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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I am home continuing to recover in my process to regain good health. We finally got a break from the rain and I am hoping for some dryer weather in the days to come. I am ready for spring. We had another great day together yesterday as a church family here in Bellingham.

Our relationship with God is one that transforms our lives. He changes us from glory to glory. That change comes by the Kairos moments of God in our lives. I have been a believer for fifty-three years. I’m not the same person that I was fifty-three years ago. I’m not the same person I was twenty years ago, ten years ago, or even a year ago. As believers in Christ, we believe in Him and His presence in our lives transforms us from within.

This is a year of truth and truth comes by knowing the One who is Truth. When we know Him, we become like Him in increasing measures. It’s not dependent on how smart we are. It’s not dependent on how hard we work. It’s dependent on times of refreshing that come to us through knowing Jesus Christ in our lives. It’s dependent upon His presence in our lives.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…

To repent is to have a changed mind that gives us a changed way of thinking. Repentance in the Old Covenant was a discipline of the flesh. Repentance in the New Covenant is not a discipline of the flesh. It’s a grace that is granted to us by the Spirit of Christ in our lives. He manifests as the Spirit of the Lord within our hearts and He gives us new desires from within.

John the Baptist was the best that it can be in the Old Covenant. His message was a message of repentance—stop being bad. So you would discipline yourself according to the law to not be bad. So if you’re a thief, you would discipline yourself to not steal anymore, but your internal nature was still tempted to steal. The law could not change the desires of the heart and mind; it could only restrain them.

In the law, in the Old Covenant, the best you can do with a thief is restrain them in their cultures or put them in jail. So you restrain them, you confine them so that they’re restrained from acting upon their will, from acting upon their true nature, their true desire. That’s how the law works.

Jesus didn’t come to put us in another prison. He came to change our hearts, to change our minds, to give us a different desire so that we’re no longer people who are in prison. He came to set captives free and to open prison doors to those who are bound.

A captive is something that happens to you when someone does something to you. They took you and they made a captive out of you. You didn’t do anything wrong, but they took and made a captive out of you. Jesus came to free the captives. He also came to open the prison doors for those who are bound.  Prison is something you did to yourself. Prison is a consequence from your own actions. You’re not a captive, you’re a prisoner.

Jesus doesn’t come and set prisoners free. He opens prison doors and makes it so that you can walk out of prison and you can’t go back because there’s nothing about you that can be incarcerated. He changes your nature from within. You are not a thief! You’re not a liar! Your life is changed!

So the repentance of the kingdom of God, the repentance of the New Covenant is different than repentance of the Old Covenant. It’s not a discipline of your thoughts. It’s a changed heart. If you will, it’s a changed brain. You think different.

The journey of Abram to become Abraham was a shadow of the good thing that is found in Christ for us all. Abram was a Chaldean, but Abraham was not a Chaldean. Abraham was a Hebrew. Abraham was transformed by the influence of heaven in His life. Abram was born on earth, but Abraham was born by faith. The sound of God in Abraham’s name was his citizenship. He was born in heaven. There were no Hebrews on earth. Abraham was not a Jew and Abraham was not a Gentile. Abraham was a Hebrew. He was a shadow of something that’s destined for all tribes, tongues, peoples and nations to be that can only happen in Christ.

In Christ we can find our citizenship in heaven but then have a responsibility in the earth to bring the influence of heaven into the earth. So repentance in the New Covenant is to be given a gift, a grant of what is in heaven. Repentance onto life.

I’m changed. So I see what God sees. I think what God thinks. Abraham thought differently than Abram. That’s how he could willingly offer his son Isaac because he knew his friend God would raise Isaac from the dead. He didn’t offer him because he knew his friend would give him another son. No, he knew that it was not like his friend to have his son end in death. He knew that if he offered his son, his friend would raise his son from the dead.

Hebrews 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

God saw Abraham’s heart. He knew Abraham’s mind. God knew that, ah, yes, he is Abraham. So that’s when God said, stop, look; and the substitute ram, Jesus, the lamb slain before the foundations of the world were laid was in the thicket. The substitute ram was in the thicket.

