Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Pastor Jerry Sellers, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX
I want to continue to share my journey on discovering key principles on how the Kingdom operates and how to function in the Kingdom. A month ago, I spoke on the topic discovering your Kingdom Vision. It’s was all about unlocking your God-given Potential.
If you did not get a chance to hear that message, you may want to go back and listen on TroyBrewer.com under sermons or go to ODX.TV under sermons. Well, tonight I want to add to that by sharing some “Action Steps or Keys to Accomplishing the Vision”–the potential God has placed and planted in you. I want to equip you to accomplish the purpose for which God created you.
I remember about three years ago when I was in California on a prophetic training conference that God gave me a phrase that was really challenging and motivating. I want to share that with you…
STEWARD YOUR FULLEST POTENTIAL
I believe in my core that we will give an account for what we could have done. I shared in the message a month ago that the richest place on earth in the graveyard–the cemetery–because buried 6 feet under the ground are books, songs, poems that where supposed to be written never were. Ideas for new businesses that should have been started, but never were. Inventions that where meant to be created, but never were. Cures for diseases that never were developed.
So many dreams God dreams were never allowed to reach their fullest potential because they died within the individual God gave them to.
I implore you tonight; ask Holy Spirit, “What is my fullest potential? What dream have you given me to pursue? What is really my purpose and my potential” and then get busy going after that!
I recently read the poorest person alive is a person without a dream. As long as you have dreams, you are full of hope. A person who is living and going after their potential is a person full of hope.
Let me suggest the most frustrated person alive is the person who has a dream but never sees it become a reality. It’s frustrating and depressing to have an idea–a God idea–that never comes to pass.
Many will only congregate in the arena of interest when it comes to their dream, their vision, their potential. They will never move out of interest to the arena of impact. Your God Dream, your God Vision, your God-given Potential has impact attached to it. It is given to you to give back to impact this earth and mankind. It’s a part of your Kingship. It is incorporated into you ruling and reigning– having dominion and operating in the authority Christ has given you.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
Whatever God has placed in your hand to steward, do it with all your passion, intelligence, anointing, favor, and might or it will not happen. Hidden in this passion is a principle a key that most people miss.
You only accomplish what you fight for!
If you’re only interested in your dream, it will never come to pass. But if you are willing to put all of your might, strength and energy into your dream and vision, nobody can stop it from coming to pass.
This scripture also implies that if you put hands to do something, there will also be resistance, pressure, difficulties, barriers, and opposition. You have to respond with determination, diligence and pressure–with all your might–behind your dream.
Say with me…….DESTINY DEMANDS DILIGENCE
To birth this God dream, it will take hard work and all your might. It will take internal motivation to manifest an external dream and achieve success. I deeply believe God has placed within every one of us alive a dream, a vision, a call that is designed to give purpose and meaning to our life. Everyone listening to this was born with a dream God implanted in you. No man gives dreams; only God does. Too many buried their dreams in the depths of the cemetery and have robbed the rest who to miss out on the impact that dream would have accomplished.
There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light that is in you. If you are willing to capture it, there is no force that can stop it. All of the darkness in the world–all the darkness of peoples opinions–all of the darkness of your past failures cannot put out the light, the potential of what God has downloaded into you heart.
God has placed a vision in your heart. Ecclesiastes 3 calls it “a little bit of eternity” in your heart that He gave you to deliver in due time. In other words, God put a little piece of what He wants done in your heart. The challenge is what He placed in your heart is in His heart and He lives in eternity. So God has done something that is actually awesome: God put you in time so time could see a little piece of eternity that’s in God. The Bible calls this “The Deep Calling unto Deep.”
There is something in each of us that is being called by eternity and God is actually calling us to do something that He already has in His heart to do.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 10
1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven…I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
That means every human being comes to earth with a weight. Let me give you a phrase…
RESPONSIBLE URGE
God placed within you a responsible urge. God has placed upon every person–whether you’re 16 or 66–a burden. In the Hebrew, it can be translated a heavy responsibility; a cry in your heart. What is that cry? That is the cry of Purpose. It is the cry that says, “I was born to do something. I don’t know what it is yet but I feel there is something bigger than me I am supposed to do.” That burden comes from God and is found in vs 11
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
That means God has put in you something for you to do. He also placed a time for you to do it within. Therefore, in verse 1, to every purpose there is a season, a time to do it. Whatever you where born to do, God has placed a time and a season to get it done.
Time is the duration of your life and seasons are the different phases of your life. The first season is “dependency,” where you depend on outside and eternal help. In this season, you need God you need others. This where you learn. You’re being taught. You’re being trained.
The next season is independence, where you capture what you where born to do and your dependence on others is very minimal. You focus on your goals for your life.
The third season inter-dependance. This is where you are so free that you give your dream to other people. You can pass on your vision to the next generation.
The last season is death. It’s where you literally become the fertilizer for other people’s dreams. If the next generation doesn’t continue your purpose because of your death, you did not live effectively. People should be able to feast upon what you left behind.
If you live properly, history will not be able to ignore that you lived. That’s the way you were born to live: To make an impact. To make a mark in life that leaves fertilizer and seed for the next generation to take root.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Not only did God give you a purpose, the purpose is a piece of eternity that God placed in your heart. And that piece of eternity is what makes you uncomfortable.
Do you know what it is to live in time attached to eternity?
Do you know what it is to be waking up every day hearing a call that is outside of this present world?
Do you know what it is to hear in your heart a scream that is waiting for a response from the unseen?
That means God has put in your heart something that calls the unseen into the seen. That’s this “deep calling unto deep” and everybody has it–a piece of eternity. That’s why we not only must pursue the dream God has placed in our heart, but I believe we will also be held accountable for what we do with it.
The vision, the dream in your heart is the spark that makes life work. Without this vision–this piece of eternity in our hearts–we are merely existing, taking up space, and wasting the air we breathe. Life is worth much more than this. I believe God has a vision, a dream, a purpose that will carry you all the way into eternity because it is literally pulling you. When you die, you are supposed to leave this earth not on retirement or on a pension, but on purpose. It’s not because “I’m tired” but that “I’m finished. I have completed everything.”
I have stewarded my fullest potential.
Let me say this: Until you set your attention, passion and focus on living out your dream, you will live a frustrated life. Everything you do that is outside of your dream will lead to unhappiness. The Bible says
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
This scripture means the only thing that will bring fulfillment is living out God’s dream. Everything else falls short and will bring discontentment and dissatisfaction. God’s dream can actually bring depression until you do it. You can be successful in a ton of things. Be successful, powerful, famous, rich and still be depressed because you haven’t gone after what you were created to do. Live out God’s dream!
There are many ideas and plans in man’s heart but the Lord’s purpose, the Lord’s dream, the Lord’s vision for your life prevails. It supersedes your plans. He says, “I don’t care what you do, my purpose will prevail over, will frustrate, and depress your plans.” Success is never tied to what you do. Success is tied to what God told you to do.
Can you change your thinking, repent and think right concerning this God vision for your full potential? Hopefully, everything you have gone through is preparation–the process to equip you to pursue your purpose. Where you are at now may not be fulfilling, but may be a piece that God is using for your preparation.
Now for the steps, the keys, the principles, the actions you will need to take to accomplish YOUR VISION. To see and experience success…
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God said He has some plans for you and He wants those plans to be fulfilled, but we must follow His direction. In Joshua 1:8, He establishes the key to fulfilling those plans…
“Obey the words that I have laid out for you…Do not turn from them to the right or to the left, but walk in them day and night, and meditate upon them all day. In other words, He was telling Joshua, “If you learn the precepts and principles of the word of God, you shall have good success.” Notice God’s guarantee you shall have “good” success if you obey the same commands Moses had to obey. The same principles.
- You must have a clear, defined vision.
You personally, individually, must have a clear, guided vision. If you have no vision, forget success. Where does vision come from? It comes from purpose. You need to have a clear purpose–a clear understanding why you exist. The priority is not knowing what, but why. Knowing the purpose of why you were born and why you are here is the first step, the first key, the first action to success.
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish:
The King James has a weak translation of the context. The Hebrew translation says, “Without a revelation of why something exists, the people throw off discipline.” In other words, without vision there is no need for discipline. Vision produces discipline. Say that with me: VISION PRODUCES DISCIPLINE.
You’ll never develop a strong discipline in any area of your life if you don’t have a clear reason or vision. Vision protects you from doing good things so you can do the right things.
