“Lord, I have enjoyed this my journey, releasing your words and guidance so that I and others may learn and turn to your ways. Lord, I am ready for another ‘story’ to tell.”
Write the Vision
Excited, I waited in anticipation. I like this newly developed side to me that I never knew could be. I am just obedient as the Lord takes me to another adventure. Hence: “Write the Vision–Habakkuk”:
1 I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
2 Then the LORD answered me and said:
“ Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
4 “ Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:1-4)
So how do we write down our vision?
1st: Seek the lord, He will give you your vision. He knows you; He is the only one who understands your weaknesses and your strengths. He is the only one who can bring your vision to fruition.
2nd: Get a journal-ask yourself what do you want or need to survive or be comfortable?
- Write down your ideas (your vision plan/your goal) to get to your result.
- Estimate how long it would take to get to your result (1, 2, 3, 5 yrs?).
- Is education a part of your dream. Will skills and training be involved?
3rd: Develop a “vision board“.
- This is the element to building and reflecting your dream. It’s a visual representation of your dream.
- Clip images from various resources: magazines, newspapers, catalogs, where ever you can cut photos of your desired items.
- Staple, glue or whatever method you choose by placing them on your vision board.
- Speak the Word over your board, faith believe it will come to pass.
If your vision involves building a business, organize your thoughts, print the laws of organization, pray over them, mark off each one as they are fulfilled.
I’ve had people say to me that they have a dream and no way do they know how to get started much less make the business a success.
For example: there is an person who wants to create a food delivery service. He thought that it was a small business and was asking for a website to help boost his home business.
My alert antennas went up. I did some basic research and came up with some regulations involving the food industry: IRS guidelines involving home businesses; Obtaining an Employer Identification Number from IRS: USDA certification; Secretary of State (certificate of formation); county and city regulations including various health food permits, filing a “doing business as” with the county clerk’s office, and obtaining and maintaining insurance for a business and vehicular insurance for delivery.
The list was much more detailed (including creating and maintaining employee payroll). I sent my “basic tips” to this person adding a note stating “and you thought you had a small business.”
What I outlined is the administrative part of a business; this didn’t include the responsibilities for obtaining the building, kitchen equipment, ordering supplies, maintaining inventory, and hiring the cook, supervising the employees, etc.
These responsibilities, the administrative, the employees, the product, hasn’t even reached the level of marketing the product, which is a separate and thoughtful and no less creative level.
God doesn’t think small, neither should you; however, bear in mind how regulations affect your dream and include them in your planning stages:
- My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)
- The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
4th: Do not exclude God from any stage of the dream, your planning, your execution of your dream. He is integral. He gave you your dream.
If you don’t have a dream and you are wandering around not knowing what you should be doing, pray. Pray to the One who made you, Who knows you, Who loves you, Who died so that you could live.
If you are wanting a spouse…follow the same principles, pray to God, outline the virtues of the person you are seeking:
- Believes in God/Jesus Christ,
- Is a prayer warrior,
- Is of the opposite sex,
- Is honest and of high integrity,
- Is handsome/beautiful,
- Believes in loyalty to the spouse,
- Likes to work (either in a business or in the home),
- Likes children (if you want children)
- Likes humor — one who will laugh with me and not at me
Be specific–this is the person with whom you will live with, hopefully, through old age.
Finally, don’t forgot to honor the Lord with all of your substance: Tithe, give offerings, sacrifice to the Lord so that He can multiply your abundance.
I am being reminded that I had a dream for a sleigh bed. Some of the images I had seen were just not what I wanted or they were too expensive–I don’t want to spend $800 for sleigh bed. I hung to my dream believing I would someday own one.
Then one day, I had an individual on Facebook selling furniture. I made an off-hand remark stating I was interested in an affordable sleigh bed. He said he had some in inventory and we agreed he would send me a photo for viewing. To my surprise, yes, he did have the type of sleigh bed I was interested in and it was less than $200.00! I bought it within a few days after I saw the photo. It was the right size, the right color, the right style (a bit conservative–but my style), and the right price.
The same concept applies if you are buying a house. I remember the Lord giving me a desire to buy a house, but I distinctly remember thinking “would you like a fireplace in it?” I remember thinking “how many rooms do you want?” “How many bathrooms should it have?”
What’s surprising to me is that I didn’t know it was God speaking to me. Thank you Lord!
- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
I like the research that it takes to complete His articles. I will spend time reviewing mini videos to see which ones “speak” to my topic, easy to view, easy to understand, easy to accept.
That’s a great deal of my adventure–the research. There are so many points of view on what seemingly is the same topic. I will only use those that are direct to scripture.
My thanks to all those who are courageous enough to download their “thoughts” on scripture and actually make a viewable video for others to enjoy.
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SeashoreMary
