98. Discovering Your Vision. Jeremiah 23:16.

You don’t get to decide God’s purpose for your life. You have to discover it. “How?” you may ask Through prayer. God says in *Jeremiah 29:11) I know the plans I have for you…” Your parents may have planned your future and life, but God has His own plans for your life. Right now, you may be overwhelmed with problems, but God only, knows your potential so ask Him to show you how your potential and how His will can be achieved through your obedience. David’s family didn’t think he would amount to much. But where they saw a shepherd boy, God saw a King. Looking back, David wrote; (Psalm 139:16-18) You saw me before I was born. Everyday of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me…I can’t even count them;They outnumber the grains of sand!... And when I wake up, You are still with me.” You are unique - and so are God’s plans for you. It’s encouraging to listen and to read stories of great achievers and think “If they can do it, so can I! However, the secret is to learn from others without trying to duplicate them. It’s not enough to have a good idea; It must be the Wil of God. You don’t get to decide what your vision will be; You discover it by seeking God for direction. His Word says He will give that to you; (Isaiah 30:21) “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘this is the way walk in it, whenever you turn to the right or the left” And that is the way you know it’s from the mouth of The Lord. Prior to His encounter with Christ, Paul believed he was doing God’s will by imprisoning and beating-up Christians. But when he discovered his true calling, it was in a dramatic way. (Acts 9:3-6) As he journeyed and came near Damascus, suddenly a light from Heaven shone around him, and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying ”Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me?” and he said “Who are you Lord? The Lord replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It’s hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished said ‘Lord, what do you want me to do.’ The Lord said to him “Arise and go into the city. And you will be told what you must do” That day, his ministry began; A ministry that was destined to change the world! And as his life neared its end, he could say: (Acts 26:19) “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” If you want to say similar words at the end of your life, seek God’s vision for it. Your vision must not be born out of a need to impress other people, or even to be like them. You and I are called to do God’s Will, not our own or someone else’s. In Hosea (5:11) we read; “Ephraim was oppressed and broken in judgement, because he willingly walked by human precept” Our vision must be the result of divine guidance and not ‘human precept.’ You must be able to pray, ‘Lord, You gave me this vision, And I’m trusting you for what I need, to make it happen.’ The Apostle John writes (1John 5:14) “This is the confidence we have in Him, That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ”Perhaps you think; ‘I haven’t been to Bible Collage, I don’t know the Word well enough, In fact, I haven’t been a Christian very long, so why would God trust me with a vision?’ Don’t think that way, God chooses whoever He wants to. Mother Teresa was scrubbing the convent floors when God first spoke to her and gave her a visions and look what she achieved for God!! And the Bible says in (Acts 9;10-12) There was a certain disciple in Damascus. named Ananias; and to him The Lord said in a vision: ‘Ananias’ and he answered, “Here I am Lord’ then The Lord said ’Arise, go to the street called straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, behold, he is praying. and in a vision he has seen a man called Ananias coming and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house;And laying his hands on Saul he said, brother Saul, The Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight. At once; he arose and was baptised. After eating some food he was strengthened.” Now, who exactly was Ananias? The right man in the right place at the right time with the right attitude! And God used him to lead the apostle Paul to Christ. Pretty impressive eh? But what’s interesting here is this; After that Ananias is never mentioned again in Scripture. Bottom line here is;- He was a “nobody” who played a key role in God’s plan and if God gave Ananias a vision and used him greatly. He can and will use you too. So be that right person in the right place at the right time. And keep the right attitude. God will use you. When G od wants to change the status quo, He often starts by giving someone a vision. That seemingly small episode is what changed a centuries-old racial barrier and had the Gentiles hear the gospel for the first time. Did you know, you can be a Christian and still be prejudiced? Indeed you can be a believer and be biased. against people you don’t really know or understand, because you’ve spent your life avoiding them and making judgements about them. Jesus told His disciples in (Matthew 24:14) “This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in ALL the world as a witness to ALL the nations, and then the end will come.” Now, Peter was present when He said this and either he wasn’t listening, or he didn’t like what he heard. Back then the divide between Jews and Gentiles was full of mistrust and suspicion; The Jews considered the gentiles as “Unclean” But God told Peter to go to the house of Cornelius, a gentile, and preach the Gospel, this person Peter considered to be ‘unclean.’ This would not have gone down well with Peter, But, God told Peter to go and he was obedient to the vision. Sometimes, obeying a vision can be difficult, but when you do, great things happen. Prejudice is a product of a closed mind it is contempt prior to honest investigation. It is pride that must be humbled. So how did God change Peter’s heart? Not with one, but with two different visions. God gave Cornelius a vision in which He told him, to Invite a Jewish preacher named Peter into his home to preach the gospel. While at the same time, He gave Peter a vision .” in which He told him, “If I accept someone, “Don’t you dare reject them” The fact is, when God wants to change things, He starts the process by giving someone a vision – And that someone could very-well be you! The Word of God says in (Proverbs 29:18) ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Here is an example of what is meant by that proverb;- From 1923 till 1955, Robert Woodruff presided over the Cocoa-Cola company wanted the beverage to be made available to every American serviceman around the world for just 5 cents, no matter how much it cost the company. That was a bold goal. But it was modest compared to the big picture which he saw in his minds eye. In fact, he desperately wanted everyone to taste Cocoa-Cola. Observe three things (1) Vision starts within. When you look inside yourself, What do you see? You can’t buy, beg or borrow a vision, you must look within and draw on your own innate gifts and desires. What is it that you feel passionate about? You are thinking and praying constantly about? What are you willing to sacrifice everything for? Your most persistent desire will point you toward your destiny. (2) vision draws on your history. Moses grew up in the comfort of Pharaoh’s palace hearing the cries of Hebrew slaves. It was that experience which prepared him to lead the Exodus. Vision isn’t some mystical quality that materialises out of a vacuum, it’s interwoven with your past and the history of the people around you. If your vision is born of God, it wont just benefit you, it will benefit others too. (3) Vision attracts resources. One of the hallmarks of vision is that it acts like a magnet – attracting, challenging and uniting people. It rallies financial and other resources, and the greater the vision the greater potential winners it must attract. The more challenging the vision, the harder the participants will fight to achieve it. Think seriously about those three points. Pray and ask God to show and help you recognise the vision He has for your life, as big or as small as it might be and be willing to follow His leading. Then you too will be able to say “I never neglected the vision.” Thank you for reading this word on achieving your vision, don’t be afraid to go for it. Keep The Lord at the Helm with constant prayer, and watch Him work for you. God Bless and keep you in His care. Phaline. -------------------------