Sons are in the Council, seeing Father’s purpose and bringing heaven to earth. It’s Father’s strategy for Reformation. Sonship and ascending to the Courts and Council is new to most of us. We ascend to see what Father is doing so that we can do it with Him (Jn 5:19). We live by every word that proceeds from Father (Mt 4:4). Those words are conversations, the life that fuels our enthusiasm and direction. Sons bring the purpose of Heaven to earth. It’s not robotic obedience; we are relational ambassadors who carry the purpose and authority of our Father’s Kingdom in Jesus’ name. That all translates to an exciting and practical purpose for you and your business. It feels like sons being chosen for something special – because that’s precisely what it is.
The reason we don’t go to the Council is the belief that we already know what Father expects from us, and we think we already have faith. Our persuasion is rooted in an intellectual faith in the realm of opinion and doctrine. For example, we believe God heals all, so we pray for ourselves and others without hearing anything specific or new. The result is Russian roulette. We all know people who have died physically, spiritually, or financially trying to screw up their intellectual beliefs and generate faith to get the result they were hoping for. It’s tragic. They fail and then live under the condemnation of Job’s counselors, who probe their unbelief. Worse yet, they condemn themselves for missing God.
Intellectual Faith – This old-school discipleship is a doctrinal persuasion that if we live by the principles in scripture, we will inherit the promises. These are classic verses that support that view:
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- Rom 1:17 – The righteous will live by faith
- 2 Cor 5:7 – We walk by faith, not by sight (Outward appearance)
- Heb 6:12 – who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised
The result is a version of discipleship that packages all the principles of God into a version of the law we can live by. It’s character, attendance, giving, values, etc. – each promise is tied to a performance goal we can measure. Ecclesia degenerates into a religious accountability group that we eventually detest. It’s ultimately lifeless, the letter that kills instead of the Spirit that gives life (2 Cor 3:6). People have a genuine experience at salvation or during revival but sadly die on the vine trying to live the rest of their lives by principle.
Living Words – Faith is intellectually true, but it does not originate and is not maintained in our minds. Faith is an experience, a spiritual encounter that comes from hearing or seeing living words and conversations. We all have doubts and decisions that need direction. We want to be in sync with Father, but don’t know how. One business friend often counsels those who ask his advice, “What did God say.” It’s good advice, but most people don’t know how to hear from God. They only have a confusing bag of principles and promises in the intellectual realm of multiple choice. They often pick one and run with it until it doesn’t work or does.
Matt 4:4 – Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes (proceeds) from the mouth of God. NIV
In my own life, I have lived in fear that God won’t speak to me. During my previous pastoral days or my current business coaching life, I protect myself from that fear by stockpiling Biblical or business principles with proof texts that I can pass out like prescriptions. I become an intellectual dispensary who actually misses the hearts of those I’m trying to help. My focus is on my stockpile of solutions and accountability, not on their hearts, their purpose, or what Father is saying to them. Calling it overly intellectual is too polite; it’s really idolatry! The stuff of Scribes and Pharisees. It’s not relational, and it’s bad for business. People hate being treated that way.
Getting lit – Life in the Spirit is just like salvation; it’s an experience, not one experience, but a continuing series of relational conversations, our source of life! Hearing God and seeing what is happening in heaven is the realm of Courts, Council, seer gifts, and sons. Other people can see the brightness in your countenance after those experiences. Moses covered his face with a veil (Ex 34:33). Jesus’ face shone like the sun. His clothes became white as light (Mt 17:2). The testimony of Sons is intellectually sound, but at a heart level, it’s the story of real and routine encounters in the Council with the Seven Spirits. We come back lit!
The Greek word is Kaio G2545, means to set on fire, kindle. It’s the experience that makes you visible and shine; your stature and favor before God and man (Lu 2:52).
John 5:35 – John was a lamp that burned and gave light NIV
Luke 24:32 – “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” NIV
Matt 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. NIV
Luke 12:35 – Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. NASU
Rev 4:5 – Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. NIV
No longer hiding – Knowing everything about God is impossible; it’s only possible to know Him relationally. A jailbreak occurs in our hearts and faces when we stop pretending to know it all and trade our medicine bag of prescriptions for trust that Father will speak. Even unsaved people can perceive the difference. When we hear hearts, people feel loved. They feel prophetically known and seen. It’s a level of heart connection that bypasses heads and all the formulaic BS we used to pass off as spiritual. Once you see the Kingdom, you can’t unsee it. It’s real, it’s fun, and it starts with conversations in Father’s Courts and Council. Get lit and stay lit! We need you to shine like the Son because you are Father’s sons and daughters too. Jesus is not ashamed to call you His brothers and sisters (Heb 2:11).
PS: the blog came from a Council session that was electric!
Purpose Profiles – We help businesses transition to the joy and prosperity of a Kingdom business culture by leveraging your unique purpose to ignite your staff and customers. The fun begins when you discover “the why” God wrote in your heart. We marry the cultural and practical side of sound business practices. Cash flow comes from a well-motivated, engaged staff and a wisely managed, value-based business built on a Kingdom purpose already written in hearts. We have the coaching resources to help you shift the culture and respond to the challenges. The starting place is a Purpose Profile (see examples).
Here is where to start:
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- Discover Your Purpose Profile via 1-on-1 help
- Get started with a self-help option, the Nail Your Purpose Field Guide.
- Glance at the Kingdom Business Coaching Intro.
- Set up a conversation with John on Zoom or text 509-308-6873.
Cutting Room Floor (Worthwhile)
There is another source of resistance to conversations in the Council. Spirit-filled charismatics also believe they already hear from God, and they do. The distinction is the words the Holy Spirit drops in their heart are invitations to a full conversation in the Council rather than guidance. God is graciously inviting them from Crumbs to Conversations. These “we” failure scenarios are all the imbalances I’ve personally lived:
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- We run with partial guidance that doesn’t work.
- We try to shore up optimism with confessions of our faith instead of conversations with God.
- Speaking life, making decrees and declarations that sound official
- Calling things that are not as though they are (Rom 4:17).
- We try to hold on to our words under the banner of “God is faithful” and “God is with us.”
- We value corporate worship and the presence of God because the Holy Spirit “comes” and we don’t have to “go.”
- Our theology causes us to live on yesterday’s manna and miss the mid-course corrections.
- We love past prophetic words like museum pieces but have nothing new to implement them.
- We have no theology for co-laboring with Father on initiatives that get delayed, changed, or rejected.
Faith is not something we generate. It’s not canned or stagnant. It doesn’t belong to one group over another. We either hear God and co-labor with Him by doing what He is doing… or not!
