Ted J. Hanson's Weekly Blog – ted4you.com

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in Bulgaria. I’ve been blessed with God’s presence and God’s wonderful family in Rouse, Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Sandanski, and Plovdiv. God is surely good. He is moving by His Spirit in the nations. New things are happening in the earth. God Is filling us with His presence that we might partner with Him in His purpose in our world.

God wants us to know the power and testimony of both His mercy and His grace. God’s mercy frees us from the judgments of death. God’s mercy triumphs over every other judgment and unlike other judgments, His mercy gives us hope of new life. God’s mercy justifies us to find our life in Christ and then God’s grace transforms us to rein in life. God’s grace is the unmerited favor of His presence in our lives that transforms us to become testimonies of God’s life to our world.

Romans 5:18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The mercy of God is given to each of us through the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His shed blood upon our cross justifies us all to find life in Christ. This is God’s mercy. God’s mercy frees us from judgment and condemnation. God’s grace makes us righteous in Christ. Our righteousness in Christ gives us eternal life. This is life that cannot die! It is life that cannot be destroyed! It is life that brings change to our character, nature, way, power, and authority.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Jesus died once for us all so we can find the death of our old life as Adam in Him, but then we find our new life in Christ. Having been submerged into His death we are raised into His resurrection life. This gives us an empowerment to walk in newness of life as sons and daughters of God in Christ. This is Christ working in us in this world but also into eternity beyond this world.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Christ we are dead to sin, but alive to God. God’s mercy submerges us into the death of Jesus. God’s grace joins us to His resurrection. God’s mercy makes us dead to sin. God’s grace makes us alive to God in Christ.

Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Mercy freed us from the law, but grace joins us to God. Being joined to God gives us the power of His life. His life influences us to not only live but to be givers of life to our world. Grace is the influence of God’s presence in our lives. Law only restrained us, but grace liberates us. Law controlled us but grace empowers us to know the freedom that comes by God’s love. It empowers us to bring the freedom of God’s love to our world.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in the Netherlands. I have had a great time in Ede with great friends and a great church – HOPE (House Of Praise Eda). We have experienced God and we have been blessed with His kindness, His presence, and another measure of His life. Our Father is good!

God’s mercy justifies us to live, and His grace empowers us to live. Christ died to for us while we were still sinners. God’s mercy is a gift to sinners. Mercy is the testimony of God’s connection to us even though we were living lives disconnected from Him. It’s God’s gift of reconciliation. Jesus’ death upon our cross, justifies us to live – this is God’s mercy. It’s an act of His love for us. Because God loves us, He desires to save us from all destruction. He saves us from His wrath.

Romans 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

What is the wrath of God? I don’t believe that God’s wrath is upon people. God’s wrath is upon anything that destroys the life of people. When we live our lives disconnected from God, we pursue things that cannot give us life. Those things prove to be destructive to us in some way. If we embrace those things as our good news, our salvation, or our way of life, we experience the consequence of what God has placed upon those things. We experience the wrath of God. God’s mercy is His judgment that saves us from the things that His wrath is upon. Mercy ends the past, and grace empowers the new.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

God’s mercy is His provision for the death of our old man in Christ. The free gift given to us through and in Jesus is God passionate pardon that justifies us to live. This is God’s mercy. The consequence of death has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and the empowerment of eternal life that comes by Christ’s resurrection can now reside within us. This is God’s grace that empowers us to live today and into eternity. God’s grace is the empowerment of righteousness in Christ to reign in life. That grace is His manifest presence in us that transforms our hearts and minds to be who we are meant to be as God’s sons and daughters in our world. This is good news for us, for our marriages, for our families, and for every aspect of our world. God’s mercy fulfills our death in old Adam. God’s grace empowers us to reign through eternal Adam – Jesus Christ. This is not just in our life beyond this world. It is in our life today and every day in this world.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I have enjoyed being home after being several weeks on mission. It was good to be in the home church yesterday. I will be heading to the Netherlands at the end of the week after a brief break at home. I am looking forward to being with some wonderful people across the pond and seeing what God will do.

It is great to be the place where God lives. Not just a place where God visits, but a place where God lives. God has always wanted a place of dwelling in the earth. That is His family. The family of God lives with a culture of grace. The power of God’s grace is found within our hearts as we live as a dwelling place of God by His Spirit.

