Do You Have a Vision?

Well, happy Sabbath, once again to all of you. It was about 20 years ago, almost exactly 20 years ago. The United States, to your great surprise, was talking about re-electing the President of the United States. Only the man at the time was George Bush, the first George Bush who was President. He was running for re-election of the United States, and he had become very popular at the end of the Gulf War. If you've been around long enough, you remember that we went into the first Gulf War. We had a stunning and rapid victory, and his approval ratings just skyrocketed. But then the economy hit a little bit of a slight recession. And by the fall of 1992, his message became stale. The media continued to hound him. They said to him, what is your vision for America? They said, what do you envision that America will be like in the future? And he said something that cost him the election. They asked him, what is the direction, your vision, to lead the nation? And his infamous remarks said a lot about the fact that he was clueless and really didn't have a plan. He said, quote, people keep wanting me to comment on the vision thing.

And by saying that, that simple phrase told most Americans more about his type of leadership than his silence did. It basically told people that his vision for America was status quo. There wasn't anything visionary. Now, unfortunately, he also followed that up by being filmed at a checkout counter of a store. You may remember that on television, in which the items he had were being scanned. And he said, what's that? And the person explained, well, this is a scanner. And, oh, really? How does that work? And it gave people the impression that being a wealthy aristocratic individual, that he was out of touch with what the rest of Americans go through in their daily lives. And he was defeated for reelection because he didn't have a vision. Well, today I would like to discuss the concept of a vision. What is a vision and why is it important in your life? I want to ask you if you have a personal vision. And I'd like you to begin thinking about what your life, your life is all about. Since we're less than 10 weeks from the Passover and the Spring Holy Days, and it's time to begin thinking about a new season of growth, of stretching ourselves, developing ourselves through the power of God's Holy Spirit, I want to ask that question. What vision do you have for your life? Or are we like George Bush? Is it just status quo? And you know something? There's no really no such thing as status quo. You're either growing or you're dying. There is no status quo. Let's go to Proverbs 29-18. If you'll turn with me there. Proverbs 29-18. It's a scripture many of us are familiar with. We've read it a number of times over the years. I'll first read it from the King James Version of the Bible. It's where I first learned about this scripture many years ago. It says, where there is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law happy is he. The translation in the New American Standard Bible says, where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained. If you don't have vision in your life, your life is unfragmented. It is confusing. It is one day of trials and problems, followed by another day of trials and problems. There just seems to be no path. There just seems to be no place that you're really heading to if you have no vision. So again, it says, where there is no vision, the people are restrained. They don't have discipline. They don't have goals. They don't have objectives. They're just unrestrained. But happy is he who keeps the law. Here's what the Believer's Study Bible says about this word vision. It says the word revelation or vision is from the Hebrew word kazon, and it refers to the experience of the prophets in receiving a word from God. The law, or Torah, which meant instruction, is not only the Mosaic law, but also the messages to the people from God via his messengers.

The prophets. Happiness comes from obeying the word of God however it comes. And again, that was from the Believer's Study Bible. So the actual context of this scripture is really very simple. Where people are not inspired to seek a better, a more righteous future, they stumble and they lose sight of their purpose in life. And that can happen to church members as well. Not only it can happen to people in the world who haven't been called by God, it can also happen to us. People stumble who don't have a vision of their lives and their futures, and they lose sight of their real purpose in life. The beautiful thing about God's law is it's like a compass. It always points to true north, which is God's value system. And if we start to stray and if we start to stumble around in the wilderness, you just pull that spiritual, oh, north is this way. You see, I need to be going towards God's law, not away from God's law. So God's law is a spiritual compass that makes sure that we are heading towards true north.

