new year.

This time of year we look ahead. We hope, we dream, we vision. If you still make 'resolutions', let me encourage you to not think of what you want to do in 2012, but to think of who you want to be in 2013. Begin with the end in mind, and this will shape how you can proceed in how to make it happen.

Here are a few thoughts on Vision from an earlier post:

Andy Stanley says,

"When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. I don’t want to be an expert about the last 15 years of ministry. We can’t be satisfied with the status quo even when it is good. If the vision doesn’t drive it, then the past does. When the past drives your ministry, it will lead to irrelevance and will lead to an end. Success breeds complacency, Complacency breeds failure."

It is challenging to see past next weekend. When we get caught in the daily routine of life the temptation is to become too microscopic in our vision and we analyze every detail. This is not bad, but the temptation is there to lose the bigger picture. The opposite could happen when we see to telescopically. Our vision is too big that the details never get taken care of. Either way, in all of these things is the idea that it is thinking forward that allows for us to grow. We can not move in a healthy direction if we continually look backwards.

Have you thought beyond next weekend? Do you still dream? Allow for God to give you your 'life picture' and where you would desire to see yourself in the future.