I am Fragile – The entrepreneurial world of leading a business starts with talent and wisdom. There is excellence and competition that is measured with profit and seen in public acclaim. Business leaders generally have an external veneer of self-sufficiency. In small groups they naturally form a Shark Tank for entertainment. However, the old, wise ones with the longest track records concede their failures and personal fragility and have the scars to prove it. Genuine business leaders are humble and approachable; the mask of elitism, self-reliance, and outward appearance isn’t sustainable. We’re all fragile; some are wise enough to deal with it, and others wear masks until they break.
I need help hearing – The masks come with ear plugs that hinder hearing from God. Most businesspeople have a subsistence level of living on crumbs that fall from the table rather than knowing God. They are not bad people; they are just without a paradigm for how God can converse with businesspeople. Some attend church; others are modestly conversant in the Bible, and some are charismatics who claim direction. All have shared the experience of doing things apart from God and wondering why it didn’t work.
Mt 7:22 – Lord, Lord…
- Did we not prophesy in your name?…………… Didn’t our business have great marketing and sales?
- And in your name drive out demons?……….. and leverage our KPI’s to produce a great product?
- And perform many mighty miracles?………… and have healthy cash flow with large profit margins?
Then I will tell them plainly, “I Never knew you!”
What can I do apart from God in business? – The honest answer is almost everything! There is no cultural sense of needing to hear from God or release His anointing in the business mountain. There is even a sense that God doesn’t care, isn’t interested, or that businesses and biz leaders are below the horizon of spirituality. Religious businesspeople are considered an odd lot, and they often are! The religious mask is self-righteous, and the secular mask is self-sufficient – Same thing!
The Age of Sonship – A Kingdom transition is happening right now that has a huge impact on business. These assertive, entrepreneurial business types are precisely the Caleb personalities Father is looking for. They are: 1) experiencing a love that surpasses the knowledge of their self-sufficiency, 2) they are being filled with God’s Spirit of Wisdom and Truth, and 3) they are being anointed and empowered for unimaginable Kingdom exploits in business that will bless nations – exactly what Father is doing.
Eph 3:19 – Know this love that surpasses knowledge —
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 – Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, NIV
From Crumbs to Conversations – How does all this happen? It’s not a formula. It’s the relationship that goes with knowing Jesus, being in Father’s Council, and having conversations. Sons have two characteristics that all creation has been waiting for (Rom 8:19). They are relational children of a loving Father, “and” they are heirs with anointing to represent Him and bring His Kingdom to earth. For more on this distinctive, see children/sons.
- Children (G5043, Teknon) – Children Rom 8:17 – the natural loving relationship of parent & child
- Sons (G5207, Uihos) – Sons Rom 8:19 – the status and legal privileges reserved for sons as heirs
Gal 4:6 – Because you are sons (G5207), God sent the Spirit of his Son (G5207) into our hearts,
- the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” …………………………………(Knowing Father)
- 7) So you are no longer a slave, but a son; ……………………………(Transition to sonship*)
- and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. ……….(Doing Father’s Business)
* John 15:15 – 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 (in the Council). NIV
The New Technology is God’s Council – The inheritance that Jesus gave us is access to Father, our seat in Heaven at God’s Council. That’s where the purpose in Father’s heart is the topic of conversation. Tha’s how Jesus was always able to do what He saw His Father doing (Jn 5:19). We too, are sons carrying Jesus’ exploits to greater works! (Jn 14:12). Business sons are Calebs with the compelling status of heirs to:
- Access – to Father’s Courts and Council via ascending on the highway in son’s hearts (Ps 84:5-7 ESV)
- Ambassadors – Trumpets for Father’s purpose, Implementing Kingdom purpose in business
- Warriors – part of Father’s Army that brings Heaven to Earth (Reformation)
- Ecclesia – Sons who establish a Kingdom Culture of love in Business
- Discipline – Sons are disciplined (Heb 12:7-12)… to release glory; Get on same page with Father (Righteousness)
God’s Council is the context for Mt 7:22; Jesus’ answer for our self-sufficiency and our self-righteousness.
Matt 7:24 – Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine (conversations) and puts them into practice (Hears Purpose) is like a wise man who built his house on the rock (My seat in God’s Council).
Sons love co-laboring with their Father. The Father/son love language for these business Caleb’s is putting them in the game and giving them the ball. Father’s purpose is a breath of fresh air in business! His words are life for sons! Substituting Father’s direction with recipes, advice, and assignments can be piling on shoulda’s, woulda’s, and coulda’s that leave us more tired than inspired. Sons are wired to be present in Father’s Council and set their course toward co-laboring with Father via their seer gift and ability to hear and converse with the Seven Spirits in Business. Exploits are exciting! Calebs are celebrated in Heaven. Kingdom Business is here, and you’re invited! Servants settle for crumbs; Sons are heirs seated at the table.
More here:
- You will also enjoy From Scavenger Hunts to Reformation
- God’s Divine Council – an Intro to Sons in the Council
- 7 Spirit Cue Cards – A pocket guide to courts, Council, and the 7 Spirits of God
- Graphic below as PDF with live links to helpful videos – Seven Spirits in Business
- The council session example that inspired this blog is here.
Cutting Room Floor
Lord, what are all the substitutes for hearing God in the Council, including the 7 Spirits?
#1. A mosaic view of Biblical promises (hearing a Biblical proof text without hearing Father)
Pharisaic, forcing yourself to believe, have faith, measure up to others who claim it works.
#2. Doing what is right in your own eyes
Ju 21:25 – in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes
Ju 17:26 – Everyone did what was right in his own eyes
Pro 26:12 – Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Deut 12:8 – You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today,
everyone doing what is right in his own eyes
#3. Trust in the Traditions of men
Mk 7:8 – You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men
#4. Trusting doctrinal myths (Pet doctrines, teachings, and teachers that scratch our itch… rapture, etc.)
2 Tim 4:3 – Will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passion
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths
#5. Vain Philosophies (secular humanism, environmentalism)
Col 2:8 – See to it that now one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ
#6. Substitute Charismatic Crumbs for conversations (words, phrases, dreams, visions, other people’s prophecies)
#7. Substituting devotionals, verses, guidelines, commentaries, lists of promises, decrees, etc…. instead of conversations in the Council… “collections of charismatic crumbs”
#8. Substituting religion, prayer, “serving” someone else’s vision, faithfulness, doctrinaire, pedantic, sectarian, compliant, and busyness… instead of hearing Father yourself in the Council
#9. Substituting prophetic ministry to others. Getting words (crumbs) for others and staying busy giving them without conversations in the Council about your role, book, and business.
