Chapter One
ENLARGING YOUR VISION
FOR MANY OF US, SOMEDAY MARKS THAT IMAGINARY MOMENT WHEN WE WILL
SOME-how get a better life, recover perfect health, and magically
break free from crushing debt.
We hope that special someday comes, but something deep inside us
knows that someday won't come by accident or by wishing it were so.
Changed outcomes demand changed thinking. As I mentioned in the
Introduction of Your Best Life Now:
"Today is the only day we have. We can't do anything about the past,
and we don't know what the future holds. But we can live at our full
potential right now" (p. x, emphasis added)!
1. Describe your first reaction to the above statement. Did
something inside you recoil from it or immediately agree with it?
Why?
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Read what Jesus and the Apostle Paul said below, and then review the
statement from the Introduction above:
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble"
(Matthew 6:34 NKJV, emphasis added).
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward
to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians
3:13-14 NKJV, emphasis added).
2. NOW, how do you feel about the statement quoted from the
Introduction?
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Some people might believe these two scriptures disagree over how we
should treat the future. I believe they actually work together to
stress the importance of realizing the future's potential, and
emphasizing the positive power of acting today.
3. Discuss or explain how you reach forward to things ahead without
worrying about the future.
HINT: You put your trust in _______ and "reach forward toward things
ahead" by living "at your full ______________ right ______ !"
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If you have trouble conceiving things on the inside, then you
probably have trouble receiving on the outside.
4. Take a moment to examine your thought life. Is there some barrier
in your mind that produces wrong thinking? What do you think is
blocking you from God's best?
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5. Write out five negative phrases you've said that began with the
words "I'll never ." Describe how those statements could
potentially limit your life in some way if left unaddressed.
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6. Have you ever known someone who envisioned success in ways that
resemble Tara Holland's story? What did you honestly think of that
person at the time? Did you find it easy or difficult to support
their dream? How do you envision your own success?
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7. How do you see yourself most of the time-are you "messing up" and
failing, or are you living out a dream and achieving goals? Explain
why.
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8. Small-minded thinking and God's immeasurable favor do not mix.
Reflect on the following questions:
What if you were offered the chance to race through your favorite
store and keep everything you could collect in 15 minutes? What kind
of container would you look for? Why?
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Think of your favorite sports figures or dramatic performers. Now
imagine them taking your mind-set onto the playing field or
performance stage. Would this athlete be able to complete the
passes, cross the goal line, or make the final three-point shot
before the buzzer? Or, would they be overwhelmed by the pressure?
Would that performer boldly deliver their lines and complete complex
dance numbers, or become paralyzed with the fear of failure and
humiliation? How would your type of attitudes and thinking affect
their performance?
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HOW BIG IS YOUR BLESSING CONTAINER?
The prophet Elisha gave a curious command to a woman facing
traumatic debt problems in 2 Kings 4:1-7. God offered her
immeasurable favor, but she had to find containers big enough to
hold God's blessing.
What parallels can you draw between her situation and the problem
you are facing today?
The prophet told this wife and mother that God would multiply the
little bit of oil she had. Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from
everywhere, from all your neighbors; empty vessels; do not gather
just a few" (2 Kings 4:3b NKJV, emphasis added). She and her son
gathered every jar and container in the village and they were all
filled.
The supernatural supply ended when the woman's capacity to contain
it ended. God's source of supply is immeasurable. How big is your
blessing container? What can you do to help increase your capacity?
Jesus said you can't "put new wine into old wineskins" (see Matthew
9:17). God is looking for a human being to contain the new wine of
His Spirit, love, grace, and blessing . What would new
"wineskins" look like in your life?
9. Answer the following questions by circling the words that best
describe you:
Are you soft or hard?
Are you pliable or unbending?
Do you stretch when under pressure, or do you feel ready to explode?
Is your thinking dominated by faith or by fear?
Which do you think about more: God's greatness or your weakness?
10. What is your dream or vision? Is it founded on God's abundance
and does it line up with God's Word? Take time to reflect on the
following questions prayerfully:
Have you released it to grow and has it come to pass?
Or, do you keep it hidden under a cloud of doubt based on thoughts
of lack, limitation, and fear of the unknown?
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"The good news is, God wants to show you His incredible favor. He
wants to fill your life with new wine, but are you willing to get
rid of your old wineskins? Will you start thinking bigger? Will you
enlarge your vision and get rid of those old negative mind-sets that
hold you back?"
11. If you read about my wife, Victoria, and her vision for a new
home (and my doubt-filled response to it), then you know I finally
came around and linked my faith with hers. Together, we did three
things that might help you. Find them in the book, list them, and
describe or discuss how they may apply to your life and the lives of
others close to you:
We kept on .
a. _________________ it
b. _________________ it
c. _________________ it
GOD IS TRYING TO PLANT NEW SEEDS IN YOUR HEART!
God says, "See, I am doing a new thing! . Do you not perceive it?"
(Isaiah 43:19 NIV)
"Everything is possible for him who believes."
(Mark 9:23 NIV)
I had learned to handle large visions differently by the time God
planted a vision in me for moving the Lakewood Church congregation
into the Compaq Center: ". This time, I expanded my vision. I
let the seed take root. I conceived it on the inside. I began to
'see' our congregation worshiping God in the Compaq Center in the
heart of Houston".
12. What are you doing differently now? How can you allow God's seed
of vision to survive in your heart? How can you avoid smothering it
with doubt, fear, and unbelief?
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13. Think about the difference in thinking between the King of Saudi
Arabia and the famous golfer. The king's response demonstrated
thinking on a larger scale. How are you thinking right now? What are
some attitudes you could change that would enlarge your vision?
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God wants to bless you, so don't limit Him with small thinking.
Enlarge your vision and release Him to bless you with a God-sized
blessing that brings Him glory!
(Continues.)