Obeying the law of God helps us aspire to be better than we are, to be more than we are today as individuals. It's interesting to note that the prophets had what we call visions, didn't they? They looked into the future. Sometimes they looked into the future and they saw negative events, didn't they? Sometimes they looked into the future and they saw positive things. You know, the president before George Bush was the great communicator. He saw a city on a hill, and he articulated that as president. He wanted Americans to be proud of their destiny. Once again, who and what it meant to be an American. He energized America for a short period of time because he was a visionary. He saw a better America, a greater America, a more affluent American, which everyone benefited. So I have to ask again, what is our vision? What is my vision? What is your vision? First, let's define what vision is. Vision is a vivid image. It's like a snapshot that links the present to a better future and pictures of what can be achieved. It links what's going on right now to a vision of a better tomorrow and why that tomorrow is worthwhile and how it can be done and how you and I can be a part of that vision. Jesus Christ was a visionary. You know how he often tried to get us to grasp the vision? He spoke in parables, didn't he? He did that a lot. He illustrated a reflection of the kingdom of God by using analogies and parables all the time so that we could say, ah, that story, I get it. Yeah, that's a lesson. I understand that. Jesus Christ wanted to bring the image of the kingdom of God and make it alive for his audience. And, brethren, you and I need to have a clear vision about our futures because if we don't have a clear vision about our future, we'll settle for status quo. And that is not a good thing. It really isn't. In our society today, we still place a lot of emphasis on the importance of having a vision. Most American presidents in my lifetime have tried to articulate a vision for the nation, but usually they're quite shallow. You know, it's a little slang slogan or whatever, and they themselves don't understand what that means, so they certainly can't lead us to achieve those things.

So, most American presidents try to articulate a vision. Corporate executives conduct meetings to establish a vision for their corporations. Motivational books and DVDs abound which stress the need for individuals to have a vision. Today, professional athletes and entertainers are taught to envision the perfect performance. Before they get on stage, or before they run, or before they do something, they are taught to sit down and close their eyes and envision the perfect performance. Because if they don't do that, then growth is very slow if there's any growth at all, and not much happens. So vision leads us to desire a preferred and better future. It's the path that we follow. And if we have no path, if we have no vision, then we are just meandering. We're not going anywhere. We're not growing. We're not expanding ourselves. We are just meandering around this world that we call Earth. For those of us whom God has called, there are two very important visions that we should embrace as part of our lives. And none of these will be a shock to you. The first vision is one that we share together as a church. We talked about that in a lot of detail last Sabbath in the Kingdom of God seminars. Preach the gospel, prepare people. And the second vision is the one that we focus on in the upcoming spring holy days. That's an individual and personal vision. How are you doing with your life? Are you happy with the direction that your life is heading in? So the second vision is personal and individual. It is the purpose and vision that God has for your life. But I'm going to tell you a spiritual truth. If you lack the second, if you lack a personal vision, then you always are going to struggle to maintain the other vision.

If our lives are disordered, as an individual, if I am fragmented, if I'm confused, and I have no plan for my life, I'm going to have a serious problem trying to participate and share in the preaching of the gospel with the church. That's why it's important to have both visions and not just have one vision. Some people just have a vision about themselves. It's all about me. They don't participate in the church at all. Other people, they're so zealous and gung-ho about the church that they don't develop their lives, and in time, their lives and families fall apart. And then usually they fall apart. And it's hard to support the vision that the church has if our life is in turmoil, if our lives are falling apart. So today what I would like to do is I'd like to discuss these two visions. The first one we'll discuss briefly, because it's the one that we heard last Sabbath. I'm going to try to talk about a few things that I didn't have time to talk about in the Kingdom of God seminars regarding that first vision, and that is being part of the church. And then we will talk about the other vision, our individual vision. Let's go to Matthew 24 and verse 3. If you'll turn with me there. Matthew 24 and verse 3.

It says, now as he sat in the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. I like the way that that said. They went up to Jesus and... Hey, Jesus! No one's around right now. Just between us boys. Tell us what is going to be the sign of your coming and the end of the age.

Just tell us alone. You don't have to tell anyone else. Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? So collectively, his church at that time, these individuals, followers of Jesus, asked him to tell him what events would occur before his second return. What are they looking for? They're looking for a vision. Give us a vision. Would you give us something to help us to understand an order of things that are going to occur?

So he begins to list the number of events beginning in verse 4. And you know what? Nothing that he mentions in verse 4 is new. Everything he mentions has been going on the last 2,000 years, if not longer, since the time that he lived. The difference is that the intensity of these things would occur in the final days.

The intensity would be ratcheted upward that would lead up to these things at the end time. He says, Take heed that no one deceived you, for many will come in my name, saying that I am the Christ and will deceive many. There are going to be many who will come saying that I, Jesus, am the Christ. Oh, they'll preach a great game. But the problem is that the doctrines they teach are the doctrines of men. They have nothing to do with me.

They don't know me. They don't represent me. Even though they claim to be preaching in my name, and they will deceive many. Verse 6, and you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet. It's almost like infomercial. But that's not all, Jesus says. But the end is not yet. Verse 7, For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

Again, these have always occurred for the least of the last two thousand years. Jesus is talking about the intensity would be like it had never been before. Verse 8, All these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to the tribulation. Then the authorities will turn on believers. Will literally turn on believers and kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended. Even in our political system, again, as I mentioned before, the thing that shocks me about most of my lifetime is how fossilized and rigid our political parties are.

