walking truth, and they must present it to others who follow. This is an example of proistemi. Like us all, leaders don’t arrive they are simply leading in the process of maturity and progress in the faith.

This type of authority is a place of rank. It is not a place of being above others in value, but it is a place of being in front of others in responsibility.  A general would not likely be on the front lines in every battle, because he is the general. He would lead from behind, because his responsibility as a general must be protected to assure the safety of all of the troops. A general needs privates and privates need generals.

Elders do not represent the people. They stand before the congregation helping to carry out the vision. They represent the head. They represent God and the represent God’s appointed leader. Like Moses and the 70, authority comes from authority. No individual is the source of authority. God is the source and leaders represent the voice of God to the people. They are not the voice; they represent the voice.

There is another word that represents authority and it is the word rule in the Greek word hegeomai  (GSRN # 2233). It is used three times in the New Testament Scriptures. It means to lead, to command with official authority. It comes from a word meaning, to lead, bring, drive, or induce – like staring a car and driving.

Hebrews 13:7 Remember those who rule (lead) over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 

The word “remember” in this verse means, to exercise memory, to keep in your mind, to think on them, to stay close enough to keep them in your mind. 

Everyone who is part of a corporate purpose must have a vision for that corporate purpose, but some are given supervision for that purpose. Some lead in the process, but everyone must embrace the process and be a fully supporting participant of that process. We must seek to be close enough to those that lead us in order to embrace the vision of the corporate purpose. We must do what we do the way they do what they do in the corporate connection of the body.   

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. 

Here is another way of saying this above verse:

Be in relationship with and 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. 

Enthusiastic members will inspire and bring further change to those who lead. Reluctant members will hinder the direction of the corporate purpose and flow. A leaders responsibility to lead is for the sake of those being led, not for their own personal gain.

Hebrews 13:24 Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.  

We must think with covenant minds, and not Babylonian ones. Leadership is a good thing. The word rule does not mean control. It means to induce and lead others towards a God-given purpose in life. 

Another word for rule is the Greek word poimaino (GSRN # 4165).  It is used three times in Scripture. It means to tend as a shepherd – an overlay of life. Like the Spirit of Counsel it rules by bringing light to darkness, fullness to that which is empty, hope to hopelessness, and any form of life to any form of death.

Revelation 2:26, 27 “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations– ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the potter’s vessels shall be broken to pieces’–as I also have received from My Father;” 

Revelation 12:5 And she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.   

Revelation 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  

This type of rule is an overlay of life breaking off hiding places. It is the rule of the Shepherd and Pastor of men. It is a testimony of a rod of iron, it that it is strong and uncompromising in his protection of the nations. He doesn’t judge a sinner, He destroys sin and expunges it from the lives of men. Authority gives life! The iron rod is not to beat the sheep. It is to protect the sheep. His standard in being a shepherd never changes. It is the same today and forever. He is not judgmental, but He exercises righteous judgments. Jesus is the Shepherd who tends like a shepherd.  He is the Shepherd who is who he says he is. There is no changing of His substance or His purpose for the life of men.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

True authority submits to other authority. It then becomes authority through release. Authority to lead and authority to help are both authorities. They must submit one to another. There is an authority to lead and an authority for others to follow. Authority in the kingdom is never given to operate in control. We don’t even have authority to control devils. We have the authority of life to cast them out because we have the authority to give life to men. A spirit of fear is afraid. We don’t need to control it with fear. We need to eradicate it by the power of perfect love.

In the mid 1980s I had a vision. I was standing in my city were there is often a gathering of young people. Above me I could see a principality and he had three large chains extending from the ground to three sides of his body. The chains were each stretched tightly as the principality stretched them to his place of standing in the air. He was shouting out belligerently. He declared, “There is no God!” “There are no absolutes!” Then I heard someone say, “Pull him down”, and some began to focus on him and try to pull him from his place of standing. Then I heard God say. “I don’t want him down. I want him out of here!” I turned with my side to the principality and I lifted my hands and began to worship God. I saw thousands of young people stand with me and they raised their hands in worship to God just as I was. Jesus began to come down in bodily form in the midst of the people. As He did, I could hear the breaking of the chains holding the principality. The presence of Jesus was dispossessing the ability for the principality to be held to the ground. God was revealing to me that the way to destroy the power of the enemy was to fill the place of its standing with an expression of the body of Christ. It was not about controlling the enemy. It was about dispossessing him with the presence of Christ.

Now I have come to God’s understanding of authority. The most common word for authority in the Scripture is the Greek word exousia (GSRN # 1849). This is a word that implies that something is what it really is. When Jesus spoke He did so as one having this kind of authority.  This word means to have a privilege, force, competence, capacity, freedom, or mastery – a delegated influence. It is derived from a word that means it is right, through the idea of being out in public. It is a visible manifestation that influences the public with a tangible force that works in a complete capacity, competency, and freedom of that tangible force.

