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

Greetings,

I am continuing by stay at home. Bonnie had surgery for a health issue last week and all went very well. It is important for me to be here in this present time. I am grateful for God’s love and for His blessings to Bonnie and I in this season.

I have been writing in regard to reaping in the due seasons of our lives. Our lives are filled with many seasons. Each season is another opportunity for the testimony of God in our lives to bring life to our world. Our seasons are prophetic in nature. God speaks, and life happens! The due seasons of our lives are about life to our world. This is the good that God desires at all times. It is the good of His love made known to our world.

2 Thessalonians 3:13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.

When considering the process of our due seasons in life we must have a general understanding of the purpose of our harvest. Our harvest is not about what we can get in life, each harvest is about what life can we give for the sake of those in our world and those beyond our time. This is the purpose of our boundaries and our measures of time in life. Our labor is a labor of love for God and love for others.

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Our diligence is for the hope of an end. That end is the harvest of our due season. The word for end is the GSRN5056, τέλος telos; from a primary τέλλω tellō (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly, the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination (literally, figuratively, or indefinitely), result (immediate, ultimate or prophetic), purpose); specially, an impost or levy (as paid).

I believe that there are many seasons in our lives. There is an ultimate season of the end of our lives which is only a transition to a glory beyond our present world. In the process of that end there are many seasons and many ends. Every season begins with a sowing in the hope of a harvest. Between the sowing there is a continued process to arrive at the due season of that harvest. We must sow seed, but we must also sow the labor of love for each harvest. That labor is a labor of care for the harvest. Everything in our lives is intended to end in harvest (Mt. 13:39). The end of every age is culminated in harvest. Everything about every age must serve the purpose of the culmination of that age. It must serve harvest. Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. He didn’t just blindly hope everything would work out. He saw a harvest and then did everything to accomplish that end. He was willing to embrace the suffering of the cross for the great harvest that would follow. It is a kingdom principle and a spiritual law of heaven.

When considering the process of our due seasons we must consider some questions. What are we aiming at? What do we see as the conclusion? What is our definite goal? When we know our goal, we find the grace to embrace the process. It is through intimacy with God in our hearts and an embracing of His presence that we can be empowered by faith with a steadfast adherence to Him. This is the faith and patience that empowers our labor of love. That labor of love is a love for Him that inspires each of us to make sacrifices willingly and willfully for the sake of giving life to others in our world. This is the diligence that we must walk in through the full course of our lives to the greater glory that lies ahead.

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 Bellingham. I am taking some needed time to be with my wife and getting some ministry projects done while I am here. I am producing another video group course concerning God, Our Friend. It is based upon my book, Friendship With God – The Empowerment of Honor and Grace. I expect to finish the video recordings this week.

As I wrote last week, I believe that we are in a season of greater glory. We will prevail in this season. There will be a testimony of unexpected glory, but we must keep our focus on the right things. Our focus should always be upon our relationship with Holy Spirit as the person of Christ in our lives, Jesus as the Lord of our desires, and God as our Father for His kingdom to come and His will to be done in our lives for the glory of His name. The testimony of our relationship with God will be one of love for Him and a love for one another.

In Galatians chapter 6, Paul writes that we will reap what we sow in life. As sons and daughters of God we live in the character of Christ with the testimony of Christ in all things. We don’t just live for ourselves; we live for the wellbeing of one another. When a brother or sister is overtaken in a trespass we seek to restore them in a spirit of gentleness. We willingly bear one another’s burdens because we are the body of Christ. We are both individually and corporately a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. We each carry the responsibility of love and life for God and one another. We receive and we share in the life of God as His family in this world.

In our journey of life we are constantly sowing, and we are continually reaping in the seasons of our life. Our sowing must be to the Spirit to reap the seasons of God’s Spirit in our lives. That harvest is a harvest of everlasting life (eternal life). Jesus said that eternal life is to know God as our Father and Jesus as His Son. This is made possible by our connection to Holy Spirit within, with, and upon us in life (Jn. 17:3).

