ECHO… THE ABILITIES OF VISION…
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (I do this in 2 parts)
I once read a lesson about this man, Simeon, he was a shepherd that lived in 390 A.D. He saw how corrupt the world had become. So he decided to LIVE ABOVE ALL THE EVIL and CORRUPTION. So he built a 6 feet tall pillar to be above the evil world. He built a little area and he lived on this pillar. He saw he could still see everyone’s evil and corruption. So he built several higher and higher columns. He finally achieved a pillar 60 feet high with a small platform on which he lived. He built a tiny perch and built a railing around his perch. He had very little comfort above everyone else. The railing kept him from falling while he slept. He was above all the stupid people and silly problems. Simeon lived on top of this 60 feet high perch to avoid man’s corruption. SIMEON FELT HE WAS LIKE A CANDLE ON A CANDLESTICK SHINING OUT ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE. SIMEON LIVED ON TOP OF THIS PILLAR 30 YEARS… He died on September 2, 450 A.D. What a wasted life. SIMEON MADE the choice to live ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE. Simeon wasted many years to live above the corruption of the world… IF HE HAD GOOD VISION HE COULD HAVE SEEN LIKE JESUS AND WALKED AMONG THE PEOPLE AND MADE A DIFFERENCE AND HELPED OTHER PEOPLE… It appeared this man’s vision was like a blind person?
WE NEED HOPE, JOY AND PEACE THAT CAN ONLY COME FROM THE PLAN OF GOD… LET US GO TO ONE OF THE MOST MISQUOATED AND NOT CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD VERSES OF THE BIBLE. Seems it may be easy to twist the scripture to support our own perspective… BEWARE? LISTEN? We need God given dreams and visions to see… GOD DESIRES TO GUIDE US TO SEE BEYOND OUR HISTORY AND OUR LIMITATIONS…
TEXT:
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Proverbs 29:18 (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 (NLT2) When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
First thing I must tell you we need dreams and visions to return to the HEART OF GOD’S PEOPLE. We must develop GOD BIRTHED, GOD GIVEN VISIONS AND DREAMS … WE HAVE HAD SOME MUCH FLESH VISIONS AND DREAMS … PIZZA OR BOLOGA DREAMS… WE NEED PEOPLE WITH VISION AND REVELATION THAT COMES FROM GOD’S WORD, NOT MAN’S OPINIONS… WE NEED VISIONS AND DREAMS TO DRIVE US TO THE FOOT OF THE CROSS. REAL SPIRITUAL CHANGE WILL OCCUR WHEN WE ARE FAITHFUL TO THE WORD AND THE DREAM. I am often very leery about many dreams that people give credit to God… NEVER FORGET IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT GIVES REAL VISIONS AND DREAMS.
SEEMS WE LOVE FREE AND EASY --- WHAT DOES DIVINE FAVOR COST? ATTITUDES? WORDS? HAVE WE FOUND THE FATHER’S FAVOR?
Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
HOW EASY IS IT TO KILL A VISION OR DREAM? HOW MANY BURY THEIR VISION AND DREAM? DO WE ALLOW DESPAIRS, PAINS, HURTS, DISAPPOINTMENTS AND PANIC ATTACKS TO DESTROY OUR DREAMING ABILITIES?
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
IS IT POSSIBLE TO ALLOW OTHERS TO KILL OUR VISION ABILITY? SOME SEE THINGS THE WAY THEY ARE… GOD’S CALL IS TO SEE BEYOND THE PROBLEMS OF TODAY… WHY SHOULD WE ACCEPT THE WAY THINGS ARE AND SAY: WHY IS IT THIS WAY? WE MUST GET UP MY FRIENDS. WE DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP ASKING: Why? Why? Why? If we could just see things not as they are … BUT LET US EXCLAIM: WHY NOT? WHY NOT BRING THE CHANGE? THE VISION AND THE DREAM?
DO WE UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A THERMOMETER AND A THERMOSTAT? Which are you? Do you focus on the trials and problems or do you realize that your choices and attitudes can determine where you are and where you are going…
REAL DAILY LIFE SEEMS TO BE A REAL VISION KILLER. SEEMS WE SEE THE TEMPORAL MUCH MORE THAN THE ETERNAL? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS?
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
LIFE CAN DISTORT OUR VISUAL FIELD… We don't see things clearly. We're squinting through a vapor… it is here and soon gone. Soon the vapor will clear and we will see the SON shines bright! We'll UNDERSTAND everything. Someday we will see eternity as clearly as God sees us.
At best everything we know and understand is from our PERSPECTIVE. What we know now is partial and incomplete.