There may be good people around you but they may not be the right people for you to do life with. If you don’t know your vision, you won’t know who to do life with. You can say no to good opportunities if you know God’s opportunities and the right place to go. There will be good things offered to you that don’t line up with your dream. They will only frustrate you if you let that be your direction and the focus for your life. If you know your dream, you are equipped to say no to good things so you can find the great things that will accelerate your journey to your purpose.
Vision makes you disciplined. You can say no when you know what your yes is. Vision protects you from doing everything. You are so unique, special and different that God doesn’t want you to be anyone else. Your destination is so perfect for you, He doesn’t want you anywhere else. Understand, many good people will try to talk you out of the right path for you because they may not understand the vision God has given you. It’s not their vision. It was given to you to steward, not them. God wants you to discover your vision and stay focused on that vision.
Romans 1:14 – Paul said, “I am obligated to preach the gospel. I am obligated to fulfill this vision…this is all I want to do. I was born to preach to the Gentiles.”
The devil is not so much focused on trying to get you to do bad things. He loves for you to do good things that are not right for you. Especially for those of us who want to do good things. He will distract you by doing other things that are not the best for your life.
I want us to look at Nehemiah for a second. He was working in the King’s court as a waiter. His job was to serve the King. Even though Nehemiah had a preoccupation, he was occupied with something else in his heart. He was born with something else that wouldn’t let him go. He was unfulfilled because he had a purpose to accomplish.
Nehemiah 1:4
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
What things? He heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and destroyed, and everything was in disarray. He wept cause he was doing work, but he really had job to do. His work disturbed his job. Some of you are doing work but you’re not comfortable because your work is interfering with your job. Your job is what you where born to do. Your work is what you do until you get there.
Can I recommend something about this first step or principle? If you are going to get a vision, it’s going to have to come from God. When God gives you a vision and confirms it, nothing can stop it. If God tells you to build something, to start something, to create something, to invest in something, to manufacture something–whatever God tells you to do. it becomes an irritation that doesn’t go away.
When you come across people who know what they are called to do–they discover their purpose–they are usually people who seem to be possessed with the purpose because they are. They are driven to extremes about this thing God gave them to do.
Nehemiah’s first approach to his vision was to go to God. He cried out to God. He mourned and felt a passion for this vision. He had this burning in his spirit and in his bones. He went to God and God heard his prayer. What did God do in response?
2. To fulfill your dreams, you must have passion.
Everybody say with me….YOU GOT TO HAVE PASSION
You want to walk in success you got to have passion. You got to get passionate about the dream.
First: Purpose
Second: Passion
Passion is a desire stronger than death. Passion is a drive that cannot be stopped by opposition. Passion is something so strong, it causes nights of sleeplessness. It motivates you until you will not stop even to the point of not eating until it’s satisfied. If you can stop what you’re doing and still be happy, you are not passionate. If you’re told no, or there is a lack of funds. or rejection and it discourages you to the point of halt, you’re not passionate.
Passion goes against and fights every problem. It defies everything that resists it. Passion takes the dialog of “no, you can’t” and turns it into “I just have to wait a little longer.” It changes the narrative. Passion says, “Even though you don’t come, know you will come later.” Passion says, “Even though you built this wall to stop me now, I will jump this wall later. Passion says, “If you can kill me, I will rise again.”
That’s why when it’s a vision from God, He will infuse you with passion and it will come to pass.
If you want to succeed when your application gets rejected, send another one. When you get looked over, put yourself back in the next lineup. When you don’t make the cut, try again. When get denied for the loan, keep applying. When you don’t meet the qualifications, prequalify. Passion does not stop and does not except no.
When it seems there is not enough money to bring the vision into reality, don’t stop. God will bring whatever resources to you even if He has to cross over. God already has stuff prepared for you no one knows about. That’s what it means when it says the wealth of the wicked is in the wicked’s pocket waiting for the righteous to say “yes” to His will.
People who lack passion stop too soon. Why do they stop at the least bit of resistance? Passion says, “You might as well give up because I am not going to quit!” Passion says, “If you knock me down, I will get back up and if you do it again, I’ll rise seven more times. Passion says, “I can do this all day.”