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

For everything that we sow, there is a due season. Just as it is with natural seeds planted into the ground for the purpose of producing a crop, the things we sow to the Spirit will reap a spiritual harvest in our lives. The purpose of every harvest is always for seed and bread. It for seed in that it gives life to another generation of harvest beyond us. It is for bread in that every harvest of our lives will bring life to others in our world. Every harvest has an appointed time of sowing and an appointed time of harvesting. Every type of seed has a germination time, a time to spring up, a time to grow, a time to mature, and a time of reaping. The length of time for this process is different for every type of seed. This same thing is true for us in our journey of life. We cannot compare ourselves with others. Our expectations must be centered upon our own personal relationship and walk with God from within our hearts. Who God says we are will determine the process of our due season, not what we see in the path of another. For this reason, our personal relationship with God in our hearts is paramount to the process of our due season in life.

Galatians 6:9  And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

The word for ‘lose heart’ in this verse is the GSRN 1590, ἐκλύω (eklyō), and it means to relax (literally or figuratively). The force of this word could imply a fainting, a giving up, or a losing of heart. For this reason, our diligence in the process of our due season is connected to the One who gives life to our hearts.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

Our due season is not about our work, it is about the work of the Lord in our lives. Our labor is not a labor for our will, but a labor for the will of God in all things. The most powerful motivation in life is love. Fear can be a powerful motivator in a negative way, but God’s love is stronger. His perfect love casts out all fear. Knowing God’s love will empower our love for Him and for one another. God’s love is the fuel of the process of our due seasons in life.

My challenge for us today in the process of our due seasons in life is to make every day of the process another moment of connecting to the One who loves us at all times and in all things. His love within us will give us the desire and diligence for the process of our due season in the harvest seasons of our lives. That harvest will be for seed beyond our present season and food for others because of our season 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

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 hope you are all well. I have enjoyed a few days home. I start another long stretch of travel this Thursday. I will be in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, and Portugal. I am expecting to see God’s amazing grace and increased measures of His glory in this new year. Things that have been sown of righteousness will reap a harvest of righteousness in the days ahead. Things of light will prove to be more powerful than anything of darkness. Things of redemption, healing, life, and love will prevail.

This is a word that was given by Ted J. Hanson in Deming, New Mexico on February 18, 2024.

A significant word for 2024 is the word prevail.  I heard that very clear at the end of last year that 2024 was going to be a year of prevailing – to prevail. And then, God kind of gave me a definition of that: Sometimes we think of the “prevailing winds” – the “prevailing winds” take us in a particular direction like weather patterns are determined by what’s the “prevailing winds”, what’s the prevailing circumstances, what’s the prevailing situation. 

I heard God say that the prevailing winds of the past, the prevailing things of the past are going to be overcome by the prevailing winds of God’s purpose and will in the present.  Watch and see, be awake and expect it, because I’m moving by My Spirit in the generations and even in America, I’m waking up the young. I’m going to put My grace and My mantle upon the heads of children and you’re going to see in America the young and the youth wake up.

There’s a fresh move of My Spirit and I’m even going to cause you to be young in your heart like never before.  I’m going to cause you to see things you couldn’t see before because I’m turning your heads to be in the direction of My head. I’m turning that by turning your heart to see what’s in My heart. This is a year of unexpected glory – unexpected glory. 

This is a season where you’re going to see new pathways. New pathways will be revealed through open doors. God is opening doors for you as an effective ministry, as an effective arm, of the love of God. And as God opens doors, you’re going to recognize the doors that are God because they are always surrounded and covered by the testimony of love. So, the open pathways before you, you know this is the path. Why? It’s filled with love. It’s filled with life. So, choose the path of life. Any path in front of you this year that doesn’t look like life, is not the path. So, choose the pathway of life.

And I also hear God saying that this year there’s going to be clear focus. You will see what God sees when you look in the direction that God is looking. You’ll see what God sees when you look in the direction that God is looking. When what you’re looking at doesn’t look like God, it means you’re looking in the wrong direction. You will see what God sees when you look in the direction that God looks. Now, that’s not necessarily a geographical or a physical shift. It’s a looking differently at what you’re looking at. Do you see the hope of the glory of God, or do you see the strength of an enemy? There is no enemy that is stronger than God.

