Chazown [khaw-ZONE]- Part 1- continued

Seeing Clear to the End- Why You Need a New Kind of Vision

We left off discussing how so many of us just wander through our lives without a true purpose and how, even if we do have a purpose in mind for ourselves, it is so easy to get caught up in life and all its distractions. However, the Bible tells us:

Where there is no vision, the people perish. –Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no CHAZOWN, the people perish.

Cha-ZOWN means dream, revelation, vision.

Having a vision is an essential part of reaching our God potential. And God will reveal that vision to us in His timing. But, we need to be open, ready and seeking it.

One Lone Chazown

Just think about it. “Imagine one man with one dream.” Groeschel exemplifies Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now, he had a vision, a purpose…but not just for himself. His dream significantly changed the lives of ALL Americans and many in the world. Moreover, most of those changes occurred after he died. “What if YOUR life continued to change the world even after you died?” The Apostle Paul, of course, is another great example of someone reaching his God Potential.

“Imagine one disciple. Imagine you.

What is your purpose on this earth?

What had God designed you uniquely to do?

When you get a vision for what God has in mind for your life, things change. A lot.”

Groeschel notes Four Gifts with which we will be blessed once we begin to receive our vision.

1. Focus- The vision God gives you will focus you. You will know clearly what you are here to do. Thus, you will be able to better discern what you are not to do. There are a million good opportunities. “But good opportunities should not distract from the better and the great.”
2. Endurance- “In this world you will have trouble.” –John 16:33. Knowing God’s vision for you does not exempt you from tough time and struggle. In fact, in some ways- it invites more. But, the grace that comes with vision will give you the strength and courage to persevere and continue toward the goal.
3. Peace- When you know who you are and what your purpose is, you are content. You have peace. As noted, you will still have to overcome obstacles. However, you know that you are working hard to overcome those challenges for a reason…for the reason.
4. Passion- “You show me a person who has no motivation in life, and I‘ll show you a person who has no vision. Every single time.” If you could care less about art, you will see a Van Gogh and think it’s just a painting. If art or art history is your vision, you will see an expression achieved with a certain kind if paint, using and mixing specific colors, employing a certain texture, created in a certain time period, telling a story worth even more than a thousand words. You can and likely want to talk about it for as long as someone will listen. You are passionate about it. It seeps out of you. We all see the same world- but through the our own unique lens, which is formed by our experiences, our beliefs, our interests, our vision and purpose.

“Trust me- His vision for your life is bigger and better than you’ve had the courage to even hope for. Your God is that good. That strong. And He loves you that much.”

“Disturb Us, Lord…”

Who knows what God has for us?! What we could do…What we could be. God knows. And He wants us to know too- so we can glorify Him with the AMAZING things we would do in Him name. But, how do we get there? How do we get from here to there?

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord.” –Sir Francis Drake

“Are you willing to let God disturb you with dreams so big that you don’t know how they’ll be accomplished?”

You’re The Author-

What would your final chapter be? Someone is going to write it…why not you? You are the only one who can write it the way YOU want it to be.

HOMEWORK:

Plan You Epitaph: Write your final chapter the way you want it to be.

When you are lying in your death bed, how will you want to be able to finish the following statements?

• The thing that was most important to me was…
• People say I stood for…
• I made a difference in my world by…
• God was glorified because I…
• People knew I loved them because…
• The reason I expect God to say, "well done” is…

For additional resources- www.chazown.com

Reference:

Groeschel, Craig. Chazown. Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, CO. 2006, 2010.

His Grace Is Sufficient

Most of us are not proud of our weaknesses. In fact, we often try to hide them from others.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." -2 Corinthians 12:9

Who wants to admit falling short in one area or another? It is strength and accomplishment that’s rewarded…not weakness and failure.

"Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong." -2 Corinthians 12:10

The point here is not to celebrate our weaknesses, nor is it an excuse not to try to improve and grow and reach our God potential. BUT, as we are growing from triumph to triumph, from glory to glory, from mature to more mature, we should be content in our weakness and free to acknowledge them. For it is through them, through our weaknesses, through doing and accomplishing things that our broken selves never could that HIS strength becomes evident and that HE is glorified.


-In Him

Mature Like a Child

To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. -Titus 1:15

Do you ever wonder why some things, certain Biblical things, seem so clear to some and so completely ridiculous to others? Of course, on some level, this is a function of when, where and how the Holy Spirit wants to reveal His truths to us. But, maybe we are not yet ready for certain revelations because our hearts are not pure...because our hearts are not humble enough and open enough and sensitive enough to discern the whisper of the Holy Spirit.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 18:1-4

The more grown up and spiritually mature we want to be, the more child-like our hearts need to grow. It is that purity which will keep us tuned into the Truth.

-In Him

Chazown- Seeing Clear to the End- Why You Need a New Kind of Vision

Chazown [khaw-ZONE]- Part 1

Seeing Clear to the End- Why You Need a New Kind of Vision

“Imagine yourself there, [about to die], lying in bed and reflecting:

- What did my life add up to?

- Did I really matter?

- What did I live for?

- Who will remember me?

- What will they say about me when I am gone?

- Why was it important that I existed?”

As you think about these questions, how do you feel about the answers? Are you happy with them? Satisfied? Or are there/will there be many regrets?

“The decisions you are making today are actually making the bed you will lie in while you wait to die.”

Groeschel talks about how so many people just wander through life, going with the flow, going through the motions, just existing. He modified a phrase from Andy Stanley:

“Everyone ends up somewhere. But few people end up somewhere on purpose.”

But, God is on purpose:

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” -Isaiah 46:10

Groeschel notes that we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

You created my innermost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

“He invites us to seek Him in order to learn what His perfect plan is for our lives. Then, with that plan in mind, we can reach His and our greatest dreams. Anything less is a mistake, a lie, a rip-off.”

While this seems great, it is certainly easier said than done. Life happens. We would probably ALL choose to live our God’s will for us… but so often we get swept up by life, and school and bills and tuition and student loans and marriage and babies and car repairs and family problems and struggles at work and… the next thing you know, you are lying in your death bed wondering what happened to your life. We realize that there are so many things that we could have or should have… We realize that we did not have our fingers on the pulse of the vision God had for our lives. We realize we did not reach our God potential.

Where there is no vision, the people perish. –Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no CHAZOWN, the people perish.

Cha-ZOWN means dream, revelation, vision.

Reference:

Groeschel, Craig. Chazown. Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, CO. 2006, 2010.

Let Your ‘Yes’ Be Yes

‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Matthew 5:33-37

How many pinky promises have you made? How often do you have to stress and underscore or swear that you will do something…to your kids, spouse, friends, loved ones? For how many of us is our ‘yes’ really yes and ‘no’ really no?

Jesus calls us to walk in this integrity…so much easier said than done. How easy is it to have something, anything, come up? Or, you’re late. Or, you just don’t feel like doing whatever you said you would…

We put ourselves in situations in which we sacrifice our integrity and peoples’ trust in us. [If we repeatedly don’t do what we say we will do, people will not trust that we will.] That situation creates conflict with what God wants us to be, which separates us for Him.

Let us search ourselves and know ourselves. Think TWICE-or even three times BEFORE making a commitment in the first place. For example, if you know you are exhausted at the end of a workday, still having to do homework and dinner, then seriously consider readily committing to weeknight activities. But, once you have said your ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ really try to stick to it. Of course, there is always room for thoughtful reconsideration and changing your mind. But, these should be exception, not the rule.

Is your ‘yes’ a yes, no or a maybe?...

-In Him