WRITE THE VISION FOR 2013

WRITE THE VISION

Blessings Pneuma Covenant Pastors!

Beginning in October of each year, my practice is to reflect on the ministry year that we are in to basically answer the question, what is bearing fruit and what is not? Change is inevitable and ministry must adjust to ensure we are meeting the challenges. Adjusting, restructuring and realigning is all part of vision achievement. Writing the vision of what God is speaking into our spirits for the advancement of the churches that we are assigned to clarifies the plan for the Pastor and for the Pastoral/Leadership Team.

As Pastors we constantly pray to walk in God’s direction. Without the ability to understand and interpret the direction of God in our own ministries and in the vision that God has placed in our hands we will undoubtedly be hindered in fully completing the total will of God for our lives. I want to encourage you like never before that our personal relationship with God is so essential to the relationship that is sensed in our churches. The relationship is inextricably tied to our consistent and in depth prayer life, skillful knowledge of the Word of God, the increased ability to interpret the voice of the spirit and hear the counsel of God. We are ever increasingly challenged to understand the will of God and also develop the strategies to accomplish His will. The Apostle Paul wrote “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). All of us battle with understanding His will and how, as Pastors, do we translate that will into the language that our teams and churches can understand, interpret for themselves and engage and accomplish.

Simply praying for Godly direction and doing what we believe God says is only part of the puzzle. For this to be true we have to be completely open to God’s voice and unhindered or distracted by life, other responsibilities and our own doubts about the vision we are in. For us to be effective we must also commit to acting completely, honestly and faithfully to what it is we hear God say. Walking in a Godly direction requires practical and faithful goal setting and vision.

Statements like “plan your work and work your plan..or in our case plan your vision and work your vision” are consistently true. The success of our ministries are contingent on successfully and effectively planning the work of ministry based upon successful biblical principles and patterns. Many in scripture demonstrated a plan and method (goals) for accomplishing the work God had revealed.

Read the following scriptures:

(Phil 3:14 KJV) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in

Christ Jesus.

(Deu 1:23 NKJV) "The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one

man from each tribe.

(Luke 4:16 KJV) And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and,

as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood

up for to read.

 (1 Cor 9:24 KJV) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one

receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

This all speaks to planning, assessment and understanding what it is God is calling us to do.

Practical Steps for Writing Vision and Spiritual Goals

If goals are not written down, they will remain spiritually unavailable to the natural world..so pray and write them down!

1. Take your written vision, break it down into it’s various parts and ask God

what goals need to be implemented in the upcoming year 2013

2. List your short-term goals – those requiring six months or

less and your long-term goals – those requiring more than six months to

complete. Ask the Lord for a plan to complete each. What is it that you are

going to do to make these goals a reality? Your goals will form the basis for

prayer related to your ministry and gives those associated with your

understanding of how to pray.

3. Make a daily To Do List. A simple To Do list is to take a note card and list those

things related to your goals that you need to do today. List them by order of

importance working from the top to the bottom.

4. Reevaluate your goals regularly. Your goals are something that can be

incorporated into you daily prayer. Make it a point to take a few minutes each

week to look at your listed goals and make adjustments as needed.

Blessings as you continue to grow ministry!

PJ Edmund

Overseer, Pneuma Fellowship