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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I hope you had a great weekend. We were blessed at Alife with another corporate gathering. God and His people are very good! I was blessed last week to also have a visit from some young folks involved with World Race and the G42 Leadership Training school. We experienced the presence of Holy Spirit together and lives were touched.

We are living is a time of the grace of the Spirit of Knowing. Holy Spirit is working in the church and in the earth to bring forth a testimony of us as the people of God. It is about becoming expressions of the love of God in flesh. This is not love as defined by our personal woundings; but love according to God’s character of sacrificial giving. We are to be the community of God in the midst of the nations of the world. We can expect to face the resistance of spiritual forces of darkness as the light of Christ manifests in this grace in the earth. We must keep our focus on what God is doing and not be distracted by the counterfeits of the enemy.

This is a grassroots revolution to heal the bitter roots of our hearts that spawn the beliefs of legalism and/or lawlessness. These two attributes cry out with a voice of justice, but true justice comes from God. It is a justice of love and life-giving change. God is working by the Spirit of Knowing to bring about true brotherly love. In a time of brotherly love, the enemy seeks to deceive, conflict, and devour in the apparel of prejudicial division. It is a time of holiness and we can expect to face onslaughts of wickedness. God’s grace is inspiring a hunger for God and His presence, so we can expect the resistance of a spirit that inspires men and women to reject God and His word. God is opening legitimate doors of love and life-giving liberty; we can expect illegitimate doors of selfish agendas and carnal ways to oppose that life. It is a season to discover God resting in our lives. The counterfeit is a rejection of God and an unrest of mankind. This is a time for truth and to become truth. Therefore, there is a distraction of deceptions and lies where truth is depicted as a lie and lies are presented as the truth. It is a time to be authentic and not hypocritically false. As the community of the people of God we will see true vulnerability and change. The enemy opposes such a time with coverups to the truth and stubbornness of pride towards change. This is a season of the fruit of life and the opposing force of death comes in the disguise of flattering speech and deceptive words and ways. This is time of free willed sacrificial love, but the enemy opposes with things that tread upon and trample human hearts. They are thus bound from a willingness to make sacrifices for others in a free will offering of love, but seek the sacrifice of others for their own personal agendas based upon the bitter wounds of their own hearts and minds.

The bottom line is, we must look for life in this day of life. We will find what we are looking for and looking at. We will become expressions of what we are looking for and looking at. If bitterness is the root of the focus of our hearts, our eyes will look with a paradigm of a vindication of the flesh. We cannot heal the wounds of the past by seeking to erase the past. We can only allow the wounds of the past to become testimonies of love for the sake of others in our world of today. Jesus didn’t allow the marks of His crucifixion to be bitter wounds for carnal judgment. He allowed them to be testimonies for the sake of giving life and love to others, even to those who seemingly forsook Him in the day of His wounding.

John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

When we embrace the resurrection life of Christ, we embrace the eternal love of Christ. God is invading the earth with heaven’s grace and this is a time of the Spirit of Knowing, a part of the perfecting process of Holy Spirit in our lives. We must look for, expect to see, and believe to be transformed by God’s grace to see intimacy, unity through diversity, the value of individuals for the greater purpose of us all, brotherly love, holiness, a hunger for God’s presence and word, legitimate doors of authority giving life to our world, mercy triumphing over every judgment and grace creating a new reality, grace to bring life to death and truth that comes by God’s transformation to crumble every lie, God resting in our lives, believing God’s truth and becoming testimonies of His truth, vulnerability and change, fruit producing life, and an empowerment to live our lives with free willed sacrificial love for God and one another. These things are happening right now in our word if we have an ear to hear the sound of faith and an expectancy to see pieces of these in our world. Clear vision is the big picture according to the eternal plan of our loving Father. Clear vision only comes through the added little pieces that we look to see. Look for the pieces of God’s grace working in our midst!

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;

Yesterday we had our first return to church as ALife community after several months of meeting in homes. It was great to see people I haven’t seen face-to-face in a while. It was wonderful to have real live worship and people in the room. Pastors Jonathan and Danie did a great job delivering the word and we had some wonderful ministry time at the close of the service.

