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Choosing Life – Releasing Kings is really fun right now. The wind is at our back and the enemy is in our face. All over the world, a mighty army is waking up to a breath of fresh air that is bringing life and vitality and fun. It’s a precious season to watch this resurrection… and help prophesy it into existence.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army. Ezek 37:9-10 NIV
From the old to the new – I listened to a mother this week whose son was trying to identify a career path. He was thinking in terms of pursuing his heart’s desire. It wasn’t easy because he has been raised in the Christian culture of being saved and “staying away from sin.” That translates to going to church, tithing, serving, don’t smoke or drink, and marry your girlfriend. What slipped out of my mouth surprised me a little: “If you do all those things, so what? Nobody cares. But, if you pursue your heart’s desire and it’s also in the Father’s heart, and enjoy it, bear fruit, prosper, have fun… other people really notice that and gravitate toward it.” Young men, in particular, need to be motivated by their dream. They cannot be corralled into the religious system, even if the rules are Biblical and simple.
This is a fact, but is it good or bad? I just think it’s a spiritual reality. God created us for relationship, not rules. A healthy relationship will satisfy the rules, but you can’t go from keeping the rules to improving your relationship. Rules are an attractive alternative to the mind, but not the heart. The letter loves the mind and kills the heart, but the breath of life enlivens the heart. I’m confident in one thing: the more I focus on the rules with my mind, the more I break them.
Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 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 3:4-6 NIV
The New – The old is trying to discipline ourselves to do what we would rather not. The new is connecting with our heart in a way that releases us to do what we really want to. God designed us that way and wrote the specifics in our heart already. Our hearts have to connect with those desires in order to come alive. That is the breath of life that this army is beginning to experience.
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
Cooperating with your heart – This simple reality of Biblical and spiritual life is actually foreign to most believers. We are in the midst of a reformation that is connecting Kings and sons with the Father’s heart. We guard our hearts because that’s where we find the overlap with the Father’s heart and that is the one thing the enemy would to steal from us; our heart’s desire. Sure, we read our Bibles, hear from the Holy Spirit and receive from the wisdom of leaders. That’s our tradition and we’re not abandoning it. Now we’re looking in our hearts to see what God wrote there… and connecting with that dream. It’s a wellspring of Life. If we connect, good things very naturally flow out of hearts. If we are unaware of the desires God wrote in our hearts or work against them, evil naturally comes from our heart as evidenced by our words. Our hearts gravitate toward false sources of life if we don’t connect with the true breath of life.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 NIV
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45
Righteousness – the easiest way to live the 100-fold life is to simply get connected with what God wrote in your heart. You’re precious in His sight and all the talents, gifts and motivations are prewired for success in your own metron or calling. When you find it, you’ll be good at it, you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll bless others in the process. Here are a few suggestions to make it happen from a practical standpoint.
1. Love the way God made you – You are fearfully and wonderfully made for a specific future that God is inviting you to choose. The very foundation is to know that and to have respect for your own contribution in the Kingdom. It’s important! Growing closer to the Father comes from working with Him. The Kingdom is not just an eternal worship service; Fellowship with the Father is not a cosmic tea party. Our Father is creative, building, growing, working… so are we!
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Ps 139:13-15 NIV
2. Love people – When it finally dawned on me that other people are not primarily desperately wicked sinners, I could see God’s handiwork in them. Even if they are in the snare of sin, I can tempt them with something much sweeter right from within their own heart (Jesus and their own dream; their own destiny). People love to talk about their purpose in life. God has wired us all with a hunger to be sons. All creation groans waiting for them to be revealed.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 NIV
3. Write it down – The most practical foundation that you can lay is to wrestle though the definition of your own future. Get your life purpose and goals in writing and take your time here on earth seriously. Put the Kingdom first and everything else takes its proper place. We’ve developed aHeart Plan and a coaching system to help you… get connected.