This word simply means that we are who we are. If we say we are a leader then the evidence is seen in followers. This authority would define the fact that the leaves of the tree are green in the summer. The fire is hot. The snow is cold. It is what it is. If something is green, it is green. It is what it is. If it is green, it is green. It has an exousia. If something is hot it is hot. It carries the full force of heat. If something is cold it is cold, it caries the influence of cold.

I will discuss the God-given authority of exousia in my next blog. For now, contemplate the words for authority. Remember, what makes something good or bad is in the heart of the one who possesses it. You are who you are and you don’t need to lord who you are over anyone else’s life. We must function in the exousia of who we are, but we must never exercise katexousiazo over anyone.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

As I have already mentioned, there is a process to authority. It begins with a birthright of authority. That birthright alone doesn’t give one authority. There is also a training process involved in receiving authority. David the son of Jesse was destined to be the king of Israel, but he had to be faithful with a few small sheep before he could be chosen as the king. He was anointed to be the king, but his responsibility was that of keeping a few sheep. The anointing upon his life enabled him to do everything he did with the power of a king, but his faithfulness to each responsibility of the day enabled him to be found worthy to be appointed as the king. When the day of the giant came he was still faithful with a few small sheep, then he was sent to deliver a few small cheeses. His faithfulness in delivering the cheeses to his brothers on the battle line put him in the right place at the right time to be promoted in the process of his journey to becoming king.

You will never take the ‘BIG CHEESE’ unless you are faithful with the little cheeses and most of life is about little cheeses! Authority isn’t simply dependent upon the anointing upon your life; it is dependent upon your faithfulness in the process of authority. You must prove to be faithful to your appointed responsibilities in order to exhibit true authority.

We can never leave our present responsibilities to fulfill the next responsibility. We cannot be irresponsible in the journey of authority, but we must always increase in responsibility. When going from responsibility to responsibility we should increase in responsibility. That might mean we have to delegate our present responsibilities to others before we agree to be responsible in new areas.  We cannot abandon something because it didn’t work. We must prove faithful even in what may look like a failure. We are not to leave our present responsibilities because we are looking for a way to escape. A legitimate reason for transition in life is fulfillment or completion of a responsibility, not running from it. We can only leave something because of success and success might even look like failure. It simply means that we have completed the duration of a segment of the journey and now it is time to transition forward. Authority fulfills responsibility and today’s authority is not a lesser thing than that of tomorrow, it is   just as valid and essential in the journey. Our faithfulness today will set a foundation for our increasing faithfulness tomorrow.

Our authority today is based upon your present responsibility. For 30 years Jesus walked out a training process. We must be permanent students in the process of destiny. Did Jesus fall as a baby? Did He make the chair right the first time? Is it a sin to fall down, or is it a sin to have to work to improve in the midst of the process of training? The ratio of training to ministry in the life of Jesus was roughly 10 to 1. At age 12 He was found in the temple because of the passion of His birthright, but He had to grow in the process of His training. It wasn’t until age 30 and His baptism by John that the full authority of the Messiah could be seen upon His life.

At age 30 Jesus could ask for His inheritance. It was a position of authority verses the age of manhood at 12. At age 30 a Jew could be an elder or have a position of authority. At the age of 30 Jesus asked His heavenly Father for His inheritance. At the age of inheritance He left His earthly father’s carpenter shop and entered into the work of His heavenly Father. He had fulfilled the training process of authority by sweeping the sawdust from the floor of the carpenter’s shop and now it was time to do the work of His Heavenly Father. He could now be sent to sweep the Father’s house clean!

When Jesus reached the age of authority, He received His heavenly authority from His heavenly Father. In this authority He could defeat the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. More importantly, He could open the door for all of mankind to find their power, their throne, and their authority in the Spirit of God. He had learned to indulge in a relationship with God as His Father and now He could demonstrate the power of His kingdom upon the earth. Jesus had to do everything as a man in order to restore the authority to all of mankind. Because of His faithfulness as a man in the authority given Him for each season of His life, He could open the door to the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE for all men. He had been proving for 30 years that the true WAY of man was to live on every expression (word or bread) that comes from the mouth of God. Intimacy with God as a man was the source of the power within Him. He had past the tests of life by worshiping God in every step of His journey and now He could stand fast in the TRUTH of loving God. He had proven faithful in every measure of responsibility given to Him and now He could know that true authority was found in living fully alive to God as a man in everything that He did.