I have been addressing the need to keep our focus on what God is doing in the season and not to be distracted by the crisis management process of the world. This is the way of the world, but it not meant to be the way of the church. We are not called to respond to the enemy, we are called to force the enemy to respond to us. God’s grace gives us the power to reign in life.

As I stated last week, God is bringing about unity and we must not be distracted by division. God is calling us to a be who we are for a greater corporate testimony as the body of Christ. It is not about what we get in life, but the life that comes into the world because of us. Brotherly love is an empowerment of God’s grace and it is not merely a discipline of the flesh. It is a testimony of God’s Spirit of Knowing working in our midst.

We can expect to see Jesus standing in the midst of the church in the testimony of the Spirit of Knowing, a testimony of intimacy and love. In this present season He is standing in our midst as the One who is holy and true. Holiness is not some religious performance or religious character. It is an attribute of purity, morality, and a full connection to life. The word implies being sacred, but we most often equate being sacred to being religious. I believe that God’s true religion is an attribute of giving life at all times to those who need life. It isn’t an attribute of getting, but one of giving. God is holy because He doesn’t need anything, but is the One who gives life, breath, and all things. This is His ability because this is His substance. Because God is holy, He can make life-giving decisions even for those who are not holy. He is pure and nothing can cause Him to not be pure. God wants us to be pure and for nothing to cause us not to be pure. I believe this is to be authentic. The fruit of holiness is good conduct and virtuous works. It is void of envy, self-seeking, and any manner of hypocrisy. I believe godly wisdom is a testimony of holiness and worldly wisdom is based upon an unholy attitude, motive, and action spawned from a bitter heart.

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

King David experienced the holiness of God and the holiness of God was able to transform the character of David. In the flesh David was not holy, but his willing pursuit of God in His holiness changed the character, nature, way, power, and authority of David’s life.

Revelation 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, ‘He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”…

As we see information explode in the environments of the world, we must look for intimacy with Christ and one another as the people of God. It is only by embracing being a giver of life that we can become holy and true. We must pursue an intimate connection with the One who gives life so we can also give life to others. When the environments of the world seem to explode with wickedness, it is time for us to look for and embrace being holy. This is not embracing some religious piety. It is being authentic to being connected to God who is life and being a giver of life at all times. I like to think of being holy as like being wholly who we are meant to be. It is a place of security in who we are in Christ to be the life of Christ in all things. Being holy and true will open the legitimate doors of our lives and close the illegitimate ones.

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’s amazing how quickly the summer months go by where I live. I don’t know if the same is with you, but in the Northwest of Washington it seems that August is one of the shortest months of the year. It seems that season change is in the air. Perhaps there is a spiritual change in the air as well. Change is always in the path to tomorrow.

It is important that we focus on what God is doing in the earth. We must not be distracted by what the world is doing, we must see what God is doing. If we fix our eyes upon what the world is doing, we will become like the world. If we fix our eyes on what God is doing we will be life-givers to our world. God gives life, breath, and all things. He is a giver and there is never a time where God cannot be a giver of life. As sons and daughters of God we are to be the same. What is it that has our attention?

Matthew 6:22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

It is easy to be distracted by things of darkness and to think they are light. Things of the world will inspire us to worry, but things of God will inspire us to see His kingdom rising and it will empower us to know God in an intimate way. True righteousness is a relationship with God that empowers us to be a testimony of the truth of life in this world.

Matthew 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If we are worried about tomorrow we are focusing on the things that the world sees. Nothing can separate us from the love of God and God in His love is working things out for us in every situation. In a time of the Spirit of Knowing we must keep our eyes on intimacy with God and one another. We must not be distracted by knowledge that makes us word sensitive. We interpret the words of others through the dictionaries of our own hearts and minds. If we can be offended, we will be offended. Only love can make us unshakeable in times of offenses. The enemy uses the weapon of a knowledge of good and evil to distract us from exercising the use of love for others that overcomes the judgments of the flesh.

God wants us to find unity through diversity, but only God at the center of each of our lives can give us the true unity of life. The enemy uses the weapons of self-will, self-focus, and all manner of selfishness to create division. We must look to God to unite us in our diversity. Are we looking to find unity through a focus on God or are we looking to empower division by a focus on ourselves? God’s love for each and every one is strong enough to transform the hearts and minds of all people.

God wants us to be individual people that create a greater corporate influence in our world. The internal kingdom of God empowers us to live for the wellbeing of others. The enemy seeks to promote a corporate control disguised as benefits for individual people in order to destroy the uniqueness of our lives together. The power of the Spirit of Knowing is that of a freewill offering. It is not a matter of taking what others have for ourselves. It is a matter of freely choosing to live for others. It is a matter of freely living to be a community of life. To be a community of life, each member must live to give life to others. The enemy is a thief and he seeks to empower the nature of a thief within our hearts. A thief is a taker. A taker is inspired by envy, jealousy, insecurity, and a bitter root in their heart that causes strife in some way.

The Spirit of Knowing is a testimony of brotherly love. The enemy seeks to stir up prejudicial division between brothers. The sixth letter to the churches of Revelation was to the church of Philadelphia. The name Philadelphia means “brotherly love”. This is the fruit that God is going to bring to manifest in our day. We must not be distracted by the weeds in the garden. We must not be distracted by the counterfeits to the truth of God’s grace working in 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I hope you are all well and that your week and weekend were filled with God’s presence and life. I was blessed to be at Everyone’s Church in Mt. Vernon, Washington yesterday. It was good to see some faces I have missed, though it is nicer to view them without masks. We had a good encounter with Holy Spirit and God’s word.

We are in a season of the influence of the grace of the Spirit of knowing. This is not a grace for knowledge as in information. It is a knowledge of intimacy. It is knowing of God and a knowing of one another. It is knowing of the heart.  It is a grace for unity through diversity. Though we are diverse in our individuality, together we become a community of diversity for a greater testimony of the likeness and the image of our heavenly Father made known in the earth. We can expect that weapons will be formed against this, but the Spirit of Christ in the body of Christ is greater than any spirit in the world. God is going to bring about the attributes of the grace of the Spirit of Knowing. Those attributes are ones of brotherly love, as the sent Spirit to the church of Philadelphia is a testimony of brotherly love. Jesus is in our midst to reveal true holiness. He is in our midst to cause what is true to be made known. He is in our midst to demonstrate the judgments of God’s mercy on our behalf because of a willingness to embrace the corrections and the directions of God in our midst. Our hearts are being opened to hunger for and seek out God in our lives in a seven day per week, twenty-four hour per day reality. Like King David, we are going to discover God in every moment of time, not merely the events of time. God is opening legitimate doors and closing illegitimate ones. We are being tested in our strength to keep God’s word and in our willingness to confess His name. Lies  and liars are being exposed and God is going to confirm those He loves. Perseverance is a testimony of our day! This is perseverance in our love for God and for one another in a day of testing. The overcoming grace of the Spirit of Knowing, the sixth attribute of the sevenfold Holy Spirit, is empowering us to be a place where God rests in the earth. Resting in God and God resting in us is a hallmark of this present grace from heaven. God is going to change our thinking through a transformation of the beliefs of our hearts. We will live for God and for the community of God; a community that lives with and for a vision of peace that is only found in Christ. A testimony of being new is going to fill our hearts and minds in a knowing of God though our lives that empowers a freewill to live for the wellbeing of others.

The community of God is dependent upon being the temple of God’s Holy Spirit. The temple is not dependent upon the community. The community is dependent upon the temple. The temple of the Holy Spirit will activate, facilitate, and release the community of Christ. Build a temple and you will build the city. Build the city and you may never build the temple. If we try to create some expression of Christ community without the manifest presence of Christ, we will only form a human copy of what we perceive to be Christ-like. Only by a manifestation of Christ in us, the Holy Spirit who comes in the name of Jesus, can we become the true community of Christ. The place of life forevermore, eternal life, is the place where heaven touches the earth. This is the place where the anointing oil on the top of the head of Jesus the eternal High Priest who stands forever as the head of the body of Christ in heaven runs down upon the body of Christ and spills over unto the earth.  Christ is the manifest presence of Holy Spirit in and upon the body of Christ. It is not merely the human spirit that is in all people, it is the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit that God desires to be in and upon all people. The door is open in heaven, but human hearts upon the earth must open to Him to become the place of His habitation upon the earth. This is the testimony of being the temple of God.

Psalms 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing — Life forevermore.

