Transcription
Let us receive with a strong applause the prophet Joan Barreto. Give that applause to the Lord, woman. Give that applause to the Lord. Come on, come on, you deserve it. Aba, come on. He is faithful. He is faithful. Remember why you are here. Remember why you are here. Remember why you have come to this congress not to see who is going to preach, who is going to minister, but who it is about. It is about the Eternal. Amen. How many understand? How many know? How many praise Him for that? Therefore, in this time, I want to share a word that God has placed in my heart. I want you to quickly accompany me to the word of the Lord. First Kings, First Kings, chapter 18, verse 44. When you have it, you can say amen. Not everyone has it. It is on the screen. First Kings, chapter 18, verse 44. We have it. Beloved, at the seventh time, he said, "I see a small cloud, like the palm of a hand, rising from the sea." And he said, "Go, tell Ahab, 'Harness your chariot and descend, so that the rain does not stop you.'" Like the palm of a man's hand, rising from the sea. Today, I want to preach under the theme: "The Vision from Afar." I want you to look at the one next to you and tell them, "The Vision from Afar." We honor your name, Jehovah. We give you thanks for this time. We give you thanks for this moment that you have prepared for us. I give you thanks for each woman who has arrived. I give you thanks, my God, for each family that will be restored, that will be restored in the name of Jesus. I ask that in these moments you open the hearts of your daughters so that each one can receive, so that each one can be attentive to what comes out of my mouth, because it will not be the word of man, but your word spoken and transmitted to the hearts of your children through your Holy Spirit. We honor you, Faithful Friend. We honor you, our beloved King, and we honor you, our Father, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the people say, the people say. You can sit down. Amen. You can sit down, knowing that the seat does not extinguish the fire, nor does it stop the praise. How many believe it? Look at the one next to you and tell them, "The Vision from Afar." "The Vision from Afar." I want to quickly share with you what God shared with me this morning. Amen. How many know that God continues to speak? How many know that it is more important to hear God than to see what God is going to do? It is more important to hear God than to see what God is going to do, because when you believe what you hear from God, your heart and your spirit confirm that what He said is already coming with fulfillment. God told me, "There are people with near vision." They are those who never dare to see beyond what they have already become accustomed to seeing. People with near vision are those who never dare to see beyond what they are accustomed to seeing. The one who carries vision is daring. The one who carries vision has to be daring. And God told me, "Where there are people with vision from afar, they dare to see more than what is in front of them." That is why this morning the Spirit spoke to me and told me, "The further you see, the closer it feels." "The further you see, the closer it feels." I need women who say, "I don't see it, but I believe it, and I believe it because I am going to see it." Women who understand that this is about God and not about men. It is about what God took His time to establish in you, what God took His time to establish in your life, and what God establishes with time, in time, will be manifested. I need women who understand that the God we serve is a God of time. He is a God of time. He is a God of time. And vision, even if it has not been seen, waits, because what is not seen will be seen. What is not seen will be seen. And if it is seen, it is because one waited. If it is seen, it is because one waited. It is impressive that the prophet was the same prophet who declared that there would be no rain. With his mouth, he declared that there would be no rain, but on this occasion, he said the rain is coming, but he did not see it. God told me on one occasion, "There will be moments, my prophet, there will be moments, Joan, where I will not have to deal with your vision, but with your hearing." There will be occasions where I have to fine-tune your hearing, and there will be moments where I have to fine-tune your vision. And when the prophet, you have to understand that the prophet was not alone. On this occasion, he was with a servant, one who attended to him, who took care of him, but one who did not want the responsibility of his vision. Listen to what I have to tell you, because that is why it is not about having a full church, it is about having people who comprehend and understand that the vision that God has placed and established is from God. I did not invent this madness. This madness was given to me, and if the madness was given to me, it is because with me, mad people have been assigned. When it is my turn and I cannot see it, one dares to say, "Pastor, calm down, what you heard, I already see it." I feel God. That is why it is important to have a connection with God. Your connection is not with the one who walks with you. Your connection is that He still speaks to you. Your connection is when no one is there, He tells you, "Calm down, I am with you." The Mighty One is with you. It is not about how many you know, it is about who you know. The prophet understood that his relationship with God did not depend on who he walked with. That is why you have to be careful with whom you walk, because there are people who know how to disguise themselves very well. This is not to attack enemies. This is to attack those and speak the reality that those who profess in the name of Christ are sometimes the first to attack. And as pastors, we are not looking for children, we are looking for people with vision who do not envy the vision that God has given me, but who unite with the vision and say, "Look." Because envy kills, and there are full churches, but with envy. They do not even want the vision to run, and they let others dream. They are extinguished because they did not see it. They do not want others to see, but a blind person does not lead another blind person. A visionary can walk with a blind person because she knows it does not depend on another's sight, it depends on the sight God has given her. I need someone to see with the eyes of the spirit. Someone needs to hear with the eyes