As Children of God, we are
born to be people of vision. We have the vision
to grasp beyond what we see, what may be
problems, to reach the unreachable, to believe
the unbelievable. As Children of God, we have
the ability to think the unthinkable, chart the
unchartable, to venture into the unknown, no
matter what the current economic situation may
be, with a vision we know what can be for our
lives. We must carry this for our families and
spiritually we can reach out and grab that
vision. We know God is going to take care of us.
God knew who we were before
we were ever formed. Did you know that? You are
not your own. The Bible says you were bought
with a price. God knows what is intended for
you. He knows the plans and the purpose He has
for you. In Jeremiah, He says "For I know the
plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future."
God knows where you are
headed. You can't listen to your neighbors, the
naysayers nor the news. You can't even believe
yourself sometimes. You must hear the vision
right from God's mouth.
We must believe God's
vision can be a reality in our lives. Proverbs
29:18 tells us “Where there is no vision,
the people perish: but he that keepeth the law,
happy is he.” If that is true, and it is, then
this must also be true: where there is vision,
my people live.
Jesus said, “ … I
came to give life and give it more abundantly.”
With this verse many incorrectly teach that
Jesus came to give life, not just ordinary
existence, but life in fullness, abundance, and
prosperity in this world.
There is a great problem with this perspective.
First, let's take a look at the word "life".
In the Greek it is "Zoe" (S# 2222)
referring to the principle of life in the spirit
and soul. Distinguished from "bios" (S#
979), which refers to duration, means, and
manner of life.
So we find that the life (Zoe) that Jesus
referred to are the things of the spirit, the
things which are not seen. Not the things of the
flesh or of the world which are seen. Jesus here
is talking about eternal life, not about having
good things on this earth.
Here is what many in America are
missing today:
1Vision starts on the
mountain: We see in Mark 9:1 “And he said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be
some of them that stand here, which shall not
taste of death, till they have seen the
kingdom
of God
come with power.” 2. And after six days
Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and
John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain
apart by themselves: and he was transfigured
before them. 9:3 And his raiment
became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as
no fuller on earth can white them.
9:4 And there appeared unto them Elias with
Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.
9:5 And Peter answered and said
to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here:
and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee,
and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
9:6 For he wist not what to say;
for they were sore afraid. 9:7
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them:
and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This
is my beloved Son: hear him. 9:8
And suddenly, when they had looked round about,
they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with
themselves. 9:9 And as they came
down from the mountain, he charged them that
they should tell no man what things they had
seen, till the Son of man were risen from the
dead. 9:10 And they kept that
saying with themselves, questioning one with
another what the rising from the dead should
mean. 9:11 And they asked him,
saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must
first come? 9:12 And he
answered and told them, Elias verily cometh
first, and restoreth all things; and how it is
written of the Son of man, that he must suffer
many things, and be set at nought.
Don't miss that phrase,
“high mountains. It is significant. God cares
how we are doing. We have to see far distances,
we must ask the Lord what it is He wants to do
with us, or for us to do for Him.
We can't dwell on the
problems that will and surely do come our way.
The Bible says death and life are in the power
of the tongue. Get on that mountain and say God
has a future for me! We can't dwell on the
problems that will and surely do come our way.
The Bible says death and life are in the power
of the tongue. Get up on that mountain and say
God has a future for me!
We can look at Joshua and
see how a vision can influence our lives. “The
the children of Judah came unto Joshua in
Gilgal: and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the
Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing
that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God
concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty
years old was I when Moses the servant of the
Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the
land; and I brought him word again as it was in
mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went
up with me made the heart of the people melt;
but I wholly followed the Lord my God.” Joshua
14:6-8
Here, Caleb is some forty
years after they had climbed a mountain and had
seen Israel – they
had seen the promised land! Caleb is 85 years
old, yet he burned to return to that mountain.
Talk about holding onto a dream! Here he is, 85
years old, he remembers a promise God gave to
him. He saw Israel. Although Caleb is 85, he is
just as strong as he was when he was 40. For
forty years, he carried that vision.
Back 45 years earlier,
Moses had sent men to spy on the land of Canaan.
“Send thou men, that they may search the
land
of Canaan,
which I give unto the children of
Israel: of
every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a
man, every one a ruler among them.”
Numbers 13:6-8 Caleb
was from the tribe of Judah. “And
Moses sent them to spy out the
land
of Canaan,
and said unto them, Get you up this way
southward, and go up into the mountain:” Numbers
13:17
Twelve went up into the
mountains, ten gave a bad report to Moses. We
don't know who they were, but we remember the
ones who do things; the ones who told the truth.
By the way, from
Mt. Hebron (which is the mountain which they
climbed), on a clear day one can see 250 miles.
Caleb, with eleven others,
summitted that mountain, looking down at the
spot that is the promised land.
He is standing on the mountain. Others
with him were afraid, Caleb realizes where he
is, what his ancestors only dreamed of, he was
seeing.
Caleb never asks for
anything more than where he's standing. All he
wants is to get back to Mt.
Hebron.
We know what Caleb said because it is
recorded, “Now therefore give me this mountain,
whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou
heardest in that day how the Anakims were there,
and that the cities were great and fenced: if so
be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be
able to drive them out, as the Lord said.”
Joshua 14:12-13 For
forty-five years, he dreamed of Hebron, of once again
standing where he had been.
We know from Mark Chapter
9, verses 3 and 4 about the transfiguration of
Jesus Christ. “And his raiment became shining,
exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on
earth can white them. And there appeared unto
them Elias with Moses: and they were talking
with Jesus.”
Why did Jesus show Peter,
James and John Elisha and Moses. Because Moses
represented the Law and Elisha represented the
prophets. Jesus is saying here, I am the
fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
Jesus took them to the
mountain to show them the promises of God, that
there was a day coming when the mountain would
be theirs. There would be a new Canaan and a new
heaven and that he was the Messiah. So He took
them up.
Visions start upon the
mountain, but they aren't meant to be a
one-time, “let's camp-out here” sort of
experience. “And Peter answered and said to
Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and
let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist
not what to say; for they were sore afraid.”
Mark 9:5-6.
Peter was an “A type”
personality on steriods. Whenever there was a
lull in the conversation, he has to say
something and it makes him nervous. So, he made
the statement referred to above.
They could see further than
worldly things and problems.
They did so that they would want to get back
there.
Our vision needs to be
overwhelming today. God has us here at this time
for a reason. God has plans for us. Is the zeal
burning in your heart as it once was? Put
yourself in a position to let God use His plan
for your life. Trust in the Lord in these last
days.
The vision is on the
mountain but the victory is in the valley. In
the transfiguration, we see that the disciples
wanted to stay. They, like us, fear losing what
we have. Jesus wants us to see the whole
picture. God has a 3-D image of our life. He has
something for us. He has His vision for us.
We must understand that
what we see for our future upon the mountain
must first be possessed in the valley of our
present. Vision isn't just a catch Christian
world. For 45 years, Caleb waited. He never got
tired, he never gave up. We must not give us.
This is our hour. Be strong, soon we will return
to the mountain.
“I will stand upon my
watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch
to see what he will say unto me, and what I
shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord
answered me, and said, Write the vision, and
make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it. 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 will surely come, it will not tarry.”
Habakkuk 2:1-3
We are told in Mark 9 that
Jesus discussed the resurrection with the
disciples following the event on the mountain.
What do your relationships need? It all evolves
upon Jesus rising from the dead. Jesus opened
eternity for us. He is the key. No weapon formed
against us shall prosper. If God be for us, who
can be against us?
Vision brings commitment.
God is calling us to be a light wherever we are.
Be committed wherever you are. Be committed to
family. Have your priorities in order: 1. God 2.
Family 3. Ministry 4. Your Job in the world.
Society wants us to be
“ho-hum” normal but we aren't ho-hum normal.
Advance and conquer for the cause of Jesus
Christ before we return to our mountain.
