Vision for 2011

Last Sunday the Father had me to preach a message entitled, “The Why and the Where of Your Life!”  The point of the message was basically this: if you can look back and understand why you were born (that’s your God-given purpose) and also be able to look forward and see, through your spiritual eyes, where you are going (that’s your God-given vision), then your why and your where will inform the what of 2011.  The following is a portion of my notes, I hope this blesses you as you prepare for 2011:

This is a time when we should:

1. Take self-inventory for the past year.
   1. Have I made any progress?
   2. Am I where I thought I would be?
   3. Am I where God’s expects me to be?
   4. What did I do right?
   5. What did I do wrong?

1. Prepare for the New Year.
   1. What does the Father want me to do in 2011?
   2. What portions of my destiny will be fulfilled in 2011?
   3. c. Do I have the faith to see it?
   4. d. Do I have the faith to see myself doing it?
   5. e. Do I have the faith to partner with God to make it happen?

(Jer 1:5 MSG)  “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations—that’s what I had in mind for you.”

• God told Jeremiah that he had a specific assignment! – the WHY!
• This assignment was determined BEFORE he was ever born.
• Jeremiah’s job, and all of ours for that matter, is to find this purpose, because if we don’t we will aimlessly wander our way through life.
• God’s provision is tied to his purpose.  In verses 6-12 we see that God provided Jeremiah everything he needed to fulfill his Godly assignment.
• If Jeremiah would have pursued something else, that provision would not have been there.

Dr. Myles Munroe explains it this way:

“If you pursue the wrong assignment, you’re going to need things you can’t get, because the provision isn’t there unless the vision is yours.  It’s someone else’s assignment, and he has his own warehouse.  Sometimes, people make demands on God that He can’t supply because He can’t give us what doesn’t belong to us.  Again, knowing God’s will for your life is the key to your prosperity.”

What do we learn from this?

1. 1. If it’s God’s will, then it’s God’s bill!

• God is obligated to provide what you need to fulfill His assignment.

1. His instruction is equal to His Injection!

• God will never instruct you to do something that He has not already injected you with

1. Understanding Your Purpose frees you to Celebrate others without jealousy.

• Don’t hate, celebrate!

(Prov 29:18 AMP)  Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]–blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.

Let’s break down Proverbs 29:18:

• The word translated vision literally means revelation.
• The word translated perish means to loosely stumble.
• The word translated keepth means to guard, protect, and take heed to.
• The word translated law means the instruction, direction, and teachings of God.
• The word translated happy literally means blessed or empowered to prosper.
• Read in this light, our texts tells us that, “Those who do not hear from God and receive His revelation, loosely stumble through life, but those who take heed to and protect His instructions, direction and teachings are be blessed and empowered to prosper.” (Piña Version)

A Vision helps you focus your efforts.  You can’t do everything!

(1^st Cor 6:12 MSG)  Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.

Just because you CAN do something, it does not mean that you should.  People with vision know what they should do and they focus their efforts therein.  People without vision are people that fail to operate in discipline, because they lack the direction to make the right decisions.

Example:  Let’s say a woman wanted to lose 20 lbs. this year.  How does she establish her base for motivation?  She gets a picture – a vision – of herself 20 lbs. lighter.  She then keeps that vision before her whenever she is about to eat.

I define discipline as the ability to make the proper decisions that will take you towards a desired end.  So, while she is eating, if she keeps the vision before her and she allows the vision to become the ruler by which she makes the decisions on what to and what not to eat, then she would be operating in discipline and she would someday arrive at her expected end.

Now, if she went into Golden Corral and paid $8.95, she would have legal right to ALL the items on the buffet.  But just because she CAN eat all the items on the buffet, it does not mean that she should.  If she keeps her vision before her and she operates in discipline, she will avoid the wrong foods, eat the right foods, and still remain on course to arrive at her expected end.

In this case, where there is no vision, the FOOD will perishJ!

What does Vision provide?

• A ruler by which to judge your decisions.
• A guide for the overall direction of your life.
• A basis for prayer.

1. A vision enables you to be focused in your prayer life.
2. A vision enables you to be focused in your study life.
3. A vision enables you to know what to pray, to put faith pressure on God to open doors, to bring to pass what you are believing Him for!

Dr. Munroe says, “The primary value of purpose is the translation of vision derived from purpose into a plan of action.  Purpose maximizes energy and gives time meaning.  Purpose protects you from being busy, but not effective… Purpose that is translated into a vision causes things to happen and people to act.  This is true because purpose creates vision, vision produces goals, goals permit the development of a plan and a plan allows for an orderly journey.”

In Closing:

1. Once you understand the WHY and the WHERE of your life, you can start to lay out the WHAT (what you will do) of 2011.

1. You are not going to arrive at your final destination in 2011, but there are some things the Father wants you to do in 2011 that will take you incrementally closer to His expected end for your life.

1. Spend time in prayer between now and the end of January.

1. Write down whatever the Father gives you in prayer.

1. STEP OUT in Faith to bring those things to pass!

1. Revisit the Vision periodically to make sure you are staying on course!

(2^nd Timothy 4:7) I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

• Paul never could have said that he finished HIS course if he did not know what it was!

My prayer for you is that you:

1. 1. Find it!
2. 2. Follow it!
3. 3. Finish it –BEFORE YOU DIE!