The Vision Sermon

Today I’ll be giving The Vision Sermon. I’m not a preacher,

but this will be good, I promise you.  Raise Your Hands Up High

and Shout, “Glory Be to My Success!” I’m not sure if that

was blasphemy or not.  So if we have any Christians in the house, forgive a brother. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to anybody.

Now, Let me get this out of the way immediately:

Every vision has enemies, brace yourself for adversity!

All this talk about creating a compelling vision, writing down goals

and visualising will not make sense to the average person.

The average folks will not realise the value and the power

of these simple habits. They will laugh at you and poke fun at you.

So be ready to fend off small minds. And remember,

God doesn’t choose the qualified, he qualifies the chosen. 

Choose yourself to be the force that will triumph over despair, hardships, excuses and complaints.

So, what should you do to bring your vision to life?

There’s a big chance that you won’t have all the clarity you need right from the start.  Sometimes your journey will take you to strange lands and require you to do strange deeds. Strange is not a bad thing, it’s just a measure of your conformity.  A strange deed to you may be a normal ritual to someone else.

To understand your vision you must walk in it. You must be actively involved in making your goals come true. Dr. Martin Luther King

puts it this way, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see

the whole staircase, just take the first step”. The revelation will appear as you continue your journey.

As you mature in your pursuit, your understanding grows as well.  

You can't live your entire life on neutral, that’s boring and uninspiring.  Stretch your comfort zone and move beyond it.  Don’t shrink your dreams to fit reality, expand reality to fit your goals.

The accomplishment of any worthwhile goal takes time. Focus all your strengths and resources the mission critical objectives. Don't start and stop.  Don't be discouraged – be brave and persistent, holding steadily to your faith (the belief that you will succeed) and the glorious possibilities that lay ahead for you.  Don't be pushed by your fears; be led by your dreams.

You will obviously go through some rough patches and heart breaking challenges.  That’s just part of the journey. When you’re going through hell – keep going.  You only experience turbulence when you are flying high through the air and chasing dreams, never when you’re safely tucked away in the corner of your closet.

Whenever you’re facing a raging storm that threatens to derail you from achieving your goals, remember one thing: This too shall pass.   When you give up on your vision, your vision will fade and die. Death is nasty. How many visions are you really gonna bury in your lifetime? Remember also that where there is no vision, the people perish.  It stinks where the people have perished, the stench of decay is overwhelming.  Get up and get busy. Chase that goal with all your might.  And value your time:  You will not go far if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks. Get your priorities in order. And if something doesn’t help you achieve your goals, why are you even thinking about it?

Every vision will certainly face some forces of resistance.  This resistance could be in the form of your negative friends, it could be the voice in your head telling you to quit and try something easier, it could be your tired brain encouraging you to sleep another half hour.  Don’t give in to these forces.  Stay in your vision.  Most average people want great victories but they’re afraid of taking on the great challenges that come with playing in the big leagues.  Run your race. Finish your course.  You will be criticized by those who lack your understanding and your resolve, this will teach you to grow a backbone and stay true to your values.  Stay in the race, you will be justly rewarded if you can hang on long enough. More still needs to be done:  Even when you’re making good progress, don’t stop learning, don’t stop growing.  Success is a journey, never a destination.  Keep moving – keep hustling – keep winning. Also, be Trustworthy: If you’re not faithful in the small things, no one will ever trust you to be faithful with big things.  Consequently, you will not receive the big things.

Your vision will push you into new and unfamiliar territory; it will cause you to break free from the shackles of your comfort zone.  Properly structured goals help you develop new habits.  They cause you to become a bigger and a better person.  Your ambition will force you to be creative and solution-oriented in your approach to seeming obstacles.  Your belief that there's a way, and your resolve to go out and find it will see you surmount even the largest obstacles imaginable.

Vision will teach you dependability. Vision will require you to choose the hard and difficult things.  But you will not see this as a curse, let’s call it growth. You don’t grow without a challenge.  You don’t develop by simply doing the easy things or by being a coward.  Growth requires character. Be bold in your vision.

You can't get ahead when you trying to get even:  Don’t keep up with the Jones’s – overtake them and watch them eat your dust.  Be like a duck, don’t let the muddy waters of your enemies penetrate your feathers. Let it bounce of you and fall to the ground.  Shake yourself dry and going.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help either:  Find a mentor, a coach, or an accountability partner to help you get where you’re going.

One last thing, remember that tone is in your fingers, not in your resources: Start where you are with what you have and do what you have do to become what you need to become and have what you want to have.