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 thought I would give an update as to my present situation. Like you, I am on a journey of faith. Faith comes by hearing God and hearing God is the fruit of being loved by Him. It doesn’t matter what is going on in our lives, good or bad, our journey in life is a testimony of a personal relationship with God in all things. Every day is a day to know God more deeply and to receive His love. The challenges in our lives are opportunities to become genuine in our faith toward, and in, God.

Today I am in Bellingham. I was supposed to be in Portugal and then the Netherlands, but due to some health issues, I had to cancel my travel at this time. I have been challenged with some heart issues since the end of December and have gone through many tests to find the answer to my situation. I spent a few days in the hospital last week, but the good news is that they found the problem—and the challenge is, they found my problem.

After undergoing an angiogram, I have been diagnosed with coronary microvascular disease. Although there is some blockage in some arteries, they said that my daily running routine helped so that even with some blockage there is plenty of blood flow. They did not need to put in any stints and there is no surgery needed. There is some damage to the tiny blood vessels within the heart that restricts some flow, causing the chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath and other things. They will treat it with medication, and I will continue in my journey of life, knowing that God is my friend and He will work all things out for good according to His purpose in my life. I am believing for Jesus to create in me a clean heart—spirit, soul, and body.

I now know what has been going on. I will continue to do my routine of walking, running, eating right, taking some medications (to keep me humble) and most of all: knowing that in Jesus’ name all is made right! These are simply challenging circumstances in life.

God told me that this year is a year of truth. He told me this would be a year something new, something that I have never experienced in my life before. I’ve learned that when God says something to me, I have to lay down what I think I know. Because when He says something, it has to do with something I haven’t seen, or heard, or thought before. When you’re 70 years old, 53 years old in Christ, you’ve seen some things, you’ve thought some things, you’ve heard some things, so your biggest problem is you know too much. When you know too much, then you have to humble yourself and become like a little child so you’re willing to learn some new things. The circumstances of my life define things that are true, but God’s love defines what is truth.

Truth is a person and nothing can separate us from His love. He wants to meet us each day of our journey in this world. His meeting with us, defines who we are in life. When we see Him, we are changed by Him. He is truth and His presence in our lives is what defines who we are. True things, or lies, don’t define us. Knowing the truth in the midst of true things and in the mist of lies is what makes us free.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Repentance in the New Covenant is an obedience to receiving God’s love. When we know His love, our hearts and minds are changed by His love. Repentance in the New Covenant is a repentance unto life. An encounter with Christ in our lives enables us to repent and be converted. When we experience God’s love we are changed by His love. Our connection with Him today, heals us of our disconnections from Him in the past. His presence in our lives blots out our sins. His presence in our lives gives us refreshing in the midst of our circumstance.

The word refreshing in verse 19, means to recover our breath. Sometimes our wind gets knocked out of us, but times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord in our lives. There is a day when we will experience the culmination of a full coming of Jesus to our lives, but each season of our lives is another opportunity to experience Him more. He desires to come to us each day as a life-giving Spirit. His presence in us restores our breath.

In these verses, there’s two different times. It says that times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. That word for time there is the Greek word Kairos. Kairos times are the experiences, divine moments, and connections to God that transform our lives.

Jesus is held up in the heavens until the times of the restoration of all things. This word for times is the Greek word Chronos. Chronos time is the chronology of our lives. Our lives are measured in Chronos measurements. Our whole life would be a Chronos time, but in our Chronos time, there are Kairos moments that define us.

Chronos is the measurement of our destiny and Kairos is the measurement of experience in that destiny. Jesus is not held up in the heavens until a moment when He comes and magically fixes everything. He’s held up in the heavens while there’s a process of fixing going on. He’s held up in the heavens while there’s a process of Kairos experiences with Him happening in our lives. We don’t know the full measurement of the Chronos time of our lives, but we can find new life every day in our journey through the Kairos moments of Him revealed to us from within.

In your life, God has ordained that there will be Kairos moments. There will be experiences with Him in your life that will give you your breath, refresh you, refine you, redefine you, and transform you. These Kairos moments are the experiences in your life that make you different than you were before those Kairos moments, and they’re part of your whole destiny. Your whole life is a Chronos destiny and it’s destined for times of God’s presence that give you your breath in the midst of the journey.

