Hope to the hopeless

I was doing some journal writing the other day when God started sharing His heart with me.  Vision, like I mentioned in yesterday's post, is something that's been impressed on me a lot here lately.  A visionless, dreamless believer is a hopeless, lifeless believer is what Holy Spirit told me.  After all, Proverbs 29 says where there is no vision, the people perish.  Another version says, where there is no prophetic revelation, the people cast off restraint.  Basically, where there is no clear direction from heaven given, there is only dissatisfaction and rebellion.  If there's no vision casting going on in a church or over a believer's life, it's like being in a row boat. 

I'll give you two mental shots to grasp -  
1. A rower rowing and the other rower doing nothing altogether; or,
2. A rower rowing one way and the other rowing in the opposite direction.

From a learning experience rafting trip (I use that terminology loosely), I know that the first scenario causes the boat to go round and round in circles while the second scenario causes the boat to pretty much stay in the same spot depending on which rower gets tired first.  In that event, the first illustration would occur.

Both seem a little counter-productive, don't they? It's because they are..

I've actually found that if rowers row together, particularly at the same time, in the same movement, the boat can go somewhere pretty quick.  It's the same concept with vision and vision casting - both in the body of believers (which, if you're not going to a local assembly for whatever reason, I ask you to reconsider your position. Heb. 10:25; Acts 2:42) and in an individual (if you're following the Rom. 8:28-30 formula, all things work out for your good.  When you love him and you're called by God to the purpose you're engaging in, that's when God works your stuff out.  Day-by-day, as this happens, you will be conformed to the image of His Son [which was the Father's intention all along]).  Vision has its foundation and roots in both of these institutions - in the local church and in the individual believer.

Vision for the Church, the collective Body of Christ, is pretty universal.  Though some values may be different, we're all shooting for the same goals - to work out Matt. 18:11 and Luke 19:10.  For the Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost.  This is OUR common purpose, OUR common initiative, OUR common vision.  We have a call to present our message of rest to the weary, strength to the weak, riches to the poor, bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, freedom to the captive, healing to the sick, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, life to the dead,comfort to the comfortless, help to the helpless, light to the darkness.  This is why we're here.

Jesus came to this earth as Colossians 1 says, to be the image of the invisible God.  Now that He is ascended to the right of the Father (Luke 22; Heb. 1), He is praying for us to be the Body that is in proportion to the Head (Heb. 7:25).  We are the image of the invisible God now.  We are the sons and daughters to this broken, destitute earth.  We are the hope to the hopeless.  We are the ones who are destined to fulfill Matthew 10:8.  Heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out devils.  Freely you have received, freely give.  You and I seek and save the lost with our compassion on them.  Notice in Scripture that's when Jesus healed and fed the people - when He had compassion on them (John 6).  We have been commissioned by the King of glory to be His representatives (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:44-49; John 20:21-23; 2 Cor. 5:21).  We are His sent ones.  We have the message of life and death in us.  We have the ability to show people a way for their sins to be forgiven.  If we're quiet, we have the ability to show people a way to not have their sins forgiven.  We are the hope to the hopeless.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. - Luke 4:18-19 [Isa. 61].

Let's arise and be who we're called to be!