SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #112 ---- 3/6/00
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
As We fight The Good Fight
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #112 ---- 3/6/00
TITLE: "Vision ---- It's Destruction" (Part Nine in series of twelve)
My Dear Co-Laborer in Kingdom Ventures:
Gratitude and deep appreciation for you fill my heart just now as I write
again. I still can't get over the privilege God has given me to share my
heart with so many wonderful men and women in so many places around the
world.
You are a very special blessing to me. Who could have ever imagined
such a privilege would be mine! Thank you.
LEGITIMATE VIRUS WARNING:
If you have received my letters for any length of time, you know I am an
avid critic of hoax virus warnings. However, because I know the man who
sent me the following to be highly knowledgeable (he manages over 100
Christian e-mail lists, including my own), I pass this warning on to you
---- and, for once, urge you to pass it on to others. Here is Glen's
warning:
-----------------
Hot off the press:
There's a worm going around right now via e-mail attachment called
"pretty park.exe." It affects Win98/NT, but it bombs on Win2K. So if you
get an e-mail attachment with the name "C:CoolprogsPretty Park.exe,"
don't open it. If you do run it, it'll install itself in your system and
SPAM everyone in your address book with a copy of itself every 30mins.
It also tries to connect to a specific IRC channel, as a way to help
someone further compromise your system.
--
welovegod.org - THE Place to Associate!
http://www.welovegod.org
Over 100 Inspirational/Technical E-mail Lists
welovegod.org/lists.html
------------------------
VISION THUS FAR:
Up to today we have looked at the following elements of vision:
1. The Definition of Vision ---- what it is and isn't (#104).
2. The Description of Vision ---- what it is like (#105).
3. The Demand for Vision ---- why it is necessary (#106).
4. The Discovery of Vision ---- how to find it (#107).
5. The Development of Vision ----required "ground rules" for a true
vision (#108A,B,C).
6. The Decisiveness of Vision ---- a "line in the sand" "no turning
back" requirement (#109).
7. The Danger of Vision ---- dangerous to have; dangerous to not have
(#110).
8. The Distractions from Vision ---- things that interfere with your
focus on your vision (#111).
Today we're going to examine theme number . . .
9. The Destruction of Vision ---- things that will kill a vision
(#112).
Then we'll finish the series by looking at . . .
10. The Death of Vision ---- the necessity of letting it die,
11 The Demonstration of Vision ---- what happens when you're "right on"
with your vision,
12. The Discipline of Vision ---- how to maintain the vision for the
duration.
What a blessing it has been for me to put in down on "paper" some of the
principles and lessons God has given me over the years. Sharing them
with you has been an indescribable thrill.
RARITY OF VISION:
One of the most tragic stories in all the Bible is found in I Samuel 3.
Eli, the priest, is apparently presiding in Shiloh, and his two sons,
Hophni and Phinehas, are evidently serving as his assistants. During
this time, a married couple from Ramah has a son named Samuel who is
eventually taken to Eli where he serves as an apprentice, ministering to
the Lord under Eli's tutelage.
Everything in the story seems to be normal ---- until you read verse one
in chapter three. "Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before
Eli, . . . . .
"and **word from the Lord was rare in those days, and visions were
infrequent."**
In other words, for some unidentified reason, neither Eli, his sons, or
anybody else was hearing from God. I mean, there was flat silence from
heaven, and nobody seemed to know why, and few people apparently even
cared.
Or at least they didn't care Enough.
That makes the fact that the young child Samuel did hear from God even
more amazing, doesn't it. It's just too bad that Eli was so out of touch
with God that it took three experiences before he finally considered what
it all might possibly be.
There are times when God speaks through the written word, through normal
channels, and through circumstances and other people, but there must be
those "Rhema" times (about which I wrote extensively last year) when God
reveals His purposes through both vision and visions.
I've tried to discern the difference in the two, and as far as I can
tell, it is mainly a matter of occasion and tenure. Visions (plural,
events) seem to get you through the moment, while real vision (singular),
"seeing what God sees" prepares you for the long haul.
So, when God wants you to really see what He sees, he doesn't rely on
your intellectual ability to analyze and understand what He is saying, or
give you a "quicky" course in hearing God through a momentary experience
---- it's far too important for just that.
