The Wisdom of God screams at us from the pages of His Holy Word, The Book Of Proverbs. To be exact, it is found in Chapter 29, verse 18 : NKJV
(18) “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.”
In another translation KJV, the words are just a little different:
KJV (18) “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that
keepeth the law, happy is he.”
And finally in a third translation, ESV, the same thing is said just a little differently:
ESV (18) “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law.”
“Cast off all restraint” simply means that they lose or eliminate any and all righteous self-discipline and stop living in a godly appropriate manner.
Are you beginning to understand how important….how absolutely critical… God considers a vision to be in the life of a godly and righteous person? It is plainly clear that without such a vision to guide and direct an individual’s energies and efforts it won’t take him very long to lose all control of his thoughts and actions, drift further and further away from God, saddle up with Satan, and proceed (without restraint) to self destruct…i.e. “Perish.”
God does not want that to happen to you. I certainly do not want that to happen to you, and I feel quite confident that those people who are closest to you do not want it either. It is my sincere prayer that YOU do not want that to happen to yourself.
So we had better spend a little time on the subject of a vision and how one is developed in your life.
May I say to you that “Dreams” are the seeds of vision. All visions begin with a God-given dream planted by God within the mind of His chosen hand-picked dreamer. It was God’s Dream before He gave it to you.
The ordinary path that is followed before God matches His chosen dreamer with His chosen dream is that God will “burden” the spiritual heart of His chosen dreamer. This burden will usually be a concern, a desire, or a demand that something significant needs to be accomplished, created, completed, or changed in the lives of some of God’s other children.
The “burden” is always something that an individual will emotionally feel strongly about. It will be a concern that continually stays at the forefront of his thoughts and that consumes his thought process constantly. He won’t be able to get the thought(s) out of his mind. Often times to the point that it keeps him awake at night.
Vision, on the other hand, goes well beyond a burden of thought. Vision is mentally seeing (in your own mind) what you are going to do about your burdens.
Dreams now come into the picture much like that of seeds being sown into the earth in advance of the expected harvest. Dreams indeed are the seeds of vision.
A qualifying dream meeting the requirements to be something in advance of a vision would be something defined as follows:
A DREAM is a compelling awareness of what could or should be in a person’s life….accompanied by a growing sense of personal responsibility to get up and do something about turning the dream into reality!
It is for this very reason that I make this statement regarding the importance of a dream in a person’s life : You cannot possess that which you do not pursue with passion.
Do you now understand why Dreams are the seeds of vision?
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all–but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing.
Dreaming gets you started in the whole process. Success begins with a Dream.
Now please listen carefully,….What usually derails this whole process and is the primary cause of so many dreams never being manifested into their appropriate visions is because the initial dreamer does not follow through and go to work with the process of turning the dream into reality.
One excuse is as good as another, whenever you are making excuses. Any one excuse or multiple excuses will work. Excuses are defined as “the skin of a lie, stuffed with reason.”
Don’t make excuses…..make things happen. It takes energy and lots of effort to make things happen. The only fire starter is Action!…by you!
Nothing in your life will work….if YOU won’t work!
Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream or goal.
So let the process begin. It all starts with a mighty Dream. A dream that is so big, so clear, and and so terribly important to you that you have to have it! It must be something you cannot live without! It must be something that will cause you to get up, get out your own front door, and get on the move toward turning your dream into reality!
Do you have clearly in your own mind what that something is? Remember it is a prerequisite to all future success.
Now don’t worry about anything…just go to work as best as you can with the resources that you presently possess. God, who gave you this dream has also given you all of the talents and abilities that you will need to turn your dream into reality. He is a loving God. He is not a teasing God.
As long as you will do your part….Do all you are able to do with the talents and abilities that He has already given you, then He promises to do His part.
Your part, given with a total commitment to achieve your dreams, through the investment of your time, energy, money and effort, then gives your dream a life of its own. In so doing, you have proven to God that you can be trusted, that you are indeed worthy to receive His blessings of the achievement of your dream and all the rewards that go with it!
It is at this crucial time that God will bring the people you need to help you accomplish your dream into your life, your work, your efforts, and your business as the case may be. Remember, He has already promised you that He will supply all of your needs.
So, here is the entire process:
Thought, burden, dream,(seed of a vision), work, effort, perseverance, vision (heart of success), final achievement!…Blessings and Rewards.
Isn’t it a beautiful thing when a plan comes together……..
Peace and love to all of you………Poppa Bear