Free From Fear by Brent Phillips – Never Just Exist

In the next few blogs, the subject will be about how to maintain your course in life by having a strong vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Prov. 29:18 (KJV) This verse tells us how important it is to have a vision. (Another term for vision might be purpose or direction.) Without vision, we are told in this verse, we will perish. In this series of blogs we’ll see why this is true. Have you ever noticed how disciplined an athlete is while in training. He’s focused and adheres to a rigid set of rules; however, during the off season, he is apt to get lax and lazy. The same could be said about a bride before her wedding day. She goes out of her way to tan, lose weight, tone up, have her hair and nails done just right. She’s totally focused. After the wedding, that focus may quickly fade into oblivion. What is Your Vision? What is the vision for your life? And why is this such an important question? If you are not living for a defined purpose, then you are simply existing. Have you ever had a day when you were at leisure and at the end of the day, you had accomplished nothing? That can happen once in a while and no harm done. But what if that happened every day? That’s how a person can waste an entire lifetime. Imagine living an entire lifetime without a vision, without purpose, without focus. The sad thing is, the person who lives such a life may be busy the entire time, but at the end will have accomplished nothing of importance or value. In the following passage God makes it clear what should be of utmost importance in this life. “Listen to Him” After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face-down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. Mt. 17:1-6 The disciples were extremely excited at the transfiguration; Peter was ready to build shelters so they could all camp right there. Any one of us would have loved to have seen Moses and Elijah. That would be truly amazing. But then a cloud came and the voice of God clearly spoke. He says nothing about Moses or Elijah, but only about Jesus. The message was this: “There’s only one thing here that’s important and that’s the Son of God. Don’t get excited or sidetracked or distracted by the wrong thing.” Was it wrong for them to be excited to see Moses and Elijah? No. This was an incredible, life-changing event. The point is, there are many good things in this life, but there is only one thing that’s of vital importance. It’s Jesus. It’s always been Jesus. We can get incredibly excited about different theologies, or about different activities, but God says – it’s only about Jesus. When the cloud cleared away, and the bright light faded, and the commotion was over, who did they see? No one but Jesus. And that was the vision. This is the One you need to listen to. This should be our vision. Mind Focus When we leave a church service, we often feel more directed and focused. Why is that? Because our minds have been focused on the Jesus and the Word; our minds have been renewed. We have been affected by what we received during the worship, the preaching of the word, and fellow-shipping with like-believers. But later, our focus can get off Jesus altogether. Where was Samson’s downfall? (Judges 16) Where was David’s downfall? (II Sam. 11) Each one looked – and saw – a woman he was not supposed to be looking at. Their vision was in the wrong place. Have you ever been fasting and all of a sudden an ad comes on TV for your favorite restaurant? That food looks so good. After seeing that vision it takes a while for your focus to get off of craving food and back on God. Now imagine how powerful it will be to set our eyes on a Godly vision daily. Think how that will impact our lives. But the devil will do whatever he can to keep your eyes off what is good, because your life will follow what you focus on. Vision with Action Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision merely passes the time. (We meander in all directions when we don’t have vision.) However, vision with action can change the world. Have you ever attended a funeral and found yourself wondering what people might say at your funeral? What will be written on your headstone? What will your eulogies sound like? What will people say about you? What if your epithet read: He/she was in love with, and sold out for, God? This would be a powerful statement, because someone who is sold out for God will lead a life that is destined to change the world. You cannot love God and not love others. You cannot love God and not reach out to others. It’s impossible. Time and Resources What’s the vision for your resources? If you have $100 with vision you can do something important. If you have $100 without vision you’ll likely just waste it. How are we living our lives? How are we spending our time? How are we spending our resources? Have you ever wasted time? We all have. We throw time away because we don’t have vision for our lives. We don’t have a vision of what the power of God can accomplish in one day – in one hour. When we think about the abilities God has given us, and the opportunities He has given us, it should compel us to do something. To use what we have and do something of significance for the Kingdom. Imagine how different our days would be, how different our conversations would be, how different our actions would be, if we were continually focused on the purposes of what God has for us; if we were focused on discovering the reason why we are here. In Part II of Maintain Your Course with a Strong Vision, we’ll learn more about our vision – our purpose. By Brent Phillips Leave your thoughts below. Join us on Facebook for daily messages. Request a prayer online for you or a loved one. Share this message via Facebook, Twitter or Goggle+