A Life-Changing Vision of God – Life Is a Journey, part 37
Want to be part of something powerful, freeing, and life-changing? Are you ready to step into a great purpose for your life? Sharing the good news of Christ is powerful, and imparts hope, faith, and a revelation of God. This message challenges you to share the revelation—eye-opening vision—of what a relationship with God can do.
Through this series, you’ll learn how to live well & enjoy God's promises. You are loved by God; He knows your name. He has a plan for your life. Get helpful advice, encouragement, and hope for a life well lived.
Are you walking in faith and victory? Set your eyes on the promises of God. You only have one life journey; say yes to Jesus.
Will You Share a Vision—Revelation—of God That Transforms Lives?
Your view of God will determine what you think and what you believe to be true. How you view the Lord also will determine how you face life’s challenges. How you deal with trials and difficulties in life will reveal your faith in God Almighty.
Psalms 23 reminds us that our Lord and shepherd gives all we need, protects, guides, comforts, and blesses us. Because I know this is true in my life, I know for certain it is true for you as well. Through verses like these, you know God already.
If you did not have a vision (or understanding) of who God is, where would you be now? Without Christ, spiritually dead, lost without hope, destined for destruction. But thanks be to God, you know Jesus as your savior!
Praise God that you know that the joy of the Lord is your strength. However, there are millions of people who do not know. People in our city, state, nation and around the world need to hear the Gospel message. They need to hear the revelation of God. They need to hear the vision of God for them and turn to Christ with all their hearts. They need to know the joy of knowing the truth of God that you know. They need the vision of God that inspires hope and faith to believe. Without such a vision or revelation of God, people perish.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV).
“Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction” (Proverbs 29:18, NIV).
The person who has no vision of the Lord Almighty, will perish. That person is alive, and yet living spiritually dead in their sins, hopeless.
Living without a vision or revelation of God is like grasping in darkness. It is like living in a dark, lonely prison without windows and not knowing life could be different if only they might hear the Gospel message and believe.
In a number of countries, the Gospel message is shut out and the truth of God is denied all together. They are living in spiritual darkness and will perish in that darkness, unless they have a revelation and vision of God. They need to hear the Gospel message.
But how can they call on someone they have not believed in; or heard of? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? How can anyone preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:14-15).
When someone sees no hope of escape, they will not attempt to escape. But when they learn of the way to escape and personally see the revelation of God for themselves, they’ll reach out for it joyfully. The difference is like night and day.
The spiritually perishing will fully embrace the revelation of God as their spiritual eyes and ears are opened and they understand the truth of the Gospel, maybe for the first time.
People flee oppressive situations and nations for the chance of relief and freedom when it is made known to them and they are given an opportunity to flee.
I believe the same is true regarding things of the spirit. The spiritual truth regarding the revelation and vision of God is powerful, but without it, people will perish. They will never know the life and joy of salvation.
Jesus came to speak life and hope to the spiritually lost. Jesus came to redeem the sinner. He opened the physically blind eyes and healed the physically lame and raised the physically dead so they would know and learn of the spiritual hope that is in Christ, having their eyes, ears, and hearts open to receive the revelation and vision of eternal life in Christ is available to whosoever will believe. But only if they hear and understand the revelation and vision of God.
When they embrace the revelation and vision of God, believing the Gospel message, they’re lives were changed for all eternity. They are willing to face the possibility of suffering, pain and even death at times because the revelation and vision of God changed their hearts. The revelation or vision of God is powerful and life-changing. Emptiness is removed, spiritual darkness is powerless, hopelessness is taken away; faith and hope for eternity are put in their place.
The good news of Christ is powerful, and imparts hope, revelation, and vision of God Almighty. The spiritual darkness in life is pushed back and revealed to be powerless in the light of the truth found in the Gospel of Christ. The knowledge that the creator of the universe, God Almighty, would send his one and only son to die in our place and pay the debt of sin that we owed is life-changing. The revelation and vision of the truth of who Jesus is casts off the bondage of hopeless and spiritual darkness and seeks the blessings and forgiveness of God.
We are to live a holy and set-apart life for the glory of God. Such a change only comes with a personal vision/revelation of Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (see 2 Timothy 1:3-10).
The prophets of God would speak the true revelation and vision of God to the people. They would speak what the Lord inspired them to speak. Some people would believe the vision of God that was spoken to them, and others refused. Those who refused would perish in their sin while those who believed had changed hearts and were blessed of the Lord and would no longer perish.
