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Morton Church of Christ |
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Faith’s Vision ( Hab.1:1-5 "Look at the nations and watch and be utterly
amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you
would not believe, even if you were told….”
It is not within man to see the future except Almighty God
in His mercy give a glimpse for the sake of hope and endurance. DT 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but
the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever,
that we may follow all the words of this law.” and
again
“PR 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a
matter is the glory of kings.” Even
though mankind has limited ability to see the future, they can
envision a future different from the one they presently labor
under. It is the
pursuit of dreams and
the possibility of their being realized that give drive and
energy and focus to life. I am willing to accept that without
vision, people perish. (Prov.29:18 KJV) What
we have at work in our lives are two visions, God’s perfect
sight and our limited viewing. When big things happen in the
ordinary lives of humanity is when mans limited view is lifted to
a greater vision by laying hold of what God envisions. (maybe God
does the laying hold of) These moments
of clarity are when men and woman stand in the presence of God
and He touches them with purpose, His purpose. As a people we are
the recipient and the participant and the instrument. We are the
recipient of the vision of the past. We are the participants of
the calamity of the present. And finally, we are the instruments
with which the future will become the recipients of, as they
clamor about in their calamities. The big
question is what does that future look like? Another question
that might be worth asking is: is this present the future that
our predecessors envisioned? Some food for thought – if the
future the past was envisioning was inspired by the touch and
presence of God and that future looked different in their minds
than this present reality, what happened? Sin! Sin is
what robs all futures of their fulfillment as perceived by God.
Think about it, think how all the good and great things in life
have been affected by sin. Think about what your own lives would
look like if sin had not shaped you. (not just your own personal
sin but also, and maybe especially, the sin perpetrated against
you) Rest assured, Satan uses every advantage to warp and
frustrate and destroy the perfect plans of the Father so that His
vision and desire and will come out missing the mark. Consider the
men and woman who have labored here in this congregation whose
lives, because of sin brought ruin instead of success. Consider
how lives have been changed because sin fouled up their present
and altered this future we now call our present. We can likely
look around and see where people we have known, who are now not
here, because sin and its effects moved them out our presence and
maybe even out of God’s presence. Repentance and forgiveness are the solutions for lives and visions torn apart and altered by the devastation and havoc that sin brings into peoples lives and into the life and health and vision of churches. The future, if it is to be God’s future, will be as He envisions when His people be His people and maintain the holiness of His presence. The future is waiting for you to be what God is calling you to.
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