LIFE BECOMES A BURDEN WITHOUT VISION
VISION IS NOT JUST SOMETHING TO POSSESS FOR THE FANCY OF IT
HAVING VISION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH, UNDERSTANDING WHAT VISION HAS TO OFFER
IF YOU WANT YOUR LIFE TO BE BEAUTIFUL AND NOT UGLY, YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE WITHOUT VISION
VISION GIVES YOU THE REASON WHY YOU PURSUE WHAT YOU PURSUE
WHEN YOU SEE A YOUNG MAN SLEEPING ALL NIGHT AND ALL DAY, IT’S A SHORTAGE OF VISION AND BANKRUPTCY OF WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE
PEOPLE RUN WILD WITHOUT VISION
A MAN OF VISION DOESNT WASTE TIME
A MAN OF VISION WATCHES HIS ASSOCIATION
A MAN OF VISION HAD FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE BECAUSE MONEY IS NOT FOR SPENDING BUT FOR INVESTMENT
A MAN OF VISION THINKS OF HOW TO TURN $1,000 TO $1,000,000 SO THAT HE CAN MAKE KINGDOM INVESTMENTS
– Dr Pastor Paul Enenche “The Necessity and Profit of Vision” || Day 3 – Glory is Risen Fast || Glory Dome, Abuja
I welcome everyone here this evening in the Precious name of Jesus. Welcome to this third day of “His Glory is Risen” fast, our lives will never be the same.
Proverbs 29:18. The Lord bless His Word in Jesus’ name. Church Gist. Our month is a month of Vision and Divine direction. Message of Sunday was so impactful, I received calls and texts and messages from several people on how much it touched their lives. Tonight, I am speaking briefly on “The Necessity and Profit of Vision”. Church Gist. Our objective tonight is to understand why it is necessary, profitable and valuable to live with vision, to walk in the realm of vision.
I want to say tonight, Vision is not just something to possess for the fancy of it, so that if someone asks you, “do you have a vision”, (you will say), “yes, this is my own vision”, No. Church Gist. Vision is not just something that is just a fad. Church Gist. There are two things I want you to understand tonight;
1. People perish without vision means people flourish with vision. If people perish without vision, it means they will flourish with vision. Church Gist. That means, vision is profitable, necessary and valuable.
2. Understanding is key to success and profitability. The university student who understands the subject will succeed, the medical doctor who understands the practice of medicine will succeed, and the lawyer who understands law will succeed. Church Gist. Understanding is also key to profitability.
There are many things that the iphone and ipad can do, I hear there are situations where you can speak and then what you’re speaking is translated and transcribed into written format on the phone. I have never done that before because I haven’t gone there to understand how to do it. So, the thing is very profitable but I am not maximizing the profit of it for lack of the understanding of the details. Am I communicating? Church Gist. Having vision alone is not enough, it is enough to know and understand what vision has to offer.
So, tonight, very quickly because we are in a fasting mood, I’m not planning to preach a lengthy message, so I don’t get the message and lose the attention. So, what is the necessity and the profitability of vision?
1. Vision gives beauty to life. Life is beautiful, ends beautiful with vision. Genesis 1:1-4. The earth was ugly, then God stepped in vision, “let there be light”, there was light, plantation, vegetations, fishes, birds, creatures, all of a sudden. Church Gist. At the end of the day, the ugly earth that was formless and shapeless became the beautiful earth because the Almighty stepped with a vision of what He wanted the earth to look like. Ecclesiastes 11:7. Church Gist. Vision gives beauty to life. Now, there are people who have had challenges with their eyes, eyes removed or maybe born without eyes and so on, when you look at them, there’s a way it looks that is not good. Clean, clear straight eyes contribute to the beauty of life. That is in the physical. Now, if you go around people with vision, someone like Bishop David Oyedepo with vision, who know what they want out of life and know what God wants out of their lives, everything around is so beautiful. Church Gist. If you want your life to be beautiful and not ugly, you cannot afford to live without vision. Vision brings beauty to life.
