HEBREW 11:1
Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
• IN ORDER TO SEE A THING – NOT SEEN – WE MUST USE OUR IMAGINATION.
• WE IMAGINE WHAT WE BELIEVE OR WHAT WE HAVE FAITH FOR.
• IT’S A CYCLE: OUR IMAGINATION FEEDS OUR FAITH AND FAITH EXPANDS OUR IMAGINATION.
• FAITH AND IMAGINATION GO HAND IN HAND. •PARTNER YOUR IMAGINATION WITH FAITH AND IT BECOMES REALITY
ROMANS 4:17
“I have made you the father of many nations.”He is our example and father, for in God’s presence he believed that God can raise the dead and call into being things that don’t even exist yet.
•CALLING THINGS THAT ARE NOT AS THOUGH THEY ARE REQUIRES AN ACT OF FORMING A CONSCIOUS IMAGE OF A THING. 👉🏻 THAT IS IMAGINATION.
EPHESIANS 3:20
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you
•AS WE IMAGINE THE THINGS OF GOD, WE MUST STRETCH OURSELVES TO APPREHEND WHAT LIES BEYOND OUR NATURAL SIGHT.
• OUR FAITH IS ENHANCED BY OUR IMAGINATION WHEN IT IS BASED UPON THE PRECEPTS, PRINCIPALS, AND INTERACTION WITH THE DIVINE.
• THIS IS ONE REASON THE ENEMY TRYS TO TAINT OUR THINKING AND OUR MIND IMAGES. THIS IS WHY ITS IMPERATIVE FOR US TO KEEP OUR THOUGHTS PURE.
• THROUGH IMAGINATION, WE GIVE SUBSTANCE TO GODS WORD IN OUR MINDS. AS WE READ A VERSE OR A CHAPTER, OUR IMAGINATION CAN BRING A PASSAGE TO LIFE AND OPEN US UP TO GODS IMPRINTS ON HIS WORDS.
📍Imagination = Bridge:
•OUR HEARTS AND OUR MINDS HAVE TO BE ON THE SAME PAGE. IMAGINATION IS LIKE A BRIDGE CONNECTING THE TWO.
• IMAGINATION ALSO TRANSPORTS US TO FLOW IN GOD’S COMPASSION. WE CAN IDENTIFY WITH GOD AND MARVEL AT HOW HE MAINTAINED HIS PATIENCE WITH THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
• IMAGINATION HELPS US FLOW IN GOD’S BLESSINGS.
1 CORINTHIAS 2:9
Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine – these are the many things God has in store for all his lovers.
• WE CAN NOT BELIEVE FOR SOMETHING AND CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THINGS THE WAY THEY ARE IN THE PRESENT. WE MUST LEARN TO FORM A MENTAL PICTURE IN OUR HEARTS OF THAT FOR WHICH WE ARE BELIEVING. WE MUST SEE THINGS THAT HAVE NOT YET COME TO PASS, LOOKING AHEAD AT THE PRIZE WE DESIRE. FAITH IS IMAGINING AND BELIEVING THE DESIRED GOAL AS ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED.
HEBREWS 4:12b
“the thoughts and intents of the heart”
•THIS WOULD BE WHAT YOUR HEART THINKS AND MEDITATES ON – THIS IS IMAGINATION.
• AS WE USE OUR IMAGINATION TO MEDITATE ON THE WILL OF GOD AND WHAT HIS WORD SAYS, IT BRINGS THE POWER OF HIS WILL IN OUR LIVES. THIS REVELATION WAS ON THE HEART OF KING SOLOMON WHEN HE WROTE: COMMIT YOUR WORKS TO THE LORD AND YOUR THOUGHTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED. – PROVERBS 16:3
• WHEN WE SET OUR SANCTIFIED IMAGINATION ON GOD, HIS WILL IS MADE KNOWN TO US BECAUSE THE IMAGINATION IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD MOST OFTEN SPEAKS TO US.
• OUR SANTIFIED IMAGINATION IS OFTEN CALLED “THE EYES OF OUR UNDERSTANDING” – “THE EYES OF OUR HEART” (EPH 1:18)
• WHEN THE EYES OF OUR HEART ARE ENLIGHTENED, IT LEADS TO OTHER REALMS OF PROPHETIC REVELATION
📍Spiritual Senses:
•DID YOU KNOW THAT IN THE SAME WAY WE HAVE NATURAL SENSES, WE HAVE SPIRITUAL SENSES? THE IMAGINATION IS PART OF OUR SPIRITUAL SENSES. THE MORE WE LEARN TO EXERCISE THIS SENSE THROUGH SOAKING AND CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER, THE MORE WE LEARN TO ACCESS THAT REALM AT WILL. GOD ALWAYS DESIRES TO SPEAK TO US. REMEMBER, HIS THOUGHTS TOWARD US ARE INNUMERABLE. IF WE WILL SANCTIFY OUR IMAGINATION AND QUIET OUR OWN THOUGHTS, GOD CAN INSERT HIS!
• WHEN WE GET THIS REVELATION, IT OPENS THE DOORS OF REVELATION IN OUR IMAGINATION.
2 Corinthians 4:18
“We fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
•YOU CAN’T SEE THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUT THEY’RE GOING TO LAST FOR ETERNITY. YOU CAN’T SEE YOUR OWN SOUL, BUT IT’S GOING TO LAST FOR ETERNITY.
• THE BIBLE SAYS YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON THE THINGS THAT WILL LAST — THE THINGS YOU CAN’T ACTUALLY SEE WITH YOUR EYES. SO HOW DO YOU FOCUS ON THINGS YOU CAN’T SEE? YOU USE YOUR IMAGINATION.
• FOR INSTANCE, GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM, “YOU’RE 90 YEARS OLD, AND YOU HAVE NO KIDS. BUT I’M GOING TO CHANGE YOUR NAME FROM ABRAM TO ABRAHAM, WHICH MEANS ‘FATHER OF A GREAT NATION.’”
• HE TOLD ABRAHAM TO GO OUTSIDE AT NIGHT AND COUNT THE STARS — THAT’S HOW MANY GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN HE WOULD HAVE IN HIS FAMILY TREE — THE NATION OF ISRAEL! WHAT IS GOD DOING WHEN HE TELLS ABRAHAM TO GO COUNT STARS? HE IS ACTIVATING HIS IMAGINATION. HE’S SAYING, “I WANT YOU TO VISUALIZE WHAT I’M GOING TO DO IN YOUR LIFE.”
📍“Come to me as little children”
•GOD SAYS COME TO ME AS LITTLE CHILDREN – THEY HAVE IMAGINATION OPEN AND READY TO GO
• GOD HAS A PRETTY COOL IMAGINATION – HE CREATED THIS WORLD YOU CAN LOOK AT SOME OF THE ANIMALS AND NOTICE HOW VAST HIS IMAGINATION IS
• THE HUMAN IMAGINATION IS NOT ONLY A GREAT GIFT OF GOD; IT IS ALSO AN ASPECT OF THE IMAGE OF GOD. HIS CREATIVE IMAGINATION IS SUCH THAT HE CREATED THE UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING. HIS MIND PERCEIVES THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. AND HIS WORD—IN ITS CONCRETENESS, IN ITS FIGURATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE, AND IN THE WAY IT ADDRESSES THE READER’S IMAGINATION—SHOWS THAT GOD HIMSELF IMAGINES
