Personal Vision
Big Idea:
In 2004 I want to be who God wants me to be.
January 11, 2004
Great Bend, Kansas
Introduction: My Father’s famous quote, which he used often around our house, I think, is very useful at the beginning of a New Year. He would say, matter-of- factly, and poignantly as well, “I’ll make you think.” I believe that is what we do often when we enter a new year, we think back on the previous year, reflect on the good and the bad and then give it a rating on a scale from 1 – 10.
What is your rating? 1 – poor, 10 – great
As I reflected on 2003 I was hit with this phrase, “2003 a year to renew.” That’s what we did in our family. We entered into several home improvement projects, one to put a new roof on our home, secondly to repair a damaged wall in the hallway, renovate our den completely and finally, I spent five days in Colorado skiing and rejuvenating my tired mind and body. No, seriously, I did. Sometimes we do stuff that we love to do and it rejuvenates us. Try it sometime. As a matter of fact, I even had a full body message from head to toe. Let me tell you, if you have never had one before, you must make it a New Years resolution to have one done soon. After the message, I felt like I could ski three or four more days. IT WAS GREAT!
Well, 2003 was the year to renew in our household. What about 2004? Last year I didn’t start the year off with the goal of renewing my house, however, as I reflect on the past 12 months, that is what happened.
2004 is here. We are 11 days into it and most of us have either forgotten about our New Years resolutions or haven’t even begun them yet. Either way, what will 2004 be for you?
Let me tell you what 2004 will be for me. It is simply this: “In 2004 I want to be who God wants me to be.” Let me explain. I want to be everything God has created me to be in 2004, nothing more, and nothing less. So how does one achieve such a high and lofty goal? In I Thessalonians 5:24, it says, “The one who calls you is faithful to do it.” In other words, I am not an island unto myself, but a child of God, a child who was made with a purpose and plan in the mind of Almighty God.
Now if I was made for a purpose, and I know that I was made for a purpose as we read in Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “For I know the plans that I have for you.” Declared the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Then I was uniquely created in the mind of God to do something and something BIG. The Bible tells us that were saved to do good works for our father in heaven. Ephesians 2:10 says, “for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” So if my Father in heaven has determined what I am to do and he created me for these things, then all I can be in 2004 is what God want me to be. Therefore, I know that which I do for Almighty God of heaven will be good and bear much fruit.
John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.”
There is a qualifier to this however. We must understand that in order to be set apart to do good works, we must have a personal and growing faith in Jesus Christ. This all begins when we acknowledge our need for a savior, secondly, repent from our sins and thirdly, commit to follow Jesus Christ through obedience everyday. Once we have established a relationship with Jesus Christ, it is then that the plans for us in God can be revealed to us and we are able to bear “much fruit.”
So then as Christ-followers, we must come to a place where we know and can identify God’s good and perfect will for our lives. There are two ways this can happen. One, we can come to God with a list of gifts and passions, a job description and a list of demands and ask God to honor and bless it – which he will not, or we can begin as a blank sheet of paper (HOLD UP A SHEET OF PAPER HERE), and allow God to fill in the details.
Here is where, I believe, we have a hard time faithfully trusting the Lord, isn’t it? In the book, The Cycle of Victorious Living, Pastor Lee describes how someone can live victoriously and he describes it from Psalm 37. In Acts 10:38 Peter proclaims, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and …he went around doing good…because God was with him.” Jesus here is centering around His Father in heaven is revealed in how “he went around doing good.” He is our example, enabling us to live like Him in the power of His Spirit. The four things described in Psalm 37 is:
Commit – to the Lord
Trust – in the Lord
Delight – in the Lord
Rest – in the Lord
When one does this, it is as if we give God the opportunity to use us for his good, while we rely on Him.
So, I want to commit, trust, delight and rest in the Lord as I seek his will for my life. If I truly want in 2004 to be all that God wants me to be, then, I can come to God with the knowledge and understanding of my Gifts and passions, job description and anything else, and lay it at the alter of Almighty God – not pushing my agenda but seeking God’s will for my life.
Sounds easy doesn’t it? Well if you are like me, it is not easy. So I want to share with us several Insights Dr. Bruno Radi challenged a group of people and pastors through a challenge of discovering vision.
January is a reflection month, and I believe there is no better time to - slowly -“make you think” about personal vision as well. I believe what we will find in personal vision and church vision will be come a unified and shared vision because God created both the church and you and me, and we are the Church. Therefore, we should expect God to bear good fruit here at First Church of the Nazarene.
I first want to tell with you that what I am about to share with you I have kept pinned up on my desk since January of 2000. I look at it, reference it and then move on. But what I most want you to know is that if 2004 is the year to be all that God wants me to be, then I must implement it into my life as well. Therefore, I endeavor to spend 2004 discovering what God wants me to be as I focus on God’s vision for my life, which he has established in advance.
Will YOU join me in 2004 to be all that God wants you to be? If so, say, AMEN.
The “much fruit” in John 15:5 is a realization of the vision God has for you and me. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.” Point 1…
1. Focus the Vision
That means we must pray until we see it clearly. To pray is to talk with God asking Him to clearly show us His will. If we examine our conversations with God, are we praying or inquiring until we have a clear vision?
2. Possess the Vision
Making it your own. We should never boast about our participation. The vision is not ours. It is God’s. What we do is make it become a part of us in such a way that we begin to have the mind of God. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:5. “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I an in you who have sent me that they may be one as you are one; I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know,” John 17:21-23. To possess the vision is to possess the min of Christ. This is essential that the world may know.
3. Share the Vision
When we see it and possess it, we cannot do anything else but share it. It becomes our motivation, our life. We give everything so that others can see what God wants. Paul expresses it like this: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” Previously, he said, “For I am compelled to preach,” I Corinthians 9:16. Paul pleads with his disciple, Timothy; “I give you this charge. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season,” 2 Timothy 4:1,2.
4. Achieve the Vision.
If we have the vision of God, the first thing we will notice is that it is too big for us to carry it out alone. As we see it, possess it, and share it, others will capture the same vision and will join the team to achieve it. We are many branches joined to the vise. Only great teams of branches that remain in the vine produce “much fruit.” The achievement of the vision is the work of the team.
5. Renew the Vision.
It is interesting to read Acts 4 and note what is known as a refining. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly,” Acts 4:31. Only God’s Holy Spirit, the giver of the vision can renew our vision.
Martin Luther was said, I have so much to do today that I will have to pray three hours to get it all done. Did Martin Luther go to God and expect God to accomplish his whole to do list? Certainly not! Martin Luther went to God and God set his to do list for that day. Each day has enough to take care of itself, the bible say. Therefore, we must pray for vision in order to be all that God wants us to be in 2004.
“I’ll make you think” is a phrase that I want to think on this year as I reflect in the personal vision God has for my life. I also know that that vision will produce much fruit and benefit the Kingdom of God.
If you want to join me this year in seeking God’s vision for you personally, then begin today by Focussing, Possessing, Sharing, Achieving and Renewing your vision in 2004 and by doing so, you will be all that God wants you to be in 2004.
Prayer
KC District Church of the Nazarene. Vision Today, Publication 2000 "Vision Can Become Reality", .
