Tag: vision

A Life of Trials Prepares Us for Our Place in the Kingdom of God

Genesis 41:40
You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”

The Pharaoh gave Joseph great power and responsibility in his kingdom. He proclaimed Joseph to be his equal except in the final level of authority. In a sudden change of condition, Joseph went from imprisoned slave to a ruler of great standing.

So it will be for us one day as we take our places in the kingdom of God. We will escape our carnal lives where we are enslaved to sin. We will then stand before God in the image of His Son with the same glorified body. We will be given the power and responsibility to rule and reign under the authority of Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Joseph went through many trials and tribulations in his life that prepared him to rule over Egypt. None of it was easy, nor was it brief. Joseph went from the pit to the prison to the throne room all under the hand of Almighty God. All of it was necessary for Joseph to be able to handle all that he would be given by the Pharaoh.

So it is with us. We have a lifetime of trial and tribulation. God uses all of it to prepare us for our place in His kingdom. We will grow in wisdom and discernment just as Joseph did. All we have to do is submit to the will of God in our lives, just as Joseph did.

Let us follow in Joseph’s footsteps. Let us take hold of the vision that God has given us for our lives. Let us trust completely in Our Lord as we encounter challenges that would seem to deter us. Let us work our way obediently along the pathway of sanctification that the Holy Spirit has laid out for us. Let us rejoice in knowing that one day we will rule and reign with Jesus at the Throne of Almighty God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing a place for us in Your kingdom. We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to be rescued from the prison that is this earth. We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us into submission to Our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we learn to lean on Him in all things. May we learn to live under His absolute control. May we claim our rightful places in Your kingdom. We rejoice in knowing that one day we will escape our slavery in this world to become bond servants of the King of Kings for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name of our mighty and holy King, Jesus Christ.

Preparing for the Call of God Upon Our Lives is a Journey of Maturation

Exodus 2:11
One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

Moses had a calling on his life and he knew it. He just did not know how to handle it. Although he was tuned in to his calling, he was not spiritually prepared yet to handle the assignment. God took Moses through 40 years in the wilderness to prepare him for his God-appointed place among the Israelites.

We are all called to lead our families spiritually. We are all called to lead others spiritually in some manner. When the fullness of the calling hits, we soon realize how ill equipped we are for the work and how ill prepared those around us are to receive us. We have the vision and a limited understanding of what needs to be done. But like Moses, we feel like we have been left out in the wilderness. It seems as if God is ignoring us.

In actuality, the opposite is true. God is fully and perfectly engaged in our lives. His plan is to discipline us so that we are focused on Him and not on our vision. When our focus is corrected, the fruit of the vision is released for the harvest.

Let us tune into the vision that God has for our lives. Let us surrender to His work as He prepares us for our work. Let us confidently wait on the perfect time in which He will release the fullness of His blessing into our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfectly patient hand in our lives. We thank You for taking us through our wilderness experiences in order to draw us closer to You. We bless the name of Jesus who carries us through our discouragement. We praise His Holy Name as He releases the fruit of our lives when we are mature enough in our relationship with Him to handle the harvest. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Over All, Jesus Christ.

When Life Altering Events Challenge Us

Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

As we read in this scripture, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord after the death of a major figure in his life, King Uzziah. We, too, may sense a new vision for our lives when we are faced with a life changing moment such as the loss of a family member or a close friend, the breakup in a personal relationship, the collapse of financial means or the onslaught of a significant injury or illness. At these challenging and life altering times, it is natural for us to question our direction and seek a new course.

Too often, however, we try to rebuild our lives based on our earthly vision of our work, our family or some particular passion (maybe even a ministerial one) that we have for this world. All is for naught until we realize that there is only one vision of substance and value – the unique vision created by Almighty God that aligns with His will and purpose for our lives.

Only when we cast our visions through His focus, can we become truly fruitful. We must go to the Throne Room and seek to learn God’s perfect plan for our lives. Until then we are building stacks of stubble and hay.

Let us humbly go before Our Father in heaven and ask Him to reveal His plan for our lives to us. Let us seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in directing our steps toward the path of our manifest destiny in Christ. Let us shape our lives around the vision that we receive from the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing events in our lives that force us to seek You first. Help us, Father, to keep our eyes on Your Throne and Your Glory. May the trappings of the world never again form the foundations of our visions. May You alone be our blessed hope and assurance. We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

He is Never in a Rush to Perfectly Complete His Work

Isaiah 35:7
The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.

