Our Connection to Holy Spirit

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Greetings,

I have been enjoying my time in California with my family here. It will be sad to leave my children and grandchildren again, but love keeps our connection and our anticipation of coming together again. I love my family just as God loves us as His family to eternity.

When the hidden places of darkness in our lives come to the light in Christ, they become light. We become holy, because the holiness of Christ within us brings about transformational changes from within our being. Holiness is not merely an abstinence from the power of the flesh. It is an attachment to the power of God’s Spirit. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of holiness. When we join our spirit to Holy Spirit, our spirit becomes a sanctifying source to our soul and to the physical expressions of our life. This happens when we put our hearts to the place where we trust God above all things. When we depend upon God in all things, all things reveal a testimony of the greatness, goodness, and mercy of God in all things.

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited.” (NKJV)

When we put our hope in our natural world, be become attached to something less than the life-giving force of our Father, who is the Creator and giver of life in all things. We end up living our lives for ourselves and only reveal the testimony of a wilderness bush that dries up and blows away like a tumble weed in the wind.

Jeremiah 17:5-6 “Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets GOD aside as dead weight. He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows. (The Message)

When we put our trust in the Lord, we become fully dependent upon Him in all things. We become like a tree planted by the waters that give us life in every season of our lives.

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” (NKJV)

As people, we are spirit, soul, and body. Our body is the outer form of our lives. The natural form of our lives is like the trunk and branches of a tree with its surface covering of bark. The physical expressions of our life are administrated by our soul. Our soul is not our mind or physical brain. Our soul is the inner core of our being like the inner core of the tree that can be measured in its rings that denote the history and experiences of the tree in its journey of life. That inner core fills the trunk, the branches, and all of its extremities. The human soul is the inner core of our being that serves as the facilitator causing what is within us to become an expression in the outer actions of our life. Our soul is impacted by the experiences that come against us in life, just as the tree is impacted by the experiences of its growth in the environment around it. The marks of impact can be seen in the growth rings of the inner core of a tree, but the sap within the tree rejuvenates the tree from within and it overcomes the resistance found in every season of the tree. It is the life of spirit within us that will empower us to grow in the life of God and overcome in every season of our life in this world.

Our spirit is like the sap of a tree, and it is the source of life within our being that is meant to be connected to the source of our existence. As a son or daughter of God our source of life is found in God our Father. It is only through our connection to God in our spirit that we can become expressions of the likeness and image of God in the earth. From the roots of the tree, throughout the core of its trunk and branches is the sap. This is the life source of the tree that empowers it to put forth its leaves and fruit. The leaves and fruit of the tree bring the blessings of the tree to the world around it.

When our spirit is fully joined to the roots of our connection to God in the Holy Spirit, our spirit floods the inner core of our being. It floods our soul, and our soul empowers our lives to manifest externally the fruit of the Spirit and the attributes of the Spirit in supernaturally natural ways and naturally supernatural ways. It is essential that we pursue a connection to the Holy Spirit in our spirits and that we respond to our spirit with thoughts, reasonings, imaginations, emotions, and desires that flood our soul from within. We must then give actions in the physical attributes of our lives. Our mouths speak, our hands love, our feet walk, and our lives become filled with actions that are empowered by God’s Holy Spirit within. We are planted by the river, and we put our roots deep in an intimate and supernatural connection to God in all things. The testimony and purpose of our lives becomes that of our Father’s will.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson



Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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Be Children of Light

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Greetings,

I have returned home to the U.S. and today I will be heading to see family in California. I am ready for Spring, and I am ready for new life in this season of new life. God is doing good things in the nations.

I believe that we are in a season of finding our true identity in Christ. The truth of God’s presence in our lives expels the lies that twisted and perverted our identities in life. God is causing the hidden things in our lives that do not produce life to be exposed and removed. God is bringing things to light that they may be made light. God does not expose darkness to shame us. He exposes darkness to the power of His light and His light gives us the power of grace that transforms the night into day. We are sons and daughters of God. We are children of light and not children of darkness. We are of the day and not the night.

Ephesians 5: 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

When we walk with the light, we become the testimony of that light. The true light of Christ is manifest as the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That fruit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22, 23). When these things don’t manifest there is something that is not good, not righteous, or not true in our lives. It is the testimony of our internal connection to the kingdom of God. The world around us is not the source of our lack of the fruit of the Spirit. It is a matter of the focus of our lives. Are we looking to the kingdoms around us, or are we looking to the kingdom of God within us? Are we dependent upon the life of Christ within us, or are we looking to find our life from created things in our world? Are we living as sons and daughters of God who live to give life to our world even as Our heavenly Father gives life in all things?

When we become distracted by created things our thoughts, words, and conversations might even sound scripturally true, but if the fruit of the Spirit is not there it is not the right spirit. The cure to being free from any darkness in our lives is to passionately embrace fellowship with light. That light is the light of Christ in us. This is the hope of glory in all things. The light of Christ transforms the darkness in us to light when we walk in the light. Walking in the light is a matter of intimacy with God by the spirit.

Sometimes the lines between good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and deception get blurred. A good indicator that we are walking in the path of life is the evidence of the fruit of life. We cannot do fruit; fruit is something that happens when we live in the place where fruit grows. Fruit is something that gives life-energy to someone else and releases seeds for a future generation of life. Fruit is not a self-gratifying thing; it is a life-giving thing to others beyond your own life. Children of light shine light to the world around them! They don’t shine that light to merely expose darkness or sin. They shine light to transform darkness to light and disconnection to connection to God, who is life. Sons and daughters of God are givers of life, not those who simply complain about the darkness around them. We must be children of light!

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson




Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Posted in #graceculture, #newcovenant, #peopleofGod | 2 Comments

Our True Identity

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Greetings,

Today I am in Bulgaria. I just finished an awesome time of ministry here. God was powerful in Blagoevgrad and these past few days in Plovdiv have been phenomenally filled with God’s manifest presence. God is loving us, and God is joining our spirits to His Holy Spirit to empower us from within in our true identity as sons and daughters for the glory of His name.

We are in a season in the earth where God is restoring the identities of His sons and daughters. In the world, it looks like there is an identity crisis, but I believe it is really a hunger in the hearts of men to find their true identity. The human soul cries out for an internal knowing of who he or she is. When the human spirit is not joined to the Holy Spirit in a constant and increasing way, the human soul yields to influences of the flesh or influences of destructive spirits that create a false identity in the human soul. When this happens, we embrace a false identity that is not true to who God declares we are in the reality of heaven.

Our true identity is not found in any created thing. Our true identity is to be an expression of the likeness and the image of God in God’s unique way for our lives. When we seek to create our identity from our own desires, we end up creating an image that is not true to the likeness and the image of God. God is a giver. He doesn’t need anything. He gives life, He gives breath, and He gives all things. When we find our true identity, we live to give life to our world. We live to give life to others. We live to give life to our children and our children’s children. When we don’t know our true identity, we create an identity that comes by meeting our own needs in some way.

The tattoos and piercings on the body of Jesus are marks of sacrifice and suffering that He took for the sake of giving life to us. The marks on His body are not marks that He sought to find His identity. His identity in His Father empowered Him to willingly take marks that were simply the fruit and evidence of who He was.

March 16, 2023 – Prophecy by Ted J. Hanson

I am stripping away your false identities, the identities inherited by the natural generations of men, and I am birthing the inheritance of new life in Christ. This is not a time to hide in your ways nor is it a time to hide your ways from Me. Let go of that which does not define you. For that which is being birthed has a greater testimony than that which you have inherited from the past. You have believed that the things of your natural inheritance defined you and you are even rebelling against them for there is a cry for greater destiny in your lives. That destiny is the life that you bring to the world. It is not the life that you get from the world. Generations are being birthed in this hour! Generations are being birthed that will be established by Me and established in Me for that which I have declared will be. Let go of your false identities and embrace your true identity in Me. For the glory of My latter temple far exceeds the former glory of every earthly temple made by the hands of men. My glory is found in My body and My body brings life to the earth. My body contains My Spirit and My Spirit births the generations of destiny who will walk in faith, confidence, and trust in Me. The strength of your life is not your natural coverings. It is not found in what you proposed your natural purpose to be. The strength of your life is found in the One who resides within you. For the true city of life, the true community of life, is born of a heavenly Jerusalem. It is born from the place of My love. It is born from the place of My testimony. It is born from the place of My purpose in all things. It is birthed by the power of My grace because of My provision of peace. See Me and see that we are one! You are My family! There is no gap! What is in heaven is in you and what is in you is found in heaven. You abide in Me, and I abide in you! So, let My temple rise! Arise and shine with shouts of GLORY! For you are called to be the people of God.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson




Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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His Resting Place

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Greetings,

Today I have arrived in Bulgaria after a great weekend in Ede, Netherlands. Thank you to House Of Praise Ede for receiving me and for being hungry for God’s presence and word. God is moving in the nations!

God doesn’t just make Himself known to us to bless us. He makes Himself known to us so we will be a blessing to our world. Knowing Him empowers us to know who we are. God is a giver of life and whenever He speaks, life happens! False things get removed because true things are revealed. God never reveals who He is merely for information. He reveals who He is to transform our lives and to transform our world.

Acts 2:1 Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Jesus was the word made flesh and He completed His course of life as a man to receive His inheritance as the ‘Son of Man’, not as the ‘Son of God’. The inheritance of the kingdom of God had been given to Him as the ‘Son of Man’, not the ‘Son of God’. He was the resurrected Last Adam. Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to the presence of His Father in heaven in a flesh and bone body. That body was the flesh and bone body of the ‘Son of Man’. The cry of the souls and flesh of men could now be answered with the regained access to their Father in heaven. He was the door to the presence of God for all of mankind. He was the firstborn among many who would open the door of the kingdom of God unto men.

Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” 13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Gladness, joy, and strength had come to the nations. The guarantee of the inheritance had been poured out, and continues to be poured out, upon all flesh. God has poured His Spirit upon all flesh so that we can all now stand as ‘doorkeepers’ in the courts of our God welcoming all to come and tabernacle with Him as their Father. Jesus is the ‘Desire of the nations’. He is the answer to the cry of the souls and the flesh of all men.

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 and on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 

The salvation of mankind is that all would become a dwelling place of the Most High. Only God can fulfill the cry of the hearts of men. God has put it within the hearts of all of humanity to seek out the place of their dwelling in Him and His dwelling in them. His presence brings life to our world. He brings order, fullness, and light. God has released the power of His prophetic presence upon the flesh of men in order to call all men to come and tabernacle with Him. The days of natural limitations are being replaced by the eternal day of life in Christ. Old ways are ending so that eternal realities can be experienced in Christ.

Psalms 84:1 How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young–Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah

Let us fulfill our destiny in Him as ‘doorkeepers’ in His awesome house of life! The key to the cry for life is found in a dwelling place with Him. He is our abiding place. How wonderful is His presence! How wonderful is the Body of Christ. Let us be fruitful and multiply for His glory! He is our God! He is our Father! He is the nesting place of LIFE and we are the nesting place of His presence!

Blessings,

Ted J.  Hanson




Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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God’s Desire to Live With Us

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Greetings,

I hope everyone is well. We had another great week and weekend here in Bellingham. I was blessed to speak at Alife yesterday. God’s presence in worship, the hunger of the people, and the feeling of family were all hallmarks in yesterday’s community connection. I am preparing now to go to the Netherlands and Bulgaria for an appointment with what God is going to do there.

God’s plan has always been that He would manifest His presence among men. He desires to tabernacle with all men. Let’s look at a Scripture in the book of Numbers that will help explain God’s heart in wanting to see His presence made known among all men.

Numbers 11:16 So the LORD said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.”

Here we see that Moses was to appoint seventy men among the people to stand before them. These men were elders of the people and officers over them. They were ‘doorkeepers’ among the people. I believe the number 70 is significant of all of the tribes and tongues upon the earth. In Genesis chapter ten we find an account of the descendants of the sons of Noah. If you do a study of this chapter, you will find that the descendants of the sons of Noah were represented in seventy different peoples. The sons of Japheth were fourteen, the sons of Ham were thirty, and the sons of Shem were twenty-six, for a total of seventy. I believe these seventy elders represented God’s intention for all of the tongues, peoples, tribes, and nations of the earth.

There is significance in the prophetic content of this number 70. Throughout Scripture this number 70 carries with it the passion of God the Father’s heart for the scattered sons of Noah. It represents the Father’s heart for all people. We find that all through the record of God’s relationship with His covenant people, the number 70 comes up again and again. When we see this number 70, it is God’s heart for the sons of Noah. It is God’s heart for the tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations of the earth. By gathering the seventy around the tabernacle, God was declaring the need for all men to tabernacle in His presence. God was about to demonstrate the means by which He would make Himself known to all of mankind.

Numbers 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.

What did these men prophesy? Perhaps they prophesied that one day God would pour His Spirit upon all flesh and that He would make a way whereby He could tabernacle with all men. They may have said that the cry of all flesh would be fulfilled when men would come to know God intimately and He Himself would make His home among men. They may have prophesied of God’s desire to meet with all men upon His Mountain, Zion. We don’t know what these men prophesied, but we do know that two of these men were in the camp when they prophesied.

These were Eldad and Medad. The name “Eldad” means, “God has loved”; and “Medad” means, “The affection of God”. These men were not following the rule and order of an Old Covenant. They were prophesying in the camp and proving that God’s love and affection would one day be made known to all men. Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, became very concerned that they were prophesying in the camp. He wanted Moses to put a stop to their actions.

Numbers 11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”

The response that Moses made has of a great prophetic significance. He spoke of God’s heart concerning His desire to make Himself known among all men.

Numbers 11:29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

Moses was prophesying of the day when God would pour His Spirit out upon all flesh. This act would be the guarantee of the inheritance of God to all men. He would give men the power to tabernacle with Him. In the New Testament account of the fulfillment of Pentecost, we find this prophetic statement of Moses made complete.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson




Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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Know Him – Be Established

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Greetings,

Today I am in Bellingham. I am looking forward to some days at home after being on the road for several weekends. I was blessed this past weekend to have my granddaughter spend the night and several people in my house for our ‘church at home’ Sunday with Alife. It is still winter here and it is much colder than it was in Africa. My body is adjusting to wherever I am.

For the past weeks I have been addressing the content of Psalms Chapter 84. This Psalm describes the psalmist’s desire to be a place where God lives and to be someone who invites others to know the life and freedom that comes from being a place of God’s habitation. The psalmist was proclaiming the truth that God intends to make known to all mankind. God has always desired to dwell in and among His children.

The basic problem of the Old Covenant was that man could not relate to God on a personal basis. The power of God’s prophetic nature was not fully attainable by God’s people because they were limited in their ability to hear God for themselves. They were bound to the limitations of their flesh. The true longing of their souls and the true cry of their flesh could not be satisfied within the limitations of an Old Covenant relationship. They lacked the power of God within them that would allow them to do all that the prophet spoke. They could attain to a measure of prosperity, but they could never be established. This is true for us today if we choose to pursue a path of a knowledge from God but fail to prioritize on a being intimate with God. Jesus made a way for us to be a living temple wherein abides the Spirit of God. This is a greater temple than any created structure of form of worship created and facilitated by man. God is the builder of our lives by changing our hearts and minds by His manifest presence within our hearts.

God wants to establish us as His sons and daughters in the earth and into all of eternity. He doesn’t just want to bless us in this life. He wants us to have and to know eternal life. That eternal life is to know God the Father and Jesus the Son in an intimate and personal way by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 17:3). We can find a testimony of this in the story of Jehoshaphat when he chose to adhere to God’s presence in the face of his enemies.

2 Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

It has never been God’s intent to merely prosper His people. He has always desired to ‘establish’ them. We find this to be true throughout Scripture. A good example is found in Isaiah 61:1-3:

Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, 3 to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

The goal of these three verses of Scripture is not just that we might prosper. God has much more in mind for us. God’s goal is not just to give us riches for our poverty, healing for our brokenness, or freedom from our captivity. His goal is that we might be ‘established’. There is only one reason that God brings freedom and prosperity into our lives. That is so that we might become the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. God intends that there be a people with a personal relationship with Him. He desires to have a people who will ‘believe Him’ that they might be ‘established’.