There's no longer any room for compromise. Everyone is locked into their rigid positions about politics, and it's almost impossible anymore to get anything done. Because people have forgotten the art of compromise, which, by the way, is what a democracy is built upon. And it says, many will be offended, and sure enough, that's what we find today. And they will betray one another, and they will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. There will be many individuals. They stand in line, you know, I'm one of the two witnesses.

No, I'm one of the two witnesses. Well, okay, then I'm an Elijah. Well, okay, then I'm the prophet that was. Okay, well, then I'm the prophet that will be. Okay, well, then I'm all of those things. And it says, Jesus said at the end time, that these individuals would just come out of the woodwork, false prophets claiming great things for themselves.

And it says they will deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. And why do we see that in our world today? Love growing cold. Just the common courtesies and decencies of one human being towards another being eliminated. What Christ is saying is that there would come a time when a society as a whole would become more selfish, more materialistic, more narcissistic, common Christian values like being thankful and loyalty and forgiveness would all be abandoned for a social theme of self-centeredness and bitterness towards others.

And what is this happening as a result of? The fact that our Western world has become post-Christian in its values. And that's why we'll see these things occurring more and more. We used to be able to say about the United States and the Western world that we were at least built on Christian value, the Judeo-Christian work ethic and ethics about treating people and the Golden Rule. And we used to believe that we were built on those values.

Well now, because they have something to do with God, they certainly can't be valid in our society today. And because of that, we see more rudeness. We see more bitter relationships. We see the fact that it has on marriages, on business partnerships, on virtually every segment of society, as that intensity will continue to be ratcheted up towards what Jesus is talking about here.

Verse 13, But he who endures to the end shall be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. I'd like to read this from the translation, the new century version. It says, there will be more and more evil in the world. So most people will stop showing their love for each other. But those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved.

The good news about the kingdom will be preached in all the world to every nation, then the end will come. So preaching the gospel is what we have traditionally called the work. And I want you to notice what Jesus said to his disciples was their new mission. That mission is good news. It is more than a warning message preached by the Old Testament prophets. What Jesus told his disciples to do is to preach the good news to go beyond a warning message. Some people are real good at warning messages. Some people are real good at thinking that they motivate people through fear.

But study after study after study just shows that fear is a short-term motivator. It doesn't motivate anyone for very long. Did fear work for Old Testament Israel? All the vows and all the threats of captivity and famine and pestilence and all that. Did that ever work on ancient Israel? Of course not, because the next generation forgets it all. Fear is only a short-term motivator.

It just simply doesn't work. What Jesus Christ was saying here is that the gospel message is to include a warning. But it's to emphasize that beyond bad things that are going to happen to people because of their sins, that everything is followed by the good news that God's kingdom will be restored to the earth.

Now again, let's take a look at verse 13. It says, But he who endures to the end shall be saved, and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached, and all the world is a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. I want you to notice to what degree it will be preached. It doesn't say, preach the gospel where it's easy.

He didn't say that. He doesn't say, preach the gospel to the kings and the world leaders. Preach the gospel to the parliaments. No, he doesn't say that. He says to all the world. Jesus says again to every nation, and has this been done? The answer is absolutely, positively no. It has never been done yet. It is still waiting to be fulfilled and waiting to be done.

And Jesus Christ will not return, according to his own words, until this gospel has been preached to the whole world. And I think this is important to emphasize because there are some individuals and some groups who are saying that the need to preach the gospel has ended. That God isn't calling anyone anymore. The purpose of preaching the gospel has ended. Well, you know what? I have a couple of people in this congregation who have been called the last year.

They beg to differ with that ignorant theology. Of course God is still calling people. Of course God is still working with people. It's still, once his church, to preach the gospel of that marvelous kingdom to the world. Did Jesus say that the king or the visitor parliament is enough? What good does that do, brethren? That doesn't help the little people. You know, to take the gospel message, the king Abbadabadu.

It might be really good, and I don't think that's bad necessarily, but the millions of people who live in that nation, who are hungry, and who are without hope, and who are discouraged, they are the ones that need to hear the good news of the coming kingdom of God, not the king and his palace.

And our message isn't complete until we have reached the world with the good news of the coming kingdom of God. I believe that Jesus meant exactly what he said here. This is his command and his expectation to the church of God. And I also believe that this was impossible to do until the 21st century. There is no way, I don't care how many resources one would have had.

