WEBVTT - Do You See It Yet? – Part 1 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.680 Without a clear vision of the future. It means just 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:08.120 surviving and getting by. But God has bigger plans. Clarifying 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.400 your purpose in life. Coming up next. 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.400 I believe that the church of the Living God, when 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:17.079 it has vision, it mobilizes men and women to take 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.800 action and make a difference in their community and their 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.480 family and their life and their society. That's vision. 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.800 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:40.800 Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:45.000 in Chicago. Maybe you've heard Proverbs 2918 before. It says 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:48.279 that where there is no vision, the people perish. Now, 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.200 the New Living Translation says, when people do not accept 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.920 divine guidance, they run wild. And Mark, today we're talking 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:55.880 about vision. 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:01.280 Yeah, absolutely. I love this verse because there's multiple translations, 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:05.399 but in essence, it's saying that without a vision, people 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.600 go unrestrained, let loose or ignored. In other words, everybody 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:13.000 does their own thing. And when there is a clear 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:19.680 vision from God, it catalyzes our life in a particular direction. 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.760 I believe that so many of us need to gain 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:27.759 clarity about vision. Indeed. And this this passage talks about that. 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:29.080 It's a powerful passage. 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.360 Well, we're going to talk about gaining a God centered vision. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.440 Mark's message is called do you See it yet? And 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.080 our Bibles are open. I hope you can join us 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.160 there in Second Kings Chapter six. Here's Mark job with 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:41.640 today's bold steps. 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.720 When I was growing up, maybe, like some of you, 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.840 my father would drive these cars that let's just say 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:54.640 they needed some work to be done on them. He 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:59.000 was a mechanic. And, uh, on the side, he was 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.690 actually a missionary, but could fix almost anything. So he 0:02:01.690 --> 0:02:04.690 always had grease in his fingers and he would buy 0:02:04.690 --> 0:02:10.329 cars at a discount, very discounted. And sometimes only he 0:02:10.330 --> 0:02:12.530 could drive them because they had all these little quirks 0:02:12.530 --> 0:02:17.609 and he would fix them sometimes on the spot. Some 0:02:17.610 --> 0:02:19.090 of you know what I'm talking about because you have 0:02:19.090 --> 0:02:22.610 cars like that. You look at your mufflers drag and 0:02:22.610 --> 0:02:26.169 you think, okay, $300 the mechanic, or should I just 0:02:26.169 --> 0:02:31.810 use some of that? Um, well, yeah. That, uh, duct 0:02:31.810 --> 0:02:33.450 tape mechanic. How many of you know what duct tape 0:02:33.450 --> 0:02:36.489 mechanic is? You just figure. Hey, you know, I'm just 0:02:36.490 --> 0:02:39.250 going to tie this muffler up with a little duct tape. 0:02:39.250 --> 0:02:42.170 It works. Well, some of you have fixed your cars 0:02:42.169 --> 0:02:44.889 for years with duct tape. And, you know, we all 0:02:44.889 --> 0:02:48.170 have those cars occasionally in our lives