Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /home1/heartof6/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/responsive-mobile/includes/functions-extentions.php on line 35
Home › Posts tagged Bible › Page 3

Bible

Words Are More Than Words

Posted on by

THE WORD

Deuteronomy 32:1 – Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Psalms 15:1-3 – LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We write them in emails, Facebook walls, IMs, text messages, tweets or even speak them in person; for with words that come from our lips, hands, phones, tablets, and keyboards come a great power and responsibility for how you will convey them each and every day to those that are surrounded around you. Whether they are to encourage someone or to tell a person who upset you what you think about them you have an intriguing ability to express yourself to someone else through words. Always be aware of the words you speak as well as the words you hear. Communicating and listening can have a direct impact on your life in many capacities, and as the word of God gives reference to the power of life and death being in the tongue, you must be cautious! Trust me: people are reading, watching, listening, observing, feeling, receiving, etc. of what you speak, no matter the medium you use to use your words! As the bible refers to conversation about our business being “yay yay” and “nay nay”, make sure to keep things clear and to the point without using words that would tear down another person.

PUT INTO PRACTICE

I encourage you to dedicate one day to only speaking or writing encouraging words about the top three things that bother you. You will find that if your feel funny speaking positive and faithful statements then you are not accustomed to it happening enough to be comfortable with it. As you succeed with this good practice, continue to do it as many days as you can until you have built a good habit in your character.

The Basic Fundamentals

Posted on by

Sometimes we get so involved in trying to do all of the complex things in life that we forget about the basic fundamentals. It’s easy to remember to pray, to read the bible, to make sure you put money in the offering plate, to offer a testimony during service, to sing a song of praise, to do just about anything that you could think of. I could sit here and write you out an entire checklist of to-dos that most of us accomplish with perfection. The bible even talks about us striving for perfection, to strive for that mark, of the high calling.

I want to make sure that we don’t miss the most important part of all.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

[1] Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
[2] And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
[3] And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
[4] Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
[5] Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
[6] Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
[7] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
[8] Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
[9] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
[10] But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
[11] When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
[13] And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

We can offer all of ourselves to the world in every possible way, but without charity, it is essentially meaningless. If we are going to do things with an attitude in other words, we are in the wrong spirit. If you come to church without charity, how will you ever be able to have compassion on the people that come in that are truly in need?

Let us open the eyes of our hearts and always remember that even though we all have many great callings and talents, that the FORCE behind them should always be charity. And if you feel as though you are lacking in that area, pray that God will fill you with more. He can give you patience and understanding with the people that would make you feel as though you could not be charitable to them. I know it’s hard to be this way to everyone, but it’s possible. God showed the most charity of all when he sent Jesus as the sacrifice for the world, that we would be forgiven and have a pathway to Heaven through salvation.

Always remember to be charitable to ALL those around you. In other words, let love be what’s in your heart ALL of the time. Remember the basic fundamental of Charity, for it will carry you far in drawing those loved ones to Christ!

The Message Of Haggai

Posted on by
Click To Play     

Haggai “was a man of one paramount idea — build the Temple!” (Homer Hailey).

His primary focus and heart’s desire was to see the temple restored, as well as the worship of God to return. I thought about this so much when I was going over this small set of verses. There are so many parts we read of about broken temples in the bible, and when I read those, I think of MY temple; not the one which was built by hand, but the one that my soul lives in.

I begin to think about how that as we come to God and we are saved, he cleans up and wipes away our sins and we are forgiven, which is wonderful and without it, where would we be? Let’s take this further though. Think about how each and every day that we walk around our houses and see all of these things that need to be taken care of outside, and yet with our lack of energy and willpower, those things continually get put off time after time until the effects of the neglect begin to show in a way that we can see.

