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WHERE THERE
IS NO VISION

Emeka Anslem

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First published in 2017
Copyright Emeka Anslem
[email protected]
facebook.com/emekaanslem01
Phone: +2349024529639
WhatsApp: +2348065582482

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 JUST BEFORE WE BEGIN
The subject of vision and purpose has been a
rather difficult one in Christendom. While
many people argue that they are the same,
many others strongly believe that they have
independent roles in the life of a believer.

I believe that God has inspired me to write

this book to elucidate on these matters.
Vision is different and far more powerful than
purpose, or even your desires. Vision is not a
special calling given to a selected set of
people; it's a special ability given to everyone
created by God. There's quite a lot to disclose
to you in this book, but don't worry, I'd be
done in 30 minutes.

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 EVERYTHING AND
EVERYONE NEEDS A
VISION
Prov 29:18 tells us that "where there is no
vision, people perish". This includes people
with purpose, passion, callings and
assignments. I've come to discover that what
many Christians define as vision is actually a
calling or an assignment from God.

Just for clarity, let's define some terms:

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PASSION:
It's a personal craving or desire to do
something or make a change. Personally, I
don't like it when people are deprived or
cheated on their rights. I always feel I can do
something about helping them. I remember a
certain time of my life when I went out on
evangelism; I would speak to people to a
point that they'd begin to shed tears. It was
usually not my intention to make them cry,
but because of the passion that accompanies
my conversation with them, they feel the
effect. Most of them remark that they wish
they had known the things I shared with them
before I met them. But that's all about
passion, it doesn't really have a definition. But
whenever it encounters its victim, it won't
hesitate to do something about it.

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There are some people who are passionate
about making people happy. They naturally
feel down when they meet somebody who is
also down; and they won't stop until they put
a smile on that person's face. But sometimes,
passion makes a man do beyond what is
necessary; and that's because passion has no
definition, it has no purpose. It's just a
burning fire that is not heating any definite
metal.

PURPOSE:
Purpose has a definition. I became confused
after a while. I wondered why people wept
whenever I spoke with them. I needed a clear
definition, I needed purpose.

I resigned from the job I was doing so I could

attend a bible school course. And my only
prayer point during the bible school program
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was "Lord, what is your purpose for my life?".
That was the prayer I made every passing day
till I heard God say "don't worry, continue
building yourself in your most holy faith -
speaking in other tongues". That literally
meant that I wasn't prepared for it yet. I
continued doing what God instructed me to
do, and after two weeks, He told me His
purpose for my life. Surprisingly, it was
nothing different from what I was already
doing. God only added a definition.

"Add value to lives by bringing knowledge to

the people" was the purpose that God gave to
me. Definition has a way of adding order to
your life. Before I found purpose, I was
bringing knowledge to people, but without a
particular order. It was more like a trial and
error exercise. I was confused by people's
reactions. But when I found purpose, order

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came into my life, and I started doing things
on purpose.

In July 2015, God re-affirmed my purpose

while I was praying to Him to fill up His
people with knowledge, so that the
destruction and bitterness among us will
cease. But surprisingly, He replied saying "But
I have made you knowledge!". I had to quickly
change my prayer point to "fill me up with
more knowledge for your people". That may
sound funny, but that moment redefined my
life.

Honestly, when the purpose of your passion

or talent is not known, abuse is inevitable. I
feel sad whenever I see young people who
misuse their talents and passions. A couple of
them are talented singers, but they sing
anything they find, not the things defined by
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God. The God who gave you a talent also has
a definition for it. Twenty talented singers
cannot possibly sing the same genre; God is
wiser than that. I wrote an e-book on how to
find your purpose, if you've not already found
your purpose, Id recommend that you read
that book.

CALLING:
I've discovered that what many people call a
vision is actually a calling. Just as purpose
comes with a definition, a calling comes with
an assignment. I've heard people say things
like "God gave me a vision to change the
world". No, what God actually gave you is a
call, and a call comes with an assignment.
Truly, they may have seen a vision in the
cause of the call, but what they got at the end
is a call, not a vision. Let's see a few
examples;
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On the 7th of April, 2013, God showed me a
situation in our academic system. Among
them was that students understood the value
of money more than their arithmetic. After all
the scenarios, He clearly told me to bridge the
gap between academics and knowledge, by
bringing knowledge to them. On the second
day of June 2015, God spoke to me again
while I was praying, He said "I have made you
My agent of academic transformation". That
was obviously a confirmation of what He
called me to do in 2013.