God called Amos to be a prophet of God and to proclaim God’s word to the people of Israel, revealing his plan to the prophets (Amos 3:7).
The prophets would speak warnings and in doing so would speak words of hope and grace to those who would believe:
Hear this word the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel — against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt: "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins” (Amos 3:1-2).
This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live” (Amos 5:4).
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph (Amos 5:14-15).
Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria (Amos 6:1).
“The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst” (Amos 8:11-13).
The prophet was warning the people of God that one day there would be a famine of hearing the words, the revelation and vision of God. In those days people will search and not find it. The people had turned away from the Lord and were living as the other nations in rebellion towards God. They will become faint and thirst for the word of God and not find it.
But thank the Lord! God Almighty did not withhold his revelation forever. God had the plan of salvation long before the foundation of the world (see 1 Peter 1:18-21, Titus 1:1-3, 2 Timothy 1:9-10, Ephesians 1:3-7, and Colossians 1:12-18).
The prophet Joel tells us to seek the Lord with all our hearts. To repent and return to the Lord and he will respond (Joel 1:13-14, Joel 2:13-16).
The Lord allowed the Israelites to be overrun by other nations because of their disobedience and rebellion towards God; but when they turned back to God, God opened up the windows of heaven and restored the blessings of God (see Joel 2:18-19, Joel 2:25-27, and Joel 2:32).
The vision of God did not stop or change but has continued down the ages to today. The revelation/vision of God will continue until Christs return and for all eternity. The enemy of God is defeated. He was already defeated at the cross when Jesus died and rose from the grave.
God used the Disciples to spread the vision of God to the world.
God revealed himself to individuals.
God used his prophets to reveal his revelation and vision to the people of God.
God used men and women down the ages to proclaim the vision of God.
He inspired the writers of both the New and Old Testaments, by the Holy Spirit, to write and proclaim the revelation and vision of God to Jew and Gentiles alike.
God uses the scriptures; the foolishness of preaching, books, videos, bible studies, your testimonies, and even Christian music to reveal the truth of God to whosoever will listen and believe.
God will use a cup of cold water, a kind word or even a time of pain and suffering in a person’s life to reveal himself and instill the vision of God so that the person will know the truth of God and be saved.
This church—Faith Chapel—was planted in Pleasanton, California over 50 years ago. God opened the door in this location for the church to be built, with a vision to proclaim the revelation and vision of God. To reach the lost for Christ. To proclaim the good news of Christ and the revelation/vision of God until he returns.
The vision of God has not changed. The revelation of God, that whosoever will believe is saved and they will no longer perish is real. People need to hear the vision of God for themselves and believe.
Today, I want us to rededicate this church and our lives to telling others of the revelation of God. This church exists for the purpose to tell the vision of God to the world. To be a witness of the grace and glory of God. To proclaim the name of Jesus.
Paul told Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God. Today I want us to fan the flame of the gift of faith and the truth of God’s word and the vision/revelation of God to all the world.
We need to be reminded of the vision God that has placed upon our hearts and lives. The vision to see family, friends, neighbors and people we do not even know to hear the revelation of God, maybe for the first time. To remind others to run the race and finish the course that God has set before us. To keep believing and with expectation pray for God to heal, save, and deliver the lost from spiritual bondage. All for the glory of God.
Lord, give and renew the vision of God in us today! We need the vision of God fresh in our hearts and minds so that we will never forget.
In scripture we can find where the law of God was ignored and forgotten. The people went wild and ran after other gods, which were not gods at all. They lived as other nations in spiritual darkness. But when the vision and revelation of God was revived, revealed and made known once again, the people were blessed and believed.
Jesus physically healed and delivered people from the bondage of sickness and sin. Jesus told them to go and sin no more. These people were given a vision of God that they had not witnessed before; they were no longer to live in spiritual darkness. No longer were they to perish for lack of knowing God. They only need to believe, and they will escape the coming destruction.
You see, without a vision of God people perish. Let us proclaim the message of Christ. Let us be used of God to tell others of the vision/revelation of God. Let us fan into flame the gift of God in our hearts and share the vision of God with others. Boldly proclaim the vision and message of God. In doing so God will use you to help others from perishing.
Suggested Praise and Worship
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This and other sermons brought to you by Faith Chapel, an Assemblies of God church in Pleasanton, CA.