Ted J Hanson's Blog
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Ted J Hanson's Blog
God is With Us!
Hello from Wichita, Kansas;
I hope everyone had a great week and weekend. I have been in Kansas where the temperature and humidity have definitely been a testimony to summer months! I go home today and I am looking forward to being with my family and church family in Bellingham. I get to preach two Sundays in a row at home. I am looking forward to that very much.
We had a great weekend in Wichita. We started Friday night with a prophetic meeting. God was very good and released prophetic ministry to several individuals as well as release a corporate prophetic grace. He reminded us of his countless thoughts for us. He is speaking today, are we listening? As we wake this morning we can expect to hear Him throughout the day, not just once. I have heard Him this morning, how about you? He is good and He is our friend. He wants to express His life-giving words.
We had a great day on Saturday with a time of teaching and questions and answers concerning a kingdom view of Scripture and the increasing kingdom of God upon the earth. It was a good time.
Yesterday morning God gave a specific word to the church here, but it also ministered to me in the situation I am in. I believe that it is also relevant to the corporate Body of Christ in this season in the earth. The Holy Spirit is being stirred, Jesus is being stirred, and we are being stirred to wake up and see God empower us to complete things set upon foundations set 16 years ago. This was the case with the word of Haggai the prophet in the rebuilding of the Temple. God wants to release His glory in another level in our lives, but we must respond to His stirring. As I have been teaching and blogging as of late, God is stretching so that we see God in the places we could not see Him before. It is in that place that He is even stirring us now. There is a fresh move of God at hand that is going to wake us up to the purpose, the strategy, the power, and the authority of Christ in a new way. It is not going to just be our ability to receive God’s love, but our ability to reveal the testimony of God’s love in our lives to the world in which we live. I receive these things in my life this morning! Come Lord Jesus, Come! Reveal your glory in a whole new way. I choose to respond to the stirring of God and to be stirred up to be fully awake to God, not to circumstances that try to surround me.
Last night we have a marvelous healing service. We had a joint meeting with another congregation. It seems that wherever I go this year God is increasing His testimony of bringing brethren together. God is good! The presence of Jesus was wonderful in worship. His presence in our midst was very obvious. He is always with us and in us, but there are those times where He honors us for choosing to recognize His person in our midst. This was one of those times. I ministered a few Scripture testimonies of the wonderful healing grace of Jesus. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, just wanted Jesus to come and lay His hand upon his sick and dying daughter. The woman with the issue of blood just wanted to touch the clothing of Jesus to be healed. In a crowd of people, who were no doubt bumping into the body of Jesus, a desperate woman chose to reach and touch His clothing to receive the blessings of who He was. He was and is the healer. When people truly recognized whom Jesus was, they came to Him expecting. They laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged that He might just touch them with the hem of His garment. Those whom Jesus touched were made well. It is true to say that as many as recognized who He really was received the blessings of a testimony of who He was. Even a blind man made a request for healing of a man He could not naturally see, knowing in his heart that Jesus was the giver of sight. We had many people who touched the clothing of Jesus last night. The love and power of the healer came into the room in a manifested way. Worshipping Him was wonderful and we saw the healer move among us! Thank you Jesus!
Let’s all expect to hear Him today. Let’s choose to respond to His stirring in our lives for His purpose in this hour. Let’s recognize Him for who He truly is and receive the blessings that come from His true identity. God is good and He is with us!
Blessings to you all,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
I hope everyone had a great week and weekend. I have been in Kansas where the temperature and humidity have definitely been a testimony to summer months! I go home today and I am looking forward to being with my family and church family in Bellingham. I get to preach two Sundays in a row at home. I am looking forward to that very much.
We had a great weekend in Wichita. We started Friday night with a prophetic meeting. God was very good and released prophetic ministry to several individuals as well as release a corporate prophetic grace. He reminded us of his countless thoughts for us. He is speaking today, are we listening? As we wake this morning we can expect to hear Him throughout the day, not just once. I have heard Him this morning, how about you? He is good and He is our friend. He wants to express His life-giving words.
We had a great day on Saturday with a time of teaching and questions and answers concerning a kingdom view of Scripture and the increasing kingdom of God upon the earth. It was a good time.
Yesterday morning God gave a specific word to the church here, but it also ministered to me in the situation I am in. I believe that it is also relevant to the corporate Body of Christ in this season in the earth. The Holy Spirit is being stirred, Jesus is being stirred, and we are being stirred to wake up and see God empower us to complete things set upon foundations set 16 years ago. This was the case with the word of Haggai the prophet in the rebuilding of the Temple. God wants to release His glory in another level in our lives, but we must respond to His stirring. As I have been teaching and blogging as of late, God is stretching so that we see God in the places we could not see Him before. It is in that place that He is even stirring us now. There is a fresh move of God at hand that is going to wake us up to the purpose, the strategy, the power, and the authority of Christ in a new way. It is not going to just be our ability to receive God’s love, but our ability to reveal the testimony of God’s love in our lives to the world in which we live. I receive these things in my life this morning! Come Lord Jesus, Come! Reveal your glory in a whole new way. I choose to respond to the stirring of God and to be stirred up to be fully awake to God, not to circumstances that try to surround me.
Last night we have a marvelous healing service. We had a joint meeting with another congregation. It seems that wherever I go this year God is increasing His testimony of bringing brethren together. God is good! The presence of Jesus was wonderful in worship. His presence in our midst was very obvious. He is always with us and in us, but there are those times where He honors us for choosing to recognize His person in our midst. This was one of those times. I ministered a few Scripture testimonies of the wonderful healing grace of Jesus. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, just wanted Jesus to come and lay His hand upon his sick and dying daughter. The woman with the issue of blood just wanted to touch the clothing of Jesus to be healed. In a crowd of people, who were no doubt bumping into the body of Jesus, a desperate woman chose to reach and touch His clothing to receive the blessings of who He was. He was and is the healer. When people truly recognized whom Jesus was, they came to Him expecting. They laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged that He might just touch them with the hem of His garment. Those whom Jesus touched were made well. It is true to say that as many as recognized who He really was received the blessings of a testimony of who He was. Even a blind man made a request for healing of a man He could not naturally see, knowing in his heart that Jesus was the giver of sight. We had many people who touched the clothing of Jesus last night. The love and power of the healer came into the room in a manifested way. Worshipping Him was wonderful and we saw the healer move among us! Thank you Jesus!
Let’s all expect to hear Him today. Let’s choose to respond to His stirring in our lives for His purpose in this hour. Let’s recognize Him for who He truly is and receive the blessings that come from His true identity. God is good and He is with us!
Blessings to you all,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
A Friend of God
Hello From Arizona;
Well, the sun is shining and I am headed home after three wonderful days with my Apache friends and family here in San Carlos. We had a great time in the presence of God and God is doing good things in a very needy place in the earth. Jesus is the one who broke the curse! I call God’s blessing upon the Apache Nation and believe that there is living water in the desert. That living water is going to bring fruitful fields for the glory of God.
I continued to preach a message on generations here. It is the message of the hour. God wants us all to have a 100-year plan. He wants us to believe for His kingdom to come and His will to be done for our children, our children’s children, and us. The good news of the Kingdom of God is truly GOOD NEWS!
I am inspired today to think of God as my friend. He is my friend and I am increasingly becoming a friend of God. May He grant me the grace in my heart to be His friend in character, nature, way, power, and authority. By His grace I know that I will be.
Yesterday was Father’s Day and I think of my own children. There is nothing greater in my life than being a son to God, a husband to my wife, a father to my children, and a grandfather to my granddaughter. These things are more important than all the things I do in life. These are who I am, not merely what I do. When I think of my own children I cannot think of a better testimony than to be a friend to each of them. They are my friends and I am theirs. I know that God sees us all this way as well. He is our friend and we are His. He loves that relationship.
A great testimony of God’s friendship is found in the testimony of Jesus and Peter. After the resurrection of Jesus Peter and some of the disciples decided to go fishing. Jesus had appeared to them, but they were not fully aware of His plan for their future. They were yet to be empowered and envisioned for the purpose of Christ’s kingdom. It seems that returning to their old lives was an option. Peter led the cause by initiating a fishing expedition. You can find the story in John, Chapter 21. In the story, they had been fishing all night when Jesus came along the shore. They had not caught a single fish in their venture and Jesus gave them a familiar instruction. He told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat and they would find some fish. When they did they quickly found their net full to almost bursting. They recognized then that the one who had spoken to them from the shoreline was Jesus. Peter, being stripped down to his undergarment, put on his outer garment and jumped into the sea. He probably felt a little undone at the presence of the Lord. He may have been carry some shame for denying Jesus at His crucifixion. When the disciples came ashore they drug the net filled to abundance with fish to the shore. Jesus had prepared a fire and some fish for their breakfast. He was doing all the things that friends do. It appears that in the story the fish that Jesus offered them were not those they had just caught, but rather fish that He had cooked in preparation for them to eat. His friendship with them was not based upon what they could offer, but upon who He was to them. He was their friend, even though not too many days early it seemed they had scattered from Him. Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times, seemed to be the focus of Jesus in the situation. Jesus began to ask some questions of Peter. He asked Him if he loved Him more than the fish he had just caught. Did he love him more than the very thing he loved to do? Jesus used the Greek word “agapao” when asking Peter if he loved Him. This word is a “giving” word. It is a word for love that implies action and doing whatever it takes to prove a moral and giving love. Peter knew that he could not say he could “agapao” Jesus. He had denied Him three times. Peter responds by using a different Greek word for love. He uses the word “phileo”, which means that he was affectionate and emotionally loving to Jesus. His honesty invoked a surprising response from Jesus. Jesus told Peter to feed His little lambs. Jesus then again asked Peter if he loved Him. He used the Greek word “agapao” the second time as well. Peter responded by saying that he was affectionate and emotionally loving to Jesus (phileo). His honesty caused Jesus to express His trust of Peter even more. He told him to take care of His little lambs. Jesus then proceeded to ask Peter a third time if he loved Him. This time Jesus used the word “phileo”. “Peter do you ‘phileo’ Me?” Are you emotionally in love with me? Peter then began to cry and said, “Lord you know I ‘phileo’ You.” This time Jesus gave him the ultimate expression of trust. He told Him to feed His sheep. Jesus then prophesied of the day that Peter would prove a friendship with Jesus that would be of his ability to “agapeo” Him. Peter would one day give his life as a friend of Jesus. His weakness of betrayal would be fully healed by the love of His faithful friend.