When the heavenly witness came upon Jesus, He had the authority. He had the birthright, training, and the sound of God in His name. He could now be manifest in the full authority of His destiny as a man.

Luke 4:17-21 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Authority always comes from a life source and it always produces life! Jesus had to prove to be the true life source by remaining under every life-source of authority in the 30 years of His training. The 30 years of His upbringing were as essential as the years of ministry that followed. He didn’t take any short cuts. He didn’t fail by grasping for power in the journey of authority. He had to wait for the sending of the Spirit in His life. That moment was not a testament to a moment, but the testimony of a lifetime.

We cannot take shortcuts in the process of authority. Remember, Lucifer exchanged his authority for power and that is his plot against men. We will never stand in the grace for which we have been sent if we don’t remain faithful in the grace for each segment of the journey. Authority is relational and it is connected to those you are connected to. Being a prophet to some doesn’t make you a prophet to everyone! Being a father doesn’t make you a father to everyone! Being a teacher doesn’t make you a teacher to everyone. We must stay true to where and to whom we are sent. This is found in the process of authority.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

I have begun to address the process of receiving authority. Within that process there is a birthright, training, and the receiving of the sound of God within our measure of rule. As we consider this process we have to consider the greatest example of all. Jesus set our example in receiving authority.

Jesus had a great birthright as a man and He still holds that birthright as our exalted Lord and King. Jesus didn’t seek to attain to power. He walked the path of destiny and His authority was witnessed by heaven and earth in the seed of who He was. He had a birthright of authority and it was witnessed by who He was.

Luke 1:30-32 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Every human seed has equal value, but not every seed has equal authority. Not every seed has equal rights, but every seed has equal love and value. The birthright is in the seed. To every seed there is a natural truth and a truth of the spirit. I believe that these two things combined give every human being a great spiritual (spirit-natural) destiny. There was a natural and a spirit truth in Jesus’ birthright that testified to the greatness of His calling. His eternal throne was established in the very seed of His being.

Authority is not who we say we are or who we think we are. It is who we really are. Jesus was who He was and He still is who He is. There was an earthly, as well as a heavenly witness as to His birthright. Within Jesus there was the seed of authority! The birthright of His seed was the King of kings and Lord of lords. Who Jesus was destined to be was witnessed both in heaven and upon the earth.

Luke 2:8-11 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

At the birth of Jesus there were both shepherds and angels testifying of who He was destined to be. He was not some pretender; He was the real substance of His destiny. There was a drawing of heaven and earth that testified of His birthright. It wasn’t the giftedness of Jesus that heaven and earth witnessed. It was the substance of His birthright and who He was in His substance. There was a Spirit-drawn witness of who He was. He didn’t proclaim who He was, heaven and earth testified as to who He was.

I have heard some crazy teachings in regard to spiritual gifting. I have heard hyper spiritual controllers and insecure ministers brag how their spiritual gifting will make room for them before men, but this is a real misquote of Scripture. There is a Scripture that says a man’s gift will make room for him (Pr. 18:6), but the context of this Scripture is that of honoring authority. Your personal gifting doesn’t make room for you, an earthly and heavenly witness does. That earthly and heavenly witness will make you secure in who you are and it will inspire you to show honor to authority.

When King David needed provisions for his men, the unrighteous Nabal refused to honor him. When David rose to deal with Nabal for his refusal of making provisions, Nabal’s wife Abigail met David on the road and offered him gifts of provision and begged forgiveness for her husband. David turned from his assault on Nabal as a result of Abigail’s gift. God then struck Nabal with a heart attack and within a week he died. A place was made for Abigail in King David’s palace because of her honor for the king. Abigail’s honor for authority made room for her, not her personal gifting (1Sam. 25).

The environment, region, and people we are sent to will have a witness of who we are – heavenly and earthly. It won’t be something we have to force upon others. It will be an evident truth. Jesus is Christ the Lord. An awesome destiny! Just like Jesus, we are destined to be who we are. The destiny of Jesus wasn’t proved by force, it was revealed through authority.

Luke 2:39,40 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Jesus grew in the strength of spirit, wisdom, and grace. There was a process to His destiny. He didn’t take any shortcuts to being revealed for who He was. This was evident even when others didn’t understand who He was.

When Jesus was twelve years old He went with His parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When the days of Passover were complete His parents and family returned home, but Jesus remained in the temple. After a day of travel His parents realized Jesus was not with them. After a three-day search they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

Luke 2:47-52 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?” 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.

