Do you have a plan for today?

Do you have a vision for today?

Proverbs 29:18 in the King James Version says:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

According to Strong’s Concordance the Hebrew word for vision is H2372 and it means:

“vision; vision in an ecstatic state; divine communication”

Even though ecstatic isn’t in the King James Bible. . .dicitonary.com defines it as:

“a state of sudden, intense, overpowering emotion; full of joy, rapturous”

The meaning of the Hebrew word for perish in Proverbs 29:18 is different than you might think.

We live in interesting, challenging, sinful times of unparalleled conflict.

I think it’s obvious . . . that the soul of our nation is literally at stake.

Pagan religions are celebrated and esteemed above the Judeo-Christian values that have shaped us as a people and a nation.

Some of the presidential candidates and government officials believe that if you’ve been successful your wealth needs to be redistributed to those who have less and even those who don’t work at all. And, by the way, you don’t get to choose who it’s given to.

Redistribution of wealth is mentioned in the scriptures in Matthew 25 when the money held by the wicked servant was given to the one who had been an effective steward.  But that’s another teaching.

Let’s establish this point. . .our nation is facing a financial and spiritual famine.   In the midst of all the economic uncertainty. . .it’s time to dig a new well.

Your future is better than your past.  No matter how good or bad your past may have been you have the scriptural assurance that your future is brighter.

You’ve got to know the God who is bigger than any problem you face. . .or any adversity of the enemy. . .He isn’t through with you yet.  Not only that. . .BUT GOD has great plans for you.

Two years ago, I read a great book by Pastor Stan Toler entitled “The Buzzards Are Circling But God Is Not Through With Me Yet.”

Remember this!  Enemy attacks against you may have been relentless BUT GOD is not through with you yet.

The enemy can try to take you out. . .but He can’t because, you win.

Breast cancer tried to take me out. . .but it didn’t.  Over the years, other attacks of the enemy have failed. . .and you know what. . .they always will.

I keep hearing people say. . .I’m just looking for the right opportunity.

More often than not. . .most people aren’t looking for an opportunity. . .they’re waiting for it to knock on the door and say “here I am.”

It doesn’t work that way.

Thomas Edison, the inventor, once said:

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Sometimes an opportunity is right before us but we’ve been so blinded by our circumstances that we can’t see the obvious.

God promised Abraham and Sarah a son.  After a number of years, Sarah decided she was going to help God.  So Sarah gave Hagar, her hand maiden, to Abraham and she bore Ishmael, a son.

After that, there was trouble in the tents.  In fact, Sarah asked Abraham to kick Hagar and Ishmael out of the camp.

Anne Frank once said:

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”

When God looks inside of us. . .He doesn’t see the failures of the past. . .but rather the potential for our future.

He sees potential in us. . .we’ve never seen or didn’t even know we have.

Let me ask each of us two questions.

Do we think God can create amazing opportunities where they didn’t previously exist?

Do we think. . .God has unlimited potential?

General Douglas MacArthur once said:

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.”

Quitting and, for that matter, persistence is clearly visible to our Lord.

Revelation 2:19 in the Message Bible says:

“I see everything you’re doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day.”

Would you believe there are seven keys in this short verse?  I thought about teaching the scripture but I was clearly directed to go in a different direction.

Persistence is always. . .the decision of winners.

Persistence, patience, perspiration and especially, prayer. . .make an unbeatable combination for success.

“Prepare while others are daydreaming” is a powerful statement made by William Arthur Ward in his Blueprint For Achievement.

H. Jackson Browne said:

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

What preparations have you made for today?  Have you written your to-do list for the tomorrow?

Robert H Schuller said:

“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”

I want you to write down the next five words. . .if you get nothing else from this blog…these five words when properly applied will change your destiny.

Here it is.

I’m reminded of an airplane flight I took some years ago.  I was sitting in first class and the two men across the aisle were discussing how they were going to become filthy rich.

One of the men noticed that I had more than a passing interest in their conversation.  He directed his comments at me and inquired, “Do you want to be filthy rich too?”  I said, “No, I don’t want to be filthy at anything.”

Then I quoted Proverbs 10:22:

“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

I said for me to be filthy would be sorrowful.

The man said “You must be one of those name it and claim Christians.”

I said if it’s in the Bible I will name it and claim the promise as mine.

He said, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Christian.”  Then he quoted Psalm 118:24 which says:

It's your year. . .it's your time.

A couple of weeks ago we shared ten questions to help accelerate your 2016 TurnAround. 

Several days ago I was stirred to share the questions again.  Frankly, I questioned the Lord by pointing out. . .as if He didn't know. . .that I had already shared the questions.

He then directed me to provide my answers as a way of encouraging others to answer the questions as well.

I want to assure you this isn't some meaningless exercise.  When you answer the ten questions. . .you will feel energized about your new year.

Here are the ten questions.

Are you willing and ready to be the change the world needs?

The real question is. . .are you willing to change regardless of what other people think or the consequences that will happen around you?

Exodus 2:14 in the New Living Translation says:

“The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”  Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.”

Moses wanted to change the plight of the children of Israel.  In a fit of moral outrage he slayed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite.

As he began to fully realize the implications of his actions. . .he knew things were going to change.

There are times when we want change to come but we must also be willing to consider the consequences of our actions.

Despite spending years on the backside of the desert . . . running from and making excuses to God . . . Moses was used to led the children of Israel through the wilderness for forty years until he delivered them to the door of the Promised Land.

Exodus 3:17-20 in the New Living Translation says: