10 August 2008
1. Introduction:
· Imaginations are the pictures in the mind, images of things that have not yet happened.
· What happens in your imagination will impact the course of your life.
· Imaginations can release the creative power of God in your life or can be the very thing the devil uses to control your life.
· God gives us dreams and imaginations. Dream and look at possibilities.
· If we move prophetically we need to be able to deal with other imaginations.
2. God designed us to be Creative:
· Not just arts and crafts. Every one of us can be creative and innovative.
· Imaginations can bring creative things in life.
· We are made in the image of God, made to have dominion, for your presence to be significant and felt.
· We have a creative ability.
a) Man is made in the image of a Creative God:
· Genesis 1:26-28 - “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…”
- God is creative, innovative – reflected in the diversity of creation.
- God made us to represent Him – be His ambassador – original.
- God has made us creative – able to innovate, give birth to new things.
b) Man’s Creativity Operates in two Areas:
· Genesis 1:28 - “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion…”
i) Sexual – we have the ability to create new life, an eternal being, the power to create a person to live for god eternally.
ii) Imagination – we have the ability to solve problems, create new things. Subdue and have dominion, shape it in a way God wants it to be.
Every that man does or makes, first began in the imagination. Come up with something new, new ideas, create things in imagination.
Am I part of life where creativity works, where God gives ideas or is it a place where the devil works?
c) Man’s Imaginations is a Battlefield:
· 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down of imaginations…”
· Imaginations can and do exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.
· When God speaks – He speaks to your spirit (from inside) => it enters the mind as a picture, impression or word. New ideas never thought of are possible.
· When the devil speaks – he speaks (from outside) to your imaginations and feelings => It enters the mind as a picture, impression or word them capture life e.g. daydream, fantasy = brings us into bandage.
· When imaginations are not managed they will direct the course of your life. To dream will become reality.
· Warfare = 4752 = Military service, apostolic call or advance, military campaign, battlefield.
· We are in it, a battle on the battlefield for the control of our mind, not carnal. You can be mighty through God. Get out of bondage.
3. Understanding Imaginations:
What gets into your mind as imaginations?
a) Imaginations are Mental Pictures or Images:
· Definition: Imagination = mental image, picture, something formed in spirit of
mind.
= capacity to form mental images or pictures, of what’s
not actually yet in existence.
= mental images of some event or something.
· Genesis 6:5 - “and God saw … that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil”
· Imagination = 3336 = to squeeze into shape like a potter, mould clay into form.
Thoughts can shape and form things in your imagination until they are clear, put it on paper then you are able to put words to it.
· Imagination comes from the word Image.
· Don’t make an image that exalts itself against God.
· An image is something that’s not yet come into reality. The spirit world work with pictures in the mind – we have to put words to these pictures.
· Corrupt and defiled pictures – stop us to be intimate with God.
· The chambers of imagination are many rooms of memory pictures, it’s like to be in a room, and you are able to go in and out of that room.
· An unsaved person has all kinds of imaginations that blind the mind so that they can’t see the truth.
b) Imaginations have a Voice:
· Jeremiah 7:23 - “... walked in the council of their own imaginations…”
· Demonic imaginations will talk and take you where you don’t want to go.
· They followed the council of their imagination which is a voice – imagination talks to you – will go backward not forward.
· To listen to God’s voice and imagine = there’s more to go forward on.
· Council = 4156 = advice, guidance.
· E.g. Imagining conversations – thinking of what a person might say and might do. You start wondering/assume how a person might behave or react. You start wondering what might happen to you.
· When you allow vain imaginations to come and you drift into them you are “walking after the council of your imaginations”
· The imagination is not real – yet it is manipulating and controlling you.
· Vain/foolish imaginations oppose the Word of God and plan of God for you; lead you to go backward and not led by the Spirit of God.
· Vain imaginations never lead you close to God – but always away from Him.
· You will end up moving in the direction of the imagination.
c) Imaginations are Prophetic:
· Jeremiah 23:16 - “…speak a vision of own heart…”
· Imaginations create pictures of your future.
· When you respond to those pictures by embracing and speaking it, then you will begin to fulfill them.
· Proverbs 28 – imaginations, dreams and pictures that are not from God will cause failure = vain.
· Genesis 3:1-3 - Temptation of Eve.
· Note the process of Eves fall.
i) A word – imagination contrary to God’s Word – Genesis 3:4
- God’s Word is challenged.
- Vain imaginations will always oppose the Word of God.
- Truth = I am excepted by God.
- Rejection = not excepted by people.
ii) Eve pondered the challenging Word – Genesis 3:5-6
- Eve entered the realm of imaginations – possibility, prophetic.
- Entertained images planted by the devil – ponder it, want it, perceive = sin.
iii) Eve took – ate – and gave to Adam – Genesis 3:6
- Sin is first conceived in the imagination - another to entertain it.
- To entertain imagination is to step into it – ‘that’s nice!’
- Imaginations come from the tree of good and evil. The devil challenges Gods Word – draws you into imagination to dwell on it to conceive and give birth.
iv) When imaginations are spoken life is given to them:
- Eve entered the imagination, acted on it then spoke to Adam.
- She gave voice to what was in her heart – he ate.
- This is how relationships fracture – sharing vain imaginations.
- Vain imaginations come with strong feelings.
- We have the Word of God to break imaginations and feelings.
- The paths looks attractive with pressure, go backward and not forward
= the imagination gets built an entertained if it is never turned down e.g. immorality etc. won’t feel God then, mind filled with picture, then eat it and act on it.
Find strategies to go to God’s Word.
Our warfare is not carnal but Spiritual.
We are Word people, Spirit people.