Jn. 21:18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
Over thirty years later Peter was found in Rome and was placed under the judgment of crucifixion by the Roman authorities. Peter could not dishonor nor deny His Lord. At his own request they crucified Peter upside down. He refused to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus, but requested that they hang him upside down. Peter was an unshakeable friend to Jesus. Jesus was his friend, now at the culmination of Peter’s life, Peter revealed he was a friend to Jesus. He could now “agapeo” Him with all of his heart.
I want to be a friend of God. God is my friend, and by His grace I am increasingly being made known as His friend. This is the power of God’s grace!
Blessings to Everyone,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Well, the sun is shining and I am headed home after three wonderful days with my Apache friends and family here in San Carlos. We had a great time in the presence of God and God is doing good things in a very needy place in the earth. Jesus is the one who broke the curse! I call God’s blessing upon the Apache Nation and believe that there is living water in the desert. That living water is going to bring fruitful fields for the glory of God.
I continued to preach a message on generations here. It is the message of the hour. God wants us all to have a 100-year plan. He wants us to believe for His kingdom to come and His will to be done for our children, our children’s children, and us. The good news of the Kingdom of God is truly GOOD NEWS!
I am inspired today to think of God as my friend. He is my friend and I am increasingly becoming a friend of God. May He grant me the grace in my heart to be His friend in character, nature, way, power, and authority. By His grace I know that I will be.
Yesterday was Father’s Day and I think of my own children. There is nothing greater in my life than being a son to God, a husband to my wife, a father to my children, and a grandfather to my granddaughter. These things are more important than all the things I do in life. These are who I am, not merely what I do. When I think of my own children I cannot think of a better testimony than to be a friend to each of them. They are my friends and I am theirs. I know that God sees us all this way as well. He is our friend and we are His. He loves that relationship.
A great testimony of God’s friendship is found in the testimony of Jesus and Peter. After the resurrection of Jesus Peter and some of the disciples decided to go fishing. Jesus had appeared to them, but they were not fully aware of His plan for their future. They were yet to be empowered and envisioned for the purpose of Christ’s kingdom. It seems that returning to their old lives was an option. Peter led the cause by initiating a fishing expedition. You can find the story in John, Chapter 21. In the story, they had been fishing all night when Jesus came along the shore. They had not caught a single fish in their venture and Jesus gave them a familiar instruction. He told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat and they would find some fish. When they did they quickly found their net full to almost bursting. They recognized then that the one who had spoken to them from the shoreline was Jesus. Peter, being stripped down to his undergarment, put on his outer garment and jumped into the sea. He probably felt a little undone at the presence of the Lord. He may have been carry some shame for denying Jesus at His crucifixion. When the disciples came ashore they drug the net filled to abundance with fish to the shore. Jesus had prepared a fire and some fish for their breakfast. He was doing all the things that friends do. It appears that in the story the fish that Jesus offered them were not those they had just caught, but rather fish that He had cooked in preparation for them to eat. His friendship with them was not based upon what they could offer, but upon who He was to them. He was their friend, even though not too many days early it seemed they had scattered from Him. Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times, seemed to be the focus of Jesus in the situation. Jesus began to ask some questions of Peter. He asked Him if he loved Him more than the fish he had just caught. Did he love him more than the very thing he loved to do? Jesus used the Greek word “agapao” when asking Peter if he loved Him. This word is a “giving” word. It is a word for love that implies action and doing whatever it takes to prove a moral and giving love. Peter knew that he could not say he could “agapao” Jesus. He had denied Him three times. Peter responds by using a different Greek word for love. He uses the word “phileo”, which means that he was affectionate and emotionally loving to Jesus. His honesty invoked a surprising response from Jesus. Jesus told Peter to feed His little lambs. Jesus then again asked Peter if he loved Him. He used the Greek word “agapao” the second time as well. Peter responded by saying that he was affectionate and emotionally loving to Jesus (phileo). His honesty caused Jesus to express His trust of Peter even more. He told him to take care of His little lambs. Jesus then proceeded to ask Peter a third time if he loved Him. This time Jesus used the word “phileo”. “Peter do you ‘phileo’ Me?” Are you emotionally in love with me? Peter then began to cry and said, “Lord you know I ‘phileo’ You.” This time Jesus gave him the ultimate expression of trust. He told Him to feed His sheep. Jesus then prophesied of the day that Peter would prove a friendship with Jesus that would be of his ability to “agapeo” Him. Peter would one day give his life as a friend of Jesus. His weakness of betrayal would be fully healed by the love of His faithful friend.
Jn. 21:18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
Over thirty years later Peter was found in Rome and was placed under the judgment of crucifixion by the Roman authorities. Peter could not dishonor nor deny His Lord. At his own request they crucified Peter upside down. He refused to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus, but requested that they hang him upside down. Peter was an unshakeable friend to Jesus. Jesus was his friend, now at the culmination of Peter’s life, Peter revealed he was a friend to Jesus. He could now “agapeo” Him with all of his heart.
I want to be a friend of God. God is my friend, and by His grace I am increasingly being made known as His friend. This is the power of God’s grace!
Blessings to Everyone,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
A People of Worship:
Aloha;
Today I am writing form Hawaii, where Bonnie and I have been spending some time with our family. Our son and daughter-in-law, and our daughter all live here. Joanna, our daughter, will be headed to Panama in a couple of weeks so it was our last chance to see here for several months. My son Aaron gave me a flight in a helicopter Friday morning. I even got to fly it myself from one airport to another. That was pretty cool. My wife was in the back seat and lives to tell about it. Not bad!
I am sorry I missed writing a blog last week. We had just finished our School of Worship and had graduated our I.M.T.S. students on the Sunday evening. I was busy finalizing grades and getting ready for this trip to Hawaii. I have been behaving myself while I am here, but felt a blog to everyone would be good.
Our 2009 School of Worship was awesome. We had a great time in the presence of God and there was a new breakthrough in worship. We did many “New Song” activations and it was great seeing people respond to the prophetic presence of the Holy Spirit. God was very good. I thought I would blog a few thoughts on worship.
We must first keep in mind that worship is not just music. It is a lifestyle. I have been talking on the subject of ‘generations’ for some time. Can you imagine a multi-generational people of worship? What is that people like? They are a people who know how to feast and celebrate in God! Worship is a FEAST and Celebration (Jer. 33:10-13). If we can become a multi-generational people of worship we could change the world! True worship of God is an antidote to desolation and death. It is the sound of heaven made known in the earth. We need to think about this in more than our musical worship time. We need to embrace the spirit of worship in our ways of life. Our lives must exhibit the testimonies of being voices of JOY and GLADNESS! If we would all choose to embrace the presence of God for a spirit of JOY and GLADNESS we would impact the world in which we live.
The sound of worship is heard as the voice of the BRIDEGROOM and the voice of the BRIDE. The sound of our lives should be that of Christ in all that He is. He is the Head and the Body! He is the activator, facilitator, and releaser of the life of God in the earth. He is also the testimony of that which is activated, facilitated, and released of God in the earth. We should live with a generational intention of fulfilling these attributes in the earth.
The sound of worship is the voice of God’s GREATNESS, God’s GOODNESS, And God’s MERCY. It can be expressed in many words, but those words say that God is GREAT, God is GOOD, and God is MERCIFUL! God GREATNESS, GOODNESS, AND MERCY should be the sound of our lives.
The sound of worship is a sacrifice of PRAISE! It is the evidence of God being at work in our lives. There should be something coming off of us in all that we do. It is also a choice. When we don’t feel like it, we make a SACRIFICE of PRAISE. It is an attitude we choose to have, an action we decide to take, and a atmosphere we create.
When we decide to become people of worship we discover a fresh connection with God as the one who cares for us. The testimony of our lives creates a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. The flocks once again pass under the hands of Him who counts them. This is the testimony of a people who choose to come before the Lord with gladness and singing in their hearts.
Let’s be the people who worship God! Can we increase this testimony in the generations of our lives? I believe there should be no end to the increase!
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Today I am writing form Hawaii, where Bonnie and I have been spending some time with our family. Our son and daughter-in-law, and our daughter all live here. Joanna, our daughter, will be headed to Panama in a couple of weeks so it was our last chance to see here for several months. My son Aaron gave me a flight in a helicopter Friday morning. I even got to fly it myself from one airport to another. That was pretty cool. My wife was in the back seat and lives to tell about it. Not bad!
I am sorry I missed writing a blog last week. We had just finished our School of Worship and had graduated our I.M.T.S. students on the Sunday evening. I was busy finalizing grades and getting ready for this trip to Hawaii. I have been behaving myself while I am here, but felt a blog to everyone would be good.
Our 2009 School of Worship was awesome. We had a great time in the presence of God and there was a new breakthrough in worship. We did many “New Song” activations and it was great seeing people respond to the prophetic presence of the Holy Spirit. God was very good. I thought I would blog a few thoughts on worship.
We must first keep in mind that worship is not just music. It is a lifestyle. I have been talking on the subject of ‘generations’ for some time. Can you imagine a multi-generational people of worship? What is that people like? They are a people who know how to feast and celebrate in God! Worship is a FEAST and Celebration (Jer. 33:10-13). If we can become a multi-generational people of worship we could change the world! True worship of God is an antidote to desolation and death. It is the sound of heaven made known in the earth. We need to think about this in more than our musical worship time. We need to embrace the spirit of worship in our ways of life. Our lives must exhibit the testimonies of being voices of JOY and GLADNESS! If we would all choose to embrace the presence of God for a spirit of JOY and GLADNESS we would impact the world in which we live.
The sound of worship is heard as the voice of the BRIDEGROOM and the voice of the BRIDE. The sound of our lives should be that of Christ in all that He is. He is the Head and the Body! He is the activator, facilitator, and releaser of the life of God in the earth. He is also the testimony of that which is activated, facilitated, and released of God in the earth. We should live with a generational intention of fulfilling these attributes in the earth.
The sound of worship is the voice of God’s GREATNESS, God’s GOODNESS, And God’s MERCY. It can be expressed in many words, but those words say that God is GREAT, God is GOOD, and God is MERCIFUL! God GREATNESS, GOODNESS, AND MERCY should be the sound of our lives.