With my spiritual temple, it’s all in the same. I walk around each and every day of my life with the power and ability to clean up my own little messes in prayer, and yet with no willpower do nothing. I know that sometimes it’s hard to find that motivation to get up off of our couch and get to work on cleaning house, but it’s double the difficulty when you begin to talk about what dwells inside the hearts of you and I. The pains and sufferings that we face are by no means easy, and it takes a lot of work and upkeep to prevail on the maintenance of that, and yet, we continue to neglect. So wherein lies that motivation when we cannot find it? To me, I have found that we can encourage ourselves, yes. I can get down in prayer and get a hold of God to the point where it feels like that angels are all around me. It’s wonderful. But when your life is to the point where you can’t get the first word out, what then?

A lot of Christians today are standing there in their non-spiritual perspectives, looking at their ruined spiritual temple, and just walking away from it.

Let’s read some now.

Haggai 1:4-8

[4] Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
[5] Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
[6] Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
[7] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
[8] Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

The people had become discouraged, and as a result of that, forgetful and neglectful of God. And truthfully, this behavior is quite common with the people of today; nothing has really changed with that. Their priorities were skewed; they were only considering themselves and not God in the grand scheme, building their own houses, and not His. People are out in the world trying to just take care of themselves and be of no help to others. But when we reach that point of no return in our discouragement, it takes that lending loving hand of a neighbor to lift us up. You see, the message of Haggai was very well received and effective.

And wouldn’t you know that one of the reasons that it was effective was Haggai’s dependency on the Word of God! Man, if we can but only grasp this. We can pick ourselves up sometimes, but it takes more than one person to build a house, let alone repair a broken one. Being able to depend on each other more will allow the body of Christ to grow more and more, and our inner spiritual temples will flourish along with the Temple of the church.

A lot of people might cringe at this idea, and that’s okay, but sometimes I sit in the most elaborate beautiful churches that I can see with my eyes and yet see the spiritual discernment in ruin. People need help. They need led, and they need the truth. I have came short so many times in my life, but what I do know that the only thing that has got be back on the path for God was the word of truth.

Haggai appeals to God as his authority over 26 times in the course of 38 verses! Let’s read some more:

Haggai 2:7-9, 17-19

[7] And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
[8] The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
[9] The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

[17] I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.
[18] Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider it.
[19] Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

Haggai was teaching that faithfulness and material blessings are directly connected, and that when a good work is awaiting its accomplishment, the time to do is now. Discouragement, however profound, is not an adequate reason for neglecting duties, even when they seem to be encompassed with difficulty. So just remember to build yourself up with the foundation of God, and you will not be moved by every little thing that comes by. And more than that, the spiritual temple that you begin to build within will be less about you and more about God. And as that begins to happen, you will see a wonderful transition in your life take place!

You Are Not Forgotten

Posted on by

Genesis 37:2-11

[2] These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
[3] Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
[4] And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
[5] And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
[6] And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
[7] For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
[8] And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
[9] And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
[10] And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
[11] And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

When Joseph received the dream that he shared with his brothers, he was only 17 years old. There are many of you out there that have a dream that God has gave you to fulfill. Joseph could not help the dream he received, and was only trying to share his vision with others. He wasn’t aware though of how his brothers envied him, and they did not receive it; in fact they rebuked the dream, questioning him in the process.

There will be many people that we face in our lives that will reject your dreams that God has placed in your life. Maybe it is to be a worship leader, minister, or a teacher: Just remember that if God gave it to you that he will not forget the vision that he supplied. Through the next phases in Josephs life, he faced being sold into captivity, faced temptation from another woman, being placed in jail, and truly did not see the full success of his dream until he was 30. There might also be some hardships and time that will pass before you can ever see the fruition of what God has placed in your heart. He told people to remember him, and they forgot him.

There are many people that we can count on in our life, but at some point we will be left behind by them. It’s just a natural occurrence, and should not be let down by this. The beauty of this story is that Joseph, after all of the trials he faced, still had the heart to help those who wronged him. Being placed as the governor of the land to follow through on his calling, God knew from the first day where he would be. All he had to do was endure.

So I will end this post by saying this: You are not forgotten, and if you just endure with your faith that God will come through for you, the opportunity to make a difference for others will come. Not in our time, but in Gods. Take the hardships as they come with love, and just remember the ones before us that showed in the scriptures that we are not neglected without justification for benefits by God’s blessings. Have a great day!

Only With Love

Posted on by
Click To Play     

Philippians 2:11-13

[11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[12] Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[13] For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Matthew 7:1-2

[1] Judge not, that ye be not judged.
[2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

I have thought of a million ways to approach this topic, but I can only speak from my heart and tell you how I feel led to say what I am about to say. There were a lot of times in my own life where I felt like that people looked at me and condemned me before they ever knew me. Sure my lifestyle wasn’t the best at the time, and perhaps they may have been right. One thing that was not present though was a single person coming to me out of love to see if I needed help. They just assumed I was heading for destruction and did not want any part of helping me. Looking back on that now, it breaks my heart at the thought that out of all of my peers, no one really went above and beyond to show that true love of God. I did not say that to start ranting and raving about how no one cares anymore. I know that there are people that care about me, but sometimes me believing to myself that they do isn’t enough.

Where do we come in as Christians in all of this? As always, we need to apply ourselves in the word of God. If we begin to think about certain instances of the bible, there were several instances of people being upset about others receiving love while they thought they didn’t deserve the blessing they got. The story of the prodigal son showed that the brother that had been with his father the whole time was not pleased with the way that his father welcomed his other brother back after all he had done. The story of Zacchaeus also shows the people around him being upset that Christ chose to go to his house.

And as I think in the days we live in, I see this kind of attitude rise up every day in people that are supposed to be servants of the Lord. We live in a society where there is a system in place that judges people daily and gives them a sentence of how they must be punished for their actions. We as people of God work by a different system. We were not placed here to be the judge of anyone (Matthew 7:1-2). Everyone has their own price to pay for what they have done. How can we cast out others when we were first cast out? People will not think what you have inside of you is real unless love is wrapped all around it. Be that person that goes to someone in trouble and invites them to come to church, to pray, anything that would lead them to God!

People have to accept and admit that their lifestyle may be wrong in the eyes of God. As it says above, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. I can’t make someone live the way I want them to, this is something that God reveals to each individual about what needs to change. But we as a people who put on the mind of Christ that needs to love people beyond recognition. So what am I saying today?   I am saying that we need to put our gavels down, and open up our hands to lead people to have a better life through Christ. Remember this the next time you walk into a conversation where someone is making fun of someone else. Instead of joining them, say something positive through faith. Be the one that cares. Be the one that looks beyond their mistakes, for that is what God has done for you!

I’ll end this with a scripture; it says it better than I can:

Luke 6:35-38

[35] But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
[36] Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
[37] Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
[38] Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

It Is Well

Posted on by
Click To Play     

What a blessed day it is.  I awoke this morning and all was well.  Did this mean that I had lots of money, no pain, no heartache, no trouble?  No that it is not what I mean when I say that All is Well.  In 2 Kings Chapter 4 we find the story of the Shunammite woman and her son.  Elisha, a prophet of God passed through the area of Shunem often and there was a woman and her husband who showed him kindness by providing him something to eat as he passed through.  One day when Elisha passed through, he found that they had built a little chamber on the wall and had put a bed, table, stool, and candlestick in it just for him so that he would have a place to rest when he came by.  You might ask why did they do this for Elisha?  The bible says that the woman perceived that Elisha was a holy man of God.   She wanted to make a special place for Elisha to dwell.  In other words, she made place for him.  This was a new room just for him.  Elisha was pleased that the Shunammite woman did this for him.