Jesus didn’t take any shortcuts to His destiny. It is an awkward spot when destiny begins to cry out from your heart and the time is still a time of training. Joseph and Mary misunderstood Jesus, but He returned home with them and was subject to them. He continued to increase in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and men. Within you, there is a burning and a stirring to become who you are destined to be. That stirring does not negate the training process in your life. At age twelve Jesus’ heart longed for the destiny of age thirty, but He fulfilled the training process that took him to the age of inheritance. Age twelve was the age of manhood, but thirty was the age of inheritance. There is an age of authority. No one would give a chain saw to a five-year old and expect them to operate it in safety and skill. We should have a burning desire within us to fulfill our destiny in Christ, but there is a process and a timing to every phase of authority.

When the desire of your heart longs for the day of your inheritance, God will always say; More YEARS of training! What is required to see that burning desire complete? With your birthright comes a process of training. Part of your training process is to be secure in our present position and identity. It is your birthright that enables you to embrace the process of training with focus and zeal. Your birthright will empower you to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and men.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

The basis of authority and the basis of dominion is who you are. Your authority is not just based upon your personal gifting or abilities alone. Your authority is very connected to your divine connection with others in life. In the church it has to do with your divine connection in the body of Christ. It is very relational. If you need a heart transplant a kidney won’t do, but not just any heart will do. You need a heart with authority. It has to be a match for your DNA. It has to be able to receive life from the rest of the body and supply life to that body. Like the connection of an organ in the body, our function of authority has to match the life source of the body it is joined to. It must be relationally compatible or, like an improperly matched organ, the body will reject it. You may have a good gift, but gift alone is not enough. Divine connection and divine choosing give authority. God is the one who determines who we are and where we fit.

Authority is not merely power. Authority gives power a legal right. The star of the morning Lucifer had authority, but he relinquished it for power. He then had to contrive a scheme to acquire authority. Lucifer as Satan has to contrive a plan to legally acquire authority because his grasp for power resulted in him becoming a perversion of his original creation. He has become a profane creation because he disconnected from his God-ordained place of relationship. He still has gifting, but his gifting is focused towards a self-seeking and a self-serving agenda. He left his place of purpose in his grasp for power. He lives for power, but he cannot live for authority.

If you have authority you will have power, but you can have power without authority. Power alone will not produce life. Anointing alone is not enough. When God appoints, He always anoints. The process of authority includes a calling, an appointment, and an anointing for that appointment. The anointing for the appointment begins with the calling and increases through the process of coming to that appointment, but legitimate anointing of authority is always connected to the responsibility of a God-given appointment. Anointing does not equal appointing, but appointing will always equal anointing and will invite increased anointing.

Authority comes out of responsibility. Remember, authority brings life to others and it brings legitimate freedom and release to others. A married person has the authority to be married. A single person has an authority to be single. If a married person chooses to act as a single person the result will be a measure of death and dysfunction to the marriage. If a single person chooses to act as a married person the result will be a measure of death and dysfunction to being single. If those actions end up producing the fruit of children, those children will suffer the challenge of dysfunction. Even the fruit of relationships will be affected by an illegitimate grasping for power. Acting outside of the boundaries of covenant and God-given responsibility will create destructive forces that will affect the lives of others. When this happens a supernatural intervention by God is necessary. Only God’s mercy and grace can bring healing and a restoration of life-giving authority in such situations. Power can produce children, but authority parents them. When things are established on a foundation of power alone it takes God’s intervention to recreate a foundation of authority. When authority is sought through legitimate means and covenant measures the result will be an anointing of life for true function and purpose. When shortcuts are taken we can end up functioning in tasks, but the function will be frustrated because of the illegitimate access that was taken to operate in that function. This is when God has to take what was intentionally or unintentionally intended for evil and turn it for good. Seeking to walk in covenant and within the proper boundaries of authority would save a lot of pain in the world.

Authority comes out of responsibility. Not everyone has equal responsibility in the body of Christ. Everyone does have equal value. The value of each and everyone is that of a one and only. God established the value of each and every one by giving His only begotten Son as the price of the ransom for each and every one. Authority doesn’t equate to value, but to responsibility. More authority doesn’t make you more valuable. It simply makes you responsible for the giving of more life to others.

If you are not responsible, you have no authority. You can find yourself in a situation where you have crossed a boundary and now you have to find the path to authority. To play on the English word for responsibility; responsibility means you have the ability to respond to another. When you have authority in an area it is because it has been given to you by another source of authority. When you have authority you are responsible to respond to the source of your authority and to respond to those you serve in giving life to by means of that authority. There is a submission to continually come under the source of your authority and a submission to lean in the direction of those receiving the life and release that comes from the authority you carry.