He doesn't let you rely on the momentary upheaval of an extraordinary
experience or an emotional reaction to a need. He speaks on a much
deeper and profound level.
Bypassing your intellect and your emotions, He speaks divine reality into
your spirit regarding His plan for you ---- and let's you "see what He
sees". Then, somewhere down the line, your intellect and emotions catch
up to that reality.
Apparently Eli and his two scum bag sons weren't in a position to see
what God was seeing. Eli was not only nearly blind physically, but also
spiritually ---- and his boys took advantage of the fact. Take time to
read the story as found in the first four chapters of I Samuel. The
events are riveting, and the consequences of living without a vision are
devastating.
Have you ever wondered? ---- what happened that brought Eli to become a
man who ministered without a vision? He wasn't the last to become such a
pathetic specimen of a spiritual leader for a people.
Eli's visionless ministry cost him his integrity, his reputation, his
effectiveness, his health, and eventually his very life itself ----
simply because he didn't pay the price to protect and nurture the vision
God had given him years earlier.
So, God did two things ---- He took Eli and his boys out of the picture,
and He raised up another man, Samuel, to whom the vision was given. And,
Samuel became one of the most influential and powerful prophets in all of
Israel's early history. I'm so glad there was a young boy ministering to
the Lord who was available to catch a vision that would soon replace a
vision already lost and on the verge of being destroyed.
David may have been the boy who became king, but Samuel held a loftier
office ---- he was the man who picked the king.
This, then, brings us to an interesting question ---- "what does it take
to destroy a vision?"
THE DESTRUCTION OF A VISION:
I recently watched a minister as he spoke. You could tell there was more
to him than just a desire to serve God, or even a calling from God ----
there was fire burning in his very countenance. His eyes sparkled. His
words came with power and anointing.
His demeanor was that of a man consumed by something. Even quiet words
which he spoke cut the spirit like a hot knife slicing through butter.
He brought one of the most profound messages from a familiar passage that
I had heard in years.
He touched my heart. He made me want to jump up and yell, "Right On!"
It wouldn't have taken much more to make me become a "jumpin' and
shoutin'" preacher.
I also watched another minister speak at the same occasion. He also
preached from a familiar passage. He declared unadulterated truth in an
accurate, articulate, and animated way.
However, there was no life in his words. His eyes were dull ---- no,
they even seemed lifeless. In spite of the profound truth of his message
and the skill of his delivery, I came away sad ---- even grieving.
My heart went out to this man; he was my friend. Though he assured me
that everything was fine, I knew it wasn't. I am anxious for him. I am
fearful that he has a very painful future ahead. I am afraid he is
ministering with no vision, because something has stolen or destroyed it.
Talking with him reminded me of a time some fifteen years ago when a
friend asked me the same question ---- and I told the same lie;
"everything's great!"
Fortunately, my confronting friend didn't stop there. He told me I
looked tired ---- in my spirit, not just my body. He told me I had the
look of emotional fatigue and spiritual death in my eyes. He told me
something was wrong.
He was right.
This same week I heard a third man ---- an angry man, spitting out his
words like a Gatling Gun retaliating after an attack on its position.
What he said contained truth ---- but it also contained an enormous dose
of death, condemnation, and bitterness.
I had to check my own heart. I wanted to criticize and judge on the one
hand, while, on the other, I wanted to put my arms around him and let him
know I cared about the struggle he was having with an apparent angry and
unforgiving spirit.
It was a frustrating feeling ---- finding my own judgmentalism standing
in the way of ministering encouragement to an obviously wounded comrade
in arms.
Later the following day I tried to reach out to him and share my
appreciation for him, but he kept me at arm's length, ---- aloof and
distant. As we said "goodbye" to each other that night for the final
time, I sadly watched him walk away into the darkness, on his way to
another episode of angry bitter preaching somewhere down the road.
I wondered how many times that scenario would be repeated in coming
months.
Finally, I saw a woman sing. Oh, did she ever sing! There was life.
There was passion. There was a tenderness of heart crying out to a holy
God. Jo Ann and I were lifted into the heavenlies as she led us into
moments of the divine ecstasy of true worship.
