Clarity through Scripture: Gaining Vision and Purpose in God's Word

Hey everyone, and welcome to The Word Project. I am Sharnita Gates, and who are they to say? Today we're going to be talking about vision. And when we talk about vision, we definitely want to stay in the confines of God's vision. When we think about God vision, we think about the beginning and When he said, let there be light. And a lot of us, we need to have light shown in our, our lives to be able to have a vision. What it really means to live in darkness— imagine not knowing. When you don't know, you're fear— full of fear. Or fearful that something may happen, or worried, or bothered. We all live in some form of darkness. And when God created light, he created all of us to be light. I may be light to someone, and someone else may be light to me. And that's why we need each other. And that's the beauty in community. beauty in fellowship and also the beauty in worship. Because if we all look to the light, which is God, it strengthens our faith in trusting not ourselves or not trusting others, but being able to trust that God's purpose in bringing us together and putting us on this earth— we were brought together to Make his light shine even brighter. So when I say that we need each other, we need each other to help each other's light shine brighter. Um, I, I believe that what we do every day, which is by God's grace— so God gives us grace every day to get up and do something. And I'm trying to do something different every single day so that not only my light will shine in my life for me, but I know I need to shine light into others as well. And that's where the darkness comes into play, to say that you may not be capable of Doing what you need to do, or because you don't know how. You're confused. You have— you're full of emotions. And when I think of vision, I think we definitely have to look at our, our soul. And without a full understanding of what our soul has inside of it and what makes up our soul, It leaves us in the dark. So that's why reading and spending time in the word of God, you get stronger and your light begins to shine brighter for you so that you can, you know, shine your light brighter for others. So I definitely want to share what we need to feed our souls, and I, I think right now with me sharing this word, I, I, I pray, I really pray that it brings light to someone else. And when I say bring light to someone else, to their soul, and their soul being their mind, it gives them a peace of mind to say it's okay to step away from everything else that we have going, going on. Close your eyes and enter the true darkness, and so that you can tell yourself just for a brief moment to ignore everything that's going on around you and study the word of God. Like, just, just begin to read and spend time with his word and let it just guide you. It is going to be a journey. So I would just say at this moment, just to start with healing for our souls, I definitely want to share some of the things that I am doing personally to Heal my soul is, I, you know, as God guides me into a transformed and renewed mind. So I would say the first thing to do is to— a lot of times when we close our eyes, we think we're going to sleep. Um, this is not that part just yet when God made woman. And he put Adam into a deep sleep. This is the beginning with God and when he first created light. So we want to kind of step— start there, um, from the very beginning, because this is really soothing and it's very helpful to practice it. Um, I know right now we may think of it as a form of meditation, but meditation is a lot deeper Because once you start to understand your soul, you know how to feed your soul so that you can meditate on his word and think about how you can apply it to your life. And that's a form of meditation to help to reprogram your, your mind and also your emotions. It helps with your emotional intelligence. It helps with your affection and understanding. What affection is and how you utilize and control your imagination. And also, it, it helps you to relinquish that control over your will, especially when you're in a form of doubt. Now, we all know that doubts, you know, slipped in at some point when we, when we think about the story of the serpent. The serpent, which is when you're going through doubt is that form. And so we want to start at the very beginning, and I feel like this is a good way to just share my, my practice, um, just to start over and just, you know, take a breath and understand that it's okay to start over at any moment that you need to. So We start with just closing our eyes and saying that I can, I can spend time with God and his word, and I know that he will speak to me in a great way. Now, however you feel at that moment to speak, let it happen just freely and let God just guide you. Into wherever he's trying to lead you, because I personally cannot lead you into where God is going. Now, he may be able to use me as a vessel, um, to help, but everybody has a, uh, a purpose. So take that time, no matter how long it takes, even if you You know, eventually you may fall asleep because it'll get longer. You'll, you'll, you'll start with like 5 minutes with spending time with God