The Power of a Divine Vision

How do we receive a vision? What is a divine vision and what must we do to carry it out? Not knowing in which direction our church, business, or life is going makes it difficult to live to the fullest and to commit, work, and serve in it. The primary objective of this manual is to help you understand the vision of our house. Here, you will learn how a vision is born and what it comprises; what power it contains and how it will affect your destiny. In addition, you will learn what keys are needed to open the doors that will make the vision become a reality.

In this section, we will learn to recognize and receive God’s vision as well as learn what to do once we have it. We will analyze the basic principles of a vision in order to safeguard it and carry it out to its fullest potential.

What is a vision?

“2Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. 3For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. 4Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.’” Habakkuk 2:2-4

  1. A vision is the revelation of God’s dream and promise of what we will become someday—it can only be seen by faith. God gives us a vision in the form of a seed (1), to give us hope for the future. This seed is the promise of things to come. Vision, therefore, is a type of futuristic picture that comes into our imagination and becomes imprinted in our mind.

Illustration: When a company is developing the construction of a building and wants to begin selling the apartment units before they are finished, the company will announce the project as if it were already completed. It will advertise with pictures, videos, or models of what the building will look like when it is finished and declare, “Coming Soon!” This is how it will show the finished product while the project is still in its planning stage.

The vision has to do with our ability to see a little bit into the future; to see the way God (2) sees. The vision God gives produces hope for the future, and it is always greater than the one who receives it. Furthermore, dreams and visions are elements that comprise the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They are methods used by God to communicate His plans.

“28And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” Joel 2:28

The absence of dreams marks the end of visionaries.

A church or business will never grow beyond its leader’s vision. Your personal vision will never surpass your leader’s ability to dream. This occurs by the principle of authority that rules in the Kingdom of God. If your vision is great but your leader’s vision is small, God will not allow you to go beyond your leader’s vision. Hence, if your vision is great, you must associate with leaders who also have a great (3) vision. To have a vision means to see what others cannot see, to dream what others cannot dream, and to touch what others cannot touch. Therefore, the vision can only be received by those who live by faith.

The difference between a successful person and one who fails is the vision that motivates the successful person to keep going.

What is the vision of King Jesus Ministry?

  • Evangelize
  • Affirm
  • Disciple
  • Send out

 

  1. Evangelize:

Evangelism means to preach the Gospel to everyone, and it can have a local, national, and global reach.

What is the Great Commission?

It is the mandate or mission that Jesus gave us to carry out, and it consists of two points:

  1. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel (80) to every creature.” Mark 16:15

Note that Jesus said, “go”; this is an order and not a suggestion. There are many complacent believers who do not want to go. However, this is not a matter of wanting but a command.

  1. “Go therefore and make disciples (81) of all the nations.” Matthew 28:19

Making disciples is another mandate given by Jesus to His church, and the way to carry it out is to first fulfill the mandate of, “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”. After the people are saved, train them in all things related to the Kingdom so they can fulfill the purpose that God has for their lives. Essentially, Jesus told His disciples, “Teach them how to be good witnesses of mine, and equip them to do the same with others.”

To summarize this, we can say the Great Commission is made up of two stages: 1) evangelize the world, and 2) disciple those who are saved.

How do we Evangelize?

  • At the church: calling for salvation
  • At the House of Peace (cell groups)
  • In the streets (team or personal evangelism)

 

 

  1. Affirm

A problem within the body of Christ is the inability to retain the fruit of new believers. We have seen great miracles and healing crusades in which multitudes receive the Lord, but they are not presented with an effective follow-up program to encourage and inspire them in Christ and remain in the Church. Affirming others is a part of our vision designed to retain the souls that come to the Lord and keep the fruits of evangelism.

What is affirmation?

Affirmation means to cement, secure, strengthen, and confirm the decision of the new believers and to give them the appropriate follow-up until they can grow and sustain themselves. Spiritual fatherhood begins when these new believers are affirmed. This is done by caring for them, praying for their needs, and showing them God’s love and compassion.

A new believer who has been affirmed and strengthened is a future disciple. If they are not established, they will continue to be followers instead of becoming disciples. We want to make sure that everyone is affirmed in the Lord, so they can become disciples and eventually be sent to do the same with others.

People who are won for the Lord and are affirmed, built up, and edified represent future disciples for the Kingdom of God. Every disciple that is affirmed represents hundreds and thousands of future new disciples who will be trained to multiply themselves in other new believers.

New believers add, but disciples multiply (93).

Why do we affirm new believers?

  • To confirm that they genuinely (94) received Jesus in their hearts, and if that is not the case, lead them to make the decision once again.
  • To inspire them to stand up for and by themselves, teaching them the foundations of the doctrine of Christ, caring for them, loving them, and praying for their needs.
  • To encourage them to become more than simple believers, and inspire them to become disciples and discover their leadership (95)
  • Teach them to evangelize and disciple so they can have their own House of Peace and be sent out to train their own disciples.

What is the process for affirming new believers?

  • Immediately placing them in a House of Peace (cell group).
  • Encouraging them to attend church.
  • Inviting them to the welcome celebration at church.
  • motivating (96) them to go through the Introduction to Leadership class for new believers.
  • Encouraging them to attend the retreats and various church events as well as to join a discipleship group in one of the apostolic networks.

