Ted J. Hanson's Weekly Blog – ted4you.com

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today is my last day in California with my grandson Kaden and granddaughter Zaria. We have had a great week. My wife Bonnie went home last week, and dad and mom have now returned here. It will be a sad goodbye, but we look forward to our next adventures together.

Last week I addressed the subject of the Day of the Lord and the end times. End times is only necessary for the things that need to end. Things that offend and things that are lawless are removed by the administration of God’s grace in our lives. The Day of the Lord is a continued reality for all that is eternal and knows no end. The Day of the Lord is not just a coming day. It is the continued coming light of Christ in our lives. In Christ, we are children of the day and not the night. No aspect of the coming of the Day of the Lord comes as a thief for us. It is a constant, maturing, and culminating reality in our lives. We are increasingly becoming the light of Christ. We must not be distracted by those who choose to walk in darkness, but rather be the light of life that shines in the world for their sake. We are putting on the clothing of Christ.

Galatians 3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Romans 13:11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

These words written by Paul were words to the first century church of Christ. They apply to us today, but Paul was not talking to us. He was talking to the first fruit church of Christ in his day. We are a further-fruit church, but we are not the first fruit. Whatever happened in the first fruit set a precedence for all the aspects of fruit and harvest that would follow. These words are applicable to us, but they are words to the foundation of the church. The Day of the Lord is a day that has no end. It is a day that is as a thousand years.

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, meaning He owns all cattle (Ps. 50:10). God keeps His love and mercy for a thousand generations, meaning He keeps His love and mercy forever (Deut. 7:9). He remembers His covenant and word for a thousand generations, meaning He remembers them forever (Ps. 105:8; 1 Chr. 16:15). God is God for a thousand generations, meaning He is God forever (Ps. 105:8). With the Lord a day is as a thousand years, meaning it is a day that never ends. We need not be moved to fear by the end of days around us. We live in the eternal day of the Lord!

2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day

There was an aspect of the Day of the Lord in Peter’s day. There was a testimony of grace and truth in the first fruit church that guaranteed that same testimony in the fruit of the church in the generations to come. Last days can only come when that which is temporary comes face-to-face with something of the realm of eternity. We are people of eternal life, and we can expect God’s grace and truth to be good news for who we are in this world and all that is to come.

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

The writer of Hebrews was clearly communicating a last days that was at hand for his letter’s recipients. He was putting this last days era in the context of the already given Son of God, Jesus Christ. It was not a last days thousands of years in the future, but a last days for a nation at the time. God speaking to our hearts is an internal power of the kingdom of God that transforms our lives to be eternal testimonies of all that is in heaven. The last days only come because of the eternal day of life given to us all in Christ.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today Bonnie and I are in Redding, California. We have the very blessed duty of being grandparents for the week with our eight-year-old grandson Kaden and our six-year-old granddaughter Zaria. Their parents are away so we get to be all things to a couple of our favorite people. It should be a great week, as long as we get them off to school on time in a rested, fed, and somewhat clean condition – ha, ha.

If you have been connected on the internet with social media in a Christian format, you have no doubt seen many concerns regarding the coming of Jesus and the end times. This thinking is spawned by what many believers perceive the Scriptures say regarding the end times. The Scriptures are foundational for our believing in Christ, they are not words that project thoughts towards what might come. Even the coming of Jesus is a foundational truth in the Scriptures and not merely some coming event. Jesus said that all the things of His discourse in Matthew chapter 24 would be in the generation of the first century church. Jesus came as a man in the fullness of the times and brought an end to the Old Covenant age for those of the Torah/Temple society so that the continued coming of Jesus in the manifest presence of Holy Spirit could bring an end to every tongue, tribe, people, and nation in the ages of the earth. That end would only come because of an embracing of eternal life in Christ. When we embrace the true, the things that are false are destroyed. An opening of grace in our lives destroys the things of law in our lives. The law is not bad, but it is only a shadow of what is truly good. God’s grace is the power of His manifest presence in our lives that transforms our character, nature, way, power, and authority to be as we should be. God’s grace empowers us to take on the true likeness and image of our Father in heaven. The follow is an exert from my book, For His Glory – You Have Been Left Behind.

So much foolishness has been propagated in past years regarding “last days” mania and fear-filled predictions of the Second Coming of Christ. The New Testament has many references to “the end” and “last days”. What were the “last days” and “the end” proclaimed in the New Testament Scriptures? Were they predictions of the end of the world, as we know it? Were they predictions of events to come thousands of years in the future, or were they warnings of something much closer to the people of the day? Was there an exegetical truth to their warnings, or were they simply irrelevant words to their day and prophetic warnings for fifty-plus generations in the future? We are going to look at what Jesus said concerning “the end”. Let’s look at a parable that Jesus spoke to real flesh and blood Jewish people who came to hear His words of instruction.

Matthew 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

In this parable we see the story of the wheat and the tares. Many people think the tares were just weeds, but the tares were not weeds. “Tares” were darnels, “a type of grass commonly found growing as a weed in grain fields in Europe and Asia. Tares looked like wheat that had not produced a full wheat head. They were simply stalks of straw with a worthless seed head. All of the energy went into producing stalk, but it had not produced any wheat for food for others. These darnels were symbolic of humanity that consumes its nutrients on self-survival and self-exaltation. The Rabbis called these darnels “bastard wheat”. These tares that were sown by the enemy in this parable represented fleshly lives that are bound to being self-seeking, self-responsible, self-governing, and self-ruling in the DNA of their life’s existence. Jesus described the tares as “the sons of the evil one”.

Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

This parable had an exegetical fulfillment in the days of Jesus’ hearers. He said the harvest is the “end of the age”. He didn’t say it was the end of the world. This was the end of the Jewish age. Following the end of this age the “righteous would shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This must have meant that it was possible to hear and understand this principle at the time that Jesus spoke it. At the end of that age the wheat would be gathered into barns, but the tares would be burned. The false covenant keepers would be consumed, but the true covenant keepers would become food for the nations and seed to be sown in the lands of the earth. You don’t put wheat in barns to collect it! You put wheat in barns to distribute it! God had a plan of filling the earth with the knowledge of His glory (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14). The tares looked like wheat, but they did not have the substance of wheat. They would be burned, and the wheat would become the hope of the nations! We can receive this as a principle of truth in every generation, but there was a literal fulfillment of this Scripture within a generation of His speaking. The destruction of A.D. 70 burned the tares and left the wheat. Those holding on to the Law were consumed and the grace empowered Church came through a great tribulation to become the overcoming power of life and hope for the 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I was blessed to speak at ALife Church yesterday. I spoke on the theme of Christ in us and us in Christ. It is part of the message I have been blogging on in the past weeks concerning Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life.

We are blessed to receive the first coming of Jesus as the one who judged sin to give us mercy and justify us to live as new creations in Christ. His blood upon the cross was His death once for us all. When we willingly receive Jesus into our lives, we receive Holy Spirit. This is a first coming of Jesus into our hearts that enables us to find the grace of God by which we can reign in life.

Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ coming was not merely to get us to heaven when we die, but to bring heaven into our lives today. We often think of God in heaven, but the truth is that God is in heaven and on earth. Through Jesus, we have the presence of the anointed One in, upon, and with us in our lives. It is important for us to welcome His presence and to welcome His life in all that we are and do. He does not force Himself upon us, but He invites us to call upon Him. When we draw near to Him, He quickly draws near to us. He is willing, but it is the willingness of our hearts that allows Him to come. He is knocking at our door, but we must open the door for Him to come in and commune with us in life.

