Know Where We Must Go
Bro. Eddie C. Villanueva

We must see where our vision will lead us. It is a must if we want to succeed in what we do. And this speaks of having a "vision."
A vision gives us the inspiration to do great things. It is the force that pushes us up from the insurmountable odds we face. It is the power that makes us overcome. But the lack of it will cause us to perish. (Proverbs 29:18)
Why do we need to have a vision? It is because what we see is what we can be. When we see with our spiritual eyes what God wants us to do, He expects us that we will work it out. And when we obey His instructions to accomplish it, with complete faith, it will come to pass.
NO REASON NOT TO BE HEARD
The birth and the growth of the Jesus Is Lord Church is an example of God's vision coming to pass. It started from just a handful of students in 1978. It had grown to millions of believers today and by God's grace, it keeps on growing. I used to be a radical activist before I came to know Christ. My zeal then was so strong. My belief in revolutionary movement as the only way to set our people free from the evils of poverty was so firm. I deemed the movement as the best way to achieve the justice our countrymen seek. And we were so amazed that the movement we hold on to had shaken the nation.
But God proved to me that we were fighting the evils of society the wrong way. There is no movement organized by men that can stop the vicious cycle of the world. But Christ can change our lives and use us as instruments of His redemption. Through our changed lives, He can institute genuine change in our society, and eventually in the world.
The activist movement had made me believe that it is the key to bring change in our society. In fact it gained massive support from our people, from different parts of our country. Its cause may have been so sincere that its supporters would believe it is worth dying for. And many have actually believed and died for it!
How much more if what we would advance is the message of love and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ? We know that He is the only One who can bring about genuine change in our lives and in our society. As the Bible says, ".If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Hence there is no reason why the Gospel cannot be heard in all corners of the Philippines and the world! We must not keep silent while we hold in our hearts the life-changing message of the Gospel. We must do our part to hasten the evangelism and spiritual transformation of our country. For without doubt, the Gospel is so powerful to convict and to change a wicked man.
We are indebted to all men to share the Good News. (Romans 1:14-15; 1 Corinthians 9:16). And there is no reason to delay it. After all, it is the power of God to save them who will believe. (Romans 1:16)
REINFORCE THE VISION
God has caused Protestantism to thrive for 100 years in the Philippines. Then God began to form a ministry the He will use to launch massive evangelism and church planting on the years onward. By His unfathomable grace, He formed the JIL Church to be one of its prime movers. What a great thing to know the JIL, as God has revealed, is a ministry thaw was born from His very heart.
God gave us the privilege to take part in giving Him the glory through this end time mandate. And He gave us this vision years back. We must reinforce the vision He gave us. We must make sure that everyone of us knows where we must go as far as God's vision and mandate are concerned.
The vision can only be reinforced if we will always keep an eye for it. It means we must take it to heart that we may work it out. Our micro vision is to reach out to all Filipinos in the Philippines and all over the world so that they can have the chance to experience the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it means that we must share the Gospel to our countrymen here and abroad. It also means that we must strengthen the pillars of JIL leadership to ensure that we are producing a strong and effective workforce. It also means that we must continually character JIL churches in all places where God brings us to meet the spiritual needs of His people. We must also pursue projects that will cater to their growing needs. This way, we can make sure that they will grow in their spiritual walk so that God may also use them for the work of the ministry. This we must do to ensure that the JIL Church is kept alive in fulfilling the vision it has received from God in such a time as this.
KEEP THE UNITY AND PROTECT THE INTEGRITY
All of us must keep the unity in the Church and protect the integrity (Ephesians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10). To do this, we must use our spirit of discernment with all sharpness. (Hebrews 5:14). Let us all be reminded of God's warning. "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully" (Jeremiah 48:10a). At all cost, we must guard our individual lives by holding on to God's commands (John 14:15). Or else we might give the devil a chance to make us a laughingstock before the world. He can make us stumbling blocks before unbelievers, preventing them to come to our Lord Jesus Christ. We then would stifle the work of evangelism and church planting that God has mandated us to do.
MOVE ON
Regardless of what we face, we must hold on. Whatever it is that upsets us, we must move on. We must not let the negative circumstances to stop us from fulfilling the vision God has entrusted to us. We must not let evil reports inject fear in our minds and hearts.
We must not be like the Israelites who cowered in fear when their enemies cornered them at the Red Sea. They were not ready to believe that God would indeed make a highway out of the sea for them to pass. They were not ready to believe that God will bring them out of the land of slavery and bring them to a land of promise. That is why, throughout their journey, they did not believe that God would do what He had promised. And so they died in the wilderness, without having learned what it is to believe and to taste His goodness. (Numbers 26:65)
Let us move on. And God will move with us. He will dismantle the obstacles that come against us. He will work with us to fulfill the glorious vision He has entrusted to us.
We need not wander. For we know where to go. We need to reach it and achieve it. For He has equipped us. Through faith, we shall see the highway of victory that God has prepared for us. At all cost, we must capture and work for the vision of God. Then we shall see it fulfilled in our lifetime.

GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!