Sometimes we think of God as being the one who reveals Himself in love and in power but perhaps it is better to view Him as our heavenly Father who loves us in a supernaturally powerful way. I believe this is a year to know God in His powerful love. Our heavenly Father loves us, and His eternal Word became Jesus the testimony of His love to mankind. He is present in our lives by His Holy Spirit to reveal His love to us every day in a powerful, life-transforming way. It is by His powerful love that we will prevail and experience unexpected glory in our lives. I believe that this is a year to know God in an intimate and powerful way. When we know Him, we can know His heart and we can see what He sees. We can experience the testimony of His kingdom and His will in our season of today.

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 Deming, New Mexico. I had a wonderful weekend with the church family of CitiLife. It was great to be with them again. I believe this is going to be a good year of moving forward in Christ in partnership with Jesus as the Body of Christ bringing His life to our world.

As believers in Christ we are a temple of His Holy Spirit. Jesus came so that we would be a dwelling place of His Spirit in the earth. We are to be a habitation for God’s presence. It isn’t merely about doing what Jesus would do, it is about being the place where Jesus lives. The word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood as a man so that every man and woman in each and every neighborhood can be an expression of the word. This happens when be become the place of His habitation in the earth.

Luke 9:57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

In this story, Jesus was the only New Covenant man on the earth. He was the only man that was a dwelling place of God’s Spirit. He was the only man full of grace and truth. He came so that all people could become like Him as men and women who are sons and daughters of God. He came to make Old Covenant people New Covenant sons and daughter of their Father in heaven.

In this story, an Old Covenant man wanted to follow Jesus, but to follow Jesus was not an act of the human will. Following Jesus is the fruit of a supernatural connection and a supernatural habitation. The Old Covenant was centered around information in regard to how to act and how to live. The focus of human life becomes something of doing when we embrace an Old Covenant administration in our lives. To truly follow Jesus takes an empowerment of the Spirit of God within the follower. The criterion for following Jesus is made known through being a place of the presence of Christ within. Jesus’ response to the man’s statement was one of ‘being’ and not one of ‘doing’. He wasn’t saying that the man would have to take a poverty vow in order to follow Him. He wasn’t saying that the man would never know what he was doing if he followed Him. He wasn’t saying that life would become a day-to-day journey of never knowing where you are going or what you are doing. He was simply making a statement in regard to what He really wanted from the man. He stated that foxes have holes and birds have nests.

A fox doesn’t look for a hole to sleep in. He isn’t dependent upon others to build him a fox motel or a bed and breakfast for foxes. A fox finds an environment of dirt, digs a hole, finds another fox, lives together, raises a family of foxes, lives a great fox life, and influences the world with fox activity. A bird doesn’t look for a nest to sleep in. A bird finds a stick, picks up another stick, and gathers many sticks to build a nest to live from. The bird is not dependent upon the local bird society or the local government to provide a place for sleeping. The bird is simply born to seek out the environment of a bird habitation, where he can find a bird partner, raise a bird family, live a great bird life, and influence the world with bird activity. Jesus was looking for a place to rest His head. He needed a body; like the fox needs a den and the bird needs a nest. He was looking for a place to rest His headship and He wanted to know if the man was it.

This is the power of New Covenant. We are a place of God’s habitation in the earth so that God can have His family, live a great life, and influence the world with the life of heaven. When we become a dwelling place of God’s presence, we hear God. This empowers us to be who we are meant to be. We become sons and daughters of God. We manifest as the body of Christ and we do life-giving things in our world. It is not what we do that makes us who we are. It is who we are that empowers us to do all things!

When we live for and from being a temple of Christ, we will grow in being a community of Christ. As we increasingly become the community of Christ, we will see the purpose of Christ in our lives. We will respond to what God says to us with faith towards Him. This will empower us to walk according to His purpose. When we embrace the purpose of Christ, we will see His destiny fulfilled through our lives to our world.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

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

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

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

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

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

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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I will be finishing in Angola. It has been a wonderful week with hungry believers with a willingness to learn and be changed by God’s presence and word. I am blessed with the fruit of life that God is causing to grow here. I am looking forward to all that God is going to do in the future.