Grace is the power of Holy Spirit working within our hearts. Our willingness to respond to Holy Spirit enables us to receive the testimony of God’s grace working in us. The result will be change. God doesn’t just change us. The change comes by our response to Holy Spirit. Sometimes the change is sudden and even instant, but many times the testimony of God’s grace working in our lives comes through a process of testing. Holy Spirit brings about the change, but we must stand fast to consistently and continually respond to God’s word and presence in our lives.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

God’s mercy justifies us and gives us peace. When we receive God’s mercy, we enter into an experience and testimony of His grace. We enter that grace by faith. God speaks to our hearts, and we respond to His word and presence working in us. Grace is an empowerment that transforms our lives. The process of being transformed by God’s grace includes a resistance to that grace. The resistance is not a sign that grace is not working. It is the very thing that causes grace to overcome. Grace is God’s manifest presence in us empowering us to overcome all things.

Tribulations are the pressures of life. The pressures of life lead to the perseverance of our faith. I believe that the tribulation in our lives can also include our own human failures. When we fail, we must find God’s grace to overcome. It is a matter of hearing God in our hearts and continually responding to God’s word and presence in us. When our minds tell us we cannot stand, we hold on to God’s word to us, and we embrace His manifest presence in us for the victory. It’s God’s love that qualifies us and not our strength in the flesh. The testimony of God’s grace doesn’t come by our power or might, but by God’s Spirit within us. For this to happen, we must persevere in the midst of every tribulation that we face in life.

God wants us to learn to persevere. The Greek word used here, implies two ingredients. It contains the ingredient of endurance, and it also contains an ingredient of cheerfulness. It is cheerful endurance. Cheerful endurance is the key to activating the character of Christ within us. If we decide to be miserable while in the midst of our circumstances we appeal to the old nature of the flesh, but if we stand with cheerful endurance, we draw on the life of Christ within us, then the life of Christ within us can manifest. This manifests the character attributes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22, 23). These are the substance of the fruit of the Spirit within us. When this happens, we manifest the testimony of Christ in a measure of His glory. This is the testimony of hope. Christ in us is the hope of glory.

God’s grace enables us to manifest as sons and daughters of God with an internal change that can be seen as an external testimony that testifies of the goodness and power of God working in our lives.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I have had a wonderful week in Angola, Africa teaching on God’s mercy and grace. Thank you to all the hungry sons and daughters of God who eagerly and willingly came to hear God’s words and to be touched by God’s presence. I have now arrived back in Portugal, and I will travel home tomorrow.

God loves us and the testimony of His love for us is seen in His judgment of mercy in our lives. God’s mercy is a judgment that triumphs over all other judgments. It triumphs over the judgments of sin. It triumphs over the judgment of law. It triumphs over the judgments of being wrong. Mercy is the judgment of our heavenly Father who never stopped seeing us as His children. Mercy frees us from the condemnation that comes by an administration of the knowledge of good and evil. No matter how hard we seek to be good, without a connection to the One who is good, we can never be good. God is good and His glory is to give life, breath, and all things to us. Apart from Him, we all fall short of His glory. Our character, nature, way, power, and authority are less than His without His manifest presence in our lives. God’s mercy is a judgment that frees us from our past shortfall and justifies us to find life through a connection with God in our hearts.

The evidence of grace is change. Without change there is no evidence of grace. Mercy justifies us to live, but grace empowers us to live. Grace is free but we must each come to the throne room of grace to find it. Grace is a testimony of overcoming. Hearing God in our hearts empowers us to stand in the process of grace and see the change that comes as a testimony of God’s salvation that comes in Jesus’ name. Our salvation is not just a salvation of going to heaven one day. Our salvation is a testimony of eternal life that affects our thoughts, reasoning, imagination, emotions, and desires in every aspect of our lives. We need God’s salvation in our daily lives, our marriages, our families, and in every aspect of who we are and what we do. Salvation is a testimony of God’s grace working in us.

