The video version of this newsletter is available on the Link.
David Tinney and I did four conferences in Gdansk, Warsaw, Lutsk, and Rotterdam in November. My heart is thrilled with the fruit. We explained Releasing Kings in conference settings, personal consultations, coaching and via answering questions… so many times that our ability to articulate it got better. We get to attend the meetings, too. We see the stirrings in the hearts of people as they listen to the Holy Spirit. We hear their questions and feel their release. We also get to hear the Holy Spirit say things in a simpler way that more effectively connects the heart of God with the heart of His people. I want to share some of that in this newsletter. It’s very precious.
The transition from servant to friend – 1) When we first meet Jesus we hear something in our hearts that says “follow me.” So we do. It’s simple obedience, we welcome mentoring and pastoral oversight, and we grow because of it. 2) As time goes by and we test our wings and experience success and failures in our faith, we also are brought to a place of brokenness. We lose our desire to have our own way, and just yearn for His way. 3) In the third stage we receive an invitation from the Lord to transition from servant to friend. Just when we drained ourselves of initiative, God invites it back and we find a place where our will and his will overlap in the desires of our own heart.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15
If we try to stay in obedience when it’s time to graduate to friend, we dry up spiritually and our prayers go unanswered. We start our discipleship there, but we can’t live there and mature. A servant is very different from a friend, a son and a King.
Hearing God – servants “obey” the word of God, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the counsel of mentors and the direction of their pastoral oversight. The transition to friend doesn’t move us out of those four areas of hearing God; it simply adds one more. Friends examine the desires of their own hearts to find the will of God. We are used to finding many wrong motives and evil desires in our hearts. It’s hard to believe that God can change our hearts and write His own purposes in our natural talents and desires. As friends, He also invites us to a place of choosing our own destiny – it feels like an oxymoron at first.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. Ezek 36:26-29 NIV
10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Heb 8:10 NIV
“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Heb 10:16 NIV
A servant will never trust his own heart, never feel comfortable with initiative. Servants yearn for a King to rule over them so they can obey. They are happy in a hierarchy, and prone to define “church” in terms of leaders, followers, accountability and submission; afraid to go beyond the structure, yet frustrated by the constraints on their freedom.
Friends become Kings because they know Jesus as the King of Kings. They will volunteer to take their land and step into new areas. All those verses where Jesus invites us to “ask whatsoever” mean just what they say. We should have desires, and pray and work toward their fulfillment. The “religious mindset” simply can’t receive this simple truth, yet it is the very key to the Kingdom and making disciples of all nations (Mt 18:19). The desires in our hearts can and do overlap the desires in God’s own heart. When we make those dreams come true, we also thrill the heart of God. These Kings become very intentional about having plans, creating wealth, and converting money into ministry.
In touch with my own heart – Once I cross the bridge and realize that God delights in the desires of my heart, my identity shifts. I’m happy to be myself. I can trust the desires of my own heart now. There are a number of ramifications:
1. I love better – Trusting my heart, becoming myself… all these things allow me to encourage the desires other people have and to accept them as they are. I love people more.
2. Joy – There is a joy that comes into my own life, and it heals my heart and renews my youth. I’m becoming more child-like and fun-loving. Laughter comes easier and more often.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Prov 13:12
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Ps 103:5
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov 17:22
3. Communication – When I’m in touch with my own heart, I can see the heart of other people more clearly. I actually become more prophetic. I even hear God’s heart more clearly.
4. Leadership – I don’t treat people like servants, just telling them what to do. I understand their own heart’s desires and I leverage their own destiny to motivate them.
5. Creativity – My heart is aligned with my mind and I become more competent. We are not just a list of do’s and don’ts. We express the creativity God created us with, in amazing ways with liberty and freedom.
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant- — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor 3:6 NIV
6. Wealth Creation – the self-sabotage stops and blessing, divine appointments, opportunities, and wealth flow toward us. We minister to others generously out of a cup that overflows.
