There are six faculties of the soul you need to understand and harness for your progress:1. Memory: with it you contact the past.2. Intellect: with it you process information.
3. Emotions: with it you react to events and people etc.
4. Imagination: with it you contact the future and create things.
5. Will: with it you make decisions.
6. Reason:with it you bring out a way even where there is no way
We are going to focus on imagination; one of the greatest gifts of God to mankind. This is the quality of seeing images in your mind of things that don’t exist physically.
Imagination is the mother of Vision!
“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Jonathan Swift
Vision is seeing the future before it comes into being (Hebrews 11:1).
Vision is the ability to see farther than your eyes can look.
It is vision that makes the unseen visible and the unknown possible.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18
Success requires vision. What is vision? It is an image of a preferred future.
God specialises in creating images of greatness in the minds of those who became great. God spoke about making Abraham great and giving him a great name. Gen 12:2. Later, God showed him stars to create an indelible image of his future seeds in his mind Gen 15:5. You can see your future from where you are.
These images of greatness are created throughout scripture for those who would follow Christ.
Whatever dominates your mind will dominate your life.
It is the ability to see farther than your eyes can see. It is seeing the future before it comes into being.
John Sculley, the former CEO of Pepsi and Apple Computer once said, “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”
Sight is a function of the eyes while vision is a function of the heart. Eyes that look are common, but eyes that see are rare. Helen Keller said, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision”
Success never comes by accident. Success begins as a dream. Every great venture you see today began as a dream, an idea. There can be no real success without a vision. Every successful person desired it, dreamed it and worked it out or shall we say worked hard at it. What you cannot conceive you cannot achieve. Only those who see the invisible can accomplish the impossible. What you see long enough you conceive and what you conceive you deliver; you become. This was the principle God made Jacob to use to get the flock to conceive and deliver spotted sheep and transferred the wealth of Laban to Jacob.
“Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” - As A Man Thinketh
Unanimous Disagreement
A gentleman who served on one of Walt Disney’s original advisory boards told amazing stories of Walt Disney. Those early days were tough; but that remarkable, creative visionary refused to give up. He talked about how Disney responded to disagreement. He said that Walt would occasionally present some unbelievable, extensive dream he was entertaining. Almost without exception, the members of his board would gulp, blink, and stare back at him in disbelief, resisting even the thought of such a thing. But unless every member resisted the idea, Disney usually didn’t pursue it. Yes, you read that correctly. The challenge wasn’t big enough to merit his time and creative energy unless they were unanimously in disagreement!
IT IS TIME FOR YOUR DREAM TO BE FULFILLED
Hab 2:2-3 “2And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
15 Things You Need To Know About Dreams
1. A dream is a proof you have a better future
2. A dream is a promise to be received and claimed by faith.
3. A dream is a preview of your destiny; a chapter in your future.
4. It is futuristic so there is a time of waiting for manifestation.
5. The fulfilment of a dream requires a process. You move from promise through process to possession.
6. A dream must be documented for records, planning and constant reminder. Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables…(v2)
7. There is an appointed time for the fulfilment of every vision. 3For the vision is yet for an appointed time…(v3)
8. A dream is meant to be pursued actively: That he may run that readeth. Apostle Paul said, I press. You have to press if your dreams must become reality; press in prayer and work.
9. A dream is a harvest therefore seeds must be planted for them to come to pass. Seeds of time, energy, resources etc.
10. A dream must be celebrated until fulfilled. Israel murmured; they spent 40 years instead of 40 days. Celebrating life and your dream while waiting is a secret many have not discovered. If you want to get out of the wilderness fast, you must not allow the devil to steal your joy.
11. A dream protects against anxiety, frustration and fear. Joseph could be cheerful in a slave house and in prison because he had seen his future.
12. Vision helps you to set goals.
13. A dream focuses our energy and steers us in the right direction. Vision helps you to remain focused. Vision protects you against unprofitable ventures. It is not enough to run, you must be in the right race and run in the right direction. You must run in the direction of your vision if you expect to win.
14. Vision is tied to purpose. Your Vision in not your assignment. Your assignment is what you are called to do but your vision is what you will eventually become. God gives you visions based on His purpose for your life. A very simple way of looking at it is this: purpose is what you are meant to do; what you are created for; while vision is what you are meant to be in order to accomplish what you are meant to do. God showed Joseph what he was going to be in future. He was going to be raised to a position of leadership in life where he will be higher than his brethren; even his parents. But the purpose of that elevation was in line with God’s plan for His people Israel - to preserve them through the period of farming, multiply them in Egypt before taking them to the Promised Land. God will always show you how far and how high you can go; how blessed you can be but you must find out why he is taking you high and why He is blessing you. He is not blessing you just so you can show off. He is not blessing you for you only but for the Kingdom and others.
