Transcription
We take our test from Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 10 to 11. The message, it says, this is God's word on the subject. As soon as Babylon's 70 years are up, and not a day before, I will show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned, all planned out. Plans to take care of you and not abandon you. Plans to give you the future you hope for. The future you hope for.
So we'll look at it from four perspectives this morning. First is, what is vision? What is vision? Now, there are two major sources of vision. Two major sources, at least in the context of our message. One, a divinely revealed vision, and number two, a humanly conceived vision. A humanly conceived vision.
So we look at the first one, which is a divinely revealed vision. A divinely revealed vision is one that gives divine insight into God's plan for the future and how it could affect an individual, a group, or a nation. A divinely revealed vision is that gives divine insight into God's plan for the future and how it could affect an individual, a group, or a nation. Vision is the ability to perceive or see God's plan. The ability to perceive or see God's plan and purpose. It's a mental picture of some aspects of your divine destiny.
Then there is a humanly conceived vision. So when we're talking about the power of vision, it emanates from two sources. Vision, inspired, imparted, or revealed by God. And then every human vessel has also been given certain abilities by the Almighty God. And this second aspect also applies to those who are yet to be in the Lord. So unbelievers also have the capacity to generate vision. And we've seen this happen in different magnitudes. So a humanly conceived vision is a picture of what someone desires to happen, achieve, or become in the future. A humanly conceived vision is a picture of what someone desires to happen, achieve, or become in the future.
So you can understand that we all have a vision. Every one of us has a picture in our mind of what we desire for ourselves, our family, or a team or group that we belong to in the future. Under the humanly conceived vision, we have, we emphasize, for instance, your desire. And that's exactly what the spirit is emphasizing in Psalm 20, verse 4. New Living Translation says, "May He grant your heart's desire." In the Voice version, it says, "May He grant the dreams of your heart." We always remind us on the need for us to please in our Christian work. Let's avoid extremes. God expects us to walk with faith and wisdom. Faith and intelligence.
So when we're talking about having a vision for your future, part of it is going to come by divine revelation. And then God also expects you to sit down and conceive what you would like your tomorrow to look like. Your career journey, what will you like it to look like? And when you are able to have a plan, sometimes spanning 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, whatever is that ultimate goal of your career plans and vision is under the scope of humanly conceived vision.
In Genesis 11:4-6, Living Bible said, "The people who live there began to talk about building a great city with a temple tower reaching to the skies." The proud, eternal monument to themselves. "This will wear us together," they said, "and keep us from scattering all over the world." So they made great piles of hard-won brick and collected beauty to use as mortar. But when God came down to see the city and the tower mankind was making, He said, "Look, if they are able to accomplish all this when they have just begun to exploit their linguistic and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing." God speaking here said, "Nothing will be unattainable for them." And this it began for them in this context by them visualizing this project, great city with some extras involved. So that ability is resident in you as well.
The power of vision is the ability to see a better future and the will to make it happen. The will to make it happen. We see a better Nigeria. No matter what has happened so far, we see a new and better Nigeria. By the grace of God, everyone that shares this belief, God will give them a place. God will give them a role to play in the manifestation of the Nigeria of our dreams. So you need to please have this in mind that these are two major sources from which visions emanate.
And it's appropriate here to put in a word on a few more things. One, long-term goals. Long-term goals are objectives you aim to achieve over an extended period. So when we look at the power of vision, it's going to bring you into reflections on certain things. And one of them are your long-term goals. In the school of wisdom, foresight, and proactive intelligence, you will certainly have to have long-term goals to arrive at the very top in the journey of life. Long-term goals usually extend beyond a year into several years over your lifetime.
And your long-term goals could be in different aspects. It could be on the personal level, like buying a house in the process of time, starting a family, moving from being single to getting married and starting a family of your own. Then in the realm of your professional long-term goals, being able to secure a dream job or starting a business or starting a business and then becoming a leader in your field. And this is one of the reasons why God wants His children to be the head and not the tail. It's not just about position, but to be able to set the right standards in every field and mountain of societal influence. Becoming a recognized expert in your industry, in your field is supposed to be one of your long-term goals.
Then under financial, you look at things like achieving financial independence. For every man, for every woman, this should be one of your long-term goals in the realm of your finances. And every parent should groom the children to begin to work towards financial independence as early as possible and then retiring comfortably. Retiring comfortably. Looking at it from the financial perspective, the western part of the world for a very long time, the accepted target sum is $2 million. And so you see every one of them aspiring to achieve that as a minimum standard from which they could comfortably retire and live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
Second thing we need to throw light on is what we call a life vision. Life vision. A life vision is your picture of a desired future. What is your life vision? And if you are single, whoever is going to team up with you in marriage would want to know what is your life vision. Usually, it will include your deepest desires, your aspirations. That picture you have of your ideal future will always be included in the draft of your life vision. So life vision is a picture of what someone desires to achieve or experience in their life. It is a picture of a better future, a desired destination. Your life vision should rub on different aspects of your life: relationship, marriage, family, career, health, finances, how you would want them to look in the days and years ahead of you. So, a life vision would usually involve achievable long-term goals. I say to someone listening to the sound of this message that by the grace of God, you shall be greater than your parents, greater than your grandparents. You will do far greater things at the world-class level.