Our lives are not measured by the circumstances that we go through. Our lives are defined by our experiences with God in the midst of our journey. I am praying for us all that we will find refreshing from God’s presence in our lives today. This is a season of truth and God is giving us breath that defines who we are.

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 Bellingham. I was blessed to minister in our home church yesterday. It was a great morning. God’s presence was there and the people were hungry and ready for what God is giving to us in this new year. I am expectant of and with life.

The kingdom of God is not a natural kingdom. It’s a supernatural kingdom that has the power to transform the kingdoms of our world to become heavenly testimonies of God’s grace and truth. The truth is not merely what is true. The truth is a matter of becoming what the kingdom of heaven declares us to be from within our hearts. The kingdom of heaven is a reality of the New Covenant testimony of God’s love transforming our hearts and minds to become what we could not be before. We become a testimony of the One who dwells within us in increasing measures. From glory to glory He changes us.

2 Corinthians 3:16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The Spirit of the Lord within our hearts transforms our lives from within. The treasure within us is Christ, and Christ in us is our hope of glory. That hope is in our lives today and into all the days of eternity. We are a dwelling place of God by His Spirit, and we have the celebration of God’s life within us.

What were meant to be feasts in the Old Covenant become celebrations of life within our hearts in the New Covenant. Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles were but a shadow of an internal knowing of God’s presence in our lives.

Our righteousness is found in our relationship with God—spirit to Spirit. He abides in us and we abide in Him in Christ. Righteousness is not about being right. It’s about a right relationship with God who loves us and gives us life. Jesus’ death reconciled us to our Heavenly Father and our relationship with God in Christ transforms our hearts and minds from within. We are not justified by doing right things. We are loved by God and that is what justifies us to live. The once for all shed blood of Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Our sins have been forgiven, and we know the Father’s love. Being loved by God in our hearts empowers us to know His righteousness. We must seek righteousness in the Holy Spirit to grow in the testimony of God’s love. Knowing God’s presence in our lives produces the fruit of life and love to our world. We will do right things—life-giving things. Our righteousness is by faith, and the sign of our righteousness is the circumcision of our hearts (2 Cor. 5:14-17). We are new creations in Christ, and we live by faith in Him with love in our hearts. He gives us life!

We have peace in the Holy Spirit. There is no separation between us and God. All of His promises to us from heaven become the testimony of our lives. We have a feast of internal Pentecost. We are growing in being strong in God’s word and strong in the testimony of His Spirit. We overcome everything that seeks to separate us from being a heavenly testimony in our lives.  Our peace is a gift by the blood of Jesus Christ that puts us in the Father’s house (Eph. 2:13-18). The evidence of our peace with God is seen in the manifestation of His promises in our lives. He gives us breath and we are expressions of Him to our world.

We have joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy is not dependent upon happiness. Joy is deeper and stronger. In the presence of the Lord there is the fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11). That Joy is connected to purpose, and our true purpose is found when we partner with God and He partners with us in all things. We have an internal celebration of Tabernacles, and our kingdoms become expressions of God’s kingdom within us. He gives us all things for His glory in all things.

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 Bellingham. I have enjoyed being home with family and I am looking forward to a couple more weeks here before I am out again. The sun is shining and I am grateful for life today. I hope you are all well and that you have a blessed week. I am praying for miracles and divine testimonies of God’s love for you all.

The kingdom of God is the kingdom of heaven. It’s an internal kingdom of life that influences the kingdoms of our world by transforming us to become sons and daughters of God. The kingdom of God doesn’t come by observation; it’s within us. Although the kingdom of God doesn’t come by observation, its influence upon our lives can be seen in our kingdoms in this world.

A revelation of Christ in our lives gives us the influence of Christ to our world. Christ in us is the hope of glory and that glory is not just going to heaven when we die. It’s the influence of the kingdom of heaven in our hearts. That influence causes us to be motivated by God’s presence, His promises, and His purpose in all things.

Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

A revelation of Christ, and from Christ, in our hearts will give us the keys of the kingdom of heaven. We are the body of Christ, the church—the co-reigning partner of Jesus on earth. The realm of the dead, Hades, cannot keep out the influence of the light and life of heaven. What God has determined to be loosed in heaven must be loosed upon the earth to release the blessings that come from the open door of grace. Darkness and death will be subdued as light and life prevails in all things. What God has determined to be bound in heaven must be bound upon the earth to bring God’s dominion in expanding ways in our lives. The goodness of God’s truth will crumble the lies that oppose God’s purpose in the earth.

What is loosed within us can be loosed by us to our world. What is bound within us can be bound in our world. What happens within us is the key to what can happen through us to our world. The kingdom of God within us is the secret to releasing the power of Christ’s influence to our world.

What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is within us, and it’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is an internal influence of God’s life.

Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The kingdom of God within us gives us our identity, testimony, and purpose. Our righteousness is found in Christ through a personal relationship with Jesus as our Savior in all things. His righteousness is a testimony of His presence in our hearts. His presence gives us our true identity. Our peace is an internal connection to God, whereby the promises of God are a daily reality that reveal the testimony of God’s Spirit and Word working within us. Our lives become expressions of the promises of God, empowering us to overcome anything that seeks to separate us from God and the power of His love.  Our joy is a testimony of an internal partnership with God for the will of His kingdom in all things.

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 heading home after a great weekend in Deming, New Mexico with CityLife Church. It has been a busy season with Portugal, Angola, and now New Mexico. I’m looking forward to a little time at home.

We are in a new year and there is a new season at hand. There is a new season within our reach. What are we seeking in 2026? What are we asking? Those who ask receive, and those who seek, find. Our focus must be upon the kingdom of God and not the kingdoms of men. Our responsibility is in the realm of the kingdoms of men, but our source for all things is the kingdom of God.

Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men.

The heaven and the heavens belong to the Lord, but our earthly world has been given to the kingdoms of men. When we look at the kingdoms of men, we can quickly discern that they don’t look like heaven. They don’t look like heaven because they are not. They are the kingdoms of men. God’s kingdom is heaven and even the heavens and He has always desired to bring the influence of His kingdom to the kingdoms of men.

He wants us to abide in Him and for Him to abide in us. When we know Him, we live. When the kingdom of heaven fills the hearts of the kingdoms of men, it influences the earth. This is the testimony of sons and daughters of God in Christ.

Psalms 115:17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!

Without God, we are the dead, but Christ in us is the hope of glory. We are no longer the dead, but those who live as God’s praise in all things. Eternal life is to know God the Father and Jesus the Son. This is made possible by the abiding presence of Holy Spirit in our hearts.

John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.”

God loved humanity so much that He became one of us and moved into our neighborhood as a man. God the Father, God the Eternal Expression, the Word, and God the Holy Spirit determined that the fullness of the times had come, and the Eternal Word became flesh and came to our world. He was born of the Spirit but formed in a human womb to be the Son of Man, Son of God, that would reconcile our world to our Father in heaven.

His death ended our old life, and His resurrection from the dead was our gift of a new life in Him. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, exercising the authority of life for all who receive Him. Holy Spirit has come as the life-giving Spirit of Jesus in us. He is the anointing of Christ upon us. Jesus is our rescue from the strongholds of a world separated from our heavenly Father. The kingdom of God is an internal kingdom of life. When the kingdom of God is within us, our kingdom increasingly becomes a testimony of our Lord and Christ (Acts 2.36).

Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

We find the kingdom of God within us. When the kingdom of God is within us, it empowers us to be expressions of His kingdom through the kingdoms of our lives in this world. Our lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses, ministries, and everything about us becomes empowered from within to be expressions of the ways of God to our world.

Heaven is in our hearts, and heaven and even the heavens belong to God. We must seek the kingdom within us to be expressions of His kingdom through the kingdoms of our world. Like the stars of heaven, we have been sent to rule in the night.

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 have had a full and wonderful weekend ministering to many leaders, churches, and ministries. It is always good seeing hungry people being touched and transformed by the love of God. I am looking forward to a full week of seeing what God is doing and going to do here.

To know Christ is to know the Father’s love. When we know the Father’s love, we become people of love. Love is not just an emotion; love is demonstrated through the actions of our lives. To love someone is to give of oneself to them in a sacrificial way. To be sacrificial doesn’t necessarily mean to suffer, but to be sacrificial we will be willing to suffer for another’s sake.