where, you know, 0:02:48.210 --> 0:02:50.450 I've had the cars where I drive up to the 0:02:50.450 --> 0:02:53.770 ATM and my window doesn't work, so I have to 0:02:53.810 --> 0:02:56.370 open up the door, bang it against the ATM, try 0:02:56.410 --> 0:02:59.209 to pick my arm around side and go like this. 0:02:59.530 --> 0:03:01.410 Or those cars that you have to get in the 0:03:01.410 --> 0:03:05.090 passenger side because your car won't open? Or those cars 0:03:05.090 --> 0:03:07.370 that are just quirky. Come on, how many of you 0:03:07.370 --> 0:03:09.490 know what I'm talking about? I've seen some of your 0:03:09.490 --> 0:03:11.810 cars out there, so I know I've seen the duct 0:03:11.810 --> 0:03:14.010 tape on some of your cars, so don't act like 0:03:14.010 --> 0:03:17.050 you don't know what I'm talking about. Well, my father 0:03:17.050 --> 0:03:20.169 had one of those cars, and we were on a trip, 0:03:20.450 --> 0:03:25.329 and it started to snow really heavy. And as we 0:03:25.330 --> 0:03:30.690 were driving, sure enough, the windshield wipers were not functioning. 0:03:31.530 --> 0:03:35.090 And so finally he he was trying to see and 0:03:35.090 --> 0:03:36.970 he said, Mark, I got I was probably about eight 0:03:36.970 --> 0:03:38.570 years old. He said, Mark, I got to pull over 0:03:38.570 --> 0:03:40.530 to the side. So he pulled over to the side 0:03:40.690 --> 0:03:42.290 and I said, dad, what are we going to do? 0:03:42.330 --> 0:03:45.570 I mean, it's snowing. We're an hour and a half, 0:03:45.570 --> 0:03:48.290 two hours away from our house. We don't want to 0:03:48.290 --> 0:03:50.570 be stuck in the snowstorm. He said. Don't worry about it. 0:03:50.610 --> 0:03:52.970 I got this covered. He went in the trunk and 0:03:52.970 --> 0:03:55.410 rumbled through some things a little bit, and he came 0:03:55.410 --> 0:04:00.290 out with a roll of string and he said, watch this, 0:04:00.290 --> 0:04:04.619 this will work. So he. He tied a string to 0:04:04.660 --> 0:04:08.460 the right windshield wiper. He tied a string to the 0:04:08.460 --> 0:04:12.740 left windshield wiper. He put the string in the window 0:04:12.740 --> 0:04:15.700 on my side. He said, hold this mark. And he 0:04:15.700 --> 0:04:18.620 put a string in the window on his side. And 0:04:18.620 --> 0:04:21.420 he said, we're going to make this work, Mark. Okay. 0:04:21.580 --> 0:04:24.940 So he got on the road and he pulled his 0:04:24.940 --> 0:04:26.700 side and it went like this. And he says, okay, 0:04:26.700 --> 0:04:29.140 now it's your turn. Mark and I pulled the side 0:04:29.140 --> 0:04:31.380 and it went like that. And then he pulled and 0:04:31.380 --> 0:04:33.420 it went like this. And he pulled it and went 0:04:33.420 --> 0:04:37.339 like that. And we were able to make it home 0:04:38.100 --> 0:04:43.700 because we were able to see, you see, it was 0:04:43.700 --> 0:04:46.420 the back and forth clearing of our windshield that allowed 0:04:46.420 --> 0:04:56.260 us to have. Here it goes. Vision. When you have 0:04:56.260 --> 0:05:02.020 no vision, it's hard to move forward. You can drag 0:05:02.020 --> 0:05:04.219 a muffler for a while, but if you can't see, 0:05:04.220 --> 0:05:07.460 you can't go very far. You can go on a 0:05:07.460 --> 0:05:09.420 low tank of gas for a while, but if you 0:05:09.420 --> 0:05:14.020 can't see you, you don't get very far into your journey. 0:05:14.820 --> 0:05:19.100 Because if if you can't see clearly, if you've ever 0:05:19.100 --> 0:05:22.300 been in a really bad storm or you've been in 0:05:22.339 --> 0:05:27.300 a snowstorm or a rainstorm, some everybody, when you can't see, 0:05:27.300 --> 0:05:30.140 you slow down because you don't really. You can't see 0:05:30.140 --> 0:05:34.900 where you're going. When you can't see forward, you go 0:05:34.900 --> 0:05:37.220 to the side of the road and stop the journey 0:05:37.220 --> 0:05:39.900 altogether because you say, I can't go forward if I 0:05:39.900 --> 0:05:45.140 can't see. Or you get in an accident because you 0:05:45.140 --> 0:05:47.820 start swerving out of your lane and get into someone 0:05:47.820 --> 0:05:53.420 else's lane. Because why? Because you don't have clear vision. 0:05:54.940 --> 0:05:58.540 Vision allows you to see forward. And when you see forward, 0:05:58.540 --> 0:06:01.590 you can move quickly into your destination. But if you 0:06:01.589 --> 0:06:05.110 can't see into the future, if you can't see forward, 0:06:05.110 --> 0:06:07.870 then you can't. You have no power in the present 0:06:08.230 --> 0:06:13.390 to to drive in the direction that you're supposed to drive. 