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Becoming a Person with Vision. 4.6.13. Where there is no vision, the people perish… Proverbs 29:18. “Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose. Those are the ones with vision.” –Rick Duncan. Nehemiah. 500 years before Christ
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“Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose. Those are the ones with vision.” –Rick Duncan
Nehemiah • 500 years before Christ • Judeans are exiled from Israel by Babylonians (God’s warning) • Judeans are nearing end of punishment
Nehemiah • Some Israelites return to Jerusalem to rebuild; find a broken temple and city • Attempts to rebuild protective wall around city fail • A once great and prosperous city is in shambles • Nehemiah 1-11
Nehemiah • Story of Nehemiah • Israelite who lives in Persia • Is Cupbearer to Persian King; is influential man • Is given the task by God and the Israelites to rebuild wall around Jerusalem
“Ask the right question, in the right place, at the right time.” – Prany/Phillip
A Visionary Person… • …sees the need.
Nehemiah 1-3 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol,2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.3 They said to me, "The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire."
See the need • A God-ordained vision will begin as a concern. • Something will bother you about the way things are or the way things are headed. • Look around you! Where do you see a need?
See the need • "The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity." George Bernard Shaw
See the need • Vision is: • a reflection of what God wants to do through us to impact the world. • not about maintaining the status quo.
A Visionary Person • … sees the need. • … feels the need. PASSION
Nehemiah 1:4 “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
Visions: • are born in the soul of a man or a woman who is consumed with the tension between what is and what could be. • Anyone with vision will tell you this is not merely something that could be done; this is something that should and must be done. • Requires you to feel pressure, burden, sorrow • Look within yourself: What makes you angry? What makes you weep?
A person with vision… • … sees the need. • … feels the need. • …shares the need… • …with God • …with other people.
Share the need with God • Look above you. • “You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” Isaiah 62:6 • Prayer helps the vision mature in us.
Prayer: • Vision will exceed your ability • prepares you for the job ahead; moves the hand of God to work behind the scenes • “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” –Ben Franklin • helps you distinguish between a good idea and a God idea • When God begins to move, we see it; keeps our passion alive, helps us not miss the opportunities that come our way
Visionary Prayer… • Exalts God. • Admits sin. • Reviews the truth. • Requests help. • Genuine confession reaches the ear of God. • Base your prayer on God’s past dealings, and you will see a mirror of God’s future plans. • Ask for God’s help. E.A.R.R.
Share the need with God’s people • Followers find the leader and then the vision • Leaders find the vision and then the followers
A person with vision… • … sees the need. • … feels the need. • …shares the need… • …with God. • …with other people. • …meets the need.
Meet the need. • Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven but getting God’s will done on earth. • For God’s will to be done on earth, He needs people to be available for Him to use.
A Visionary Person… • … sees the need. (get specific) • … feels the need. • …shares the need… • …with God. • …with other people. • …meets the need.
Get out of your comfort zone. “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena… who strives valiantly… who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt