Perry Noble over at Perrynoble.com wrote this, this morning.
If you aren’t willing to fight for your vision…then you have no vision…all you have is a daydream that you are begging God to make come true.
This is part of his post that has to something to do with playing Rugby. Something that I don't have enough health insurance to do. But this phrase jumped out at me when I read it. He's right - you have to fight for vision and many people I know are only begging God about daydreams. So what do you have to fight to see God given vision become reality?
Yourself - You will have to fight your own logic that wonders if you need to check yourself into the psych ward. I'm sure that Noah had that thought once or twice. You will have to fight your body which will not cooperate at times with the stress that vision will put on it. You will have to fight your "demons" which, as Paul says, will have to DIE daily. (Yes, I am talking about our carnal flesh.)
Family - Someone, whom is related to you, is wondering how you got in the family tree. They will feel that it is their calling to warn you of every danger, all in the name of love, that you face. They will ask you, because they are family afterall, for some kind of papal dispensation that exempts them from having to support the vision God has given you.
Others - Pretty much everyone else that is left will have something to say that will need an appropriate response (even if it's silence.) God's vision will always run contrary to our religious culture and ideology. God is always breaking the mold.
Satan and company, Inc. Satan and whoever else is working for him will be trying everything they can to stop whatever they can. Of all of the above this one may be the toughest to deal with, but it is the easiest to understand. There is no love to restrain them from anything they can get away with in every area they can get access to.
So what do you do?
Pray - Call on, cry to, petition, pursue, chase, shout and anything else that you can do. Not because your going to have to get God's attention, but because the passion of God's vision within you drives you to do it! Years ago someone "politely" rebuked me for crying aloud to God with all of my heart. He told me that I didn't have to do that, God could hear me just fine without having to go to all of that trouble. My response, I thought, was measured and appropriate. I said, "No" and went back to praying. Passion demands passion!
Love - Love understands that some people just don't get it. When I fell in love with my wife, I told others about it. They were confused by my thoughts and actions? It ruined a couple of friendships in fact. Why? Because they didn't understand what I was feeling or going through. People will asses your actions within the frame work of their own experiences. But if they have never experienced it, oh well.... love them anyway.
Invite - Invite people to come on the trip with you. Don't expect everyone to get on board at first or at all. But an invitation is a great way to share God's blessings with others, to challenge others to grow with you as you grow with God and quite frankly it's a great way to say, put up or shut up.
Fight - Fight people means you took it personally. Taking things personally will never result in good for you or them. You will have to fight temptation, Satan, ideologies, religious spirits, spiritual stupidity, budgets, bad attitudes, half hearted efforts, vision killers, distractions, anger that sins, schedules, deadlines, demands from others and so on and so forth. A word of caution here. Don't allow yourself to get to the place where you enjoy fighting. Enjoy defeating Satan, Enjoy building the Kingdom. Enjoy changing lives through the power and grace of Christ. But when you fight, just because you can, you're doing nothing more than shadow boxing.
Now, I am going to go and fight for this Sunday, which I believe is going to be the biggest and greatest visionary Sunday ever in the history of this church.
If you aren’t willing to fight for your vision…then you have no vision…all you have is a daydream that you are begging God to make come true.
This is part of his post that has to something to do with playing Rugby. Something that I don't have enough health insurance to do. But this phrase jumped out at me when I read it. He's right - you have to fight for vision and many people I know are only begging God about daydreams. So what do you have to fight to see God given vision become reality?
Yourself - You will have to fight your own logic that wonders if you need to check yourself into the psych ward. I'm sure that Noah had that thought once or twice. You will have to fight your body which will not cooperate at times with the stress that vision will put on it. You will have to fight your "demons" which, as Paul says, will have to DIE daily. (Yes, I am talking about our carnal flesh.)
Family - Someone, whom is related to you, is wondering how you got in the family tree. They will feel that it is their calling to warn you of every danger, all in the name of love, that you face. They will ask you, because they are family afterall, for some kind of papal dispensation that exempts them from having to support the vision God has given you.
Others - Pretty much everyone else that is left will have something to say that will need an appropriate response (even if it's silence.) God's vision will always run contrary to our religious culture and ideology. God is always breaking the mold.
Satan and company, Inc. Satan and whoever else is working for him will be trying everything they can to stop whatever they can. Of all of the above this one may be the toughest to deal with, but it is the easiest to understand. There is no love to restrain them from anything they can get away with in every area they can get access to.
So what do you do?
Pray - Call on, cry to, petition, pursue, chase, shout and anything else that you can do. Not because your going to have to get God's attention, but because the passion of God's vision within you drives you to do it! Years ago someone "politely" rebuked me for crying aloud to God with all of my heart. He told me that I didn't have to do that, God could hear me just fine without having to go to all of that trouble. My response, I thought, was measured and appropriate. I said, "No" and went back to praying. Passion demands passion!
Love - Love understands that some people just don't get it. When I fell in love with my wife, I told others about it. They were confused by my thoughts and actions? It ruined a couple of friendships in fact. Why? Because they didn't understand what I was feeling or going through. People will asses your actions within the frame work of their own experiences. But if they have never experienced it, oh well.... love them anyway.
Invite - Invite people to come on the trip with you. Don't expect everyone to get on board at first or at all. But an invitation is a great way to share God's blessings with others, to challenge others to grow with you as you grow with God and quite frankly it's a great way to say, put up or shut up.
Fight - Fight people means you took it personally. Taking things personally will never result in good for you or them. You will have to fight temptation, Satan, ideologies, religious spirits, spiritual stupidity, budgets, bad attitudes, half hearted efforts, vision killers, distractions, anger that sins, schedules, deadlines, demands from others and so on and so forth. A word of caution here. Don't allow yourself to get to the place where you enjoy fighting. Enjoy defeating Satan, Enjoy building the Kingdom. Enjoy changing lives through the power and grace of Christ. But when you fight, just because you can, you're doing nothing more than shadow boxing.
Now, I am going to go and fight for this Sunday, which I believe is going to be the biggest and greatest visionary Sunday ever in the history of this church.
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