In recent issues of Barnabas Bulletin, I have been sharing about the importance of vision in our lives and how it must be captured. Today I want to share with you something that may not always be talked about, but it is nonetheless very important. That is the guarding of your vision. Once you have received a vision from God and have captured it in your heart and spirit, it will begin to develop and grow. It will start to enthuse you so that you will be sharing with others what God has given to you. Once you start to share your vision you will need to be on guard against the negative voices that will try and tell you that your vision is not from God; that it is only your own ideas and that it will come to nothing. These negative voices always seem to come forth from our fellow Christian believers. I am sorry but it is true. Over the years of The GFM Ministry we have had all kinds of voices trying to tell us what we should or should not be doing, telling us it is not of God, and that it should close down, etc. Others have tried to get us to change our emphasis, change the name, do this or do that . . . It is very sad but true that in some Christian circles believers are taught to “lay down their vision” for the sake of the leaders or church’s vision, as that is more important. While these teachings may have started off with good intentions they have developed into putting restrictions on people and discouraging them from receiving a personal vision from God as to what He has called them for. That has resulted in scores of Christians who do not have a real, personal vision burning in their heart, and therefore do not accomplish very much in their lives. They become frustrated and disillusioned.

Some times I try to imagine as to where I would have been today if I had submitted to those negative voices (often they were Christian leaders). Here’s another interesting thing ~ when I was a pastor, The GFM Ministry was never really a problem for others. But once God called me to a “full-time by faith” ministry and I resigned from pastoring, suddenly The GFM Ministry became a problem to numbers of people. They wrongly perceived that we were now “outside the protection and covering of the local church” and so we must be “suspect, lone-rangers, rebellious”, etc. Yet no one seemed to consider that, when I was pastoring, I was only able to impact hundreds of people ~ now we are impacting many thousands of people! Surely that must be good news? And God has wonderfully provided the many hundreds of thousands of dollars for us to be able to do what we do today. This month The GFM commences its 48^th year of existence!! Hallelujah!

Yes, if you’re going to succeed in the call of God and fulfil His vision for your life in a fruitful way, be aware that many will not understand what God has put in your heart. That is why it is so important that you know that the vision you carry is “born of God.”

• Your vision has to be stronger and more real to you than the many negative voices that will try and discourage you otherwise.

• Know your vision and calling in God, and stand stedfast in that which He has called you to do!

I do not share these things for you to get “a persecution complex”. Know that everything that is born of God will be tried and tested. These negative voices can be turned into positive advantages when you know your vision is of God. When these negative voices have come against us, they have caused us to press in closer to God, and many times (as a result) God has shown us a new addition to the Ministry that has enabled us to reach even thousands more. We cannot stop the negative voices coming against us, but we sure do not have to come under their influence. Know your vision; know your calling and rise to fulfil your destiny in our risen Lord Jesus Christ! God bless you ~ Rodney W. Francis.

 Bible  Readings: 

Acts 7:23-25; 1 Peter 1:3-21; Hebrews 10:35-36; 1 Peter 5:6-11

Please Pray This Prayer:

“Dear God, I come to You in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and I ask You to help me to be really serious about the vision of Jesus Christ for my life, so that I may fulfil that purpose for which You have laid a hold of me. Help me to be very clear in my own heart and understanding as to what Your vision for me is, and help me to eliminate all doubts and negative voices that would hinder me from fulfilling Your vision for my life. I ask You to give me wisdom and discernment so that I may quickly and distinctly discern Your divine will and purposes when these negative voices come at me. Help me to keep a right attitude and a good spirit toward those who speak negatively against me and the vision You have given me. I really do want to be an effective and fruitful minister of Your Supernatural Gospel in my day and generation. I desire to fulfil Your vision for my life! Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray these things. Amen."

The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry, New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.