I don't care how many people, how much money. This was virtually impossible until this century, because nations until this century could always put up borders. They could always make it impossible to penetrate a message in their nations. But due to the internet and other technologies that we have today, we leapfrog across national boundaries.

We can leapfrog across borders. We find ways around nations to try to spam or stop our messages from being relayed to their populations. There are ways to get around them. And those technologies are being developed more and more every day. They're being created now that allows information to go beyond those political and national boundaries. And within the foreseeable future, it's going to be possible for an organization and eventually two witnesses, two individual witnesses, to be streamed live to everyone on earth at the same time. That was never possible before.

Until the 21st century, until the age that we live in. So either we prepare and allow us as God's church, that's our vision, to finish this work, or I can guarantee you if we don't do it, if we are unwilling to do it, if we lack the zeal to do it, God will raise up somebody who will. So it's either up to us, or God's going to raise up someone else to do it because His will shall be done.

I don't know about a lot of other people, but I choose not to live my life in a spiritual bunker and wait it out until Jesus Christ returns. I choose to put my light where it can be seen by people and not hide it under a bushel.

I choose to be part of the church that is preaching the Gospel of the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and I want to share that vision with them. Let's go to Luke 12 and verse 31. Luke 12 and verse 31. Here Jesus talks about what our priorities should be. We certainly live in this world, and we certainly should do everything we can to grow and be abundant. Should we live in nice homes? Absolutely!

If we can afford it, we should. Should we have nice cars? Absolutely, if we can afford it. Should we get a good education? Get the best education you can. Grow, develop, learn. But never forget where our priorities should lie. He says, but seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. All the things that were listed before that were materialistic. Things like clothes and food, and the things that are part of our material world.

He says, do not fear little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. That's a scripture we read last week. Sell what you have and give alms, so don't just make it about possessing money and possessing wealth. Be good to other people. Occasionally, give the things that you have to others. We had a coat drive recently.

I opened my closet. I had like 12 coats hanging. I'm embarrassed how many coats I had hanging in there. So I took some coats and brought them here. All of us have far more than we need. How many coats can I possibly wear at one time? I mean, do you really need a coat for March, and then another one for April, and another one, a lighter one for May?

We don't need that kind of stuff, but we acquire that kind of stuff. Jesus says, sell what you have and give it to other people who really need those things that you have, frankly, too much of. Provide yourselves money bags that do not grow old.

Have a spiritual bank account. Don't have a wallet in your pocket and worry about, well, do I still have $20 in my pocket? Or more importantly, are my credit cards still there? He says, what's really important where your priorities should be should be your spiritual bank account, not your physical bank account, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.

For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also, let your waste be girded. That means you're getting ready to go to work. You're getting ready to do something, and your lamp's burning. When people see you, you should be someone who is in action of preaching the Gospel. The reflection of God's Holy Spirit should come out of you like a burning lamp, like a lamp burning to the people around you. And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he shall return from the wedding, and when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.

Just be that kind of person, that when Christ talks to you, when he says something to you, when he says something in your heart about something you need to change or grow or develop, that you respond immediately. Don't be like the person where Jesus is outside the door knocking, and come back another time. I'm sorry, I'm on the Internet now. I'm reading the blogs. Come back when I've got more time. No, he says, be like the man who, when their master came back, that they opened to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.

Assuredly I say unto you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. What Jesus is saying here is that our priorities, yes, we're physical, yes, we have physical needs, and there's nothing wrong with having nice things, but our priorities should all be about the kingdom. Our priorities should all be about the one true master, and that is God, because we can't share our loyalty with God and this world.

Jesus is saying that everything physical fades away. Every material thing made eventually turns to dust. I was watching a History Channel special a few months ago. Even the 4,500-year-old Egyptian pyramids in Giza are eroding away. The Great Sphinx is falling apart at the sides.

They spend millions of dollars to put and glue these things together so that the tourists will continue to come. Even these great man-made edifices, 4,500 years old, are really cracking and falling apart, because that's what time does to anything that's material, anything that's physical. Most people look for security in their possessions, like money, but that is fleeting, real security.

Personal fulfillment comes from becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God. So are we responding to that calling from Jesus Christ now, or is he knocking and knocking and knocking? Our focus has been somewhere else, like maybe on ourselves.

She says here in verse 35, let your waste be girded. The first career I had out of high school was I was an electrician.

