Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I am in Wichita, Kansas. I have had a great time at ChristLife Ministries and at Eagle’s Nest Ministry. The people were hungry and God did some great things. Lots of prophetic words and ministry. Blessing to the family of God in Wichita!
While considering friendship with God, I have been stirred to consider the focus of my life. This would include the focus of all our lives as members of the body of Christ and also the corporate purpose of the church. Abraham’s friendship with God had an eternal fruit of Jesus the Messiah and the Seed for all the nations to become part of the inheritance of God in the earth. Although Abraham had possessions, he didn’t seek to build a kingdom of possessions. He lived as a pilgrim expecting to receive a city whose builder and maker is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
God is our friend and His friendship with us is not so we can build kingdoms unto ourselves. It is not just so we can have a blessed life. It is so we can have a part in being the blessing of His eternal life. It is so we can be a blessing of God’s life to the nations and the generations of mankind. It is the heavenly influence of the city of God. That city is both in heaven and upon the earth. It is a city with foundations. I believe that those foundations are foundations of Jesus Christ the rock and an increasing revelation of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit in human lives. They are the foundations of the Spirit of the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowing, and the Fear of the Lord that empower our identity in the calling of Christ, our testimony in the inheritance of Christ, and our purpose in the Power of Christ in all things. I believe that Mount Zion is the governing expression of that city upon the earth, but that city is a heavenly Jerusalem, a vision of peace with God that is one with God in heaven and upon the earth in increasing measures. It is the place of Shalom – a place of knowing God as our friend.
The city of God is the community of God. It is a communion with God and a communion with one another. It is a place where we come to unity with God, and we come to unity with one another. Our joining together is centered around the manifest presence of God in our lives. It is the place of being the field of God for the testimony of the fruit of God in all things. It is seen as being the building of God, as a place of His holy habitation and purpose in all things.
1 Corinthians 3:9-16 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If we find our identity, testimony, and purpose in earthly things we will only build earthly things. Straw is a material that only invites a place to sleep. It is symbolic of living for our own needs to be met in life. It is a day-to-day identity. Hay is a material that represents a testimony of the flesh. It is grass that is here today, but withers tomorrow. When we live for our own testimony we seek success, but we fail in the significance of life. We prosper in our own desires, but we don’t realize that our desires can only live in our lifetime. When we find our purpose in earthly things, the best we can do is to build with wood. Like wood it can create something that carries on to a next generation, but it is a purpose that is still connected to our own family name. It lacks the significance of God’s eternal purpose and can only carry on in some form of the success of human purpose. The Day of the Lord is a submersion in the fire of God and those who live in Christ have been called to live as children of the Day and not the night. To live for ourselves is to live like children of the night. It is a self-focused vision that is only consumed by the fire of God’s light. Wood, hay, and straw are only consumed by those flames. God’s mercy grants a salvation as escaping those flames, but it lacks the testimony of fulfilling the calling, the testimony, and the purpose of Christ in our lives.
When we find our identity in Christ we become like Christ. He is the precious stone that gives us the light of our identity. When we know that we are precious stones in Christ, we give our lives to help others find their identity as precious stones of life in Christ. Precious stones are stones that are refined in the fire of God’s presence. They are dependent upon the life that comes from their heavenly Father, and they are each unique and precious, like the foundation stone of Jesus Christ. When we find our testimony in the inheritance of Christ, we live to help others find their part in the testimony of their redemption found in Christ. Like silver, they are refined in the fire and only reveal the love of God in their part in His inheritance. That testimony is an eternal testimony of significance in being an expression of the eternal life of God for the benefit of others. When we find our purpose in a partnership with God in our lives, we demonstrate His overcoming power to reign in life. Like gold, we prove to be genuine in our faith and we demonstrate the qualities of the character, nature, way, power, and authority of His name. We live with the significance of influencing our world for the sake of the nations and the generations to come.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