We must believe God in order to be ‘established’. To believe God means that we must first have a living relationship whereby we can hear Him and relate to Him. We must live in His presence. We have been called to be the place of His dwelling. It is in that place that we can be ‘established’. This was not possible in the Old Covenant, but for just a few. In the New Covenant, Jesus has made a way for this to be the real world for us all.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson



Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Posted in #graceculture, #newcovenant, #peopleofGod | Comments Off on Know Him – Be Established

Inviting Others

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Greetings,

Today I am in Deming, New Mexico with CitiLife church. We had a great weekend, and I am expecting our gathering tonight to be filled with God’s presence, purpose, and will. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we have the mind of Christ within us. We were inspired by the Holy Spirit yesterday and I know that Jesus will be seen again today in our lives and in our gathering together.

Last week I addressed some thoughts concerning being a doorkeeper at the entrance of God’s house. People in the world are bound to a history and inheritance of aimless wandering but God has invited everyone into a life of knowing Him and an inheritance of eternal life and peace. God wants everyone to know Him in an intimate and powerful way. To be a doorkeeper in the house of God is to stand at a place where you invite others to come and experience the goodness of dwelling in the presence of God as you do.

Psalms 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

There is another important aspect to remember when considering the fact that this Scripture is relating the believer to a doorkeeper. You can only be a doorkeeper if you have been fully accepted into the house. Having been in, you want to call others in as well. Being a “doorkeeper” implies the responsibility of ‘keeping’ the door. It is a place of ‘responsibility’. You have ceased your endless journey of aimless conduct and you want to invite others to do the same. You have been ‘entrusted’ to bear the responsibility of inviting others into God’s place of dwelling. It is only those who have tasted the abundance of God’s life that God would trust to be keepers of the entrance to that life. A doorkeeper is someone who lives his or her life for the purpose of others. Having tasted the good life of God, they now live to invite others to that life. I believe that the truth of the context of this verse in Psalms can be found where Paul, an apostle, was faced with the dilemma of not knowing whether to go to be with the Lord, or to stay and be a doorkeeper for the sake of the saints.

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

The context of the goodness of this verse in Psalms is verified in the following verses of Psalms 84. Having no good thing withheld is hardly a testimony of poverty or of ‘almost’ making it into the presence of the Lord’s dwelling. Those who trust in Him find the fullness of God’s blessing!

Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

When the psalmist says that the Lord God is a sun and shield, he is implying that God is life (sun) and protection (shield) to all who walk in a relationship with Him. This is hardly a testimony of slavery, servant hood, labor, or anything that is short of entering into the full blessing of God in His presence. The word for “blessed” in verse 12 is the Hebrew word “esher”. It means “happiness; only in masc. plur. constr. as interjec., how happy!” This is hardly the scenario of one looking at the presence of God from merely the doorway. It is rather the picture of one who is boldly inviting others to come and partake of the abundant life that they have come to know in His place of dwelling.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson




Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Posted in #graceculture, #newcovenant, #peopleofGod | 2 Comments

No More Endless Wandering

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in Portugal after a great time in Angola, Africa. The hunger of the people in Angola and the willingness of God to meet us was wonderful. I look forward to seeing all that God is going to do in the future there. I will be returning home tomorrow and I will be blessed to see my family. Life is full, but life is good.

Let’s continue our look at the 84th chapter of Psalms. The next verse in Psalms 84 is one that has been greatly misunderstood in the Church. I believe that a poverty mentality and a twisted view of the blessings of God have caused many to miss the point of this verse.

Psalms 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

I have heard this verse translated in ways that are far from its truth. There is a song that has been around for some time in the church that says, “a day in the house of the Lord is better than a thousand on the outside”. The song continues to say, “I would rather stand at the gates of the house of the Lord than to live like a king in the tents of the wicked”. Where do we find that? First of all the word thousand, is the Hebrew word “eleph” and it means: “hence (the symbol is an ox’s head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousand”. It comes from the words “eleph”, meaning: “a family (from the sense of yoking or taming) an ox or cow” and “alaph”, meaning: “to associate with; hence to learn (and caus. to teach)”. The implication of this word is one of an endless journey of slavery or labor, since it is associated with a word for ‘dwell’, it is not a place of resting but a place of things being heaped up upon you.

