Heavenly Vision

"And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:16-19)

One of the greatest lessons to be learned from the life of Paul was his obedience to the written and spoken Word. "To obey is better that sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." It is one thing to receive a heavenly vision; it is another to obey what is seen or heard in a vision.

In this case, the apostle goes on to point out that the heavenly vision is, “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." To be true to his trust, he must preach the full counsel of God. And today. We must be equally diligent and conscientious in proclaiming the good news of the Gospel.

I know for me there have been times when I wanted to turn go home and lay down the heavenly calling given to me. Yet, Paul is such an example as to how we are to move forward with the Heavenly Vision. There will be temporary set-backs but there is no stopping for God's called out ones. Some of the greatest miracles of my life have been right when I was at the lowest point of my ministry.

Our problem, largely, is that some of us have not heeded the instructions that have been given to us from the very Words of Jesus. Hence, our vision is limited; too many times we are content with a limited diet of spiritual food. Amos the Prophet said in Amos 8:11, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: Oh, that we might search the scriptures, seeking the wisdom and blessing of God upon our lives, by listening to the Word and doing what it says.

When He thus speaks to us, what a tremendous responsibility it places upon us to obey! God will not lead us from one step to another in our Christian walk until we have learned to obey the first step. His will for our lives is revealed only as He detects willingness to obey. May He find that in you and me today......! May God bless you, “May He cause His face to shine upon you, May He be gracious to you and grant you His peace.” Amen