When we have a relationship with God in our hearts, we are strengthened in our inner man. When we are one with Holy Spirit, we become renewed in our spirit and our souls become infused with life-giving thoughts, reasonings, imaginations, emotions, and desires. The result is that the outer actions of our lives change. We live for the wellbeing of others.

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…

Our inner man is strengthened when we live each day in and from the presence of God. We don’t fellowship God in the Spirit to just know His presence. We fellowship Him to know His love. We fellowship to become a testimony of His love to our world. The strength of our inner man is found in the testimony of God’s love. God’s love defines His purpose and the more we know His love the more will come to know our part in the testimony of His love to our world.

Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Our relationship with God is not merely about knowing what actions to take in life. It is about knowing His love. When we know His love, we become loving. The more we come to understand His love, the more we become like Him is being loving of others. Holy Spirit working in and through our lives is not about supernatural ministry. It’s about being able to love others supernaturally. God’s love becomes the influence of our natural abilities and love becomes the motivation for growing in the supernatural ability of God in our lives.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

God wants to take us to places we wouldn’t dare go without Him. He wants us to embrace a world that is bigger than our world without Him. He wants us to embrace a perspective of the kingdom of heaven. This is not just a kingdom that we will go to one day; it is the influence of God’s kingdom in our kingdoms today. There is a greater horizon in the kingdom of God than in the kingdoms of men. There is a greater expectation—an expectation of the overcoming power of God’s love.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Without God’s presence in our lives, we cannot know God’s strength. We need more than merely the supernatural giftings of God working in our lives; we need the motivation for those giftings. God’s motivation in all that He does is love. His purpose is to transform a world that lacks a testimony of His love so that it may be changed by the power of His love. The works of God are works of love. The works of God will destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The context of this verse in 1 John is to be changed by God’s love with a testimony of loving others. We know His presence in our lives by the testimony of His love through us 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 Portugal. I have had a wonderful weekend with the CCVA family in Lisbon. Today I am in Aveiro with my good friends João and Ana. I will be in Portugal until Friday and then I will be heading to Angola for some time there. I am looking forward to all that God is going to do.

The present season of God is not just a season of blessing; it’s a season of purpose. That purpose is one of the Father’s will. How do we know the Father’s will in our lives? We often wrestle to know the specific will of God, and our wrestle is often connected to an ignorance of God’s general will. The general will of God in this season is to live for the Father’s will in a corporate way. This is not the way of the world. It’s the way of the kingdom of God.

When we know the general will of God, we are able to receive the specific will of God in our lives. The world seeks the rights of the individual, but we are called to live for the purpose of the family—the family of God. When we seek the rights of ourselves, we will miss the mark of the season of God.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing — Life forevermore.

God has commanded His blessing to abide in the place of His manifest presence in the earth. This is the place of Zion. Zion is a corporate place of God’s presence, promise, and purpose in the earth. It is from Zion that unity emerges. Zion is the place where the anointing oil on the head of our eternal High Priest runs down His face, down His garment, and touches the earth. It’s the place where the dew of heaven touches the baron rocks of Zion. That is where God commands the blessing, and that blessing is – Life forevermore! The result is a testimony of unity.

The cultures of the world don’t seek Zion. They seek the place of personal blessing. They seek the season of self, but this is a season of God’s purpose. It’s a season about His story. His story will be greater than our own self-seeking agendas that inspire us to live for ourselves to make our own story in some way.

Eternal life influences our world from the place of fellowship with God, as the place of His dwelling presence. We are called to know the mystery of that fellowship. In knowing the mystery of that fellowship, we will make known the wisdom of God to principalities and powers in heavenly places. We will influence the world through the power that comes from the kingdom above this world—the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

The apostle Paul was not shaken by the tribulations of his day. The resistance that comes to us is only an opportunity for the life of God within us to shine to the world around us. When we embrace the fellowship, we become strengthened in our inner man. That strength is an empowerment of Christ’s resurrection might.

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…

Our inner man is strengthened when we live each day in and from the presence of God. We don’t fellowship God in the Spirit to just know His presence. We fellowship to know His love. We fellowship to become a testimony of His love to our world. The strength of our inner man is found in the testimony of God’s love.

