The Lord has given me a handful of Bible teachings that will absolutely help you find success in fulfilling your purpose, your calling and your assignments from the Lord. These timeless principles will help you unlock your potential and become what God has intended for you in every area of your life.
One reason the Lord put this on my heart is that there is so much negativity, defeatism, and so many factors that come against people, that it’s hard to keep motivated. It’s hard to have enough vision to keep your eye on the prize and serve God unswervingly.
David prayed in Psalm 119:118, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law, or the Word of God.” That’s for any of us, at any age and any stage of our lives. It’s like, “God, here I am, show me what I should be doing, where I should be growing right now.”
When you spend time in the Word of God, God begins to open your eyes to the needs around you; the hurts, the pains, and the opportunities to bring the blessing and help of God to people. The Spirit of God will lead you and guide you how you can be an influencer for good in peoples’ lives. Sometimes, maybe all you can do is share a video with someone that will bless them and help them or guide them. We have a lot of videos available here on our channel that you can share with someone right now!
Point 1 is The Power of Vision. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he." Where there is no vision, people expire. They give up, they are defeated. But where there IS vision, people are INSPIRED. The word “expire” literally means to lose heart, to become dejected, dispirited. Ex – leaves, outside, gone. But where there IS vision, the inner spirit of a person is strengthened, motivated, empowered, energized.
To find your vision, you need to seek the guidance of the Lord. Be serious about it. Value it. He may show you a need that seems small to you, or trivial, yet you know that He is wanting you to do that. It may be something as simple as walking somebody’s dog for them, or helping them make some needed repairs that they can’t do for themselves. Picking up some extra groceries for someone. Helping with lawn work, when you notice that they can’t do it themselves. To you it might not seem like much, but to the other person it means the world.
Respect the vision that God has prepared for you. God knows the plans He has for you, like He says in Jeremiah 29:11. Pray and meditate on His Word so you can understand His purpose for your life. Be open to His leading and listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. He will put it in your heart, bit by bit, what He would have you to do.
Point 2 is about Clarifying the Vision. From, “I want to reach and help people”, to something more specific. Reaching and helping people is a great thing to want to do, but then it needs clarifying. Reach people how? Help people how? Reach how many people? Which people? When?
As you pray about it, and meditate on it, it becomes more clear. It might move to, “I want to help people who are struggling with their spirituality.” Or, “I have a heart to help people who are alone and need someone to talk to.” Or, “I have a car, and would like to use it to help people who need a ride to the store, or to doctor’s appointments.”
Your vision will get more clear and specific as you pray on it and meditate on it, and take notes! Habakkuk 2:2 God says, "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it." Once you have an initial sense of your vision, take time to clarify it further. Reflect on your strengths, the things you have a heart for, resources that you have access to. Seek wise counsel from mentors and trusted people who are already doing what God has put in front of them, people who know what they’re talking about, so it’s not just theory… these people can offer incredible insights and counsel.
So, begin to write out what the Lord has put in your heart. Make it plain, make it clear. Too many people never fulfill what God has put in their hearts, because their vision is too fuzzy, it’s too general, it’s out of focus.
You want it plain and clear. It needs to include the Who, What, When, Where and Why. Like, if you have a vision to “do something” about hunger, that won’t get you very far. It’s not plain. As you meditate on it, and the Holy Spirit begins to help you focus, it will get plainer and clearer, and will become something that you can act on, or, as you READ it, you can RUN, you can act swiftly on it.
Our Food Bank Ministry is an easy example of this principle. Many years ago, God put it in my heart and Linda’s to help feed people. But which people? Well, I of course wanted to feed EVERYBODY, but that wasn’t going to happen. Linda and I could barely feed ourselves and our three young children. But we had the vision to feed people. I didn’t know how. We didn’t have any extra food or extra money. But we had the vision. It starts small, with a seed, as Jesus says, and then the blade, or the beginning, and then the full grain.
From just wanting to feed people, through prayer and listening to the Spirit of God, it was plain that it would have to be people that were near us. People who would be able to get to where we were, so they could get whatever food we would be able to get. That was our first clarification!
Then, we started asking around. At first, we found out about what we called the government cheese program. You might have been brought up eating government cheese! Once a month, we could get several hundred pounds of flour, textured vegetable protein, egg powder and those 5 pound boxes of American cheese. It wasn’t great, but it was a start. You have to start where you are and with what you have.
