'Run with the Vision'

"El Olam" The Everlasting God

*Habakkuk 1:12, "Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction."

We all have visions and dreams. Both visions and dreams can occur waking or sleeping. The dreams that we have while awake stem from hopes and plans that we make, often daydreaming of the day when they will occur. The dreams which we dream while asleep; however, often make little sense. Nothing more than images the mind draws from our experiences and perhaps tries to put them in a logical order no matter how illogical it may seem once we are awake.

Visions can be something that we remember, an experience revisited in the mind so vividly that we remember even the sites, smells, and sounds surrounding the event. Visions can be something we look at and see differently in our minds eye than what it appears, a field that is dry and parched envisioned as a thriving community, or a vacant lot envisioned as a towering office complex. Visions can also be something we see visibly, causing us to believe they are actually occurring.

Unfortunately, dreams can become nightmarish in nature and visions can become obscure causing confusion to our subconscious mind. When those dreams or visions falter, you need a sure foundation to stand upon. You can be kept in perfect peace when your mind rests upon the Lord: when you trust in Him.

*Habakkuk 2:1-3, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

From approximately 621-609 B.C. Habakkuk spoke the word of God with boldness. A faithful watchman of God who prophesied to the nation of Judah warning them of the impending captivity. *Habakkuk 1:5-11, "Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god."

Habakkuk spoke the words of God with boldness because God never does anything without warning His people. He declared their iniquities before them saying, "Woe to him that increases that which is not his and to him that laden himself with thick clay! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite you, and awake that shall vex you, and you shall be for spoil? Woe to him that coveted an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! You have consulted shame to your house by cutting off many people, and have sinned against your soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Woe unto him that gives his neighbour drink and makes him drunk also to look on their nakedness! You are filled with shame for glory. What profits the graven image that the maker thereof has engraved it. The molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusts in, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that said to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him."

Judah had turned from the Lord their God to images of false idols. They had squandered what God had so faithfully provided for them through the promises of Abraham. They became like their sister Israel and turned aside to commit the same iniquities as the nations who God had cast out before them. They no longer put their faith in the God who had led their fathers out of bondage into a land flowing with milk and honey.

The words of Habakkuk have been sounded by believers for over two thousand years, "The just shall live by his faith," and by faith they are justified in God. Despite the warnings of the Lord's faithful servant, Judah refused to return to obeying the commandments of God and continued to bow to the gods of stone. In Approximately 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldeans began his destruction of Judah. In 586 B.C. He destroyed the temple and took the remainder of the people of Jerusalem into captivity. 

V

While Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem through the villages and cities He turned to the multitudes that followed Him and taught. Then drew near all the publicans and sinners to listen to Him. Then the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners, and eats with them." Then He spoke a parable saying, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Then when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he returns home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my sheep which was lost.' I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons, which need no repentance."

"Also, what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it? Then when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, saying, 'Rejoice with me because I have found the piece which I had lost.' Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents."

Then He said, "A certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that I shall inherit.' Then he divided between them his living. Not many days after, the younger son gathered every thing together and journeyed into a far country. There he wasted his substance with riotous living. When he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. Then he joined himself to a citizen of that country who sent him into his fields to feed swine. When he became so famished be considered filling his belly with the husks that the swine ate because no one gave him anything. When he came to himself, he said, 'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.'"

"So he arose and went to his father, but, when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, I am no more worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, 'Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf, kill it, and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to be merry."

"Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing. Then he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. He said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' Then he was angry, and would not go in; therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father, 'Lo, these many years have I served you, neither at any time have I transgressed your commandment, yet you never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this, your son returned, which has devoured your living with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' Then he said to him, 'Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this your brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.'"

We all have dreams and visions of what we desire to become and many follow through to fruition. There are those who spend a lifetime building legacies for their children knowing that when they die their children and their grandchildren will be there to carry on what they so carefully devoted their life to achieve; however, often their children have little desire to continue their parents dreams or visions and squander all  for a moment of pleasure.

Still others will take their visions and run with them. Often building their fame and fortune on the backs of others, using and abusing those who are considered insignificant except for the moment at hand. Others who are ultimately discarded, considered disposable, then left in the wake of another's vision of which they had expected, or been promised, to receive a portion.

Visions and dreams which stem from our own greed, lust, and self-importance will ultimately end in heartache. Outwardly they may appear to be the ultimate goal of any individual; however, a much deeper view causes many to pause and take council of their final destination.

It is hard to imagine the vision God had in the beginning when He spoke all of creation into existence, but truly He had a remarkable vision. The vision that He saw as good, perfect, without flaw, without sin. A vision that would last for eternity and He would be a vital important part of it; however, sin entered the world and changed all that was perfect and good. It changed not only mankind but all of creation. Man's dreams and visions became obscure. Unable to see the light for darkness mankind exchanged the glory of God for the glory of those things that were created. Fashioning man's glory after those things which he could whittle out of wood and chip out of stone, God became discarded, disposable, and left in the wake of mankind's dreams and visions; however, God's vision never diminished.

From the beginning God's vision has always been good, perfect, without flaw, without sin. Knowing that mankind needed salvation God provided a way even from the beginning, from the foundation of the earth. God knew that His Spirit would not always strive with man, even though he was made of flesh. God knew that man would remember and desire to return to his Father in heaven and God opened a door to provide the way. A door that no man can shut.

Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and sup with him," *Revelation 3:20. Jesus is the door to the sheepfold. The entry through which we enter into the kingdom of God. When you accept God's free gift of grace given through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ you receive salvation. You enter into His eternal kingdom of which there is no end, of which God is a vital important part. A kingdom where there will be no more sun or moon because God will dwell with us and be the light of it forever.

God has given us a vision of a world that is good, perfect, without flaw, without sin. That vision is contained in His word and when you are a child of God that vision is imprinted in your spirit, your heart, your soul, and your mind. When you accept God's open door policy there is no concern about dreams or visions that may become nightmares or obscure. God will give you the desires of your heart because He has given you those desires. All good and perfect gifts come down from the Father of Lights in Whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning.

God's vision was much larger than mankind's and it was the vision that Habakkuk was to run with. "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting," *Habakkuk 3:3-6. A vision of the Rock of Ages, the Ancient of Days, the Everlasting God returning to earth in the glory of His power.

The foundation upon which we build our dreams and visions will ultimately determine the outcome. Determine to build your dreams and visions upon a sure foundation. A solid rock that is unmovable. Jesus Christ the stone which the builder's rejected. He truly is the Rock of Ages, the Ancient of Days, the Everlasting God upon which all your hopes, dreams, and visions, can be assured of peace and everlasting life.

P *Amos 3:7 admonishes, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets." The prophets of old had great visions not only of destruction but of restoration. The book of Proverbs tells us, "Where there is no vision, the people perish;"  however, the kings of Israel continuously turned a deaf ear. They shut out the words of the Lord's prophets, even though they spoke the truth by the Spirit of God that rested upon them.

*Revised January 8, 2008