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Reaching your Potential
Through your Vision and Destiny
April 17, 2012
“Be still and know that I am God.”
-Psalm 46:10
Pressing on in Faith
“Therefore we also, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author
and perfecter of our faith.”
Hebrews 12: 1-2a NIV
“ Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so
great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne
testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and
throw aside every encumbrance
(unnecessary weight) and that sin which so
readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and
entangles us, and let us run with patient
endurance and steady and active persistence
the appointed course of the race that is set
before us, looking away [from all that will
distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the
Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for
our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it
to maturity and perfection].
Hebrews 12: 1-2a AMP
• Remember to daily think about this verse this
week; Practice this verse! What are your life’s
goals? What is the race you are to run?
• Look at the other bible versions of this verse;
• Let your meditations turn into prayers, talking
with God;
• Ask God to reveal and show you special things
about it;
• Consider defining key words in the verse;
• He may encourage or correct you;
• Write down what you think He may be telling you
about this verse
Suncoast Communities Blood Bank
provides a reliable supply of blood products and
services.
• We had a very successful Blood Drive on April
10, 2012. 13 successful Donations.
• Our Blood Drive # is 4520. If you or family
member want to continue donating, use this
number so it will count for LAF HS Co-op.
• Scholarship forms: www.scbb.org. Bring form to
me so that I can verify your participation.
• Thank you goes to everyone who donated,
brought in donors and wore their T-Shirts.
What Motivates You?
What keeps athletes motivated to endure
hours of strenuous workouts?
What keeps athletes motivated to sacrifice
time, money and fun to compete in an
event?
The answer is vision.
Vision Defined
Unusual foresight: an image or idea of
spiritual nature or obtained under the
influence of a divine…agency.
You are a praying Christian,
You read your bible. You go to Church. You
may even go to youth group. You have the
Holy Spirit living and dwelling in your
mortal body. You hear from God.
Do you have a vision for your life, that is, a
motivating cause given to you by God that
gives you a purpose for living?
The Bible says ….
“Without a vision the people perish.”
-Proverbs 29:18
Wendell Smith, founder of
Generation Ministries says…
“Our generation needs a fresh
understanding of purpose – where they
came from- where they’re going and why
in the world they’re here!”
There is a specific purpose for your life.
God created it when He created you before the foundations of the earth were
laid!
There is a deep sense in the hearts of
Christians that each believer has a
purpose for living, a purpose beyond
existing for selfish gain.
God created all things for a purpose. That
includes you.
In Revelation 4:11 John writes…
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power: for Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy pleasure
they are and were created.”
KJV
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honor and power; For You created all
things, and by Your will they exist and
were created.”
NKJV
To get a grasp of the power of this verse,
compare the two words will and pleasure.
All the verses in the New Testament
translation come from the original Greek
language. If you compare the Greek
meaning of these two words you see a
powerful connection.
Pleasure: a determination, a choice,
specifically a purpose or a decree, a
volition, inclination, desire, or will.
Will: To determine, a choice, to prefer, to
wish, to be inclined to, to delight in, to
love.
As we already know from our daily journaling,
looking at the Greek definitions from the different
translations, you can see that God chose to
create you for a specific purpose.
His will (His desire contained in His Word) for you
is that you find His purpose, walk it out in your
lifetime and ultimately reach the potential God
has planned for you.
This give God His greatest pleasure!!
Do you know that you are His favorite child? It is
as if no one else matters on this earth but you.
Vision is obtained from a divine
source
Jesus Christ is the Lamb sacrificed on the
cross for your life. If it was just you, the
only one on the earth, He would have still
made that sacrifice for your sins on the
cross.
It is God’s will about all else that none shall
perish, but all come to the saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ.
• Jesus Christ is the Lamb sacrificed on the
cross for your life.
• If you were the only person on the earth
He would have suffered for you alone.
• What you make of your life is of great
interest to Him!
• God wants to reveal His purpose to you.
• He does not want you to be “in confusion”
concerning your life, but rather for you to
pursue Him, and in doing so, receive a
clear vision.
What does Jesus Know??
Everything !!!
Many people get “hung-up” on issues that
take away from the purposes of God.
