Vision is something we all strive to have in most areas of our lives. Vision for the future in the lives of your children, vision in education, vision in athletics, and vision in the success of our family, all these are essential and provide better preparation and hopefully better success for our futures. However, we as Christians draw a line on where we should gain or lack vision. Vision is evident in almost all areas of peoples lives…..except our growth in God. Vision stops at this point for one reason or another. Is it not important since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Is vision just something mad up that the Christian truly can’t obtain? Is it a trick from the enemy that attempts to throw the Christian into despair because they can’t achieve it? Why vision in God? What’s the purpose and do we need it?

The answer is NO, you don’t need vision. If you are satisfied with where you are at in God. If you enjoy going to church for the religious practices and normalisty, I would encourage that you not pray for vision. If, as a pastor you are satisfied with fancy talk, self0lifting sermons that want to be heard, then yes, I would again encourage that you not get a vision. To milk this point for everything its worth one more analogy needs to be stated. If that "old time religion" is good enough for you, if you are satisfied of how God moved in your life yesterday, if you are attempting to duplicate someone else’s vision, my answer is again NO, you don’t need it. All these things..being religious, preaching fancy sermons that entice peoples ears, and attempting to duplicate someone else’s vision – all of these can be demonstrated effectively without any vision, zero.

To help you understand, vision is simply opening your eyes and seeing clear. Seeing ahead, in a clear path. Fancy preaching and "old time religion" takes no vision. Eyes don’t have to be opened because these things are so common placed and expected that those seeking this type of thing know the way. They understand exactly how everything is going to be and there is no reason for their eyes to be opened because they could continue where they have always been with their eyes shut. No vision is needed because nothing new is expected to come across their path.

However, if a person is not satisfied with where they are at in God, if they want power in their lives, if they want Gods fullness to rain-down….then get a vision. Clothe yourself in Gods righteousness and ask God what He wants you to do in your day. Tell Him you want to be used and make your availability known. If you want to see lives to be changed, churches to be transformed, and countries to be restored then get on your face, get desperate, and get a vision for how you long to see God work in your lifetime. For the Word still says, …."for the Kingdom of God is rapidly advancing and the violent must take it by force." Let us get violent for the Kingdom and become men and women of vision.

Well, absolutely, positively,,, without a doubt Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is always consistent, never changes, is forever faithful. But guess what?? YOU ARE NOT! Jesus may be the same and that is wonderful but without a vision of how we want to see the Spirit live in our lives and in the lives of other people, then the flesh will take over. With the Spirit comes vision and with vision comes the Spirit. The two work hand in hand. Where the Spirit is there is vision. But on the contrary, our flesh is strong. It does everything that the Spirit doesn’t want it to do. It is our sinful man. And when the flesh abounds (which I guarantee you it will time to time) then vision cannot abound. Jesus I the same and we should be forever grateful but without self-denial our vision is blurred. Sin in our lives causes our vision to become worse and worse until in many cases we become blind. So, strive toward the mark, die to your flesh, and get a vision for you future.

No, absolutely not, vision is not a trick from Satan. As God places a vision within us, it is up to us to go after that vision and many times it may appear as a trick from the enemy. The good news of the Gospel says "that no weapon formed gain’s us shall prosper" and "not to become weary in well doing because a harvest is coming." The Word of God goes on to say, "knock and the door will be opened." If we continually seek and knock then our visions can be fulfilled. Patience is the name of the game fruit of the Spirit and if you don’t have it, uh buddy, you better start praying for it.

Tradition in itself is not wrong. That is the foundation of the church of Jesus Christ and I thank God for it. If it were not for our foundation we would have no structure. However, if structure and tradition is all you desire then you are treading on thin ice. It doesn’t take a lot of vision to walk in what someone else has done, presenting everything the same way. See God gives us His Spirit to prompt us to do spontaneous things so He can grow, stretch, and increase our vision for the future. If the old time religion is good enough for you I don’t wanna be in your church service. God wants to do a new thing. He says in his Word…"the glory of the newer house far outweighs the glory of the older house". God has a purpose and a plan for this generation that is far beyond our imagination. And if you are living in the vision of your daddy or what has happened in some other church , you’re completely missing what God has in store for your own life. It is totally awesome that God gives men and more vision throughout history and they act on it, but it is time the evangelical church today, in 1998, get a vision that will consume the physical and make it spiritual. Get a sovereign vision America. Not a vision from another church revival where you feel God moving more mightily, not a vision that your grandma told you about in her church when she was growing up, but a vision where things happen the Bible way, the Christ way, he anointed way. No pattern needs to be looked at for vision. God is a creative God and longs to move by His power. When the church is in unity and has unified vision, God will work the miraculous. Where there is vision, there is Spirit (as I have written), where they Spirit is there is a voicing presence, where there is a convicting presence there is a spontaneous response, and where there is a response there is salvation!! The centrality of vision is simple….it brings souls to Christ!! When vision is in order and according to Gods timing, desperation for more of God’s Holy Spirit is evident. People become desperate for the glory of God to fall becoming unsatisfied with anything less. O how we should long for vision in our lives. It sounds kinda hard to understand but I’ll sum it up in a small phrase...Get vision, and get glory!