PREACHING OF 02 March 2025:
Pastore Antonio Russo
WALKING TOWARDS THE VISION
On this Sunday of worship, we reflect on the theme "Walking Towards the Vision," opening ourselves to God's guidance and following His purpose for our lives. There are two types of vision: a general one, given to the Church, which is fulfilled through the four steps of evangelizing, consolidating, discipling, and sending, as stated in Matthew 28:18-20, and a personal one, which does not contradict the general vision but allows us to see the good that God wants to accomplish in us, calling us not only to be blessed but also to be a blessing to others. God's vision transforms our lives, motivates us to move forward, and aligns us with His will; it is not merely a method but the divine way of working in us. God desires that we have clarity about the vision, not as a simple mental image but as a plan prepared for us. The vision is received in communion with the Holy Spirit, praying that He may impart His will to us, allowing us to walk without distractions. God called Abraham, who was once an idolater, promising him, as recorded in Genesis, blessings for himself and his descendants, on the condition that he left his land to follow Him.
Genesis 12:2-3; 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
So, despite Sarah’s old age and barrenness, He kept His promise because God is the God of the impossible. God showed Abraham His vision, but it required faith and obedience. We, as Abraham’s children, are included in the blessing because the promise was not just for him but extended to all the families of the earth. Abraham became known as the father of faith; from him came the Jewish people, as well as other nations, and spiritually, the Church was born a great nation spread everywhere, confirming that when God speaks, His word is fulfilled. From Abraham came Isaac, the son of the promise, and from him were born Jacob and Esau, but the blessing was upon Jacob, who had twelve sons and a daughter, and from his lineage, through Judah, the Messiah was born. Thus, the promise made to Abraham and Sarah was fulfilled when God declared that their descendants would be blessed and bring blessing to all nations. So, just as He did with Abraham, God invites us to embrace His vision, to have faith, and to obey so that His plan may be fulfilled in our lives. When we understand the divine vision, we walk in His will and bear fruit for His Kingdom because God works through those who choose to believe and follow His call. God desires to bless every person, and for this reason, Jesus formed twelve men who were initially disciples and later became apostles, a term that means "sent one." Each one received a commission; therefore, as we begin our Christian journey, we must also choose to become disciples. Being a disciple is not something we are born into, nor does it happen automatically at new birth it is a conscious decision because a disciple follows and lives out Jesus’ teachings, not just in theory but by putting the Word into practice. We must remember that Jesus said we should not only be hearers of the Word but also doers. There is a difference between believers and disciples: we all start as believers, but only by choosing to follow and live out Jesus’ teachings do we become disciples. When we make this decision, the veil is removed from our minds, hearts, and eyes, allowing us to see from a divine perspective. Deciding to be a disciple means fully surrendering our lives to Jesus and learning to do God’s will. Jesus gave an important teaching to the disciples: believing is not enough; it is necessary to take a step further.
John 8:31; 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
So, merely attending church is not enough to be a Christian, just as entering a chicken coop does not make us chickens. Being a disciple is a personal and radical choice: following Jesus, obeying His will, and believing in His Word despite the circumstances. The Word is the absolute authority, and no one is above it not even apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers. Jesus made a promise to the disciples and to us: that the knowledge of the Word would set us free because He Himself is the Word.
John 8:32; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
This means that the believer tastes the truth, while the disciple lives it and is no longer a slave to sin. Unfortunately, many believers do not live in freedom because they have never chosen to become disciples, staying on the margins without fully engaging with God. This condition is to our detriment because with God, there is no separation of goods: if we offer Him our poverty and misery, He gives us blessings, wisdom, revelation, healing, and miracles. The Christian life should not be fluctuating but should constantly grow in the work of God so that we can become disciples and acquire the divine vision. A disciple is not only someone who has visions, but someone who understands where God wants to lead him, because He has a plan for our lives and desires to fulfill it in us, a journey that begins with the decision to be His disciples. Our lives change when God makes us men and women of vision because the true disciple is the one who sees through God's eyes. God, in His incomparable creativity, created the world with His Word, bringing everything into existence; in Genesis 1, we see that He spoke, and everything was created, but when He formed man, He looked at Himself and said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). God made us like Him by giving us creative ability, the ability to imagine, and the ability to look to the future, and if in the present we see adverse circumstances, through these abilities united with faith, we can see them transformed. God first had a vision of what He wanted to create and then created us in His image and likeness.
