Rick Renner: ‘Want Your Life to Count? This is Essential’

Over the years, I’ve heard many sermons and read many books about vision, but The Power of Vision is the best I’ve ever read on this subject.

To be honest, when I’ve heard messages about vision in the past, they left me puzzled and more confused than before about what vision really is. It often seemed the way people presented this topic of vision made it an elusive and abstract concept that was difficult to grasp. But in this book, Mark Cowart takes the concept of vision out of the elusive and abstract realm and puts it into words that anyone can understand. Mark brilliantly states that one’s vision is simply a written account of what God wants to accomplish through him or her on this earth to advance His kingdom. Wow... that is so simple that even I can understand it! He further states that God has a unique plan for everyone’s life that will make all your previous plans pale in comparison. Discovering your mission in life—why God put you on this earth—is important, and yet it’s something many have rarely, if ever, heard they need to discover and then write down.

But Mark doesn’t leave the reader hanging! To help us know why God put us on this earth, Mark states that God has given every believer spiritual eyes that enable him to perceive what God wants him to accomplish in life. God has also given us spiritual ears that enable us to receive a rhema from God—a living, quickened word—and that is where Mark begins in the very first chapter. He makes it abundantly clear that having clear direction from Heaven is not only empowering—it is essential.

Mark likewise communicates that for any vision to be reached, it takes two partners: God and you working together. You see, we are co-laborers together with God. While God is willing to do His part, it is essential that you do your part as you work in conjunction with Him.

Mark says, “I’ve observed that successful people or those who accomplish great things have certain characteristics.” Then he goes into detail about the five traits he has observed and studied in those kinds of people: 1) focusing on a specific goal; 2) refusing to quit; 3) not being afraid to take risks; 4) being willing to bear pain to reach a goal; and 5) and having a servant-leader approach to life. That may be my favorite part of this book. As I read it, I thought, Wow, these points and the masterful way he expounds on them are a treasure to anyone who wants to make his or her life count!

Sometimes, people are afraid to pursue the vision God put in their hearts because they are fearful they might make a mistake along the way. But Mark lovingly reminds us that it is absolutely impossible to lay hold of the power of vision without making mistakes. Furthermore, it takes patience and perseverance to accomplish anything worthwhile. The stories of “instant success” you’ve heard go away when you dig deeper into those stories to discover the unknown years of persistence that were endured before so-called instant success occurred. Many fail simply because of a lack of perseverance—but if you are willing to go the distance, persevere, and be determined to finish your course, you can do it!

If you are one of those who tend to compare yourself and your progress with others, this book will be especially liberating, for it makes it very clear that just as your fingerprints, your retinal scans, and your voice patterns are all different from everyone else’s, your vision is unique to you, and you are not comparable to anyone else. God has a plan that is designed just for you!

But it’s also a fact that when one sets about to fulfill God’s vision for his life, he will be tested along the way. Satan would like nothing better than to discourage you and thus keep you from fulfilling the vision God has designed for your life. For that reason, the enemy will try everything—lies, fear, discouragement—anything to try and stop you. But in this powerful book, Mark explains that we have authority over all the power of the enemy, and if we are willing to persevere and go the distance, we can successfully fulfill whatever God has put in our hearts to do.

I’ve known Mark for a long time and have enjoyed his previous written works, but in this book, he has hit a new level as an author and communicator. He says, “This is a subject I have learned a great deal about through trial and error, success and failure, and a great deal of pain and frustration … the awesome thing is that I am still learning to this day!”

In this book, you will learn from the author’s trials, errors, failures, pain—and his victories. But most importantly, you will see that if Mark keeps moving forward by faith, or if anyone else can move forward by faith, you can do it too.

Please read this book all the way to the end. In the last chapter, Mark shares the story of an amazing vision that relates to you—a vision that came to pass, a vision that has been tested, and a vision that is being tested again right now. WOW. What a powerful way to conclude a powerful book!