0:06:13.430 --> 0:06:18.909 I'm talking about vision. And I've noticed that when we 0:06:18.910 --> 0:06:23.110 lack vision in our own lives and you say, well, 0:06:23.110 --> 0:06:28.430 vision pastor, it's hard to define vision. Grasp vision. Vision 0:06:28.430 --> 0:06:31.830 is that image of the future that, you know, it's 0:06:31.830 --> 0:06:34.349 the call of God upon you to go somewhere that 0:06:34.350 --> 0:06:37.030 you know that that's who you need to be. That's 0:06:37.029 --> 0:06:39.950 what you need to do. That's where you need to go. 0:06:40.070 --> 0:06:45.350 It's that sense of inner direction. It's that clarified purpose 0:06:45.350 --> 0:06:49.830 of life. It's that mental picture of a God ordained 0:06:49.830 --> 0:06:53.630 future that you say, yeah, that's where I'm supposed to go. 0:06:53.870 --> 0:06:56.910 That's who I'm supposed to be. That's what I'm supposed 0:06:56.910 --> 0:07:03.070 to do. That's vision. Yeah. You know, Proverbs tells us 0:07:03.070 --> 0:07:08.230 that Proverbs 29 verse 18 says, where there is no. 0:07:10.310 --> 0:07:15.990 Say it again. Where there is no people perish. If 0:07:15.990 --> 0:07:18.910 there's no clarity about where we're going in the future, 0:07:19.230 --> 0:07:25.030 if there's no clear mental picture of a God ordained future, 0:07:25.590 --> 0:07:28.870 then people perish. Another translation says where there is no 0:07:28.870 --> 0:07:35.470 clear revelation from God, everybody does their own thing. When 0:07:35.470 --> 0:07:41.590 there's a clear vision for your life, it charges you 0:07:41.750 --> 0:07:45.670 to work hard for the future. It makes you get 0:07:45.670 --> 0:07:48.510 up in the morning because you know what you're supposed 0:07:48.510 --> 0:07:50.670 to do, where you're supposed to go, what you're supposed 0:07:50.670 --> 0:07:55.390 to be. If a team has a vision, it unites it. 0:07:55.990 --> 0:08:02.680 It catalyzes energy towards a specific FIC purpose. Where there's vision, 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.920 where there is no vision. And I've seen men and 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:15.679 women leaders, countries, churches with no vision. And I've noticed 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:19.520 that there's a common syndrome among people that lack vision. 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:26.360 I noticed that when when a man lacks vision, he 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.760 tends to not lead his family. He tends to survive 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.600 in his family. When a man lacks vision, he's not 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:39.360 taking his family towards something. He's just surviving with his 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:43.880 family in something. When a man lacks vision, he's not saying, 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.480 I know this is where we're going. This is what 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.079 me and my household will do. This is how we're 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.960 going to live. This is what we're going to move towards. 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:57.120 He just survives. He lets life happen to him instead 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:02.400 of making something happen of his life. Man, I'm preaching 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:03.960 to myself, so this is good. But I don't know 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.080 if I'm with anybody else in here who's listening, but hey, 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.760 this is vision. Some of you need to know because 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.240 I believe that God is speaking to some people here 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:17.000 today about the lack of vision in your own life 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:27.880 and the necessity of having vision. I've seen. Places without vision. 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.760 When someone doesn't have a clear mental image of where 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:37.200 they're supposed to be going, then they tend to ramble around. 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:42.520 They tend to lack energy. They tend not to have focus. 