You cannot have the responsibility unless it has been given to you. When you have the responsibility, you have all the authority to fulfill your responsibilities. In the original creation man was given an authority of bringing life to the world. To fulfill that responsibility man was to remain under the authority of God. It was a place of intimate relationship. Man was not destined to have the responsibility of a knowledge of good and evil. He was destined to connect to and remain connected to God and the Tree of life. Authority is a responsibility of being a life source, and thus it requires a connection to life. Man wasn’t born to be right. Mankind was born to be loved and thus their authority to others was to be a measure of responsibility that gives love to others. True love is the giving of life to another. Seeking the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a grasping for power and the result was death and dysfunction. Man was created to be responsible for life and the source of anointing for that responsibility was found in being loved by God. To disconnect from that life source was a disconnection from authority.

A parent has authority over his or her own children, but not someone else’s children. If a parent seeks to apply thought, strategy, or action to be the parent of someone else’s children the result will be a measure of death and dysfunction. The only available power of action will be an abuse. It will be steeped in control or manipulation because it doesn’t carry the responsibility of life. If you are a parent of children your knowledge of being a parent can get you in trouble, because it can tempt you to believe you are a “qualified parent” to other children. If you discipline someone else’s children, you would be exercising power, but not authority. To function in life-giving authority we must mind our own business!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

The basis of authority and the basis of dominion is who you are. Your authority is not just based upon your personal gifting or abilities alone. Your authority is very connected to your divine connection with others in life. In the church it has to do with your divine connection in the body of Christ. It is very relational. If you need a heart transplant a kidney won’t do, but not just any heart will do. You need a heart with authority. It has to be a match for your DNA. It has to be able to receive life from the rest of the body and supply life to that body. Like the connection of an organ in the body, our function of authority has to match the life source of the body it is joined to. It must be relationally compatible or, like an improperly matched organ, the body will reject it. You may have a good gift, but gift alone is not enough. Divine connection and divine choosing give authority. God is the one who determines who we are and where we fit.

Authority is not merely power. Authority gives power a legal right. The star of the morning Lucifer had authority, but he relinquished it for power. He then had to contrive a scheme to acquire authority. Lucifer as Satan has to contrive a plan to legally acquire authority because his grasp for power resulted in him becoming a perversion of his original creation. He has become a profane creation because he disconnected from his God-ordained place of relationship. He still has gifting, but his gifting is focused towards a self-seeking and a self-serving agenda. He left his place of purpose in his grasp for power. He lives for power, but he cannot live for authority.

If you have authority you will have power, but you can have power without authority. Power alone will not produce life. Anointing alone is not enough. When God appoints, He always anoints. The process of authority includes a calling, an appointment, and an anointing for that appointment. The anointing for the appointment begins with the calling and increases through the process of coming to that appointment, but legitimate anointing of authority is always connected to the responsibility of a God-given appointment. Anointing does not equal appointing, but appointing will always equal anointing and will invite increased anointing.

Authority comes out of responsibility. Remember, authority brings life to others and it brings legitimate freedom and release to others. A married person has the authority to be married. A single person has an authority to be single. If a married person chooses to act as a single person the result will be a measure of death and dysfunction to the marriage. If a single person chooses to act as a married person the result will be a measure of death and dysfunction to being single. If those actions end up producing the fruit of children, those children will suffer the challenge of dysfunction. Even the fruit of relationships will be affected by an illegitimate grasping for power. Acting outside of the boundaries of covenant and God-given responsibility will create destructive forces that will affect the lives of others. When this happens a supernatural intervention by God is necessary. Only God’s mercy and grace can bring healing and a restoration of life-giving authority in such situations. Power can produce children, but authority parents them. When things are established on a foundation of power alone it takes God’s intervention to recreate a foundation of authority. When authority is sought through legitimate means and covenant measures the result will be an anointing of life for true function and purpose. When shortcuts are taken we can end up functioning in tasks, but the function will be frustrated because of the illegitimate access that was taken to operate in that function. This is when God has to take what was intentionally or unintentionally intended for evil and turn it for good. Seeking to walk in covenant and within the proper boundaries of authority would save a lot of pain in the world.

Authority comes out of responsibility. Not everyone has equal responsibility in the body of Christ. Everyone does have equal value. The value of each and everyone is that of a one and only. God established the value of each and every one by giving His only begotten Son as the price of the ransom for each and every one. Authority doesn’t equate to value, but to responsibility. More authority doesn’t make you more valuable. It simply makes you responsible for the giving of more life to others.

If you are not responsible, you have no authority. You can find yourself in a situation where you have crossed a boundary and now you have to find the path to authority. To play on the English word for responsibility; responsibility means you have the ability to respond to another. When you have authority in an area it is because it has been given to you by another source of authority. When you have authority you are responsible to respond to the source of your authority and to respond to those you serve in giving life to by means of that authority. There is a submission to continually come under the source of your authority and a submission to lean in the direction of those receiving the life and release that comes from the authority you carry.