And as an electrician, I wore a tool belt. And on that tool belt, I had linesmiths, pliers, I had channel locks, I had a hammer, I had various sizes of Phillips screwdrivers and straight-edge screwdrivers, so we didn't have battery-operated stuff back then. We had to do stuff the old-fashioned way. We actually had to move our hands. I had a tape measure, I had a little torpedo level. And when I girded my waste with the tool belt, that meant I'm going to work. And when break time came or the end of the day, I took the tool belt off, and I put it in the tool box and locked it up for the day. So when Jesus says, let your waste be girded, He says, get to work.

Don't have another meeting to talk about it. Don't think happy thoughts about it. Don't have just the best intentions about the things that need to be done. He says, let your waste be girded, and let the light of God's Holy Spirit shine from you and influence other people in a positive way. Their lamps are burning because they have the light of the Gospel to shine to the whole world. I want you to notice, too, at the end here, she says assuredly at the end of verse 37, she says to me, it's just remarkable. I say to you that He will gird Himself, speaking of Christ, and have them sit down and will come and serve them. So here we see literally that when Christ returns, He serves tables at His own wedding supper. Talk about a sermon. Now, I have never been at a wedding, especially my own, where I saw the groom serving at tables. You just don't see that in our society. Normally, the groom is sitting up there at a special table of his own, a big smile on his face like a Cheshire cat. The groom is so happy, you know. He's just sitting there. He's just taking it all in. And rarely do you see a groom get up and say, excuse me, would you like chicken or beef? Which one did you order? Can I give you some more wine? I mean, you just don't see that, but you do see that in the serving. And the loving attitude that Jesus Christ has at His own wedding supper, He gets up and He cares and He serves people. When Christ returns, He expects to see His church girded, awake, in action, preaching the gospel, not talking about preaching the gospel, not dreaming about someday preaching the gospel, but actually doing something. Let's now go to Revelation 19, verse 4. Revelation 19, verse 4.

Scriptures, again, that we're very familiar with, and a few of these were read last week, but I wanted to expand upon them just a little bit more.

Revelation 19, verse 4, speaking of a beautiful time in the future. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who sat on the throat, saying, Amen, Alleluia. Then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you servants, and those who fear Him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thundering. So this was loud, penetrating, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns, let us be glad, and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Now, that's an important phrase, because we know that we are given God's Holy Spirit, so that we can grow, and change, and overcome sin, develop the talents that God has given us. But you see, there's something that we do, too. She made herself ready. We just can't sit by and say, Oh, alright, Lord, Abra, could Dabra make me handsome? It just doesn't happen that way. Abra, could Dabra make me kind, make me patient, and do it quickly, please? You see, it doesn't work that way. There's something that we do. We take God's Spirit, which is incredible, awesome, incredible force, and we use that to make the changes that we need, to make that effort. That takes work. That's how the bride makes herself ready. The bride doesn't sit back and say, Okay, you do everything for me. Verse 8, And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. It's not the really good intentions of the saints. It's not the happy thoughts of the saints. The fine linen is the righteous acts. It means that they did something of the saints. Then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. I'm going to read this from the New Century version, verse 7. Let us rejoice and be happy and give God glory, because the wedding of the Lamb has come, and the Lamb's bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. The fine linen means the good things done by God's holy people. I'm going to read that again. The fine linen means the good things done by God's holy people. And the angel said to me, Right this, happy, are those who have been invited to the wedding meal of the Lamb. And the angel said, These are the true words of God. Symbolically, the Church is to become the Bride of Christ. I think we understand that. And she is entitled to wear white because she used God's Spirit to make herself ready. She did her part. She did what she was commissioned to do as the Church. She performed good and righteous acts. She obeyed the commands of Christ.

She didn't hunker down and just wait for the Lord to return. She completed her work. She did what she was supposed to do. She proclaimed a message of hope to the world. She overcame all obstacles. Brethren, I hope and pray that all of us are part of that great wedding. I hope all of us are invited and can participate on being the Bride, part of the Bride of Jesus Christ. And that is the commission of the Church of God. That's that first vision that I talked about. So important. And I encourage you to remain part of that vision, to share in that vision. Because for all eternity, people will admire and respect you for being part of that final generation. Thousands of generations yet unborn will come to you and say, Excuse me! Someone told me that you were part of those people that were physically alive in the 21st century. And you were part of that work that finished the commandment of Jesus Christ before He came back to earth. Is that true? Were you there? What was it like to live in that world? What was it like to have to experience temptation? What was it like when Satan was loose? And things were just so distracting and you had all these poles on your life? Because I can't relate to that. I didn't live in that kind of a world. I was born in a better world, a world in which things were easier. So tell me, what was it like? How did you endure to the end? How did you survive? You see, we are God's jewels. We are a very important generation in God's plan. And people will admire and respect what we stood for, what we did, what we believed in for thousands and thousands and thousands of years to come. Matthew 6, verse 24. Let's take a look at that because I'd like to talk about now our personal mission. This is your mission. It's not my mission. I have my own mission that I struggle with and refine through meditation. You have your own personal vision and it's got to be yours. It can't be something that someone gives to you or tells you to do. It has to be your own.