And a follow-up to that is what we call family vision. We also need to note that as well. Family vision. Just like as it is expedient to have your personal life vision, every couple should also have a family vision. And this is a shared picture of the future of what a couple or family hopes to achieve in the days ahead of them. How you want to live together as a family in the days ahead is captured in your family vision. Parents should have a vision for their children even before the children are born, and so you begin to make preparation to achieve it ahead of time.
Then there is the next one is a corporate vision. A corporate vision. So when you set up a business, there should be a vision statement that captures what that business platform aspires to become. And this is usually long-term, not about what should happen in a year or two. It defines what that business platform organization stands for and intends to become in the process of time. These are very, very key aspects in the establishment of vision.
So the second major factor we want to, or point we want to put across, is what vision is not. What vision is not. And each of these insights makes the picture clearer on this topic of the power of vision. Vision is not sight. While sight is the physical ability to see, vision is the mental capacity to perceive what could be. To perceive what could be. Sight is a function of the eyes, while vision is a function of the heart. The function of the heart. Sight is the ability to see things as they are, while vision is the ability to see things as they could be.
And also, a corporate vision is different from a corporate mission. While a vision statement looks to the future, a mission statement focuses on the present, outlining the company's purpose and how it operates today. Vision is future-focused. And take note, vision is manifested in phases. So we need to be very clear and take note, even for personal, God's vision for a man. Someone becomes governor by destiny. But it's going to happen when that person is in his 70s, when that person is in the 60s, in the 50s, or some other person, 40s, and then for many in their 30s. There is nothing like my junior sisters are married. So something is wrong with your life if you are not yet married as the elder sister. It doesn't work that way. You may have been ordained by God to get married to a very good man, and your marriage is going to be blessed. But in God's wisdom and plan for your own life, it's destined to happen perhaps in your 40s. It's destined to happen in your late 30s, sometimes early 50s, and we have seen some happen even beyond early 50s. So we need to be very careful. You know, most times we are bothered because of people asking us questions. Yes. Like Sarah, we just move out of God's will because we feel something has been delayed for too long. Sarah told Abraham, "God has restrained me from having children." Said, "Let us, let's work out another arrangement." And that was the beginning of trouble.
So vision is manifested in phases. People don't have the same plan, the same timing, the same location. How God did it for her will be different from how God did it for the other woman on the other side. For the two of them, the same thing is going to happen in their, in their journey of life. Can some woman say amen? Talk to your neighbor and say, "Neighbor, your time is not my time." Tell that neighbor, say, "Neighbor, I am not competing with you. Your time is not my time." Each one of us, we have God's time for us.
Who should have a vision? Vision applies to every individual. The moment you begin to ask our teens, "What would you like to study?" You are already, you are already questioning them on their vision. Yes, that's a question about their vision. The moment you begin to ask a teenager, "What would you like to study in the university?" That's a question about your life vision in the realm of your career. So every individual should have a vision. Groups should have a vision. Where are we? What are we gathered for? What are we associating for? What are the goals and objectives of our group? Organizations should have a vision. Communities. Governments should have a vision.
Benefits of vision. That's where we close. Having a clear vision that is a God-given picture of the future is crucial for every believer because it's about understanding God's purpose and direction for your life. And once you are able to have insight on God's purpose and direction for your life, then it will guide your actions. It will guide your decisions. You know, there are some benefits of divine revelation. One of them is that it helps you to make excellent long-term decisions. Could be in the area of relationship, the area of partnership, the area of alliance, could be in the area of, uh, uh, the spiritual ministry, marital, marriage, career, business, finances, investments, politics. For instance, Joseph and Pharaoh. We could see how the dream, God-given dream of Pharaoh helped to show the way for the next 14 years, and they were able to take proactive steps to make the best of him.
Another benefit of divine revelation is strategic positioning. The first one is excellent long-term decisions. It helps you to make excellent long-term decisions. Number two, strategic positioning. Revelation helps you to be properly positioned. Number three, divine revelation gives you enough time to prepare for future events. Some victories can only be obtained by long-term preparation. We're talking about the benefit of vision. So if all we are to do was to be based on what we can see now and not do certain things well ahead of time, then we could miss out in certain major, uh, uh, battles or contests, as the case may be, in the journey of life. So the earlier you start, the better your chances of success. Long-term preparation enhances the quality of your performance, the quality of your product. If that is the case in question, vision and your purpose in God's larger plan. Vision provides a sense of purpose, helping individuals to understand their role and contribution in God's larger plan.
Vision and destiny. Vision also can be seen as a road map to destiny. Road map to destiny. So it's very, very key in the journey of a believer. And vision is a great motivator. A clear vision can be a powerful motivator. Powerful motivator, driving individuals to pursue their goals with determination and perseverance in the face of challenges. This is very, very experiential also. Vision inspires a disciplined lifestyle. Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint. Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, people cast off restraint," meaning they, they lose discipline, self-discipline. So when you know what is ahead of you tomorrow, you want to comfort yourself in order not to lose that greater thing that is ahead of you in the days ahead. May you never lose your seat in the days ahead.
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