In the Old Testament King Cyrus made a decree to build the temple of God and that decree was in reality a decree to build the city of God (Ezra 1:2; Dan. 9:25). The city of God had to be built because the temple was built (including the law and proper offerings). The word sent to build the city was the physical manifestation of the temple. The temple was the word gone forth. Build a temple and there will be a city. It is just like our Christian walk. If the Spirit who comes in the name of Jesus is in our hearts, if there is a temple, then the work of the city (Christian community life) can be completed. Once the Spirit of Jesus is in our hearts, we are new creations, but it is yet to be further manifested in our lives. God spoke the word to call us, but it didn’t become ‘the word sent forth’ until we received the Spirit that comes in the name of Jesus into our hearts. We had to become a house for His Spirit to dwell in and we had to receive His Spirit to dwell in us to write His law upon our hearts and minds. That law is not the Torah law of the Old Covenant, but the testimony of the Father’s love. We had to become proper ‘burnt offerings’ through the one offering Jesus Christ (Rom. 12:1 – members of the body of Christ). Christian community doesn’t make us the testimony of Christ. Doing good and nice things doesn’t make us the community of Christ. Surly Christ in us will empower us to be good and to do good things, but the glory of good is not our goal. It is the glory of God! Christ in us empowers us to become the testimony of a Christ-like community.

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 a great weekend here in Bellingham. Pastors Jonathan and Danie did a great job yesterday with an online message for our Church Deployed. I am looking forward to our prayer meeting tonight. If you didn’t get a chance to view the prophetic word I released on www.ted4leaders.com last Wednesday, please give it a listen or a look. We can trust God! He is doing good things on our behalf.

When King Asa of Judah acted foolishly by trusting the power of human kingdoms above his trust for God, the prophet Hanani reminded him that God is only one to trust. It is God who looks for opportunities to show Himself strong on behalf of all who trust Him. This is not a time to be shaken by kingdoms we cannot trust. This is a time to be steadfast and strong in the One we can trust. God wants to reveal who He is in our lives

2 Chronicles 16:9 …the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

We are in a season of being dependent upon God. There is a faith towards God that grants us wisdom that is based upon a willingness to receive whatever He gives. There is also a faith towards God that grants us wisdom that is based upon an awe of who God is. It is an awe that enables us to do whatever God says for us to do. There is also a faith towards God that is fully dependent upon God above all things. It is a faith that gives us true wisdom because we recognize that apart from God we know nothing. In knowing nothing we are dependent upon the One who knows all things. This is the path of life. A path of trusting God in all things is a path unto increasing life. God takes note of those who trust Him. When we embrace God’s ways, God makes it possible for us to walk in His paths.

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He watches all his paths.

God doesn’t watch us so that He can judge those who are bad. God watches us because He wants to reward us for being like Him in our character, nature, way, power, and authority. He is ready to give us His counsel. He is willing to support us with His strength. He is pleased to call us His children, therefore, we are pleased to act His children. When we commit the deeds of our lives to being deeds that glorify God, God is faithful to give us the fruit of our deeds in abundant measures. The deeds that glorify God are deeds that are done for the well-being of others.

Jeremiah 32:19 You are great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds…

God wants to expand the territory of our lives. He wants to empower us to become His life-giving community. He wants to bless us with provision that increases because of His presence in all that we are and have in Him. Our protection is God in our midst. Instead of walls of defense and isolation, God in our lives is an expanding boundary of fire. God’s fire is a testimony of His life-giving ways.

Zechariah 2:5 For I,’ says the LORD, “will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”

We are in a season of increasing as the people of God in the earth. As the people of God, we are a growing expression of being His life-giving community in the midst of communities of men.

1 Peter 3: 8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. 11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

God is attentive to all who desire a relationship with Him. The evidence of our relationship with God is seen in our relationships with one another. We need never be afraid of the Lord being against us, because we willingly embrace Him and His ways by our compassion and care for one another. When we live to embrace one another, be compassionate to one another, and love one another as a family loves the members of the family, God takes note and is eager to answer the prayers of our hearts. He desires a face-to-face relationship with all who embrace His ways in life. This is the season of being the people of God that bring the life of God 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I hope you are enjoying summer and that you are seeing the goodness of God in your life. I have been doing a lot of physical tasks, at home and at our church. I hope to get a lot more done this week. My dad always said that you have to make hay while the sun shines. It is a good season to focus on getting things done close to home and to make preparations in being ready for our increased coming together in the days ahead.

