Prophetic Vision

"Where there is no revelation [prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law [of God]."¹

Some 350 or more years ago a shipload of travelers landed on a distant land. The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness.

In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway?

Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision and certainly had no prophetic vision of what God's plan was for this nation yet to be.

With a clear vision of what we can become and achieve in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. As individuals, organizations, churches, and a nation without a vision of what God wants us to be and do we will eventually demise, "for without a vision the people perish."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding and give me a vision of what you are doing in the world in which I live and see clearly how I can be a part of your plans. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV).

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By Dick Innes

Power To Pump Well Water

C.T. Studd shortly after his arrival in the African bush (1910)

I don’t know if you’ve heard the story of C. T. Studd the great Christian missionary. He went to a fair years and years ago and was captivated by a man pumping a well. 

The thing that grabbed him was how fast he was pumping and how long he was able to pump. He said to himself, "No man can do that. What kind of vitamins does he take? What kind of exercise program is he on?" He walked over to get a closer look. He found that the man dressed in Oriental garb was not a man. He was a stick figure. His elbows were hinges. He was not pumping the well, the well was pumping him. It was an artesian well. You see, there was a power that turned the man.

I believe that’s exactly what Paul is saying. He says, "I want you to know something. I want you to know it’s not you doing it for God. It’s God doing it in and through you as you bow before Him." Listen, it’s a 200% relationship. It’s 100% my willingness to obey, yield and bow, but it’s also 100% His power, His presence and what He can do in and through me that I cannot do and certainly will never deserve.

by Dr. Wayne Barber