The work of the Holy Spirit is a work of life. The Father has sent the Spirit and the Spirit invites the Son. Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings in all the earth and the Holy Spirit has come in His name. The name of Jesus is not merely an identification of who He is, it is the identity of who He is. It is the substance of who He is. We identify water by the substance of wet, refreshing, thirst quenching, washing, and other attributes of water. The name of Jesus is like this. It is the substance of who He is. Holy Spirit comes in the substance of all that Jesus is. Holy Spirit partners with us as the bride of Christ and calls for the manifest presence of Jesus to come in increasing measures in the ages of men.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

The Greek word for “come” in this verse is the Greek word ἔρχομαι (erchomai). It is used only in the present and imperfect tenses, thus it is not a concluding event, but a continually happening reality. This is not merely meant to give the hope of what is to come in the future, but for hope in our present reality for the increasing glory of God in our future. It is a foundational truth of Jesus Christ in our lives. There is an aspect to the second coming of Jesus in our life as a continually happening reality. The Holy Spirit is God with us and He comes in the name of Jesus. The water that we freely drink of is the water of the Holy Spirit. It is the life of the Holy Spirit flowing in and through our lives to bring life to us and to the world we live in.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Jesus was saying these words to His disciples, but these words are true for us as well. When we receive Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit. It is by believing Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit and when we receive the Holy Spirit, we become testimonies of the life that comes by Jesus’ name. Jesus is alive and it is by the Holy Spirit in us that we can know Jesus with us.

John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

It is the Holy Spirit of God that draws us to God the Father and God the Son. Holy Spirit precedes the work of God in all things and is God with us and God at work with us in all things. In the book of beginnings (Genesis) we find the Holy Spirit as the expression of God in the earth. Holy Spirit was ready, willing, and able to bring life to all that needed life.

Jesus came to reconnect us to God as our Father in this world and in heaven to come. His goal was reconciliation for mankind. That reconciliation was to restore the mandate of mankind. That mandate was to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and have dominion (Gen. 1:26-28). Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life for us to fulfill this mandate. We know this by the Holy Spirit in us, upon us, and with us in all things.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Yesterday I was blessed to speak at Everyone’s Church in Mount Vernon, Washington. Thanks to all who came and to those who follow online. Pastor Brice has had COVID, and we are praying for his full recovery. It was a good day to be together and it is a great time to expect God’s presence in increasing ways!

Jesus came to reconnect us to God as our Father in this world and in heaven to come. Jesus didn’t merely come to die for our sins. He came to reconnect us to the place of being the likeness and the image of God to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and have dominion. He had to die for our sins to make that possible, but His ultimate goal was reconciliation for mankind so that mankind, male and female, could fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God! It is knowing Jesus on the throne of grace that makes that possible. The blood of the cross opened the door to find the life of the New Covenant in the throne of grace. It is there that we find mercy; a judgment that frees us from the guilt of sin and justifies us to find the empowerment of God’s grace. God’s grace is something we can find. It is the empowerment of a changed character, nature, way, power, and authority in Christ! The throne of grace is the place of reining in Christ!

Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus came to empower us to live our lives with Holy Spirit in us, upon us, and with us in all things. His coming back to us is not just a return in the future. It is an increasing return of His presence in our lives every day. We are not just waiting for Jesus to return. We are embracing His manifest presence each, and every day. He is our salvation in each, and every, situation we face in this world.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

The judgment that has been given to those who come to Him is a judgment of mercy. We lose our lives to find them in Christ. We laid our old life down to find a new life in Christ. We died in Christ, so the life we now live is by faith in Christ. This enables us to see Jesus for who He is. He is the way, the truth, and the life! All we have to do is come to Him and see Him. His appearing in our hearts is a testimony to His death upon the cross. It is a judgment of mercy for all who believe. His mercy is new every day and it frees us from every sin. It frees us from being disconnected from God in any way. This is the place of our death in Christ so that we might find our true life in Christ. After this, there is a continual coming of Christ for salvation in our lives. There is no doubt a maturation to a culmination of this reality, but we can embrace His coming presence after our first encounter with His judgment of mercy in our lives. Jesus came for us to live in this second and eternal reality of life! It is a second coming for salvation! Jesus gave this truth to his disciples, who were about to know His judgment of mercy and the return of His presence not just in the bodily form of Jesus, but in the form of the body of Christ.  They would soon know what it is to be a dwelling place of God in the earth. Not just a place of God being with them, but in them, upon them, and with them at all times.