If you want God to dwell in your life and if you want to find favor with Him, you have to make a place for Him.  He has to be first in your life.  He needs to be lifted up in your life just like the room was high on the wall.  He called her to him and asked what he could do for her.  She said that she didn’t need anything that she lived among her own people and had what she needed.  Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, told Elisha that he had noticed that the woman and her husband did not have any children.  Elisha called the woman again and promised her that she would soon embrace a son.  She could not believe what she was hearing.  The woman soon conceived and had a son.  The woman didn’t ask for anything but God knew her heart.  He knew she desired a child.  If you are faithful to God, he will be faithful to you.  He will give you the desires of your heart.  He loves you and wants the very best for you.

Years later when the child was older, it fell on a day that he went out to the fields to work with his father.  He fell sick and they carried the lad to his mother.  The bible says he sat on her knees till noon and then died.  She went up and laid him on Elisha’s bed and shut the door.  She called her husband and asked for one of the mules so she could go to Elisha.  The husband didn’t understand why she wanted to go find Elisha.  It wasn’t the Sabbath or a new moon.  Her response was “It shall be well”.    I just love this scripture.  I find great encouragement in the faith that this little woman had.  She had just held her only child in her arms and watched him die.  How devastating this must have been.  How heavy her heart must have felt.  But she said “It shall be well”.  You might ask how could she know this?

There is a peace that surpasses all understanding that God gives when he saves you.  You have great promises that you can depend on.  You know that he will not let you go through more than you can bear and that he can work all things to your good.  Just like Job who lost all he had, he still said “Blessed be the name of the Lord”.  When great trouble comes God’s people has the assurance that they are not alone and that the God who made the Heavens and Earth is in control.  No wonder the little woman could say through tear dimmed eyes, “It shall be well”.  I know we live in depressing times right now.  Life is hard.  But if you know the Lord Jesus Christ you can say  “It shall be well”.  If you haven’t been saved, then you can’t say this because it will not be well for your soul if you do not accept the salvation that Jesus has so freely given.

We find that the woman and her servant headed out to find Elisha not stopping for anything.  When she came to Elisha, he saw her afar off and recognized her.  He sent his servant to meet her and to inquire of her.  Is it well with thee?  Is it well with thy husband?  Is it well with thy child?  And she said “It is well”.  I have often thought why she changed it from “It shall be well” which means at some point in the future things would be better to “It is well”.  She was now with Elisha the man of God.  She was in his presence.  When she came to Elisha, she caught him by the feet.  Gehazi, the servant, came near to thrust her away but Elisha said let her be for her soul is vexed and the Lord has not revealed to me what the problem is.  She then said to Elisha, did I not desire a son of my lord and did I not say, do not deceive me?  The Shunammite woman had reached the person that could help her.  That is why she said “it is well”.  When we take our problems to the Lord in faith believing and not giving up, God will move on the scene.  He will not push you away but rather He cares for you and wants to help you.  He said to cast all your care upon him for he careth for you.

Then Elisha sent his servant ahead to take his staff to lay on the face of the child.  He spoke to the woman and said, “I will not leave thee”.  He arose and followed her.  When Elisha came to the house he found the child dead and laying upon his bed.  He went in and shut the door and prayed unto the Lord.  He stretched himself upon the child face to face, hand to hand.  The relationship that God has with us is personal.  He knows our very thoughts, every move we make.  His love and strength makes us strong.  His grace covers the multitude of our sins.  Soon the child came back to life.  He called for the Shunammite woman and said take thy son.  God is still able to work miracles.  No matter what the circumstances of your life are, if you know Jesus, you can say “It shall be well”.  If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, please call on him.  He will answer you and you too can find this blessed assurance that “It is Well”.

The Love Of God

Posted on by
Click To Play     

Can anyone really comprehend “unconditional” love? It seems the love that parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the help of God’s love in our lives. We continue to love our children through good times and bad, and we don’t stop loving them if they don’t meet the expectations we may have for them. We make a choice to love our children even when we consider them unlovable; our love doesn’t stop when we don’t “feel” love for them. This is similar to God’s love for us, but as we shall see, God’s love transcends the human definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend.

The Bible tells us that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). But how can we even begin to understand that truth?  There are many passages in the bible that give us God’s definition of love. The most well known verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” So one way God defines love is in the act of giving. However, what God gave (or should we say, “who” God gave) was not a mere gift-wrapped present; God sacrificed His only Son so that we, who put our faith in His Son, will not spend eternity separated from Him. This is an amazing love, because we are the ones who choose to be separated from God through our sin, yet it’s God who mends the separation through His intense personal sacrifice, and all we have to do is accept His gift.

Another great verse about God’s love is found in Romans 5:8. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God’s love for us. God doesn’t say, “as soon as you clean up your act, I’ll love you;” nor does He say, “I’ll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me.” In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners. We didn’t have to get clean, and we didn’t have to make any promises to God before we could experience His love. His love for us has always existed, and because of that, He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love. I know a sister in Christ who makes this statement almost every time she gives her testimony; He loves me Just As I Am. This is such a true statement.

God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God’s love is unconditional, and it’s not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn’t love us because we’re lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship.

God is Love! As such, true love — God’s love – can be summed up in this passage of scripture:  “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”  (1 John 4:7-11)

Where There Is No Vision

Posted on by
Click To Play     

Today our devotional will be from Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish“

First of all, I want us to think about our natural vision. The most vital square inch of our body is the eye. We need good vision to function in our daily lives. Of all the senses that we have, I feel that vision would be the hardest to learn to live without.

Many people learn to live without vision, but are limited in their activities, often times they suffer from depression or discouragement; especially those who once were able to see and then lost their vision.  In your Christian life, do feel limited, or feel like you are not as strong or as true a Christian as you used to be?

To be a strong Christian in Church, we need to have good spiritual vision.  The Bible says that “where there is no vision the people perish” What is spiritual vision?  The ability to see what God want us to see; to have a spiritual discernment of the situations we face, to be able to look beyond the heartaches, the trials, and disappointments of life, to look beyond our own needs and desires to see the needs of others, especially those that are stumbling around in darkness because they have no vision.

Naturally speaking, it takes light to have vision. The light is reflected in the eye to different nerves that send messages to the brain that lets us interpret what we are seeing: the colors, the distance. Spiritually speaking, it takes the Holy Spirit to have a spiritual vision.  Before Christ came the Old Testament speaks of the time when there was no open vision. In other words only those that were priests or prophets were able to see what God wanted and what God could do for them.  When Christ came He opened up the way so that every individual could have this open vision.

The natural vision may vary from person to person, depending on health, age, disease.  Some folks have what we call 20-20 vision, which is considered the best. Others have less because of something that has hindered their vision. Sometimes glasses, contacts, or medications are used to improve the vision. If we had to gauge our spiritual vision, what would it be? 20-20, 20-50, or 0-0? If we recognize that our spiritual vision is dim, what can we do to improve or make it brighter?

If you are having vision problems and you go to the eye doctor, first of all he will check to see if there are any impurities or foreign objects in your eye that could be causing the irritation or problem.  First of all, let’s examine our lives and see if there is something in our heart that refuses to let God’s spirit work in our lives. We all know that only one thing separates us from God and it is SIN. Perhaps it is just the sin of idleness or worry or perhaps it is a little jealousy or an old grudge. Whatever it is, it will block your spiritual vision. To get rid of it we need to sincerely repent and ask God to forgive us. We need to understand that the world is such a dark place and people are going to Hell every day, and they need us to have the best spiritual vision we can to help them see the light.