There was a family that lived in the mountains. The dad taught the young son about the OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS. The man in the mountains would yell back whatever the boy said. The boy so enjoyed the old man’s words. The boy would stand on the porch and yell to the old man. The boy yelled: I LOVE YOU! The old man could be heard replying: I LOVE YOU! The boy would yell I LOVE MY FAMILY! The old man would say: I LOVE MY FAMILY! The boy would speak: YOU ARE SO SMART AND I LOVE YOUR WORDS.… The boy listened closely as the old man told the lad: YOU ARE SO SMART AND I LOVE THE WORDS YOU SPEAK. The lad was amazed at the old man’s precious words…
ONE DAY THE BOY WAS SO ANGRY AND BITTER. His dad had told him to finish his chores. The boy wanted to watch the rest of the show on TV. His dad said: I told you and you better listen, finish your chores now. In great anger the boy stepped out on the porch and screamed at the old man of the mountain. I HATE YOU! YOU ARE SO STUPID! The boy sat in the swing and heard the old man say: I HATE YOU! YOU ARE SO STUPID! The boy said: YOUR MOM AND DAD ARE MEAN AND STUPID. He listened carefully as the old man repeated his words… YOUR MOM AND DAD ARE MEAN AND STUPID… The boy started crying: YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SO NICE. NOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU? Then he heard the words: YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SO NICE. NOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU? The boy learned that the old man of the mountain was just an ECHO! He had heard his own words returning to his ears… ECHO loved or echo bitterness…
WILL WE RECEIVE THE SPECIAL GIFT OF THE FATHER? WILL YOU WEAR THE COAT OF BLESSINGS… THE COAT OF BLESSINGS SHOULD NEVER BE AN INSTRUTMENT OF A BRAGGRAT AND PRIDE…
SOMETIMES TO HAVE A VISION AND A DREAM CAN COST A GREAT PRICE… TO DREAM IS NOT ALWAYS APPRECIATED or UNDERSTOOD…
Genesis 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
WE SHALL SEE… THIS IS A PROPHETIC WORD… WE SHALL SEE WHAT BECOMES OF THESE STUPID DREAMS? HERE COMES THE DREAMER… WHAT THE 10 BROTHERS WERE SAYING WAS A NEGATIVE COMMENT… HERE COMES THE DREAMER!
There was a dream of BINDING THE SHEAVES, bundles of grain… the other bundles come and bow down to the DREAMER… sure little brother … we are going to serve you?
Then there was another dream of confirmation: the SUN and the 11 stars will bow at Joseph’s feet.
Genesis 37:18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
CAN WE SEE CLEARLY NOW? WE SHALL SEE! THIS IS A PROPHETIC MESSAGE GIVEN TO KILL THE VISION AND THE DREAM. WE HAVE SEEN THE DREAMER’S ABILITY KILLED IN FAMILIES AND CHURCHES. WE MUST SEE BEYOND TODAY’S PROBLEMS. WE NEED TO DREAM AND NOT ALLOW ANYTHING TO KILL OUR DREAM…
Genesis 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
13 LONG HARD YEARS… PATIENCE MUST COME WITH VISIONS AND DREAMING… JOSEPH WAS 17 YEARS OLD… HE WAS 30 YEARS OLD WHEN HIS DREAM BECAME REALITY. 13 YEARS OF HEARTACHE AND CRUSHING… 13 YEARS.
Genesis 37:19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
BURY THE PAST OR IT WILL BURY YOU! LET THE PAST GO AND DREAM! WHY CAN’T WE HEAR THE ECHO? WE NEED THE VISION/DREAM! WE NEED DREAMERS TO ARISE! PEOPLE CAN STRIP YOU OF YOUR COAT OF BLESSINGS BUT WE MUST NEVER ALLOW THEM TO STRIP US OF OUR DREAMING ABILITY…
Before Joseph can give birth to the NEW… EPHRAIM which means FRUITFULNESS and MANASSETH means FORGETFULNESS… TWO SONS WILL REVEAL THE DREAMER’S HEART.
Genesis 41:51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. 52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
If we continue dreaming we must BEAR FRUIT AND FORGET THE PAIN AND HURT… SCARS MEAN WE HAVE SURVIVED…
CAN WE SEE HOW IMPORTANT VISION IS? WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU? SEEK GOD AND DREAM…
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
THE MAIN THING IS TO KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE. WE MUST MAKE THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING! If we seek God above our desires and live righteously. God will give you everything you need.
Worry today will kill the dream of today and tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.
Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
** CONCLUSION: CHARLES SWINDOLL wrote MAKE YOUR DREAM COME TRUE. He stated that VISION IS ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL. Vision is spawned by faith, sustained by hope, sparked by imagination and strengthened by enthusiasm. Vision is greater than sight, deeper than a dream and broader than an idea. Vision encompasses vast vistas outside the realm of the predictable, the safe, and the expected. NO WONDER WE PERISH WITHOUT VISION.
VISION IS LOOKING AT POSSIBILITIES THROUGH THE LENS OF GOD’S EYES NOT MAN’S LIMITED VISIUAL FIELD…
Isaiah 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com Check out Wade Hughes on YouTube.
( I do this in two parts.)