John 14:28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

In this account of Jesus and His disciples, Jesus was about to enact the fulfillment of His first coming so that He could enact the reality of His second coming for His disciples. That would be the testimony of His true salvation in their lives and in the lives of men and women from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation in the world. When He said, “Arise, let us go from here”; He wasn’t just talking about physically going from the supper to the cross. He was talking about entering the fulfillment of the purpose for which He came. He didn’t come for judgment; He came for salvation. He made a way for God’s judgment to be a judgment of mercy for all who come to Him to receive it so that He could come to them for salvation in their world. He wanted to move into every neighborhood, not just a region in the Middle East. He came so that all would know what it is to be a dwelling place of God in the earth. Surely there is a maturation and a culmination of all things in Christ. There is no doubt an increasing reality to the second coming of Christ, but there is also a truth of His second coming in our lives today. Are we living at His first coming of judgment or are we moving beyond to an increased testimony of His coming for salvation in our lives?

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am in Wisconsin. I have been here for several days with a very good friend of mine. We have had a wonderful time sharing in the goodness of God and one another. It was also good to see some friends from the past at Living Waters Fellowship in Ellsworth, Wisconsin yesterday. I have blessed to be here.

Christ in each of us is the hope of glory in and through our lives. We are each a dwelling place of Christ and together we live our lives as the manifold dwelling place of God. Our lives are to be a testimony of the righteousness, peace, and joy of God. We are the visible expression of who God to our world.

John 14:19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Do we see Him? The more we see Him the more we become like Him. Perhaps, whatever we look at is what we become. What has our attention? What is the focus of our lives? Looking at a created thing will limit us but looking at Jesus will transform us to become givers of life to all creation in our world. Because He lives, we also live! What does it mean to live? Jesus said that eternal life is to know God as our Father and to know Jesus the son. Our lives are to be lived in Him and Him in us (Jn. 17:3). We can expect Jesus to manifest Himself in our lives daily.

John 17:1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Eternal life is not simply where we are going to go when we die. Eternal life works today! It is true life! It is life that destroys death today, tomorrow, and in every situation to come. Not even the second death can overpower it. To embrace the Spirit of Christ in our lives today is to destroy the power of death today, tomorrow, and in every place to come. Holy Spirit in you and me inspires us to call out for the testimony of our husband, our head, to come. Jesus will manifest today in our lives!

John 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. 

Christ in us empowers us to be as He is. Christ in us empowers us to be keepers of His word. His word is a testimony of His love for us and through us to the world around us. His love redeems, restores, and reveals His true life in every phase of our journey in life.\

John 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is living in a place of connection to God in heaven. It is by our connection to God in heaven that heavenly things become the testimonies of our lives. God is the word, but we are His voice. We are expressions of Him in this world. The peace that God gives to us is a peace of connection to Him in all things. We have access to His house, and He has access to our house to make our house a testimony 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am heading home after a great weekend with CitiLife Church in Deming, New Mexico. God was good and I believe the weekend is going to bear some good fruit in the lives of many. The church here is doing a great job and Jesus is being glorified. I look forward to coming again.

The year of 2021 is a year to know Christ the Rock. I declared this prophetically in December of 2020 and proclaimed that 2021 would not be an easy fruitful season. I also declared that 2021 would be a ‘come back year’. It would be a season of connection to God and purposed connection to one another. It is, and has been, a time to be renewed. The renewing is a testimony of being renewed in the courage of the Lord, renewed in the holiness of the Lord, and renewed in our faith in God. This is not the strength of our own flesh, but our confidence in the strength of God’s Spirit in us, upon, and with us in all things. It is a year of an increased knowing of God’s rest.

This is a testimony of God resting in us and we resting in Him. This is the place of being the body of Christ, the gate of heaven’s grace in the earth. This is not a year of great fruit, but it is a year of knowing a great God. It is a year of individual testimonies that are like leaves on a tree. Those leaves bring healing to the world around us. The testimonies of God in us are what heals the brokenness in others. These are personal testimonies for the healing of nations. 2021 is the space between. It is the space between what was and what is to come. There is a new look, a new mode of operation, a more enduring testimony.

John 14:5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Thomas was known as the disciple who doubted, but perhaps he was the disciple that demanded hard evidence. There is nothing wrong with wanting things to be true. The questions of Thomas were not bad, but Jesus’ answers to Him were the true key to finding truth. Our relationship with God and our perception of God is dependent upon faith. It is found in our spirit connection to God by His Spirit. This truth was further illustrated in the questions of Philip and the further answers of Jesus.

John 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

As the way, the truth, and the life Jesus testified that His life as a man was a testimony of His heavenly Father. He didn’t do anything without being a place of the Father’s habitation. He was a temple of the Holy Spirit in all things. He demonstrated living, moving, and having His being in God. He was also a testimony of the Father living, moving, and having His being in Jesus. This is the way, the truth, and the life for all of humanity. We must live, move, and have our being in God and we must also be a dwelling place that demonstrates God living, moving, and having His being in us. It is empowered by Christ in us, upon us, and with us in all things.

John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Anything we ask in the character and authority of Jesus will be done. How do we ask in His name? We must be the place of His habitation. We live, move, and have our being in Him. He also lives, moves, and manifests His being in partnership with us in all things. To ask something in Jesus’ name is to manifest the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ in who we are. This empowers us to fulfill the will of God in and through our lives.

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

The Holy Spirit is in us, spilling over to be upon us, and with us to reveal Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. He is our righteousness, peace, and joy.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings;

We had another great service at ALife yesterday. Pastor Jonathan gave a great word on being rivers of life to our world. The things that God does in our life have been and are great, but God Himself is greater. The flow of God’s Spirit in our lives is more valuable than the things that He has done. It is time to expect new and greater things.

Jesus demonstrated who He was as a man connected to God as His Father in every way. He demonstrated the life of a human being who was full of grace and truth. The manifest presence of God in Him, upon Him, and with Him in all things illustrated a redeemed human life in Christ. At the end of His earthly course as a man He summed things up to His disciples and prepared them to launch the life-giving force of humanity in Christ and Christ in them.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is our righteousness, Jesus is our testimony of peace, and Jesus is our connection to life-giving purpose in all things. How do we know Him and How do we connect to Him? Holy Spirit in us is our connection to Jesus as our righteousness. We know that God is our God by the internal belief of our hearts and the external confession of our ways and actions in life. We have been granted a right relationship with God in Christ that empowers us from within to live in a right relationship with others in our world. The overflowing presence of Holy Spirit upon our lives is our testimony of peace. His overflowing presence upon us is the evidence that we have access to all that is in heaven for a heavenly testimony in this world. Jesus is the Word, but we are expressions of His voice in the power and fruit of our lives. There is no gap between us and God. We are growing increasingly like Him in our character, nature, way, power, and authority. We are clothed in Christ! Holy Spirit with us is the evidence of our partnership with God as our Father in all things, by this the presence of Jesus in His character and authority is manifested for the destiny of our purpose in Christ. We have the fullness of joy by knowing God’s presence with us in all things. These three things are the evidence of the kingdom of God working in, through, and for us as the kingdoms of our lives become known as kingdoms of our Lord and Christ.

Romans 14:17 …for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

God is our Father and together we are a many faceted house for His holy habitation. Each of us are a place of God’s presence, but together we are a place of His presence in a greater way. His coming is a perfect and imperfect tense of His nearness to us in life and into the fuller glory. We are not abandoned or waiting for a time to know God. We know the presence of the Lord in our lives more and more each day. Our connection is to God as our Father and to Jesus as the Son by the fellowship of Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is our access to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. As the way, Jesus connects us to true life. As the truth, Jesus causes us to become testimonies of life to our world. Knowing Him is to truly see Him for who He is. The more we see Him, the more we become like Him. This is truth. When we know Him in truth, we become truth in who we are, and truth crumbles every lie. As the life, Jesus is the presence of authority in our lives that fulfills the joy of God’s purpose in our lives. He is manifestly with us in all things to demonstrate we live together for His purpose in all things. This is the fullness of joy!

