Written by
Ed Arcton: President- Liberation Mission
For Christ
STYLE OF
MESSAGE: TOPICAL MESSAGE
AUDIENCE: PASTORS AND CHURCH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Text: “….write the
vision and make it plain” (Habakkuk 2:2) NKJV
Outline:
1. You must see
and feel Your vision
2. You must
seek to find your vision
3. You must
follow after your vision
4. You must fulfill your vision
INTRODUCTION
As children of God and ministers of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ we need a clear personal vision from God which will
give us passion, motivation and drive, inspired by the Holy Spirit that no
power from within or without can stop. An undying and unstoppable vision. This
type of Vision must come directly from God, not imagination and not of
self-ambition.
A)
YOU MUST SEE AND FEEL YOUR VISION
Habakkuk
describes his vision as, “The burden
which the prophet …..saw (Habakkuk 1:1) NKJV. He saw it wherever he went.
It drove him to his knees. He prayed, ‘O
Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? …. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me
to see trouble? … the Law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the
wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds’ (Habakkuk
1: 2-4) NKJV. Before God blesses you with the plan of action, He will burden
you with the problem you have been called to help solve. For example, I read
about “Lewis Braille who wanted to read and write. But at age three he was
blinded in a tragic accident while playing in his Father’s harness shop.
Refusing to settle down for a world of darkness, he said to himself, “I will
make a system so that the blind can read and write. ‘ As a result, many
millions of sight – impair people have been blessed by the Braille system.
In
the same way the Psalmist cried: ‘The zeal for my Father’s house has consumed
me…… (Psalm 69:9). What’s your all- consuming desire? What are you passionate
about? What has God called you for and gifted you to do? Paul’s burning desire
was to reach the world for Christ Jesus. And he succeeded. When his enemies
imprisoned him, instead of giving in to defeat, weeping, disappointment and
frustration he turned his cell into a writer’s camp. He penned down thirteen epistles
which later change more lives than he could ever hope to touch while he was
alive. What are you willing to give your life to, and for? If your vision as
Ministers of the Gospel is truly of God and from God, you will appreciate and
embrace it as early as possible through prayer and study of the Scriptures.
B) YOU MUST
SEEK TO FIND YOUR VISION
Notice two important things about
Vision:
1)
Your Vision
must come from God Himself.
There
is a difference between setting your own goals and having a God - given Vision that
you received by the help of the Holy Spirit and the study of the Holy
Scriptures. When that vision is certainly from God, it will surely come to pass,
(Habakkuk 2:3). You won’t have to orchestrate events by your own choice and
strength as Leaders; God will provide the resources and at the same time open
doors for you at the right time. God will make sure that your steps are
directed by Him. Here is an interesting Scripture: “… time and chance happen to them
all. For men also does not know his evil time….” (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12)
NKJV. God is able to reveal to you your own destiny and give you an opportunity
to live and fulfil all for His glory and Honour. But you can resist it, or
postpone it, or give your life to other things and end up missing your time and
opportunity. Please don’t get caught in that net or trapped in that snare and
forfeit what God has for you.
2). Your God given Vision will connect you to
a particular field of service.
Joseph
the favourite Son of Jacob dreams started with a field of wheat in a vision (Genesis
37:6-7). What is your field? In what field does God calls you to? Medicine, Education,
Finance, Engineering, Law, Politics or Missions, Pastoral, Evangelism or any
other field of operation, it is to be a blessing to others. God told Abraham
…’I will make your name great and you will be a blessing (Genesis 12:2) NIV.
Don’t ever seek fame, seek to serve others. If you do, your impact will be
greater than your image and your eternal reward greater than anything you can
drive, wear, live on or hang on a wall.
Jesus said, ‘for this
reason I was born…’ (John 18:37) NIV. When you know why you are here and what
your God given purpose is, you become virtually unstoppable. You will be
flawless, but you will have the innate power to overcome each obstacle as you proceed.
