Blog In Audio:
Greetings;
God is calling us to manifest as sons and daughters of God. He knows that our true identity, testimony and purpose is only found in being the people of God, His family on earth and in heaven. We are in the midst of a move of God’s Spirit whereby we are manifesting as the people of God, His true family among men. In a time of immense and increasing knowledge, but we must manifest as the people who know God. Knowledge alone can produce personal opinions and judgements but knowing God will produce a greater understanding and desire for mercy and grace. As leaders, our knowing of God is more important than of knowledge of Him. It is only by knowing Him that we can become unshakeable in shaking times. As God reveals His truth in our lives, all that is not truth is consumed by His fiery presence. We tend to like the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but grace includes a submersion in fire. When things get hot, we tend to think we are in hell, but only the things of the devil can be destroyed in hell. The things of God cannot be destroyed. They can only prove to be eternal and indestructible. We must be steadfast, immovable, and abounding in the testimony of God’s life-giving ways.
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Many people break covenant and forsake their connections to God and another because it gets too hot in the place of eternal relationships. It is supposed to be hot. Our God is a consuming fire. Why? So, we will become the unburnable bush of God’s presence and character as the family of His purpose and destiny. If we measure life by whether it is easy or not, we will fall short of the glory that God intends for us to have in the midst of every situation and circumstance of life. If we measure life by our own expectations, or what we think we or others must do, we will be shakable. But if we get a revelation of why we are here, we will become unshakeable. This is true in a marriage, family, and every aspect of life. If we measure our marriages by what we must do as a husband or as a wife, we will fall short of the revelation that can only come by the power of God’s grace. The same is true in a family as a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a father, or a mother. If we do not have a revelation of being a family and if we don’t embrace the grace it takes to be a family, we will be shakable in the time of shaking. God wants us to hear His voice, so we get a revelation of why we are who we are together and why we are here. The why is more powerful than the what. Why are we part of the community? Why are we in covenant? Why do we tithe? Why do we make sacrifices? Why do we give offerings? Why do we live for us, and not merely for ourselves? Because it is us! It is Zion. It is the city of God. It is the place of God’s purpose. It is the place of God’s presence! It is the place of heaven’s gate! When we know this, we can expect an awesome God. We can expect goose bumps and laughter and we can also expect a consuming fire. We can expect our attitudes to be challenged. We can expect our vision to be challenged. We can expect to have to overcome every devil and even Satan and every false accusers. Most false accusations come from those we thought were our friends. That is what proves whether we are friends or not. That is the testing fire of a marriage, a family, or any community.
I think that sometimes in the body of Christ we need to shut our eyes and remember who we really are. The shakable things are things that need to be removed. The moments of shaking do not define us, God does. He does it by the power of His grace. He does it by the testimony of Christ in us. Grace is the manifest presence of God in our lives and shaking should not be able to change that. God, the unshakeable One, defines us! Upon this rock He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, but it will prove to destroy the gates of hell.
Leaders; be creative in pursuing connection with others and drawing those you lead into making connection with others in creative ways. I pray that during this time of social distancing, we will find ways to be inspired and to inspire others to pursue connection with God and one another like never before.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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