Show Me Your Vision

Genesis 30:25–43 NKJV

And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.” And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?” So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.” And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock. And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Proverbs 29:18 KJV

What is your vision?

Your answer to that question will determine how you live and your outcome!

What is vision?

Vision can be either natural or spiritual.

The opposite of natural vision is natural blindness. The opposite of spiritual vision is spiritual blindness. Without spiritual vision, we will walk by what we see and feel.

Spiritual vision sees things from God’s perspective.

Spiritual vision is a prophetic revelation of God’s redemptive plan.

Spiritual vision locks you in on a course of faith whether it be on a personal, family, church, city, region, nation, or global level.

Visions and dreams are the language of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:17 NKJV

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

Vision is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the human spirit through prayer and the Word of God.

Vision speaks of things that are not as though they are.

Romans 4:17 NKJV

(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

Vision gives birth to faith.

Faith does not give birth to vision; vision gives birth to faith.

Abraham, the father of faith

Abram did not have faith to believe for one son.

God gave Abram a spiritual vision.

Genesis 15:5–6 NKJV

Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Vision enabled Abram to believe in what he could not before.

God changed Abram’s name from Abram (“Exalted father”) to Abraham (“Father of a multitude”).

Abraham became the father of a multitude on the inside before he became the father of a multitude on the outside.

Jacob and the streaked rods

Genesis 30:37–39 NKJV

Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.

Jacob's action of peeling rods to affect the genetic outcome of livestock was odd leaving much to speculation. How can peeled rods affect the DNA code of sheep? Since superstition cannot account for the miracle, we are left with two basic arguments:

Natural argument: Jacob had learned through his years of tending sheep that when the bark of certain trees was peeled, it released stimulants in the water that made the animals go into heat. The Hebrew word translated "conceive" means "to be hot.”

Supernatural argument: The supernatural can be demonic or divine. It is unlikely that God would bless demonic practices. In addition, Jacob gives the glory to God for the results. (Genesis 31:7, 9) The other supernatural explanation is divine. Jacob used the peeled rods to envision what God had shown him in a dream (Genesis 31:10) and thus to release his faith. (Genesis 30:41) God worked sovereignly in cooperation with Jacob's faith to change the DNA code in the sheep to conceive streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring. Through faith, Jacob spiritually envisioned the streaked, speckled, and spotted herds on the inside before he saw them manifested in the natural.

Jacob didn’t put the rods before the sheep for their sake but for his sake.

Jacob was building his faith in “speckled and spotted” sheep.

Jacob’s faith caused God to adjust the DNA code to produce speckled and spotted sheep.

Vision changes what we see on the inside.

Abraham began to live by what he saw on the inside rather than what he saw on the outside.

Romans 4:17–22 NKJV

(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Abraham became a father of a multitude on the inside before he became a father of a multitude on the outside.

How does spiritual vision change our lives?

Vision changes hopelessness into hope.

Vision changes fear into faith.

Vision changes cowardice into courage.

Vision changes our discouragement into encouragement.

Vision changes obstacles into opportunities.

Vision changes giants into grasshoppers.

Vision changes mountains into molehills.

Vision changes victims into victors.

Vision changes wimps into warriors.

Vision changes nobodies into God’s somebodies.

Vision changes “I can’t” into “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

Vision changes “it’s impossible” to “all things are possible to them who believe”.

Our vision on the inside is the key to changing things on the outside.

Jesus endured the cross because He saw the joy on the other side (Hebrews 12:3).

What do you see?

The problem or the solution?

Giants or grasshoppers?

The mountain or the plain?

Look at God’s speckled and spotted tree—the Cross!

Look at God’s speckled and spotted tree and see yourself forgiven and cleansed!

Look at God’s speckled and spotted tree and see yourself delivered and set free from the power of sin!

Look at God’s speckled and spotted tree and see yourself healed by the power of God!

Look at God’s speckled and spotted tree and see yourself baptized with the Holy Spirit and power to do the works of God!

Look at God’s speckled and spotted tree and see the harvest of souls brought into the kingdom of God!

Abram—Lift up your eyes and see the multitudes of your sons and daughters!

Jesus—Lift up your eyes and see the fields of lost souls ripe unto harvest!

Isaiah 54:1–3 (NKJV) “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD. 2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”

What is your vision?

What is your vision?

Do you see the problem or the solution?

It is time to look up to the heavens and let God change what you see on the inside.

Then by faith BELIEVE GOD.

Through faith you will enter the realm of spiritual vision, a heavenly realm of possibility in God.

Show me your vision, and I will show you your future!