A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day – June 8, 2020
Proverbs 29:18 says,“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
The poorest person reading this today is not someone without money; it’s somebody without a vision. Let me say this. If you want to do something for God, you must have a vision. You can go to Bible seminary, speak Greek and Hebrew, and have the ability to translate the Bible from its original languages. You can teach, preach, witness, sing, and strive in the ministry. But if you don’t have a vision, you won’t get anywhere.
You may say, “Well, I haven’t done so badly.” But the truth of the matter is, whatever you accomplished in your own strength doesn’t even compare to what you can accomplish when you have a vision of what God wants you to do.
A minister once said he saw a 16-year-old boy walking around with his shirt tail hanging out, long hair, unbathed, slumped over, shoes untied, dirty clothes, and wearing headphones with music so loud that you could hear it several feet away. Later he saw the same 16-year-old boy. He was all cleaned up, shaved, smelled good, and had his hair all slicked down. What happened? The teen had gotten a vision. He’d seen a UFO-that’s an Unidentified Female Object. See, a vision will change you. It will get you focused.
You can get on a ship, but you shouldn’t leave port until you know where you’re going. We have too many ships out in the ocean, under full power, but going nowhere. This is probably one of the greatest problems in the church today-ministers without a vision who are leading their flocks nowhere, doing the same old thing day after day. Because of this, many Christians are unfocused, undisciplined, and going nowhere. Without a vision, the people perish. Sheep with a shepherd who does not know where he or she is going are sheep destined for starvation and death.
Of course, some have a vision and are very focused on God’s plan for their life, but sadly many do not. We should not settle for man’s best when we can have God’s best. We need to get hold of God’s plan and His program instead of wasting our time on man’s programs and plans.
God wants us to get a vision for His kingdom. With God’s vision working in our lives, we can turn the world upside down for Jesus. The best programs our churches can think up will pale by comparison to what one person can do with God’s vision working in his or her life.
We who are church leaders need to get a vision. If a pastor of a church doesn’t have a clear vision of where God is taking him or her, the people in the church won’t know where to go. The church may have some success. It may have some growth. But it will never have the prosperity and growth it could have had if there was only a vision. How can the people know when they get where God wants them if they don’t know where they’re going?
Pastors, if your church members don’t have a clue where you’re going, then think back to your calling from God. What did He place before you? What burns in your heart? Take these things to the people in your church and transmit it to them. Make it clear. Don’t give them some vague philosophy. Then the people will have a vision to follow. Then your church and ministry will be a threat to the kingdom of darkness and you will have great success.
