Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
I had another great week at home with family and friends. Today in church was another testimony of family and love. It is great to be a part of the community of God.
I have been blogging regarding the fire of God. We are a temple of Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit is the fire of seven lamps revealing the grace of God that transforms our lives. I have addressed the fire of being loved by God and the fire of loving God. Today I am presenting the fire of response. This fire involves an inward transformation by God’s word in our hearts and an outward testimony of Him living in our lives. These are the fruit of responding to God’s gifts of His Word and Spirit in and through us.
The third letter was to the Church of Pergamos. The word Pergamos means “height” or “elevation”. Whatever we are submerged in determines what we can become in our world. We can only be submerged in what we come under and what we are under is revealed by what gets our response in life. What we respond to gives us our testimony, as the children of Israel received the testimony of the judgments, statutes, and commands of God after they came through the waters of the Red Sea on their journey to the Promised Land. Just as there is one faith, there is also one baptism, or submersion. Moses received the instructions from God while submerged in the presence of God upon Mt. Sinai. Our testimony comes when we are submerged in the Spirit of Christ. This is what changes our way of life to be a testimony of His fruit and charisma. We receive the priestly robe of Christ when we are baptized in His Spirit. When we are submerged in His Spirit, we receive teaching that comes by way of the power of His transformation in our lives. This letter to the Church of Pergamos testifies of this.
Jesus is seen as “He who has the sharp two-edged sword”. The sword is a signification of the word of God. Jesus is the giver of the word, as the word was given to the children of Israel in the wilderness. The two edges of the sword of Christ’s testimony is a love for God and a love for His children. When we are submerged in the Spirit of Christ, we receive both an internal and external testimony of loving God and loving others as we love ourselves. This is not just seen in the actions of our lives but the very substance of who we are. The way of our heavenly Father becomes the way of our hearts.
As it was during Israel’s time in the wilderness, Balaam is seen trying to destroy the Church through corruption. Balaam was a false prophet who sought to destroy the testimony of God’s people for his own personal gain. The doctrine of Balaam is to live for a testimony of the flesh by seeking to meet one’s own needs. His trap was that of a temptation of the flesh. There were also those in Pergamos to held to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans – a group of carnally indulgent people whose response in life was to their own personal desires. Meeting our fleshly needs or fulfilling our carnal desires is the opposite of a lifestyle of response to Holy Spirit.
He who overcomes is given “hidden manna”. This was God’s provision in the wilderness (Ex.16:14-15). It speaks of the daily words of life that come when we respond to a submersion in Holy Spirit for heavenly understanding. God’s words are not words of our own understanding but an understanding of the Spirit. The internal working of the word of God changes our character, nature, way, power, and authority. He who overcomes was also promised a white stone. The white stone is a sign of a redeemed people, with a new name (new character & identity in Christ). It speaks of a testimony that others can see through the outward expressions of our lives.
Our ways of life change when we are submerged in the Spirit of Christ. He brings us to an understanding that brings about change in our character, nature, way, power, and authority. All New Covenant believers have a personal testimony in Christ (1 Jn. 5:9-12). Those who embrace the New Covenant are granted a personal testimony of Jesus in their life, seen as a white stone with a name that only the one receiving it knows. To know the one baptism of life in Christ is to know a new identity in Him. Christ becomes the source of our identity in all things. He is the desire of our hearts! Being submerged in Him activates our hearts to cry out, “Abba, Father!”
This is the fruit of the burning fire of response to the One who causes heavenly things to give us a holy testimony in our world.
Rev. 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’
As a dwelling place of God’s Spirit, we grow in knowing the fire of being loved by Him, the fire of loving Him, and the fire of responding to Holy Spirit for a heavenly transformation, inside and out.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
As we conclude the year of 2023, please consider making a contribution to House of Bread Ministry. We have increased our input to many parts of the world and your contribution will help us equip, train, equip, and send many for the purpose of God’s New Covenant Life and Grace in the nations. Thank You – Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
