Authenticity is one of the keys to the Kingdom. “Is it OK to be myself? Isn’t that way too carnal?” That question has roots in a prideful belief that we can live a good life by cleaning up our own act. So, religion tries to hold us accountable for reshaping, renewing, and redoing; bottling our carnality; copying someone else. It leads to plastic people!

But the Kingdom is all about becoming yourself. Imagine a tree trying, grieving, straining to produce its fruit, wondering if it’s good enough! Self-effort is never enough. The first goal of Kingdom is to find our identity (Purpose) and our unique role (Mountain or Metron). We are not saved by works, but we are invited to do them as part of our calling (Eph. 2:9-10). It’s actually fun!

What about all my setbacks? – Death/resurrection, as a spiritual experience, isn’t about dying to self; it’s all about becoming yourself; the whole point of Romans 7-8. We’ve all suffered failures. God can redeem those failures to leverage the narrative in your story. All heroes go through difficulty. You and I are not exceptions to heroism or trials or glory.

Rom 8:14-17 – those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. NIV

Sons are Courageous – Servants love direction and recipes, but sons thrive on purpose, passion, and creativity. We cooperate with God’s design and calling yet we are invited to show initiative inside our purpose. Kingdom is a revelation of being chosen by God to be the hero in your story. We all have Kingdom assignments that are challenging encounters with real warfare, but like Joshua, we are well able to do them. Father gives an anointing in the area of our calling. Holy Spirit helps us.

When we connect with our purpose, life begins to feel like Father’s wind is at our back. We stop feeling like God is all prohibitions and begin seeing His provisions and why we’re chosen.

Purpose – The business mountain is full of confusion about the alignment of people and processes to make the cash flow work. Much has been written about the mechanics of managing business and leading staff. The missing ingredient is the revelation that people, businesses, and even nations have a Kingdom purpose that we can embrace. I call it Intentional Reformation. Many believers go through life with generic purposes like evangelism, serving, giving, etc. Kingdom purpose has three practical thresholds: 1) is it in writing? 2) Does it lead to your dreams? And 3) is it prophetically correct?

Mind maps are a great way to get your purpose in writing and connect with the desires God wrote in your heart (Your dreams). It’s also a tool others can review and comment on. The business world is famous for shallow posters of visionary goals that employees quietly mock because they are heartless, disconnected from any real Kingdom purpose.

It’s not easy – There is some emotional work involved in seeking God for your real heart-felt purpose. As you can imagine, it’s the area of your greatest warfare. The one thing the enemy doesn’t want is sons and daughters connected with what Father wrote in their hearts. From a practical standpoint, books are often hidden for spiritual and legal reasons that can be undone in the courts of heaven. Having someone help is a great advantage; a leader who can listen – one ear on what you say and the other to what Father is saying.

The feeling of connection – Despite the difficulty of gaining clarity and warfare, you can connect with your heart and God’s heart on a specific purpose that leads to the desires of your heart. How does that feel? Wonderful! Suddenly the story of your past, present, and future makes sense in the context of that purpose. You realize your life is not a random assembly lucky breaks and unfortunate circumstances. Father has been shaping us to cooperate with our purpose since the beginning. He redeems all our setbacks. Sonship is playing a role in writing the script of our story and where it leads. We can be part of strategic conversations in God’s council.

Where do I start? – Print the graphic below and ask the Lord for clarity on your purpose. We use the Simon Sinek format:

• To: __________ (the nature of my Mission; what I want to accomplish)
• So that: __________ (the purpose behind our mission; our why or Purpose)

The second step is chasing that purpose into four quadrants of my personal life or business. Father has written desires in our hearts that feel like dreams. We are nearly afraid to believe they might come true. They aren’t exactly goals that we list to measure our achievements. But, they are the dreams and desires with some prophetic juice that thrills our hearts. PowerPoint download is here.

You will iterate many times, refining your purpose and where it leads. And when you are happy with the clarity of the finished product, Father will tweak it over time so that it’s not stagnant; it’s always moving, living, and morphing into a better picture of becoming yourself.

This brings us back to you. Our identity is shaped by our purpose from heaven and the works to fulfill that purpose, our mission. We can’t feel fully alive until we connect with the clarity of that purpose and direction. So, your invitation to Kingdom goes through a mind map of purpose and desires that will release your heroic heart to help bring Heaven to Earth. You’ll be doing what Father is doing.

Love – Knowing your purpose makes us feel chosen by God. Having a tangible direction makes us feel like we’re part of God’s team. It’s an experience of being loved by God and included in His strategic plans. In addition, when you help someone else get in touch with their purpose, prophetically see their book, and translate it into a business direction with viable cash flow… they will love you forever. The vulnerability of being transparent with our deepest desires is overcome by the love of being part of a tribe or team on track for the exploits of Heaven. It’s fun to be David’s mighty men! It’s fun to fulfill the calling and election we each carry. It’s fun to pull other people into their own hearts and see their dreams come true. It honors who they really are in the Kingdom. It feels like love.

Nail your purpose – there is no substitute for live conversations with a prophetic friend who understands your heart. We put up a short course called the Nail Your Purpose Field Guide to get you started. Its three helpful modules, each with 10-minute videos, are affordable for everyone and helpful.

Resources – The purpose of Heaven for each of us is already written in your heart and can be seen and heard in the Council. Your business can shift from a Christian business full of obedient servants to a Kingdom business full of creative and industrious sons who make a difference. We help people and businesses get their prophetic purpose in writing and then make it happen on earth. Taste and see! Tools to get started are here:

• Intentional Reformation Intro (A free diagnostic you will enjoy along with our purpose & Values)
• Nail your Purpose Field Guide (A place to start clarifying your heart’s desires)
• OnlineHeartPlan.com (Our web site and online Courses)
• USA Book (proof we can get our arms around the books of people, businesses, and nations

Other books by John S Garfield are available on Amazon:

• Releasing Kings for Ministry in the Marketplace (2004)
• Desire to Destiny – Seven Keys to Your Marketplace Ministry (2007)
• Seers and Doers: Sons Bringing Heaven to Earth (2018)
• Intentional Reformation – A Roadmap to Change Yourself and the World (2020)
• Intentional Reformation Primer – 5-Step Roadmap to Make Your Dream Come True (2020)
• Healing for Warriors: Connecting Your Purpose and Your Health (2020)
• Lead Your Tribe Field Guide (2021)
• Let’s Build a Kingdom Business (2022)
• Find our free blog at ReleasingKings.com; Courses at www.OnlineHeartPlan.com