The prophet Isaiah was given a vision of what Israel was to become. It was his job to try to inspire the people to attain the vision that God had given Him.

Visionaries are able to see the completed work and to devise a plan to reach the desired end before the work even begins. Almighty God is the essence of what any visionary would hope to be. He knows the beginning and the end of all things on this earth. He has every single element of the time line of earth and the people on it planned out to the smallest degree – in far greater detail than we could ever even imagine.

Our Heavenly Father has a vision for each of our lives. He sets His vision for our lives into place before we were even born. Being the perfect visionary that He is, He insures that each of us is prepared for our part in His vision. He is never in a rush to complete His work – only to perfect His work. We are His work. We are His vision. Our Heavenly Father refuses to see us in any other light except in the image of His Son. There is no other outcome that He would allow other than the perfect outcome that He has planned for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let us consider the trials that we face as preparation points. Even though they may be nearly unbearable at times, God sees the end and provides all that we need to get through our challenges. Let us praise Him for what He has allowed. Let us rejoice in knowing that He will use everything we endure to shape us for His kingdom.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating us with perfect plans for our lives. We thank You for Your patience as You take us through life’s struggles in order to shape us according to Your perfect plans. We thank You that Your hand never leaves us as we stray away from Your plans for our lives. We pray, Father, that You will teach us to humbly accept the trials of our lives which are shaping us for our roles in Your kingdom. We beseech You for the grace that we will need to have the patience and persistence required to allow us to be molded by your plans. May we bring honor and glory to You, Father, by abandoning the folly of our own plans and choosing Your ways instead of our own. We ask all these things in the name of the Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.

Small Obedient Steps Are Essential in Moving Higher and Sustaining Growth

2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God sets the vision for our lives and puts everything in place for us to fulfill the plan. He provides His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to guide us and to instruct us in the person, the grace and the righteousness that is Jesus Christ. There is absolutely nothing in this world that can stop us from meeting the plans that Almighty God has set aside for us.

We must, however, take all the small steps needed to move from one place to the next higher place that God has planned for us. We must be obedient to the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we overcome the callings of our flesh. We must allow the Holy Spirit to move us from a knowledge of Our Savior into a meaningful relationship with Him.

Along the way, Satan will challenge each and every step. And once we really start making progress, Satan will turn his evil on those around us, especially those close to us. Built up by our faith and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, we will overcome. As we surrender to the whispers of Our Helper, our tiny steps of obedience will take us to our special calling and allow us to live godly lives through the One who has called us.

Let us make the Lord, Jesus Christ, first in our lives. Let us learn to seek His counsel in all things. May the voice of His Holy Spirit drown out all the noise that the world sends to keep us from our manifest destiny in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promise to complete Your good work in our lives. Thank You for the faith that You provide us through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We pray that You will help us to build a relationship with Your Son and His Holy Spirit who has been sent to be Our Helper. Help us to become tuned in to every tiny whisper from the Holy Spirit that reminds us of Your promises and guides us in faith on our journey of sanctification. We ask all these things in the name of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.

Learning to Wait on God Appointed Assignments

Exodus 2:11
One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

Moses had a calling on his life and he knew it. He just did not know how to handle it. Although he was tuned in to his calling, he was not spiritually prepared yet to handle the assignment. God took Moses through 40 years in the wilderness to prepare him for his God-appointed place among the Israelites.

We are all called to lead our families spiritually. We are all called to lead others spiritually in some manner. When the fullness of the calling hits, we soon realize how ill equipped we are for the work and how ill prepared those around us are to receive us. We have the vision and a limited understanding of what needs to be done. But like Moses, we feel like we have been left out in the wilderness. It seems as if God is ignoring us.

In actuality, the opposite is true. God is fully and perfectly engaged in our lives. His plan is to discipline us so that we are focused on Him and not on our vision. When our focus is corrected, the fruit of the vision is released for the harvest.

Let us tune into the vision that God has for our lives. Let us surrender to His work as He prepares us for our work. Let us confidently wait on the perfect time in which He will release the fullness of His blessing into our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfectly patient hand in our lives. We thank You for taking us through our wilderness experiences in order to draw us closer to You. We bless the name of Jesus who carries us through our discouragement. We praise His Holy Name as He releases the fruit of our lives when we are mature enough in our relationship with Him to handle the harvest. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Over All, Jesus Christ.