15. A great vision attracts great opposition.
The Example of Joseph
God gave Joseph a dream of greatness. Genesis 37:5-11 “5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.”
God fulfilled it.
Genesis 42:6-9 “And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. 8And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them…”
The activities of betrayers could not stop him. Household enemies could not stop him. Slavery did not alter God’s plan. Temptation could not overpower him. He refused to compromise. Prison connected him. Favour is released when dream manifestation is ripe. Satan’s plan for you will not succeed in Jesus name.
Seven Basic Principles Of Vision
1. Dream big. Create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited. Dream big; very big. The cure for littleness is great dreams. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. Disregard your limits. Think of what you thought you couldn’t do that you have accomplished. “Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can.” Change your ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’. Become a no-limit thinker. Become a possibility thinker. Develop a limitless mindset. Develop an all-things-are-possible mindset. Don’t just dream big, dream limitless dreams. God wants to give you as far as your eyes can see; He will give you limitless breakthroughs if you see limitless possibilities. So you are limited only by how much you permit yourself to see. Modify your beliefs. Your beliefs create your reality. When you make positive changes in your belief system, a corresponding positive change will take place in your level of achievement and level of fulfillment. Before we started the Ministry, the Lord told me two things not to believe: (a) the beginning of anything is always hard. It happens that way because people believe and expect the beginning to be difficult. (b) Anything good takes time. It does not necessarily have to be.
2. Dream long range. Most of the time we major only on the size of the vision but the most crucial factor of success is the longevity of the vision. God gave Abraham a vision that saw beyond him as far as his descendants. In one conversation, God told him of events of more than 400 years into the future.
Sir Winston Churchill stood in front 10 Downing Street in 1884 at the age of 10, took a picture with a dream to become the PM of Great Britain. That dream became a reality in 1940; 56 years later.
3. Document and Define the dream in minute detail,
4. Pray: for vision anointing (ask the Holy Spirit to help you actualize your dream), helpers, open doors, provision (financial and material), etc.
5. Plan accordingly. Be guided by the Holy Spirit to determine the timing for pursuing aspects of the vision that are due. The accomplishment of a vision is in phases. Note that the vision is for an appointed time. Depend on the Lord to know that appointed time and act accordingly.
6. Live in the dream so that it becomes real to you on the inside. Talk about it to the right people. Let it dominate your thinking and your conversation. Sleep with it, wake up with it, breathe it!
7. Work, work and work. Run with the vision. The proof of desire is pursuit. It is only what you pursue you possess.
8. Hold on to it so tightly that no one can take it away from you. Believe it will happen, ignore the challenges and hold on tightly like Joseph. The just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4
There was a man:During his senior year he was assigned a writing project to describe what he wanted to be when he grew up. His seven-page essay minutely detailed the 200-acre ranch he wanted to own. It included a diagram of the ranch and a detailed floor plan of his 4,000 square foot home.
Despite the passion and effort Monty put into his paper, he received it back with a large “F” written on it and a note to see the teacher after class. The teacher told Monty that the reason he had given him that grade was because his paper was unrealistic. He went on to cite all of the reasons why, and told Monty that if he would rewrite the paper with a more realistic goal, he would reconsider the grade. After considering it for a week, the young man turned in the same paper with no changes, along with the remark, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”
The conclusion of the true story has the teacher bringing 30 students for a summer campout at the 200-acre ranch of the now grown (and successful) Monty who lives in his 4,000 square foot dream home.
If it worked for the son of an itinerant horse trainer it will work for you.
Start dreaming and dream big. The Bible tells the story of a poor man called Lazarus who kept competing with dogs for the crumbs from the rich man’s table. He was looking under the table instead of over the table. Step up your thinking. You are bigger than you think. You are capable of achieving more than you realize. You can rise higher than where you are right now. Forget the last time you tried and failed, it was only an event. What circumstances have said about you is not true. Dare to reach higher! Remember, if it can happen in your mind it will happen in your life.
Your vision will produce proofs in Jesus name. Your vision will produce amazing testimonies in Jesus name.
Your God-given Dreams will soon begin to manifest in Jesus name. Long-standing problems will be solved. Get ready for jobs. Husbands will manifest. The barren will conceive. Cars will manifest shortly. Delayed payments will be released. That contract you have been waiting for will soon be given to you
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