When God sent Jesus, He didn’t have Christianity in mind. He made a way for Christ to be in humanity. Christianity alone can be a belief system or a culture of religion. Christ in humanity is the empowerment of our lives to become givers of Christ’s life to our world. It is a faith and faith comes by hearing God in our hearts. That faith empowers us to be changed and to become the life-giving substance of God in increasing measures. This is the power of New Covenant life. The New Covenant is not a transition in time, it is an ever-present eternal relationship with God in our hearts. The time is always NOW! Christ in us is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

The kingdom of God is an internal force of love and life upon the human heart that is the testimony of intimacy with God in Christ. The administration of the law was an external influence upon the human soul and was limited to the instruction of words and the voice of a prophet. The administration of grace is an internal influence that brings about true change of the hearts and minds of men. It is not administration of mere accountability to God. It is an administration of intimate and powerful relationship with Him. It is an unshakeable testimony of God in the human heart.

The Old Covenant was the result of Adam and Eve choosing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they ate of that tree, they broke their trust in God. They rejected a willingness to respond to His voice and were not able to be honorable towards Him. They forsook their dependency upon Him and embraced a dependency upon knowledge. This disconnected them from fulfilling their destiny of producing a family tree of life in the earth. Instead they produced a family tree of death. That family would seek to be governed by knowledge and would produce judgments of death upon themselves and upon one another because of independent conclusions of what is good and what is evil. Because of this mankind forfeited their ability to fulfill the mandate of God for them. They could be fruitful, multiply, and fill in the earth (Gen. 9:1), but they could not subdue or exercise dominion.

Genesis 1:26  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

An administration of information cannot fulfill God’s mandate. Only an administration of life can fulfill God’s mandate to mankind. To subdue is to destroy death by the power of life. To exercise dominion is to crumble every lie with life-giving truth. Grace is the manifest presence of God in our lives and God’s grace in us enables us to subdue in our world. We can destroy death by being empowered to be and give life. We become who we are meant to be in Christ and who we really are gives life to our world. Our heavenly Father is not a taker, He is a giver of life. This is the substance of who He is. He gives life, breath, and all things. When we become who we are meant to be we manifest His character, nature, way, power, and authority in our lives. We become truth and that truth will crumble every lie of death in our world. This is exercising dominion. God’s grace empowers us to take back territory that needs to be restored and the truth of who we are in Him fills that territory with His life. Jesus was the word of God born into our world as a man full of grace and truth so that we could be made the same (Jn. 1:14).

The community of God is dependent upon being a temple of God’s Spirit – the place of God’s manifest presence. When we are a dwelling place of God’s Spirit, we become a community of people that live for God’s purpose, and we fulfill the destiny of His name in our world. The temple is not dependent upon the community. Being an expression of the community of Christ is simply the fruit and evidence that we are a dwelling place of His presence.

We are the body of Christ – the temple of Holy Spirit. The temple of the Holy Spirit will activate, facilitate, and manifest the community of Christ. Christ in us inspires our faith towards God and we trust Him, respond to Him, honor Him, and bear the fruit of being dependent upon Him 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,

Today I am in Angola, Africa. I have been blessed to be with several church leaders on Saturday and Sunday. I also spoke on the radio on Sunday morning and ministered in a great church Sunday morning. It was great to be with believers that were hungry for the presence of God and eager to receive His words of life. I have a full week of training here with many leaders.

Our fight is not a fight against flesh and blood. It is a fight against spiritual forces and powers because it is an empowerment of life that destroys all manner of distraction and death. It is a fight of faith. It is not merely a fight against something but a fight to be empowered by an internal connection to God at all times through His Holy Spirit. Our wrestle is not a wrestle against the flesh but an empowerment by God’s Spirit to be fully connected to Him at all times and in all things.