Our church has designed a very simply process through which New Believers can be guided in this stage of growth; it has five steps:

  1. Affirmation of the fruit: This step consists in calling and visiting the New Believer within 24 to 48 hours after taking the decision to follow Christ.
  2. Invitation to the Welcome Celebration: Here, introductory classes will be given which cover their new life in Christ, and the New Believers are baptized in water.
  3. Connection with a HOP: The New Believer is invited to participate in a House of Peace and to join the church family.
  4. Inner Healing and Deliverance Retreat: The New Believer is motivated to attend the inner healing and deliverance retreat.
  5. Introduction to Leadership classes for New Believers: Every week there is a program that helps the New Believer grow; it includes lessons that motivate people to begin their new life in Christ and go from believer to disciple (98).

 

III. Discipleship

What is the Reason for Discipleship?

Why discipleship? This question is being asked by many pastors and leaders today, and the answer is very simple: Discipleship was the method used by Jesus to transform and change the history of humanity. Discipleship was the highest principle in His ministry and life. Furthermore and most importantly, discipleship is a mandate; a mission Jesus delegated for every believer to fulfill.

“19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” Matthew 28:19, 20

It bears mentioning that discipling others is not an option (104) or choice but an order (105) from Jesus. These verses tell us what we need to do: go, disciple, baptize, and teach others to do the same.

Why was discipleship so important to Jesus?

  • Because discipleship is the key to growth in the Church.

This growth is not based on how many people make the profession of faith but on how many of them stay and become disciples— remember, believers add, but disciples multiply. Effective, growing ministries have strong discipleship programs. Countless leaders evangelize and teach but few take the time to disciple others.

  • Discipleship brings a complete transformation (106) to an individual.

People are transformed through discipleship, not only in their personal life but also they stop being simple believers and turn into true leaders. This transformation includes the spirit, soul, body, family, and everything that makes up the disciples and their surroundings.

Why are leaders not discipling people?

  • Ignorance (107). Leaders have no idea how to establish a discipleship program or where to go for help. Moreover, they lack a role model to imitate which keeps them from becoming role models for others.
  • Insecurity. Most leaders lack identity, making them insecure with the gifts, talents and anointing of others. Insecurity is the result of two things:
  •  Immaturity (108). This characteristic is present in those who have not reached the spiritual level required to be a true leader; as a result, they feel threatened by the gifts and talents of others.
  •  Lack of identity. Leaders without identity have limited or no knowledge of who they are in God; also, they lack a clear understanding of their calling and position, especially when someone under their care rises with greater anointing and charisma.
  • Fear to delegate. We believe this is bondage. The root of insecurity is fed by fear, and this stops people from effectively reproducing themselves in others. When we delegate, we give of our authority so others can do the same as we do. If we fail to delegate, it is because we believe that others will not do their job or that they will abuse that authority and take over our position.
  • Lack of a role model (109). As leaders, we multiply ourselves according to our genre, but if we lack a mentor or father to take us by the hand and help us grow, then we will be ignorant as to how to reproduce ourselves in others.
  • Lacking the heart of a father (110). An essential characteristic for a mentor is to have the heart of a father. A real father is not one who seeks to stand out and take the credit; rather, he is one who wishes for his children to rise and multiply. One of the greatest problems in the body of Christ today is the scarcity of true spiritual fathers. As a result, we have a shortage of disciples.

Send

During the dominion of the Greek empire, a man sent on a specific mission to establish and expand the empire was called an “apostle”. Jesus probably had this in mind when he named the people in his closest group “apostles” or “special messengers”. Their task was the same: make the Kingdom of God advance by spiritual conquest, leading people to the knowledge of Jesus as King and to accept His government; thus, defeating the demons and spiritual hosts of wickedness on Earth.

Retaking the meaning of being sent, we can say that being sent out as a disciple implies completing a task under an apostolic spirit. Though not all believers are apostles, when they are under a spiritual apostolic coverage, they will be sent on an apostolic mission with an apostolic spirit.

Being sent out is a great privilege and a guarantee for success because it carries with it the will and anointing of God, in addition to the power of the Holy Spirit. Local churches should be constantly sending out apostolic teams, both in and out of the church.

Who was sent forth in the Bible?

  • Jesus (144) was sent.
    “4But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His

Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” Galatians 4:4

Jesus did not send Himself. He was sent. Being sent is a mark of obedience and submission. Jesus is our role model of submission and obedience.

  • The Holy Spirit (145) was sent.

“26But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” John 15:26

  • The apostles were sent.

“5These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.’” Matthew 10:5-8

  • The seventy (146) were sent.

“1After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” Luke 10:1

  • You! You have been sent.
    “15…Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

Mark 16:15

We are being challenged to go! The world is waiting to hear about the Lord. Christian people are waiting to be discipled, taught, and trained. Disciples and leaders with a strong desire to fulfill their purpose and destiny in the Lord are waiting for someone to instruct them. For these reasons, we must wait to be sent under an apostolic coverage.

What are people sent out to?

  • Serve in the house of God as Deacons
  • Serve the people of God as Elders
  • Minister and train others as part of the fivefold ministry of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher
  • As a leader for a House of Peace (cell group)
  • As a mentor to disciple others
  • To open churches in other territories

Are you willing to be sent out and (pastors) are you willing to send others?

If your answer is yes, then accept the challenge of the vision of this house: evangelize, affirm, disciple, and send.