The video is here.
Giving ourselves permission to be creative is the birthplace of new ideas. New ideas are the currency of spirituality, prosperity and calling. Ingenuity flows from personal identity that is not boxed into the self-concept being a servant or the employee of other people, institutions or organizations. We are like our Father in heaven. Created in His image to be creative… we can call things into being which have never existed before. We were all designed by God to be entrepreneurial… creating new ideas, new manifestations, new products, new services and new wealth. We are opening the storehouse of heaven and bringing His Kingdom to earth to bless nations. Everything starts with an idea.
…who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. Rom 4:17 NASU
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Prov 25:2
How to Start – This quote is from James Altucher – an article worth reading.
“One thing to try is to write down 10 ideas a day. This exercises the idea muscle and gets you 100x more creative than the average person over time.
They could be business ideas, ideas to help other businesses, book ideas, or even ideas to surprise your spouse. Another trick is to take Monday’s ideas and combine them with Tuesday’s ideas. “Idea sex” is an awesome source of creativity.”
Coming up with new thoughts and ideas can be intimidating. It starts with our identity. Feeling permission from God to collaborate with Him to birth something brand new. It’s a discipline that leads to words, works, destiny… and eventually reinforces our identity in Christ. In my own relationship, God usually shows me “what” He is doing in the Kingdom, but He often leaves the choice of whether to be involved and “how” up to me to initiate. He will help me, counsel me, work with me and work through me, but he won’t do it for me. Like the parable of the talents, He passes out assignments, leaves and comes back later to check on how we multiplied while He was gone!
Thomas Edison looked at creativity as a discipline; simply good, honest, hard work. His own quota was one minor invention every 10 days and a major invention every six months. It took over 50,000 experiments to invent the alkaline storage cell battery and 9000 to perfect the lightbulb. When he died in 1931, he left 3500 notebooks full of “ideas.”
From servants to Kings – An obedience mentality has been a central part of the gospel. Most of us have had understood spirituality as hearing and obeying. It is when we first get saved, but the Kingdom is a totally different world that is premised on accessing God’s presence in relationship, conversations, initiative and collaboration. This transition takes place in your mountain. Servants live vicariously by obeying the vision of their gatekeeper – boss, government, education, family or church. Servants never “own” a personal vision; they are simply living out the “boxy” expectations of other people, institutions or ideologies. When we let others do all the choosing for us, we eventually get resentful and we never approach the creativity associated with our own calling… we just comment on theirs!
When we do have an idea or a complaint we drop it on the desk of the gatekeeper… for believers that’s often the boss, pastor or spouse. Those suggestions are never particularly welcome because we are effectively trying to “control” the dream of another when we do it. That transaction can become a form of witchcraft when it’s chronic… an expression of spiritual control over other people.
Imagine – You and I won’t be judged or rewarded based on what we do as Christians, but we will be rewarded based on how much of our calling we choose to fulfill… some 30, some 60 and some 100. Everything that missed the mark will be covered, forgiven and forgotten. Our goal in this life to fulfill the calling and exercise the unique grace that is on each of our lives. Here are a few of the characteristics of our Kingdom calling.
- We love it – God wrote the desires in our hearts. Our calling is a “dream come true.” It’s something we want to do and love to do. The rest of us are waiting for you to be you.
- It’s Miraculous – It’s beyond our natural capability. We can’t just run out and do it in our own strength. It takes faith. It takes walking with our Father, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the redemptive power of Jesus.
- It’s Relational – everything starts with us volunteering for the desires God wrote in our hearts, “Here am I, send me.” Kings initiate those conversations, actions and ideas. Servants are always waiting to be told what to do. Creativity is giving ourselves permission to collaborate with our Father. It’s why the Holy Spirit is called the counselor (John 16:7)
- It takes Initiative – Ideas are not stocked up in heaven waiting for us to hear and obey them. God has given us the ability to create things through ideas just like He does; that have never been heard of before in heaven or on earth. Heaven is rejoicing with us when they are discovered and expressed. Destinies must be chosen. Creativity is a discipline.
- It’s Outside the box – The innovation we come up with may bless others, but it’s for us to implement. The context of the ideas we create is our own metron, mountain and calling. God has a direct line to everyone. He doesn’t need us to hear for others. We can confirm and encourage, inspire and minister to others, but that ministry is always focused on helping others hear for themselves, to be released into their own destiny and to learn to create their own ideas.
Pencil, paper, 10 ideas… every day. Ideas are the doorway into our calling. New ideas are like worship, an expression of who Jesus created us to be and how heaven celebrates our exploits.