2. Vision gives meaning to life. Life is meaningful if it has vision. Proverbs 29:18. Life is absolutely wasted without vision, their life is meaningful. Church Gist. According to God’s servant, Bishop Oyedepo, they’re stripped of honour and dignity without vision. Why is that so? It is that vision is what gives reason to life. You’re alive to achieve what? You’re breathing so as to achieve what? You’re eating breakfast, lunch and dinner to have energy to do what? You rested last night from achieving what? Vision gives you the reason why you pursue what you pursue. So, life is meaningless and aimless without vision. Church Gist. The tragedy of the youth of our generation today is the tragedy of visionlessness. You have a lot of young men around, so visionlessness. So vision gives meaning to life.
3. Vision gives drive to life. Habakkuk 2:2. People of vision are runners, it gives drive. Vision fuels passion, energy and enthusiasm. It gives momentum. Church Gist. I think this is the fourth meeting I’m having today, intense meetings, heavy instructions, heavy directions. When you see a young man sleeping all night and almost sleeping all day, it’s a shortage of vision, bankruptcy of what to do with life. You know life itself becomes a burden without vision, you’re tired of life. When people come to the point where they say, “I’m tired of life”, there’s no clear vision. Church Gist. I travelled to a village sometime ago, and walking through the village, I saw some young men drinking alcohol as early as 9am, the question is, if you start drinking by 9am, what will you do by 10? Maybe by 12 you’re already drunk, so that day is condemned, because what is the destiny of an alcoholic in the daytime (Other than acting drunk)? No drive, nothing is pushing them. You see a young man tired in the daytime, he’s just 25 years, he’s tired. Church Gist. 35 years, he’s tired. Why is he lacking such energy? No vision.
– somebody say a loud Amen.
– say after me, “in the name of Jesus, I refuse to exist without energy”.
– Lift up your right hand and say, “Father, in the name of Jesus, I receive the grace and the help to live with energy”. Shout the loudest Amen.
4. Vision brings order and discipline to life.
Order and discipline to life.
People run wild without vision. They dwell carelessly without vision. Please note what I’m saying:
A.People run wild without vision.
When you see a man of vision, he’s not a wild man. People run wild without vision.
B. They dwell carelessly without vision.
C. They lack control without vision.
D. They exist in disorder without vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. There are translations that translate and say where there is no vision, people cast off restraints. There is something called a discipline of vision. I will give you several examples of discipline of vision.
a) There is the discipline of time use. A man of vision doesn’t waste time. Church Gist. There are people without vision who don’t have time discipline.
I used to use this example: I am going to Kaduna, Bros, can we go? He says, Why not, what am I doing? He just jumps into the car. Because he has nothing to do with his time, somebody else is wasting the time of his life.
b) There is the discipline of association. Your vision determines who can be your friend. Where you are going determines who can accompany you. Church Gist. The person that is not going in your direction does not qualify for your association. There are people, anybody could be their friend. They don’t have a vision for their life, they don’t know who they are, anybody can be there.
c) There is also financial discipline. There are those who spend without thinking because they don’t have a vision for their money. No vision for their money! They think that money is for expenditure, they never knew that money is for investment. That you don’t spend money, you invest money and out of the returns that you get out of your investment, you can spend. They just waste it. When money hits their hand, they are in a hurry to spend it. If somebody says this $1,000, I want to trust God to turn it to $1,000,000, Lord what do I do? It’s not time to buy a new car yet, it’s not time to change house yet, it’s a time to multiply this money. Why? Because I want to be empowered financially to be able to build churches for God. To be able to finance evangelism and invest and be able to do big things. There is a vision, so they’re not thinking in terms of what to spend. They’re thinking in terms of what to multiply.
d) There is also the discipline of dietary habits. There are people who can’t say no to food. Church Gist. There are people who have broken their fast because they arrived in a place where they saw food and they couldn’t avoid. They said, Lord you understand, let this fasting continue tomorrow not knowing that at times such situations can actually call battlers especially if God gave you an instruction to do a fast.