We are in a time where God is releasing the grace to become the people of God. The test is in the grace! Grace does not mean there is no resistance to the outcome. It actually is the power of God to overcome all resistance to the outcome. In a time of manifesting as the people of God there is an opportunity to be the people of the people, the people of self, the people of some created thing or the people of some other external influence in our lives. To be the people of God is to be the community of God, but there are many causes of unity. Unity apart from Christ creates unity that opposes others. As it was in the encounter of Joshua and the Lord at the entrance of the Promised Land, God is neither for us or against us – He is the Commander of the army of the Lord.  It is only when we present our bodies to God that God can influence us to become expressions of His community in the earth.

Joshua 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” 14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” 15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

I have been addressing the context of Romans chapter 12. Each of us are to present our bodies to the calling of Christ, the testimony of Christ, and the purpose of Christ to become the corporate expression of the community of Christ. We cannot think like the world. This doesn’t mean that we seek to condemn the world for thinking as they do, it means we demonstrate to the world what it looks like to be the people of God. We are to demonstrate what is good, acceptable, and perfect in Christ. We each do this in the uniqueness of each and everyone. We are all motivated differently, but we must all express the attributes of being the people of God in the character of our own uniqueness. The attributes of being the people of God are all giving attributes. They are never taking, but expressions of life for the wellbeing of others.

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Our first priority is to live for God and to live for the community of God in all things. We are to love the world, but we are to live for God and His community. When we do this, we will face opposition and we will even experience suffering at times. When we experience the opposition of the world we are never to oppose the world. We are to be life for and as the testimony of Christ to the world. We live for Jesus our head, for one another as His body, and corporately together as the body of Christ in this world.

Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Our attitude at all times is an attitude of being life givers to our world. The world is strong in opinions, but we must be strong in mercy and grace. We must be strong in the life of God in all things. If circumstances can change who we are, we are not truly living to be who we are meant to be. We are the people of God!

Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

To heap coals of fire on the head of your enemy is not to destroy them. It is to destroy what is destroying them. The custom of the culture was to transport coals in pots on one’s head in order to have light, heat, and cook your food in wherever you found yourself. The idiom implies that because your enemy lacks the essentials of true life, they act as they do. It is not opposing the enemy that destroys the enemy, it is refusing to become an enemy as they are that inspires them to be released from the strongholds of their own imprisonment. Light is more powerful than darkness, life is more powerful than death, and healing is more powerful than sickness in all things. When we act as the people of God we influence the evil to be transformed from their wicked strongholds. We inspire them to know the love and life of God in the midst of their 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I hope you are well today. I am enjoying the sunshine of the Northwest. It appears that summer has finally arrived here in Bellingham. I am enjoying the diversity of harvest with many good things to eat from the fruit of my own labors in my garden. Last week was filled with lots of writing, recording, editing, and physical labor at church and at home. Life is always full!

As sons or daughters of God we must know how to keep our hearts for the sake of others. Our ‘heart’ includes our emotions, and all about us that is spiritual, mental, and physical in life. If we confess that our heart is into something, it means that all that is spirit, soul, and body, embraces it.

Our heart is the seat of our collective energies and the focus of our personal lives. It is the throne from which life flows. It is the seat of our thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, and endeavors. Our heart is our personality, our inner life, and our character. A son or daughter of God must guard their heart. We are not to guard our hearts in the way the world guards their hearts. Those in the world seek to protect their hearts and often find themselves in situations where their hearts become hard and small, due to the wounds of life. King Solomon said that keeping our heart had to do with keeping the springs of life open and flowing.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

How do we as sons or daughters of God guard our hearts so that we shine as light in our world? How do we keep the springs of life flowing from within us? The apostle Paul gave some great instructions to the Philippian church.