Tell your neighbor “get up and get going.” There is no life without passion.
Paul said in Romans 1:15, “I am so eager to do what God has called me to do.” He first said, “I am obligated.” Then he said, “I am eager. I am motivated. I’ve got the passion.” A person with passion is energized. A person who finds their purpose and steps into passion is unstoppable. No matter the obstacle, they have a renewed mind that knows the resistance, the halt, the barriers won’t last and will be overcome. A passionate person is an overcomer.
They are tougher than any trial they face. Look at it this way; every resistance is to make you wiser, not weaker. Every opposition God will use to strengthen you, not to stop you. Paul said the challenges that come will refine your faith and make you even stronger.
Here is a thought: If there is no resistance, if you ain’t moving, you’re standing still. People who are not doing anything have no problems. If you got problems, opposition, say, “Thank you Lord. I’m moving.”
You have to have passion to be successful in life. Nehemiah saw in his vision the wall rebuilt even though it wasn’t. After he saw this vision God brought, Nehemiah went back to work and was depressed. In chapter 2, the king responded to him look
Nehemiah 2:1-2
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before,
Nehemiah said, “I was doing fine at work until I heard the actual state of the wall. I had a vision and I went to God, and God told me to go back and build it. Even though I was on another man’s job, the vision of the wall made me sad, depressed.” We see the King’s question in verse 2.
so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
You will never be successful until you get dissatisfied at not doing what you know you should to do. You will never be successful until you are angry at not doing what you know you should do. If you are happy about what you are doing, then you are not angry about what you should do. If you are happy at what you are doing and it’s not your purpose, you will settle there. But a person who has a vision beyond where he’s at, then where he is at makes him sad because where he wants to be makes him happy. If your job is not in your vision, it will always compete with where you want to go.
When you have a vision, you will be sad about where you are because you know where you want to be is where your joy is. I have experienced this fist hand and I have also seen this played out in our pastors. Their vision is huge. It’s clear. It’s been confirmed by God and they are passionate about getting there. I have seen the frustration first hand and it motivates them.
People who are satisfied where they are will never go where God wants them to be. Anger at present conditions will always drive you to new visions. It will take you to new horizons. That’s why we must not be satisfied with what we are doing, the amount we are reaching, the numbers we see on a given Sunday. The number of water wells we dug last year. The number of salvations, baptisms, healings. or people rescued and set free. We cannot be okay with what we have accomplished because the vision is bigger! It requires you and I to get passionate.
We cannot be satisfied with the way OpenDoor, Spark, the food bank, Troy Brewer Ministries, Redemption Ranch, or what we are doing in other countries. We can’t be satisfied with the state of affairs here in Burleson, our state, or our nation. If you are satisfied, you are part of the problem.
People with vision and passion will move into times of sadness, depression, and dissatisfaction that fuels the passion for change. Nehemiah was sad and the King noticed it. He said, “Something is wrong with you. You are not happy anymore.” Nehemiah was the kind of man who could not hold it in.
Nehemiah 2:2-4
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
He said, “The reason I am sad is because the future doesn’t look very good for my people.” Nehemiah’s vision was so strong, so clear, it moved his emotions.
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
It wouldn’t hurt if we asked the question, “What is it I want?” Do you know what you want out of life yet? Some just want their next meal or a warm place to sleep. Some want to retire and have some money to travel. Some just want one more day.
There is more to life than food, clothing, shelter, and retirement. There is more to life than rocking chairs and arthritis. The king asked a good question: “Nehemiah what do you want?” Some want a house and get it. Now what? Some want a new car and then what? I want to make the team. I want to go to school there. OK. Now what? I want kids and you get kids. Now what?
There has to be something bigger than the things you accumulate. Life is so much bigger than gathering and accumulating. Your vision should be in touch with the Kingdom of God. That’s why what we are doing all over the world has to continue to grow. We are touching the kingdom of heaven and bringing it down on earth. We need to reach more here at Open Door Church so that Spark and Troy Brewer Ministries can reach and rescue more around the world. OpenDoor Food Bank must grow because there needs to be more food banks with our culture. We need Redemption Ranch to grow, to expand, because we want to rescue the rescuers–pastors and ministry leaders who are rescuing others –and there needs to be more Redemption Ranches all over the globe that will rescue and house those who are rescued.