What is the process of finding the grace of God? What is the relationship between God’s mercy and grace in our lives.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith justifies us to have peace with God. This is a testimony of mercy. There is no gap between God and us. This is peace. It’s not because of anything we did, but everything He did. The once for all sacrifice of Jesus upon our cross put an end to our disconnection from our Father God. Jesus was the scapegoat for our sins. In Him we find forgiveness for our sins. He reconciled us. He reconnected us to our Father. Our sins are forgiven, and we know our heavenly Father and the testimony of His love. We have peace with God. There is no gap between us and Him. We have access to His house. This even describes our destiny when we die. This verse guarantees us heaven when we die. All we need is to hear His voice and come to Him in faith. When we hear Him in our hearts it is made real in our lives.

God’s mercy gave us peace, and this becomes real in our lives when we boldly come to His throne and receive our gift. It is true for all human beings, but each of us must come to Him to receive our gift. When we boldly come and receive His mercy we know His peace. There is no more shame or condemnation. It doesn’t matter what we have done or who we are.

Romans 5:2 …through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Standing implies overcoming. Our standing is in the place of embracing God’s manifest presence in our lives. This is the testimony of grace. Standing is a prophetic term for possessing the land and receiving the inheritance given to us by God. The Bible teaches that the enemy is under the soles of our feet. Jesus is held up in the heavens until all His enemies are placed under the soles of His feet. The feet of Jesus are the feet of the body of Christ. The enemies of God and the life that He gives are to be under the feet of people like us. Wickedness is overcome and we stand upon our possession. We stand upon our inheritance. God wants to transform our self-focused human character, so we no longer act unjust. He wants to change our hearts and minds, so we are not under a law, but we are empowered by grace and our lives cast a shadow that looks like law.

A law looks like you shall not commit adultery, but grace says, Honey I Iove you! You are a one and only! You are the one and only in my life! I could never want to consider thinking of another because my heart is constantly empowered and transformed to love you more. To those who don’t understand this grace, they can look at my life and think I live by a law that says you shall not commit adultery, but it’s really the power of grace that empowers me in my heart and mind to love my wife as I should. Should I lose that passion, I can receive God’s mercy at His throne of grace and His manifest presence can empower me to be transformed by His grace to love again. The manifest presence of Holy Spirit in me gives me grace and the evidence is testified by an internal change and an external testimony. His presence gives me grace, and the evidence is known in my heart and seen in the testimony of my life.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in Angola, Africa. I had a wonderful time last week in Portugal in a gathering of Pastors and Leaders for a few days. My son Jonathan was with me as well. Holy Spirit did wonderful things. I’ve had a great weekend with many of my connections here in Angola. The presence of Holy Spirit was wonderful and powerful at the CCVA Kwanzas church. I have a full week of leader’s gatherings and I know that God is going to do good things. We will no doubt experience many comings of Jesus in our midst this week.

I believe in the return of Jesus, but the fullness of His return will come “in like manner” as He went. I don’t know what the physical return of Christ looks like. I believe it will be much different than we expect. I do know that He was taken in the “cloud” in “bodily form”. He will return in “the cloud” and in “bodily form”. I believe this includes the increasing testimony of His glory in His “Body” here upon the earth. I believe there is an increasing process of His glory until the power of His life and the power of His resurrection become so great in the Church that neither He nor the Church can be separated in any way any longer. A great ‘translation’ will take place from that which is corruptible to that which is totally incorruptible. Death will be fully swallowed up by the resurrection force of life. The power that was seen in Enoch’s walk with God will be seen in the Church as she walks with God in the fullness of the increasing POWER OF HIS GRACE!

The testimony of His “coming in the cloud” can be seen clearly in the synthesis of Scripture. This term has been used many times to describe the ‘coming of the Lord’. He has come many times and in many ways to His people. It is proven in Biblical history that when “He comes” it is good news for the righteous, but destruction for the wicked. This term is not a term that is limited to the “Second Coming” of the Lord. It is a term that has been used for many times of ‘His Coming’ in the history of mankind. I believe the point of any “Second Coming” of the Lord is the full culminating testimony of all of His comings! I also believe the value of that “Second Coming” can be seen in His continued appearing in our lives as a life-giving Spirit. His appearing in our lives gives us salvation in every aspect of our lives.

We must remember that Thessalonians was one of the first written letters of the apostle Paul. It was written somewhere between A.D. 53 and A.D. 62. Its content was relevant to the recipients of the letter. It was a letter of encouragement to a Church facing difficult times.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him: those who sleep in Jesus.