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

A decision to live a lifestyle of rejoicing is key to living as a healthy son or daughter of God. This doesn’t mean that we laugh when we should cry; it means we choose to embrace God’s life and God’s presence every day of our lives. We must seek to be gentle among people and not forceful in our own ways, our own desires, or our own agendas. God is always at hand. He is always within our reach. If we realize that God is with us every step of the journey we can embrace a face-to-face relationship with Him that will keep us from being anxious. We should keep an open line of communication between Him and us, as we would with a friend. We don’t go to God with our needs of crisis expecting Him to give us a bailout or to deliver us from our circumstances. Once in a while God wants to get us out of our circumstances, but 100% of the time He wants to get into our circumstances with us. When we realize that there is no gap between God and us we can have a peace that surpasses our own understanding. Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is being in a place where there is no gap between God and us. It works on good days and on bad days. Peace is a knowing that our house is in the right place and that no change of circumstances can separate us from the love of God in our lives. It isn’t necessarily the absence of conflict. It is the assurance that we are joined to God and His house in all things and at all times. There is no separation between God and us and we can live near to Him in all things.

Paul goes on to write some key things for us to embrace in order to keep our hearts open to the flow of God’s life. We must keep our hearts so the issues of life will freely flow to those around us. This is true for all believers as sons and daughters of God.

Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

We can talk about and think on things that are just. Can we make a decision for others based upon who we are and not what they deserve? Love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace – these are all things of God’s justice. We must give our hearts to things that are pure! Resisting the things of impurity is not as powerful as embracing the things of purity with our whole hearts. We must give our hearts to things that are of a good report. Indulging in the good reports of life is more violent than embracing or waging war against the things of negativity and of bad report. Let’s give our hearts to things that are of good report. How about virtue? This is giving our hearts to every opportunity to give life to others. To live for the wellbeing of others and for the purposes of God and His kingdom is a virtuous thing. Life will come off of us that will empower others to live too! We must give our hearts to anything that is praiseworthy. If we think this is hard all we have to do is think of ANYTHING! Anything praiseworthy is a good thing to give our hearts to.

Rather than focusing on the things we cannot think about, we should fill our hearts with the things we can think about. We must give our hearts to things that are true. Here is something true. He loves us! He will never leave us! He cares for us! Nothing can separate us from Him! We must receive the things that He says about us and embrace them with our whole hearts. We must give our spirits, souls, and physical lives to all that is true. What about things that are just? I am not talking about complaining about injustice! If we receive, hear, and emulate those who give life in the journey of Christ’s life, we will be doing a good thing in keeping our hearts with all diligence. These things are essential for us believers that we might be true to who God says we really are for the sake of our world. It is time to shine in the world as the light and life of Christ 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings;

I hope you have had a great week. I spent last week recording more training material, editing material, launching more resources, and other purposed activities that will allow House of Bread Ministry to serve the body of Christ in an effective way. I also spent a couple of days painting the assembly room of our church. We are not yet gathering corporately, but a lot of things are being done for a clear vision of the focus, vision, and purpose that God is calling us into. I am doing my part in buying into, supporting, and participating in what God is bringing into our expression of church in the earth. I have a great expectancy for what lies ahead of us in this journey of faith.

We are not living in uncertain times. The world is in uncertain times, but the people of God should be certain of times in all things. Even what the enemy intends for evil, God always turns for good in our lives. We can be certain of God in all things! We can be certain of His love! We can be certain that being a part of the body of Christ is a certainty of life. This is not a time to think like the world, but to think like the body of Christ and members of that body. The world is facing the fear of isolation, separation, loss, and anxiety. This is not our course of destiny. Our course of destiny is to shine as light, even in dark times. While the world wrestles with the darkness of times we must be people of eternity that bring stability to a shaking world. This is not a time to worry, but to be at rest because God is resting in our lives. We are not living in a tomb; we are living in the light and as Christ’s light in all things. It is not a geographical location or a position of instruction of righteousness. It is a matter of relationship with God and with one another. For this reason, we must discover who God says we are. This will fulfill our destiny in this world. Anything less is missing the mark.

We have each been given a combination of motivational gifts from our heavenly Father that serve the uniqueness of our ability to bring life to others. Those internal motivations determine our ability to function in various realms of responsibility. Those realms of responsibility are the place of our destined authority. They are not motivations that are bound to church structures or meetings, they are motivations that enable us to be who we are for the sake of others as the church. A change of meetings, forms of meetings, types of gatherings, or other circumstances of life don’t stop us from being the church. We must all love and live for the wellbeing of others at all times, but we each do so in different manners and by different ways of thinking.

