Vision has always been a primary means of communication from God to man. He has communicated to us through written words, dreams and visions. The Holy Spirit has always been the person to present the word to us through these methods of communication. Any time God spoke, it activated man’s imagination for the purpose of productivity.
We have words written today because of the decision Adam made in the Garden of Eden to disobey God's word. If Adam had not done this, I believe that we would not have needed “written words” to know what God wanted man to do; but rather, spoken words.
Fortunately, even in the face of disobedience, God still made a way for His spoken word to be known by mankind.
God gave man creative rights once He created him. These creative rights came through the same channel that God uses and that is words. Once words are spoken, they become vision.
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Now, because of sin, having the right mental image is vital to the release of man’s potential. Once this is established; we then have the responsibility to know who we are, what we have in Jesus Christ, and our purpose, in order to operate with God's creative word.
For example, lets read John 1:1-3 (KJV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by him (the word); and without him (the word) was not any thing made that was made.
I placed the emphasis in the scripture for you to see what the word says. All things were made by the word of God. God's word is creative.
Look at Genesis 1:1-3 (KJV)
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
How did God create the Heaven and the earth? By what He said, this came from His mind. We can see that God made or created what He had imagined. Imagination comes from vision. If a vision stays in your mind, nothing will ever happen. It requires the vehicle of words to make what is in your mind a reality. This is how powerful words are, they create things.
Habakkuk 2:2 (KJV)
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
What does the word “write” mean? It means to describe, prescribe, record. If we are to see what God has placed in us to do, it will require a description of the vision. Any visionary must be able to describe what their vision is in life. If you cannot describe it, then you will be out of focus with where you are going in life.
God is very specific about what we are to do in life. Each and every one of us has a specific assignment from God. It takes constant effort on our part to fulfill that assignment. This is why Satan tries to tempt us and distract us from our purpose in life.
Let’s look at the life of King David, one of Israel’s greatest leaders, and how God chose him because of his loyal heart, but he was diverted from his purpose in life. He began as a keeper of sheep, fighting off the animals that would attack the flock. Then, he faced Goliath, and defeated him. This led to what God had prophesied regarding his life; to be King of Israel.
1 Samuel 16:11-12 (KJV)
11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.
David was chosen by God to lead the Israelites. During his reign as King, David lost sight of the vision God placed in him.
Let’s look at this story in 2 Samuel 11:1-2 (KJV)
1. And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
When David evaded his Kingly responsibility, he lost sight of the vision and was captivated by another vision; a type of vision that has taken down many leaders in our day. David should have been focused on what he was called to do; he broke the boundary of his protection, and opened the door to defeat. If he had been in the place God had appointed him to be, he would have never faced this temptation.
His defeat came as a result of being diverted from his vision to another vision that has destroyed the lives of millions. Maintaining your vision will keep you in your place. David was distracted from his place. When vision becomes blinded by other visions, it can become convoluted; visions that would cause hurt and pain.
It only takes one second of compromise to open up the door to an ungodly vision. Once David awoke from his rest, he walked out onto the balcony and saw Bathsheba bathing, and he had, another vision that took him away from God's original plan for his life.
This did cost him the honor of his position as King, as well as the life of his first born. Going off track from what God has placed in you to accomplish comes with a great price.
I use this story because it illustrates how easily we can become distracted from what God has purposed in us to accomplish.
This leads me to encourage you to do what makes every believer consistent to the vision God has placed in you and that is to water the vision through the word of God. God’s word keeps and protects the vision.
The second commandment God gave man is noted in Genesis 2:15 (KJV)
15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
The word “keep” means to guard and protect. It was the man’s responsibility to guard and protect the garden, not the woman. This means that God placed some boundaries for man to maintain the vision of multiplying and replenishing, which is the first commandment.
Man’s disobedience opened up the door to fear. In the beginning, God communicated His word to Adam and Eve in person. But after the fall, their communication with God was cut off through the limitation of fear. Fear became the basis to how they began to receive input.
Genesis 3:8 (KJV)
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Man needed to retrain his mind to receive what God said through faith, and not fear. The fact that they “hid” themselves gives us the foundation to what we today deal with, in our society, and that is a poor self-image.
Having the right mental image of you is what allows for prosperity to take place in your life. If we do not see ourselves the way God wants us to think of ourselves, we could potentially abort the vision God placed in us to fulfill.
This is why it is so important to hear the word of faith on a daily basis. I will go as far as saying that we do not have an option as to whether we should hear the word or not, it is of the highest necessity. Your soul demands the nourishment of the word of God, without the word of God, our souls would starve.
The word of God is our soul’s only life source. Every other word will not develop the soul of man the way the word of God will. Once we make up our minds to place Gods word as the number one priority in our lives, we will begin to see exactly what we were called to do in life, Gods vision will reign.
I will close with Proverbs 4:20-23 (KJV)
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
This Proverb states it all in a nutshell, give attention or first place to the word of God, your life depends on it.