Once the doctors removed the impurities or foreign objects from our eyes, you may have to have some type of medication or therapy to strengthen the eye muscles.  Spiritually speaking, it works the same with God. Once he has forgiven us, we need to work to increase our vision. Reading His word and praying are the two best medications you can use in your Christian life to gain strength and increase your vision. Exercising your faith when God asks you to do something will also make you a stronger Christian and bring you closer to him. Determine in your heart that you want to be closer to the Lord, to see more of His majesty and to have more of His spirit working in your life.  Obey when He speaks. Be humble! Know it is just His great mercy that lets you exist.  Love the Lord with all your heart. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Press forward to the mark. Let that vision lead you home.

There are some great examples of God’s people that had visions throughout the bible. One of them was Job. He had a vision of his Redeemer. He knew that no matter what he suffered in this life that he would behold his Redeemer. It didn’t matter if his flesh had rotted or he had no natural eyes to see with, he would still see Him for himself. He had a vision that went beyond the grave. All of God’s children have this same assurance. Many times we just fail to look beyond the daily toil of life to see that our Redeemer is waiting on us and it is just a short time until we will see Him.

Nehemiah’s Vision of the Wall is one that I love to read about Nehemiah and his labor on the wall. First of all he was away from Jerusalem down in another land. Some of his countrymen were passing through and he asked them about the state of Jerusalem. They began to tell him of the sad condition of Jerusalem, how the walls were broken down. Nehemiah’s heart was broken by this news because he loved Jerusalem.  He began to seek God’s face and ask for his help and guidance. God worked and soon Nehemiah was on his way down to Jerusalem with a job to do. Now remember he was just one man, but look at the difference he was able to make because he was obedient to God’s command.

Nehemiah didn’t have a vision of the broken down city but he had a vision of what the city could be once the walls were rebuilt and the people united. Many times we look at our little church and think “well we don’t have too many people” and “we can’t do much” and so we just sit where we are. We need to be more like Nehemiah with a vision of what our church could be and how that lost people could be saved. It took obedience both from Nehemiah and the people to build the wall. It took unity of spirit and it took love. It took perseverance. Nehemiah and the people made up their minds they would rebuild the wall or would die trying. We need to be willing to fight the good fight.  I’m sure they got weary and we can read how that Satan tried to discourage them continually, but their vision was strong. They knew God would deliver as He had promised if they would just do their part.

If you look in Ezekiel 37, you’ll read about another hopeless situation where Ezekiel was placed in the valley of the dry bones and God told him to preach. I’m sure he could have made excuse after excuse why there was no need to preach to this bunch of dry bones. I suppose that is how many pastors feel when they preach to their congregations.  “What good will it do?  They are just hearers and not doers.” But Ezekiel believed God.  It was that simple. He believed that if God asked him to do something there was a good reason for it. He didn’t have to understand every detail but he just believed.

Many times God wants to work miracles in our lives and we have so little faith that we will not believe and He can’t do for us like He would desire to do. Ezekiel just kept preaching and soon those old bones began to move together and flesh began to come upon them.  They began to gain some strength. Then the breath moved into them and they were an exceeding great army. Again, look at what one person accomplished through his obedience to God. Don’t ever think that you don’t matter in God’s work. He needs every member of his Church. He needs us to be obedient. He needs for us to have that spiritual vision that will let us see beyond all of the negatives that Satan presents to us.  If we have good vision, we can see the fiery darts coming and can hold up our shield of faith.

John’s Vision on the Isle of Patmos was surely one of the greatest visions that one of God’s children could ever see. John saw that number that no man could number. He saw those that had had their robes made white with the blood of the Lamb. He saw me and he saw you in that number. There have been times in my life when I too have caught a glimpse of that heavenly number, that heavenly throne, that heavenly place that we are going to. We need to look beyond the present time and look to that great homecoming. This would certainly encourage our hearts when we are distressed. It would cause us to lift up our head and know that our redemption draweth nigh. It would let us praise our wonderful Savior no matter what.

So please, look to the Lord, pray about your vision, that it might be increased that we can see what God wants us to see!