The sound of worship is a sacrifice of PRAISE! It is the evidence of God being at work in our lives. There should be something coming off of us in all that we do. It is also a choice. When we don’t feel like it, we make a SACRIFICE of PRAISE. It is an attitude we choose to have, an action we decide to take, and a atmosphere we create.
When we decide to become people of worship we discover a fresh connection with God as the one who cares for us. The testimony of our lives creates a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. The flocks once again pass under the hands of Him who counts them. This is the testimony of a people who choose to come before the Lord with gladness and singing in their hearts.
Let’s be the people who worship God! Can we increase this testimony in the generations of our lives? I believe there should be no end to the increase!
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
God Is Your Friend
Hello To Everyone;
I am writing today from Bulgaria. I have been in Bulgaria since last Tuesday. I started the journey here in the city of Blagoevgrad with a great pastor and some of my Bulgarian friends and family. I have been coming here since 1992. God is truly expanding His kingdom here. I was two days in Blagoevgrad and then went to Povdiv, where I have been since Thursday. We had great meetings and great times one-on-one with various people. God is raising up a new generation of people here who desire the values of Christ-like character and power. The presence of God has been great and the people have been eagerly hungry for God’s word. As usual, my time here has been very fruitful. Today I have several one-on-one meetings and tomorrow I will begin my journey home via England. I am anxious to see my family and friends in Bellingham.
I want to continue with our thoughts on generational thinking. I mentioned in my last blog that on our journey in faith we must be willing to separate from the things that don’t have a generational mindset. We must let go of the things that will prevent us from living for the future. We are called by God to live for the future generations. As Abram continued His journey God told him to part from Lot and move forward. God told him to look from the place that he was and move forward (Gen.15: 14). It is impossible to look from the place that you are if you are still looking back to where you came from. There are two enemies to our journey tomorrow. Those enemies are the places that we have come from and the other is the place we have not been yet. We either spend our minds focused on what can never be again or the things that have not happened yet. The result is that we live unreal lives today. If we want to progress forward in our journey of destiny we have to look up from the place that we are. When we accept our lives in the place that we live God can lead our steps forward in life. It is part of taking responsibility for our own lives. There is no better life than the one that each of us possesses. Even if it doesn’t look or feel great, God can make it great if we choose to come alive there.
God told Abram to look up and move forward from the place that he was. God told him to look at the dust beneath his feet. He said that his descendants would be as plentiful as the dust that his feet walked upon. It is easy to get discouraged when everything beneath our feet looks like dust. When we see the dry, everyday, mundane ground beneath our feet we must receive God’s perspective. We must look at life the way that God sees it and not the way we think it is. God’s view was Abram’s descendants; Abram’s view was dust. We must fill our thoughts with thoughts of destiny in every situation we find ourselves. Dust is not really dust. It is ground to bring the presence of God to.
As Abram moved forward he came to “the terebinth trees of Mamre” in the region of Hebron (Gen. 13:18). We saw that Abram started his journey at the tree of “stretching”. Here Abram chooses to “dwell” at the tree of “Mamre”. The word “Mamre” means “bitterness”. Abram chose to live at the tree of “bitterness”. The key to understanding this tree is to know where it is found. This tree is found in “Hebron”. “Hebron” means “friendship”. I believe that God was prophetically revealing through the life of Abram that a key to the generations was for Abram to discover that God was his friend, even in the places of bitterness. Unless we know that God is our friend in the bitter places of our lives we will never really know He is truly our friend. God wants us to be His friends, but we must first receive a revelation that God is our friend. This is a principle and value that we must pass on to the generations of our lives. God is our friend!
What are the bitter places in your life today? Pitch your tent with expectancy for the future family of your life. Look to see God as your friend in the bitter places of your life. When you find Him there, you can help others find Him there as well. It is paramount to your generational destiny in Christ. God is your friend, you just need to look and expect to discover that.
Let’s continue to thing generationally,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
I am writing today from Bulgaria. I have been in Bulgaria since last Tuesday. I started the journey here in the city of Blagoevgrad with a great pastor and some of my Bulgarian friends and family. I have been coming here since 1992. God is truly expanding His kingdom here. I was two days in Blagoevgrad and then went to Povdiv, where I have been since Thursday. We had great meetings and great times one-on-one with various people. God is raising up a new generation of people here who desire the values of Christ-like character and power. The presence of God has been great and the people have been eagerly hungry for God’s word. As usual, my time here has been very fruitful. Today I have several one-on-one meetings and tomorrow I will begin my journey home via England. I am anxious to see my family and friends in Bellingham.
I want to continue with our thoughts on generational thinking. I mentioned in my last blog that on our journey in faith we must be willing to separate from the things that don’t have a generational mindset. We must let go of the things that will prevent us from living for the future. We are called by God to live for the future generations. As Abram continued His journey God told him to part from Lot and move forward. God told him to look from the place that he was and move forward (Gen.15: 14). It is impossible to look from the place that you are if you are still looking back to where you came from. There are two enemies to our journey tomorrow. Those enemies are the places that we have come from and the other is the place we have not been yet. We either spend our minds focused on what can never be again or the things that have not happened yet. The result is that we live unreal lives today. If we want to progress forward in our journey of destiny we have to look up from the place that we are. When we accept our lives in the place that we live God can lead our steps forward in life. It is part of taking responsibility for our own lives. There is no better life than the one that each of us possesses. Even if it doesn’t look or feel great, God can make it great if we choose to come alive there.
God told Abram to look up and move forward from the place that he was. God told him to look at the dust beneath his feet. He said that his descendants would be as plentiful as the dust that his feet walked upon. It is easy to get discouraged when everything beneath our feet looks like dust. When we see the dry, everyday, mundane ground beneath our feet we must receive God’s perspective. We must look at life the way that God sees it and not the way we think it is. God’s view was Abram’s descendants; Abram’s view was dust. We must fill our thoughts with thoughts of destiny in every situation we find ourselves. Dust is not really dust. It is ground to bring the presence of God to.
As Abram moved forward he came to “the terebinth trees of Mamre” in the region of Hebron (Gen. 13:18). We saw that Abram started his journey at the tree of “stretching”. Here Abram chooses to “dwell” at the tree of “Mamre”. The word “Mamre” means “bitterness”. Abram chose to live at the tree of “bitterness”. The key to understanding this tree is to know where it is found. This tree is found in “Hebron”. “Hebron” means “friendship”. I believe that God was prophetically revealing through the life of Abram that a key to the generations was for Abram to discover that God was his friend, even in the places of bitterness. Unless we know that God is our friend in the bitter places of our lives we will never really know He is truly our friend. God wants us to be His friends, but we must first receive a revelation that God is our friend. This is a principle and value that we must pass on to the generations of our lives. God is our friend!
What are the bitter places in your life today? Pitch your tent with expectancy for the future family of your life. Look to see God as your friend in the bitter places of your life. When you find Him there, you can help others find Him there as well. It is paramount to your generational destiny in Christ. God is your friend, you just need to look and expect to discover that.
Let’s continue to thing generationally,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
The Curse Is Broken In Christ!
Greetings;
Today I am writing from Manchester, England. I just finished a conference with my RIM brothers in Failsworth. We had an awesome time in God and in being together. God no doubt took everything to another level! Many people’s lives were forever changed! God is good and I know His kingdom is increasing!
Yesterday I ministered at Graham Wilkinson’s church in Middleton. Graham is one of my spiritual sons and we had a great time. I ministered a word on the breaking of the curse. I thought I would summarize a part of that message for us today.
Jesus broke the curse of the fall in who He was as a man upon the earth. He came as the Last and eternal Adam of life for us all. Through His shed blood at Calvary we have received the reward of a relationship with God in the Spirit. There were seven aspects to the curse of the fall of man and Jesus broke the curse of those seven things when He gave His life as a ransom for us all.
Without Jesus we live lives with a loss of a personal relationship with God and we end up being in the bondage of our legitimate needs being fulfilled illegitimately. Our own offenses cause us to seek love in all the wrong places. We end up with many lords in our lives. But in Christ there is One Lord! Jesus shed blood from His soul for us (Lk. 22:39-46). He bled from His soul! Jesus bled for the “want to” of mankind. He shed blood to redeem the illegitimate fulfillments of the “want to” of our hearts.
He shed blood to redeem the motivation of the heart so that we can stay in the place of our first love. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded for our revolt to death. This was the place of our revolt to His will where we enter into the temptation of getting our legitimate needs fulfilled legitimately. While men slept for sorrow, Jesus was awake in the midst of sorrow. He broke the curse of our revolt unto death and He bought back the passion of our hearts when He confessed the Father’s will and not His own. With the belt of truth He changed our hearts and secured our futures. We are a chosen generation so that we can know One Lord!
Without Jesus we live lives with works motivated by natural sight and the fear of death. We take actions based on natural sight and the fear of death. Things that we naturally see cause us to make judgments that prevent us from living from the heart with faith toward God. But in Christ there is One Faith! Jesus shed blood internally. They beat Him and He no doubt bled internally (Lk. 22:63-65). He was blindfolded and beaten, but He trusted the sight of the Spirit more than what He could not see naturally. He was bruised for our iniquity – our internal weaknesses. Humankind was bound to the temptation of the fear of death by the things we naturally see. We often judge what we cannot see by the things that we have seen. Our past experiences bind us to the place where we become paralyzed from works of faith and bound to actions based on the fear of death. Jesus willingly yielded to the Father’s will and trusted the sight of the Spirit over the blindness of His natural sight. He activated a faith toward God for all men. His breastplate of righteousness inspired His priestly testimony of anointed acts of the heart. He had a right relationship with God His Father from His heart. He refused to be wounded in His heart to make human judgment based on human wisdom. His actions as a Royal Priest made a way for us to become a royal priesthood. We can know One Faith!