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:47.600 They tend to be reactive instead of proactive. They tend 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:51.000 to let life happen to them. They tend to just 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.160 kind of flow with the punches because they're not really 0:09:54.200 --> 0:10:03.090 going anywhere. Concretely, anywhere specifically. There's no discipline, there's little motivation, 0:10:03.090 --> 0:10:06.730 there's little movement forward. Why? Because you don't know where 0:10:06.730 --> 0:10:10.130 you're going. And if you have no clear image of 0:10:10.130 --> 0:10:13.929 where you're going, then chances are you won't go there. 0:10:16.090 --> 0:10:19.890 I'm talking about a lack of vision. I've seen nations 0:10:19.890 --> 0:10:23.689 that lack vision. And when a nation lacks vision, it 0:10:23.690 --> 0:10:31.569 just reverts to maintaining or infighting. I've seen churches that 0:10:31.570 --> 0:10:37.090 lack vision. And when a church lacks vision, it's not 0:10:37.090 --> 0:10:43.090 moving somewhere. It's just maintaining what it has. Do you 0:10:43.090 --> 0:10:45.890 realize 80% of the churches in America last year did 0:10:45.890 --> 0:10:52.530 not baptize one person? Now you heard me right. 80% 0:10:52.650 --> 0:10:59.210 of the churches in America did not baptize one person. 0:11:00.809 --> 0:11:03.290 So what are the churches doing? Sometimes if you have 0:11:03.330 --> 0:11:07.410 if you lack vision, you start to maintain. You don't 0:11:07.410 --> 0:11:09.010 know where you're going. You just want to make sure 0:11:09.010 --> 0:11:13.530 you don't lose what you have. You just want to 0:11:13.530 --> 0:11:16.929 make sure that you keep people comfortable. You just want 0:11:16.970 --> 0:11:20.209 to make sure that not too much is happening. People 0:11:20.210 --> 0:11:22.850 are getting along. Not too much is stirring up. And 0:11:22.850 --> 0:11:29.370 so people come week after week to listen to a homily. Homily. Yeah. Homily. 0:11:30.450 --> 0:11:34.330 They're listening to a nice message that sprinkled with enough 0:11:34.490 --> 0:11:37.610 spirituality to make you feel good, but not too much 0:11:37.610 --> 0:11:40.650 conviction to make you want to change or feel uncomfortable. 0:11:44.290 --> 0:11:46.330 So the idea is, I don't want to offend anybody 0:11:46.330 --> 0:11:48.770 or step on anybody's toes. I just want to make 0:11:48.770 --> 0:11:51.570 sure you feel okay so that you come back next 0:11:51.570 --> 0:11:53.970 week and you give a little tithes and offerings. We're 0:11:53.970 --> 0:11:57.410 not doing anything. We're just making people feel comfortable. We're 0:11:57.410 --> 0:12:01.020 not moving anywhere. We're just making people feel okay. We're 0:12:01.020 --> 0:12:04.300 not mobilizing anything. We're just wanting to make sure that 0:12:04.300 --> 0:12:07.180 people are are coming back and sitting in their chair. 0:12:07.220 --> 0:12:10.140 We're not asking you to do anything. We're just asking 0:12:10.140 --> 0:12:17.180 you to show up and sit. A lot of churches 0:12:17.179 --> 0:12:23.420 in America lack men because men aren't great sitters. So 0:12:23.460 --> 0:12:24.980 men show up in church and they say, if the 0:12:24.980 --> 0:12:28.260 expectation of me is just to come and sit week 0:12:28.260 --> 0:12:30.460 after week and listen, they're not good listeners to how 0:12:30.460 --> 0:12:35.780 many wives say amen. So if I'm going to sit, 0:12:36.100 --> 0:12:37.980 which I'm not really good at, and I'm just going 0:12:38.020 --> 0:12:40.220 to be asked to listen, which I'm not really good 0:12:40.220 --> 0:12:43.980 at either and occasionally give which I'm worse at, then 0:12:43.980 --> 0:12:46.939 I'm not sure I want to show up again. I 0:12:46.940 --> 0:12:49.300 believe that the church of the Living God, when it 0:12:49.300 --> 0:12:53.540 has vision, it mobilizes men and women to take action 0:12:53.540 --> 0:12:55.980 and make a difference in their community and their family 0:12:55.980 --> 0:12:58.339 and their life and their society. That's vision. 