Sermon Central
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Vision Requires Action To Become A Reality
Contributed by Lalachan Abraham on Nov 29, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: A reporter once asked to Helen Keller “What would be worse than being born blind?” She replied, “The only thing worse than being blind is to have sight without vision.
King Solomon, in his wisdom and under the inspiration wrote, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.”(Proverbs 29:18) In the Bible "vision" refers to the will and purpose of God being made known, in other words inspired and divine guidance. God has not left us without inspired guidance. He has given us His divinely inspired Word. Where it is not known and/or applied, it has a natural consequence. “Where there is no vision the people perish;” It is summed up in the word "perish." The meaning of the Hebrew word for "perish" means "let loose, run wild or casting off restraint”.. If people don't know what to do, they don't do anything or they do their own thing and become ungovernable, deprived of moral restraints and cannot be reined in.
Many people have chosen to ignore divine guidance and live a lifestyle based on greed, lust, selfishness, egotism, and improper pride. As a consequence they have been living by sight alone, and that's one reason they have all kinds of physical problems- muscle tension, migraines, high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, tumors, and so on. Your vision comes from God, it is not something you thought overnight; Vision gives purpose and adds meaning to our life (Phil. 1:21)
Sight is a function of the eyes while vision is a function of the heart. True vision consists of foresight, insight and oversight that come from God’s sight. Foresight is like looking at life through a telescope. This outlook allows us to know what is ahead as it connects us to our future. Insight is the element of vision that helps life make sense and gives us the motivation that we described earlier. Insight is like viewing life through a microscope. This perception gives us an understanding of why things happen in life. It also helps determine the underlying motivations of the heart. Oversight puts life into context. God’s sight assures us that the vision we have is from God.
A vision from the Lord creates a mission from heaven. It is vision that makes the unseen visible and the unknown possible. Vision starts from within! Vision is more than just a mental image of the future. Vision sees a better, more desirable future and provides direction and fuels motivation for its achievement. Vision is what we see, but it is also the way in which we see. Vision is the lens that interprets the events of our life, the way we view people and our concept of God. If we have a scratch on our glasses, it may seem like everybody around us has scratches too, but the problem actually lies with us because our vision is impaired.
Jesus said that our eyes are the windows of our heart. (Matthew 6:22) Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened. (Ephesians 1:18) In other words, we perceive with our eyes but we see with our hearts. Our minds receive images from our eyes but our heart interprets these images. If our heart becomes bitter, jealous, hurt or in some way infected, the lens of our heart is distorted. What we perceive is happening and what is really going on could be two completely different things. This is why Bible says “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
People with vision possess two things: they know where they are going and they are able to persuade others to follow. Vision applies to all individuals, community, Nation, Government, organizations. People who don’t have plans for the future are planning to fail! When you visualize, then you materialize. Your vision will help you have a sense of direction and fulfillment as you work your way to your dreams. Life is so full of depressing things that you need to learn to live by vision and see with the eyes of faith. God gave us vision so we would not have to live by what we see. Bible affirms that “For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
If you try to function in any other way than faith, you will malfunction. That is why worry is ungodly and fear makes your vision short-circuit. Without faith the Spiritual privileges and provisions cannot be activated. You cannot appropriate what you don’t believe; you cannot inspect what you do not expect. Hebrews 10:38 says “the just shall live by faith;" Look behind you, what have you learned? Look ahead of you what is the big picture? Look above yourself, what is God expecting of you? Look beside you, what resources are available to you? Have a Faith in God means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees. God gave us gift of faith so we would not have to live by what we see. Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep our balance, we must keep moving by faith. God's mighty power comes when God's people learn to walk by faith. Remember "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6).