Without Jesus we have a loss of a testimony of being a heavenly house and we are bound to only the mere hope of earthly blessings. Because of that we constantly look for more earthly blessings. We need more money, more time, or more of our needs met in some way. We become defiled to the testimony of true peace in Christ and we seek peace through finding our identity in the flesh or the flesh of others. We don’t like who we are and we want to be someone else. We become unholy because we live lives that aren’t really us. We end up being submerged in many things that rob us of our true identity in God. Our testimony is the testimony of being submerged in many things. But in Christ there is One Baptism! Jesus was scourged and became completely submerged in blood (Jn. 19:1). There was no part of His body that was not submerged in the blood of the flesh. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. Jesus was the true testimony of a heavenly house. Everywhere He saw a disconnection between heaven’s house and earth’s house he walked as heaven’s house to fill the gap. He found His identity in the Spirit so that the hands of men could therefore mar him and He could remain a heavenly testimony upon the earth. He was baptized in blood – He was submerged in human blood. His heavenly understanding couldn’t be destroyed by the misunderstandings of men. Pilot found that Jesus was a man of peace and He said, “I can find nothing wrong with Him”. The crowd shouted for a release of Barabbas (Barabbas means “son of shame or confusion”). Jesus healed the human body that day as the man of Peace, not a man of shame or a man of confusion. When men identified in shame and confusion Jesus found His testimony in His Father’s house and He shed blood for the curse of a loss of a testimony in God. He walked as the holy man with feet shot with peace and made a way for us to become a holy nation forever. He was submerged in human blood so that we could be submerged in His Holy Spirit and have our feet shod with peace as a holy nation.
Without Jesus we have a loss of life-giving authority and we are constantly bound to the control of men. We live for ourselves and we don’t live for nor do we seek to be witnesses of the life-giving testimony of light to darkness that is found in the Father of lights. We act on ourselves and don’t understand the power of two witnesses. We think one is enough so we become a fatherless people in a fatherless world. We resort to control and manipulation because we think that power is enough and don’t understand that all things in life are resolved through the life-giving testimony of the authority of one Father of all people. We never find the effective door of authority to our inheritance in Christ. But in Christ there is One Father of all and for all to be under His life-giving authority means that all walk in the witness of the authority of life. Jesus shed from His head as He broke the curse of human control. They placed a thorny crown of rebellion upon His brow (Jn. 19:2-3). His submission to His heavenly Father gave us back the power of light to darkness. We have a corporate shield of faith because Jesus broke the power of human domination and gave us the testimony of one God Above All. A shield of faith stood there that day with His head in heaven and His feet upon the earth. He shed blood to break the curse of human control that day. He gave us the eternal hope of knowing His releasing power of the Spirit of Counsel and the testimony of one God Above All. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, but hope is the anchor of our souls. The hands of the control of men placed the crown of thorns upon the head of Jesus so that the curse of control could be broken and the corporate ministry of life of the laying on of hands could be given to us by knowing the one God and Father Of All. We are all His own special people submitted one to another in Christ.
Without Jesus we have loss of heavenly strength and we live lives of circumstantial rule and crises management. We are bound to apathy toward the things of God so we are constantly responding to things that require and want our attention. We make financial decisions because of what we think we have to do, not what God wants to do. We seek to fill the passions of our souls though external souses and controls. We were bound to the distraction of things that get our attention because they touch our fleshly senses in a deceptive name of life. What requires our attention today? What meets our needs the most? We say we are alive, but we are not alive at all. Many things become the controlling counterfeits of life to us. But in Christ we know one God Above All! Jesus shed blood from His hands (Jn. 19:17 – 20). The resurrection faced a dead earth. The hands that give life overpowered the distraction of thorns and thistles. His hands were willingly pierced and shed blood to overcome the works of the flesh and the distractions of piercing things for men. The Spirit of Might covered His soul with a helmet of salvation that day. A man of praise defeated death! Jesus shed blood from His hands so that we would lift up holy hands and be a people of praise. He shed blood so that we could be the praise of our God by His resurrection Might to know one God Above All.
Without Jesus we have a loss of intimacy with God and other people so we live striving with others and we are bound to the logical judgments of our minds. Love can only be received or given when it is reasonable or deserved. We perspire at the thought of true love so we no longer live to give love or to be loved in life. Our judgments and decisions are ones of death and not of life. We become gods unto ourselves by reasoning what is right and what is wrong, who is deserving of love and who is not. But in Christ there is one God Through All! Jesus shed blood from His feet. Living bread stood on the nails of sweat and human will. The One standing in love that day defeated the judgment of iron. Jesus became a living sword freely expressing a love for the Father and a love for people as He stood unbending and said, “Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing”. He gave His body to be broken, but His legs were not broken (Jn. 19:32, 33). He stood in our judgment to freely give eternal life to all men. He shed blood that we might know one God Through All. He didn’t die of broken legs and collapsed breath. He freely broke His body for us. He did that so that we could stand in a love for the Father and one another as the people of God.
Without Jesus we have a loss of future expectations and are bound to a testimony of bitterness and death. We are more concerned with what relates to us and to our own accomplishments than we are with inheritance and legacy. There is no awe of God nor is there any expectations of greatness to anyone beyond ourselves. We are consumed by the influence of things that surround us. We fear natural judgments and do not know the power of the mercy of God. We end up living for our own lives and we live our lives alone. Our hope is natural success and natural comfort. We have no concern of leaving an inheritance in the earth that can be lived on in our children and our children’s children. We become consumed with the success of our own lifetimes and suffer burn out and mid-life crises. But in Christ there is one God In All! Jesus shed blood when they pierced His side (Jn. 19:35). The Adam of the Spirit was put to sleep. A man of rest trusted the power of God’s life-giving Spirit when He committed His Spirit to the Father and the hope of the generations before Him. Instead of dust to dust He committed His Spirit to His Father. A man of Spirit trusted the Spirit and confessed that from Spirit He came and to Spirit He returned. The Church was birthed from the Adam of Spirit. A spiritual rib was formed that day as blood and water flowed! Jesus won back our joy and the testimony of a face-to-face relationship with God. The power of prayer in the Spirit birthed an eternal hope for His eternal Bride that day. A people who had not obtained mercy have truly obtained mercy!
These are things to consider. Christ is risen and the curse has been broken! Come Holy Spirit, Come!
Blessings to you,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Today I am writing from Manchester, England. I just finished a conference with my RIM brothers in Failsworth. We had an awesome time in God and in being together. God no doubt took everything to another level! Many people’s lives were forever changed! God is good and I know His kingdom is increasing!
Yesterday I ministered at Graham Wilkinson’s church in Middleton. Graham is one of my spiritual sons and we had a great time. I ministered a word on the breaking of the curse. I thought I would summarize a part of that message for us today.
Jesus broke the curse of the fall in who He was as a man upon the earth. He came as the Last and eternal Adam of life for us all. Through His shed blood at Calvary we have received the reward of a relationship with God in the Spirit. There were seven aspects to the curse of the fall of man and Jesus broke the curse of those seven things when He gave His life as a ransom for us all.
Without Jesus we live lives with a loss of a personal relationship with God and we end up being in the bondage of our legitimate needs being fulfilled illegitimately. Our own offenses cause us to seek love in all the wrong places. We end up with many lords in our lives. But in Christ there is One Lord! Jesus shed blood from His soul for us (Lk. 22:39-46). He bled from His soul! Jesus bled for the “want to” of mankind. He shed blood to redeem the illegitimate fulfillments of the “want to” of our hearts.
He shed blood to redeem the motivation of the heart so that we can stay in the place of our first love. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded for our revolt to death. This was the place of our revolt to His will where we enter into the temptation of getting our legitimate needs fulfilled legitimately. While men slept for sorrow, Jesus was awake in the midst of sorrow. He broke the curse of our revolt unto death and He bought back the passion of our hearts when He confessed the Father’s will and not His own. With the belt of truth He changed our hearts and secured our futures. We are a chosen generation so that we can know One Lord!
Without Jesus we live lives with works motivated by natural sight and the fear of death. We take actions based on natural sight and the fear of death. Things that we naturally see cause us to make judgments that prevent us from living from the heart with faith toward God. But in Christ there is One Faith! Jesus shed blood internally. They beat Him and He no doubt bled internally (Lk. 22:63-65). He was blindfolded and beaten, but He trusted the sight of the Spirit more than what He could not see naturally. He was bruised for our iniquity – our internal weaknesses. Humankind was bound to the temptation of the fear of death by the things we naturally see. We often judge what we cannot see by the things that we have seen. Our past experiences bind us to the place where we become paralyzed from works of faith and bound to actions based on the fear of death. Jesus willingly yielded to the Father’s will and trusted the sight of the Spirit over the blindness of His natural sight. He activated a faith toward God for all men. His breastplate of righteousness inspired His priestly testimony of anointed acts of the heart. He had a right relationship with God His Father from His heart. He refused to be wounded in His heart to make human judgment based on human wisdom. His actions as a Royal Priest made a way for us to become a royal priesthood. We can know One Faith!
Without Jesus we have a loss of a testimony of being a heavenly house and we are bound to only the mere hope of earthly blessings. Because of that we constantly look for more earthly blessings. We need more money, more time, or more of our needs met in some way. We become defiled to the testimony of true peace in Christ and we seek peace through finding our identity in the flesh or the flesh of others. We don’t like who we are and we want to be someone else. We become unholy because we live lives that aren’t really us. We end up being submerged in many things that rob us of our true identity in God. Our testimony is the testimony of being submerged in many things. But in Christ there is One Baptism! Jesus was scourged and became completely submerged in blood (Jn. 19:1). There was no part of His body that was not submerged in the blood of the flesh. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. Jesus was the true testimony of a heavenly house. Everywhere He saw a disconnection between heaven’s house and earth’s house he walked as heaven’s house to fill the gap. He found His identity in the Spirit so that the hands of men could therefore mar him and He could remain a heavenly testimony upon the earth. He was baptized in blood – He was submerged in human blood. His heavenly understanding couldn’t be destroyed by the misunderstandings of men. Pilot found that Jesus was a man of peace and He said, “I can find nothing wrong with Him”. The crowd shouted for a release of Barabbas (Barabbas means “son of shame or confusion”). Jesus healed the human body that day as the man of Peace, not a man of shame or a man of confusion. When men identified in shame and confusion Jesus found His testimony in His Father’s house and He shed blood for the curse of a loss of a testimony in God. He walked as the holy man with feet shot with peace and made a way for us to become a holy nation forever. He was submerged in human blood so that we could be submerged in His Holy Spirit and have our feet shod with peace as a holy nation.