0:13:04.100 --> 0:13:06.660 You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here 0:13:06.660 --> 0:13:09.579 on Bold Steps. We'll continue in a moment, but let 0:13:09.580 --> 0:13:12.100 me remind you that all of these encouraging Bible lessons 0:13:12.100 --> 0:13:16.060 can be found on our website. Bold steps. Of course, 0:13:16.059 --> 0:13:18.579 you can also hear us on any major podcast app 0:13:18.580 --> 0:13:21.740 by searching for bold steps with doctor Mark Jobe. Just 0:13:21.740 --> 0:13:24.340 remember to click subscribe while you're there and leave us 0:13:24.340 --> 0:13:26.500 a message in a five star review to help others 0:13:26.500 --> 0:13:30.020 find the program. And for even more content on the go, 0:13:30.059 --> 0:13:33.060 you'll want to download the Bold Steps app. Watch and 0:13:33.059 --> 0:13:35.740 listen to an entire sermon series right from your phone, 0:13:35.740 --> 0:13:38.819 and discover even more teaching videos centered on biblical truths 0:13:38.820 --> 0:13:41.500 right at your fingertips. Just go to the App Store 0:13:41.500 --> 0:13:44.460 on your phone or mobile device and download the Bold 0:13:44.460 --> 0:13:47.980 Steps app today. Now let's get back to Mark's lesson. 0:13:48.020 --> 0:13:50.300 The message is titled do you see it yet? And 0:13:50.300 --> 0:13:52.380 once again, here's Mark Jobe. 0:13:57.140 --> 0:13:59.100 I want you to take your Bibles and turn to 0:13:59.140 --> 0:14:02.670 Second Kings chapter six. We're going to be looking at 0:14:02.670 --> 0:14:05.189 a story. As far as I know, it's the first 0:14:05.190 --> 0:14:08.070 time I've ever preached out of this passage since I've 0:14:08.070 --> 0:14:10.430 been preaching, and I've preached out of a lot of 0:14:10.429 --> 0:14:15.150 passages in the Bible. The main character of the story 0:14:15.150 --> 0:14:18.710 is a man by the name of Elijah. Not to 0:14:18.710 --> 0:14:28.270 be confused with Elijah. Elijah was the iconic prophet that 0:14:28.270 --> 0:14:33.390 appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, one of 0:14:33.390 --> 0:14:37.470 the most powerful prophets in all the Old Testament. He 0:14:37.470 --> 0:14:42.190 prayed and it did not rain for three years. The 0:14:42.190 --> 0:14:49.830 weatherman prophet. He prayed again and it rained. He confronted 0:14:49.830 --> 0:14:57.590 400 prophets of Baal. They danced, pranced, cut themselves, worked 0:14:57.590 --> 0:15:02.360 themselves up into a frenzy, trying to get fire to 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:06.080 come down from heaven and consume the altar. And Elijah. 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:11.120 One prophet against 400 pagan prophets just stood there and said, 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.480 maybe your God is on vacation. Or literally he said, 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.360 maybe your god's in the bathroom and can't hear you. 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:21.000 And then when it was his turn, he didn't dance 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:24.240 and prance and beat himself and yell and holler. He 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:28.080 just said, Lord God Almighty, you hear my prayer now. 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:31.640 Vindicate yourself in front of these people. Call fire down 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.480 from heaven and consume this altar. And just to make 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.040 sure that they knew it wasn't just because it was 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.880 dry and fire came out, he said, let's dump water 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.600 on the altar. And as soon as he prayed, fire 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.000 came down from heaven and consumed the altar. That's Elijah 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:52.800 the prophet. But Elijah the prophet had a protege, a mentor, 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:58.440 a someone he was mentoring. He was a farm boy. 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:06.080 He knew about plowing, about dirt, about farming. He wasn't 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:13.560 very sophisticated. He wasn't very knowledgeable about leadership. Elijah found 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:17.000 him plowing some fields. Just doing a simple task, but 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.880 a hard worker. And Elijah said, come and follow me. 