Our confession should be a confession of love and life. Our relationship with God in Christ empowers us to live godly lives with wholesome words and expressions of life to others in our world. The way of the world is self-willed and self-focused. When we seek our own way, we become proud, and we end up in disputes and arguments with others over words that are inspired by envy, strife, evil suspicions, and argumentative attitudes. The way of the world is to seek to get things in life that satisfy their own desires and to be someone of stature and importance in their own eyes. They seek the things of the world to give them satisfaction in the world. This is not to be our way in Christ.

The apostle Paul exhorted his spiritual son Timothy to live his life in godliness with contentment for each day. He encouraged him to know that seeking the riches of the world can be the root of many kinds of evil. A desire for the things of the world can be a distraction from what really counts. What really counts in life is a daily relationship with God. This is not just life, but life eternal and life abundant.

1 Timothy 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

The appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ is not just an appearing at a future event of fullness, but an appearing of Him in many ways in the seasons of our lives. We will no doubt see Him at the culmination of the harvest of our lives when we transition from this world of corruption to the incorruptible glory of God’s presence. His coming is not just an event in time but an increasing reality of His nearness and presence in our lives and in all times. We will no doubt see Him when all things are summed up in Him and presented to God our Father but we must live each day to see Him by faith in our hearts and to know His manifest presence in us and with us in all things. Knowing His presence in our lives will inspire us to express His presence in the power of love to our world.

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

It is through intimacy with God in our hearts and an embracing of His presence that we can be empowered by faith with a steadfast adherence to Him. This is the faith and patience that empowers our labor of love. That labor of love is a love for Him that inspires each of us to make sacrifices willingly and willfully for the sake of giving life to others in our world. This is the diligence that we must walk in through the full course of our lives to the greater glory that lies ahead.

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 Portugal. I arrived here last Friday, and I have had a full weekend with many God testimonies so far. It is always a joy to be here with my church family and to see the work of God’s Spirit in the testimony of His love. It is a great blessing to be a part of God’s purpose and plan in this world. Thank you to all who have participated in this past weekend. Today I met with many leaders of congregations of the CCVA churches in Portugal. God is doing good things!

Christianity is not meant to be a religion. It is not meant to be a belief system. Christianity is a faith, not a belief. It is a faith that comes by a personal connection to God in our hearts. It is the testimony of being a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Faith happens when we hear God in our hearts, and it inspires the actions of our lives.

1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

When we know God’s love, we are empowered to love God. A revelation of God’s love in our lives will enable us to hear Him in our hearts. When we hear Him in our hearts, we are inspired in our faith towards Him. When we have faith towards God, we make sacrifices of love for Him and for those He loves. This is the fruit of knowing our election in Him. It is not by efforts of our flesh but by a revelation of His goodness and love.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer…

The first century church was suffering persecutions, even unto death. In some places of the world this is true this very moment. In difficult times our faith is tested. Do we trust the One we hear in our hearts. When we trust God, we love Him! This is true in good times and in times of trouble. Our hearts should burn with love for God at all times. Our hope is not in persecutions but in the One who abides in us and causes us to manifest as sons and daughters of God even in times of trouble. Just as the first century church overcame in their generation, we too can overcome in whatever circumstance or situation we find ourselves in. Our faith is the fruit of a personal relationship with God in Christ. Our relationship with Him is also the fire that empowers us to abound in actions of love towards one another.

What seeks to destroy us in life is destroyed by the presence of God in our lives. In the first century there was a day of judgment that destroyed the persecutors of the church. The antichrist spirit of Pharisaic legalism couldn’t destroy the true temple of God but was in fact destroyed because the living temple of God proved to be faithful and true, even in the midst of persecution. The antichrist spirit of dead religion and the antichrist spirit of the world could not destroy the true temple of the Spirit of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:6 …since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

The pronouns in these verses were written for people in Paul’s generation, but they are also true for us today. There was a destruction of the persecutors of the first century church in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Old Covenant Torah/Temple system. What opposed Christ was destroyed by the very weapons they sought to use against the Church rooted in faith and patience in Christ. What was true in Christ proved to be lasting while what opposed Christ was revealed to be false and was removed.

