Vision

DON’T LOOK BACK: THE STRONGHOLD OF THE PAST

/ Terrence Burton / Leave a comment

Remember Lot’s wife.

Luke 7:32

Your memory can be a blessing to you, but unfortunately, it may very well be a curse. Jesus made this statement above in reference to the miraculous deliverance executed to free Lot and his family from the wrath that befell Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Bible does not specify how long Lot and his family lived in Sodom. Nonetheless, they lived there long enough for Sodom to exert its influence on Lot’s wife. She was unable to refrain from looking back at the judgment as it befell the region.

Some details are excluded from the Bible regarding their exit, but I’m sure they heard the death cries of friends they’d acquired, people they did business with, and neighbors they’d left behind. The thought of what these people were suffering had to be painful. These thoughts had so gripped Lot’s wife’s mind that they outweighed the instruction to not look back.

But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Gen. 19:26

What an example of looking in the wrong direction! God had given her and her family a new life…a new beginning. However, instead of this righteous woman focusing on her new life, she looked back at the one God was delivering her from and paid for it with her life.

What you give your attention to matters! Do not allow the pull of your past to so grip your mind that you look in the direction that it is calling you to focus on…no matter the logic or rationale. You must fight with everything in you to be single-minded, looking only in the direction of your freedom. Because this woman looked in the direction of the destruction, she suffered the same fate as those who were still in the place she was delivered from moments earlier.

This lesson perfectly illustrated how a person can be physically delivered from a situation, but their mind is not yet free.

Let this lesson serve as a reminder to you that your freedom is tied to the direction of your focus. Do not look in a direction where you do not want to go. Do not risk your future by focusing on your past.

Closing Point:

Notice the language in Genesis 19:26. Lot’s “wife looked back behind him.” This tells us the order in which they escaped to the city of Zoar. Lot was in the position of the rearguard. This means that Lot was standing between his family and the destruction of Sodom. The role of the rearguard is to protect the one who he’s assigned to so that if anything comes their way, he’s the one to get hit…not his protectee. But his wife chose to get out of position and away from his protection. In that moment, her husband was preventing her from seeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So she positioned herself to see behind him. She had to put her eyes on what she was hearing with her ears. In her mind, she had to see what was going on. Her desire to look back cost her her life. It cost her husband his wife. And it cost her daughters the blessing of having their mom in their lives. The cost of looking back is way more than it seems in the moment of the pressure to backward focus.

VISION, LAW AND SELF-RESTRAINT

/ Terrence Burton / Leave a comment

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Proverbs 29:18

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.

Genesis 11:6

Vision – sight

Law – instruction

Perish – lose control, inability to restrain yourself

There are 3 basic components that control events or manifestations in our lives. The first is vision. The second is law. The third is control of self.

I will use fitness to illustrate the principle. In order to achieve fitness, You have to see beyond the present and envision or capture in your heart the end result that you would like to achieve. Once the end result is decided, now you’re ready for instructions that will become your law (set of rules to follow to guide your conduct). This is very important as you don’t need instructions until you have decided where you’re going. To expect guidance before making a decision would be like expecting your GPS to give you directions before you input your desired destination. Once instructions are given and you have received them, you must limit your behavior to that which the instructions dictate. The instructions must become your rule of conduct to carry you to the place you envisioned.

According to Genesis 11, nothing shall be restrained from a group or a person who uses his imagination. The word restrained in this verse means “inaccessible.” Therefore, God is saying your imagination gives you access to the thing imagined. This is why you cannot look at what someone else accomplished or didn’t accomplish to determine your limitations. Each person’s limitations are within the bounds of their own imagination. And God’s conclusion of the matter is that nothing shall be inaccessible that you have imagined yourself being or doing.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3

The word “mind” in this verse means creative imagination. Now the word imagination is connected to possibilities not necessarily what is already manifested. So the verse is saying that God will keep you in what you create in your mind. Therefore, if you want God to keep you in something different, you must first create something different in your mind. This verse also suggests that if you don’t create something in your mind, God has nothing to keep you in because He will keep you in what you create in your mind.

The word “perish” also means “to uncover.” Therefore vision covers you. Your vision is to clothe you. To be without vision is to walk around naked. It has the idea of being “exposed.” So vision protects you from being exposed to certain elements.

In conclusion, if there is something that you desire to experience or possess, you need to first envision yourself having it and or experiencing it. Then you must develop a plan that will get you the results you desire. Finally, once the plan has been made, you must execute the plan with the full expectation of achieving the desired results.