Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I am in Bellingham after a couple of days in the forest hunting. I had a great couple of days in the silence of the outdoors and I enjoyed God’s presence. No harvest yet, but I will look to the end of the year.
Our focus in life should be to seek the kingdom of God in all things. Our focus is not upon meeting our own needs or fulfilling our personal desires. God is our Father, and it is His pleasure to meet our needs and to fulfill our desires, but His ways are better than ours. We can be confident that as we live for His kingdom and for His will, He will abundantly care for us.
Matthew 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
How do we seek the kingdom of God in all things? Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within us (Lk. 17:20, 21). The kingdom of God within us affects the outward expressions of our natural kingdoms to become testimonies for God’s glory. Our internal connection to God and His kingdom reveals true righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit within our hearts. An increasing revelation of these will empower our identity, testimony, and purpose in life.
God cares for the birds, and He cares for the flowers of the field. The birds don’t gather into barns, but people in the likeness and image of their heavenly Father were born to bring life to their worlds through the barns and vats of their lives. Their barns are a testimony of their life to the world as the living bread of Christ. Their vats are a testimony of the life of the Spirit they bring to others. When we seek God’s kingdom first in our lives, we can fulfill our purpose in this world as sons and daughters of God who give life to others.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Our trust in the Lord is foundational to our seeking God’s kingdom and will in our lives. God wants us to trust Him with all of our heart, but that measure grows as we grow in maturity in Christ. God doesn’t expect us to trust Him with a heart we don’t yet have. I am more than 50 years old in Christ and the measure that I trust Him today far exceeds the measure that I could trust Him with twenty years ago. Our trust of God grows as our experience with God grows. To seek God’s kingdom, we must not lean on our own understanding. I often thank God for the simple expression of praying in the Spirit, since the foolishness of the Spirit helps to simplify the complexity of my own natural thoughts. God the Holy Spirit inspires me to lean upon His understanding above my own.
God’s path in life is a path of our true identity. Only God can give us our true identity. Who we are reveals who God is in way that is uniquely our identity in Him. This can only happen when we trust Him, yield our understanding to His, and acknowledge Him in our ways in life.
Our testimony in life is one that reveals the goodness of God though the health of our flesh and the strength of our bones. We are not to be wise in our own eyes, but dependent upon God for the steps of His wisdom in our lives. An awe of Him will empower us to depart from all evil and the testimony of our lives will reveal God’s goodness to our world.
Our purpose in life can only be discovered and fulfilled when we honor the Lord with all that we possess. We honor Him with our attitudes, actions, and accomplishments in life. We give Him the firstfruits of all that He gives us in life. In doing so our barns will be filled with plenty, and our vats will overflow with new wine. These are the fruits of all that we are and do that brings life to our world. This fruit is both natural and spiritual and it brings the blessings of God to our world.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