Romans 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Those who are motivated to perceive are not greater than those who are motivated to serve. Those who teach are not greater than those who are motivated to exhort others. Those that exhort are not better or less than those who are motivated towards mercy. Those who lead are not greater than those who join to their leadership for the purpose of God’s life in this world. We are each motivated to fulfill a measure of authority. That authority will bring life to others. We are not called to measure others by the motivations of our own hearts. We are called to present our bodies for a corporate purpose according to the measure of grace given to us by God for the sake of being the body of Christ in the world for the calling of Christ, the testimony of Christ, and the purpose of Christ in all things. When we measure others by our own motivations we reject the gift that they are for the sake of our corporate testimony in Christ. When we live for ourselves we rob the community of the grace given to us for the sake of being who we are meant to be together in Christ. All are called to demonstrate love, but each and everyone loves in the way that they love. Some see the precious in what is vile, while others have a grace to break open the vile vessel that contains what is precious so the precious can become useful for the sake of God’s glory. Everyone is called to give, but some have a grace motivation of giving. Those with the grace motivation of giving are not to measure others by their standards. They are to demonstrate giving for the sake all being an expression of Christ together. They are even called to give to the extent that other expressions can receive the necessary supply to accomplish the greater purpose of the being the body of Christ. Those who serve are not called to measure those who teach by their standard of serving, but to serve to fulfill their part in being the body of Christ. No member is to measure the other members but to present their bodies for the corporate purpose of God in Christ. We must not allow any enemy to distract us from who we are meant to be, nor to be taken out from the corporate purpose of life in Christ. We must be true to whom God has made us to be. When we embrace who we are in life, we can bring life to others. We were created to bring life to this 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings;

I hope you are well. We are continuing to move on in the midst of world restraints. God is good and His presence is in our lives. Yesterday was another day of church deployed in small home gatherings, but we are preparing the building for coming together again in a fresh, new and focused way. A new church, a new form, and a fresh focus of purpose is stirring in the atmosphere.

We are living in a time of being the people of God. We can expect weapons to be formed against us in this since it is the power of God’s grace and grace alone that will empower us to be who we should be in such a time as this. Our being real in who we are is for the sake of who we are together. This is a supernatural reality. We are called to be the community of God, not the community of self or some community of humanly created form. If we had the same speech and the same language we would seek to build a city unto ourselves, but God has called us to be part of something greater. We are to be a community of God’s grace that is empowered by the unity of God’s Spirit. God doesn’t want us to build a heavenly tower, He wants to invade our earth with heaven’s grace.

In a time of separation, we must willfully choose to connect to our corporate purpose as the body of Christ. God is opening legitimate doors and closing illegitimate ones. The thought came to be yesterday, maybe we are wearing masks so we will get tired of wearing masks. Maybe we have been wearing masks for years, not revealing who we really are? Maybe we have been wearing masks for fear that others will see us for who we relay are? Maybe we have been wearing masks to prevent others from entering into our space of living? Maybe God wants us to be tired of wearing masks so we can be grateful to come together in the diversity of identities, testimonies, and purpose in life? Perhaps God is laughing in heaven at our frustration over masks and control only to wake us up to truly be free. To be free is to be a giver of life to our world. This is a season of fruit, not a season of thorns and thistles. This is not a time to be distracted by things that poke the flesh. It is a season of fruit that brings life to the world. This is the testimony of being people of God. It is by the mercy of God that each and everyone of us are justified to live and it is by God’s grace that can be empowered to be who we are meant to be for the sake of our world.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The presenting of our bodies is not for our own dreams, visions, and self-focused agendas in life. The presenting of our bodies is for the corporate identity, testimony, and purpose of God in the earth. It is good to be loved, it is acceptable to overcome every wicked thing by the power of God’s grace, but it is perfect to become givers of life to others, even as God gives life to us. It is righteous to be loved by God and to know the goodness of His life in our lives. The only thing acceptable is to be one with God to be empowered to take on the testimony of holiness, even as our heavenly Father is holy. The power and the fruit of God’s Spirit is the true testimony of life in and through each of us in our world. The true joy of life is to know the partnership of God in all things for the glory of our Father’s purpose in the generations of humanity. This is good, acceptable, and perfect in the journey of our life in Christ. We are part of the body of Christ for the identity, testimony, and purpose of God in our world. We each make a great son or daughter of God for the contribution of life to the community of God in the earth. We are each enough and to think beyond the boundaries of who we really are is to think more highly than we ought. Who we each are is good, acceptable, and perfect to contribute our part to the glory of the community of God in the earth.