Somebody say a loud amen.
My wife says I’m so disciplined. Because at a particular time of the night, particular foods can’t cross my mouth, they can’t cross. Am I communicating?
And when you are talking about discipline, you’re taking about discipline that facilitates your fasting. And discipline that facilitates the health of your body and discipline that facilitates your body look. Church Gist. I saw a young man one day and said, Where were you looking that you became like this? Small boy, he’s stomach was like this (extends arms to show pot belly). Can’t wear suit anymore no matter the allowance! Where were you looking? This thing doesn’t happen suddenly. It gives you gradual notice. Praise the Lord!
Well maybe you don’t have the vision of looking smart and sharp and being your best at all times. So you can just do anything you want.
One man met me at Lagos airport, elderly man. Saw me and said, I like the way you look, you look so sharp in your dress. Unfortunately me I can’t look like this again. In those days we considered it sign of wealth to be very big. So we did everything to be very big, now I know otherwise.
I’m talking about vision that brings discipline in various areas of life. Various areas! I can continue but time will fail me to continue in this regard tonight.
Let me round off tonight by saying that vision brings focus to life. Focus! Focus! It gives you focus. Matthew 6:21,22. It gives focus to life and brings deliverance from distraction. Deliverance from distractions! Church Gist. So your vision becomes your focus and what is not your vision, is not your intention, does not command your attention.
Vision makes you to know where to direct your life’s energy. Church Gist. Where do I direct the energy of my life? I have invitations almost endless. If I’m to follow invitations, you won’t see me in church almost any Sunday. The question is: What is my vision? What did God call me to do? Church Gist. Vision makes you to know where to direct your life’s energy. Vision makes you to know where to direct your life’s time. Where do I direct my time! Many people will be angry, they will say You are too focused! The man is too much to himself!Many of us have been accused of that. Any real man of vision will have that accusation.
From God’s servant, Bishop Oyedepo to ourself. He’s always to himself, he’s just too focused.
5. Vision helps you to know where to direct your life’s resources. To know where to direct your association. Why is focus necessary? Focus is key to impacting. Church Gist. Focus brings impact. Focus is passion.
The absence of focus is the abundance of distraction. Distraction divides energy. The energy of your life is divided by distractions, the things that do not pertain to your life’s vision and destiny. Distraction divides energy!
Distraction destroys destiny. Church Gist. I heard a story of how they normally would catch lions. It is trained to focus, so they bring a four- legged stool. Church Gist. So in the attempt to focus on Leg 1, Leg 2, Leg 3, Leg 4, it becomes paralyzed and they cheaply arrest it. It’s the paralysis of distraction.
Beloved, listen to this: When you have a vision and your vision is time sensitive, it will drive you. It will give you focus, it will give you discipline.
I attended the 50th birthday of my father in the Lord, Bishop Oyedepo and he told me, Paul, this age 50, I looked at it at a distance from a long time. And he made up his mind, what must be on ground at that age.
Hello? I cannot reach that age with the things I have now, by the time I am that age, this and this and this must be there. So there will be sleepless nights, there would be restless moments. There will be some people to offload from your life if necessary. There would be all manner! Church Gist. And he was very grateful when that age arrived and the things that must be were there.
When the vision is time sensitive, you don’t need eternity to fulfill destiny. We only have time. You won’t be a young man forever . Wake up and make hay while the sun shines!
Stand up on your feet!
Time is very cruel. Time hurried you into your tomorrow without your permission. Whether you like it or not, tomorrow will come. Pray about it or not, tomorrow will come. Pray against it or not, tomorrow will come. Church Gist. The challenge is that as tomorrows keep on coming, they keep on allocating you age. And the disaster is when age arrives without change.
That will never be your portion!
I see recovery for everyone here!
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