S1: Without a clear vision of the future. It means just
S1: surviving and getting by. But God has bigger plans. Clarifying
S1: your purpose in life. Coming up next.
S2: I believe that the church of the Living God, when
S2: it has vision, it mobilizes men and women to take
S2: action and make a difference in their community and their
S2: family and their life and their society. That's vision.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody
S1: Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church
S1: in Chicago. Maybe you've heard Proverbs 2918 before. It says
S1: that where there is no vision, the people perish. Now,
S1: the New Living Translation says, when people do not accept
S1: divine guidance, they run wild. And Mark, today we're talking
S1: about vision.
S2: Yeah, absolutely. I love this verse because there's multiple translations,
S2: but in essence, it's saying that without a vision, people
S2: go unrestrained, let loose or ignored. In other words, everybody
S2: does their own thing. And when there is a clear
S2: vision from God, it catalyzes our life in a particular direction.
S2: I believe that so many of us need to gain
S2: clarity about vision. Indeed. And this this passage talks about that.
S2: It's a powerful passage.
S1: Well, we're going to talk about gaining a God centered vision.
S1: Mark's message is called do you See it yet? And
S1: our Bibles are open. I hope you can join us
S1: there in Second Kings Chapter six. Here's Mark job with
S1: today's bold steps.
S2: When I was growing up, maybe, like some of you,
S2: my father would drive these cars that let's just say
S2: they needed some work to be done on them. He
S2: was a mechanic. And, uh, on the side, he was
S2: actually a missionary, but could fix almost anything. So he
S2: always had grease in his fingers and he would buy
S2: cars at a discount, very discounted. And sometimes only he
S2: could drive them because they had all these little quirks
S2: and he would fix them sometimes on the spot. Some
S2: of you know what I'm talking about because you have
S2: cars like that. You look at your mufflers drag and
S2: you think, okay, $300 the mechanic, or should I just
S2: use some of that? Um, well, yeah. That, uh, duct
S2: tape mechanic. How many of you know what duct tape
S2: mechanic is? You just figure. Hey, you know, I'm just
S2: going to tie this muffler up with a little duct tape.
S2: It works. Well, some of you have fixed your cars
S2: for years with duct tape. And, you know, we all
S2: have those cars occasionally in our lives where, you know,
S2: I've had the cars where I drive up to the
S2: ATM and my window doesn't work, so I have to
S2: open up the door, bang it against the ATM, try
S2: to pick my arm around side and go like this.
S2: Or those cars that you have to get in the
S2: passenger side because your car won't open? Or those cars
S2: that are just quirky. Come on, how many of you
S2: know what I'm talking about? I've seen some of your
S2: cars out there, so I know I've seen the duct
S2: tape on some of your cars, so don't act like
S2: you don't know what I'm talking about. Well, my father
S2: had one of those cars, and we were on a trip,
S2: and it started to snow really heavy. And as we
S2: were driving, sure enough, the windshield wipers were not functioning.
S2: And so finally he he was trying to see and
S2: he said, Mark, I got I was probably about eight
S2: years old. He said, Mark, I got to pull over
S2: to the side. So he pulled over to the side
S2: and I said, dad, what are we going to do?
S2: I mean, it's snowing. We're an hour and a half,
S2: two hours away from our house. We don't want to
S2: be stuck in the snowstorm. He said. Don't worry about it.
S2: I got this covered. He went in the trunk and
S2: rumbled through some things a little bit, and he came
S2: out with a roll of string and he said, watch this,
S2: this will work. So he. He tied a string to
S2: the right windshield wiper. He tied a string to the
S2: left windshield wiper. He put the string in the window
S2: on my side. He said, hold this mark. And he
S2: put a string in the window on his side. And
S2: he said, we're going to make this work, Mark. Okay.
S2: So he got on the road and he pulled his
S2: side and it went like this. And he says, okay,
S2: now it's your turn. Mark and I pulled the side
S2: and it went like that. And then he pulled and
S2: it went like this. And he pulled it and went
S2: like that. And we were able to make it home
S2: because we were able to see, you see, it was
S2: the back and forth clearing of our windshield that allowed
S2: us to have. Here it goes. Vision. When you have
S2: no vision, it's hard to move forward. You can drag
S2: a muffler for a while, but if you can't see,
S2: you can't go very far. You can go on a
S2: low tank of gas for a while, but if you
S2: can't see you, you don't get very far into your journey.
S2: Because if if you can't see clearly, if you've ever
S2: been in a really bad storm or you've been in
S2: a snowstorm or a rainstorm, some everybody, when you can't see,
S2: you slow down because you don't really. You can't see
S2: where you're going. When you can't see forward, you go
S2: to the side of the road and stop the journey
S2: altogether because you say, I can't go forward if I
S2: can't see. Or you get in an accident because you
S2: start swerving out of your lane and get into someone
S2: else's lane. Because why? Because you don't have clear vision.