and just thinking and clearing, but depending on the amount of things that's on your mind, um, you may fall asleep because it's, it's very relaxing. He does really bring peace and he's very gentle. He's very kind. Um, and it may seem like silence, but you'll actually start to hear what you are really thinking and feeling and understanding your expressions. You will come into a different place of awareness and definitely not accept defeat. In that point in time, you're— you can't— you know, once you close your eyes and you're in that dark place And you can't see what's going on, you definitely, you know, can't accept defeat because you, you took that step to accept the victory that God has already promised us. So continue to accept the victory, and as you continue to practice and then you start to learn his word, and, um, we all probably have already heard, we can, we could do all things through Christ who strengthens us. So Depending on what you're trying to do, he will strengthen you. He will give you the strength to do it. And it takes, it takes faith. Yes. And faith is one of those things that you continue to grow in, and it becomes your own personal journey and your own personal walk with God. And it's, it's like falling in love with God. And then the next thing you end up doing is you start to fall in love with, with Jesus and like, okay, Ah, this is, this is the truth. And you, you start to fall in love with the truth and knowing that a lot of things that we, we do see is not necessarily the truth. And a lot of times we— it's what you accept as the truth. That's why you have to accept Jesus, because he is the truth. So a lot of times we don't want to accept that obedience and having to make change in somewhere where we once was. Like, for me, um, I'm a, I'm a huge Dr Pepper drinker. Like, I, I— Dr Pepper has really, you know, become my comfort over the years because it gives me a, a quench in my, in my thirst. And once I really kind of spoke with God and, you know, spent more time with God, I started to understand that I was thirsting for a good word. I was thirsting for obedience. I was thirsting for love. And the thing that I was idolizing, which was Dr Pepper, it became more of a comfort place for me. But truly, God is a healer. And, and understanding that I can stop drinking Dr Pepper, and it comes very easy, especially when I, I trust and know that, you know, He's really guiding me for the good, not just because Dr Pepper is bad or you know Dr Pepper is not bad. It's it's the what was bad was that I was idolizing that way and and accepting defeat. But once I closed my eyes and said, okay God, I hear what you're saying. Let me let me think about. How do I get from under this comfort and understanding that it's something that I have to— basically, it's what I have to tell myself, myself something totally different. I can't continue to tell myself that I love Dr Pepper. If I say I love Dr Pepper more than I say I love God, it kind of opens up to show you where you're kind of you know, idolizing. Are you idolizing God, your creator, who created you for a purpose and a, you know, a plan and for something good? Or are you idolizing something that tastes good or feel good? Or, or even, you know, Dr Pepper may even smell good, but it's one of those things. It's embracing change. And embracing not change for the whole world. We can't change the whole world. We have to change ourselves one day at a time. And as we change ourselves one day at a time, it'll, it'll help to change the world one day at a time. You never know how you are affecting another person. And sometimes you may not have— that's where affection come in. You may not have an affection for a person. But you may have an effect on a person, and sometimes that effect is so much more powerful in love than your affection. And a lot of times we think that, you know, now a good hug— I, I would tell you, a great hug sometimes is a great form of affection because some people just need to just have all that negative things just squeezed out of their minds and out of their hearts and And and out of their imagination, because you never know what someone's thinking. And when we think about what we're thinking about, we yeah, that's we need to put our minds on the right things. And it takes for you to slow down, slow slow down. That's the key to. Everything. I—it doesn't matter where you're at. Slow down, close your eyes, and have that it one one second with God and say, "I'm closing my eyes just to start over new." It helps. It helps to calm you down and understand like this is this is who I am. Now you can— just because you said this is, is who I am, that's not necessarily who you are. Um, like, okay, I, I am a person who drinks Dr Pepper, but that's not who I am, you know. Um, it's more of what I tend to— who I am at that moment. I probably am drinking Dr Pepper. But that's not who you are. Um, and anyways, that's why I love, you know, who are they to say? Because there— no one's word is as powerful as God's, um, unless you give it power. And that's one of the things you have to take back your power and say, you know, I don't care what no one else says. I don't care what no one else thinking. It's All about— it's