The first step, Matthew 6, verse 24, is to choose the right master. Matthew 6, verse 24. Jesus said, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is just a word that means materialism. It can't be all about God and it'll be all about materialistic things. It'll be all about me acquiring things, acquiring wealth, acquiring possessions, acquiring properties. He says those are contradictory terms. Some people want it both ways. Some people want to come to church on Saturdays. Some people go to church on Sundays.

But they ignore God during the rest of the week. They never get any prayer yet. They never get any Bible study in. And Jesus says that we have to be loyal to either one or the other. If you don't have a personal mission statement or a vision, I have news for you. You really do have one. It's the default mission statement that Satan has for this world. So if you don't take the time and meditate and develop and think about your own vision, the vision for your life and where you're going and how you're going to get there and why it's important. I've got news for you. If you do nothing, one has already been prepared for you by Satan himself. It is default. You don't have to do anything. And it basically is very simple. It's all about me. That's what that vision is about. It's about me, my life, what makes me feel good, what makes me happy. Those are the default mission statements that most people in this earth live by. And some people in the church, unfortunately, also think they can straddle the fence. They think they can come and worship God on the Sabbath. And then for the other six days of the week, they don't even acknowledge God in their lives. They don't study Him, they don't pray Him. God is just vacant from their daily lives. And that, again, is not a good thing. Verse 33, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. So he said, if you get your priorities right, I will bless you with lots of goodies. You'll have a lot of good things in life. I'll make sure that they're given to you as a gift. I'll bless you with those, but make sure that you get the right priority. The kingdom of God and His righteousness. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. He says, don't worry about something that hasn't happened yet. I'm going to tell you how I could have afforded to have retired already. I'm going to give you the secret. There are people like Napoleon Hill and Donald Trump and very wealthy people. I don't have that kind of money, but I'm going to give you a little bit of advice on how I could have retired much earlier in life. And that is if I would have received ten dollars for every time I worried about something that never happened. I could retire right now. Because that's just the way the human mind is. It frets and it gets anxious and it worries about things in advance and takes the stress and toll on our lives. And ninety percent of it never even happened. The stuff that happens is the stuff I didn't anticipate. It's the stuff that I didn't figure out in advance, that I didn't worry about. That's usually the stuff that occurs in my life and causes the greatest challenges. So, brethren, if we seek the kingdom of God as our first priority, God says, I'll provide your basic survival needs. And He cautions us about striving to acquire material wealth because it can become our master. It can become a false God and it's only temporary. So the first part of our personal vision, the head in the right direction, is to make our priority the kingdom of God, to make it something most important to us in our lives. That's the essential of the basics. Now, I'd like to read to you verse 33 from the New Century version, verse 33.

The thing you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you. So that's part of the step, first stepping stone, in having our own vision, is having the right master. Because if you have the wrong master, then you can dream and envision things, and you'll still end up in the wrong place, won't you? If you don't have the right vision, you'll end up somewhere else. You'll be living someone else's dream, someone else's vision, and that someone else just happens to be Satan the devil. So the first step is to understand and choose the right master. Let's now go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. The next important step is to realize that whatever happens to you, whether it's your fault or not, that there is a plan behind that. Things don't happen by accident in your life. Even the bad things don't happen by accident. God takes everything and He turns it towards our advantage for growth and personal development. I think I told you before, years ago, when I got my first computer software game of playing chess. And I hated it. I absolutely hated it because it was so much smarter than I am, which doesn't take a whole lot. But what would really bother me about it is the computer was always ten steps beyond where I was. And I would sit and it's got this clock tick. You had to make a move by a certain amount of time. Tick, tick. I'm sweating bullets and drops of blood or pore. And I would move the mouse and I'd move my man to that piece. And instantaneously the other piece would move. And that just really irritated me because I put so much effort and stress into this thought. And the computer was ten moves ahead of me. And, brethren, I'm here to tell you that God is ten moves ahead of you. And whether it's something that's your fault or not, God is going to turn that event into an opportunity for your personal growth and development so you can be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8, verse 28. Paul writes, for we know that all things, not some things, not once in a while, all things work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. You were called at this age, at this time, according to God's purpose. Verse 29, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's what this life is all about. Conforming and changing away from what we are. And that's usually carnal, selfish, self-absorbed. And those might be our positive traits.