These two verses of Scripture confirm the power of the first resurrection for all of those who “sleep” prior to the full culmination of all things in Christ. The power of the ‘first resurrection’ guarantees the glory of the ‘second resurrection’ (Jn. 5:24; 1 Jn. 3:14; Rev. 2:11). That ‘second resurrection’ will be the total translation of the physical body to that which is incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:52). The Bible teaches us that all believers in Christ have passed from death to life. In Christ we have been justified to live.

1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 

We were in bondage, but Jesus made us free. Even as it was shadowed in the life of Joseph who was in the pit and the prison of darkness but was brought back to life by the power of God’s deliverance. Just as Isaac was justified to live by Abraham’s faith, we are justified to live through a first resurrection in Christ (Rom. 5:9-17).

Jesus has judged sin so that we might live our lives empowered by the life-giving desires of His Holy Spirit. His sacrifice for our sins was merely the entrance for us to know Him in His salvation. Jesus told His disciples that He would come to them again after His resurrection. This was not just His physical appearance to them after He rose from the dead. It was a coming to them in a way that would exceed how they had known Him while He was physically with them in their world. This was not merely a future event of a second coming of Jesus, but a coming that is increasingly experienced by all who receive His death upon the cross that they might find His presence in the throne room of grace.

Hebrews 9:26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Jesus has put away sin, and He empowers us to live free from the power of sin through a relationship with Him as members of the body of Christ. Jesus reconciled us to our Heavenly Father – He came so we could see who God really is and who we are meant to be.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I’m headed to Portugal for a few days of leader’s gathering in the presence of Holy Spirit. After that I’ll be headed to Angola, Africa. It was a great weekend here with a worship night at Alife on Friday, and I was blessed to speak at Alife yesterday. I have a great expectancy for what God is going to do in my journey across the big pond.

It was in the first century that Jesus rose into the heavenly dimension. He was the firstfruit of a family of believers who are made to be new creations in Christ. As the firstfruit, Jesus ascended and was taken into the “cloud” in a ‘bodily form’ (Acts 1:9). He did this so that we could receive the fullness of the blessings found in His heavenly dimension (Eph. 1:3; 3:10; 1 Pet. 1:3). When Jesus ascended into heaven, two angels had a message for the observing disciples of Jesus.

Acts 1:11 …who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Clouds speak of the manifest presence of the Lord in Scripture. There have been numerous aspects to the manifest experiences of the church and the Lord in the ages of men that have brought increasing testimonies of God’s glory in the earth. If you will, there have been many comings of Christ “in the clouds”. There have been various comings of the Lord in many aspects of God’s grace that have brought forth increasing glory and change in the church. The comfort of the first century church was, and our comfort is, that each and every one in Christ is promised a greater glory of eternal life in Christ in every aspect of their lives.

Every season of our lives culminates with the sound of a prophetic trumpet that reaps a harvest of bread for others in our world and seed for another harvest. The last trumpet is resurrection life for those in Christ. Paul said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. This is our greatest hope! In the history of the culture of the shadow of the law, the last trumpet is the trumpet that sounds the completion of the harvest. It is a sound of tabernacles where a new season of rest leads to a new season of increasing life. Everyone has a last trumpet to the completed harvest of their lives. Though there may be a full culmination of this in a    future day to come, I believe that there is a last trumpet for each of us in life. For us in Christ it is a sound of greater glory. It is therefore a reason to live this life to the fullest as the glory of God subdues the things that can be subdued in this world. This is the testimony of the increasing harvest of God in our lives. The unshakeable kingdom of God continually removes the shakable things in our lives and in our world. Our comfort is that life and purpose doesn’t end when the last trumpet is blown for us in this life, but Christ receives us to join those who are alive in Christ in heaven, those who have already fallen asleep to this life.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

Like those going through the great tribulation of the birth of the Body of Christ in the first century, we need not be shaken or troubled in the times and seasons of the world. We have already embraced a Day that never ends. We have embraced the Day of the Lord in Christ. Our last day was the day we lost our old life, and we found resurrection life in Christ. Our personal kingdoms are increasingly becoming a kingdom of our Lord and Christ. The life we live we live by faith in Him! There is no death that has any power over us for the second death has been destroyed by the resurrection life of Christ within us.