Even in our own lives, everything that opposes the life of Christ in us is destroyed by the life-transforming power of Christ in us. The true always removes the false. Christ is always more powerful than anything or anyone that is antichrist. Embracing Christ is not about embracing a religion or a belief system of Christianity. Embracing Christ is abiding in Him and inviting Him to abide in us at all times. This is the source our faith and the empowerment of our patience to inherit all that He gives to us 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

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 still in Redding, California with my family hear. Bonnie and I have had a wonderful time, and we look forward to returning again to be with our children and grandchildren. This week I will head to Portugal, and I believe that God is going to do wonderful things by the power of His grace.

In the past weeks I have addressed the fires of the lamp of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are a temple of Holy Spirit – a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. The presence of God in our lives should be something that affects us internally and reveals a testimony of God’s life to our world.

The light of our lives is the manifest presence of Holy Spirit in our lives. This is the testimony of Christ in us. It is a work of God’s grace and a testimony of God’s grace that we can know, and others can see. When we have the fire of God’s grace burning in our hearts and minds it becomes evident to the world around us.

We must know the fire of being loved by God. This is to know Him loving us each day. We can only love others to the degree that we know His love for us. Jesus told his disciples to love one another, even as He had loved them. This is true for us in our relationship with Him today. We can only truly love another when we know how much, and in what ways, Jesus loves us. This includes His gift of mercy through His death upon our cross, but also His triumphant grace that makes our hearts come alive where we were once dead.

When we know the fire of being loved by God, we can also know the fire of loving God. I remember the fire of loving Him when I first came to know Him more than fifty years ago. I passionately loved Him because I had a revelation of His amazing love for me. Each of us needs to know this simple truth in an experiential way in every season of our lives.

We must know the fire of responding to God that gives us a heavenly testimony inside and out. That heavenly testimony affects us in our whole being – spirit, soul, and body. When we know the fire of responding to Him, we are transformed. Our lives reveal the evidence of responding to Him internally even unto external expressions of what comes from Him in heaven.

We must grow in knowing the fire of giving life to others. This is the life-giving authority of God working in us that empowers us to give life to others in our world. We receive life from Him to give life to others in every area of our responsibility in life.

We must grow in the fire of being life for others. This is growing in knowing who we are in Christ. It is only in Christ that we can discover our true identity and our ability to reveal the resurrection life of Christ to our world.

We must know the fire of community – a love for God as our Father and for one another as His family in the earth. This fire will enable us to be the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and all that reveals true community and communion of life.

We must grow in the fire of partnership with God in all things. This is knowing the abiding presence of Jesus in the power and purpose of His name that enables us to reign in life. This fire gives us a zeal for God’s house. It gives us a zeal for God’s kingdom to come in our lives and His will to be done.

Holy Spirit, we welcome you to burn in our hearts and minds and reveal us to be sons and daughters of God our Father in heaven. Reveal the testimony of Jesus’ name in all that we are and do. Give us the fire of being loved by You God and the fire of loving You. Grant us the fire of responding to You with heavenly testimonies – inside and out. Give us the fire of giving life to others in the boundaries given to us in this world. Give us the fire of being life for others. Help us grow in knowing who we are in Christ for the sake of our lives together as the body of Christ revealing your glory in our world. Give us the fire of community with a love for You as our Father and a love for the family You have given to us in this world. Give us the fire of purpose and destiny so that we can see Your kingdom come and Your will being done in our spheres of reigning in this world. We open the door for you to abide in us and we choose to abide in you each day of our path 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

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

Greetings,

Blog In Audio:

Today I am in Redding, California with my family that lives here. I am enjoying time with two of my special grandchildren and being blessed with the stretched-out tent pegs of my family tribe. I will be here through this week and through the next weekend.

Today I am addressing the fire of purpose and destiny in our lives. This a fire of an awe of God that empowers us to know His partnership with us and our partnership with Him in all things. It is a testimony of the Spirit of the fear of the Lord working in and through us to bring life to our world.

A testimony of this fire can be found in the final letter of seven letters in the book of Revelation written to the Church of Laodicea. The name Laodicea means “just people”. This is a term that speaks of the Pharisaic day when Jesus was upon the earth. His own people had become absent of the glory of God and thus Jesus pronounced them desolate (Mt. 23:37, 38). That generation was self-righteous and thought themselves to be just without the power of God. They had aligned themselves with the rulers of the world and were unable to exercise the life-giving rule of Christ.

