Blog In Audio:
Greetings;
I hope you have had a great week. I spent last week recording more training material, editing material, launching more resources, and other purposed activities that will allow House of Bread Ministry to serve the body of Christ in an effective way. I also spent a couple of days painting the assembly room of our church. We are not yet gathering corporately, but a lot of things are being done for a clear vision of the focus, vision, and purpose that God is calling us into. I am doing my part in buying into, supporting, and participating in what God is bringing into our expression of church in the earth. I have a great expectancy for what lies ahead of us in this journey of faith.
We are not living in uncertain times. The world is in uncertain times, but the people of God should be certain of times in all things. Even what the enemy intends for evil, God always turns for good in our lives. We can be certain of God in all things! We can be certain of His love! We can be certain that being a part of the body of Christ is a certainty of life. This is not a time to think like the world, but to think like the body of Christ and members of that body. The world is facing the fear of isolation, separation, loss, and anxiety. This is not our course of destiny. Our course of destiny is to shine as light, even in dark times. While the world wrestles with the darkness of times we must be people of eternity that bring stability to a shaking world. This is not a time to worry, but to be at rest because God is resting in our lives. We are not living in a tomb; we are living in the light and as Christ’s light in all things. It is not a geographical location or a position of instruction of righteousness. It is a matter of relationship with God and with one another. For this reason, we must discover who God says we are. This will fulfill our destiny in this world. Anything less is missing the mark.
We have each been given a combination of motivational gifts from our heavenly Father that serve the uniqueness of our ability to bring life to others. Those internal motivations determine our ability to function in various realms of responsibility. Those realms of responsibility are the place of our destined authority. They are not motivations that are bound to church structures or meetings, they are motivations that enable us to be who we are for the sake of others as the church. A change of meetings, forms of meetings, types of gatherings, or other circumstances of life don’t stop us from being the church. We must all love and live for the wellbeing of others at all times, but we each do so in different manners and by different ways of thinking.
Romans 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Those who are motivated to perceive are not greater than those who are motivated to serve. Those who teach are not greater than those who are motivated to exhort others. Those that exhort are not better or less than those who are motivated towards mercy. Those who lead are not greater than those who join to their leadership for the purpose of God’s life in this world. We are each motivated to fulfill a measure of authority. That authority will bring life to others. We are not called to measure others by the motivations of our own hearts. We are called to present our bodies for a corporate purpose according to the measure of grace given to us by God for the sake of being the body of Christ in the world for the calling of Christ, the testimony of Christ, and the purpose of Christ in all things. When we measure others by our own motivations we reject the gift that they are for the sake of our corporate testimony in Christ. When we live for ourselves we rob the community of the grace given to us for the sake of being who we are meant to be together in Christ. All are called to demonstrate love, but each and everyone loves in the way that they love. Some see the precious in what is vile, while others have a grace to break open the vile vessel that contains what is precious so the precious can become useful for the sake of God’s glory. Everyone is called to give, but some have a grace motivation of giving. Those with the grace motivation of giving are not to measure others by their standards. They are to demonstrate giving for the sake all being an expression of Christ together. They are even called to give to the extent that other expressions can receive the necessary supply to accomplish the greater purpose of the being the body of Christ. Those who serve are not called to measure those who teach by their standard of serving, but to serve to fulfill their part in being the body of Christ. No member is to measure the other members but to present their bodies for the corporate purpose of God in Christ. We must not allow any enemy to distract us from who we are meant to be, nor to be taken out from the corporate purpose of life in Christ. We must be true to whom God has made us to be. When we embrace who we are in life, we can bring life to others. We were created to bring life to this world!
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
