Vision

As a pastor I am often asked the question “What is vision, and where does vision come from”?  Aristotle once said: “The soul never thinks without a picture”.  Vision is nothing more than a clear picture of what could be.  Once the vision of what could be becomes crystal clear, it is then powered by the conviction that it should be.

Most people think that vision is reserved for corporate leaders, pastors, coaches, etc.  What most don’t realize is that each and every person needs a clear vision for their life.  Proverbs 29:18 states: “Where there is no vision, the people perish:”  You need a crystal clear picture of what you are here on planet earth to accomplish.  There is a certain sense of conviction that comes with a vision.

Vision is a preferred future, and demands change.  A vision is more than just a good idea, but it requires you to get into motion to make that idea become a reality.  Anyone can talk a good game, but it takes someone with a vision to make that dream become a reality.  You have to put legs on your vision.  You can’t just sit around forever and daydream of what could be, you must get up and do something about your vision.

Getting a crystal clear vision takes time.  There is a process that takes places between the conception of the vision and the fulfillment of the vision.  There is a purpose in the process.  The process not only allows our vision to mature, it also allows us to mature as well.  The process can be painful, frustrating, lonely, and just down right agonizing.  Think of your vision like a child in the womb.  After conception there is a period of time where the child matures in the womb before the child is born.  You cannot rush the development of the child.  Those months that are spent in the womb are crucial to the survival of the child after the child is born.  Likewise your vision must spend time in the womb in order for the vision to survive after it is born.  We live in a world that pushes change, but doesn’t want to go through the necessary process to bring about change.    This concept is brought on by the push-button society that we live in.  Everything has to be instantaneous, and we don’t have time for processes.

The greater your vision the longer it will take you to grow into your vision.  The Bible tells us that Moses was forty years in training before the vision God gave him became a reality.  Nehemiah was nearly a year in preparation for his vision to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.  Vision will involve your emotions.  You can’t have a clear vision and be emotionless.  Vision will also motivate you to act.  The monotonous, mundane, everyday cares of life begin to matter.  Vision will also give you direction.  Think of vision as a roadmap to get from point A to point B!  Vision will cause us to get our priorities right.

Maybe you are a Moses or a Nehemiah that is starring down a monumental task, and the task at hand seems overwhelming.  Let the vision become clear, and then get up and begin to make that vision become a reality.  Value the in-between (the process) between the conception of your vision and the birth of your vision.  During that “in-between” segment spend time praying and planning so your vision will become a reality.  You were created for a reason and a purpose.  Go ahead and get started on fulfilling your purpose in life.  Don’t be that person who perishes because you had no vision!  Be a world changer because of your vision!

 

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How Am I Living?

The sun is quickly setting on 2017.  In a little more than 40 days 2017 will be a memory.  In the closing moments of 2017 have you thought to ask yourself “how am I living”?  It seems that it was only just the other day that New Years Resolutions were the topic of conversation on social media.  It was a great idea for the moment, and even provided some motivation, but as time passed so did those resolutions.

How Am I Living?  What challenges did you overcome this year?  What victories did you celebrate?  What mountains did you climb, and what valleys did you walk through?  How are you living?  The writer James in the New Testament part of the Bible states that life is a vapor.  It is here one day and gone the next.  We keep saying things like “tomorrow I will start this business” or “next week I will start taking a class”, and we keep putting off what we could do right now.  I had an individual stop by my office the other day and wanted to know my thoughts on them going back to take some college classes.  I need to tell you that this individual in north of 65 years old.  They want to learn additional information that will help them be better in a skill that they have done for years.  I told them that I thought it was a great idea.  I asked “when are you starting the class”?  Their response was “I’m leaving your office to go and sign up right now”, and they did!

So things didn’t go as planned in 2017.  Just get back up, and brush yourself off and try again.  Dave Ramsey recently made a statement that says: “Success is a pile of failures that you are standing on top of”.  It is only failure if you stay in the dirt.  Get up!  Is life happening to you or are you happening to life?  Keep trying!  Keep getting back up!  Learn from the process!  There is purpose in the process!  It is better to aim high and miss the mark then it is to aim low and hit it.  Shoot for the stars!  Good is not good enough if you can do better.

Over the next 40 days or so take inventory of your life.  Ask yourself “how am I living”?  Write down the things you want to improve about your life, and get started on that list today!  Don’t wait!  Don’t put it off until tomorrow!  Start right now!  I leave you with the words of the Holy Scripture as recorded in Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”

One of Many

With all that is happening in our world today I wanted to share something that my father wrote back in 1961 for his school’s magazine.

Where Do I Fit?

This is a question that we ask ourselves.  We as human being have a need to belong.  We want to fit in, but often times we don’t know where we fit.  Whether it is in business, family, church, or community we as humans want to know where we fit in.

Each of us have been uniquely created by God.  We have unique talents, personalities, temperaments, gifts, and abilities.  There are no two human beings exactly alike.  We are each different in our own unique way.  The challenge is to be able to come together in unity for the betterment of the whole.

 

Consider a building

There are many things that make up a building.  Each item, whether it is carpet, 2″x4″ studs, linoleum, sheet rock, or lavatories, has a part in the bringing together of a building.  Those items are not interchangeable.  Carpet cannot fulfill the needs of a lavatory, or vice-versa.  But each item, in its place, fulfilling the role it is designed to play makes for a building fitly framed.

When we as individuals find our place and where we fit; we then become individuals that make the greatest impact on our world.

 

Where Do I Fit is about Serving

Consider with me for a moment the words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatia church.

(Gal 5:13 KJV)  “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

1. As it is used here, the word is a command.  We are commanded to serve one another.

2. Many people are just not sure how to serve in a way that produces fruit and causes them to be fulfilled.

3. We can be very active, while not being very effective.  Some people’s concept of serving results in Motion without Movement.  It is like being on a treadmill.  A symptom of this is when we feel that we do a lot for God, but feel drained from being pulled in so many directions.

 

Making An Impact

When one finds their place of service, they become an impact person.  This is when one serves according to their passions, personality gifts, and temperament.  When one serves doing things that fit these three items, there are positive results:

1. Our efforts (energize) us rather than tire us.

2. What we do makes a recognizable difference.

3. We have more (enthusiasm)  for the responsibility.

 

You can make an impact on the world around you.  You can make a difference on the lives you touch everyday.  In the last week in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey we have watched everyday ordinary people make a huge difference in the lives of so many.  People that have found their place of service have made the greatest impact in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.  Whether that place of service was rescuing people by boat, vehicle, or by other means.  Whether that place of service was distributing water and necessary goods.  Whether that place of service was helping clean out homes and business to begin the recovery process.  People found their place, got in their place and went to work.

I believe this quote sums things up: “It is generally in tumultuous times that people make the greatest difference in their world.” ~ Henry Blackaby

Charles Dickens once said “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Find your place and make an impact!  There is no time like the present to impact your world for the good!  You don’t need to be a superstar, you just need to have a purpose and passion.  It is at the crossroads of purpose and passion where you will make the greatest difference!