Bishop David Oyedepo has often shared his

experience on how God called him into
ministry. For 18 hours, God showed him an
array of broken, battered, beaten and
tormented people. Compassion gripped him,
and he wept uncontrollably because he
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couldn't bare the sight of their suffering. But
suddenly he heard the voice of God say "But
from the beginning it was not so. And now
the hour has come to liberate the world from
all oppressions of the devil, through the
preaching of the word of faith. And I am
sending you to undertake this task". Now
that's a calling! Callings always come with a
specific assignment.

The first thing I ask people who tell me they

are called into ministry is "what was the
assignment that was given to you?". Because
God won't call you to do just anything; rather,
He'd call you to do something in His plan.

God had a plan to deliver Israel out of Egypt.

And when it was time to execute that plan,
He called Moses and gave him the
assignment. Moses' assignment was to free
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Israel from Egypt, and that was exactly what
he did.

WHY DOES GOD CALL PEOPLE OR GIVE

ASSIGNMENTS?

The same way we have visions or plans for

the future is the same way God has visions or
plans for the future. Jer 29:11 says "God
knows the plan that He has towards us, plans
of good and not of evil, to give us a future and
a hope". In other words, if you can still see
evil around you, then God's plan has not fully
manifested.

That's why He calls people. He discovers a

situation, shows the situation to people who
are ready, then He gives them the
assignment. Meanwhile, the process of seeing
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the situation that God shows a person is also
called a vision, but not the kind of vision that
we are dealing with in this book.

GOD DOES NOT CALL EVERYBODY FOR AN

ASSIGNMENT

Though every believer is called to be

conformed to the image of His Son Jesus, but
it's not every believer that receives a call for
an assignment in God's plan.

Someone had said that "God does not call the

qualified; rather, He qualifies the called".
That's true, but God does not call lazy people
either. From experience, people who receive
a call from God are mostly people who are
working on their purpose. Moses and Gideon
were purposeful people, and God called them
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for an assignment. Bishop David Oyedepo was
burning with a passion, and God called him. I
was also burning with a passion, and God
called me. Though God may not call you
because you're qualified, He won't call you
either if you are lazy. I don't pray to God to
use me; I simply make myself available for His
works.

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 Now lets talk about

VISION
Vision is the ability to see into the future of a
thing in order to advance it. Vision is a must if
progress must be recorded. Though God is
the Author of purposes and callings, but you'll
need the mind of a visionary to succeed in
any of them. Vision is not something you wait
for God to show you; rather, it's a tool you
engage until your calling or purpose begins to
show.

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The Bible talks about people who "having
sights, but they cannot see". God gave us
eyes for sighting, but created vision for
seeing. Your eyes may sight what is within,
but it is vision that sees what is beyond. God
is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, more
than we can ever ask or think. But the fact
that He's able doesn't mean He'd do it
without our permission. Many people know
what they lack, but they don't know what
they need. And this is why they suffer
endlessly.

Many graduates lack a good job; and they

consciously pray for one. They've endured for
so long in a low salary job - with the same
prayer point, "Lord, change my job". If you're
in that category, then it's time to stop sighting
and start seeing.

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CATCHING A VISION OF GOD'S PLAN FOR
YOUR LIFE...

While seeing visions may be a general virtue,

those who have a relationship with God
would always have a divine advantage.
Because with God, they'd be directed, and
would also see farther than a natural man
would see. Those who serve God enjoy
multiplied abilities. We saw how God added
wisdom and understanding to Daniel and
those 3 Hebrew boys; and at the end, they
were ten times better than their peers.

People who serve God enjoy guided, directed,

and amplified visions. God asked Jeremiah
"what do you see?", and what he saw wasn't
something he could sight naturally. God
directed Abraham to "look towards the
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North, South, East, and West; and that
whatever he saw would be for him".