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

To think of ourselves more highly than we ought is to think outside of the metron or sphere of who God has made us to be. We don’t need to become smaller so that others can be bigger. We need to be true to who we are so that who we are will bring life to those who are what we are. We each supply life to one another. We cannot live in false humility thinking we are nothing; we must embrace true humility simply living for the sake of others within the boundaries of our own authority. We are all part of a corporate plan of life. Faith comes by hearing God and it is in hearing God that we come to know who we are. We cannot do anything or be anything we want to be in 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,

We had a great week last week. Our son, his wife, and two of our grand kids came home for the week from California. We were blessed to have the whole family together for the 4^th of July celebration. We love our family, and nothing is better than when we are all together. I hope you had a blessed week as well in whatever circumstance you have found yourself. We continue to do church online and look forward to being able to come fully together again in the near future.

We are living in a time where God is releasing a grace to become the people of God. This can only happen by the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives as the Spirit of Knowing. This is not a knowledge of intellect, scientific discovery, human opinion, or experience learned or observed. It is a knowledge of intimacy – a knowing of who God is and who we are as the habitation of His presence in the earth. The knowledge of our own minds will resist the communion of the heart. True communion with God and one another is a communion by the Spirit of God. It is a testimony of our freewill to love God and love one another. In the curse of futility, it is by the sweat of the human brow that man was subject to eat their bread. The sharing of our lives with one another is resisted by the judgments of our own minds. The judgments of human will, and human understanding alone are established within the bitter wounds of offense. Only the eternal judgment of God’s love can heal our hearts and empower us to become the people of God in this world.

We are the gate of heaven, the place of God’s heavenly community influencing the world around us. Today is a time to overcome, not to be overcome. The hordes of hell have unleashed numerous spirits of deception, fear, and intimidation to resist the grace of God in our day, but grace is the manifest presence of God in our lives that overcomes all evil. Grace is not merely a gift given to us that lacks the power of change; it is gift of God’s overcoming power in our lives and it can be found by those who have an ear to hear. It is a gift that can be found once we come boldly to God’s presence to receive mercy that frees us from the judgments of the flesh and justifies us to find God’s grace that changes everything from within our hearts. God’s grace is found in the place of resistance, because when it is found it reveals that we are sons of God (male and female) to bring the liberty of heaven to the futile places of the world. It cannot be found by those who don’t seek to find it, but it can be found by those who do. Nothing is more powerful than God working in and through our lives. It is impossible for man alone, but by God’s grace miraculous testimonies are discovered.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

When we find the grace of God for a transformational change by God in our lives, we can expect to face opposition to that change. We are in a time of becoming the people of God in a greater way, we can expect disunity in a time of unity. We can expect division in a time of community. We can expect temptations to see isolation as a path to the future when the true path before us is connection. This is the tribulation that resists the change of grace. The will of God is to cheerfully embrace the way of God and to become transformed by God through His Spirit interceding from within our hearts. He is the guarantee of the working of grace in our lives. We must embrace the identify of us, the testimony of us, and the purpose of us in the midst of the temptation to be people of self. The way to the true path of life is a corporate one and not a solitary one. We are not our own, we belong to the calling, inheritance, and purpose of Christ in all things. This is the purpose of Jesus and the purpose of being the body of Christ. While the world seeks to live for the uniqueness of self, we must embrace the grace of God to become the testimony of us through the uniqueness of each one living for the greater testimony of us all together. It is our perseverance to be the body of Christ that will grant us the testimony of being the body of Christ in a greater way. We are not the people of the world; we are the people of God. We are not black people, white people, red people, brown people, yellow people or any other division of humanity. We are the family of God made of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation though the diversity of each unique characteristic of each family member. We are not in competition with one another, we ae comparable to become the full testimony of God as the people of God in the earth.

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