The day of the Lord comes for everyone, but that day does not come as a thief to those who are already alive in Christ. For those who are not alive in Christ, the last trumpet of their life is a surprise, and their life is taken from them. They live their lives as though they have peace and safety, but the last trumpet of their life reveals to them that the peace they held on to was not peace at all. The safety they clung to, was not safety at all.

The constant coming of the Lord into the generations of humanity proves to destroy those things that are not true peace or safety and what people trust in apart from Christ is destroyed. What is life for those in Christ proves to destroy anything that is not true life. It destroys anything that is not life or life-giving. Our comfort is that we are sons and daughters of God. We are sons and daughters of the true light. We are of the Day and not the night, so the constant and increasing coming of the Lord into the generations of men proves to be the light of Day to us. We must remain awake, aware of God and His presence. We must remain alive to the fellowship and purpose of God’s Spirit in Christ. What keeps our hearts in all seasons of our lives and of the earth is faith and love in our hearts. Our minds are secure because we know that Jesus is salvation in any and every situation of our lives. While we live in this world, or after we rise in Christ, we are together in the life and purpose of Christ for eternity. This is comfort to us in all seasons of life.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Available on Amazon in Print & Ebook

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in Deming, New Mexico. I have had a wonderful weekend with my church family here. Thank you to all who came this weekend to CitiLife church. God’s presence and favor is upon you, and His influence of life and love is going to impact your community more and more. I am looking forward to meeting with leaders tonight.

The world around us is shaking, but the kingdom of God within us cannot shake. We must not be distracted by the kingdoms of the world. What should our focus be in a shaking world? The apostle Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church gave hope to the early church in a time of testing and it gives hope for us in our shaking world.

The letter written by Paul to the believers in Thessalonica was one of the first letters written to the believers of the first century church. It was written to the church, the habitation of Christ, as they had now existed for a little over twenty years and they were facing increased opposition by the anti-Christ spirit of that day. Like all words from God, there are increasing layers of truth and life in what God decrees. One view of the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians has been that it is a letter regarding a one day coming of the Lord in the future and a rapture of Christian believers into the presence of the Lord. This view did not become the focus of this letter until the nineteenth century. Since God’s words increase from glory to glory, there is clearly a culmination of this truth for us all in some way. There are various interpretations as to what that looks like, but there is for sure a guarantee of a full glory of being one with God in Christ for eternity.

Paul wrote this letter to a firstfruit church concerning things that were literally occurring in their day. His purpose in writing this letter was to comfort the first century believers who were facing persecution and the tribulation for being a church that was birthing the New Covenant reality of the growing Body of Christ for the generations to come. Christ was being opposed by anti-Christ, but Christ would overcome, and in the future, there would be more realities of the constant and increasing coming of the Lord to cause the kingdoms of the world to become kingdoms of Jesus as Lord and Christ. The words of Paul were not merely a promise for something thousands of years in the future. They were words of promise for the moment at hand. Some had already died in the faith and Paul was charging the church to know the truth of the present and future promises of glory.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

In these Scripture verses, Paul was encouraging the church in regard to the coming of the Lord. The word for until is a Greek word that can also be translated as to or into. It is not a word necessarily indicating a moment of time but can also be a process of time. The word for ‘coming’ in this Scripture is the “GSRN 3952. παρουσία parousia; from the present participle of GSRN 3918; a being near, i.e. advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication) physically, aspect.” It is a present tense word and not a futurist tense word. It is a happening and a continued happening. The promised place of destiny for the dead in Christ and for the living was, and is, a transition to a dimension of increased life. It is a place of being caught up in the breath.

This is not a place of going up into the sky, but a place of entering into the further dimension of life in Christ. This was the testimony of the first martyred saint, Stephen. As the crowd hurled stones at his physical body he gazed to heaven and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Stephen was the firstfruit of those who sleep in the Lord. His sleep was a transition into the greater glory of God’s presence. As the apostle Paul wrote, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). This was the testimony of Stephen as he was caught up into the breath of eternity.

Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Upon Stephen’s death he was caught up into a dimension of eternity with Jesus. The Lord met him in the breath, in the dimension of Christ in heaven. The dead in Christ rise first and those in Christ who continue into the constant and increasing realities of the coming of the Lord will be participants with them in the breath. The breath is the connection of the Spirit. It is not a natural air, but the breath of the Spirit that keeps us and unites us in life, in this world, and in the world to come. The living believers in Christ and the cloud of witness in Christ are partners in a constantly increasing coming of the Lord. Those who sleep in Christ transition into the greater glory of God’s house. Those who remain in this world in Christ grow in the glory of the increasing presence of Christ in His body through a growing revelation of God’s glory in the earth.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Available on Amazon

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am on a few day hunt in the woods. I am enjoying my time among the trees with my Father and friend, God. I hope you had a blessed week and that you will have an encounter with God this week as you invite His presence into your life.

When we have a relationship with God in our hearts, He teaches us to love one another. A revelation of His love for us empowers us to love one another. It is not some external command, but a growing desire from within. We are a dwelling place of God by His Spirit and Christ in us is the hope of glory. That glory is to become like Him in His character, nature, way, power, and authority. He is a giver of life and as His sons and daughters we become givers of life to one another. The apostle Paul wrote to a church facing suffering and persecution with words of encouragement for them that also encourage us in the world that we live in. When the world around us shakes, we are to shine like stars in the night. We are testimonies of God’s love and life to our world.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; 11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

Our confidence is in the love of God. We know we are loved; therefore, we are not easily shaken in a shaking world. The spirit of the world will oppose us, but we must live our lives as examples of sons and daughters of God who know His love. In this, we lead a quiet life. This doesn’t mean that we live without adventure. It has more to do with our attitudes than our actions. This is a life that is not easily shaken. We may find ourselves is a loud and reactive world, but we live with faith towards God in all things and thus we are not agitated in our hearts or minds towards the world. We trust God and we are a testimony of His grace in and to our world. Our lives are not impassioned by bitterness.

We are not to make judgments of others, but to mind our own business in all things. We make it our aim to be productive members of our world. We don’t depend upon others to meet our needs. We eagerly and willingly do our share, and we are faithful in our own responsibilities in life. We work with our own hands and know that God will meet all of our needs because He is a loving Father who always rewards His children. We set an example to those in the world around us as givers of life and love in all things. Our lives testify of the goodness of God.

Nothing in our lives can end in death, because we have eternal life. That eternal life is a knowing of God our Father and knowing Jesus His Son through an indwelling presence of Holy Spirit in our lives (Jn. 17:3). For a believer in Christ to die is to fall asleep to this world, but to rise up in a greater glory of eternal life of knowing God our Father and Jesus His Son. Holy Spirit in our lives in this world is Holy Spirit raising us up to a greater life in that which is to come. When a believer dies, our world loses their voice, but their voice continues on as an eternal witness beyond this life. To the world they are asleep, but to be absent from the body of flesh is to be present with the Lord in glory. What should our focus be concerning those who have fallen asleep?

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

To fall asleep to this world is not to fall asleep to eternity. Our purpose in Christ continues on in that which is to come. The believers in Christ who sleep to this world are alive in Christ in a dimension beyond what we can naturally see. They are part of a cloud of witness that eagerly waits to meet us in our transition to a greater glory.

2 Corinthians 5:6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Our lives in Christ are a testimony of eternal glory. We must not be shaken by a shaking world. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. We must shine in our world as people of faith, hope, and love. These things are found in Christ, and these things cannot be shaken.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

It is good to be back home after several weeks out. I have enjoyed this past week, and I was blessed to minister at Everyone’s Church yesterday. God is moving in the nations, and He desires for us to know Him both intimately and powerfully. We must live as a dwelling place of God by His Spirit in our world. This is the hope of God’s glory!

Religious systems create cultures that see the world around them as an enemy to be destroyed. Those in such a system seek to increase their size from within as an opposing system to the world around them. They claim victimhood by those they see as their opposition, and they reject any authority beyond themselves. Rather than overcoming evil with good, they judge those they deem as evil as unworthy of love.

As the body of Christ we know that we are a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. This empowers us to be a life-giving influence in and to the communities we live in. Our way of life inspires healthy family in and to the community. We don’t see ourselves as victims but as overcomers of all things through the love of God in all things. We know God’s mercy and grace, so we become merciful to others, and we inspire change as we are changed by God’s presence within ourselves.