John 14:5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Embracing the truth of Christ in us and us in Christ is the key to fulfilling our true purpose in life. This is a year of personal testimony, and it is the secret to our ability to be unshakeable in a shaking world. When heaven and earth shake it is because the unshakable kingdom of God is growing in heaven and on earth. We truly can be renewed in the courage of the Lord, the holiness of the Lord, and our faith in God. God is in us, upon us, and with us in all things through the character and authority of Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

It was a good week and weekend here in Bellingham. I am finishing up several projects I have been involved in and looking to focus on new things for a new season of life. Pastor Jonathan presented to us yesterday that we are in a season of God’s rest. It is Him resting in us and us resting in Him – the space between.

I have been addressing the story of Cain and Abel. God is the one who gives us life, breath, and all things. His desire is to give life to everyone. Our connection to God’s love is our connection to life. When we love something more than God, we find our life in it. God is the true source of life, and He wants to give us life, breath, and all things. In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain loved the ground more than he did God. So, God in His love made it so Cain could not attach to the ground easily. Cain would be a wanderer in the earth. These consequences were not meant to kill him. God did not want him to die. He didn’t want anything or anyone to kill him. So, God put a mark on him so that no one would kill him. I believe that mark was a mark of consequence. God’s thinking was, “As long as you continue in this course of direction Cain, there is a consequence. The consequence is there because I want you to be alive. I don’t want you to die. I don’t want anyone to kill you. I want you to turn and to see honor. I want you to come to Me. I am putting a mark on you. I am cursing the thing that you love more than Me so you cannot easily attach to it. I am placing upon you a mark of consequence so you will get a revelation. I want your heart to be able to say, ‘You are the Lord my God. You are the source of my life!’”

Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Did God kick him out? No! What would be the condition of not leaving? The condition would be to turn and come back to the place of honor and recognize that God is first and God is best, which is what Abel saw. It was not a law! It was a testimony to the source of life. Honor opens the door to life. The ground should honor Cain and give its strength to Cain, but the ground could not give honor to Cain because Cain was not giving honor to God. So, what did Cain’s life end up looking like? He went on a journey of wandering. He went to a land of wandering (Nod). This place of wandering was no longer in Eden, a place meaning “desirable”, a place of intimacy and relationship with God. It was not in a place of relationship with God. He had a child named Enoch – meaning ‘dedicated’. He then built a city, a big empire, a business, something he created. He named it Enoch, ‘dedicated’. He became ‘dedicated’ to what he could do. All of his family was dedicated to what they could do. If you follow the journey of the genealogy of the descendants of Cain you will find a descendant named Lamech. Lamech means, ‘mighty power belongs to God’. This man was known for singing the song of bitterness to those around him in life.

Genesis 4:19-24 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal- Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal- Cain was Naamah. Then Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy- sevenfold.

Lamech had three wives and it doesn’t say that he produced children, but his wives bore children. These children were merchant traders of livestock, creators of music and culture, and industrialists of bronze and iron. By all the standards of the world the family of Cain became entrepreneurs, artists, and inventors of new things. They became those who did all the great things that human beings do without God. They were the most successful people on the entire planet, but they didn’t know who they were because they didn’t know who God was. They ended up dying in the flood.

While Lamech of Cain died in the flood, there was another man in the earth named Noah who was also the son of a Lamech. His name was Noah – a name meaning REST. When we know that our mighty power belongs to God, we can become a place of God’s rest in the earth. God rests in us and we rest in Him. This is the foundation for life and a future and hope of life for our world.

God found a man that He could rest in and thus when He flooded the earth, He said He could rest in the family of Noah. He would destroy the earth, but where He rests it would be new again. The heart of the Father was towards the children and the hearts of children towards the Father. What was God looking for? He was looking for a family. He wasn’t looking for entrepreneurs, musicians, or industrialists. God wasn’t looking for successful people who were dedicated to conquer the earth. He was looking for a family who could inherit the earth. He was looking for a family of honor who would honor Him for who He was, and the earth could honor them for who they were in the earth. God could rest there. God was looking for the family who knew who He is and who they are in the earth. This is the place of honor. The future of the earth rests there.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I am back in Bellingham and enjoying the sunny skies of summer. It was great being with my family in California, and now it is good to be home with more of my family and summer months to finish several home projects. My travel schedule is soon to increase, so I must finish all that I have to do here.

