Passing The Baton & The Vision

--Vision perspective should be gained at the mountain top and not in the valley.

1And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho.

(Emphasize: Mountain top and importance of making decisions and judgements in the good times and being cautious about life changing decisions in the tough times)

--Vision should be large in scope and cover extensive territory.

And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,

2And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,

3And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

(Reference: Prayer of Jabez--expansion of territory)

--Vision should not be about what our brain can conceive.

4And the LORD said unto him, this is the land which I swore unto Abraham,

(Reference: Abraham and Sarah; inability to conceive a great nation)

--Vision is entrusted to men and women NOT to man or woman.

unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed:

(emphasize the start of the vision with God and Abraham and the passing of the baton from one patriarch to the next)

--Wrong choices may hinder our ability to fully enjoy the realization of the vision.

I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shall not go over thither.

(Reference the Events of Kadesh Barnea--the spyes; the disobedience of the older men)

--Vision goes beyond what we are able to achieve in one life time.

5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

6And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.

(Emphasize that Moses was responsible for a work that would be completed but not in his life time)

--People that focus on God’s Vision live a life of clarity empowered by the Holy Spirit

7And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

(Emphasize the physical health that GOd had given his faithful servant)

--We need to deal with the situations of life; the losses and the gains in a way that does not take our eyes off the vision.

8And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

(Emphasize that they mourned for 30 days and then they moved on. In life we need to mourn the losses but truly need to keep focused on the vision and not be sidetracked)

--Vision inspired leaders are known for their wisdom.

9And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom;

--Vision inspired leaders are typically mentored by other vision inspired leaders

for Moses had laid his hands upon him:

--Vision inspired leaders inspire others to focus on the vision

and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.

--It is the NEXT vision inspired leader that walks hand in hand with God’s people into the promise land; (Notice the emphasis on the word NEXT.)

At the Beijing Olympics last summer, the US Relay team had a horrible problem that caused a lackluster performance. Both the men’s team and the women’s team had trouble passing the baton. To be more specific they dropped the baton. Last month in Berlin Germany this same relay team was able to clock some outstanding times. Personal records for speed were achieved during the various track competitions. Runner LaShawn Merritt breezed to a win in the 400 meter, cruising past rival and defending champion Jeremy Wariner. But news of these great times and personal records was overshadowed by the headlines coming out of Berlin—once again, just like in Beijing last summer, the US relay team was disqualified. Once again, they had trouble passing the baton. This time they passed the baton outside of the acceptable zone. In other words they passed it too early or too late. One of the tough decisions a leader must make is when to pass the baton to the NEXT leader. Not too early…not too late. Let us NEVER drop the baton and may be faithful to follow God’s direction to ensure we PASS the baton with the zone of his perfect timing.