Religious cultures and societies reject the society around them, and they institute rules and judgments that supersede any standards outside of their system. In this, they embrace a secession from the world rather than a love for those in the world. Instead of being a life-giving influence to the world, they become a legalistic standard of judgment to the world. Instead of offering healing to the iniquity of men’s hearts they deem iniquity as sin and impose a judgment of shame upon those bound to the ways of the world. We don’t endorse an exaltation of the weaknesses of men’s hearts, as though those weaknesses are a way to life. We recognize that we all fall short of the glory of God, and we all need His salvation in our lives. We offer the presence of Christ to all who desire to be transformed in their hearts and minds that each one might become a testimony of God’s powerful life-transforming love.

As members of the life-giving body of Christ, we support and respect the authorities in our world according to the responsibilities given to them. We understand the kingdom of God is an internal kingdom affecting each one from within. We don’t seek to control the kingdoms of the world by our standards but to inspire them to embrace a knowing of the kingdom of God within them. It is a place of knowing righteousness, peace, and joy within. When we find our identity in Christ, His love affects our beliefs in life. Being loved by Him empowers us to love others from within our hearts. We then find our testimony from His presence in us. We have peace and there is no gap between us and God. The internal atmosphere of our hearts inspires an external testimony in our lives that testifies of God’s powerful love. Our purpose is for the will of God as light to our world. Our joy is found in the fullness of a partnership with God in all things. By these things we shine in the darkness of the world, not to condemn the world but to invite them into the pathway of destiny in Christ.

When the kingdom of God operates within us, our external kingdoms become kingdoms of our Lord and Christ as expressions of the ways of God in the things that we do. Our external kingdoms become an increasing testimony of the kingdom of heaven within our hearts. Religion seeks to place a religious control upon the kingdoms of the world, but relationship with God in our hearts inspires us to enable the kingdoms of the world to become kingdoms of Jesus as their Lord and Christ. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. We aren’t better than the world, but we are life to the world. We must be awake to the light of Christ within us, and we must shine as the light of God’s accepting love and His life-transforming love in our world. Jesus is both accepting and dangerous. He loves us as we are, but He also frees us from our old ways of self to become sons and daughters of God in Christ.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am on my journey home after some more great days in the Netherlands. It was great to be with my Dutch family and to see many wonderful people touched by the love of God and loving God. Holy Spirit is moving in the nations.

The church is the influencing factor of who we are to the world as the fruit of being a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. That influence is one of life and not one of judgment. The church is not a gathering place for refugees from the world. We have no doubt been rescued from our old lives in the flesh, but that rescue gave us access to God’s throne of grace. We are more than conquerors in Christ.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we embrace a religious structure apart from the world, we live as refugees from the world. If we embrace a culture that sees the cultures of the world around us as an enemy, we become victims and we take a posture that is anti-others. We are not victims; we are overcomers who live for the wellbeing of others through a revelation of God’s love.

If we embrace a religious way of life, we separate ourselves from the world. We may think that we are separating ourselves from the ways of the world but in reality, we are creating another worldly way in the form of some religion. We take on an us and them mentality. We see those in the world as an enemy, and we become victims in our own mind. The spirit of the world opposes the Spirit of Christ, but the people of the world are people that God loves.

Our separation is not a separation from the world. It is a separation unto God while fully engaging as a member of our world. We don’t look to the world for identity, testimony, or purpose. We look to God for these realities. When we find our identity, testimony, and purpose in God we will live in the same way that Jesus lived as a man. We will be life-giving to our world.

When we are life-giving to our world, we will do our part as citizens of the world. Religious systems inspire us to segregate from the world and despise the authority of the world, and they seek to become an authority unto themselves. They resist the lawfare of society and seek to impose their own rules and judgments that they feel supersede the standards outside of themselves. They see their own rules and judgments as something that places them above others.

We are to support and respect authority. We are not rebellious to the authorities of the world but only seek to support them within the boundaries of their appointed responsibilities. We choose to be people of New Covenant life and grace. The authority of God in our lives enables us to receive the authorities of the world in a way that empowers us to be life-giving members of our world. We don’t violate the principles, patterns, and values of our faith in Christ but use them to empower us to be life-giving citizens of our communities. We submit to appointed authorities with the character, nature, and way of God in our hearts and minds.

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. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

Because we are a dwelling place of God by His Spirit, we can receive wisdom from God as to how to be good citizens in the communities of our world. We don’t see our communities as the source life in our lives. We see God as the source of our life and thus we can be life-giving contributors to the places we live.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728