Tag: visions

When the Lord Reveals Himself to Us

Mark 9:2
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them.

Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain so that they could experience the fullness of His glory. Jesus wanted His disciples to be prepared for the bitter agony that was ahead. He wanted them to have the strength of the promise of the kingdom experience to carry them through the suffering that they would also experience in the future.

Each of us will experience moments in the presence of God. It may be through a vision, a dream, a visitation or perhaps a quiet word whispered in our spirit when we are in prayer or worshiping Him. Each such moment is meant to lift us from our day-to-day lives in the flesh to our eternal lives in the kingdom of God.

Just as the disciples were not allowed to remain in the presence of the glorified Christ, neither are we allowed to stay in the precious moments of Our Lord’s visitation. The Lord simply uses these precious moments to show us the unimaginable promise of our futures in His kingdom and to give us the strength to endure the suffering we will encounter as we prepare to be with Him for all eternity.

Let us treasure those precious moments when the Lord reveals Himself to us. Let us hold on to and learn to leverage the power of His presence even though the experience seems to fade away from us over time.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the treasured moments that You grant us in Your presence. We praise You for those times that You become so real to us. We exalt Your name for the grace that You provide during these intimate exchanges that are beyond our normal earthly expectations. We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will stand by us as we leave the high mountain of Your presence and return to the valley where we struggle in our ways of the flesh. May Our Comforter help us keep the fullness of the joy and the hope of Your presence with us always. May the world know that we are living in the fullness of the presence of Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of Our Ever Present Savior, Jesus Christ.

A Divine Appointment Has Been Set for the Resolution of Our Prayers

Habakkuk 2:3
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

As we wait to see the providence of God in answers to our prayers, we must be careful not to become impatient with God. His ways are greater than our ways. His timing is perfect. He has the perfect appointment set for the resolution of our prayerful solicitations.

The prophet, Habakkuk, was frustrated that God was not dealing with the iniquities that he saw in the world around him. He was impatient because those that he prophesied to were not responding to the Word of God. In this scripture, the Lord reminds Habakkuk that he must be patient because the visions and promises that God gives are sure to come.

We probably have not had a vision like Habakkuk had. But if we have been diligent in seeking the Lord’s hand in our lives, we are likely to have found some type of confirmation of God’s providence through His Word, through urgings of His Holy Spirit or through the progress we see in our own lives or in the lives of those that we have been praying for. Let us be joyful. The things that we pray for in the will of God and in accordance with His promises will come to us. Though the fruit of our prayers may be deferred for a time, whether long or short our wait may be, the fruit will come at last. And, hallelujah, the longer wait usually means a greater harvest.

Let us pray in confidence and wait with faith for the perfect answer to our prayers. Let us rejoice for Almighty God hears and answers ever single prayer – perfectly.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your providence in our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus who has insured that the favor of Your promises will never be withheld from us. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to rest on Your Word and that He will strengthen us when the promise of the Word is long in coming. May we persevere to the end through the graces that You provide. We ask all these things in the name of the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus Christ.

Surrendering to a Life of Service to Almighty God

Acts 26:19
And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.

The apostle Paul was brought before the Judean Monarch, King Agrippa, to defend himself and his gospel. In his defense, he told the king why he was doing what he was doing, “I obeyed the vision from heaven.” Paul was not driven by a well thought out plan based on practicality or his own competence. He went out and proclaimed the gospel against all hindrances imaginable, many of which could not be overcome without the hand of God. He also went where God told him to go at the time that God told him to go.

Paul is our model for following visions. When urged by the Holy Spirit to do so, we should move forward without regard for our own capabilities for God always provides what is needed to complete His good work. Just as important, we should not rush ahead in consideration of our current skills and circumstances. We should only move when and where the Holy Spirit urges us to move.

While we are not likely to have a vision for our lives delivered to us in a dramatic encounter with Jesus like the apostle Paul did, we are all called to respond to the plan that Almighty God has willed for our lives. If we are diligent in seeking “our vision”, it will be revealed to us in a manner that will be sufficient to guide us and inspire us to pursue our vision. It will be given to us when the way has been prepared in advance for our success.

Let us seek God’s will and plan for our lives. Let us obey the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we fully surrender to a life of service to Our King.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You allowing us to serve You. We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity. We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to seek and discover Your plans for our lives. We ask that You teach us how to turn to You alone for our direction. We ask that You teach us how to wait on You to prepare the way before we move. We ask all these things in the name of Our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.

Waiting on the Lord for Our Direction

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Through His love, His grace and His mercy, we are called to be servants of Almighty God here on earth and in heaven for all eternity. We were created in His image for this purpose in order to bring Him praise and glory. Being conscious of our own weakness, we should wait on and look to Our Master for our direction and our strength.

Our focus needs to be on God at all times. We should be expectant that He will direct our ways and make provision for the fulfillment of our calling. We should understand that He will set the limits of how high He is ready for us to go and He will set the timing of when we will get there. We should recognize that He knows exactly what He has planned for our lives and the lives of those around us.

If we focus on our problems or our visions without including Our Heavenly Father in the process, we will set expectations for ourselves that are outside of God’s will for our lives. We will be setting ourselves up for burn out or for seeing results that are disappointing to us. It is almost certain that we will not go as high as God had planned for us or that we will give up on our calling before it is fulfilled because we are not in tune with God’s timing.

Let us make Jesus Christ the Master over our lives. Let us seek the will of Our Master in everything that we do. Let us lean not on our personal plans. Let us serve Our Lord and Our King in accordance with the perfectly timed, perfect plans that He has set aside for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to be Your servants. We rejoice in knowing that just as the slaves go to their master for their direction and all of their needs, we can go to You for everything in our lives. We pray, Lord, that just as the slaves wait on their master before they do anything, we will learn to wait on the direction of Your Holy Spirit before we take on anything. We ask that we learn to rely on Your hand, Almighty God. May we reach the fullness of service that You have planned for us. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.

The Proper Handling of Life Changing Moments

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.

God Uses Trials as Preparation Points

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.