Search

Decries hate organizations and hatemongers in the United States.

In my years of studying the Bible, I have found several spiritual principles to be very appealing. I have read the promises about the possibility of being an overcomer. In the seven letters of Revelation 2 and 3, one reoccurring thing is the promises to the overcomers. If one thinks about it, you can either be an overcomer or be overcome. The choice is easy: I would rather be an overcomer. I have read the verses about the possibility of living life daily aided by heavenly wisdom. Listen to James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him.” I have often asked the church, “On any given day, how often do we need the wisdom to make decisions and find needed direction?” To answer that question with “one hundred” would be conservative. To add to wisdom, we are told that we can tap into the heavenly supplies of strength, energy, power, and patience. According to James 1:5, God’s not going to fuss at you if you keep coming back again and again asking for more. The key to these and all the promises of the Bible are found in the discipline of a daily quiet time. When I was in college, with God’s help, I developed this discipline to attribute any spiritual success, any success, in my Christian life to the help I have found in this daily time with God and my Bible. To remove any excuses, I have written devotionals for my church. We have started in chapter 1, verse 1, of a book in the Bible and have worked our way through it. We have covered Genesis, Exodus, Philippians, and Leviticus, to mention a few; and as long as God gives me strength, we will continue. The pages in this book contain our thoughts and our understanding of our journey through Exodus.

Power can be either constructive or destructive. Many have habits, lifestyles, and toxic relationships that have and do prove themselves destructive. People also have many habits, lifestyles, and healthy relationships that have and do prove themselves constructive. Ideally, what we want is to remove all the destructive powers in our lives and incorporate the constructive powers. The Power of a Vision is about a necessary constructive power that we all need. 2 Peter 1:9, referring to people who are not doing the hard work it takes to grow in the Lord, says this creates a sight problem. But the sight problem is specific; it's not a problem with seeing things that are before you, but it says that these people are "blind and cannot see far off." We'll have much to say about this passage in 2 Peter 1 within these pages, but for now, consider the specific sight issue created. Furthermore, consider the problems this sight issue will create. We serve a god of revelation. God desires to remove the veil and reveal. If something is hidden, its existence can be questioned; but if it's revealed, one cannot deny its existence. What a constructive power to see what God has planned, to be fully persuaded by what you see. What you see influences your daily decisions. What you see influences the directions your lives go. It is the nature of any journey that if you travel the right direction, with enough miles, you will arrive at your desired destination. How many are miles and miles away from God's perfect plan, all because they have no vision? Hellen Keller, when asked about her blindness, said, "Worse than not having sight is to have sight but no vision."

This book started out as devotionals written weekly for a Sunday school class. I teach a young adult Sunday school class, and I regularly challenge them to develop the discipline of a daily quiet time. In hopes of removing any and all excuses, I provided them with these devotionals. During the week, I would study and write five devotionals, then I would provide these each Sunday. I would explain that they only needed five devotionals because if they came to church on Wednesday and Sunday, that would take care of the other two days. This book is not meant to be any kind of a commentary on the book of Genesis. How I approached this each week was, I read Genesis every day, and I stopped at every place where I received a thought. I would then take out my books on Genesis and study the passage, and I would write a short devotional. My hope for this book has not changed since they were originally written. I still hope these devotionals will inspire you to develop the important discipline of a daily quiet time. Maybe you've read the story about Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38–42. Jesus used three words to describe Martha. He said she was "cumbered" in verse 40. The basic meaning of this word is that Martha was distracted. How easy it is to lose focus on all the important things. He said she was "careful" in verse 41. The basic meaning of this word is that she was anxious. He said she was "troubled" in verse 41. The basic meaning of this word is to be worried to the point of disturbed. How many do these words describe them? Jesus said one thing was needed, and Mary had chosen it. Just sit at Jesus's feet.