The Power Of Your Imagination
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Think. Think. Think. I consider this message very strategic to the full actualization of the word of the Lord that urges us to Go Forward, Ex.14:15. You are more of a spirit being than you are a physical being. Our problem is that we do not always pay adequate attention to the Creator’s operational manual (the Bible). You were created after a prototype – God. You have a soul and you only live inside a container – your body. Your body was given you to enable you communicate with the physical earth. But your spirit/soul was given to you to aid your communication with the spirit world. Since after the fall, man has been trying to restore communication with God but he has always failed. Recall his attempt at the famed tower of Babel; Gen.11:8. He was trying to get to God on his own terms instead of it being the other way round. Thank God for the Cross- and the fact that it put paid to every effort of man to reach God the way he feels. Your spirit is in charge of Communion, Intuition and your Conscience. We are told from Scriptures that, ‘Jesus perceived that power had gone out of him…’, Lk.8:46. Such perception takes place in the spirit. Your soul is the seat of your emotions and intellect.
The Book of Philippians contains some remarkable truth about the person of the Lord and the position He now occupies as a result of his obedience to the father and some positional revelations for those who have expressed faith in the Lord Jesus. One should thus take as a matter of utmost importance what appears as a summary of the thought of the great Apostle when he declared, “Finally my brethren…” He wanted the believers to DWELL on the features enumerated in our text. The word think in our text is the Greek word, Logizomi. It is related to the more popular Greek word, Logos. Logos in Classical Greek has a very pervasive meaning. It includes the totality of what has been expressed by somebody, including his thoughts and his reasoning. Logos is an expression of the intents, thoughts and reasoning of God as expressed in the written form. If you want to know how God thinks, check the word!
According to Apostle Paul, believers should line themselves up with the expressed reasoning and intents of God. Albert Einstein once said, ‘imagination is more important than knowledge’. Another individual speaking in another place said, ‘it is difficult to say that anything is impossible because the dream of yesterday becomes the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow. For you to touch tomorrow you will have to allow the creation process to begin from your imagination. When Paul said ‘…think on these things…, he was saying that we should ‘dwell on these’, we could characterize thus.
What does imagination mean?
According to Chambers Dictionary, imagination is the process of forming mental images of objects not perceived by the senses. It is the process of giving mental pictures to your thoughts. Picture yourself participating in your thinking process. You are an active participant. This is similar to the process of editing a video movie. Imagination is very important and let me say, very powerful because if sustained for a while it leads to actions (Psalms 2). It gives impetus to the creation process. It is like the jumpstarting key. Consider these scriptures that contain some profound statements on the seat of every imagination – the heart/mind – Matthew 15:19; Matthew 5:27-28. Adultery starts from the heart but let me clarify the meaning of this often-misunderstood passage. You commit adultery when you dwell on lustful thoughts for a while. When you do, it is only a question of time before you begin to execute the process of such thoughts. For example, when you notice that your action towards a member of the opposite sex is beginning to overstep the generally accepted limits of decency. When this happens regularly (even when you have not undressed to sleep together), you have committed the sin.
Just as your thoughts can make you do the above, it can also be positively channeled. Put the awesome power of your imagination into the creation of a positive process. Your mind has the power to recall past events and the power to pre-play events, which means you can analyse the event before it comes to pass. “Finally my brethren…” the great apostle declared. As mentioned earlier, you are capable of things beyond what you are currently involved in. You can enter into another person’s world (beyond yours), your imagination. Listening to an eloquent speaker vividly explaining an event is often an invitation to enter that speaker’s world. I find this principle very profound when I consider its potential in helping us discover the real intents behind the written word as we read it. Pay some special attention (in your mind) to the various encounters Jesus had with different classes of people and imagine why he might have said the things he said at those different occasions. You could enter His world as it were by so doing and of course if you dwell long in such exercises doing the Word comes with less effort subsequently. Those very familiar with eastern mysticism, transcendental meditations, yoga etc have been utilizing this principle for long. When some people cry at the recounting of great testimonies of others, they are simply showing that they have entered the world of the speaker.
When God speaks a word to you, do not keep his thoughts and intents at that level. Expand the horizon of that word by giving mental pictures to it. God’s reasoning for example is, “By the stripes of Jesus you were healed…”, 1Pet.2:24. When you dwell on such thoughts it is only a matter of time you will experience change (healing) in your body. According to Proverbs 23:7, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he…” You are the totality of your thinking pattern. Your marriage, finances etc are a summation of your thinking process. Your thinking pattern can work for or against you. Every big and great invention began with a thought. The Wright Brothers simply saw a bird flying, and they thought (creating dreams and mental pictures of the possibility that man could fly like birds). The fellow who provoked the creation of the first Helicopter prototype must have seen the dragon fly and he must have wondered mentally on the possibility of creating a flying machine like that for man. Ideas are the root of creation. The idea for how your family is presently structured started in your thoughts. Today you are called father, mother etc. Be careful what you think and what you dwell on. A heart that “deviseth evil things is an abomination to God”, Prov. 6:18. From a wicked heart will come wicked actions. From a wicked heart (one whose thought life has been messed up) will proceed acts of foolishness in the by and by.
Romans 12:2. Renewing your mind through the Word helps you know the things that are pleasing to God. Reading and studying the Word helps in the mind renewing process tremendously. The responsibility of purifying your heart is laid on you squarely. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded”, James 4:8. This of course, must be with the acknowledged assistance of the Holy Spirit. You must cooperate with him. “Let the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord…” , Ps.19:14. Purifying your heart is a continuous process which is why the admonition that you be careful what you expose yourself to through the 5 senses because a clean heart can be defiled. Consider 2Samuel 11. David was a man after God’s heart. He loved God but he SAW a woman bathing. One of the five gates opens to your heart is your set of eyes. He “saw”; and then he dwelt upon the thought and see where it led him. His assessment that the woman was beautiful to look upon was a product of his imagination. The next thing was to send for the woman, and the whole process of humiliation started. But then 2Corinthians 10:4-5 provides the answer; the circuit breaker, so to say. You have the power to cast down every imagination.
“4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ“
The account in Matthew 9:20-22 is a positive example of the product of the mind. The lady understood the power of imagination. ‘She said to herself…’. She had heard of Jesus. She had seen him do miracles. These thought processes must have occupied her thinking and she came to the conclusion that, “If I can but touch the helm of his garment…” It doesn’t matter how many people think you are crazy, you can achieve positive results as long as you do not think you are crazy. Sometimes Satan tries to blackmail you into thinking that your thought is evil when in fact God it is who has given such thoughts to you. Many people are where they today because they bought such lies. Another example of positive use of the imagination is the account that concerns the Roman Centurion, Matthew 8:5-13. There was no ‘procedure’ which shows that his faith declaration was a product of his imagination. Let your own imagination expand the limits of your faith.
I know that you have truly been blessed reading this and I am convinced in my spirit that your thought life and indeed you experience of God and His Word will never remain the same again. From now on you will dwell and revel in the assured potency of his Word in Jesus’ name, Amen.