all about me and God at this moment. Because you have to put him first, or else you will kind of put everything else in your, your mind, and you won't be able to accept what's to come. And well, you will. I mean, you, you will, you know, but it's not the best for you. It's easier to say I would take A day and truly learn God for myself. And I'm one of— this is— that's what this whole thing is about. When you talk about vision, a lot of times we think about vision as far as a plan, or, you know, I, uh, you know, I write this down. But a lot of times we write a lot of stuff down, we've already have a lot of stuff written, but do we actually see God in his true powerful— what, you know, what he is. So that's where you just step back and you have a vision to see in the darkness. So I want to explain what it's like to see in the darkness, because it takes faith to see in the darkness and to say, I'm in this place. I'm Where it seems normal, but I know it's, it's not what I want. I feel some type of way about what's going on, or I'm just confused. It's like I have to make a decision. Um, the, the decision that I make, I need to Make another decision. Like, this is not working, I'm gonna go this other— I'm gonna go this other place. For me, I've been a runner. I've been a— like, let's say for instance something's not going good at this one spot. If once it gets to a point where I can't take it anymore, I used to just find a replacement and wondering why all the replacements continue to act, you know, Stay the same. It's like going from one job to another, like but you know truly we we probably heard this before. It's probably not the job; it's probably you. And a lot of time, most of the time it was me. And that's why I love the fact that God is taking me through this refining process. Um, and I will I'm taking myself through a refining process. Let's say and the manufacturer is God, and I'm taking myself to his. His plant and saying, you know, um, this one right here that you created was defective and it needs to be renewed. And when I say renewed, just like we might— we break our iPhones and we, we take it— we may not take it to Apple, we take it to another person to get it fixed. And it's, it's— it gets, it gets fixed, but it's not all the way, um, it's not fixed properly. It's not and you didn't take it to the, the Creator. So that is one of those instances when you feeling broken or, um, defective, which, you know, we have to say, we, we, we're, we're— no one's perfect. So it's best to identify those areas where you are defective so that you can kind of bring some type of perfection to it. to continue to grow, and so that you won't be blocking, you know, your blessings. Because God blessed us to be a blessing, and if we bless him, you know, he'll bless us. And there's not, not no form of blessing as far as the resources that he provides. Now, that's one thing, um, we definitely have to understand, that God is the source. Now, I can definitely break it down into technology Um, for all my people who are in technology, we— but God is the source, and everything else that you have, everything— this microphone that I'm speaking on, everything, my toes, my fingers, my nose, everything else is a resource. That's basically reusing what God has already provided. So if he blessed us with all these resources, if he blessed us with our mouth, he blessed us with our eyes, he blessed us with our nose, the best thing that we can do is just be a blessing back to him, and then he will continue to bless us. And that's the beauty in just having that vision. And I'm, I'm not saying a vision where you see what's in the world. What I'm saying is a vision when your eyes are closed. Mm-hmm. To say I can give the gift that God gave me, my sight, back to him. So when you close your eyes, you're giving your sight back to God and let him control your vision. Now, he may be trying to clean some things up, so you have to be willing to— a lot of times we, we think about letting go of someone or letting go of something in this world. But what, what about letting go of something that's in your mind? What if, you know, or in your heart? Because everything is pretty much in your heart. And when we think about your heart, that's the things that you push for. You, your heart beats. What makes your heart beat? Like, I don't know if you guys are at a point of awareness to where You may be in a situation and your heart just start beating out of nowhere. That's what makes your heartbeat. Now, there is a situation that has, um, come into my life is when I feel like it's a new situation where I might be having a conversation with someone and I hear the word of God come to my mind and my heart starts to beat like I need to tell them this. I need to let them know what God is saying, um, but I may not know. And, you know, that's all the things that come through my mind. But now my heart is starting to beat a different way, and I, I, I wouldn't mind continuing to have that anxiety for, for God and not for, you know, others in a different way. So continue to just let your heart beat for The word, the word for, for a renewal. I would say for a renewal, for a change, for something better. And when we— I, I had— when