Speaker: Bro. Froilan Hong, Director for Administration, The Lord's Flock Catholic Charismatic Community

“ Enlarge your Vision! ”

On Easter morning, our Lord Jesus Christ resurrected after his death on the cross. He came back to life. He showed to the world life beyond death.

Our human mind sees death as the end of everything; but the eyes of faith goes beyond death and sees life. Our vision should not be limited; we should be able to see life beyond death.

We should be able to see business taking off after failure, marriages being restored after break-up, families being reunited after division, children being born after mothers' barrenness, health coming back after life-threatening illnesses.

As God's creation, we have three dimensions – spirit, body, and soul. With the use of our mind, we enter the spiritual or supernatural realm. What we imagine and visualize becomes an input in the supernatural realm. God picks up this input and makes it happen as an output or realization in the material or natural realm.

We must conceive something first in our mind before we can receive it in the outside world. If we visualize nothing in the spiritual realm, nothing would happen in the natural realm.

What prevents us from prospering in our life is not the lack of resources, or talent, or opportunities. It is our own limited thinking that keeps us from God's best. This barrier is in our mind because we depend purely on what we see with our eyes.

We must enlarge our vision. In order to live our best life now, we must look at life through the eyes of faith. “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” (Matthew 9:29).

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). In our mind, we imagine the things hoped for (the future) and expect their realization (the present). We see them through our eyes of faith that stand solidly on the Word and promises of God.

Such faith – we must confess [declare]. We must not doubt it. “Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea', and does not doubt in his heart but believe that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23 ).

If we lack faith, we can ask the Lord just like what the Apostles of Jesus did: “Increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5).

When God says “Go!”, let us not limit ourselves to what we are seeing – let us go beyond with our eyes of faith. Jesus promised: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).

Envision your S uccess!

In order to achieve success, envision success! In your mind, develop images of victory, health, abundance, joy, peace and happiness. Make sure you envision them always aligned with God's promises. What we continually see in our mind, we will produce. What our eyes of faith see, we must run through our mind over and over again. We must claim its realization. For instance, if we always visualize success, prosperity, and happiness, then will surely achieve them. [Let be careful about seeing in our mind failure, defeat, sickness, debts, revenge and other negative thoughts. We must rid our mind of these thoughts.]

Many times, we think “small”; we think we have reached our limits. In reality, we do not believe in something bigger; we do not stretch our faith. God wants us to constantly enlarge our vision and increase our faith in order to make bigger and better decisions in our life.

God has promised an abundant life. (John 10:10). He has promised a victorious life. We must catch this life; we must run after it; we must experience it to its fullest; and then we must share it with others!

God wants to show to us the “immeasurable riches of his grace”. (Ephesians 2:7). God wants to pour out his “far and beyond” favor. For us to receive this favor, we must enlarge our vision and discard negative thinking and limited thoughts.

To experience fully God's blessings, let us start stretching our mind. Let us enlarge our vision – seeing future hopes and aspirations happening today! Let us get rid of our small-mindedness and wrong thinking that prevent good things from happening in our life.

To receive our spiritual or supernatural increase, we must conceive this growth in our mind, believe it in our heart, and pronounce it with our lips – always standing solidly on God's Words.

Sometimes, we are cast in our old ways and wrong attitudes. We are bound by our old perspectives and stuck in our old thinking. We are living in our old “wineskins” [a container made from animal skin and used to hold wine]. (Matthew 9:17).

Our old “wineskins” may already be hardened and no longer elastic. Let us replace them with new “wineskins”. We can then pour “new wine” – i.e. our stretched mind with correct attitudes and our enlarged vision with eyes of faith.

Unless we are willing to change our wrong attitudes, limited vision, and lack of faith, we will miss all the opportunities God is continuously pouring out to the world. We will be kept from receiving all the good things and blessings God wants to shower for us in our life.

Get rid of the old “wineskins”. Envision success, claim it, and achieve it!

Increase your Favor from God!

God cares for humans and crowned them with glory and honor. (Psalms 8:5-6). The original Hebrew word for “honor” is “Hadar”. “Hadar” is also translated into English as “favor”: assistance; special treatment.

God gives man “preferential treatment” and favors that are not exhausted and are renewed each morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23). Only those who are pre-disposed [receptive before-hand] and those who are “in the know” can receive and experience this special treatment.

How can we experience and increase God's inexhaustible favors and unspent mercies?

•  We must live “favor-minded” – i.e. we expect God to assist us anytime and all the time. “For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11).

•  We must change our attitude and feel assured that God will treat us differently in all our ways. He will always send people or His angels to help us when we need succor.

•  We must declare God's increased favor to us! Let us declare God's favor in our life every morning by thanking Him for having His favors: opening doors of opportunities for us, causing other people to help us, winning our day-to-day “battles”, and bringing us success.

•  We must carry on with our daily life with confidence believing in what we are asking for. “All that you ask for in prayer, believe you will receive it and it shall be yours.” (Mark 11:24 )

•  Anytime we need something, we can call on God and ask Him to spill over His glory and favor upon us.

•  Let us thank the Lord always for increasing His favors to us. When things turn out different from our original prayer or plans, leave everything to God and thank Him too. “We know that all things work for good, for those who love God.” (Romans 8:28).