Without Jesus we have a loss of life-giving authority and we are constantly bound to the control of men. We live for ourselves and we don’t live for nor do we seek to be witnesses of the life-giving testimony of light to darkness that is found in the Father of lights. We act on ourselves and don’t understand the power of two witnesses. We think one is enough so we become a fatherless people in a fatherless world. We resort to control and manipulation because we think that power is enough and don’t understand that all things in life are resolved through the life-giving testimony of the authority of one Father of all people. We never find the effective door of authority to our inheritance in Christ. But in Christ there is One Father of all and for all to be under His life-giving authority means that all walk in the witness of the authority of life. Jesus shed from His head as He broke the curse of human control. They placed a thorny crown of rebellion upon His brow (Jn. 19:2-3). His submission to His heavenly Father gave us back the power of light to darkness. We have a corporate shield of faith because Jesus broke the power of human domination and gave us the testimony of one God Above All. A shield of faith stood there that day with His head in heaven and His feet upon the earth. He shed blood to break the curse of human control that day. He gave us the eternal hope of knowing His releasing power of the Spirit of Counsel and the testimony of one God Above All. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, but hope is the anchor of our souls. The hands of the control of men placed the crown of thorns upon the head of Jesus so that the curse of control could be broken and the corporate ministry of life of the laying on of hands could be given to us by knowing the one God and Father Of All. We are all His own special people submitted one to another in Christ.
Without Jesus we have loss of heavenly strength and we live lives of circumstantial rule and crises management. We are bound to apathy toward the things of God so we are constantly responding to things that require and want our attention. We make financial decisions because of what we think we have to do, not what God wants to do. We seek to fill the passions of our souls though external souses and controls. We were bound to the distraction of things that get our attention because they touch our fleshly senses in a deceptive name of life. What requires our attention today? What meets our needs the most? We say we are alive, but we are not alive at all. Many things become the controlling counterfeits of life to us. But in Christ we know one God Above All! Jesus shed blood from His hands (Jn. 19:17 – 20). The resurrection faced a dead earth. The hands that give life overpowered the distraction of thorns and thistles. His hands were willingly pierced and shed blood to overcome the works of the flesh and the distractions of piercing things for men. The Spirit of Might covered His soul with a helmet of salvation that day. A man of praise defeated death! Jesus shed blood from His hands so that we would lift up holy hands and be a people of praise. He shed blood so that we could be the praise of our God by His resurrection Might to know one God Above All.
Without Jesus we have a loss of intimacy with God and other people so we live striving with others and we are bound to the logical judgments of our minds. Love can only be received or given when it is reasonable or deserved. We perspire at the thought of true love so we no longer live to give love or to be loved in life. Our judgments and decisions are ones of death and not of life. We become gods unto ourselves by reasoning what is right and what is wrong, who is deserving of love and who is not. But in Christ there is one God Through All! Jesus shed blood from His feet. Living bread stood on the nails of sweat and human will. The One standing in love that day defeated the judgment of iron. Jesus became a living sword freely expressing a love for the Father and a love for people as He stood unbending and said, “Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing”. He gave His body to be broken, but His legs were not broken (Jn. 19:32, 33). He stood in our judgment to freely give eternal life to all men. He shed blood that we might know one God Through All. He didn’t die of broken legs and collapsed breath. He freely broke His body for us. He did that so that we could stand in a love for the Father and one another as the people of God.
Without Jesus we have a loss of future expectations and are bound to a testimony of bitterness and death. We are more concerned with what relates to us and to our own accomplishments than we are with inheritance and legacy. There is no awe of God nor is there any expectations of greatness to anyone beyond ourselves. We are consumed by the influence of things that surround us. We fear natural judgments and do not know the power of the mercy of God. We end up living for our own lives and we live our lives alone. Our hope is natural success and natural comfort. We have no concern of leaving an inheritance in the earth that can be lived on in our children and our children’s children. We become consumed with the success of our own lifetimes and suffer burn out and mid-life crises. But in Christ there is one God In All! Jesus shed blood when they pierced His side (Jn. 19:35). The Adam of the Spirit was put to sleep. A man of rest trusted the power of God’s life-giving Spirit when He committed His Spirit to the Father and the hope of the generations before Him. Instead of dust to dust He committed His Spirit to His Father. A man of Spirit trusted the Spirit and confessed that from Spirit He came and to Spirit He returned. The Church was birthed from the Adam of Spirit. A spiritual rib was formed that day as blood and water flowed! Jesus won back our joy and the testimony of a face-to-face relationship with God. The power of prayer in the Spirit birthed an eternal hope for His eternal Bride that day. A people who had not obtained mercy have truly obtained mercy!
These are things to consider. Christ is risen and the curse has been broken! Come Holy Spirit, Come!
Blessings to you,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
The Generational Journey
Hello to You All;
I hope everyone is well. I am feeling good today. I am very close to finishing the 2009 School of Eagles. This week team of 8 is off to the Apache Nation in Arizona for a week to be involved in evangelism with Evangelist James Williams. James is one of my former school graduates and is doing a great work of life-giving ministry among the Native American people. The students will have a great experience. I will be traveling to the United Kingdom on Tuesday to participate in our annual RIM conference in the Manchester area. I know God will do good things there as well. I will be in Bulgaria the following week and I am looking forward to being with my friends and family there.
Today I want to continue on with the theme of a generational destiny. I believe this theme is most important in this time and season in the earth. There are many noises to listen to in the world and it is easy to bow to the music of the world around us. We must not be distracted by a noise, but must listen for the sound of God in the earth. That sound is a generational sound. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. The sound of God in our lives will release His blessings to the inheritance of our lives.
Last week I talked about the place of stretching. It is in the place of stretching that we are able to see God where we could not see Him before. We cannot go forward in a generational destiny without seeing God in the place where we are. That place is the place of being stretched. So, wherever you are being stretched today, look to see God there. Look for Him in the place you don’t think He is and you will find Him there.
When Abram began his journey forward from the place of stretching (Gen. 12:7, 8) he very quickly came to a place of testing. He found the land in a state of famine. The Scripture says that He went down into Egypt and in the next chapter we see that he came out a very rich man (Gen. 12:10; 13:1). What looked like famine didn’t hinder God’s blessing in Abram’s life! It probably felt like famine before it looked like blessing. I am sure it was a challenge to Abram’s mind. If you read the story you will discover that it appears that Abram’s actions were even somewhat questionable with telling Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister. The amazing thing is that God worked it out for good. Even though it seems like some actions may have been questionable, Abram’s walk was still one of faith. He trusted God in a time of famine. We can follow the example of Abram’s faith and know that our walk in this journey of generational destiny is one of faith. We must walk by faith and not by sight. The opposite of faith is natural sight. That sight can include our natural experiences, how it feels, how it sounds, how it smells, and the way it affects and triggers our natural understanding. We base these things upon the experiences of our past or our understanding of the experiences of others. We must trust God in the time of testing and walk by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
When Abram left Egypt he continued on his journey as a very rich man. The Scripture then reveals that he again built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 13:2-4). We must never forget to call upon God when we are blessed. It is easy to call upon God when we are in distress and trouble, but it is easy to forget to call upon Him when everything is going good. A key to a generational mindset and destiny is to be as desperate for God when you are blessed as when you are in want. Let’s not forget to present our lives to Him always as a place for His habitation!
As Abram proceeded in his journey he came to a place in the process where strife begins to break out between the company of Lot and his own company. The land could not provide for both Lot and Abram and therefore Abram recognized that Lot had to separate from him. Lot was the son of his dead brother (Gen. 13:5-11). I believe that Lot had an abandoned or an orphan spirit. Lot’s focus in life was meeting his own needs and he was willing to settle for comfort and blessing rather than pursue a journey of generational destiny. When given the choice he chose the land that appeared to be the most prosperous to him. He didn’t even care if the land was filled with evil and compromise. He was looking to see his own needs met and was not concerned about a journey that would bring eternal blessings to the generations to come. Abram knew that whatever land he ended up with, God would bless him in the generational promises. Even if it looked like desert sand it would be ok, because God’s promise was a generational promise in his life. Abram recognized and was willing to separate from the things that were not of a generational mindset. Those things were represented in the company of Lot. If we want to have a generational mindset we must be willing to separate from the things that are not a part of generational thinking. These are the things that keep us focused on ourselves.
These are generally those things birthed in our past tragedies, disappointments, or experiences that promote fatherless mentalities. They are a part of an abandoned or orphan spirit.
Lot didn’t live for the inheritance of tomorrow. He chose the pleasures of the present, not the generational promises of God. Lot lived for the pleasures of today.
He didn’t care about tomorrow.
We must be willing to separate from the things that don’t have a generational mindset. What things will prevent us from living for the future? Those are the things that will demand the comfort of our own lives and will sacrifice the inheritance for the future generations of God in our destinies.
Again, just some generational thoughts,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
I hope everyone is well. I am feeling good today. I am very close to finishing the 2009 School of Eagles. This week team of 8 is off to the Apache Nation in Arizona for a week to be involved in evangelism with Evangelist James Williams. James is one of my former school graduates and is doing a great work of life-giving ministry among the Native American people. The students will have a great experience. I will be traveling to the United Kingdom on Tuesday to participate in our annual RIM conference in the Manchester area. I know God will do good things there as well. I will be in Bulgaria the following week and I am looking forward to being with my friends and family there.
Today I want to continue on with the theme of a generational destiny. I believe this theme is most important in this time and season in the earth. There are many noises to listen to in the world and it is easy to bow to the music of the world around us. We must not be distracted by a noise, but must listen for the sound of God in the earth. That sound is a generational sound. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. The sound of God in our lives will release His blessings to the inheritance of our lives.
Last week I talked about the place of stretching. It is in the place of stretching that we are able to see God where we could not see Him before. We cannot go forward in a generational destiny without seeing God in the place where we are. That place is the place of being stretched. So, wherever you are being stretched today, look to see God there. Look for Him in the place you don’t think He is and you will find Him there.
