Enlarge Your Vision
There is something about big thinkers. When everybody else says it is impossible, they believe that it is possible. I have observed that successful people are not necessarily smarter or more qualified than others—they just think differently. If you are going to live a life of impact, start changing the way you think. Limited thinking will cause you to live a limited life. Big dreams are free. It does not cost you money, but it may cost you your life.
2 Corinthians 5:11-13 MSG
Dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
Do you have a vision for this New Year? How big is your dream? Are you living life in a small way or are you pursuing God-size mandates? God wants you to enter into a wide and spacious life. Enlarge your vision. Write it down. Wait on God, and it will come to pass (Habakkuk 2:2-4). What you see is what you will be.
Stay Open for Something New
Have an open mind before the Lord. Last year, I was invited to speak at various churches in Europe. I have been going on mission trips to Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia for years. The invitation to Europe took place at the same time. I immediately rejected the idea to go to Europe. I had a closed mind. However, when I spoke with my brother Guine, also a minister, he challenged me to reconsider. To cut a long story short, I prayed about it, opened my mind, and went to minister in Europe. Hundreds of young people committed their lives to follow Jesus. And we still went to Indochina to reach the most unreached.
Sometimes, God wants to do something new. We are conditioned to do what is safe, tried, tested, and comfortable. Enlarging our vision means staying open to new things. We do not have to figure out how it will happen. Our job is to believe. This year, stay open for a new relationship. Shift your spiritual goals to a higher gear. Explore new opportunities in your career. Pray about going on a mission trip. Spend time with the Lord, get into His Word, and see how you see how you can serve Him and His people. Ask God for His master plan for your life.
It is not enough to have a bigger vision for your life. You have to take corresponding action towards your goals. Paul said, “Forgetting what lies behind, I press forward towards the goal and calling of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:13-14).
Swim to Your Amazon
Martin Strel is a Slovenian marathon swimmer. He was the first man to swim the entire length of the Amazon River. From the source to the ocean, it is 3,274 miles long. The Amazon is extremely dangerous. It is infested with piranhas, crocodiles, and flesh-eating bacteria. There are also notorious pirates all along the way. Yet, every morning for 66 days, Martin would get into the river and swim till nightfall. At one point the doctors told him that his blood pressure was too high to swim, but he got in the water. Martin spent many restless nights, cold and exhausted, but he got in the river. He contracted a brain virus that made him hallucinate, but he got in the river. He swam the entire length of the Amazon River that no one had done before.
My friend, what about you? What are you hungry for? What are you dreaming about? Why don’t you think a little bigger? Enlarge your vision. It is time for you to swim your Amazon. Whatever God put in your heart, go after it. Shake off the past disappointments. God has chosen you and empowered you to do what no one else can do. You are called to leave your mark in this world. Jump into the River of God—go on that mission trip, build that orphanage, go back to school, start your own business, write that book. Whatever it is that God has put on your heart, now is the time to pursue your passion. Pray, “God, I am not going to just survive this year, I am expecting an overflow. I am believing for a blessed, productive, favor-filled year.” Then delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart—peace, joy, promotion, breakthroughs, and the fullness of your destiny.