S2: Vision allows you to see forward. And when you see forward,
S2: you can move quickly into your destination. But if you
S2: can't see into the future, if you can't see forward,
S2: then you can't. You have no power in the present
S2: to to drive in the direction that you're supposed to drive.
S2: I'm talking about vision. And I've noticed that when we
S2: lack vision in our own lives and you say, well,
S2: vision pastor, it's hard to define vision. Grasp vision. Vision
S2: is that image of the future that, you know, it's
S2: the call of God upon you to go somewhere that
S2: you know that that's who you need to be. That's
S2: what you need to do. That's where you need to go.
S2: It's that sense of inner direction. It's that clarified purpose
S2: of life. It's that mental picture of a God ordained
S2: future that you say, yeah, that's where I'm supposed to go.
S2: That's who I'm supposed to be. That's what I'm supposed
S2: to do. That's vision. Yeah. You know, Proverbs tells us
S2: that Proverbs 29 verse 18 says, where there is no.
S2: Say it again. Where there is no people perish. If
S2: there's no clarity about where we're going in the future,
S2: if there's no clear mental picture of a God ordained future,
S2: then people perish. Another translation says where there is no
S2: clear revelation from God, everybody does their own thing. When
S2: there's a clear vision for your life, it charges you
S2: to work hard for the future. It makes you get
S2: up in the morning because you know what you're supposed
S2: to do, where you're supposed to go, what you're supposed
S2: to be. If a team has a vision, it unites it.
S2: It catalyzes energy towards a specific FIC purpose. Where there's vision,
S2: where there is no vision. And I've seen men and
S2: women leaders, countries, churches with no vision. And I've noticed
S2: that there's a common syndrome among people that lack vision.
S2: I noticed that when when a man lacks vision, he
S2: tends to not lead his family. He tends to survive
S2: in his family. When a man lacks vision, he's not
S2: taking his family towards something. He's just surviving with his
S2: family in something. When a man lacks vision, he's not saying,
S2: I know this is where we're going. This is what
S2: me and my household will do. This is how we're
S2: going to live. This is what we're going to move towards.
S2: He just survives. He lets life happen to him instead
S2: of making something happen of his life. Man, I'm preaching
S2: to myself, so this is good. But I don't know
S2: if I'm with anybody else in here who's listening, but hey,
S2: this is vision. Some of you need to know because
S2: I believe that God is speaking to some people here
S2: today about the lack of vision in your own life
S2: and the necessity of having vision. I've seen. Places without vision.
S2: When someone doesn't have a clear mental image of where
S2: they're supposed to be going, then they tend to ramble around.
S2: They tend to lack energy. They tend not to have focus.
S2: They tend to be reactive instead of proactive. They tend
S2: to let life happen to them. They tend to just
S2: kind of flow with the punches because they're not really
S2: going anywhere. Concretely, anywhere specifically. There's no discipline, there's little motivation,
S2: there's little movement forward. Why? Because you don't know where
S2: you're going. And if you have no clear image of
S2: where you're going, then chances are you won't go there.
S2: I'm talking about a lack of vision. I've seen nations
S2: that lack vision. And when a nation lacks vision, it
S2: just reverts to maintaining or infighting. I've seen churches that
S2: lack vision. And when a church lacks vision, it's not
S2: moving somewhere. It's just maintaining what it has. Do you
S2: realize 80% of the churches in America last year did
S2: not baptize one person? Now you heard me right. 80%
S2: of the churches in America did not baptize one person.
S2: So what are the churches doing? Sometimes if you have
S2: if you lack vision, you start to maintain. You don't
S2: know where you're going. You just want to make sure
S2: you don't lose what you have. You just want to
S2: make sure that you keep people comfortable. You just want
S2: to make sure that not too much is happening. People
S2: are getting along. Not too much is stirring up. And
S2: so people come week after week to listen to a homily. Homily. Yeah. Homily.
S2: They're listening to a nice message that sprinkled with enough
S2: spirituality to make you feel good, but not too much
S2: conviction to make you want to change or feel uncomfortable.
S2: So the idea is, I don't want to offend anybody
S2: or step on anybody's toes. I just want to make
S2: sure you feel okay so that you come back next
S2: week and you give a little tithes and offerings. We're
S2: not doing anything. We're just making people feel comfortable. We're
S2: not moving anywhere. We're just making people feel okay. We're
S2: not mobilizing anything. We're just wanting to make sure that
S2: people are are coming back and sitting in their chair.
S2: We're not asking you to do anything. We're just asking
S2: you to show up and sit. A lot of churches
S2: in America lack men because men aren't great sitters. So
S2: men show up in church and they say, if the
S2: expectation of me is just to come and sit week
S2: after week and listen, they're not good listeners to how
S2: many wives say amen. So if I'm going to sit,
S2: which I'm not really good at, and I'm just going
S2: to be asked to listen, which I'm not really good
S2: at either and occasionally give which I'm worse at, then
S2: I'm not sure I want to show up again. I
S2: believe that the church of the Living God, when it
S2: has vision, it mobilizes men and women to take action
S2: and make a difference in their community and their family
S2: and their life and their society. That's vision.
S1: You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here
S1: on Bold Steps. We'll continue in a moment, but let
S1: me remind you that all of these encouraging Bible lessons
S1: can be found on our website. Bold steps. Of course,
S1: you can also hear us on any major podcast app
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S1: remember to click subscribe while you're there and leave us
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S1: and discover even more teaching videos centered on biblical truths
S1: right at your fingertips. Just go to the App Store
S1: on your phone or mobile device and download the Bold
S1: Steps app today. Now let's get back to Mark's lesson.
S1: The message is titled do you see it yet? And
S1: once again, here's Mark Jobe.
S2: I want you to take your Bibles and turn to
S2: Second Kings chapter six. We're going to be looking at
S2: a story. As far as I know, it's the first
S2: time I've ever preached out of this passage since I've
S2: been preaching, and I've preached out of a lot of
S2: passages in the Bible. The main character of the story
S2: is a man by the name of Elijah. Not to
S2: be confused with Elijah. Elijah was the iconic prophet that
S2: appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, one of
S2: the most powerful prophets in all the Old Testament. He
S2: prayed and it did not rain for three years. The
S2: weatherman prophet. He prayed again and it rained. He confronted
S2: 400 prophets of Baal. They danced, pranced, cut themselves, worked
S2: themselves up into a frenzy, trying to get fire to
S2: come down from heaven and consume the altar. And Elijah.
S2: One prophet against 400 pagan prophets just stood there and said,
S2: maybe your God is on vacation. Or literally he said,
S2: maybe your god's in the bathroom and can't hear you.
S2: And then when it was his turn, he didn't dance
S2: and prance and beat himself and yell and holler. He
S2: just said, Lord God Almighty, you hear my prayer now.
S2: Vindicate yourself in front of these people. Call fire down
S2: from heaven and consume this altar. And just to make
S2: sure that they knew it wasn't just because it was
S2: dry and fire came out, he said, let's dump water
S2: on the altar. And as soon as he prayed, fire
S2: came down from heaven and consumed the altar. That's Elijah
S2: the prophet. But Elijah the prophet had a protege, a mentor,
S2: a someone he was mentoring. He was a farm boy.
S2: He knew about plowing, about dirt, about farming. He wasn't
S2: very sophisticated. He wasn't very knowledgeable about leadership. Elijah found
S2: him plowing some fields. Just doing a simple task, but
S2: a hard worker. And Elijah said, come and follow me.
S2: And so young Elijah came and followed Elijah, and he
S2: started training him and mentoring him. Follow him and and
S2: carrying his suitcases and watching what he did. But I
S2: tell you something. When the time came for transition, the
S2: iconic prophet Elijah looked to his young protege and he said,
S2: what do you want from me? Here's where you see vision,
S2: because I believe during those times, Elijah, the young young
S2: man of God, was starting to dream. God, what could
S2: you do through me when it's my turn? How could
S2: you use me? And he envisioned himself being a prophet,
S2: that God would use a man of God that he
S2: would use. He had a vision that had been boiling
S2: up inside of his spirit. He saw himself not just
S2: as a farmer, but as a man that could make
S2: a difference. A man that could move in power. And
S2: as soon as Elijah asked him what he wanted, he said,
S2: I want a double portion of what you have. You
S2: don't ask for bold things unless you have a vision
S2: for it. You don't ask with courage or boldness or
S2: aggressiveness unless you've seen it already in your mind. He said,
S2: I want to double what you had. And Elijah said,
S2: you ask a hard thing. But the Bible tells us
S2: that God granted this young man a double portion of
S2: what Elijah had. And if you do the math and
S2: count the miracles that Elijah senior did and what Elijah did.
S2: Elijah did double the miracles of Elijah. God gave him
S2: a double portion. Man, I'm praying for a generation of
S2: young leaders that will rise up and say, you know,
S2: what's happened in the past is good. I love it.
S2: I've learned from it, but I'm not settled for it.
S2: I want a double portion. I'm praying for men and
S2: women that have their own clarity of vision, that say,
S2: you know what? It's been good. But I believe that
S2: God wants me to go even further than the last generation. God,
S2: give us the boldness of a double portion. Yes. So
S2: in Second Kings chapter six, we find this man of God.
S2: Encountering some trouble. Because the anointing of God and the
S2: call of God and vision comes with trouble. There is
S2: no vision without obstacles. There is no vision without testing.
