BREAKING OFF LIMITS
/ BREAKING OFF LIMITS 6 RIGHT VISION
In Genesis chapter 15 God promised Abraham that He would be his reward, yet Abraham complained about his childlessness.
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Gen 15: 1-6
If God is actually your reward, everything else becomes yours. God knew Abraham's confession was negative so He had to change Abraham's vision. Abraham counted the stars as God said until he lost counting. It was at this time that Abraham believed God and it was counted for him as righteousness.
What is a vision? A vision is a detailed picture of a desired end. You cannot be distracted when you have the right vision. Nobody will be able to mislead or talk you out of the way of God's plan for your life once your vision is clear. No one will entice or seduce you when you have a clear vision. Is there an end you desire? What exactly are you doing? Can you define your assignment?
The fire of life burns furiously and spares no one. Your faith will be tested and tried but when you have the right vision, nothing will break your focus. Joseph had no Bible in the home of Potiphar yet he stood against seduction from the woman considered to be his master's wife. He answered his master's wife "how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Joseph had the vision of his brothers bowing down to him one day. He had the deep understanding that he wouldn't allow Potiphar's wife to break his focus. Even his 13 years imprisonment was not enough to mortgage his conscience and destiny.
Beloved, be consistent in your walk with God. Know Him, not method, because what was working for you might suddenly work against you. Joseph was once loved even as a slave by Potiphar but it changed suddenly when his master's wife lied against him. Joseph, who was once Potiphar's favorite became a prisoner. Things may change but if you have a fire in your heart, you wouldn't water down your commitment since you already have the future in view.
Jesus could endure the pain of the cross because he had the vision of billions being saved from eternity of doom. Jesus did not die reluctantly but purposely laid down His life. Jesus died with optimism, knowing He wouldn't end it all in the grave. He saw His death as a planting or transition to glory. As whatever is planted dies first before growing, so also is the death of Jesus
Heb. 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
When you have the outcome in view, you can endure hardship and ignore insult. A woman whose marriage is 30 years must have endured several things- including insult. Jesus endured despise and shame because He saw that one day, His name would be heralded all over the world, in heaven even in hell. That was the greatest name that ever was and would ever be!
Only foolish people walk out of their divine location because of insult. When you consider the trouble you have gone through, how far you have gone, you wouldn't say "I can't take it any longer". You can take it again and again until one day, you take the blessing. And by then, you have also the wisdom and experience. Wisdom is not in letter, it is the practical knowledge of what you have gone through. May you be wise enough to endure on your way to the top. Your result will always erase the insults if you don't stop going.
You will survive even in the fire if you make up your mind where you are going. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who made up their minds before they were cast into the fire. Many do not make up their minds before trials come no wonder they back out when they face little persecution. Make up your mind to stand firm before trials and persecution come your way. The three Hebrew men would have changed their mind if not that they were determined never to worship any other god/creature apart from the God of Israel.
Dan 3:16-18
16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
That is a level of commitment higher than faith. They were ready to die for what they believed. This is greater than faith and God honoured their commitment. They were not only delivered but they also had privilege of seeing Jesus thousands of years ahead of His birth. Their enemies also got their reward. The men that threw them in the fire were consumed by the flame of the fire. The ropes used to tie them got burnt and they were loosed, the smell of the fire was not even on them.
The fire of King Nebuchadnezzar was a human/physical fire but the one in whom they believed is the consuming fire. How can the consuming fire be consumed by human fire? How can the maker of heaven and earth be with you and you will become a victim?
Never! Let us have confidence in Him that He has promised to ever be with us and if God is with us, nobody can be against us. May you exhibit God's glory and power irrespective of the enemy's attack and threat.
The enemy's incessant attack against you is because he knows how important vision is. When the Philistines captured Samson, his hair was not only cut, his eyes were also gorged out because they understood the importance of vision. As powerful as the eagle is, once the eyes are removed, it becomes an ordinary bird. Its power lies in its vision. With the vision intact, the eagle can find food no matter how tiny it is; it can overcome challenges.
No wonder Paul was praying for the Christians in Ephesians 1:17-18:
17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
It was a prayer of commitment and consecration. He prayed for the church that God should open their eyes. You may not say what you are saying if your eyes are opened. If your eyes of understanding are opened, you will go with God all the way. The eyes mentioned here is not the naked eye. There are many with the naked eyes who are not achieving anything in life. Paul was talking about the spiritual eye, about the inner knowing of deep spiritual things.
Prov. 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
You need the vision of where you are going, you need to focus on your goal. The reason for people's failure is that they keep doing several things and on the long run, they have no effect. If your focus is on pursuing your purpose, you will succeed even when others are failing. Though your vision may not look big now but Zechariah 4:10 says;
For who hath despised the days of small things
What are the enemies of vision?
1. Poor self-image: though God had a vision to take over 2 million Israelites that left Egypt to the Promise Land, a land of freedom, they kept seeing themselves as slaves. They sought to go back to slavery each time they had challenges. They wished they had died in Egypt as slaves because of little set-back. How could anyone wish to die as a slave because of momentary set-back? God didn't cause the death of over two-third of the Israelites that left Egypt, their poor self- image did.
God had to change my self-image some years ago. As a university lecturer earning N5,000 I went to Lagos for an award in Geology and I was lodged in one of the best room of a 5- star hotel. Few days after, the receptionist approached me that there was a mix-up about the room where I was. She explained that a highly placed politician had already paid for that room for the whole year and the man is around only to find another guest in the room he had paid for. The receptionist appealed to me to kindly move to another room.
I answered her that I was not in Lagos to sleep in a hotel but to receive an award and go back to my family. The politician was surprised I could accept to leave the room. He saw my 'humility' and while chatting with him, I called myself a 'common lecturer'. Instantly, the Holy Ghost rebuked me for calling myself 'common'. The Holy Ghost warned me that the fact that someone is richer or more influential than me does not make me common. Since then, I refused to be intimidated by whatever anybody has.
Prosperity is in different levels. For a student who got A1 all through his subjects, that is prosperity. For a man walking bare-footed before who now has a motorcycle, that is prosperity at his level. It is foolishness to compare yourself with anyone. Everybody has his own road. The baby elephant and the baby goat (kid) may look alike and have the same height but they have different destiny. In another 10 years, the baby elephant would have grown to be a giant. Don't allow wrong self-image; see yourself as God sees you. You are not common, you are important because God does not waste His time making a nobody.
In Luke 8:43-48, Jesus didn't address the woman with the issue of blood as nobody. Jesus said "somebody touched me". Luke said the woman had an incurable disease yet, Jesus looked for her amidst the crowd. God proved it several times that everybody is important to heaven. In Judges, God used Deborah at a time women were ignored. In the days of King Saul, God used a small boy called David to restore the glory back to Israel.
2. Intimidation: rejoice with those rejoicing and be happy for those God is blessing but refuse to be intimidated by anyone's success. You may not yet have what others have but you have enough to be happy. Don't wait for God to finish what He is doing in your life before you rejoice. Even
the maker of heaven and earth rejoiced at every level of the work of creation. Rejoice at your level and don't be intimidated by anyone's success.
3. Procrastination: It is the thief of time. Postponing what you should do today till tomorrow is dangerous. Don't delay what you should do today. Today is what you have; the past is in the grave, tomorrow is in the womb. You have only today not tomorrow because when you get to tomorrow, tomorrow becomes today. Quit postponing, do your best today and leave the rest for God. Do your best such that when you look back, you will be satisfied you have done all you can.
It is often said that the richest place is the cemetery because there lays the bones of many who have died with their ideas. Don't wait for a better time before doing what you are to do, do it now.
4. Walking by Sight: Believing what you see alone is an enemy of vision. Don't see before you believe because sight is deceptive. Many have been duped by those who looked gentle and innocent, not knowing they are crooks. God sees the heart so let the Holy Ghost lead you. Lot went to Sodom by sight; not knowing the devil had gone ahead of him but Abraham stayed where God placed him. On the long run, Lot lost everything. Today, the name of Lot is gone forever. In Israel, the only thing that shows Lot ever existed is the pillar of salt representing his wife while there are several monuments in honour of Abraham. The nation of Israel is the reward of his faith.
5. Failures of others: The fact that others fail does not mean you will also fail. You can decide to be an exception. Elisha had never healed a leper but Naaman was an exception. The fact that something good had not happened to others in your family does not mean it won't happen to you. Don't focus on the failure of others, focus on God. You can be an exception though others fail, don't confess failure to yourself.
6. Corruption: A corrupt man despises sound wisdom. When a man is corrupt, his judgment will be wrong.
7. Discouragement: No room for discouragement. Never despise the days of small things.
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8. Laziness: Be a runner. Don't be lazy. Vision is work.
9. Presumption: Never take God for granted. Don't have a conceited idea about yourself.
10. Arrogance: Walk in humility and reverence before God. If you are a deep thinker, you will find out that there is no basis for arrogance. Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth punctured their arrogance with these words:
For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? I Corinthian 4:7
Chapter end
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