of the spirit. Someone needs to hear what the church hears, what the Spirit speaks. And if the Spirit speaks, the Spirit sees. And the Spirit speaks, the Spirit sees. The discernment of the Spirit is you seeing with the eyes of the Spirit what another is contributing. That is why you have to know who walks with you, who walks with you, because there are people who want to see what you are hearing. The problem is that there are people who are not ready to see what you are hearing, because what you are hearing will sound crazy. Because how is it possible that I hear rain, but there is no evidence? You are the evidence that what is coming is coming, that what was established was established. Come what may, blow what may, rise who may, the vision is already within you. And if there is a place where God preserves His vision, it is within His children. We are still here. Quickly, quickly. And when God spoke to me, He told me, "The vision from afar, the prophet Elijah's vision, was not Elijah's vision." Why? Because God's vision in Elijah was a vision that required listening, not seeing, where his servant wanted to see. There are visions that God establishes in us that require our ears to be fine-tuned, because if I don't see it, it is because I am going to hear it, and if I don't hear it, it is because I am going to see it. One way or another, it will happen. And what impresses me most about this is that the prophet did not go up the mountain naked. He went up to position himself, because a positioned vision wanted to touch something quickly. And listen to this. How many here have gone to visit the doctor? God bless those who have 20/20 vision, the vision from afar. When I saw this, I said, "No, this is what it is, and this is what falls." Why? Because when you go to visit the doctor, you don't go for the visit because you see well. You go because something is wrong with your sight. And when you arrive, I remember the Spirit ministered to me, He told me, "Johani, what is the first thing that is done when you arrive at the appointment? They call you, they identify you, when you enter the room, they sit you down, and they start asking you questions." Why? Because the doctor doesn't know what's going on. The doctor will rely on what you tell him, but he won't make the prescription, the prescription, thank you, he won't make it based on what you say. Stay here. God was ministering to me. I said, "Wow." He will ask you questions. You will tell him, "Look, the situation is this." There will be occasions where one eye will be more affected than the other. And if that is the case, you will tell him, "Look, it's just that time has passed, and the sight I had in the beginning, I don't have it today." And where he told me, because there are people who want to end up as they began, it is where God ministered to me about progressive vision. Stay here. When he says, he tells him, "It's not that with time, it's that already no." Okay, well, look, what we are going to do is we are going to get the machine. Note that to check your eyes, the first thing you have to do is align your head. Okay, an aligned head is an adjusted vision. I can't see like this. Your head has to be lifted, because a lifted head is a vision that can see beyond what others can see. It aligns your head, and when it aligns your head, that's when the machine starts to function, and the doctor starts to change the lenses, and asks you, "And now can you see? And now can you see this?" Doesn't this remind you of the famous question God asks the blind man? I'm going to try to put all of this into one. When Jesus takes him out, because let me tell you something, God told me, "Never clean the mud where I find it." That is why it is called the Potter's House. God takes you to the house. God doesn't work on you where you are. That is why some people can be planted in one place and flourish in another. For those people who tell you, "You will not flourish here," the open sky is that you will flourish, because it is not about the place, it is about the vision. There are places full, full to capacity, but there is no vision. What there is is human ability, what there is is what I can still do, what I know how to do. No, no, no, no, no. I want to be where God is, and if God is not there, I don't want to be there. Oh, this is not about abilities. This is not about qualities. This is about intimacy. This is about knowledge, and it is about vision. That is why I never believe, I believe in extinguished places. You are extinguished. Oh, in that place there is no vision. Check yours, because that is why the word says that before looking at the vineyard, look at your own. Okay, to move forward, Jesus takes him out. There are miracles that God can do instantly, instantaneous miracles, but there are progressive miracles. There is instantaneous vision and there is progressive vision. Stay here. Stay here. This does not make you lesser. This makes you assigned. The vision is there. The vision is there. Stay with me. The mission is there, and the assignment is there. Understand something. The mission is the same as the vision, and the assignment is not. God told me, "There are many frustrated people looking for the right church instead of looking for the assigned church, because your assignment is connected to the vision of a leader." Oh, you didn't think I said it's connected to your vision, did you? No, no, no, no, no. Daddy, Mommy, God gives you vision because you are assigned to a leader who needs you to run with him, to jump with him, that if they tell you it can't be done, Pastor, go ahead, and don't back down, go ahead, and don't back down. It's not about what you see, but how you are doing it. He takes him out and asks him the famous question, "Do you see something?" He said, "With my eyes, everything." It was for him to be healed, for the miracle to be manifested. That is what the Holy Spirit told me when Jesus did this with that man. That is why God knows how to deal with each one of us. The problem is when you want to advance in something that someone else is already advancing in, and God knows with whom to take His time, because God knows who wants to see quickly and who wants to see. God does this. Why doesn't He ask, "Can you see it now?" And the Holy Spirit told me, "Because there are many who see, but there is no vision. They have sight, but no vision." "Do you see something?" The Holy Spirit told me, "Vision is not instantaneous, it is progressive." That