Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Leaders lead others to be a blessing to their world. Five-fold ministers are given as gifts to the body of Christ to equip believers for the work of ministry.
Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…
What is the work of ministry? I believe the work of ministry is seen in actions that demonstrate God’s love for one another. Those actions are inspired and empowered by the supernatural power of God’s love. When we become a testimony of God’s love we give God’s life to others. It’s not a matter of ministry. It’s a matter of love that is willing and able to minister.
We are a dwelling place of God by His Spirit to bring the life of His Spirit to our world. Our world is a matter of relationships. Who we find in our world are candidates for the life that we give to our world. When Christ lives in us, the life of Christ gives the blessings of heaven to our world. Leaders demonstrate this in their own lives, but they ultimately lead others into a way of life that demonstrates God’s life-giving love to others through the service and works of their lives. Leaders don’t lead people to simply know the love of God. They lead them to become a testimony of God’s love to others. Leaders lead people to live for the wellbeing of others.
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
To live for the wellbeing of others is the evidence of being a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. This is in the very foundation of the gospel that was preached to Abraham. A former Chaldean who lived in a culture of self-seeking people became a father of faith through an encounter with God the Father; the One who gives life, breath, and all things.
Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
The word gospel means good news. What was the good news that was preached to Abraham? It was news that would bring God’s blessing to all the nations of the world.
Genesis 22:17, 18 “…blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
God’s words to Abraham had four levels of ingredients. Those levels are generational in their nature. They are the ingredients of a 100-year plan:
1) In blessing I will bless you
2) In multiplying I will multiply
3) Your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies
4) In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
Leaders lead others to be a blessing to their world. In being a blessing, God will bless us as leaders to be a blessing to those we lead. God also blesses those we lead to be a blessing to others in their world. It is not merely a matter of being blessed by God. God blesses us to be a blessing to our world. When we live to be a blessing, we also live to empower others to be a blessings. This is a testimony of multiplication. It is not a matter of adding others to our cause in life, but to release others to be a measure of blessing to their world as we are. When we live to multiply, God blesses us to multiply. The fruit of this is seen in life-giving change that comes to our world through our children and our children’s children. The goal is that the nations will know the blessing of knowing God and the blessing of being a testimony of God’s blessing to their world. This is good news and leaders lead for this glory.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