I say something better, it just came to my mind as far as this week I've been studying new words and vocabulary, and because I did a speech And there was, there was some broken English in there. And I continued to listen to it and like, okay. And it's that one thing, um, that I said and it was so broken. So I said, you know, I was like, you, you can have a better vocabulary. You, you have a pretty okay vocabulary right now. Um, but you can add a couple new words, um, to your list. And, you know, it— the word, uh, catalyst, you know, came to— and I realized that God is the catalyst to a lot of different things. So once I read the, the definition, it brought me to— it brought me right to God. Like, I, I could only think about, you know, think about God. So a lot of the words that he's guiding me to, um, now the other 2 words didn't really guide me into God, but at the same time it was like, okay, it was profane and secular. And those 2 words, like, okay, it's still guiding me to God because it was like, it's— those things are not going to disappear. So you would have to know who's the catalyst in the situation, what is profane in this world, and also what is secular in this world. So it brought me to understanding the light and the darkness. And a lot of times, I always thought about What it meant when, you know, Martin Luther King said only light can drive out darkness. And understanding that, meaning that the Word of God and spending time with God can only drive out the darkness. That's basically saying the things that's deep down into, you know, in our hearts. Mm-hmm. Oh, only God can do that. And the reason why God can do it, because it brings a safe place. When you, you are alone and you want to talk to someone, you could talk to God, and even you could bring your deepest, darkest secrets because he's listening. And but at the same time, he's not the only one there. You are there too. So you actually get to hear yourself in there. Sometimes you might, you know, That's what counseling and therapy and things of that sort— it's, it's second. It, it's like a resource to the source because, um, you could talk to God all day, but he also wants you to feel free in this world to be able to connect with other people. Um, he don't want you to just go your whole life with just your small circle. He wants you to expand because you don't want to just be the light to just one or two people. You want to be, you know, be a light to others as well. Um, it's like, imagine God, you know, the sun only being over 5 people in this world and everybody else in darkness. That's, that's a good, that's a good one. So if you have a light that shines first. I mean, first go to God, shine your light to God, and he will guide you, and he will be there. He will, you know, like he said, I'm with you. And when you go into talking to other people, um, you are shining the light of God on others as you let your light shine. And a lot of times we, we hear these things and Honestly, from people in the past, they they said these things like let your light shine. Like, um, I don't have a flashlight. I'm not carrying around no lamp. What you mean let my light shine? But it's one of those things that you once you actually. Let your light shine. It you'll start to understand. That's why it's better to you know grab your understanding for yourself. Um, it's very freeing to have a that guess that's why they say a mind of your own. You start to understand why people say things that they say, even though they may not explain it. Like, what are you talking about? but it sticks with you. And because it has some— it has a little bit of light, it has a little bit of light. But we want to, we want to shine a little bit brighter. So when I say shine a little bit brighter, that's kind of like just elaborating a little bit more, opening up a little bit more, you know, sharing the goodness of God's power, just in just saying the, the Word God. That's why this is the Word Project, because the, the Word was God. Like, that's why the song There Is Power in the Name of Jesus— like, if somebody, like, somebody about to do something, like, Jesus behind you. Anybody else's name, it probably ain't gonna hold up, but Jesus behind you Um, that's why— wow, a lot of thank you, thank you, God, because now I'm starting to understand a lot more. That's why they'd be like, Jesus on the main line. You know, you don't want to pick up that phone and have to tell G, you know. But understanding, it brings a, you know, a great understanding, not just to the colloquialisms that, um, are out there But just to your heart. So I would definitely say, you know, share your heart, be open, be free. Try it. Try just closing your eyes and giving God all your worries. If you have to write down a list and, you know, peek a little bit and I'm like, okay, that— okay, yeah, let me give that one to him too. Okay, okay. But, but also let them guide you into becoming new. You have to accept being new. But that's all I wanted to say today. I appreciate everyone who's listening to this podcast. This is The Word Project. And also remember to follow Who Are They to Say. And I hope that this brings you a new experience with the love of God. Thanks for watching.