12 January 2011

JOURNEY 201¦1 See It!

Greetings Friends!
I pray that everyone's week went well.

I pray that God was able to show you some areas where He is pleased and also where there might be some room for improvement. Don’t worry, you do not have to share what He showed you. You just need to be committed to doing something about it.

He showed me that I need to work on patience and self-control. I do great most of the time - except when I get in the car. I also am working on self-control in the area of relationship management. There comes a point in life where you realize that you do not have to attend every discussion or debate that you are invited to. God pointed this out to me in 2010 - but I sill have some work to do. So, please keep me in your prayers in both of these areas.

Enough for last week -
This week we will be focusing on vision
JOURNEY 201¦1   See It!

When I was working in the corporate arena, I would plan trips for my family. We traveled to Luray Caverns in Virginia; went up north to Boston where I was born; went to Washington D.C.; traveled to Panama to see their dad's side of the family and took a cruise to Mexico just to name a few.

With each trip, the process was different: the time required for pre-planning, the necessary finances and even the accommodations for my MinPin Chico. Yet with each trip, there was one major similarity: I had to decide where we were going before we could do anything else. I had to get a vision, if you will, of what I wanted us to experience with each journey.

Well, much like a natural journey, we must take time in our spiritual journey to identify where we are going. Unlike the natural journey, however, we do not determine the destination - GOD DOES. He also determines what resources will be needed and who gets to along for the trip. His adventures never disappoint - the process perhaps - but never the final destination. Yet, that is a discussion for another day.

Today we are on a specific mission:
First, we'll look at why it is important to get a vision.
Next, we'll have our assignment just like we did last week.
And finally, I will share some examples so you know how the assignment should work.

Why is it important to get a vision?
You need to know what God desires of you. He may give you a dream, a vision or a simple instruction. Whatever method He uses, He let’s you know where He wants you, where He doesn’t want you, where you’re going and, at times, the process He will use to get you to that end state.

See some of the following biblical examples of how God reveals His vision:
  • Made a covenant promise, told Noah what was to come and how to build the ark (Gen. 6:13-22)
  • Promised Abram He would make him a great nation (Gen. 12:1-4)
  • Promised Jacob He would give him the land and make him a great nation (Gen. 28:11-15)
  • Gave Joseph dreams letting him know he would lead (Gen. 37:5-11)
  • Chose Moses as deliver and spoke of the promised land (Ex. 3:7-10)
  • Declared Gideon a ‘mighty man of valor’ before he was (Jud. 6:12)
  • Anointed David while he was still a young man shepherding sheep   (I Sam. 16:11-13)
  • Opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant to let him know the victory was sure (II Kings 6:16-17)
  • Called Jeremiah at a young age, letting him know he was ordained a prophet (Jer. 1:4-10)
  • Changed Simon's name to Peter, indicating a future character transformation (John 1:41-43)
Once you have an instruction from God, you can move with confidence even if you do not fully understand where you are going or why. We can trust His character, knowing that the plans He has for us are good plans; plans to prosper us and not to harm us; designed to carry us through the process of destiny and to the end that He has prepared for us. (Jer. 29:11)

As you draw near to God, to the One who designed your purpose, He will reveal His plans to you. However, without an intimate relationship with Him and revelation from Him, life is meaningless.

Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish … (NKJV)
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint … (NIV)
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild … (NLT)
Where there is not prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint … (ESV)
If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed. (MSG)

Without the written Word of God and without the revealed purpose of God, the people have no boundaries in their lives. They make decisions which run contrary to His expressed will because they have not taken the time to draw near to Him and find out what His will is.

In studying, we find that the Hebrew word for 'perish' is 'para', which means, among other things: to take the lead; to be out of control, to promote wickedness:- uncover, make naked. When we operate outside of God's vision for our lives, we let Him know that we are taking control, taking the lead and trusting our own ability more than His. When we do this, we expose ourselves, leave ourselves naked and bare, outside of His covering and protection.

But, when we seek Him, He reveals His vision which:
Provides focus
Giving a specific goal and minimizing the effects of distractions

Creates boundaries
Influencing and guiding actions

Strengthens faith
Letting us know He has an individual purpose and good plan for each of us

Centers and anchors
Providing understanding that His vision is His will and causing us to stand firm

Gives insight
Enabling us to develop a keen awareness between good decisions and God decisions
__________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMENT
Get a visionif you do not already have one
Pray to God - find out who He would have you become,
what He would have you do
Once you get the vision/instruction, find and image to represent it
Keep the image before you throughout the year
Respond in faith to all that the Father reveals
_________________________________________________________________
To give you and idea of what I am saying,
I have provided a few of the images that I am keeping before me:


Souls being saved,
Lives being changed



The fruit of the Spirit
Everything Jesus modeled
Everything I must become

My book -
While not the final cover,
this is the image that I have had before me for a year now –
long before the publishing company ever agreed to do my book.
It is the image I will keep before me until it is published.


This is an image of a spine – a straight spine.
Why?
Doctor’s have told me that it is all but inevitable...
that my son will have to undergo back surgery.
Yet, I know a Great Physician!
And I keep the image of his straightened back before me as I pray.
Every vertebrate brought into perfect alignment the way God designed it.
It reinforces my faith while I await the manifestation of that healing.
It keep me focused on doing what I can in the process, which is making him wear his brace.


What is this you might ask?
This is a picture of a blueprint.
My church has purchased land and we are going to see buildings on that land.
This image reminds me why I give every month.
It shapes my prayers and helps me to stay focused in giving and serving.

Lastly,
The last I will share,
But certainly not the last there is:

I hold an image of all of you.
I don’t know what many of you look like.
But I have an imprint of you on my heart –
a vision of you journeying into His presence like never before,
an image of you becoming all that God desires,
a picture of you possessing and occupying all that He is providing.

This vision phase is so important!
I would like to pray for you personally.
If you need prayer, please leave a message.
Comments are moderated prior to being published.
Therefore, if you do not wish for it to be published on the blog, just type the word 'PRIVATE' at the top of your comment. I won't publish it, but I will pray.

I am already praying that God will bless you abundantly ... 

Have a Victorious and God-Centered Week!

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