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.800 And so young Elijah came and followed Elijah, and he 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.520 started training him and mentoring him. Follow him and and 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:33.760 carrying his suitcases and watching what he did. But I 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:39.320 tell you something. When the time came for transition, the 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:44.160 iconic prophet Elijah looked to his young protege and he said, 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:49.680 what do you want from me? Here's where you see vision, 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.800 because I believe during those times, Elijah, the young young 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.360 man of God, was starting to dream. God, what could 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.040 you do through me when it's my turn? How could 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.720 you use me? And he envisioned himself being a prophet, 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:04.640 that God would use a man of God that he 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.040 would use. He had a vision that had been boiling 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.760 up inside of his spirit. He saw himself not just 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:12.880 as a farmer, but as a man that could make 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.480 a difference. A man that could move in power. And 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.280 as soon as Elijah asked him what he wanted, he said, 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:23.840 I want a double portion of what you have. You 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.520 don't ask for bold things unless you have a vision 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:34.120 for it. You don't ask with courage or boldness or 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.240 aggressiveness unless you've seen it already in your mind. He said, 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:43.040 I want to double what you had. And Elijah said, 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:47.480 you ask a hard thing. But the Bible tells us 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:51.320 that God granted this young man a double portion of 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.880 what Elijah had. And if you do the math and 0:17:53.880 --> 0:18:00.690 count the miracles that Elijah senior did and what Elijah did. 0:18:00.730 --> 0:18:05.530 Elijah did double the miracles of Elijah. God gave him 0:18:05.530 --> 0:18:10.050 a double portion. Man, I'm praying for a generation of 0:18:10.050 --> 0:18:12.169 young leaders that will rise up and say, you know, 0:18:12.210 --> 0:18:15.850 what's happened in the past is good. I love it. 0:18:16.250 --> 0:18:20.810 I've learned from it, but I'm not settled for it. 0:18:20.810 --> 0:18:24.930 I want a double portion. I'm praying for men and 0:18:24.930 --> 0:18:27.930 women that have their own clarity of vision, that say, 0:18:27.930 --> 0:18:32.810 you know what? It's been good. But I believe that 0:18:32.810 --> 0:18:37.730 God wants me to go even further than the last generation. God, 0:18:37.730 --> 0:18:44.130 give us the boldness of a double portion. Yes. So 0:18:44.170 --> 0:18:47.450 in Second Kings chapter six, we find this man of God. 0:18:49.890 --> 0:18:55.330 Encountering some trouble. Because the anointing of God and the 0:18:55.330 --> 0:19:00.419 call of God and vision comes with trouble. There is 0:19:00.420 --> 0:19:05.180 no vision without obstacles. There is no vision without testing. 0:19:06.580 --> 0:19:11.619 There is no God given preferred vision of the future. 0:19:11.780 --> 0:19:15.700 That will not be difficult. There's a man of God 0:19:15.700 --> 0:19:18.260 in this place that you never grew up in a 0:19:18.260 --> 0:19:22.500 godly home. You never saw a father train the children 0:19:22.500 --> 0:19:24.940 in the ways of God. You never saw your dad 0:19:24.980 --> 0:19:29.220 bless you and the children beside the bedside. You never 0:19:29.220 --> 0:19:31.740 saw him pray. You never saw him crack a Bible. 