Pressing Through Continued...

Remember that life begins with an empty canvas of your mind, and if you do not fill it with what God has called you to do, Satan will fill it with his will.

2 Timothy 2:22-26 (KJV)
²² Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
²³ But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
²⁴ And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
²⁵ In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
²⁶ And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Our worse enemy could be ourselves if we do not know who we are in Christ and what our specific purpose is in life.

Notice what verse 25 states "...instructing those that oppose themselves...", this self opposition comes as a result of ignorance. 

Hosea 4:6 (KJV)
6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.  

Hosea states that the people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because they have rejected knowledge. It does not say that they had no knowledge, but the rejecting of the knowledge of God is the issue.

God is the one who has every human beings best interest at heart. His will is that mankind would prosper in every area of life. It is His intent that we live an abundant life and fulfill the plan and purpose He has placed in every single one of us.

Luke 22:31-32 (KJV)
³¹ And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
³² But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Notice what Jesus’ prayer for Simon was that his faith would not fail. Faith is what will liberate you to walk in your vision. Faith is an action of what you believe. What you believe is what you see with your mind’s eye. In other words, believing comes from what you can imagine with your mind. What you do not want to happen is to turn your vision into a dream. It is OK to dream, but we need to take what God has personally spoken to our hearts and allow for that word to become the vision for our lives. If vision is delayed, it will become a dream. Dreams are inspiring, but if faith is not applied to that dream, that is how it will remain.

Joel 2:28 (KJV)
²⁸ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see vision.

There is a time frame for you to operate in the vision God has placed in you. Pressing through the different obstacles that will want to sway you from your purpose in life is what will give you the experience you need to weather the different storms you will face. Any person that has made a decision to fulfill the vision God has placed in them and use it to glorify God, will face opposition. Notice that it is the young men who have vision and the old men who have dreams. Nothing wrong with dreams, but if that is all it is, that is what it will remain; just a dream. Dreams inspire, but vision changes things. 

We want to impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the different parts of the body of Christ. Everyone of us have a specific part we play in fulfilling the plan of God for mankind. 

Psalm 112:7, 8 (KJV)
⁷ He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

⁸ His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

Fixing our hearts on the vision God places in us is what keeps it in focus.

The word “fix” means prepare, ready, stand. Fixing our hearts is what gives us the strength to press through the circumstances of life.

James 1:8 (KJV)
⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Being double minded makes you unstable, likewise, being single minded makes you stable, fixed, prepared, ready and standing.

You will only do what you can see with your mind’s eye. You may have heard of the old expression that “seeing is believing”, but that is a misnomer. Seeing is knowing; you do not have to believe for something that you possess or can see. Once you physically have what you believed for, you no longer need to believe that you receive; you know that you have it in your possession. What you can imagine in your mind’s eye is what you will believe; this is what activates faith to take what you are believing for. Faith makes what you believe and makes it a reality.

This is where reaching forward comes into play. You must maintain a constant pressing for that which you believe for.

Philippians 3:13-14 (KJV)
¹³ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

In order to reach your goals you are going to have to press through.

You must forget the past so that you can function in your future. Your future is already born in you; your part is to discover what it is so you can fulfill it.

Isaiah 46:8-13 (KJV)
⁸ Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
⁹ Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
¹¹ Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
¹² Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
¹³ I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

God has already declared the end from the beginning. (Verse 10) A vision is a completed work. You start the end at the beginning. God declares it because it requires your faith to engage your future. 

According to 2 Corinthians 4:13 faith is believing and speaking. We must declare, verbally, out loud, what God has promised us. This is where vision begins, with your verbal declaration of what your vision is. 

The word “Declare” means to manifest, to announce (always by word of mouth to one present); specially to expose, predict, a report of crucial importance, to explain or reveal something one does not otherwise know.

God is the one who makes known the end from the beginning and does this through a word. This word becomes our vision. Vision becomes our purpose.

You must determine not to allow yourself to become stuck in the realm of mediocrity and procrastination. We are the ones that are responsible for keeping our vision alive and moving in the world. Faith is always generating life and brings fulfillment to our lives. As we do what we are called to do in life, we will experience fulfillment and fullness of joy. This is what we would call living, not just existing.

What follows is a plan of action. No future can be known without a plan of action. Faith declared stands alone if there is no action. 

James 2:17 (KJV)
17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 
Faith without works or corresponding actions, is dead. In other words, your vision will never come to pass without using faith the way Jesus instructed us to. We must say and act for faith to make vision come to pass. 

This will require a plan of action, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. 

Make the decision to move forward in life, not allowing the circumstances of life to cause you to draw back to mediocrity and complacency. 

Remember, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Press toward the mark!