You cannot have the responsibility unless it has been given to you. When you have the responsibility, you have all the authority to fulfill your responsibilities. In the original creation man was given an authority of bringing life to the world. To fulfill that responsibility man was to remain under the authority of God. It was a place of intimate relationship. Man was not destined to have the responsibility of a knowledge of good and evil. He was destined to connect to and remain connected to God and the Tree of life. Authority is a responsibility of being a life source, and thus it requires a connection to life. Man wasn’t born to be right. Mankind was born to be loved and thus their authority to others was to be a measure of responsibility that gives love to others. True love is the giving of life to another. Seeking the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a grasping for power and the result was death and dysfunction. Man was created to be responsible for life and the source of anointing for that responsibility was found in being loved by God. To disconnect from that life source was a disconnection from authority.

A parent has authority over his or her own children, but not someone else’s children. If a parent seeks to apply thought, strategy, or action to be the parent of someone else’s children the result will be a measure of death and dysfunction. The only available power of action will be an abuse. It will be steeped in control or manipulation because it doesn’t carry the responsibility of life. If you are a parent of children your knowledge of being a parent can get you in trouble, because it can tempt you to believe you are a “qualified parent” to other children. If you discipline someone else’s children, you would be exercising power, but not authority. To function in life-giving authority we must mind our own business!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Authority is very real and it is what gives us the ability to rule today. Ruling is not about control. Power alone can manifest control, but only authority produces life. True authority brings life to others. Each of us has a measure of authority and authority is a continual growing reality in our lives. Who we are today determines the measure of life we give to the world today and it will also affect our ability to give life to the world tomorrow. As authority grows in our lives we are able to give more life to the world tomorrow. It is connected to who we are and who we are enables us to carry the responsibility of authority for the sake of others. The most valuable measure of authority in our lives is the authority we walk in each and every day. Who we are called to be tomorrow is not more valuable than who we are today, it is just a greater measure of life given to us for the sake of the world.

Who we are called to be tomorrow is not yet a measure of life in our lives. We cannot give life where we have not received life to give.

Tomorrow’s authority is not today’s authority. It is merely a calling upon our lives. If we grasp to function in tomorrow’s authority today it will produce death and dysfunction in our lives and in the lives of others. When Samuel anointed David to be the king that anointing was not the right for David to be immediately installed as the king of Israel. David was destined to be a king, but when Samuel anointed him his authority was still to keep a few sheep. He grew in his authority. His authority to keep the sheep anointed him to kill the lion and the bear while protecting the sheep. His authority to deliver a few cheeses to his brothers in the front line of battle brought him to the place of increased authority in his journey to become the king. His inquiry for permission from King Saul to battle Goliath authorized him to kill the giant. His authority to kill the giant Goliath gave him an invitation to serve in the courts of King Saul. His authority to serve Saul empowered him to manifest his authority of worship and bring peace to Saul’s demonic harassments. His authority to hide from Saul’s anger empowered him to walk in honor to the king. His honor to the king took him on the journey of becoming the inheritor of Israel. He grew in his authority, as he was faithful in each step of his destiny. It was a process filled with faithfulness in his daily appointments with the increasing draw of tomorrow’s calling.

You may have a calling, but you must first receive an appointment. Appointment only comes after training, faithfulness, and timing. The sound of God for that appointment must come into your character. A gift is a gift and a calling is a calling, but without proper ‘timing’ they are worthless. Abraham was called to be the father of Isaac, but when he tried to produce the seed of promise as Abram, the result was the birth of Ishmael. Ishmael’s are a result of acting on tomorrow’s authority today. When we act on tomorrow’s authority today we end up with a testimony of the flesh. Abram was destined to be the father of many nations, but the meaning of his name was only the “father of a nation”. His name had to be changed to Abraham, the “father of many nations”, before he could produce the seed of promise. The change of his name involved the process of destiny. Abram had the destiny to father Isaac, but he had to become an Abraham before he could father the promise. Ishmael was not the son of Abraham; he was the son of Abram (One Nation).

Ishmael’s are nothing more than works of the flesh. All authority is found in the Spirit and is not founded upon the flesh. It is God who makes us who we are in the path of destiny. The basis of authority and the basis of dominion is who we are, not who we are called to be.