Today I am reposting a blog from five years ago. It fits with what I shared last week regarding valuing God the Creator above things that are created. When we value God above all created things, we seek to hear Him above all other voices in creation. We trust His voice and His values above our own or any other voice in life. We honor Him above all other things in life. Unless we put God in His proper place in our lives, we become hindered in our ability to put others in their proper place of honor in life. When we value God for who He is, we can value others for who they are.

If you read the story in Genesis chapter 4 where Cain killed his brother Abel, you will find how a father who is honorable deals with a son who has been dishonorable. God looked at the situation and He realized that the only way He could bring honor to a dishonorable reality was by doing something that would bring the dishonorable individual back to the source of honor. Cain could not honor God and he could not honor his brother Abel, because he honored the work of his hands more than he honored the Creator. He loved his values above the values of God. Honor is love. It is a testimony of recognizing who someone is. God said to Cain, “Didn’t I tell you if you do good all would be well.”

Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Cain fell for the sin that was at his door and now God cursed the ground for Cain’s sake. God did not curse Cain. He cursed the place of dishonor. The thing that was being honored above God was cursed for Cain’s sake. Creation was being honored above the Creator. God wanted his son Cain to discover the Creator.

Genesis 4:10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

The earth would no longer give its strength to Cain. It would no longer honor him. God did not curse Cain. He cursed the thing that Cain was attached to. He cursed the place of dishonor in Cain’s life. He cursed the ground for Cain’s sake. God wanted Cain to turn and attach to the One who gives life and liberty. He wanted Cain to see his own need for who God was in his life. God did not care if the sin was great, because God is the one who frees all men from sin. He is the one who brings us out of Egypt; He brings us out of darkness. God is the one who sets us at liberty. It was not too late for Cain. God wanted Cain to discover honor, but it was dishonorable for Cain to love the ground more than the place of honor. So now the place the Cain loved was cursed for his sake. It would no longer honor him. God’s hope was that Cain would turn and honor God so that honor would be restored in his life and the curse would be broken in the earth. But Cain said, “This is too much for me!”

Genesis 4:13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

Cain said, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. This is more than I can bear. Why are You so judgmental in my life? Why have you made a decision about me God as though I have no good opinion? Why are you speaking curses over things that I am doing?” Cain might have been thinking, “Why are you cursing me?” But God was not cursing Cain. Cain said, “Surely you have driven me out from the face of the ground, and I will be hidden from Your face. Anyone who finds me will kill me.”

Did God say he would be hidden from His face? No, He did not. Sin did not separate God from Cain. It separated Cain from God. God still recognized who Cain was. He said, “Sin is at your door, if you do honorably it will be well with you.” God did not say, “Cain go away from me! I never want to see you again!” God created an environment that said, “Cain, I do not approve of your focus. I cannot bless what you are focusing on. I am making a judgment on your behalf. I have cursed what you are focusing on so you will turn and focus upon what you should be focusing on. I don’t want your world to be cursed, but unless you turn your heart to the Father you cannot recognize that the heart of the Father is already towards you.” God was thinking, “Cain I know who you are. You are the first. You are the best, but you do not know who you are. Now you are a taker. You are looking to find things in order to take things from the earth to make you strong. You are looking to take honor to make you strong. But strength doesn’t come from what you can take. Honor is not something you take from anyone or anything. I am the Lord your God who brings you out of Egypt, out of darkness, out of bondage – you shall have no other God’s before Me. I am your source. I am the giver of life. I want you to turn towards inheritance.” So Cain says, “This is too much! I will die!”

Genesis 4:16  Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son — Enoch.