If you get side tracked, God loves you enough to get your attention, correct,
redirect you, and get you back on track. But to find the right answer, you must
first ask the right questions, such as:
1) What desire have been living
in me most of my life?
2) What motivates me to be
productive?
3) What keep me going forward
when I’m worn out?
4) What makes me refuse to
quit when I meet with resistance or opposition?
5) What do I do that doesn’t
seem like work?
6) What do I do that brings positive
response and support from others?
7) What am I doing, or what is
happening in my life when doors seem to open automatically and effortless?
8) What do discerning Leaders
and godly counsellors think about my work?
9) What make me feel good
about who I am?
10)
What makes my creative juices flow?
11)
What I am willing to sacrifice to accomplish it?
12)
What I’m doing that I will be proud to offer for God’s
approval?
13)
What would I do without being paid for, if I could afford to?
14)
What would I be willing to withstand Satan over, in order to
accomplish it?
What
is God saying to you today? It’s not too late; find your Vision and follow after
it today; it is your life and your destiny.
C)
YOU MUST FOLLOW
AFTER YOUR VISION
The
Apostle Paul was on his Mission. He travelled light, practiced personal
discipline, avoided distractions and kept his two eyes on the Mission, the work
he is called to do and accomplish.
He
said…”
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward
to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal……. (Philippians
3:13-14) NKJV. Think about this, ..” successful companies or industry live by
both a Vision and Mission statement which every worker or team mate can or do
understand; it’s a drive spirit that
keep them on track and they keep it before them at all times no matter the
season. God specifically said to Habakkuk …You must write the Vision and make it a
Plain….. that he may run that who read it” (Habakkuk 2:2) NKJV. You must
at all cost write down your Vision as a Leader/Pastor, read it almost every
day, remember it at all times and run with it. Your greatest enemy is not only
your oppositions but much more; it is your distractions that may cross you on
the way.
Distractions
have what it takes to drain your time, energy and resources. In order to
protect yourself, your dreams and vision, live in the strength of God‘s Word;
the (Holy Scriptures) for it is written “…. Lay aside every weight, and the sin
which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him endure the cross, despising the shame, and has
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, ….consider Him, lest you
become weary and discouraged…..” (Hebrew 12: 1-3) NKJV.
Five
times in Genesis chapter 39 we find: “But the Lord was with Joseph”. Be
therefore encouraged: The Lord is at work in whatever you’re going through. You
may asked , where did Joseph get the Wisdom to lead ,rule and governed the
Nation, Egypt, by dealing with his owned family problems, handling his master
Potiphar’s household staff, and by running a prison system or Prison Administration?
It is just like rungs on a ladder; each step took him closer to the top. Now
see how it worked out: his own brothers sold him out to Ishmaelite slave
traders, who in turn sold him out to Potiphar, who put him into prison where he
met the butler, who introduced him to King Pharaoh, who made him the Prime
Minister of Egypt, thus fulfilling the dream of his life. Was this easy? Not at
all, until
the time came …” the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalms 105:19). Know
for certainty your dream or vision will be tried by fire, by situations that will
either break you or make you, lifting you up to where you belong. Whenever you
have no one to call for help and all the strength to fight any battle is gone
and you feel deserted by all, remember the word of the Lord which says “….. Less
a gain of wheat fall to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies
to self, it produces much grain” (John 12:24) KJV. Until your vision
dies and is resurrected by the Power of God, you cannot begin to talk and act
differently. You can now with confidence and Grace of God you have receives, say
as King David said in Psalms 27: 13 ...”I
had fainted, until I had believed to see the goodness to the Lord in the Land
to the Living”. It is at this point in life that you begin to experience
inner assurance and God’s approval. You can now see yourself fulfilling your Ministry
with inner satisfaction.
D)
YOU MUST FULFILL
YOUR VISION
When
a dream or Vision comes from God and you committed yourself to it with your
heart it will certainly be fulfilled in your time and generation. Yes you will
stumble, be stretched to different limits and sometime even stagger across the finish line mark, but
you will certainly breakthrough and totally make it to the top. The Vision and
dream that come from God will make you a winner and not a loser in life. You will
not only see the Promise Land, your feet will step there and enjoy the fruit of
the land. Consider Moses the Prophet of God, he receives a Message directly
from God to be given to King Pharaoh, yet he was a poor speaker, he had marital
problems, He was a sole leader who have to reach his limit point before
learning how to delegate other responsibilities to others, Moses had a problem
with his temper and because of that God told him, “This is the Land I Promised ……..
I have let you see it …. But you will not cross over into it.” (Deuteronomy
34:4). Moses saw the Promised Land but not permit to step there. Years later at
the Mount of Transfiguration the Man of God step there with the Lord Jesus
Himself and Prophet Elijah right in the middle of it. Never say you have failed
badly so, that is the end of the journey. King David committed adultery and
make someone husband killed in a battle, yet his Psalms brings strength and
Living Hope to many today whenever the Holy Scripture is Preached and taught.
God never hold the pass against David, he forgave him and mightily continues to
use him even in his old age. And King David after serving his own
generation pass on and was buried, (Acts
13: 36) The Scriptures declares that God is ready, to pardon, gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness …. (Nehemiah 9:17) NKJV. Our God is ready to receive us when we are
willing to turn to Him for pardon and help. Before Habakkuk penned down the
vision, he said and I quote “…..I will…. Watch to see what he will say
to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected” (Habakkuk2:1) NKJV.
To be corrected and not discarded shows how deep the Love of God is and how
incomparable riches of His Grace is towards us who are called.
The
Prophet Amos provide us an excellent picture over here “A Shepherd who tries to rescue a
sheep from the power of the Lion will only recover two legs and a
piece of ear, so it is (Amos 3:12). The Bible say the enemy is a
roaring Lion seek someone to devour and you as a Sheep trap by the enemy called
Satan, but the Master Jesus, our Good Shepherd has come to rescue you from the mouth
of the Lion, only to find two legs and a piece of an ear left behind and to see
how God bring complete victory out defeat.
Let
me ask you a question for you to answer, has life troubles torn into pieces
your dreams and vision? With God all things are possible. God only needs your
two legs and a piece of the ear left to work out a miracle for you to come back
again on course.
1) An ear to hear Him (God) speaks to you direct. Stop listening to voice of
discouragement, defeat, and lies. Remember the saying “it is not over until it is over.
In impossible situations God spoke to the Prophet Ezekiel to prophesy to a
valley of dead, dry bones (Ezekiel 37:4): “ so I prophesied ….and breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army,
(Ezekiel 37:10) NKJV. Your hopes may be dead and your Soul dry, but if only you
listen to what God is saying to you now, your dreams and your vision will have
new life and will live again.
2) A leg to stand firm on the ground. The God who restore and
multiply Job all that he lost during his temptation and testing time is not
yet through with you and will not give
you up on the way to victory. Arise and stand firm on the Promises of God as it
is written in the Bible and look ahead, let the past be gone. Remember Achan who was stone to death in the
valley of Achor for stealing the spoil after the battle of Jericho. Later after
some year gone by, God in His Love and tender Mercy said, “I will give …the Valley of Achor
as a door of Hope.” (Hosea 2:15) NKJV. Probably you may be living with
the consequences of pass mistakes, thinking all is over with you. Please stop
thinking that way and don’t deceive yourself, the Word of God have power to
change things and bring you back on track again, into God plan and Purpose, and
by divine Grace you can live to see your noble dreams and vision come to pass
or fulfilled.
CONCLUSION
God is a God
of Purpose, God of Plan, and God of design and God of Objectives.
When He gives you Dream/Vision He also gives you the Plan and
Power to accomplish all that He pleases. Rise up to your
Dream/Vision of your life and you will be a Weapon in the Hand of Sovereign God
to accomplish the impossible in your time and generation.
Written by Ed Arcton
Contact: www.edarcton.net. info@edarcton.net
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