When Abram began his journey forward from the place of stretching (Gen. 12:7, 8) he very quickly came to a place of testing. He found the land in a state of famine. The Scripture says that He went down into Egypt and in the next chapter we see that he came out a very rich man (Gen. 12:10; 13:1). What looked like famine didn’t hinder God’s blessing in Abram’s life! It probably felt like famine before it looked like blessing. I am sure it was a challenge to Abram’s mind. If you read the story you will discover that it appears that Abram’s actions were even somewhat questionable with telling Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister. The amazing thing is that God worked it out for good. Even though it seems like some actions may have been questionable, Abram’s walk was still one of faith. He trusted God in a time of famine. We can follow the example of Abram’s faith and know that our walk in this journey of generational destiny is one of faith. We must walk by faith and not by sight. The opposite of faith is natural sight. That sight can include our natural experiences, how it feels, how it sounds, how it smells, and the way it affects and triggers our natural understanding. We base these things upon the experiences of our past or our understanding of the experiences of others. We must trust God in the time of testing and walk by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
When Abram left Egypt he continued on his journey as a very rich man. The Scripture then reveals that he again built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 13:2-4). We must never forget to call upon God when we are blessed. It is easy to call upon God when we are in distress and trouble, but it is easy to forget to call upon Him when everything is going good. A key to a generational mindset and destiny is to be as desperate for God when you are blessed as when you are in want. Let’s not forget to present our lives to Him always as a place for His habitation!
As Abram proceeded in his journey he came to a place in the process where strife begins to break out between the company of Lot and his own company. The land could not provide for both Lot and Abram and therefore Abram recognized that Lot had to separate from him. Lot was the son of his dead brother (Gen. 13:5-11). I believe that Lot had an abandoned or an orphan spirit. Lot’s focus in life was meeting his own needs and he was willing to settle for comfort and blessing rather than pursue a journey of generational destiny. When given the choice he chose the land that appeared to be the most prosperous to him. He didn’t even care if the land was filled with evil and compromise. He was looking to see his own needs met and was not concerned about a journey that would bring eternal blessings to the generations to come. Abram knew that whatever land he ended up with, God would bless him in the generational promises. Even if it looked like desert sand it would be ok, because God’s promise was a generational promise in his life. Abram recognized and was willing to separate from the things that were not of a generational mindset. Those things were represented in the company of Lot. If we want to have a generational mindset we must be willing to separate from the things that are not a part of generational thinking. These are the things that keep us focused on ourselves.
These are generally those things birthed in our past tragedies, disappointments, or experiences that promote fatherless mentalities. They are a part of an abandoned or orphan spirit.
Lot didn’t live for the inheritance of tomorrow. He chose the pleasures of the present, not the generational promises of God. Lot lived for the pleasures of today.
He didn’t care about tomorrow.
We must be willing to separate from the things that don’t have a generational mindset. What things will prevent us from living for the future? Those are the things that will demand the comfort of our own lives and will sacrifice the inheritance for the future generations of God in our destinies.
Again, just some generational thoughts,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Why Does God Stretch Us?
Hello again;
Today I am writing to you from my home in Bellingham. It is wonderful to be home again, though it is only for a short duration. I am going to enjoy every moment. Today is Mother’s day and the sun is shining brightly in the Northwest of America. It should be a great day. I have to tackle my blog today, since my computer is still in need mending. I take it to the repair shop again tomorrow and will be struggling to get by this week without my main tool of work. They say they will order the correct parts tomorrow, so please pray for me. I usually start early in the morning before I go to the office and in these days of teaching School of Eagles I usually work late at night when I get home as well. Not having my computer will mean that I will get farther behind on the tasks that I must do when I am home. In any case, PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!
I have written the past couple of weeks on a generational theme. I preached a generational message today in church. I believe that God has me here for a reason, on this subject that is. I believe it is a central and essential issue to the gospel of Jesus Christ. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. In my own life He is the God of Osten, Simon, Simon, Ted, (Jonathan, Aaron, Joanna) and Aubrey. I could add many names of spiritual sons and daughters, but I am so glad that even my own natural children have discovered their God. He is the generational God of our family and He is the God of the generations.
These things don’t just happen. Inheritance is a measure found upon the road of destiny. Somewhere on the journey a promise becomes a testimony, a testimony becomes an inheritance, and inheritance becomes an expanded inheritance, the expanded inheritance becomes a legacy, and a legacy produces a spiritual dynasty. It becomes the reality of the substance of God’s life found in a family DNA. This is called the path of destiny! The key to this path is found in the place of the stretching of the Lord. Why does God stretch us?
Gen. 12: 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
God took Abram to the place of finding his portion (Shechem means part or portion). It was there that he found the key to a generational foundation. That foundation was found in the place of being stretched (Moreh means stretching). The place of the strong oak tree was a place of receiving a generational foundation and mindset for his life. The opposition to the promise also lived in the place of stretching. The Canaanites were in the land. God wants to bring us all to the place of stretching, but we must not be confused when we see the opposition to the promise in the very place that God stretches us. It is for our good. To be even more specific, it is for the good of our future generations.
Gen. 12:7-9
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Abram saw God in the place of his own stretching. It was there that he saw God again and was empowered to go forward in his journey of life. The point of the stretching of our lives is that we might be able to see God in the place we could not see Him before. It is from that place that we are empowered to go forward. God wants us all to come to the place of God’s stretching that we might see more of God. He is found in the place of stretching and in that place He reveals Himself as the generational God in our lives.
Let’s all believe God that His promises might become testimonies that lead to inheritance, legacy, and even a dynasty for the family name of Christ in the earth. None of this is possible without the seasons of stretching in our lives.
Blessings to you all,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Today I am writing to you from my home in Bellingham. It is wonderful to be home again, though it is only for a short duration. I am going to enjoy every moment. Today is Mother’s day and the sun is shining brightly in the Northwest of America. It should be a great day. I have to tackle my blog today, since my computer is still in need mending. I take it to the repair shop again tomorrow and will be struggling to get by this week without my main tool of work. They say they will order the correct parts tomorrow, so please pray for me. I usually start early in the morning before I go to the office and in these days of teaching School of Eagles I usually work late at night when I get home as well. Not having my computer will mean that I will get farther behind on the tasks that I must do when I am home. In any case, PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!
I have written the past couple of weeks on a generational theme. I preached a generational message today in church. I believe that God has me here for a reason, on this subject that is. I believe it is a central and essential issue to the gospel of Jesus Christ. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. In my own life He is the God of Osten, Simon, Simon, Ted, (Jonathan, Aaron, Joanna) and Aubrey. I could add many names of spiritual sons and daughters, but I am so glad that even my own natural children have discovered their God. He is the generational God of our family and He is the God of the generations.
These things don’t just happen. Inheritance is a measure found upon the road of destiny. Somewhere on the journey a promise becomes a testimony, a testimony becomes an inheritance, and inheritance becomes an expanded inheritance, the expanded inheritance becomes a legacy, and a legacy produces a spiritual dynasty. It becomes the reality of the substance of God’s life found in a family DNA. This is called the path of destiny! The key to this path is found in the place of the stretching of the Lord. Why does God stretch us?
Gen. 12: 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
God took Abram to the place of finding his portion (Shechem means part or portion). It was there that he found the key to a generational foundation. That foundation was found in the place of being stretched (Moreh means stretching). The place of the strong oak tree was a place of receiving a generational foundation and mindset for his life. The opposition to the promise also lived in the place of stretching. The Canaanites were in the land. God wants to bring us all to the place of stretching, but we must not be confused when we see the opposition to the promise in the very place that God stretches us. It is for our good. To be even more specific, it is for the good of our future generations.
Gen. 12:7-9
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Abram saw God in the place of his own stretching. It was there that he saw God again and was empowered to go forward in his journey of life. The point of the stretching of our lives is that we might be able to see God in the place we could not see Him before. It is from that place that we are empowered to go forward. God wants us all to come to the place of God’s stretching that we might see more of God. He is found in the place of stretching and in that place He reveals Himself as the generational God in our lives.
Let’s all believe God that His promises might become testimonies that lead to inheritance, legacy, and even a dynasty for the family name of Christ in the earth. None of this is possible without the seasons of stretching in our lives.
Blessings to you all,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Generational Thoughts
Greetings,
I am writing to you today from Portugal. I just finished a series of Celebration Services with Andrew Shearman and Bob Nichols. The meetings were a part of an annual Celebration of the Abundant Life churches in Portugal. It was a great time with Pastor Joao Cardoso, the founder of the ministries. There was an awesome presence of God and wonderful things happened. The worship was ‘electric’ and filled with prophetic power throughout the weekend. I spent an hour on the floor one night with Andrew Shearman and Joao Cardoso. The power of God blasted us after I released my brief message for the night in prophetic psalmody. It was wonderful!
Today I am in my hotel and reflecting on some thoughts that are stirring for the future. I am again drawn to thoughts of generational realities. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. God’s promise to Abram was a covenant promise. God’s promises are for tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations. My prayer today is that God makes us a family of increasing grace. I believe that our true destiny is to pass on inheritance that becomes increased inheritance until it becomes a legacy and even a spiritual dynasty of influence. Jesus said that He is the Vine and we are the branches. A fruit tree springs forth with branches and in the fourth year the fruit can be eaten upon those branches. True fathers and mothers produce children that are also fathers and mothers. When the Church embraces a generational mentality she will change the world. We must all make disciples, not merely seek to influence the world with temporary power demonstrations. We are the family of God and that family needs to expand. It must be a family with the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ. The name of God must be established in our legacy. To do this we must live differently than the world. We cannot be lovers of self or seekers of mountain top experiences. We must be committed to establish a family in the earth. We must see ourselves as branches on the tree. That tree is the Tree of Life and it is destined to influence the world we live in.
When Abram began his journey of faith he came to the land of Shechem and went to the terebinth tree of Moreh. The name Shechem means part or portion. The name Moreh means stretching (Gen. 12:6). I believe that God wanted Abram to know that his portion in life was to be stretched for the future generations. Trees are symbolic of generations. I believe there is a prophetic symbolism here that reveals we must know that our portion as the family of the faith of Abraham is to be stretched for the future generations. This involves “finding a tree”. We must find a generational belief.
Abram continued his journey to a place where we dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre in Hebron (Gen. 13:18). The name “Mamre” means bitterness. The name Hebron means friendship. Abram came to this place after walking through the land (Gen. 13:17). I believe that God wants us to dwell in friendship and allow the bitter places of our lives to be removed. We must choose friendship over bitterness. Love is more important than judgments. This is a key to our walk of destiny. This is a part of the quality needed in the family tree. This is not a matter of “finding a tree”, but rather the quality of “dwelling by one”. We must exhibit actions for a generational testimony of life.
