Pastor Lynn Anderson of Abilene, TX shared this dramatic true story.
(About 400 years ago) a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year they established a town site.
The next year they elected a town government.
The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness.
In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway?
Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision.
With a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. Without it, we rarely move beyond our current boundaries.
How important is vision? Proverbs 29:18 declares, “Where there is no vision, the people perish….” Vision is essential!
What vision has the Lord given you for your life, loved ones, ministry? Don’t settle for anything less. Don’t give in to the temptation to lay down the vision the Lord has given you. The author of Hebrews commands us (10:35-39): “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”
One of the most dramatic visions I have ever heard happened to my Dad when he became a Christian. At 16 years of age, he was struck down with polio. One night he felt he was slipping into the fires of hell, but Jesus came and met him at his hospital bed. The Lord saved him and asked him to preach His gospel to the nations. Dad then had a vision of people from all different nations in their native dress. What puzzled him was that he felt it was people in a state in the USA. It was 1945 and the vision made no sense to him but, in 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state and Dad knew this was where he was supposed to go. We arrived on Kauai in 1967 where he pastored the church in Lihue for many years until the Lord called him to pastor Faith Assembly in Waipio Valley in Mililani.
Sometimes the vision might take a few years to happen. But don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up! We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed. We are of those who believe and are saved!
This Sunday, February 13, will feature our annual “State of the Church” address. As a church, are we staying on track with the vision the Lord has for us? Please join us at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). It will also be uploaded later that afternoon to our website. The worship service will be followed by a delicious meal provided by the church (no need bring anything except your appetite) and Everyone is invited! After the meal, all members are urged to stay for our 2022 Annual Meeting and we will rejoice over what the Lord has done in 2021.
Coming Up: We are hosting Oahu’s 2022 Connect East fun gathering for women and teen girls on Saturday, February 26. Register by February 20 with Shirley or online at hawaiiaog.com/event/connect-east-oahu/. Scholarships are available.
Aloha ke Akua!
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