There was hope. There was confidence.
There was vision.
There were others who also sang and preached. In a period of two days,
we listened to sixteen sermons and perhaps thirty or more vocal numbers.
Well over 90% of what we heard was permeated with the anointing presence
of a Holy God and a Compassionate Savior.
But a few proclaimed death ---- there was anger instead of passion ----
there was vindictiveness and despair instead of hope and encouragement,
coming from hearts no longer aflame with vision, but instead apparently
poisoned by some unknown angry pain.
As we came away from those days of ministry in which we participated, Jo
Ann and I were refreshed, encouraged, and emboldened to a higher level of
service and a deeper level of surrender to the things of God.
I came away with something else as well ---- a deep grief in my spirit .
. . .
For, while we were touched by men and women of God with fire in their
spirits, I also watched at least two men open the precious Word of God
and preach death ---- truth, but death. One, it seemed to me, preached
in despair; the other preached in angry bitterness.
I cannot tell you how deeply saddened I was ---- it is beyond ability to
describe what I felt. Even as I think about it now, I am grieved all
over again. Both men are my friends ---- but both are preaching and
ministering without vision ---- only regretful memories of something or
another in which there had been failure, disappointment, or hurt.
I thought to myself ---- "What happened, that these men preach without
vision and passion?" I'll probably never know.
And I'm still sad.
God used that experience to build a fresh blaze in my heart regarding the
preeminence of and the demand for a fresh vision. In doing so, the
question was raised in my heart ---- "Just what is it that can destroy
the vision in a man who once had one?"
Have you thought about that lately?
You see, dear friend, just as it is possible for a vision to be born,
renewed, and refined, it is also possible for it to be destroyed. It
seems to me these two men bear testimony to that fact ---- apparently
their vision, once there, was now gone ---- destroyed.
I know. . . . . . It has happened to me before.
So that brings me to a very important question: When is a vision
destroyed?
A VISION DESTROYED WHEN . . . :
1. The enemy steals it.
It seems we still haven't really caught the full implication of Jesus'
statement about Satan when He said, "The thief comes but to steal, kill,
and destroy."
There is a great difference between a thief and a robber. A robber
comes right up to you at an unexpected moment, sticks a gun in your face
and says, "give me what you have, or I'll blow you away!" When it
happens, you know you've been robbed, and you can immediately try to take
some type of evasive or at least remedial action.
A thief, however, doesn't work that way. He works silently rather than
blatantly. He slips in unnoticed rather than confronting you face to
face. His intents are hidden rather than openly flaunted. His methods
and tactics are secret rather than obvious.
His objective is to secretly steal, not openly rob. He doesn't want to
be detected until it's too late; a robber doesn't care, because he uses
force to intimidate you rather than deception to surprise you ---- or
even evade you, totally unnoticed.
Most of us who have had our vision destroyed saw it happen slowly and
unknowingly by the thief. Robbers we can often handle ---- thieves,
those hidden and secret things Satan uses, are often the real tactics
that beat us.
2. The world's cares smother it.
Jesus made it clear ---- "love not the world, neither the things that are
in it ---- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life." "All that is in the world . . . is not from the Father, but is
from the world." (I John 2:15-16)
The world has one objective in mind ---- drag you into its system,
convincing you to Do something (lust of the flesh), Have something (lust
of the eye), or Be somebody (pride of life) apart from what God has in
mind. It is like a magnet, always trying to draw your affections away
from your first love.
Mark it down, my friend ---- I know what I'm talking about, because I've
been there. I've had the world and its cares and pressures hide, drown,
or smother my vision more than once. Because the whole world ---- the
**Whole** world ---- lies in darkness and lies in the wicked one, such
intent and consequences should not surprise us.
And yet, many of us live as if the world is a harmless friend, allowing
ourselves to get sucked into systems, philosophies, values, and agendas
that are totally contrary to God's plan and purpose for us. Some say,
"well the world is passing away, so we don't have to deal with it. We'll
just look to Jesus' coming." They don't realize that before it goes,
it'll steal their vision unless they take an appropriate stand.
