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THE
HEAVENLY
VISION
Acts
26:19(King James Version)
"Whereupon,
O king Agrippa, I
was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:"
In every generation,there have been people who have caught and pursued
different kinds of visions; and some of these people have been
celebrated in various history books. But there is a type of
vision that brings glory to God,and salvation to mankind-'the heavenly
vision'. It is a divine package that delivers the complete solution to
any human problem. It is the summation of all that God has called
mankind to be,to do,and to have. It involves God's use of human agents
for it to be fulfilled. It is bigger than anyone, and it is
multifaceted in nature.It is God's will that no one is 'disobedient
unto the heavenly vision'.
To understand how any one can be 'obedient unto the heavenly vision',we
shall examine the book of Nehemiah in the Bible.
Nehemiah 1:1(King James
Version)
"The words of Nehemiah the
son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the
month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,"
Nehemiah is an example of a person that was 'obedient unto the
heavenly vision'. The heavenly vision on this occasion was the
rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He became 'burdened' with the the
heavenly vision; and this 'burden' led him into earnest and fervent
prayer unto God 'the vision giver' (Neh. 1 : 4-11). Thereafter he
sought to fulfill the vision by using the opportunities available to
him to access the resources needed (Neh. 2 : 1-8).
Nehemiah 2:16-18(King James
Version)
"And the rulers knew
not whither I went, or what I did;
neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to
the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work"
"Then said I unto
them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how
Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire:
come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a
reproach."
"Then I told them
of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also
the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise
up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work."
Nehemiah displayed leadership skills to mobilise and motivate others to
catch the heavenly vision and use their different gifts and talents to
pursue it .
Nehemiah 2:10,19(King James Version)
"When Sanballat the
Horonite, and Tobiah the servant,
the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was
come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel."
"But when Sanballat
the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite,
and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and
despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel
against the king?"
There are people who seek to destroy the heavenly vision by
diverting,weakening,deceiving,and frustrating those who are trying to
fulfill the heavenly vision.
Nehemiah 2:20(King James
Version)
"Then answered I them,
and said unto them, The God of
heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and
build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."
Such people are handled with the meekness of wisdom (James 3:13);
instead of descending to fight them at their own level of
ungodliness.
Romans 15:4(King James Version)
"For whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope."
To become a lover of God and his work like Nehemiah everyone has to
become a covenant child of God. This is possible by entering into a
covenant relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. To do
this,one has to repent of one's sins and believe in Jesus Christ as
one's personal Lord and Saviour (Acts 2:38). If one is favoured by God
to be the first person to catch the vision,one (the visionary) needs a
network of other people especially other covenant children of God to
fulfill it. For the heavenly vision to be fulfilled,'the visionary'
also needs to fully depend on God the vision giver. And if one is
favoured by God to support 'the visionary',one should make one's
contribution 'as unto the Lord'. When confronting enemies of the
vision,one should remember not 'to wrestle against flesh and
blood (Eph 6:12)' or 'to fight with carnal weapons' (2 Cor. 10:3-6).
Nehemiah 6:15-16(King James Version)
"So the wall was finished
in the twenty and fifth day of the month
Elul, in fifty and two days."
"And it came to
pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all
the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast
down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought
of our God."
The fulfillment of the heavenly vision brings shame to its enemies; joy
to the network of its supporters;and glory to God its giver.
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