0:19:31.859 --> 0:19:34.220 You never saw him not swear in the household, not 0:19:34.220 --> 0:19:37.860 bring booze in and get drunk on the weekends and 0:19:37.859 --> 0:19:40.620 be faithful to his wife. You never saw that. But 0:19:40.619 --> 0:19:43.419 in your mind, you're saying I want to be a 0:19:43.700 --> 0:19:48.939 cycle breaker. Legacy maker in Jesus name. And I never 0:19:48.940 --> 0:19:52.419 saw it physically. But in my mind, I've seen a 0:19:52.420 --> 0:19:55.179 vision of the family man that I want to be 0:19:55.180 --> 0:19:58.420 of the man, the husband, the father that God is 0:19:58.420 --> 0:20:00.739 calling me to be. Maybe I never saw it in 0:20:00.740 --> 0:20:03.180 the physical, but I see a vision of it that 0:20:03.180 --> 0:20:06.380 God has placed in my heart. I see that vision, 0:20:06.380 --> 0:20:11.740 and that vision drives you. It drives you. Oh, you 0:20:11.740 --> 0:20:14.220 stumble or you fall and you think it's going to 0:20:14.220 --> 0:20:16.900 be easy. And then you start going and you realize, wow, 0:20:16.900 --> 0:20:18.659 this is harder than what I thought. How many of 0:20:18.660 --> 0:20:21.500 you know what I'm talking about here? It's not easy 0:20:21.500 --> 0:20:26.740 to break cycles. You view yourself as a patient, loving man, 0:20:26.780 --> 0:20:30.379 but you get home and man you. You kick the dog, 0:20:30.380 --> 0:20:35.540 you slam the door, you're cranky, you're crabby, and then 0:20:35.540 --> 0:20:38.379 you realize, man, who I am is not matching up 0:20:38.380 --> 0:20:40.460 with the vision of who God has called me to be. 0:20:40.460 --> 0:20:43.060 So you. So you stop yourself and there's a vision. 0:20:43.060 --> 0:20:45.740 There's a conviction that says, that's not who I am. That, that, 0:20:45.780 --> 0:20:48.540 that that's who my daddy was. But that's not who 0:20:48.580 --> 0:20:51.300 the future man of God is being called to be. 0:20:51.300 --> 0:20:54.060 I will not be. I will not be the old self. 0:20:54.060 --> 0:20:55.859 I will be the new self. God is calling me 0:20:55.859 --> 0:21:00.060 to something. And there's a battle there. There's a challenge. 0:21:00.060 --> 0:21:03.100 There's a battle to become the man that you envision 0:21:03.100 --> 0:21:07.260 yourself to be, but have never lived in reality. That's 0:21:07.260 --> 0:21:13.260 called vision. And Elijah was called to be a man 0:21:13.260 --> 0:21:18.340 of God, but he was encountering some difficulty fulfilling the 0:21:18.340 --> 0:21:21.740 vision that God had called him to, to walk in. 0:21:22.740 --> 0:21:24.780 And I believe in this passage that we see that 0:21:24.780 --> 0:21:29.139 God has to open his eyes to three things as 0:21:29.140 --> 0:21:33.380 he starts pursuing his God given vision. If you're taking notes, 0:21:33.380 --> 0:21:35.739 write this down. The first thing that God starts to 0:21:35.780 --> 0:21:41.060 open his eyes to is to God's very own presence. 0:21:43.740 --> 0:21:48.340 The presence of God. You see, you can't grasp the 0:21:48.340 --> 0:21:50.699 vision of God unless you first of all understand the 0:21:50.700 --> 0:21:54.619 presence of God. You see, it's the presence of God 0:21:54.619 --> 0:21:57.980 that enables you to understand the purposes of God. 0:22:07.790 --> 0:22:10.550 You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on 0:22:10.550 --> 0:22:13.590 bold steps, and today's message is just part one of 0:22:13.590 --> 0:22:17.110 our series finale, titled Do you See It Yet? In 0:22:17.109 --> 0:22:19.429 case you missed an earlier lesson from our current study 0:22:19.430 --> 0:22:22.030 called Fully Devoted, be sure to visit our website and 0:22:22.030 --> 0:22:26.070 catch up when you can by going to Bold steps.org. Well, Mark, 0:22:26.070 --> 0:22:28.430 we're honored to have Heather Holloman with us today. She's 0:22:28.430 --> 0:22:31.990 the author of the Six Conversations our bold step gift. 0:22:32.310 --> 0:22:35.190 Yeah. And Heather, one of the really unique elements of 0:22:35.190 --> 0:22:38.670 your book, The Six Conversations, is how you connect the 0:22:38.670 --> 0:22:45.070 latest research on relationships with biblical principles. What does Scripture 0:22:45.070 --> 0:22:48.590 tell us about, say, the art of conversation? 0:22:49.109 --> 0:22:52.469 Well, really, you can learn so much from Philippians two, 0:22:52.670 --> 0:22:56.590 Romans 12, and Galatians six. All of those passages teach 0:22:56.630 --> 0:22:59.990 us how to be curious about other people. How to 0:22:59.990 --> 0:23:03.190 believe the best about them. Express concern and then share 0:23:03.190 --> 0:23:06.629 your own life. I love Galatians six about taking on 0:23:06.630 --> 0:23:08.869 other people's burdens. How do we know what they are 0:23:08.910 --> 0:23:11.350 if we're not interested in their lives and asking really 0:23:11.350 --> 0:23:13.630 good questions about our friends and loved ones? 0:23:14.109 --> 0:23:17.629 And Heather, I know that you're this is not just 0:23:17.630 --> 0:23:20.830 a book about, uh, how to be a better communicator 0:23:20.830 --> 0:23:25.270 with people. You have an intention. And that is, hey, 0:23:25.270 --> 0:23:29.910 conversation is the bridge way to really share spirituality and 0:23:29.910 --> 0:23:32.510 the gospel with people. Talk about that a minute. 