In this letter Jesus is seen as the one who is “the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God”. These are words that describe a covenant connection to God in a face-to-face partnership with Him in all things. It is the testimony of a lifestyle of true prayer – a constant reality of an intimate connection to God to fulfill His purpose and will in life.

The people of the Church of Laodicea were reprimanded for their lukewarm condition. They were neither cold as the world, nor were they hot as the living in Christ. They had adopted a form of godliness without the power or presence of God. It is interesting to note that the city of Laodicea was physically located between hot springs and cold springs. A drink of lukewarm water would be a known experience and the reaction of spewing it out would also be a real-life testimony.

Even the physical surroundings of the city of Laodicea prophetically exemplified the condition of the atrophy of religious Pharisaism. Exegetically this was the period of the ‘last days’ of the Old Covenant nation of Israel, which was concluded in A.D. 30 – 70. This was the generation that Jesus said would not pass until the prophetic words of His mouth were fulfilled (Mt. 16:28; 24:34; Mk. 9:1; 13:30; Lk. 9:27; 21:32). This was the generation that had confessed they had no king but Caesar, yet professed to be servants of the Most High God (Jn. 19:15). They were neither fit for God or Caesar. They were an exegetical testimony to all forms of godliness that lack God’s presence and power in the generations of the past and in all generations to come. Because of their lukewarm condition, Jesus said He would spew them out of His mouth. This is a Hebrew phrase that was part of the curse for breaking covenant with God (Lev. 18:24-28; Lk. 21:24). Israel was told that if they became like the nations of the world, the Promised Land would vomit them out.

The people of Laodicea had become conditioned by the world to no longer be seekers of God, but simply lovers of themselves. They thought themselves to be rich and in need of nothing, but God saw them to be “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked”. This is the description of the Pharisaic Judaism of the first century (Lk. 18:9-14; Rev.18:7). A fallen condition was disqualifying them from ministry (Lev. 21:18-21; Deut. 29:4; Mt. 13:13-15; Mt. 16:3; 2 Cor. 4:3, 4; 1 Jn. 2:11).

They were counseled by the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord to “buy gold refined in the fire”. This was a signification of their need to become faithful to God (1 Pet. 1:5-7; 1 Cor. 3:12-15). They were instructed to put on “white garments”. They needed to pay the price of putting on wedding attire, or be replaced (Mt. 22:11-14; Gen. 3:21; Rev. 19:8). This would give them the testimony of eternal hope in Christ. They were instructed to put salve upon their eyes that they might see. That salve was not a salve of natural sight, but a salve symbolizing the receiving of the healing grace of God in Christ (Lk. 4:18; Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 2:14, 15). They would see with eyes of love, as our heavenly Father sees the world through eyes of love. God wanted to deal with them as their Father. The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord would grant them the grace of honoring their Father in heaven. God had come to treat them as sons. He was ready to rebuke and chasten them that they might come to know the Father of spirits and live (Heb. 12:5-11; Mal. 4:1-6).

God wants us all to know the fire of partnership with Him in all things. Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He is ready to abide in us and us in Him to fill our world with the testimony and purpose of His life. We are invited to come to the throne of Christ that we might see His kingdom come and His will being done in every situation of our path in life. This is the throne whereby Jesus rules, and will continue to rule, until His kingdom becomes a great mountain and fills the earth (Dan. 2:35, 45). All New Covenant Believers have the ability to manifest the glory of God (2 Cor. 3:2-18).

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

God wants us to know the fire of purpose and destiny in life. This is the fire of Christ abiding in us and us abiding in Him for His purpose and will in all things. This is that we might bring the life of God’s house to our house in 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

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 Wichita, Kansas with Christ Life Church. We had a great weekend and I believe that the fruit of the weekend will be evident in the days to come.  We heard God’s heart and we are inspired to move forward in His vision for what is before us.

The sixth letter of Revelation was written to the Church of Philadelphia. The word Philadelphia means “brotherly love”. It relates to communion and the testimony of the Spirit of Knowing (Isa. 11:2), thus the angel of Philadelphia is the Spirit of Knowing (Zech. 4:10). This is the true witness of eternal life given as an “eternal judgment” of mercy and grace to live our lives in Christ (Heb. 6:2). That eternal judgment is one of mercy and eternal life for all who find themselves in Christ.

In this letter Jesus is seen as “He who is holy”, a term for God in His Temple. “He opens and no one shuts” and “shuts and no one opens”. All of this is “imagery of the synagogue and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple”. Those in Philadelphia had “little strength” but had “kept His word and have not denied His name”. In Philadelphia there were those of the Synagogue of Satan, who said they were Jews just as there were conflicts in the day of Ezra and Nehemiah with false Jews (Ezra 4; Neh. 4; 6; 13). The testing of the faith of the Church was really the proving of God’s communion of the Spirit. The testimony of God’s love for His people would be the subduing of their oppressors beneath their feet. The true Zion of God would be seen as Christ’s Church (Isa. 60:14; Heb. 12:22). The Spirit of Knowing would prove to establish the foundation of the Church in love. Those who knew the communion of the Spirit would be kept from the hour of trial that would come upon the world. The Greek word for ‘world’ here is oikoumene, meaning land. From the word oikeo, meaning to occupy a house.  That which is covenant would be described as “earth” (land), and that which is not covenant would be described as “sea”. The word ‘world’ would be better translated as earth or land in this case. It was not the ‘cosmos’ (global world), but rather the world that professed a knowledge of God (occupied land). This hour of trial was to come to those who professed to be of God in order that those of the true temple of God might prevail. It was not a trial for the unsaved, but a trial for those who made a confession of being the house of God. I believe that the firstfruits fulfillment of this was in the first century persecution of the Church and the judgment of the apostates in A.D. 70. Jesus said He was “coming quickly”.

The Church of Philadelphia was told to hold fast to that which they had and they would be pillars in the temple of God. The firstfruits Church of the first century became the foundation for the Church throughout the generations to come. As pillars in the temple of God they were given the testimony of a love for God and a love for His people. The life of the Spirit was to overcome the life of the flesh and the City of God was beginning its established testimony in the earth. This was true exegetically for the Church of Philadelphia, syntactically true in the history of Ezra and Nehemiah, and true by principle of application in the generations to come. All who enter the New Covenant are given the life of community with God and one another. The provision, safety, government, strength, and community of God’s City will be given to them in increasing measures.

He who overcomes is granted to be made a “pillar in the temple of God”. To be a pillar the temple of God is to be a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. God said a testimony would be “to write on him My new name”. It is through communion with the Spirit of Knowing that we become expressions of the image of Christ (Ex. 34:29-35; Num. 6:25; Num. 12:6-8; 2 Chr. 3:7-18; 4:6; Ps. 80:3, 7, 19; 2 Cor. 3:2-18; 1 Jn. 3:2). This is a full restoration of God’s people to His image (Ex 34:6, 7).

The testimony of those who overcome is that of being established in the earth as a place of God’s eternal presence. It is said that, “he shall go out no more”. These are those who are made strong by the Spirit of Knowing (Jer. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:15); as opposed to those who are cast out (Mt. 8:11, 12).

Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

The testimony of the Church of Philadelphia is that of being in intimate communion with God as the community of God. The name of God and the name of the city of God would be written upon them. This is the New Jerusalem, the New Covenant testimony of becoming the community of Christ by the presence of His Spirit in our lives (Gal. 4:26). The firstfruit church of the first century was the true witness that destroyed the apostate counterfeit and thus apostasy will be perpetually destroyed in every generation to come (Mt. 24:1, 2; Lk. 21:24). Anything that is not of faith in our lives is destroyed by our intimate connection to God through His Spirit. All New Covenant believers have the ability to enter into the full covenant and communion with God and one another (Gal. 4:23-29; 1 Pet. 2:4, 5). The fire of community, communion with God and one another, is one of the lamps of Holy Spirit 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