Vision, Purpose, Direction

UPI RETREAT

Session 1

Vision, Purpose, Direction

I would be remiss if I didn’t say a few words about our good friend Jerry Price who went home to be with the Lord on Friday December 8th. Jerry has finally experienced the fullness and completion of his salvation, which started a long time ago and any of you who have spent time with me in any of our studies have hopefully heard and remember me talking about this, but for those of you who haven’t hear we go.

· When Jerry committed his life to being a follower of Jesus, he was saved, he experienced salvation justification, the legal term where Jerry is no longer guilty for his sins, he was saved and freed from the penalty of sin, he was redeemed, he was reconciled, but had not, in this world, received the fullness of all that salvation is.

· Part 2 of salvation is salvation sanctification, the progressing toward the holiness and perfection that God sees us as, this is the being freed from the power of sin. This is where we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, a holy God calls us to be holy and set apart for His good purposes. This is a progressive work that takes a lifetime. We are declared righteous and holy and are not yet fully righteous and holy in and of ourselves, we will grow as we partner with the Holy Spirit in this work.

· Lastly, part 3 of salvation, what Jerry experienced when he took his last breath here and first breath in heaven, the final part of salvation that Jerry experienced is salvation glorification. Jerry instantly appeared in heaven, was glorified, he received his crown of righteousness, he has been fully sanctified and is now completely saved. Glorification is being freed from the presence of sin and basking in the glory of Christ.

This is the reality and future hope of all who believe in Jesus and have committed their lives to being His follower.

Ok, now on to what I’m up here to talk about. Vision, purpose and direction.

1. Vision— the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.

Synonyms: imagination, creativity, inventiveness, innovation, inspiration, intuition, perception, insight, foresight

This vision, though, is supposed to align with who God has made us to be.

Theme Verse—, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” (NIV)

Here is in the New Living Translation: “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” (NLT)

· Where there is a lack of understanding of the divine guidance within God’s revelation, there will be a lack of purpose.

· These verses are not about having a prophetic vision from the Lord and the Lord blessing it, but rather, where the Word of God is absent, people are clueless about who they are and why they are here, what they are supposed to do with their lives, therefore, they run wild because they have no seen purpose.

· But you see we have been given vision and it’s Jesus who has given it to us, we just haven’t been paying attention to it.

· The “law” or referred to as “wisdom’s instruction” in the NLT, is not talking about the 10 commandments, but rather the Word of God, the divine revelation.

· That is the purpose of the Bible, to tell us where we came from, why we are here, and what happens after we die, the big 3 questions that should plague every soul until it finds the answer and it’s rest in Jesus.

· Because we fail to see and understand the vision given to us by Jesus we fail to see our true purpose and therefore we have wrong direction, or for some of us, no direction at all in our lives, we are just wandering aimlessly and helpless in this world.

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“The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul.

The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living.

Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever.

The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair.

They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.

They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.

They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.”

1. Do you know the LORDS instructions? Is it no wonder your soul isn’t revived?

2. Do you know the LORDS decrees? Is it no wonder you are still simple?

3. Do you know the LORDS commandments? Is it no wonder you have no joy?

4. Do you know the LORDS commands? Is it no wonder you lack insight?

These are a warning to you; in them is a great reward for those who obey them.

For the longest time our vision revolved around us being a baseball player, that’s what gave us purpose and direction.

But this was never God’s intended purpose for you, only a means by which you could fulfill your purpose.

Here me when I say that, our purpose in this life was never to be a baseball player, only a means by which we could fulfill our true intended purpose.

By understanding these we will have vision, purpose and direction for our lives that transcends our being a baseball player.

Do you know who you are? This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Spoken over Jesus at His baptism, but also, I believe, in part, what Jesus was referring to when He resisted the devil in the wilderness, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Father’s mouth. Jesus heard those beautiful words immediately before being led into the wilderness, He knew who He was and who loved Him.

I also believe this is in part what Jesus is referring to in the Lords prayer, give us this day our daily bread, this daily bread is the sweet words from the Father that we are His beloved son and in whom He is well pleased. This will help us confess, forgive, resist temptation and beg for deliverance. Anyway…

Do you have the right vision? , “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

· A new creation has a new vision and purpose

· We have been given a ministry one of reconciling people to God

· This message is precious and has been entrusted to us

· We are ambassadors for Christ

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind, and the second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This is the vision we need for our life, it comes from the Word of God and it will give us our purpose from God.

2. Purpose—Noun, the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. Verb, have as one's intention or objective.

For the longest time I believed my purpose in life was to be a ballplayer. Then once I left the game, even though I felt as if I was prepared and ready to leave the game, I struggled. In fact, after my normal 1 month of doing nothing, the first day I’d be going to workout, I thought “sweet, I don’t have to do this anymore.” Day 2 and 3 the same, day 4 & 5 some confusion on well what do I do? By Day 7 I was on the couch in a mini depression that lasted about 2 weeks. I had no idea what was going on, why was I depressed, what was missing in my life. It wasn’t only about being confused on what to do next; it had a lot to do with what I wasn’t doing anymore. I missed it.

A. What we had—Tribe—A clan, race or people. We all know that as a baseball player we are part of a unique community, a small group of people on the planet that can do what we do, but it’s more than that. We are part of something unique, something foreign to most people. We go to war together, experience highs and lows as a group, and as an individual. We speak the same language, we have the same desire, the same goals, and we push each other, pick each other up, encourage and challenge each other. We are in this together.

B. What we lost—Tribe, so for some of us, when we walked away from the game or when the game was taken from us, we lost something significant, we lost our tribe. We no longer were fighting for the prize, no longer training for the challenges to come, no longer experiencing the highs and lows, successes and failures, that feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself, and yet in which you play a significant role. We lost our vision, we lost our purpose, and we lost our direction. For those that are still playing, this will be true for you someday.

C. Where are we looking for it—What has become the new makeshift-tribe for you? Is it hunting trips, golf outings, coaching, etc.? We were made for tribe, built for tribe, and there will be an inescapable longing until we have it. The problem is we are looking for our tribe in all the wrong places, we always have, and we are therefore left unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and still longing. We are lost and directionless.

Our tribe for a season is or was a baseball team, but that was never the tribe we were made for, never our ultimate purpose. We have been adopted into the family of God; we have a new tribe. We were made for more than “wars” on a baseball field, but rather for wars being fought in the spiritual realms, the war waged between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world.

3. Direction—A course along which someone or something moves.

The course that must be taken in order to reach a destination.

The reality is, because of my vision for “who I was”, because of my purpose to become who my purpose for existence was, my direction was mapped out for me.

A. Where we’ve been—we can’t help the fact that we played the game of baseball and experienced a tribe there. But that is either over with now or will be over one day, and then what? Do we lay on the couch, depressed and alone? Do we just go hunting or fishing or golfing for the sake of something to do? Or do we realize we were made for more than that?

B. Where we are—So where are you, it’s decision time. What will you do? Will you stay lost, alone, directionless, purposeless, and visionless, or will you embrace what God has said about us and adopt the mission that God has put before us? Will you have the courage to step out and step up and become all that God has created us to be, to step out into this new tribe and go to war with your brothers and sisters in Christ?

C. Where we’re going—we don’t know exactly where we are going, we only know with whom we will be going. We only know the battle we will be fighting and with whom we will be fighting it. This battle is for more than the souls of lost people, its for your own as well, for your own vision, your own purpose, your own direction in this life, a life that can be lived with passion, and danger, and successes and failures, but a life that finally has eternal meaning.

D. So I close with this, The Great Commission—All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.