is why when vision is established in you, it is not something that happens quickly. It is not the case. Do you know how many pastors God tells, "I call you pastor," and the next day they want to pastor? Many things have been seen on the altars that should not be seen or happening. Pastors in sin who want to sin, who want to enjoy women, and also want to stay in ministry. Park yourself, man. That is where God will use me, and I will tell you, "Okay, here you have no option to choose, because you have already chosen." I am not telling you to separate yourself, I am telling you to park yourself. Release the calling, because you have already... Listen to me. God's mercy is not you having it. God's mercy is that He didn't kill you. I was at home, I was packing, I started crying, and I heard the voice of the Spirit telling me, "Many are very distracted, and sin in the altar has risen to such a magnitude that it is like in the time of Eli and his sons." It is not here. That is why I do not preach or prophesy to be invited. If I arrive, it is because God opened the door for me, and if God opened the door for me, I break with everything. And thus says Jehovah, says the Eternal, thus says Yah, thus says Aba: Repent and convert, for the time of God is near. Look, I don't see. Look, God did not call me. God did not call me to take anyone's place. No, that is not my job, that is not my function. No, no, no. But wrong is wrong, and there are pastors right now that I know who are in sin. Divorce does not free you because there was a problem before you got married. And the problem is that we want to lose our vision. When vision is lost, God raises up a Samuel. Never, ever does God leave the people without vision. It is not here. Never, ever. Look, people may be missing, but vision is not missing. This is not about being a prophet of the moment. This is about being sent by God. This is about the calling, meaning the talent does not speak for me. The gift does not speak for me. What speaks for me are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and it is time for the church to begin to show fruit, because fruit without vision goes nowhere. Because there are people who run with the vision but with their abilities. And you know what God told me? He ministered to me. He told me, "Here you have heard of women who do interior design." Look at what God was ministering to me here. This person is hired. Yes. Why are they hired? Because you don't have the vision to design your house, to design the interior. You hire someone who has an eye. You pay for someone else's eye, but what God gives you is free. And thus the Holy Spirit told me, "Look, look, there is the contractor of the house, the external appearance, but his function is not to design the interior." Thus the Holy Spirit told me, "The one who builds the outside is based on your mission." He says, "How do you want the house outside? How many rooms do you want inside? How many bathrooms do you want?" Stay here with me. He is based on your vision. You tell him, "This is how I want it. This is how I visualize it." That idea now becomes a vision. The vision began with an idea, now it is vision, and now it has to be transmitted on paper, what is called a blueprint. Okay, look what God told me. So the outside is based on your vision, but the one who works on the interior design, you are based on her vision. You are not here because you paid someone else. Why would I pay someone else if I already know how I want it? If I already know what paint, if I already know what finish. There will be someone. That is why God told me, "There are people who don't have vision and are buying someone else's vision." No, stay. Buying someone else's vision, and it doesn't fit. God told me, "Vision was never designed to accommodate." God spoke to me and told me, "Joan's vision never accommodates anyone, it makes them uncomfortable." That is why if you see uncomfortable people, be sure that there is vision there, because vision sometimes, listen to this, vision sometimes will not have the resources at the moment, but it has the resources because the resources will arrive in their time, in their moment, because God never establishes a vision that He does not bring to fruition. God does not have a naked vision. He told me, "I need you to study a little about distorted vision." Distorted vision physically happens. One of the things that causes distorted vision is cataracts. A cataract is the loss of transparency, as many Christians have lost. You are not here. The loss of transparency of the natural lens of the eye, located behind the pupil. The rays of light pass through the lens to reach the retina, where images are formed. So if there is a lack of transparency, it will affect the image. Stay here, because there are many who wear vision but are not transparent. They appear to have a vision they don't have, because it's easy to have vision if you have money for it. It's true. If I am an entrepreneur, for example, I bless the entrepreneurs in this place. I bless you, and I hope in God that it flourishes even more than ever after leaving here, because that is vision. Vision is running with something even if others consider it nothing, because vision is not seen, it is manifested. Vision is not seen, it is manifested. Listen to this problem. If the lens, if the lens loses its transparency, someone say transparency, and obstructs the passage of light, someone say vision, someone say word, the patient suffers a progressive loss of vision. I will not say it again. God told me, "It is not instantaneous, it is progressive." I thank God. The most common symptoms of cataracts are blurred vision, flashes, poor vision. No, no, no. John chapter 11, verses 9 to 10 says, "He who walks by day does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But he who walks by night stumbles because there is no light here." God was ministering to me and telling me, "We have to understand that there are things that will seem very far away, but the closer they are, the more you see." He saw men like trees, but walking. He put his hand on his eyes again. The man looked. He was healed and saw everything clearly. I want to tell you something. Even if the vision seems blurry, it does not mean there is no vision. It means that the vision is developing, and you are developing with it. Why? Because vision, the design of vision, is not to change. The design of vision is not to change, but you change for the vision.