God’s curse upon the ground was an act of honoring Cain. As long as Cain attached to the ground, he was going to be attaching to something that could not give him life. God wants us all to find life, but to find that life we must all first attach to Him! We must honor the Creator above all of creation. He is First before us, and He is the Last in all that we do. He must fill all in all for us to see His glory in all that we are and do. When we value God for who He is, we will seek to hear His words above all other words. When we value God for who He is, we will seek to embrace His values above all other values.

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am once again writing from the sunny land of California. I have a couple more days here with my grandkids before heading home. I enjoyed attending Bethel Church yesterday and I have had a great week with my son Aaron, daughter in law Amani, grandson Kaden, and granddaughter Zaria. I love my family!

I have been addressing our need for God’s word, the instruction of Holy Spirit, and the path of understanding that He gives when we seek Him. Without God’s word in our lives, we are subject to bow to other words in this world. Without God’s instruction to our hearts, our hands become instruments that take what is in the world to satisfy our own needs and desires. This is the way of men and women in the world. They seek to get things in their attempt to be satisfied in life, only to find that created things can never bring full satisfaction. Only God can satisfy us because He doesn’t merely meet our needs, He empowers us to meet the needs of others. For this reason, we need God’s words to us in life. Unless we treasure the word of God in our hearts and minds, we will wander from the true path of life in our journey. His word is what He has said, what He would say, and what He is saying to us today. The word of God is essential to the strength of our knees. God’s words to us lead to the instruction of His Spirit in our lives. This is not always understood in words, but in a sense of direction that leads to life. God’s instruction to our hearts will activate our hearts and minds to motivate our hands to be instruments of life-giving healing to our world. Valuing what God has said enables us to properly hear what God is saying to us and it is only then that we find the true path of life.

Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

We will attach our hearts to whatever we value in life. We must value God’s words to us more than anything. Knowing Him will bring the fullness of His life to our world. God’s commands to us are commands that bring the fullness of life to the reality of our world. His statutes are the boundaries that contain an abundance of blessing and the fruitfulness of life in all things. We must fill our hearts with God’s word like treasure. When what He has said, would say, and is saying are treasures to us, we seek to fill our hearts with. If we fill our hearts with His words, we will not seek to fill our hearts with things that are disconnected from Him. This will keep us from all sin. God’s judgments can be trusted because they are judgments of truth that lead to eternal life. What He judges a thing to be is what we embrace to be true. His testimonies are greater than the testimonies of our own way. His precepts, His mandates, are more valuable than our own dreams or visions in life. In this, we will not seek to debate Him in an attempt to persuade Him to bless what He is not blessing. We will embrace His words, instructions, and path as the way to true blessing.

Psalms 119:9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. 10 With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. 12 Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes. 13 With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

In the Bible’s record of the first man, Cain killed his brother Abel because of his love for created things above God. Cain’s sin was that he loved the ground more than he loved God. He didn’t put God first by giving Him a first and didn’t give God an offering of the best. It was only after a process of time that Cain gave an offering to God. It was more of a guilt offering, than it was a love offering. Abel did the opposite. He gave God an offering of the first and an offering of the best. He valued God above all else in his life.

Genesis 4:3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

The Bible doesn’t say how Cain killed Abel. It is often said that Cain killed his brother with a rock, but there is no Scripture text that says what Cain used to kill his brother. Cain valued the ground more than he valued God, so perhaps he used some part of the ground to kill his brother. This could have been a rock, a stick, or something that came from the ground. When we love any created thing more than we love God, we will be willing to kill others with something from what we love in our attempt to legitimize our distracted passion. This can even include killing another by a debate to defend what we love and to justify it as a treasure of life. Cain wanted God to bless what he loved, rather than seek to find what God was blessing. God told Cain that sin was at his door, but if he did well, God would accept him too.

Genesis 4:6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

When we value God, we value what He says above all else. It is for this reason we seek to stand on His word, follow the leading of His Spirit, and let the knowledge and wisdom of God reveal our path in life. That knowledge and wisdom includes the commandments, statutes, judgments, testimonies, precepts, and ways of God in our journey of destiny.

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