Through giving out food once a month, one of the people who came in for food help said she worked at a store that threw away a lot of breads and baked goods. We called the store and made arrangements to pick those up every week. The manager there put us in contact with other stores. Soon, we found that different stores, restaurants, bakeries, and a local dairy all had excess inventory regularly. All we had to do was pick it up! It wasn’t a lot of food, but Linda and I would go around from place to place and pick up the food, and would bring it to the space that our fledgling church was meeting. We told our church friends about it and told them to reach out to their friends, and before long, we had a good outreach one afternoon each week.
So now we had a who, a what and a when and a where! Local people, food from excess inventory, every Thursday and at our little church space! The why was already there – because food costs too much and many people, even working people can’t afford to eat healthily. Man shall not live on Ramen Noodles alone!
Before long, we began to get more and more food, and more and more people coming to receive the food. It was more than just me and Linda could do by ourselves, but we didn’t want to cut back. Part of clarifying the vision is to plan, to schedule, and get organized. We had specific days and times to pick up at the stores, and restaurants. We figured out how to organize and store the foods until weekly distribution time. But we needed more. More food and resources and more people to help. Plus, more ideas and more relationships in the community. Just like you will.
So, Point One is to Get The Vision, Point Two is to Clarify The Vision enough that you can ACT on it, and Point Three is to Build A Team.
Building a Team. We needed a team to fulfill the vision. A lot of people think they can carry out their vision all by themselves. I had a guy tell me that it was just him and Jesus and he didn’t want or need anybody else. That God had such a powerful anointing on his life, that anyone else getting involved would just mess things up. That was a few years ago, and I was recently in touch with this guy. He is still in the “talking about it” phase.
No matter how anointed you are, God’s method is teamwork, to multiply the vision. I mean if ANYBODY could have ever done ministry by themselves, it would have been Jesus. But even Jesus didn’t do ministry all alone. He picked the twelve, and trained them. He had the seventy, and trained others. The apostles also went out in teams. Teams multiply the vision.
For example, Nehemiah. When God called the prophet Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He had a clear vision of what to do in the book of Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 17. Nehemiah had the vision, and then began his planning and organization, the what to do, the what to say and the when.
Next, he put together a team. God brought people to him who could do the many things that Nehemiah couldn’t do by himself. You might not be the Nehemiah, and might not even want to be a leader or organizer or manager of the vision. But guess what? Each of those members on his team had a purpose, a vision, a place to be serving, a contribution to the plan of God. There are definitely more people who are called to be team members than to have to organize and manage the vision!
Proverbs 15:22 encourages us, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers, they succeed." No vision is fulfilled alone. Find other people who share your vision and can bring their unique skills and perspectives. Pray for God's to bring in all the team people that you need!
There was only one Jesus – and He was and is the son of God. And God had Him call the twelve disciples to join Him in His mission. Each disciple had different gifts and talents, and together they formed a team that spread the Gospel throughout the world, and is still going today!
Point Number 4 is, Acting On and Expanding the Vision. Philippians 4:13 gives us the encouragement that, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Once your vision is clarified, take bold steps towards its fulfillment. Talk about it! That’s really the only way to meet the other people who will be partners in the vision. It’s also the only way to meet the people who can help you with opportunities, supplies and resources.
Wherever you can, bring it up in conversation, in your social media, post pictures if you can. God will use that to connect you with the right people. As the word gets out, and people share what you are trying to do, it will bring in more workers, more helpers and more resources. You just have to keep on keeping on. God is faithful and will bring it to pass as you become a co-laborer with him by faith.
Going back to the food ministry, that’s what happened. We worked with what was available. We talked it up. We told everyone we could. Before long, people started giving us the phone numbers of other stores and resources. We would be faithful in picking up anything they offered. God raised up an amazing team of people who would pick up supplies and bring them to the church, sort them and make them available.
Now we have six freezers that get filled with meat each week, as we feed local people, give to other food pantries and outreaches and soup kitchens. God has raised up a few individuals who run it and make new connections and do all the work! Others come in and set up the tables and set the food out and help with giving it out. We have still others who come in afterwards and put away the leftovers and make arrangements for them to go out as well. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, as well as thousands of winter coats and other supplies have gone out to thousands of people over the years.
Conclusion - God has given other people that vision to feed and clothe people, and to help however they can! We didn’t know even ONE of those people years ago. He has raised up store managers and owners over the years who have shown us generosity and favor, and are bringing the vision to pass. All for the sake of helping people in their need and bringing God’s love and presence into a messed up and broken world.
Your vision serves as a guiding light, illuminating the path towards your future. It brings clarity and purpose to your efforts, fueling your determination and perseverance. I pray that you’re encouraged and empowered to discover and fulfill the unique purposes that God has for your life!