What is your vision

“What is Your Vision”
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

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“Where there is no vision, the people perish:

but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

(Proverbs 29:18)

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 One of the most difficult challenges that we
as Christians face is learning what it means to
do vision casting to help shape our life’s
goals. Many of us come to the body of Christ
lacking real understanding about the
rigorous demands that are being placed on
our lives to exercise discipline in a way that
we have never done before as members of
the Body. We sometimes expect the Church
to do everything for us without expecting
anything in return from us. 3


 The reality is that as we have accepted
God’s salvation we think that it is not
necessary for us to have a vision for how
we are going to live the rest of our lives.
We have joined the church and expect
that the vision of the ministry will be
sufficient enough to provide everything
we need in order to live successful lives.
4


 During the next several weeks we will be
focusing on leadership development
here at The Cathedral. The book that has
been revealed to us is titled “IT”.

5


The theme centers on “How Churches And
Leaders Can Get It And Keep It”. As I peruse
the book, one chapter clearly defines the
necessity of knowing that the most
important requirement for us to have is a
VISION that defines how we perceive life
for ourselves and for our church as we move
forward. The author of the book, Craig
Groeschel gives a quote by Helen Keller that
says, “Worse than being blind would be to be
able to see but not have any vision.”
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 Chapter 4 of the book deals with the
necessity of making vision an important “IT”
in your determination and will to grow and
develop not only in your Christian
endeavors but also life in general.
 Vision is so necessary for your life planning
if you are to fulfill the purposes for which
God has allowed you to be born and to live
to a high level of expectancy in the things
that you hope to achieve. 7


Everybody needs to understand that
vision helps you to prepare for those
things that you believe are in the
promises that God has for your life.
 Vision is often times frowned upon
because people become satisfied, and
are just to the place where they are in
life as opposed to believing that God has
something greater for them to achieve.
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 When you look at the book of
Ezekiel, you give witness to a young man
at the age of 30, about to enter into his
prophet role in life. God has called him
into ministry, and begins to give him
visions for how his ministry should flow
in relationship to the responsibility that
is associated with his call.
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 If I were speaking to a ministerial
conference, my challenge to them would
be to understand that the call, in and of
itself, is not what brings forth dynamic
ministry - neither is the competency of
your preaching. Dynamic ministry
emerges when there is a clear vision of
what the ministry intends to achieve.
10


 Our focus on vision at The Cathedral is
centered around an understanding that the
achievements that God has blessed us with
have come to realization. There has always
been a clear understanding of the vision of
what God has for this church and its people.
A clear vision is not limited exclusively to
what happens behind the walls of the
church building, but the reality of the
extension of the vision to meet the needs of
the community.
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 The spiritual movement of God is not
limited to our knowledge but is expanded
by the knowledge of who gives us visions
and that is GOD. Many people assume the
notion of the necessity of vision. Some
because they fear that the demands are too
great; and, others because they simply
don’t have any understanding of the fact
that God did not put them here to be
stationary but to make life better - 12


…not only for themselves but also to bring
the dynamics of the Christian faith into the
life of other people.
 As other people, even sinners, are touched
by your witness their lives become better.
They discover that they are not limited to
the directives of a world view that does not
necessarily empower them. Their source of
power comes from a relationship with God,
who gives them a vision to make the
conditions of life better for everyone.
13


 Great leaders have learned how to
benefit by the gift of vision casting. They
have worked diligently to stay focused
on God’s goals rather than selfishly
believing that there is nothing to be
done now that they have received the
joy of the salvation of the Lord.
14


 Churches are closing daily not because
of the financial recession, but because of
the spiritual recession. They have gotten
comfortable with their traditions and
their roles within denominations, but
that is not what God has called us to do.
When we get comfortable, we soon
develop an attitude that keeps us from
constantly thriving to become better.
15


 It’s like the guys on the beer commercials
when you watch a sporting event where
they make you think the best thing in the
world is being a couch potato on Sundays –
during football season; and, on Thursdays –
when it’s basketball season. Think about
it, there are guys who are making millions of
dollars to entertain you, and the only thing
you get in return is being able to say, your
team won. 16