As for the part of this verse that has somehow been misconstrued to become something of living like a king in the tents of the wicked, that is far from the truth. The wicked do live in “tents”, but they do not live like kings. They may live in the deception that they are kings, but those in the world are bound as slaves in a world of aimless wandering. The word for dwell is the Hebrew word “duwr” and it means “to gyrate (or move in a circle) i.e. to remain.” It has an implication of ‘aimless conduct’. This is the only place in the Scripture that this word is used for dwell and it is not a ‘dwelling’ as in ‘residing’. It is a ‘dwelling’ as in perpetual circling without being able to get anywhere. This verse is implying that if you have not found the courts of God, you are left in the bondage of an endless journey of aimless conduct. You are searching, but never finding; desiring, but never finding fulfillment. Those who have found life in Christ have ended their life of ‘aimless conduct’ (1 Pet. 1:18) and embarked upon a sojourn of destiny. The righteous find a purpose and a future, while the wicked are left in the cycles of aimless wandering.

This verse also clarifies that those who have not found the courts of our God are left in the unstable condition of living in tents that are always wrong (a condition of wickedness). These tents are very obvious and ‘showy’ as the Hebrew word implies. They are very ‘surface’ minded and never find the true meaning of life. Like nomads, they are on a journey of tent-to-tent and place-to-place dwelling. They never find the place of destiny. They never find the place of rest and full purpose.

The true context of this verse is that of being a doorkeeper in God’s house. The word for “doorkeeper” is the Hebrew word “saphaph” and it means, “to snatch away, i.e. terminate”. It implies “to wait at the threshold” in the sense of a vestibule (a large entrance or reception room or area).

It could be thought of in the sense of being a dish holding blood or wine as the Hebrew word “saph” implies. It is the place where you invite others to end their life of aimless wandering and begin a covenant relationship of life with God as their Father. It is the place where you are inviting others to come and experience the goodness of dwelling in the presence of God as you do.

Because we know what it is to be a dwelling place of God’s presence, we live our lives in a place of inviting others to come and experience the same. Because we are an altar of God’s presence, our lives shine as in invitation to those who are bound in darkness. We find our strength in God, and we bring life to the weeping places of our world. We have God’s favor and His countenance shines upon us so we can be a witness of Him to our world.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson




Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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Evidence of His Presence

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in Angola, Africa. I had a great weekend visiting numerous CCVA churches on Saturday and then preaching in the morning at a CCVA gathering in Cacauco. On Sunday evening I ministered at the Born Again Church in Kasseque. I am very honored to be here. The presence of God was evident over the weekend and the reception by the people of God was wonderful. Today I began a week of leadership training for numerous church leaders on the topic of Worship and Praise. I know that God is going to continue to do very good things.

The destiny of humanity is that each of us become an altar of God’s presence. He is the strength of our lives. Together we are the temple of God that reveals a greater glory than the temples of the past. It is God who will fill His temple with great glory. That glory is an intimate knowing of God and a transformation in our lives that reveals His name to our world. It is a place of knowing God’s love and becoming testimonies of His love to our world.

As God fills His temple with His glory, there must be a revealing of the evidence of His power and love. If we are living in the presence of God, people should see a difference upon the countenance of our faces. If we have found strength in His presence, that strength should show upon our faces.

Psalms 84:9 O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed.

What do people see when they look at you? Do they see the life of God? I am reminded of a testimony found in the 4th chapter of Acts. There was a man named Joses, who the apostles named Barnabas. Barnabas means: “son of encouragement”. The testimony of the life of Joses was one of encouragement to others. It was so obvious in his life; the apostles gave him a new name.

Acts 4:36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

The testimony of God should be obvious in our lives. It should be seen upon our faces. The testimony that comes from living in the presence of God should be obvious to others around us.