Abram’s journey with God caused his name to be transformed from being the father of a nation (Abram) to becoming a father of many nations by name (Abraham). Abraham had experienced his life-changing encounter with the Melchizedek King. He had received the covenant sign of circumcision in his flesh and now he had another encounter with God will “sitting in the tent door” by the terebinth trees of Mamre (Gen. 18:1-4). It was will sitting at the place of these trees that God revealed his plan for destroying Sodom and Gomorah and Abraham negotiated with God in thoughts of salvation for the sake of a few righteous. I believe that Abraham’s thoughts had become thoughts of salvation for the future generations. His generational belief caused him to walk a generational journey and now he was thinking with thoughts that even allowed him to act as God’s friend. He was thinking like God. The generational inheritance was becoming a generational legacy. He was not afraid of the bitterness in the world around him (Mamre). He was depending upon the grace of the world in his mind.
After Isaac was born Abraham dug a well and planted a tamarisk tree (Gen. 21:30, 33). He called the well Beersheba, meaning the well of the oath. Abram found a tree at the place of stretching, dwelt by a tree at the place of friendship and bitterness, sat in his tent by a tree as the friend of God, and now he was able to plant a tree and dig a well for the generations that would follow. May this be our legacy!
Blessings to you all,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
I am writing to you today from Portugal. I just finished a series of Celebration Services with Andrew Shearman and Bob Nichols. The meetings were a part of an annual Celebration of the Abundant Life churches in Portugal. It was a great time with Pastor Joao Cardoso, the founder of the ministries. There was an awesome presence of God and wonderful things happened. The worship was ‘electric’ and filled with prophetic power throughout the weekend. I spent an hour on the floor one night with Andrew Shearman and Joao Cardoso. The power of God blasted us after I released my brief message for the night in prophetic psalmody. It was wonderful!
Today I am in my hotel and reflecting on some thoughts that are stirring for the future. I am again drawn to thoughts of generational realities. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. God’s promise to Abram was a covenant promise. God’s promises are for tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations. My prayer today is that God makes us a family of increasing grace. I believe that our true destiny is to pass on inheritance that becomes increased inheritance until it becomes a legacy and even a spiritual dynasty of influence. Jesus said that He is the Vine and we are the branches. A fruit tree springs forth with branches and in the fourth year the fruit can be eaten upon those branches. True fathers and mothers produce children that are also fathers and mothers. When the Church embraces a generational mentality she will change the world. We must all make disciples, not merely seek to influence the world with temporary power demonstrations. We are the family of God and that family needs to expand. It must be a family with the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ. The name of God must be established in our legacy. To do this we must live differently than the world. We cannot be lovers of self or seekers of mountain top experiences. We must be committed to establish a family in the earth. We must see ourselves as branches on the tree. That tree is the Tree of Life and it is destined to influence the world we live in.
When Abram began his journey of faith he came to the land of Shechem and went to the terebinth tree of Moreh. The name Shechem means part or portion. The name Moreh means stretching (Gen. 12:6). I believe that God wanted Abram to know that his portion in life was to be stretched for the future generations. Trees are symbolic of generations. I believe there is a prophetic symbolism here that reveals we must know that our portion as the family of the faith of Abraham is to be stretched for the future generations. This involves “finding a tree”. We must find a generational belief.
Abram continued his journey to a place where we dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre in Hebron (Gen. 13:18). The name “Mamre” means bitterness. The name Hebron means friendship. Abram came to this place after walking through the land (Gen. 13:17). I believe that God wants us to dwell in friendship and allow the bitter places of our lives to be removed. We must choose friendship over bitterness. Love is more important than judgments. This is a key to our walk of destiny. This is a part of the quality needed in the family tree. This is not a matter of “finding a tree”, but rather the quality of “dwelling by one”. We must exhibit actions for a generational testimony of life.
Abram’s journey with God caused his name to be transformed from being the father of a nation (Abram) to becoming a father of many nations by name (Abraham). Abraham had experienced his life-changing encounter with the Melchizedek King. He had received the covenant sign of circumcision in his flesh and now he had another encounter with God will “sitting in the tent door” by the terebinth trees of Mamre (Gen. 18:1-4). It was will sitting at the place of these trees that God revealed his plan for destroying Sodom and Gomorah and Abraham negotiated with God in thoughts of salvation for the sake of a few righteous. I believe that Abraham’s thoughts had become thoughts of salvation for the future generations. His generational belief caused him to walk a generational journey and now he was thinking with thoughts that even allowed him to act as God’s friend. He was thinking like God. The generational inheritance was becoming a generational legacy. He was not afraid of the bitterness in the world around him (Mamre). He was depending upon the grace of the world in his mind.
After Isaac was born Abraham dug a well and planted a tamarisk tree (Gen. 21:30, 33). He called the well Beersheba, meaning the well of the oath. Abram found a tree at the place of stretching, dwelt by a tree at the place of friendship and bitterness, sat in his tent by a tree as the friend of God, and now he was able to plant a tree and dig a well for the generations that would follow. May this be our legacy!
Blessings to you all,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
A Generational Mindset:
Greetings from Spain;
I am writing today from Spain, where I have been training a group of Bible School students that are a part of Andrew Shearman’s G42 leadership training school. We have been having a great time exercising in the prophetic. They are a good group of young people who are very hungry, willing, and teachable.
We are all headed tomorrow to Portugal for a week of getting together with several leaders from various parts of Europe. Next weekend I will be with Apostles Andrew Shearman and Bob Nichols for a conference in Lisbon. I have some things stirring in my heart as I point my heart in that direction. I am thinking in the direction of inheritance and generational destiny. The testimony of Abraham was in my heart yesterday and as I awoke this morning. I am drawn to the roots of his journey.
In Genesis, Chapter 11 we read that Terah was seventy years old when he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Abram’s name means “father of a nation”, Nahor means “snorer”, and Haran means “mountaineer”. Abram is the son of interest to our journey of faith, but the other characters in this genealogical story reveal a significant snare against a generational mindset. All of these men lived in a land called Chaldea in a city named Ur. The names of their residence imply a place of ‘burning demons’. It sounds like a great place to raise a family! It was not a geographical place of generational destiny. The god Molech, the god of fire, was served by sacrificings the children of destiny in the flames of appeasement and fear-filled offering. It sounds like a good place to get out of.
In the story it is revealed that Haran died before His father Terah (Gen. 11:28). It is certainly a tragedy that a father’s son would precede him in death. It was for sure a disappointment to Terah. It must have been a shock to his brothers Abram and Nahor as well. I believe that there are some significant consequences to the death of Haran. The story reads that Abram and Nahor took wives. Abram’s wife was Sarai and Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah (Gen. 11:29). Some may believe that Nahor married His brother’s daughter, but I believe that Nahor married a woman who reminded him of the tragic loss in his life. Her father’s name was that of his dead brother. The name Milcah implies one who is like a queen. I believe the sleeper (Nahor) was stuck in his experience of losing his brother Haran and ended up in a relationship that exalted the memories of the past. Milcah’s sisters name was Iscah, which means, “to watch”. How many times do we get stuck in the past because of some traumatic experience in our past? Nahor died in the land of ‘burning demons’, unable to move on the journey of faith as did his brother Abram. His genealogy and personal experiences symbolize a life wasted for the things of circumstance and experience. Personal trauma and negative experience will attempt to hinder us in our journey to generational inheritance. Natural sight, natural experience, and natural expectations will attempt to keep us bound to spiritual lands of limitation and sacrifice.
Abram’s name means “father of a nation” and he was married to Sarai who was barren (Gen. 11:30). Abram must have believed his name more than the barrenness of his wife’s womb. He journeyed from the land of ‘burning demons’ to a sojourn of faith toward God. He wasn’t bound to the experiences of his past, the experiences of his present, nor did limited expectations of the future thwart him. He was a man of faith and responded to the voice of God and the destiny of his own name. He walked by faith.
The third character in our story is Terah, the father. The name Terah implies a meaning of “delay, turning, or wandering”. Terah journeyed from Ur but settled in a place called Haran. There he died (Gen. 11:31). He died in a place that had the same name as his son. The place Haran was the Chaldean place of worship for the moon god Sin. It was thought to be a place of fertility, but the reflections of the light of days gone by is not a promise of future destiny. Terah died in his present place of dwelling, perhaps for memories of his past. The disappointments of his past prevented him from moving forward in the footsteps of destiny and inheritance to the future. He lived to be two hundred and five years old (Gen. 11:32). Abram was born when Terah was seventy, so he lived long after Abram’s departure from Haran. He couldn’t make the journey because of the experiences of his past. Perhaps Haran served to appease Terah’s pain. Maybe it served to strengthen his soul with self-gratifying memories. It did not serve Terah in releasing a vision of hope and future. It simply appeased the moment and ended up being a place of death and burial.
Are will willing to let go of the traumatic experiences of the past? Will we be willing to let God create for us new days of destiny? The encounters, experiences, and expectations of our past will hinder our footsteps in the journey of generational destiny. We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. God has a promised land of generational destiny for us all. Will we give up the personal strongholds of our past to believe a dream of generational fruitfulness, no matter what we naturally see? God wants us to trust Him and walk forward into the path of a generational mindset.
Just food for thought,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
I am writing today from Spain, where I have been training a group of Bible School students that are a part of Andrew Shearman’s G42 leadership training school. We have been having a great time exercising in the prophetic. They are a good group of young people who are very hungry, willing, and teachable.
We are all headed tomorrow to Portugal for a week of getting together with several leaders from various parts of Europe. Next weekend I will be with Apostles Andrew Shearman and Bob Nichols for a conference in Lisbon. I have some things stirring in my heart as I point my heart in that direction. I am thinking in the direction of inheritance and generational destiny. The testimony of Abraham was in my heart yesterday and as I awoke this morning. I am drawn to the roots of his journey.
In Genesis, Chapter 11 we read that Terah was seventy years old when he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Abram’s name means “father of a nation”, Nahor means “snorer”, and Haran means “mountaineer”. Abram is the son of interest to our journey of faith, but the other characters in this genealogical story reveal a significant snare against a generational mindset. All of these men lived in a land called Chaldea in a city named Ur. The names of their residence imply a place of ‘burning demons’. It sounds like a great place to raise a family! It was not a geographical place of generational destiny. The god Molech, the god of fire, was served by sacrificings the children of destiny in the flames of appeasement and fear-filled offering. It sounds like a good place to get out of.
