Heart Of My Own Heart, Whatever Befall Still Be My Vision, Oh Ruler Of All Series

KIDS TALK - VISION

Choose some children to come out and draw a picture on the board whilst blindfolded.

Get them to draw a house while blindfolded:

Draw a square / a door / a roof / downstairs windows / chimney / upstairs windows / smoke coming out of the chimney/ someone looking out of a window / a tree in the garden / flowers / the sun.

Let the children see their pictures!

People who choose to travel through life ignoring God and not reading the Bible are like people trying to draw a picture wearing a blindfold.

The picture of their lives can turn out to be a big mess instead of the beautiful picture God want’s to make of their lives.

Proverbs 29:18 says Without vision people run wild, but blessed are those who follow God’s teachings.

God wants each of us to make beautiful pictures of our lives.

God has given us His Word, the Bible to help us make the right choices, and to see the right way for us to live our lives.

Never be to busy to look for God’s will in your life. Don’t blindfold yourself by ignoring God’s word.

SONG: You are my Vision (Rend Collective Version)

MESSAGE:

Vision, Lord, Best Thought, Wisdom, Word, Great Father, Battle Shield, High Tower, Soul’s Shelter, Inheritance, High King, Treasure, Son, Ruler, Heart of my own heart.

Still be my vision, oh, ruler of all

What amazing words, what an amazing God

The song writer is giving us one simple message - God alone deserves “first place” in our lives.

Who would dare to substitute anything or anyone else for a real relationship with the living God!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

Still be my vision, oh, ruler of all

Is that the desire of your heart this morning?

A single-hearted focus and devotion to Jesus.

Many Christians claim to put God at the top of their priorities but the testimony of their lives often shows something very different.

Often God is pushed off the top of the list of priorities, other things often get in the way.

Sometimes our vision is clouded by things that happen in life that we have no control over...

Sometimes we choose to look in a different direction and we choose to make other things more important than God.

If we choose to allow anything to obstruct our vision of God our heart will never be fully focussed on Him, His Will or His purposes for our lives.

In Mark 12:30 Jesus said each of us should: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

When we follow Jesus as Lord, as Saviour, as ruler our vision must be on Him and not the things of this world.

In both the secular and spiritual realms it is easy to underestimate the incredible power of vision.

Throughout history there are many examples of people who choose to have a limited vision.

Real vision has a way of ignoring those who say it can’t be done and doing it anyway.

We are human, we are not perfect, we are fallible,

and if we allow it to, at some time or another,

the flame of our vision for God can begin to dim.

We can let our passion for God begin to ease,

our heat begin to cool, we can even allow our vision of God and for God to fade away.

Let me remind you of the words of Proverbs 29:18

Proverbs 29:18 New King James Version (NKJV)

Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

Proverbs 29:18 The Message (MSG)

If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

Proverbs 29:18 New Living Translation (NLT)

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

Friends we need to keep our eyes on Jesus.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us.

We need to be a people who pray for vision.

There is a real necessity for each of us to have a real vision of God, a real vision for God in our daily lives.

We need a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great when we trust God to lead us and guide us.

We need vision to move forward in our faith.

The flame, the fire of vision for God’s work must never be extinguished.

There are three things I want us to see about what Vision really is this morning. Awareness, Attitude & Action.