Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Welcome to September! It always amazes me how fast the summer months pass in comparison to the rest of the year. I will be heading back to Europe this week for some time in the U.K. as well as some great ministry venues in Portugal. I am once again looking forward to all that God is going to do.
God’s love for us is the passion of His heart. His love for us is stronger than His hate for sin. Our sin was not merely wicked acts and unrighteous ways. It was our self-seeking, self-willed disconnection from God. We were looking for love in all the wrong places and thus we lost our ability to be life-givers to our world as God is a giver of life to all who come to Him. Jesus is our reconciliation. The New Covenant is a testimony of receiving God’s life, becoming an expression of His life to our world, and partnership with God in all things to give the life that He gives to our world. God’s presence in our lives is our salvation in all things. This is the new song in our lives for each and every day.
Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” 3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
God in our midst is more important than any instruction that He gives. God is not some boss in a business producing some product of ministry. He is our Father and Jesus has been revealed to us as His Son. His identity is revealed in terms of relationship, endearment, and intimacy. Our walk of faith is not one of merely seeking instructions from God regarding what to do or how to act. Our walk of faith is one of relationship with Him. Trusting God is the fruit of knowing His love. When we know His love, we are empowered to become like Him and we give life to our world. The wells of salvation are within our hearts. Drawing water from the wells of His presence within us is a matter of relationship. The fullness of joy is found in the presence of God and the presence of God is within us. We are a temple of Holy Spirit.
God wants us to call upon His name. We can depend upon who He is. We can know Him in His character, nature, way, power, and authority. It is not just the things that He gives or the works that He does that we depend upon. It is who we become because of Him in our lives. He causes us to change in life-giving ways. It is by this that we truly declare His deeds to others in our lives. We know that His name is higher than any other name. He is the exalted one in our lives that inspires us to sing a new song each new day. This is the fruit of His presence in our lives!
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
God is always speaking to us, and He wants us to hear His voice. He wants us to know Him in a personal and intimate way. He wants to be our friend. His thoughts are more than can be counted.
Psalm 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
God wants to communicate with us with thoughts of life. His thoughts outnumber the sand. They are precious thoughts that are one of a kind for each of us. The motivation of His heart is love for each of us. It is His desire to think of us in a personal and intimate way and His heart is moved to act according to His love on our behalf. This is our Father in heaven and us as His sons and daughters make Him known in our world with a new song of life each day.
Psalms 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.
God is speaking, but we have to listen (Ps. 95:7-8). His thoughts are good like fruit; they give us life and empower us to be givers of life to our world. God’s voice is a sound and an internal empowerment of love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, goodness, faithfulness, patience, and kindness (Gal. 5:22, 23). The notes and words in the song of our lives is filled with the essence of these in all things.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
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Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