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 hope you are all well today. We have had some cold, but beautiful days here in the Northwest. I know that many of you have had snow and the fridged days of winter. These are the seasons of life. No matter what season we find ourselves in, it is a good day to know the Lord!

God’s grace in our lives is not simply about being better informed; it is about being transformed. Jesus didn’t come so we would merely know what to do or how to act in life. He came so that we would know who we truly are. We were created to be a testimony of God’s likeness and image on the earth. This is only possible when we become sons and daughters of God. We must be born of the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, and transformed by the Spirit. Our administration is not one of law, where we live by instructions and commands; it is an administration of grace. God’s grace transforms our lives from within. God’s grace gives us new hearts and minds in Christ. This is the testimony of being part of the body of Christ. We are not independent people living for individual victories; we are members of one body—the body of Christ!

God is our friend, and His desire has always been for us to be empowered by an internal force of freedom that comes from living as His sons and daughters in our world. He never intended for us to live our lives controlled by law or merely restrained by our conscience. His desire was for us to become a dwelling place of His Holy Spirit, empowered by the greater power of grace.

Law is an informing force, and the human conscience is the same. Law doesn’t really change us—it just makes us a killer in prison, or it makes us a killer restrained from acting upon our internal desire to kill. A violator of the law doesn’t just need to be freed from prison, but to have a changed life so they never go to prison again. God wants us to live by a higher law—a law of life and peace in Christ. This is a testimony of the passion of God’s presence, giving us desires in our hearts. This law is one of love. Love produces fruit of change that looks like law, or doing right things, but it’s really an internal passion.

Grace is something we find when we boldly come to live before and from God’s throne of grace. This is a place of daily relationship with God in our hearts. God doesn’t change us because He is not pleased with us; He is pleased with us and invites us to live with Him in all things. Living with Him changes us! When life moves into the room, everything in the room comes to life. When light moves into the house, every dark room becomes filled with light. You cannot shine light in a dark room and find darkness; when you shine light into a dark room, the room becomes filled with light. When we find God’s grace, it changes us, and we receive a testimony of God’s life that transforms us in some way. We must receive a change of government in our lives to see different fruit in our lives.

In Christ, we receive the testimony of God’s friendship. People in the world don’t recognize that God is their friend; therefore, they pursue a way of life that seems right in their own eyes. True freedom only comes by embracing a culture of grace. A revelation that God is our friend inspires a desire for His grace. Grace doesn’t free the world from a culture of law; it invites them to come to the place of the kingdom of God, where grace frees them from a culture of law. The blood of the cross is found on the mercy seat in the throne room of grace. The life of the flesh has been exchanged for the life of God’s Spirit. God never intended for law or merely the human conscience to be the rule of administration for mankind.

The empowerment of the heart of mankind was always meant to be by a personal relationship with God through the human heart. Jesus was the proof that the internal empowerment of the kingdom of God was the way of life for all men.

Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”

Although man was created in the likeness and the image of God, the law revealed to mankind that they were no longer like God in their character, nature, way, power, and authority. They were guilty of being disconnected from their true-life source. The judgments of the law were not attributes of an unloving God, but a consequence of the flawed character of unloving men.

The law told men they were guilty and that they should die, but there were provisions to help men in their weakness. Adam’s shame was covered by a death sacrifice and the covering of skin, as Adam was to wear the testimony of that death. It revealed God’s willingness to give life to redeem mankind. It testified of God as our friend. The law only proves that men want to be like God, but it cannot inspire change from within. The law controls the external actions of men, but it cannot transform their hearts and minds. Only intimacy with God in our hearts can change us.

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,

We had another great weekend here in Bellingham. The presence of God was wonderful yesterday in church and the family of God responded with shouts of celebration as Jesus was exalted. I believe we are on the brink of a breakout of God’s Spirit in a fresh and powerful way.

God is our friend, and He is pleased with us. We don’t need to change so that God will love us. We need to embrace His grace, which changes us so the world can see how powerful His love really is. Knowing God transforms our hearts and minds to become who He sees us to be. This is grace!

Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Paul was saying, “Because God loves you, I am praying that you will walk in a way that is pleasing to Him. Because He loves you, and because you are a child of God, I am praying that you will be fruitful in every good work. I am praying that you will grow in knowing who He is. I want you to be fathers. I pray that you will be strengthened with all might by His glorious power.”

God’s grace activates a cheerful endurance that transforms human character and manifests hope. Paul was praying for the One in them to empower their patience and longsuffering with joy—not with misery, but with the evidence of His manifest presence. Mercy declares that we can be delivered, but God loves us even if we are not delivered. Grace says that because we can be delivered, here He is, and He is delivering us! He is delivering us from the power of darkness because we have been conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love. God’s grace enables us to be those who influence our world by the power of the kingdom of God—the kingdom of God’s love.

God’s grace in your life is not just for you. It is for the sake of others. It is for the sake of the world you live in. When you embrace the change that comes to your life by God’s grace, it brings a reward to others in Christ.

Colossians 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church…

Jesus came to twelve men (Jn. 17:6). He manifested the Father’s character, nature, way, power, and authority to them, and He has called each of us to do the same for those in our world. Jesus told His disciples; “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” He gave His life for the relational connections in His life to reveal to them the source of all life. God has called us to live our lives as sent ones to our world, even as Jesus was sent to His disciples. When we go through suffering for the sake of others, we demonstrate the character of God, our friend.

God’s grace transforms our hearts and our minds to enable us to live for the wellbeing of others. This is the testimony of knowing God as our friend. When we see grace as the power of personal liberty, we often substitute God’s power of transformation for an excuse to not change our ways.

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.

The first part of this verse reveals a liberty to do all things, but doing all things is not the true freedom of grace. When we know who we are, we can’t just do anything. We take on the character of God who is a friend. Grace is the power of God’s Spirit in our lives that transforms us, anoints us, and empowers us to live for the wellbeing of others. Grace empowers our friendship with God and with one another.

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 hope everyone is well. I had a bit of a different end of year and entrance to the new one. I spent the last two days of December in the Emergency Room of the hospital. On my morning run on the 30th, I experienced chest pain and pain in my left arm. I went to the ER and spent the day undergoing many tests, but my heart looked great on all of them. I went home, but when I woke up on the 31st, the pain was much worse. I spent that day at the ER again for many more tests. I have been going through many tests since, and so far, everything looks good with my heart. I have a couple more tests to go.

I did fall flat while running on Christmas morning, and they think that I may have bruised tissue or an organ internally, and it just took five days for symptoms to show up. I am getting better each day, but I have had to change my morning run to a walk. I hope to be back to 100 percent soon. Spiritual, physical, both—whatever it may be—all is well, and I am expecting a great year.

God’s grace is not just His presence to give us God’s blessings; God’s presence empowers us for God’s purpose. God’s presence is the power of His grace working in our lives. God’s grace causes even the things that the enemy intends for evil to be turned for good according to God’s purpose in our lives.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

God wants us to partner with Him in all things. Each of us is part of the calling of Christ, the testimony of Christ, and the purpose of Christ in our world. God’s grace is not just His presence to give us His blessings; God’s presence empowers us for His purpose. God’s presence is the power of His grace working in our lives. God’s grace causes even the things that the enemy intends for evil to be turned for good according to God’s purpose in our lives.

Jesus sits in the seat of authority in heaven as a resurrected man for the sake of all mankind. His intercession empowers us to fulfill the Father’s will in our world. His intercession testifies that we are justified to live because of the Father’s love demonstrated to us through Jesus’ shed blood. Jesus intercedes for us, that we may walk in the authority of Christ and reign in life by the power of Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. We are not only protected by the Father’s love; we are also empowered by His love. God’s grace is a testimony of His everlasting love. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

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.

Grace is God’s presence in us, with us, and for us. Grace is God’s love manifested in our lives. The things that oppose us in this world are things that seek to oppose God’s purpose in us and our purpose in Him. Our purpose in Him is to walk as sons and daughters of God, empowered by His love to be ministers of His love to our world. God’s love gives us our identity, testimony, and purpose in Christ, and nothing can stop the power of God’s love in our lives. This is His amazing grace!

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