Ephesians 2:10; 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
When man sinned, he moved from light to darkness, as the Bible says he was dead in his transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Through Adam's disobedience, Satan became the prince of this world, but Jesus, by coming, reversed everything; we, who were in darkness, were reborn and recreated in the light. We are new creatures in Christ, born from above, spiritually transformed and renewed, ready to be used. As we read in verse 10 of Ephesians, we were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, but if we do not ask the Holy Spirit to give us vision, we will never know them. These works are not for salvation, because we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), but they are for accomplishing God's work. Through good works, God broadens our vision and shows us the good we can do for ourselves and others. When we are born again, we become eternal beings, created to live forever, because although we live in a body that is merely a shell, we are spirit, we have a soul, and we dwell in a body. Being created in His image, we possess the ability to create, because everything that exists was already present in the spiritual world before it materialized. We should not see ourselves as sick, but healed by Jesus' stripes (Isaiah 53:5). We should not see ourselves as losers, but more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37). We must recognize ourselves as a blessing and see ourselves as God sees us, with the good works He has prepared for us, and if we are not yet that, we can become it. God designed us to be a blessing to others, and His vision determines our path to success and blessing. In the Bible, we see that God chooses people to accomplish His plan: He told Abraham, "You are a blessing and will be a blessing to others." Those whom He chooses receive His revelation, make it their own, and find strength in it; moreover, God does not leave His chosen ones alone, but places them alongside others, because His work is done in teams. Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy were teams, just as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work in perfect unity. Even marriage is a team and should not be a battlefield, but a unity that fulfills God's vision. We were saved not just to occupy a place in the church, but because God has a purpose for each one of us; He wants us to enter His vision and receive it in our spirit. When we face difficulties, we must believe that God has given us a task to complete and that nothing will happen to us until it is fulfilled. During the storm at sea, Paul received a word from God: he would survive along with everyone else, and even though the ship sank, he arrived safely in Malta. If there is a divine purpose, we cannot die before fulfilling the mission God has given us; therefore, we must enter His vision and accomplish the works He has prepared for us. In God's Kingdom, there is no spiritual unemployment, there is work for everyone; furthermore, no one can take our place because we are unique and irreplaceable. It is essential to move from being mere believers to true disciples, knowing and cultivating God's vision in our hearts. We must pray for revelation and for the works God has prepared, including the training of other disciples. Even if we do not see them today, we must pray in faith that God will show them to us and guide us in fulfilling His work. God created man with the ability to have dreams, visions, and imaginations. Our imagination can be powerful for good or evil, as demonstrated in the episode of the Tower of Babel.
Genesis 11:6; 6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
This shows how, even when used for evil, imagination has great power, but if we align ourselves to do good, nothing will be impossible for us! Dreams, visions, and imaginations were created by God and are inside us; we must cultivate them in accordance with the works He has prepared for us. We were made in His image and likeness, and when God created us, He first saw us: He sees us complete, already healed and blessed, not sick or failures. We must align ourselves with God and His Word, imagining what He wants to do in our lives, as He desires to give us the best, being His children and called to represent Him. Everything that exists originated from a vision God had when He created us. Even people who do not know God, before achieving success, imagined what they wanted to accomplish. The McDonald's restaurant chain and Coca-Cola were first imagined, and only later did they become reality. It is told that missionaries preached in villages in India where no one knew Jesus, yet Coca-Cola had already arrived; this challenges us to preach God's Word everywhere. Vision is a gift from God, and we must fight to make it come true, because it is the guidance that has driven leaders and destiny-makers to overcome every adversity. Those who have a divine vision know that God has prepared a purpose for their life and walk in it, overcoming every obstacle. Vision enables us to understand the works God has prepared for us, so we must pray asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what works are prepared for us today. When we are in our devotion time in the Father's presence, He will begin to tell us that we will meet a person with a serious problem and that we must pray in Jesus' name because He has anointed us to heal the sick and speak to them His Word. Suddenly, we will meet that person and give them this word of revelation that will change their life, and we will begin to see ourselves as people who perform God's works, blessing others with even a simple word. To succeed, we must embrace the vision of the Church and God's vision for our lives, for it will give us a clear image of what God wants us to do and be; we are His children, bought at a high price, redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
What is vision? It is God's creative idea, which we receive through faith, entering the spiritual plan and realizing it in the natural with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that everyone knows what God wants to do in us, for us, and through us!