A caterpillar is destined to become a butterfly, but it has to go through the process of metamorphosis to become what it is called to be. While it is at its beginning it has the authority to live in the testimony of an egg. While it is a caterpillar it has the authority of a caterpillar. The pupa reveals the testimony of a pupa and only when the process of metamorphosis is complete it reveals the testimony of a butterfly. It is only then that the creature exhibits the authority of a butterfly. Each season of the creature’s life has a glory of its own and an authority of its own. It is the same in the journey of our lives. There is a process in coming to the authority of tomorrow and in that process the greatest authority is that of each day in the process. There are no shortcuts to destiny.

The journey of our destinies begins with calling, progresses to appointment, and is proven with anointing. Calling precedes appointment and an anointing of life comes on the appointments of God. There is a measure of anointing that confirms our calling, but it is not meant to be the anointing of our appointment until the day of our appointment comes to today. Not one step of the process is better than another and no step of the process makes us more valuable. Our value is that of being children of God while our authority has to do with the measure of life we have for others today. We must be faithful to live in the fullest of each measure of our journey. As leaders in the body of Christ we must model and mentor this process.

Becoming a father includes learning the boundaries of authority. When someone crosses the boundaries they must have a supernatural intervention of God to bring about redemption and a testimony of true authority. There is always destruction and death outside the boundaries of authority.

If you work for a car wash company, but you are destined to be the president of the company you must embrace the process of promotion that takes you to the day. You will have to prove to be responsible in every position given you in the company. There will be a process of learning, training, and growing in your ability to handle the responsibilities of being the president of the company. There is a price to pay for authority. There is a process to coming to the authority of each and every day.

Tomorrow’s authority is not more valuable than that of today. It is just a greater measure or a further measure of who you are called to be. If we are faithful in the authority given to us for each and every day we will bring life to the world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

All authority comes from God. Whether that authority is dealt with righteously or unrighteously is in the hands of those who exercise it. A true key in understanding authority is found in a proper understanding of submission. Authority doesn’t give any individual their value. Authority simply equates to the responsibility given to an individual. More responsibility given and received equals more authority, but it does not equal more value. The value of every person is the same. God the Father paid the price of each person’s value when He gave His only begotten Son as a ransom for each one. The value of every person is the value of being a one and only. Each person is unique and each person is equally valuable. Authority is simply a measure of life given to a person whereby they can give that life to others.

The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome that they were to be subject to the governing authorities of their day. The governing authorities of their day were not by any means operating in true righteousness.

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

The Greek word for authority here is the word exousia. It is a word that means power or in essence it “is what it is”. An example of exousia would be that of the policeman having the authority to enforce the law. He does not have the authority to create new law. That would be the responsibly of a different governing body. He simply has the authority to enforce the law. A doctor has the authority to be a doctor, but he doesn’t have the authority to tell you where you take your vacation. He might be able to suggest a vacation, but he cannot tell you where to go. A pastor can give you godly principles for raising your children, but he cannot tell you how or what disciplines to put in place in your process as a parent. As long as a person stays within the boundaries of their God-given responsibilities we must submit to them.

We are not just to blindly submit to those who say they have authority. We are to recognize those who have authority in our lives and we are to submit to them as unto the Lord. We do not submit to them as being the Lord. We submit to them as unto the Lord. We put our submission to the lowest level as to the highest level. That highest level is God Himself. When we submit to authority as unto the Lord we open an effective door for God to intervene when authority crosses the lines to illegitimacy.

We must always relate to the lowest authority above us as though it is the highest authority. The lowest authority above us is our connecting authority, or the authority we directly relate to. In this is found a secret and a key to God’s kingdom life. When we relate to the lowest authority above us as the highest authority above us, we allow the highest authority above us (God) to see to it that the lowest authority above us is a righteous authority. If the lowest authority above us is not righteous, we give God the right and the ability to deal with that authority. God will either change or remove that authority. If we submit to the lowest authority above us as being itself, we get that authority and not the authority of God. The secret in this submission is a matter of faith. We must stay in the place of hearing God in the authorities of our lives. This type of obedience cannot just be blind obedience to the abuses of men. It must be a faith in our obedience to God. Faith is not something we fake or attempt to do as an obligation to control or to be controlled. Faith is the fruit of hearing God and it has a great power of life.