The name Joses means, “he that pardons”. Perhaps there is a mystery in this man’s name that reveals a secret to his external testimony. If our character is loving towards others our testimony will be encouraging to them. What others see in our lives can be a bold witness, but it begins with a heart of humility. We are not trying to be anything special; we are simply embracing a Christ-like way in our hearts and it becomes a Christ-influencing testimony to others.

This same man Barnabas was later sent to Antioch to witness the grace of God that had been poured out upon the Gentiles there. When Barnabas came to the Antioch church, he was glad and encouraged them because he ‘saw’ the grace of God upon their lives. Is the grace of God obvious in your life? Can others ‘see’ God’s grace at work in your life? If so, your countenance should show it.

Acts 11:22 Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. 23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

The grace of God working in the church was something that could be seen. There was an obvious testimony of God’s life in the believers in Antioch. When we live as an altar of God’s presence, we are changed in a way that others can see. This is the glory of God.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson



Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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Our True Strength

Blog In Audio:

Greetings, Today I am in Portugal. It was great being with the CCVA church in Lisboa this past weekend. There was a strong connection of family and God’s word and presence were hungered for among the people. I always enjoy being with my Portuguese family. I have a few more days in Portugal and then I will head to Angola, Africa on Thursday night.

Last week I began to address the cry of every person to discover that they were born to be a dwelling place of God’s presence. It is only by being a place of God’s dwelling that we can fulfill our destiny in life. God told me that this year is a year of finding new strength in Him. That strength is not the strength of the flesh, but the strength of God’s abiding presence within us. His abiding presence within us will give strength to our spirits, souls, and bodies in increasing measures.

Man only finds continual blessing when his heart cries out for more of God each step of his journey in life. Each of us has been destined by God to complete a journey. Our pilgrimage is intended to be from strength to strength. That can only happen when one finds the secret to life. The secret is that all strength comes from the Lord. Only those who dwell in His presence find the power of increase along the journey. Those who fail to find His presence are left with an endless journey of failure-to-failure, defeat-to-defeat, and weakness-to-weakness. They find themselves in the never-ending spiral downward in a journey of missed appointments and forsaken destiny.

Psalms 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

God’s desire has always been to bless mankind. God wants an intimate, covenant relationship with man. In the history of God and His covenant people, we find that God’s heart has always been that He might be able to bring blessing into the lives of those who intimately dwell with Him. Man is to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath.

Deuteronomy 28:13 “And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.”

We see this principle of God’s blessing to be true in the context of Psalms 84 as well. God’s people are to be those who influence the environment around them and not those who are influenced by the circumstances at hand. God’s people are the solution to the problems of darkness. The world is locked up in the bondage of weeping and God’s antidote to the weeping of the world is that His people might bring joy to the world’s despair. We are light to the darkness. We are hope to the hopeless. We are life to death and fullness to the emptiness found in the lives of the prisoners of the world. As Christians, we must be gateways to heaven that release the power of God’s life around us as we walk the journey of life.

Psalms 84:6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca (meaning: “weeping”), they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.

The future for the Christian is not one of weakness and limitation. Believers in Christ are those who live in God’s presence. They believe in the person God and thus they believe Him in all things. He is God, but He is their friend. Their strength is found by living in His presence. The source of their strength is found in an intimate, personal relationship with God as their Father. They have been given the access and the boldness to stand before God in His holy mountain.

Psalms 84:7  They go from strength to strength; Every one of them appears before God in Zion. 8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

God has put the desire for a personal relationship with Him within the hearts of all mankind. That desire is the cry of the heart that calls for the presence of God. God shakes the nations that they might find the answer to their confusion. The Desire of the Nations is Christ in them, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Everyone must appear before God in Zion in order to find the fulfillment of their destiny.

Haggai. 2:6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: “Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 ‘and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts. 9 ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

The latter temple is not the physical structure of an Old Covenant. It is the temple of human flesh made holy by being a dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit in this life. We are individual altars of God’s presence and together we are the body of Christ. God’s increasing presence shakes both heaven and earth and the nations are freed to come to their true Desire. Jesus is the Savior of the word.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:

House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

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