What is your Dream and Vision? Is your dream and vision fueled by Passion? Has it gotten into your bones? Does it affect your being?
“Nehemiah, what do you want,” asked the king. The King today is asking you, “What do you want? Do you know what you want?”
There has to be a dream that is bigger than these things around you. Nehemiah’s vision affected his peace because of his passion.
To be successful…
3. You must have a clear PLAN.
Everybody say “planning.” There will be no future without a plan. There will be no success without a plan. Too many have jumped out in faith–and faith is good–but they have no plan. They have no direction for the next 20 years, but they got faith. They have no clue about next week, next month, next year. What do you want to do and when do you want to be by?
If the Lord does tarry His return, most of the body of Christ will be where they are right now 10 years from now because they have no plan.
Proverbs 16:1
The preparations (plans) of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Do you know God can’t direct if you don’t make the plan? There is nothing for God to direct you in if you have nowhere to go. Please note that both versus say God leaves the planning up to the heart of the man. But God gives the explanation of how it is to be done.
When you begin to document and put your plan on paper, it will always be bigger than your bank account. The plan that you have in your heart is a documentation of a future that is not finished yet. So, when you write a plan down, it should be a description of the end of your life. That’s why it doesn’t measure up or is not equal to what you have in the beginning.
God said, “You make the plans. I will fill in the gaps.” How it’s going to be paid for. Who the key players are that will come along side of you and work out the plan. “I bring the resources to your dream–to your plan. You just need to get the vision clear, fuel it with passion, and write down the plans, the blueprint, of the vision. A plan for next week, month, next year. At Redemption Ranch we have a clear vision. I am fueled with passion and I have been working a plan. The Lord is sending resources and people now to fulfill the plan. Open Door has a vision. TBM has a vision. Spark, the Food Bank, they both have a clear vision that is fueled by passionate people who are writing and working out the plan. And guess what? The Lord is directing and resourcing the plan.
Can you deliver a plan for your life over the next 5 years, 10, 20, 30? God has equipped you and given you the ability to put a plan together. He has given you a brain with over 5 billion cells and the gift of imagination, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of faith. He has also given you the articulation of words to put down what you see. What are you waiting on? He said He would explain how you will do what He planned.
The thing is, God can’t talk to you because He ain’t got nothing to talk about. Why? Because you don’t have a plan. Here is a principle you need to wrap your kingdom mind around. God will resource whatever dream He gives you only when you are prepared to manage what He will give you. That is Kingdom management. You can’t mange if you don’t do your due diligence and make a plan.
God wants you to have a clear plan so that you will be successful.
Nehemiah 2:11-16
I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
Nehemiah was saying, “I selected a few people because not everybody could handle the plan.” He went about making the plan to rebuild the wall.
13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
I didn’t say anything cause I was making plans. More times then not, you can’t tell your plans to others while you’re making them because they can’t handle it. You got to write your plans in private and keep them secret. Your critics and those who don’t like you, and even your friends, will try and talk you out of it because it’s not their dream. God didn’t give it to them. He gave it to you.
And folks who ain’t going anywhere like to take people with them. Some folks who ain’t doing nothing want to take people with them. Nehemiah said, “I didn’t take very many with me. Only a few I could trust and started making plans for the vision God gave me.”
Not everybody will understand your dream, but put your dream on paper anyhow. Your dream is worth writing down. Journal it, get creative and when you start writing it down, don’t be surprised if it grows and now you have material and motivation for your prayers. Nehemiah was a planner.
Nehemiah 2:17-18
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
Here is a man sharing his plan to rebuild the wall to a small few. The actual wall that was built and is now in ruins took thousands of people to build it. Here is a man starting off with an impossible cause. He only had a few people to help and said, “Let’s start.” You see, it isn’t what you need to become successful. It’s starting with what you have and making that successful. What you have is a brain. Great ideas start where you are in order to go where you need to be.
Then Nehemiah said, “The Hand of the Lord is on me,” he was so confident, he said, ‘God told me to do this.” I hope you feel that way about your dream. Your dreams are not to be fulfilled by yourself. You need God to fulfill them. Nehemiah said God was with him. Let’s build this wall. To be successful you need a clear vision, purpose, and plan.
4. You will need people.