The Vision Cycle
Gtcotr/ss061607
Key Scripture: Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
God is a God of visions and dreams, God of the future … good visions, good dreams and a good future for you.
When God speaks to men He often speaks of things which are not yet visible perhaps things which are not yet even possible … at least not yet possible from man’s perspective.
God speaks to men about the future and plants seeds of the future in hearts and minds. These seeds are destined to bring a harvest however, not every individual or generation sees that harvest.
God gave Moses and the children of Israel a dream for their future of going into the Promised Land however, both Moses and that whole generation died without seeing their dream fulfilled because they refused to trust God.
God also spoke to Abraham about his future and gave him a dream.
We read about Abraham’s promised potential in:
Genesis 17 NKJV
1 ¶ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
2 "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
4 ¶ "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5 "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
As the key to his potential future, God promised Abraham a certain son.
Genesis 17 NKJV
15 ¶ Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 "And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"
19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
So, in the year which came Sarah conceived and delivered a son in her old age. The child was named Isaac.
Some years later, (theologians differ on Isaac’s age which ranges from 5 years old to 13, to 20, 25 and even 35 years old – we cannot know), it was that God spoke to Abraham once again concerning Abraham’s dream.
God had given Abraham a vision of his future which allowed him to dream. Now, years later, it seems that God will end that dream with a nightmare.
Genesis 22 NKJV
1 ¶ Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the
But God brought birth to the vision and dream of Isaac being the future and fulfillment of Abraham’s covenant, even after Abraham had asked God to just bless his son Ishmael.
Abraham had not asked for this vision and now, once he had fallen in love with it, it was going to be sacrificed.
Abraham did not argue with God but obediently followed God’s voice.
The story continues in Genesis 22 telling how that Abraham climbs Mt Moriah, builds an altar, puts everything in order, binds his son Isaac and lays him upon the altar before God.
Genesis 22:12 … "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
As Abraham lifts the knife to his dream, ready to sacrifice his future, a voice from heaven speaks and stops the sacrifice.
The New Testament speaks of this incident as the Apostle Paul further explains the account.
Hebrews 11 NKJV
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called,"
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
What does this mean? Simply it means that because of Abraham’s faith in God and in the vision God had given him, Abraham was able to offer Isaac on the altar knowing that God was able to raise him up from the dead if need be to fulfill His promise.
In fact the passage concludes that Abraham had already received Isaac as being raised from the dead before he raised the knife to slay him.
This story gives us a unique but definitive picture of the cycle of a vision.
First we see:
1. The Birth of a Vision
A dream or promise of your future
Then there is also:
2. The Death of a Vision
We must all lay our Isaacs on the altar before God
They belong to God and not to us
We cannot withhold our trust in God’s care
Nor can we determine or demand our own destiny
You cannot protect your future, especially from God
Finally we see:
3. The Resurrection of a Vision
God gives and keeps and raises His will from the ashes
God is able
We must see our vision raised from the dead before it even dies
Count God faithful … trust Him with your Isaacs.
Jeremiah 1:12 The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." (NIV)
Just a side note today for you fathers.
Can you imagine why God treated Abraham so favorably or why He interacted with him so much? Why did God choose Abraham?
Let me give you a great father’s day scripture:
Genesis 18: 19 Because I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Happy Father’s Day!