And morphing and growing and changing into the image of His Son, that He might be called the firstborn among many brethren, because all of us are intended to be born into the kingdom and the family of God. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called, whom He called these, He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

So Paul is basically saying that you have been called, that God has made you just and right in His eyes because of what His Son Jesus Christ did. He's justified you, and in God's eyes you are His chosen jewel. You are glorified in His eyes. Verse 31, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for all of us, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? If He went as far as to keep His promise and take His beloved Son and allow His Son to be murdered and have His bloodshed so that we could be saved, then of course God is going to keep the rest of His promise, and that is within His family. He's going to give us all things. He's going to give us the universe. He's going to give us eternity to share with one another. Verse 33, who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is He who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God and who makes intercession for us. So we have a great High Priest who goes to the Father during our times of need. Verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. And I've been through some trials in my life where I thought I was slowly dying. The stress and the anxiety and the aggravation I was going through. I felt like I was dying all day long. Like something was literally being sapped out of my heart, out of my emotions. And I'm sure you've gone through experiences like that, too. But here's the encouraging thing Paul says in verse 37, Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. With the Spirit of God you can overcome anything, any problem, any trial, any temptation because of the Spirit of God. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height or depth, or any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. What is Paul saying here? There's only one thing that can separate you from the love of God. Satan can't. The United States government can't. No one can separate you from the love of God except, what? Yourself.

The only thing that can separate me from the love of God is if I abandon my calling and I leave it and I choose to go somewhere else or do something else. That's the only thing that can do it. Man can't do it. A deep, dark spiritual power of the universe can't do it. He says, what can do it is if we quit, if we give up. So an important part of our personal vision is to realize and accept the whole purpose of this physical life, the whole reason that we were born our entire lifetime is a training ground. In the world of sports, athletes are trained to stress their bodies to the limit, to gain strength and endurance. Now, a weight lifter doesn't lift weights every day. They lift weights one day and they kind of have little tears in their muscle system. And then they take a break for a day and it kind of heals and regenerates. And then they lift weights again a couple of days later. And our Christian life is like that. We don't have one continual trial. We go through a period of trial and testing. And then God allows things to be normal. We kind of adjust to the stresses we went through. And then we go through another period of trial and testing in our lives. And then we go through a period of normal. And that's the same way that God works with us. Like a spiritual athlete, our character and our attitudes will be stressed to the limits sometimes in an effort to strengthen and refine our character, the characteristics that we have. Everything that God teaches in His Word will be challenged by others. We have to get used to that. Someone asked me recently, does it bother you that there are so many hateful comments about the United Church of God on the Internet? And my response was, you know, it's all relative. Maybe there are a hundred thousand people that despise the United Church of God and our beliefs and the Sabbath and the things that we do. He said, but you know what? There are hundreds of millions of atheists who were former Catholics and Protestants who despised religion, who despised God, and look at religion as an opiate for weak-minded people who need something to believe because they can't stand in their own two feet. So it's all relative, isn't it? If you maintain the faith of God, you will receive persecution, you will receive criticism. And I can tell you that the more we preach the Gospel, the more that we stand out and do the work that the bride is supposed to do, the more people are going to take potshots at us. I can guarantee you that. The more the criticism will be, the harsher the criticism will be, and we will just continue to move forward because we're going to fulfill our calling and our commission. But in our own lives, with our own personal vision, I think we realize that our physical bodies will break down.

Sometimes people that we love and that we trust may betray us. But whatever happens in your life, I'd like to encourage you to always appreciate that whatever situation happens in your life, whether it's a personal failure, humiliation, a trial, whatever the test is, it might be a health problem, it might be a financial problem, it might be a relationship problem, whatever it is, God will work it out to the benefit of you by molding you into something better than you are. And it takes pain to do that. Just like it takes pain for a weightlifter to lift a lot more weight than they should and stress themselves. God oftentimes gives us a trial and stresses us to make us stronger. So our personal vision is to look into the future and see that these things happen to me because God loves me, not because God hates me, not because I'm wicked and evil. These things happen to me because God loves His children and He wants them to grow and become part of His family. And every trial, every test is an opportunity for God to continue to grow and do a work in me as an individual. Now how about something that's your own fault? How about something in which you just really mess up? Maybe it's that sin that you struggled with your whole life and you do it again. Something that hurts you or hurts the ones that you love. Maybe it's something that comes back to haunt us. It's a problem or a trial that we've had for many years. Can any good come from that? Can God work with us then, even when it's our own fault, even when it's something we brought upon ourselves? Let's take a look at Hebrews 12 and verse 3. What happens then when we deserve a problem, when we deserve a trial? The truth is that sometimes we do things that are so offensive to God, so simple, that we receive a spiritual spanking. Something usually blows up in our face because we do something that we should not have done, usually something we know we should not have done. But here's what Paul says about those situations. Hebrews 12 and verse 3. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls, you have not resisted the bloodshed striving against sin. So before you start feeling sorry for yourself, think about what Jesus Christ went to. He endured hostility from sinners, even though he was an innocent and a righteous man.

Verse 5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord. So when you get a spiritual spanking, don't get mad at God. There's a purpose behind that. There's a reason behind that.

Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom God loves, for whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? For if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. So he says, if you receive a spiritual spanking, it's because God loves you. Because he looks at you and he says, that's my son.

That's my daughter. I love him. I love her. I want that person to be better and to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. Verse 9. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live?

For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he, unlike our physical fathers, and I received spankings, some of them I know were very justified. Sometimes I was spanked for something that wasn't even my own fault, and I'm still working on it, and I'm still struggling. My therapist says another couple hundred thousand dollars, and a few years I'll work my way through it. But all kidding aside, I was spanked for things that I deserve to be spanked for, and I was also spanked for things in which I wasn't even involved in.

That's the way human beings do it. He says, but he, that is God for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. You know, when I was in high school, and I unfortunately received swats a number of times because of my poor attitude.

But I never got that piece of wood on my backside and said, oh, I'm joyful for the present. Goody, goody! That feels so good! No, it didn't feel good. It burned. I mean, it burned bad. All my friends were looking at me. I had to pretend like it didn't bother me at all, but inside, I was crying on the inside, because the sting of that board hitting my tender little bottom with all those nerve endings, it really hurt. But what he is saying here is that no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful.

And that's true when you get either a spiritual spanking or a physical spanking like I just described. It hurts. It's painful. He says, nevertheless, and this is the difference between God, nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. So you see, when we get a spiritual spanking from our loving Father, it is to train us, to discipline us, to understand that is not pleasurable.

I don't think I'll do that anymore. That's why it occurs. In verse 12, just so we don't get discouraged when we're going through a time of a spiritual spanking, he says, therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down in the feeble knees. No, no, he says, don't be like that. And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Note that there's a purpose behind it. There's a good purpose behind it.

Our Father is helping us grow. Pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. So sometimes trials come upon us undeserved, they appear out of nowhere and bam, and we're blindsided.

And then sometimes trials are a result of our own mistakes and our own sins, and they come back and haunt us. But even when that happens, don't think that you're going through that trial as you're receiving that spiritual spanking that God doesn't love you. He's doing it. He's allowing it to happen because He does love you.

He wants the peaceable fruit of righteousness in you to those who have been trained by it, as he said there in verse 11. Well, brethren, these are the two visions that we have. Vision number one is to be part of the Bride of Christ, to share in the work that God has given us.

And the second vision is your own. As I said earlier, I can't tell you what that vision is because we know by the parable of the talents that we are all different skills and abilities, aren't we? We all have different backgrounds. We all have different educational levels. We all have different DNA mixtures. And we are good at some things, and we are weak at other things.

Only you can understand what those things are. Only you can develop your own gifts and talents. Remember that they are a gift. Don't let them just sit there and die within you. Use whatever gifts and talents that you've been given to help other people. That's part of the training process as well. And between now and the Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, approximately 10 weeks away, I'd like to encourage you to be thinking about your personal vision.

What God is doing through you as a person, as an individual. That is so important. And if you do that, it will help propel you during the Spring Holy Days to a whole new level of growth in your life. And you'll be able to do things and achieve things that you have never been able to do before. And that will please our Father, because that's what our Christian life is all about. Have a wonderful Sabbath day. Hope to see all of you afterwards and fellowship with you. And again, we'll be going next Sabbath, but we look forward to seeing you in two weeks.