Philip Yancey tells about an experience he
had when searching for answers about the
way God cared for His people:
“I began my search for answers during a solitary
two-week retreat at a mountain cabin in
Colorado. Slowly, carefully, I reread the Bible
from beginning to end. Again and again, I
discovered evidence for God’s caring for His
people. But still the answers eluded me. How
could a loving God allow such terrible things to
happen?
[Maybe you have had the same questions]
“Then in one of those rare bursts of insight, I
began to understand what God wants from
human beings……
God doesn’t want to be analyzed. He wants
to be loved.”
God created a perfect world for Adam and Even.
Then sin came into the world when Adam and
Eve yielded to their flesh and sinned against
God.
Since then we now live in a fallen world where bad
things happen, even to God’s people. God does
not create the bad things that happen in the
world. That is not the nature of God.
As Christians, how do we handle these bad
situations?
By staying in faith according to the Word of God,
by praising and loving God continually.
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for
he who come to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently
seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
Seeking a purpose for living means seeking
the Creator of that purpose, the Lord
Himself.
When you learn to love God and draw close
to Him, He reveals things to your heart.
You may not receive an illustrated picture of
all the things you are to do for God’s
Kingdom, but you will get a divine sense of
purpose that will motivate you to be in “hot
pursuit” of the things of God.
There is nothing--absolutely nothing--that is
more important than learning to love.
In fact, how accurately you perfect the love
walk will determine how much of the
perfect will of God you accomplish.
That's because every other spiritual force
derives its action from love.
For example, the Bible teaches us that faith
works by love.
And answered prayer is almost an
impossibility when a believer steps outside
of love and refuses to forgive or is in strife
with his brother.
Without love, your giving will not work.
Tongues and prophecy will not work.
Faith fails and knowledge is unfruitful.
All the truths that you have learned from
God's Word work by love.
They will profit you nothing unless you live
the love of God.
First Corinthians 13:4-8 paints a perfect
picture of how love behaves.
It's patient and kind. It's not jealous or proud.
It doesn't behave rudely or selfishly and it
isn't touchy.
Love "bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things."
Sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? But don't
despair. You are a love creature.
When you became a Christian, God has
recreated your spirit in the image of love.
And He has sent His love Spirit to live in you
and teach you how to love as He loves.
You can live the love life.
If this is foreign to you, why not begin today?
Once you start walking in love…
Everything begins to fall into place.
You will begin hearing from God; You will
get your vision; You faith will grow; You
will see God work mightily in your life.
It is an exciting place to be. It is a powerful
place to be in Jesus Christ.
Laying Bricks
• When a brick layer builds a wall he cannot
put it up all at once, he must build it one
stone at a time.
• Each brick, when placed in just the right
place at the right time, provides extra
strength to the structure.
xxxx
As you work to build your life by placing the
right principles and commandments
together (love and faith), you will fashion a
strong fortress that can withstand the
elements (the forces of the evil one).
In the same way that a wall is built, stone by stone,
you find and walk out your destiny in God a little
at a time.
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful
also in much.” -Luke 16:10
So as you walk out the basic principles for living
the Christian life, you will find yourself walking in
the very purpose God has planned for you.
Wendell Smith writes…
“The commandments of God are the lifegiving procedures that lead us to the
fulfillment of His vision for our lives… So,
when we are seeking to discover our
calling and destiny in God, we must go to
the Bible, which is the revealed Will of
God, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in
that personal discovery.”
In Pursuit of Your Destiny
Destiny: Something that is to happen to a
particular person or thing. The
predetermined course of events.
“… being predestined according to the purpose of
Him who works all things according to the
counsel of His will.”
-Ephesians 1:11
“And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love god, to those who are
called according to His purpose. For whom He
foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son…”
-Romans 8:28-29
As you pursue God and “catch-His-vision”
for your life, you will find yourself fulfilling
the destiny that God has planned for you.
Do not get lost along the way by various
detours and miss out on all that God has
for you.
The key here is realizing that it is His plan
for your life, not your own plan that is
your destiny in God.
You may want God to show you the “whole”
picture all at once, but He often gives you
a glimpse.
The small visions that God gives you
motivates you to fulfill your destiny in God.