They have already fulfilled their vision.
They have gone to college in most
instances, and have made it to the
professional leagues. But, what about you?
Where are you as it relates to your vision?
Where did you think you would be at this
stage of life? Have you achieved any of the
goals that you set while you were still
young? What happen to that dream of
becoming an entrepreneur –
doctor, teacher, or some other profession.
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 Are you satisfied with where you are in
life? Or, do you have a real sense that
with a vision, you still have time to
become who you thought the
knowledge, wisdom or capacity would
help you to become? How many years
have you been making excuses to not
finish what you have started.
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 Today is a good day to cast your vision on
what you want your future to look like. The
author of the book suggest that vision
guides, motivates and energizes you. And
in so doing it helps you to change your
direction and move forward with what God
wants you to do. Some of us have the
ability to do so much more, but we are
waiting for someone else to push us. 19


You need to understand that every morning
when you awaken, God is giving you
another opportunity. He is pushing you
already. The question is when will you catch
the vision and begin to move in the way He
desires.
 Too many of us are frustrated because we
are chasing after things and in some
instances after people that cannot help us
to bring life to what we know is the vision
God had given us.
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Sometime visions can only be fulfilled
when you drop the dead weight in your
life and accept the fact that you have
within you the capacity to do much more
than you are currently doing. Keeping
visions current is important, whether
they are personal visions or visions
centered around your church and it’s
ministry.
21


 I believe that Allen is among the top 20
churches in the country according to
Outreach Magazine because it maintains
a current vision.

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 In other words, we know what we have
achieved in the past and we are grateful to
God for the reality of the vision that made it
all possible. Now we realize that God was
with us every step of the way.
 A person or church can reach its ultimate
degree of accomplishment if it becomes so
satisfied with what it has already done that
it doesn’t have a view of what it needs to
get done in the future. 23


 Vision is not about the past, it’s really
about where God is trying to take you
from this point on. It’s about letting God
speak to you and give you new visions so
that you might be demonstrative of
what it means not only to have a vision,
but to rejoice in God’s response to how
you made certain that the vision would
have no end.
24


 There are great Biblical lessons that we
learn from the prophet Ezekiel where
the young prophet hears the voice of
God calling him to preach. He did
whatever God told him to do, and went
wherever God sent him - facing
challenges that were great. Other times
he faced the jealously of people who did
not believe God’s prophetic word.
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 I believe that God has a prophet vision for all
of us just as He had for Ezekiel when He
commissioned him and gave him a vision for
His people. Ezekiel’s faith was tested and
he was tried by leaders who could not
accept God’s message through him. God
gave him the vision as he taught
holiness, moral perfection, and restoration;
but, there were many who did not believe 26


 Ezekiel knew that he had to fulfill God’s
vision and help the people. This meant that
he had to overcome many challenges from
people who had aligned against him. But,
the vision that the Lord gave him was to
restore the people of God and to restore the
worship of God. God’s vision for him also
required him to be the voice that challenged
people to turn from their sinful ways. 27


 Ezekiel did as God called him to do. He
fulfilled the commission and became the
voice of God speaking of sin and judgment,
and the will of God and the life of God’s
people. He was obedient to God and he
served in ways that brought glory to the
Lord even though there were some in the
temple who pushed back against the vision
God had to leave the temple. But, because
of Ezekiel’s faith, the temple was eventually
restored.
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 What about your temple, your life, your
standard of living that God expects from
you? Do you have a vision that gives you
the strength to push back against those
worldly forces that are telling you that you
don’t need God? You are a walking time-
bomb destructing, bit-by-bit on a daily
basis; but, you keep on doing the same
things, living the same way. You have your
own vision and IT does not give you the
hope or peace you need to enjoy life. 29


 You are a constant recidivist going back and
forth to jail, or becoming an alcoholic trying
to drown out your problems. You have
become violent, beating your
spouse, mistreating your children, and
doing other deleterious things. You have
lost sight of the vision to be great many
years ago. And so now, you just keep doing
the same old thing, living the same old way.30


 Perhaps the question that you now raise is
how do I cast a vision? In Habakkuk 2:2-3
(KJV) it gives the answer:
“(2) And the LORD answered me, and
said, Write the vision, and make it plain
upon tables, that he may run that readeth
it.
(3) For the vision is yet for an appointed
time, but at the end it shall speak, and not
lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it
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