If we allow our time and attention to be filled with worldly
entertainment that is built on sensuality, happiness, and things, why
should we be surprised when we wake up some morning and find ourselves
trying to minister with no zeal, focus, or sense of purpose? We made our
own beds, and now it's time to lie in them. ----
Or climb out of them, repent, and get back where God is.
3. The Flesh rejects it.
Do you think, my friend, that we'll ever learn that the flesh wars
against the Spirit and visa versa, and that battle will never end?
Should it come as any surprise that there is always something deep within
us which totally despises the things of God, and no matter how long we
have followed Christ, if we are distracted just for a moment, those
feelings of independence, rebellion, and personal gratification and
grandioseness will come flooding to the surface again?
Oh, my kingdom partner, that will never change. And, nothing can destroy
a vision more quickly than the flesh ---- for there is nothing in the
flesh itself that wants to see what God sees. For to do so would be to
impose an indictment and judgement upon itself, and the flesh isn't about
to do that.
4. Man neglects it.
It doesn't take long for one in vocational ministry (or any work, for
that matter) to realize that a vision is like a delicate flower that
constantly requires attention and care. If it is neglected even for a
few days, it will begin to wither, and it will eventually dry up and die
---- destroyed by neglect.
When you see what God sees, you must always nurture it and keep it fresh.
You cannot give the vision proper attention while evading personal time
with God in prayer, allowing intense soul searching by the Holy Spirit,
neglecting time in His Holy Word, or being preoccupied with busy work,
maintenance activities, and "feel good" projects and events that look
spiritual but offer up nothing but works of the flesh.
5. Compromise.
I cannot tell you how many men and women I know who have allowed their
vision to be destroyed simply for a momentary lapse of judgement, a
lowering of the standard of conduct, or an effort to "negotiate"
themselves into a more acceptable and not too costly course of action.
Compromise comes in many shapes and forms, but it is still spelled the
same ---- betrayal of the vision of God and the God of the vision. Satan
has two punches left on his ticket ---- procrastination and compromise.
You don't dance with the Devil and come out a winner, my friend.
I can tell you unequivocally that if you make even the slightest
compromise of your convictions, your morals, your ethical conduct, or
your commitment to the vision, that vision will begin to disintegrate,
and will ultimately be destroyed.
Compromise may work at the union table, but it doesn't work in God's
kingdom. Compromise will destroy a vision, and do it quickly.
6. God hides it.
Now, this is another ball game ---- and I will write about it in next
week's letter. Suffice it to say that God sometimes hides the vision
from us ---- for a very specific reason.
He wants it dead.
Who would have believed it!?! We know Satan wants our vision dead,
----but God???
Sometimes, absolutely.
I'll tell you why next week.
In the meantime . . . .
You'll notice that I didn't address the question of "How" a vision is
destroyed, but rather "When". The reason is simple ---- I don't really
care whether or not you know how it may have happened, but I do care that
you understand that **when** certain things take place, your vision will
surely die.
When . . . you allow the enemy to steal it, the cares of the world to
smother it from your consciousness, you permit the flesh to reject it, or
you neglect it, ---- my friend, your vision will be destroyed, if it
isn't already.
IN CONCLUSION:
What a sad commentary on Eli. Here's a man of God, in a place of
influence and leadership, with the future of a nation in his hands. What
happened to him that he lost sight of his sons, he lost sight of his own
ministry, he lost sight of a young boy's encounter with God, and he even
lost sight of his fate.
Why? Because he lost sight of the vision and calling God had on his life
---- and let the vision be destroyed by the attacks of the enemy, the
ways of the world, the persuasiveness of the flesh, personal neglect and
a compromising spirit.
He settled for prestige in place of purpose. He traded in comfort in
place of commitment. He embraced human frailties in place of divine
holiness. He chose compromise instead of conviction.
What about you and me, my friend? Are our respective visions endangered?
Are we preoccupied? Are we on the verge of compromise?
Hang on! Come back to the Father! Bow before Him in submission!
We can't let another vision be destroyed.
Have a wonderful week. I would love to hear from you. If you have any
insights, please share them with me.
In His Bond,
Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright March, 2000. All rights reserved.
We would love to hear from you ---- prayer requests, insights, etc. Feel
free to drop us a note at <[email protected]>.
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be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.
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request, just let us know. Write <[email protected]>.
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