I also believe that God was simply showing

Abraham the power of having a vision for the
future. Though God had promised him that he
would be the Father of many nations, but he
still had to see himself fathering many
nations. At the long run, it's not your calling
or purpose that determines what will happen,
it's your vision. God may give you a big
purpose or calling, but if your vision is not big,
your big calling or purpose will not see the
light of day.

The Bible says that eyes have not seen the

blessings that God has reserved for them that
love Him. You just can't depend on your eyes
to see the fullness of God's blessing for you,
you need to engage the power of vision. With
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the eyes alone, Moses could only disarm one
Egyptian soldier and still ran away. But with
vision, he disarmed thousands of them and
still took their goods. Just as you use your
eyes to sight anything, you can also use vision
to see beyond anything.

Vision is a projection; it's something you see

or set, and begin to work towards. After
writing for many years, I needed a notable
progress. So I told God that I would love to be
the official writer of one of my revered
mentors. It was a daily prayer point for me
until God finally told me that "eyes have not
seen, nor ears heard, neither has it entered
the heart of man, the things which He has
prepared for me". He continued by saying "if
being the writer of that great man has
crossed your heart, then it means I have
something better for you".

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Honestly, I wondered for months, "who or
what would be greater than this man?". Just a
few months back, I was meditating on how
the Timely Notes Devotional began. God
ordained it; He said He will be the Author,
while I will be the privileged writer. That was
when it occurred to me that I'm God's writer.
No wonder I write so many things in one day,
because my Author always has something to
say. Just imagine, I was already writing for
God, while I was busy praying to be writing
for a man.

My meditation didn't stop at that discovery. I

continued by asking God, "if I'm your
privileged writer, am I not entitled to a pay?".
That was just a question, but it led to a major
breakthrough in my life. People started
sowing seeds into my life, I started getting
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more jobs, more speaking and writing
engagements. In summary, I started enjoying
more favour.

All these discoveries came because I saw a

vision of the future. From my experience and
many other people, it is clear that true
visionaries are people who ask definite
questions. Bishop David Oyedepo has often
shared a story of an experience he had with
God after God called him. He sat down one
day and asked God, "now that you've called
me, who pays me?". And God showed him
from scriptures that he is on a divine
appointment, and a labourer is worthy of his
wages. Most of the breakthroughs he has
recorded today were birth from visionary
questions.

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"Why, what, where" should be regular words
for people who walk in purpose or people
who are on an assignment. This is because,
the moment you ask these questions, you
start seeing ahead. And that's what vision is
about, seeing ahead so that you can move
ahead. While purpose and callings may be
given by God, vision is required for their
progression.

WHERE THERE IS NO VISION...

People perish! I earlier mentioned that vision

is not a divine purpose or calling that is given
by God; rather, it's a virtue built into us by
God. The scriptures below will show you the
categories of people who are affected by lack
of vision:

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Lamentations 2:
8. The LORD hath purposed to destroy the
wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath
stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn
his hand from destroying: therefore he made
the rampart and the wall to lament; they
languished together.
9. Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath
destroyed and broken her bars: her king and
her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is
no more; her prophets also find no vision from
the LORD.
10. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon
the ground, and keep silence: they have cast
up dust upon their heads; they have girded
themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of
Jerusalem hang down their heads to the
ground.
11. Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels
are troubled, my liver is poured upon the
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earth, for the destruction of the daughter of
my people; because the children and the
sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
12. They say to their mothers, Where is corn
and wine? when they swooned as the
wounded in the streets of the city, when their
soul was poured out into their mothers'
bosom.
13. What thing shall I take to witness for
thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O
daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to
thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin
daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like
the sea: who can heal thee?
14. Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish
things for thee: and they have not discovered
thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but
have seen for thee false burdens and causes
of banishment.

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If we observe those scriptures, we'd discover
that men of purpose, like kings, and men with
callings, like prophets, were also affected by
the destruction. Verse 9 clearly tells us that
the reason why they were affected was
because nobody engaged the power of vision,
even their prophets also.

Many Ministries are not growing, not because

the calling is not good enough, or because the
environment is not pleasing enough, but
because vision is not enough.

Let me conclude with this; If you want to

move forward, then engage the power of
vision. May God give us understanding!

God bless you, I love you, and don't forget to

send me your testimony.
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