0:23:32.869 --> 0:23:35.750 Well, that's right, so many people want to share their faith. 0:23:35.750 --> 0:23:37.629 They want to share these things that are so deeply 0:23:37.630 --> 0:23:39.870 personal to them, but they never know how to start 0:23:39.869 --> 0:23:43.030 the conversation. And what this book teaches is how to 0:23:43.030 --> 0:23:46.590 have a warm connection. So talking about Jesus never feels 0:23:46.590 --> 0:23:49.950 awkward or like you're selling something. You're just sharing your 0:23:49.950 --> 0:23:52.790 life with someone that you're having a great conversation with. 0:23:52.990 --> 0:23:59.030 I love it the six Conversations by doctor Heather Holloman. And, uh, 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:01.639 you need to pick this up. We can't wait to 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:05.200 put this in your hands so that you can start 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:08.040 to have those conversations with your loved ones that you've 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:09.000 been wanting to have. 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:10.919 And we'll be happy to send you a copy of 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:13.000 this bold step gift today. When you give a gift 0:24:13.000 --> 0:24:15.959 of any amount to support bold steps. Just give us 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:19.600 a call at 800. D.L. Moody or give online at 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:24.560 Bold Steps. You can also send your gift and request 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:27.200 the six conversations by writing to us in the mail. 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:32.520 Simply address a letter to Bold Steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, 0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:36.480 Illinois 606 ten. And when you give a financial gift 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:38.680 each month, we'll add your name to our growing list 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:41.600 of bold partners and will also send you a signed 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:44.719 copy of Mark's book, Unstuck Out of Your Cave and 0:24:44.720 --> 0:24:48.119 Into Your Call. Plus several other perks like the biweekly 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:51.760 Bold Partner Post, which has exclusive content and sermon material 0:24:51.760 --> 0:24:55.240 from pastor Mark, and a complimentary copy of this month's 0:24:55.240 --> 0:24:58.320 featured book or resource. Each month, we'll send you an 0:24:58.320 --> 0:25:00.720 email with all the details. All you have to do 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.480 is respond to the email and receive your free gift. 0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:07.000 Thank you for your generous investment into the media ministry 0:25:07.000 --> 0:25:09.280 of Bold Steps. Be sure to sign up today when 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:14.399 you visit Bold steps.org. And before we close today, we 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:16.320 want to remind you to go and check out Mark's 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:20.159 YouTube page. There you can discover even more Bible based content, 0:25:20.160 --> 0:25:23.960 including exclusive new videos of Mark's teachings, brand new updates 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:27.800 on ministry events, and much more. So hop onto YouTube, 0:25:27.800 --> 0:25:32.159 search for Bold Steps Radio and subscribe today. And with that, 0:25:32.160 --> 0:25:34.960 I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you back tomorrow for the finale 0:25:34.960 --> 0:25:37.520 of our fully devoted series and part two of our 0:25:37.520 --> 0:25:41.080 message titled Do You See It Yet? That's coming up 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:46.240 Wednesday here on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps 0:25:46.240 --> 0:25:49.159 is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody 0:25:49.160 --> 0:25:50.320 Bible Institute.