The great thing about having a destiny in
god is that your future is in the best hands!
Trusting God with your Future
“We may struggle at times in deciding to do
the will of God, but we must come to the
place where we trust Him with our lives. If
He made us, then He knows what is best
for us – and what will bring us the greatest
fulfillment.”
-Wendell Smith
When will I know my Destiny?
You don’t have to wait until you are “older” to begin
to walk out the vision God has given to you.
Practice what you know now.
Begin to set your heart and mind on Him and as
He moves on your heart, you will begin to see
the great things you will do for God.
God’s hand is on you now, right where you
sit.
Do you feel a sense of destiny?
Decide to pursue God’s vision for your life
right now. That just might change your
focus concerning your future.
Your goal in life is not to decide what you
want to do, but to discover what He
destined you to do!
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an
example to the believers in word, in
conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
- 1 Timothy 4:12
A personal note
I did not realize this until I was grown and
seeking God with my whole heart. God
has called me to teach people how to
praise Him. How to enter into His
presence and worship Him in spirit and in
truth.
Did you know that praise is a weapon?
The Power of Praise
"I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole
heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous
works. I will be glad and rejoice in Thee: I
will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou Most
High. When mine enemies are turned
back, they shall fall and perish at Thy
presence."
- Psalm 9:1-3
Never underestimate the importance of
praise. It's one of the most powerful
spiritual weapons you have.
Praise is more than a pleasant song or a
few uplifting words about God.
It does something. It releases the very
presence of God Himself.
When the presence of God comes on the
scene, your enemies are turned back.
Sickness and disease can't stay on your
body. Poverty can't stay in your house.
Even physical weariness has to flee when
it's faced with real joy-filled praise.
Recognize Your Enemy
The next time the devil tries to stifle your
effectiveness, to drain you of strength,
your peace, and wealth and victory that's
yours in Jesus, turn him back with that
powerful weapon.
Lift your hands and your voice and whole
heart to God. Praise!
Does this sound Foreign to You?
Do you feel uncomfortable singing and praising
God by yourself alone in your room?
How about in public?
That is your flesh acting up. Your spirit-man
yearns to praise God. You were made in the
image of God and you were made..…..
To praise God and enjoy Him forever!
Ask God to show you how to praise Him and to
teach you how to do it. I promise, He will!
As believers, you and I are part of a
conquering army, constantly claiming new
ground for the kingdom of God.
Right?
Well, yes, that's the way it should be.
But just about the time the army tops the hill
and is ready to advance, it seems that
Satan pulls out his big gun --DIVISION-and scatters believers in every direction.
How can we strike back against the strategy
of division?
By launching an even more powerful attack
of our own. By using one of the most
powerful resources given us by the Lord
Jesus: the prayer of agreement.
"Again I say unto you, That if two of you
shall agree on earth as touching any thing
that they shall ask, it shall be done for
them of my Father which is in heaven."
-Matthew 18:19
Wow!!
Jesus said that if any two of us would agree
as touching anything we ask, it shall be
done!
That statement is so powerful that people
can find it hard to believe. If they did, you'd
find little groups of Christians huddled up
in every corner agreeing together in
prayer.
Take Some New Ground
Find someone to agree with in prayer this
week.
Be sure to base what you pray on the Word
of God.
You may have differing opinions about
everything else, but you can be in
agreement about the Word.
Also, be sure your agreement is total--spirit, soul
and body.
You have to:
Cast down arguments, theories and
imaginations that are contrary to the Word.
Take every thought captive to the obedience of
Christ.
Keep a watch over your thoughts and your
words that come out of your mouth.
Then get yourself in line by speaking the
thing you've agreed on in prayer.
Act like you've already received the answer.
Don't keep asking but thank God for it.
Stay in agreement and that is where you will
take some new ground for the Lord!
What, a Christian can do that?
Absolutely! That is what Jesus said. What
does He know?
Everything! His Word is the will of the
Father.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen .”
-Hebrews 11:1
“And without faith it is impossible to please
God, because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists and that He
rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
-Hebrews 11:6
Homework
Read pages 411 – 415; Review today’s
PowerPoint.
Answer Explain questions 1 – 5
Journal Daily in Prayer Journal