“Where there is no vision, the people perish” — Proverbs 29:18 (NIV)
Somewhere in the winter of 1989 while attending Oral Roberts University for an MBA degree, the whole campus of thousand students was called for assembly in the university chapel. The founder, Oral Roberts, had a message he wished to deliver.
After bursting through America and beyond as a tent evangelist winning souls for Christ, Oral Roberts, who had come to Christ after being miraculously restored to health while a terminal patient of tuberculosis, had decided to start this university. “Long ago this land used to be farmland,” he shared. “But I used to come here and stretch my hand and pray that God would give it to me and I build a university.”
This vision came to fruition in 1963 when the university was opened. Today it stands on a 300 acre beautiful campus filled with the most grandiose architecture as one of the most influential Christian universities in the world. It has over 5000 students attending from all over the world.
Later in 1996 I moved to Wheaton, Illinois where I met a Christian leader called Dr Glenn Heck. Once Dr Gleck, as Chair of the Elders Board of Wheaton Bible Church, he told me a story how he noticed that his church was situated in a rather inconvenient downtown area which would hinder its growth. He decided to scout for land. “I came across this bushy forest far from Wheaton which I desired the church to relocate,” he shared. “I would come here regularly and pray that the Lord gives us this land!”
In 2008, after buying and setting up a new building, the church eventually moved to West Chicago providing her ample land for expansion.
Acts 2:17 says, "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams” There are visions that God gives his people to hold on to certain things long before anyone knows.
These two people had visions from God about certain pieces of land that were bushy which they constantly cried out to God to give to them. While all situations may not be exactly the same, even today, God is giving His people visions. All you need is to have faith and constantly plea to God to make it pass. The Lord never fails.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the visions you have given me and I stretch out my hand claiming that promise that in your time you make it pass, too, this I pray in Jesus’s name.
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06/05/2024 - 07/05/2024 All day“Do not confirm to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2)
Almost all cultivators are aware that if soils are used perpetually without rains but constantly under work they are deprived of all nutrients. So, though once productive, they lose all power to yield fresh crops as before. But so is our Christian life when we do not regularly feed our spirit life with the Word!
In our leading verse, the Apostle Paul is urging believers to “renew” their minds rather than make them stale, lest they end up losing all power to yield fruit. But how is this done? We renew our minds by constantly reading the Word of God, for there are always insights with God speaking to us afresh. Psalm 119:104-5 says, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The Apostle Peter reminds us, “Like newborn babies hungry for milk, you should want the pure teaching that feeds your spirit. With it you can grow and be saved.” It is a beautiful illustration for any who have seen a hungry baby sucking the teats of a mother.
Renewing our minds is also by reading about the lives of people of faith who have walked before us and their created works. The Christian faith started in the first century after Jesus was crucified and resurrected from the dead. Now over two millenniums it has produced giants of faith who have shared their walk with God through inspired teachings that are a treasure to dig into. By scouring the writings of the great saints before us, listening to their recorded sermons, songs and preaching, which these days can be found on virtual medial channels like Yu tube, reading their biographies, our faith is renewed.
And then we also renew our faith through fellowship. When the Apostle Paul urges us, “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” ( Hebrews 10:25), he is reminding us that our faith cannot grow in isolation. During the Covid pandemic lockdown one bitter issue was denying Believers opportunity to meet fellow followers of Christ to share testimonies showing the work of God in their lives.
So today, if your faith is on a low keel, or you want it to flower, one thing you can’t help doing without is “renewing” your mind. The blessings to unfold are endless.
Prayer for today:Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a treasure we have of your rich Word to dig into always; books around us of faith to inspire us; and believers to share our faith- may we make use of these, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