S2: There is no God given preferred vision of the future.
S2: That will not be difficult. There's a man of God
S2: in this place that you never grew up in a
S2: godly home. You never saw a father train the children
S2: in the ways of God. You never saw your dad
S2: bless you and the children beside the bedside. You never
S2: saw him pray. You never saw him crack a Bible.
S2: You never saw him not swear in the household, not
S2: bring booze in and get drunk on the weekends and
S2: be faithful to his wife. You never saw that. But
S2: in your mind, you're saying I want to be a
S2: cycle breaker. Legacy maker in Jesus name. And I never
S2: saw it physically. But in my mind, I've seen a
S2: vision of the family man that I want to be
S2: of the man, the husband, the father that God is
S2: calling me to be. Maybe I never saw it in
S2: the physical, but I see a vision of it that
S2: God has placed in my heart. I see that vision,
S2: and that vision drives you. It drives you. Oh, you
S2: stumble or you fall and you think it's going to
S2: be easy. And then you start going and you realize, wow,
S2: this is harder than what I thought. How many of
S2: you know what I'm talking about here? It's not easy
S2: to break cycles. You view yourself as a patient, loving man,
S2: but you get home and man you. You kick the dog,
S2: you slam the door, you're cranky, you're crabby, and then
S2: you realize, man, who I am is not matching up
S2: with the vision of who God has called me to be.
S2: So you. So you stop yourself and there's a vision.
S2: There's a conviction that says, that's not who I am. That, that,
S2: that that's who my daddy was. But that's not who
S2: the future man of God is being called to be.
S2: I will not be. I will not be the old self.
S2: I will be the new self. God is calling me
S2: to something. And there's a battle there. There's a challenge.
S2: There's a battle to become the man that you envision
S2: yourself to be, but have never lived in reality. That's
S2: called vision. And Elijah was called to be a man
S2: of God, but he was encountering some difficulty fulfilling the
S2: vision that God had called him to, to walk in.
S2: And I believe in this passage that we see that
S2: God has to open his eyes to three things as
S2: he starts pursuing his God given vision. If you're taking notes,
S2: write this down. The first thing that God starts to
S2: open his eyes to is to God's very own presence.
S2: The presence of God. You see, you can't grasp the
S2: vision of God unless you first of all understand the
S2: presence of God. You see, it's the presence of God
S2: that enables you to understand the purposes of God.
S1: You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on
S1: bold steps, and today's message is just part one of
S1: our series finale, titled Do you See It Yet? In
S1: case you missed an earlier lesson from our current study
S1: called Fully Devoted, be sure to visit our website and
S1: catch up when you can by going to Bold steps.org. Well, Mark,
S1: we're honored to have Heather Holloman with us today. She's
S1: the author of the Six Conversations our bold step gift.
S2: Yeah. And Heather, one of the really unique elements of
S2: your book, The Six Conversations, is how you connect the
S2: latest research on relationships with biblical principles. What does Scripture
S2: tell us about, say, the art of conversation?
S3: Well, really, you can learn so much from Philippians two,
S3: Romans 12, and Galatians six. All of those passages teach
S3: us how to be curious about other people. How to
S3: believe the best about them. Express concern and then share
S3: your own life. I love Galatians six about taking on
S3: other people's burdens. How do we know what they are
S3: if we're not interested in their lives and asking really
S3: good questions about our friends and loved ones?
S2: And Heather, I know that you're this is not just
S2: a book about, uh, how to be a better communicator
S2: with people. You have an intention. And that is, hey,
S2: conversation is the bridge way to really share spirituality and
S2: the gospel with people. Talk about that a minute.
S3: Well, that's right, so many people want to share their faith.
S3: They want to share these things that are so deeply
S3: personal to them, but they never know how to start
S3: the conversation. And what this book teaches is how to
S3: have a warm connection. So talking about Jesus never feels
S3: awkward or like you're selling something. You're just sharing your
S3: life with someone that you're having a great conversation with.
S4: I love it the six Conversations by doctor Heather Holloman. And, uh,
S4: you need to pick this up. We can't wait to
S4: put this in your hands so that you can start
S4: to have those conversations with your loved ones that you've
S4: been wanting to have.
S1: And we'll be happy to send you a copy of
S1: this bold step gift today. When you give a gift
S1: of any amount to support bold steps. Just give us
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S1: Illinois 606 ten. And when you give a financial gift
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S1: copy of Mark's book, Unstuck Out of Your Cave and
S1: Into Your Call. Plus several other perks like the biweekly
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S1: I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you back tomorrow for the finale
S1: of our fully devoted series and part two of our
S1: message titled Do You See It Yet? That's coming up
S1: Wednesday here on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps
S1: is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody
S1: Bible Institute.