In the story it is revealed that Haran died before His father Terah (Gen. 11:28). It is certainly a tragedy that a father’s son would precede him in death. It was for sure a disappointment to Terah. It must have been a shock to his brothers Abram and Nahor as well. I believe that there are some significant consequences to the death of Haran. The story reads that Abram and Nahor took wives. Abram’s wife was Sarai and Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah (Gen. 11:29). Some may believe that Nahor married His brother’s daughter, but I believe that Nahor married a woman who reminded him of the tragic loss in his life. Her father’s name was that of his dead brother. The name Milcah implies one who is like a queen. I believe the sleeper (Nahor) was stuck in his experience of losing his brother Haran and ended up in a relationship that exalted the memories of the past. Milcah’s sisters name was Iscah, which means, “to watch”. How many times do we get stuck in the past because of some traumatic experience in our past? Nahor died in the land of ‘burning demons’, unable to move on the journey of faith as did his brother Abram. His genealogy and personal experiences symbolize a life wasted for the things of circumstance and experience. Personal trauma and negative experience will attempt to hinder us in our journey to generational inheritance. Natural sight, natural experience, and natural expectations will attempt to keep us bound to spiritual lands of limitation and sacrifice.
Abram’s name means “father of a nation” and he was married to Sarai who was barren (Gen. 11:30). Abram must have believed his name more than the barrenness of his wife’s womb. He journeyed from the land of ‘burning demons’ to a sojourn of faith toward God. He wasn’t bound to the experiences of his past, the experiences of his present, nor did limited expectations of the future thwart him. He was a man of faith and responded to the voice of God and the destiny of his own name. He walked by faith.
The third character in our story is Terah, the father. The name Terah implies a meaning of “delay, turning, or wandering”. Terah journeyed from Ur but settled in a place called Haran. There he died (Gen. 11:31). He died in a place that had the same name as his son. The place Haran was the Chaldean place of worship for the moon god Sin. It was thought to be a place of fertility, but the reflections of the light of days gone by is not a promise of future destiny. Terah died in his present place of dwelling, perhaps for memories of his past. The disappointments of his past prevented him from moving forward in the footsteps of destiny and inheritance to the future. He lived to be two hundred and five years old (Gen. 11:32). Abram was born when Terah was seventy, so he lived long after Abram’s departure from Haran. He couldn’t make the journey because of the experiences of his past. Perhaps Haran served to appease Terah’s pain. Maybe it served to strengthen his soul with self-gratifying memories. It did not serve Terah in releasing a vision of hope and future. It simply appeased the moment and ended up being a place of death and burial.
Are will willing to let go of the traumatic experiences of the past? Will we be willing to let God create for us new days of destiny? The encounters, experiences, and expectations of our past will hinder our footsteps in the journey of generational destiny. We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. God has a promised land of generational destiny for us all. Will we give up the personal strongholds of our past to believe a dream of generational fruitfulness, no matter what we naturally see? God wants us to trust Him and walk forward into the path of a generational mindset.
Just food for thought,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Optional or Essential
Hello to Everyone;
Well, my computer is up and ‘sort of’ running. I was without it for the entire week following my last blog. That is called a test of endurance, if you are I. I have a new logic board on order, so I hope my computer functions for the next two weeks as I am on the road. I am off to Spain today, and then to Portugal the following week.
We had the ‘after Easter’ crowd on Sunday. It could be called the ‘non crowd’ weekend. It seems everyone gets their fix on Easter Sunday and then vanish as the moment passes. This seems to be the trend throughout America.
I was inspired to preach a message yesterday as to the real reason that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Did He simply come to die for our sins, or did He come to accomplish some eternal plan for transformational power and life to the world? I believe He came to reconcile us to our heavenly Father so that we can be sons and daughters of the source of life’s inheritance for the entire world to come. The goodness of God prevailed when mercy triumphed over judgment and the power of God is here to clothe His people with the amazing power of His grace.
After Jesus rose from the dead he spent another 27 days in visitations with His disciples and things of heaven that I do not know. He then ascended to heaven and poured out the presence of His Holy Spirit 10 days later. The disciples didn’t have time to merely remember the day that Jesus died and rose. They had new experiences to discover in knowing Him.
In Matthew we find the great commission that He gave His disciples concerning the future and the world. He told them that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him and that now they were to go and make disciples of all nations, submerge them into the identity of God, teach them to be as He is, and know His manifest presence throughout the ages (Mt. 28:18-20). What an awesome testimony of purpose and destiny! Jesus had come to them, spoken peace, and breathed upon them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (Jn. 20:21,22). I believe something happened when Jesus breathed upon them. The saw Him after His resurrection, touched Him, and received the breath of His presence in them to be joined to God in their hearts in perfect peace. This happened to me May 12, 1973. I saw Him, I touched Him as He reached out to me, and He came into my heart by the breath of His Spirit.
This was the case with the disciples those many years ago. But that wasn’t enough! Jesus had told them that He would send them the Comforter who would be with them, as He was with them, but He would also be ‘in them”. I believe that when Jesus breathed upon them the Comforter came within them. I know this by the word, and by experience (Jn. 14:16-18). The testimony of the Spirit of God within them was awesome, but it still wasn’t enough. Jesus told them that the Comforter, the Promise, had to also come ‘upon them’ (Lk. 24:44-49). They had to have the witness of Christ within them, but also the clothing of Christ upon them. They had to be “CLOTHED IN POWER” (Acts 1:8-11). Is this optional, or is this essential?
Jesus didn’t come to give us a ticket to heaven. He didn’t come to give us a get out of hell free card. He came to get heaven in us and upon so that the testimony of God’s love could come to the world. The testimony of God had to be in us and upon us to fulfill the great purpose of God in the earth. Ten days after His ascension He poured out His Holy Spirit upon them while they hungered for His Promise in the upper room. The person and power of God came and they became ‘witnesses to Him’ in the world. God doesn’t want us to tell people about Jesus, He wants us to be a witness ‘to Him’. He is both Lord and Christ. He is the power to change us within and the anointing of life upon us.
Forty days after His crucifixion there was a fulfillment of His plan for the rest of our lives in a relationship with Him. Many people get excited about the ‘remember when’ day known as Easter, but fewer live their lives with the full testimony of His living presence. Is being submerged in His Holy Spirit optional, or is it essential? Maybe we should take these days following Resurrection Sunday and seek another level in knowing Him in the power of His resurrection. Jesus came so that you and I could be changed within and be clothed with power so that we can accomplish the purpose for which He came.
Think about it, seek it, expect it, and live it,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson
Well, my computer is up and ‘sort of’ running. I was without it for the entire week following my last blog. That is called a test of endurance, if you are I. I have a new logic board on order, so I hope my computer functions for the next two weeks as I am on the road. I am off to Spain today, and then to Portugal the following week.
We had the ‘after Easter’ crowd on Sunday. It could be called the ‘non crowd’ weekend. It seems everyone gets their fix on Easter Sunday and then vanish as the moment passes. This seems to be the trend throughout America.
I was inspired to preach a message yesterday as to the real reason that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Did He simply come to die for our sins, or did He come to accomplish some eternal plan for transformational power and life to the world? I believe He came to reconcile us to our heavenly Father so that we can be sons and daughters of the source of life’s inheritance for the entire world to come. The goodness of God prevailed when mercy triumphed over judgment and the power of God is here to clothe His people with the amazing power of His grace.
After Jesus rose from the dead he spent another 27 days in visitations with His disciples and things of heaven that I do not know. He then ascended to heaven and poured out the presence of His Holy Spirit 10 days later. The disciples didn’t have time to merely remember the day that Jesus died and rose. They had new experiences to discover in knowing Him.
In Matthew we find the great commission that He gave His disciples concerning the future and the world. He told them that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him and that now they were to go and make disciples of all nations, submerge them into the identity of God, teach them to be as He is, and know His manifest presence throughout the ages (Mt. 28:18-20). What an awesome testimony of purpose and destiny! Jesus had come to them, spoken peace, and breathed upon them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (Jn. 20:21,22). I believe something happened when Jesus breathed upon them. The saw Him after His resurrection, touched Him, and received the breath of His presence in them to be joined to God in their hearts in perfect peace. This happened to me May 12, 1973. I saw Him, I touched Him as He reached out to me, and He came into my heart by the breath of His Spirit.
This was the case with the disciples those many years ago. But that wasn’t enough! Jesus had told them that He would send them the Comforter who would be with them, as He was with them, but He would also be ‘in them”. I believe that when Jesus breathed upon them the Comforter came within them. I know this by the word, and by experience (Jn. 14:16-18). The testimony of the Spirit of God within them was awesome, but it still wasn’t enough. Jesus told them that the Comforter, the Promise, had to also come ‘upon them’ (Lk. 24:44-49). They had to have the witness of Christ within them, but also the clothing of Christ upon them. They had to be “CLOTHED IN POWER” (Acts 1:8-11). Is this optional, or is this essential?
Jesus didn’t come to give us a ticket to heaven. He didn’t come to give us a get out of hell free card. He came to get heaven in us and upon so that the testimony of God’s love could come to the world. The testimony of God had to be in us and upon us to fulfill the great purpose of God in the earth. Ten days after His ascension He poured out His Holy Spirit upon them while they hungered for His Promise in the upper room. The person and power of God came and they became ‘witnesses to Him’ in the world. God doesn’t want us to tell people about Jesus, He wants us to be a witness ‘to Him’. He is both Lord and Christ. He is the power to change us within and the anointing of life upon us.
Forty days after His crucifixion there was a fulfillment of His plan for the rest of our lives in a relationship with Him. Many people get excited about the ‘remember when’ day known as Easter, but fewer live their lives with the full testimony of His living presence. Is being submerged in His Holy Spirit optional, or is it essential? Maybe we should take these days following Resurrection Sunday and seek another level in knowing Him in the power of His resurrection. Jesus came so that you and I could be changed within and be clothed with power so that we can accomplish the purpose for which He came.
Think about it, seek it, expect it, and live it,
Apostle Ted J. Hanson