7. Wisdom – people in touch with their own hearts don’t expect God to guide them with special revelations on every issue. They give themselves permission to make decisions based on wisdom and mentoring: “If I make a decision, and it’s the wrong one, I make another one.” They have a better balance between revelation and wisdom. They use both; function in a spirit of wisdom without special revelations on every detail. They can easily discern the difference between heart’s desires that overlap the will of God and the stray winds of emotional feelings. The former exists in a written plan they are intentionally working; the latter can come and go.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Eph 1:17-18 NIV
God is building the Kingdom through people who are connected with their own hearts, willing to exercise initiative, and willing to use wisdom. People who are all word and spirit simply can’t do that as well. It sounds spiritual, but it’s neither more spiritual nor more biblical – it’s just our charismatic and evangelical tradition. It doesn’t work very well in church and it doesn’t work at all in business. We have produced disciples that struggle to function in society. God is adjusting us right now in a very healthy way… also a little painful and confusing. Aligning our hearts and minds with the will of God and the voice of the Holy Spirit is Biblical, practical, and powerful.
Fireside Chat – It’s hard to get Europeans to open up and ask questions or make comments but when they do, they are very thoughtful and relevant; not only for themselves but for everyone. It took me nearly two years to sort through the theology and practice of making the transition from servant to King. We’re inviting people to do it in a few days. It’s not surprising that questions come up. You will have more… Please send them to me and we will add them to this newsletter.
Comment – I’m not sure I can trust my heart. Some of my desires aren’t from God. How can I just start trusting them? I do trust the Holy Spirit and the Bible.
Response – We must not confuse feelings in our minds or emotions and our deepest heart’s desires. You have not yet tried to connect with your own heart’s desires and put them down in writing. My suggestion is to take the time to go through the coaching module and really hear from God about your own destiny. Your dream is worth being intentional, having a plan and even spending some time with a coach.
Saying we make all our decisions based on the Holy Spirit and the Bible isn’t true and isn’t even scripturally balanced. As discussed above, God speaks to us through a spirit of wisdom and revelation as well as our heart’s desires. We’re simply suggesting you use all three.
Comment – It feels like pursuing my own heart’s desires would lead me into a level of independence that wouldn’t be healthy. What about submitting to my pastor in a local church and obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit?
Response – Being connected with the desires of your own heart actually will help you hear from the Holy Spirit more clearly. You are giving yourself permission to be yourself and become exactly what God created you to be.
Regarding submission to your local church, being connected with your own heart’s desires will actually keep you on the right track. God wants to speak directly to you about your ministry. He won’t give the plan to your pastor first so that it can be passed on to you second hand! The purpose of the church is discipleship; equip you for the work of the ministry. Unless we’re called to be a pastor our work is always in the kingdom, outside the church in one of those other six mountains. Lance Wallnau does a great job of explaining the difference between church and kingdom in this video.
Comment – When you say God writes His plan in our hearts, it sounds like your inviting us to make decisions on the basis of feelings. God speaks to me through my spirit.
Response – I’m using spirit and heart or subconscious in the same sense. It is just as true and maybe more correct theologically and Biblically to say that God speaks to our hearts (Heb 8:10, 10:16 from Ezek 36). That God only speaks to our spirit is a charismatic tradition. It’s a minor point. I’m just saying that God does speak to us and what we call the organ of reception isn’t too important. It’s certainly not feelings.
Once we become intentional about writing down our hearts desires and making goals and a plan to implement them, it becomes very easy to discern the difference between feelings and real heart desires that overlap the will of God.
Comment – It sounds like your minimizing the role of the church. Are you suggesting we not go to church? …or that it’s is not important?
Response – No… Just realize the role of the church is discipleship – equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Most of are called to minster in the Kingdom and carry the message into our culture and cities. When we are first saved we focus on being good servants (obedient) and our hearts are very much in the local church. As we mature and become friends or Kings we don’t leave the church but our hearts do focus more on our personal ministry in the Kingdom (outside the church). The process will ultimately lead to a more healthy and prosperous church and actually bless pastors in a huge way.
Comment – You’re suggesting that we all can connect with our dreams and create wealth. What about the poor? What do you tell them?
Response – Poor or underprivileged people are especially in need of connecting with their dream and heart’s desires. That is the motivation that will pull them out of poverty. Our dream is the incentive our hearts need to let go of the past and make changes. As Kings, we are positioned with wealth to ministry to the poor in tangible ways. But, giving money to addicted or poverty mindsets is a great way to destroy them. We have to help them wisely.