I will use a story in my own life to illustrate this principle. In my early years as a believer I became a part of a Christian organization that had many discipleship homes. I lived in such a home with many other young men. The man who oversaw the home was a lay pastor in the movement I was a part of. I saw God do many amazing things in the lives of many people. We went from being a small group of people to a huge number in a very short time. God was very present and there were many life-giving things that took place. I experienced God on a very personal level in many ways. I felt that God had led me to join this group of people and that I was there in His perfect will. I believe this to be true to this very day. Although the place where I found myself was a God-directed connection, there were abusive things at work that I was unaware of. The leader of the home that I lived in was battling issues of homosexuality and was in fact seeking to take advantage of the young men who lived in the home. I was naive to his agenda and submitted to him as my pastor as unto the Lord. The home that we lived in was on a piece of land that was several acres in size. There was about two acres of garden space and I was responsible to oversee the gardens. We supplied many needy people with produce from the various crops grown. One day the leader asked me to multiply the strawberries in the strawberry patch. I did as I had learned growing up, but when this leader came home he was furious as to how I had done the task. He exploded in anger and told me to leave. He said he never wanted to see my face again. I looked directly at him and I said, “Sir, I cannot leave! God told me to be here. What do you need me to do?” He gave me a task of raking pine needles on the land. I raked pine needles until the palms of my hands were both an entire blister. It was a huge abuse on his part towards me. I was young and naive. I would not have submitted knowing what I know today, but my act of faith toward God opened a door towards a miracle. I know there were other things in play as well, but I believe that God saw my submission that day as unto Him. It was just a short period of time after that the whole issue of the man’s homosexuality was exposed and everyone in the home was rescued from disaster. The church authorities stepped in and brought order, healing and redemption to the whole situation. I have even found out decades later that the pastor bound to the deception has walked a path of repentance and has a restored life in the kingdom of God. I am not for a moment condoning the behavior of that pastor in the situation, but I am saying that God can do miracles when submission is unto Him. The secret is in the faith toward God in the midst of the situation.

I am not advocating that anyone remain in an abusive situation. I am simply saying that when we have faith, God can do amazing things. When we submit to the lowest authority as unto the Lord we give God the access to change that authority. There are boundaries to authority. An abusive husband loses authority by violating the Holy Spirit, the conscience of his wife, and his own delegated responsibility as a husband. A wife is not required to submit to her husband outside of his true authority, but God can and will intervene when the heart of those in submission call upon Him in faith.

There was a time in my life when I was in the process of being called by God into the ministry. I was spending most of my days praying, reading God’s word, and even ministering to people on the street of our city. During this time I was still working a secular job putting in anywhere from forty to sixty hours per week. It had come to the point where I was spending about forty hours per week in ministry and up to sixty hours per week at my job. This took me away from home while my wife had to deal with our three children and all of the responsibilities of the house. We lived in a log house and had no electricity, only a generator that we ran every three days to run the washing machine and charge the batteries for our DC electrical system. This was not just a simple process. The generator had to be fueled and it was in a location outside of the house. It wasn’t just a matter of flipping on a switch or turning on a key. It was inconvenient and a lot of work. The house was heated by firewood and there were a lot of extra chores such as hauling in wood, cleaning up the mess, and making sure the fire was always lit. My wife was left to deal with these things in my absence. She never complained, but the added responsibilities were beginning to wear on her. One day she went to God and voiced that it was not fair that she had all of the added responsibilities due to my absence. When she did, God simply told her, “That’s right, you do have all those things”. Instead of despising me for my absence, she willingly accepted the responsibility even though it was not fair on her part. She submitted to me as unto the Lord and it was only a short time after that God presented me with a choice between my secular job and ministry. I chose ministry. My choice of one gave me more time to fulfill my responsibilities as a husband. My wife’s submission was a key to God’s intervention in the situation. She didn’t submit to me as being her lord, she submitted to me as unto the Lord and the Lord in turn spoke to my heart to change the situation. I believe her faith moved God and allowed me to hear what God was saying.

The story of Abigail in the Scriptures is a wonderful story. It is recorded in 1Samuel, Chapter 25. Abigail’s husband’s name was Nabal. He was a very wealthy man and had plenty of provisions to spare. Although he was blessed by considerable means, he was a harsh man and evil in his doings. One day King David sent his men to receive supplies and provisions from Nabal. When David’s men arrived at Nabal’s house Nabal sent them away and gave no provisions to King David. When the men returned to David and told him of the situation David rode to destroy Nabal for his rejection of those David had sent. While in route to Nabal’s home, Abigail the wife of Nabal met David and his men along the rode and gave them provisions, pleading for King David to spare her husband Nabal for his ignorance of honoring the King. King David received her gift and spared her husband’s life. Immediately after God struck Nabal with a heart attack and within a week he died. When King David heard of it he made room for Abigail in his own palace and she lived as David’s wife. Abigail did not despise her husband. She covered him by giving provisions to the King on his behalf. God in response removed the unrighteous authority of Nabal in Abigail’s life.

When we submit to authority we must submit as unto the Lord. No person is a lord in our lives, but the authority they represent comes from the Lord. When we submit to authority as unto the true source we receive the blessings, protection, and benefits that come from the true source. God is good and generous in His ways. He can come to our rescue and change the circumstances we find ourselves in when we have a right heart in our submission.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson