A Rooftop Vision And A Basement Mentality

In our text today, we are dealing with a young man by the name of Peter. I know you know Peter. Peter was the one who stood up after everyone was slain in his or her own language and preached a sermon and told them what had just happened. You know Peter, he was the one who when Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am? It was Peter who stood up and said, "You are the Son of the Living God." People you know Peter, Peter was the one at the third watch of the night when Jesus said come, the other disciples stood up and said, "It is a ghost!" It was Peter who stood up and said, "Lord, if it’s you, bid me to come on the water." So we find that Peter was a character who did great things. All we ever hear is what Peter did when he denied Jesus.

In our text today, we find that Peter saw a vision. It was an unusual vision. Peter saw a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where he was. Peter went on to say he looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. Peter said he heard a voice telling him to kill and eat.

Peter did not realize that this was the voice of God letting him to know that he was sending him on a mission was to save the lives of believers.

To clearly understand Peter’s basement mentality, I have come today to give you insight as to why it is imperative to have a rooptop vision.

In understanding vision, we must come to understand that Proverbs 29:18 lets us know, "Where there is no vision, the people shall perish..."

In studying, I came to understand that the Greek word for vision is dream. In dreaming, one come to understand that this dream can prosper or perish. The number one problem that I found in the church today is that we allow others to determine the altitude that God wants to take us. If we would only understand, God is the only one who determines our dreams, we can come fully to the place of understanding that no matter what comes or goes, God got my back.

It is sad that the church has become a place of poverty when God has called us to a place of plenty. It is sad and the beginning of worse to think that a preacher or anyone holding the title of a minister to want to talk about prosperity when they don’t have a vision and they’re broke.

Webster let’s me know that a vision is something that is above the imagination. When you have a vision, you must understand, you can’t tell your vision to everybody because everybody is not going to support your vision. That is why the Prophet Habakkuk lets me know in chapter two of Habakkuk that I am to: "Write the vision, make it plain on tablets for he that readeth the vision may run. For at an apppointed time the vision shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, it shall not tarry anymore." I am glad today, that I began letting the visions speak for themselves. That is why God has blessed me with my successes now because I began to let the visions speak for themselves.

I had to learn that everybody ain’t going to support what you want to do. There will be people who will become jealous because they see you are prospering and instead of asking how you did it, they will lie and try to steal from you.

In understanding our message for today, we must come to understand that a basement is the lowest part of the house. It is the place where we store unecessary items. A basement is the place where we visit the least because a basement is normally junky and full of trash that we don’t necessarily need. I have come to understand that many of us have begun to store many things that God has given us in the basement.

We have begun store our joy, peace, and enthusiasm in the basement. We as christians have begun to let the devil rob us of our joy, prosperity, and visions. We have begun to store all of these things in the basement. That’s why we must come to understand that Isaiah 54:17 should not only refer to us when we are going through. This verse should affect us spiritually. "No weapon formed against me shall not prosper" should be your ministry in times of good and in times of bad.

In this basement of our lives, we should understand that it will cause us to miss the blessings of God. We can’t make it as long as we have this mentality. In this mentality, you have many people who won’t support the pastor’s vision, who won’t suppport family issues, who won’t do anything but grumble, mumble, and complain. Why complain after all God has done for you? I got something to be thankful for and I am not just talking about God waking me up this morning, there are somethings God gave me and blessed me with that I didn’t deserve and I got that and life to be thankful for.