Many of you have heard this and know this statement: People without vision perish. This is from the Bible, from the book of Proverbs, chapter 29, verse 18. Nations, corporates, organisations, families and individuals point to this statement as a reason to craft a vision statement. Vision, hope, expectation, etc., are words that are similar to imagination. The word vision is often used for an organisation, while words like imagination, hope, and expectation are more often used for individuals.
Much of the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, while other portions were written in Aramaic and Greek. The translators choose multiple words so that the nuances are well expressed in English from the original language. Yet, it’s good to know that many words mean much in common.
People without imagination, hope etc., are constrained. Their eyes see the grim circumstances around them. What you see fills your mind. Sorrow, fear and anxiety fill them. They see the grey clouds all around. They are not able to see beyond the circumstances around them nor the gloominess of the day.
Here are various perspectives on imagination. Navigate through the links below, choosing what’s interesting to you.
Why do Christians hope? Does hope relate to imagination?
Which Bible verses relate to joy and rejoicing?
What other words in the Bible are aligned with imagination?
Which instances of the power of imagination do we have in the Bible?
What is the uniqueness of Christ-centered imagination?
What kind of imagination do we need to be alert to and reject?
Christians have their faith anchored in Jesus.
Death on the cross of Jesus Christ became the transition to the point of great victory. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the 3rd day, sin and death was conquored for all who believed.
The crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the reasons for hope.
So under all circumstances, Christians are full of hope. Christians brim with hope. Like a well-shaken freshly opened can of beer, it overflows, refusing to be contained in the can!
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV)
Anyone who believes the words of Jesus is full of hope. Jesus conquered death and sin so that our relationship with God is restored. He who knew no sin chose to become a sacrificial lamb and chose to willingly die on the cross so that the wages of sin for all mankind were paid by Him.
He chose to lay down His life on the Cross to:
redeem us from the wages of sin,
cleanse us and make us righteous,
heal us from every sickness,
give us freedom from oppression.
By His resurrection, we receive:
abundant, wholesome life,
eternal life with God in place of the death we deserve.
This is a superior and supernatural reason for hope.
Absolutely nothing in this World can challenge this hope!
A Christian is joyful and rejoices.
He does not fear man or circumstances.
Hope reigns and rules over our lives.
Fear is banished in the name of Jesus and commanded to flee our lives,
Hope comes along, fills us with peace and joy.
Blind start to see,
Lame start to walk,
The sick are healed,
The deaf start to hear,
Mute starts to speak,
Oppression transforms to liberation,
Chains break,
Sorrow is exchanged for rejoicing,
…
Hopelessness withers,
Hope blossoms,
Kingdom of Heaven comes!
Hope, faith and imagination have much in common.
Christ-centered imagination is what we have considered here.
Joy in the Lord, trusting in the Lord that leads to rejoicing, and abiding in the Lord’s peace are beautiful places to reach through prayerful imagination. Here we focus on joy and rejoicing.
Here are a few Bible verses that will help in your journey into joy and rejoicing. The reason we mention joy and rejoicing as these originate from faith and trust in God. Imagination, pondering and prayerful thoughts on the promises of God take us to joy and rejoicing.
The first verse shows that trusting God is a key step for rejoicing, an expression of hope. Remember, this has nothing to do with the circumstances that we may face.
We have to love God and put our trust in Him. Remember our loving Father God gave His only Son to die on the cross because He loves us. He loved us first, so it’s only right for us to respond by loving Him and trusting Him.
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. ( Psalm 5:11 KJV)
As you read and think the verse prayerfully a few times, we see more details emerge from this verse. Yes, as mentioned in the verse, we should shout for joy because God defends us. The Word of God is true. We ought to remember that we are not limited by what we understand or fail to understand. God’s Word is far higher than our perception, our understanding, higher than any circumstance we face.
We can choose to obey this verse by doing what it says. Start by shouting for joy.
We can choose to think and imagine the truth mentioned in this verse to manifest in our lives.
God’s power is released, changing or challenging the circumstances we face. This can be hastened as we imagine.
By believing in God, believing in God’s promises, we make a choice of aligning with God’s will for our lives by thinking, pondering on His promises. His will as mentioned in the Bible, is what our imagination should be aligned to.
Thus, if you are unemployed, since you know, God’s will for your life is to have work, you can imagine being employed. You can imagine that, as per the Word of God, the works of your hand are blessed, your work brings gain for the company, you receive decent income, wages etc.
You choose to meditate on the Word of God: The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. (Deuteronomy 28:12 KJV). Based on this Word, this promise of God, you can imagine getting a job and doing well. Even when the unemployment level in your country is high, as you prayerfully imagine as per God’s Word, things change. You practice giving greater and higher importance to God’s promise by imagining you receiving the job as your breakthrough.
Remember, you are exalting God’s word above every other circumstance.
Remember, you are choosing to trust in God.
Remember, you choose to downgrade the circumstances that you see to a lower level, so that it cannot influence your thoughts, your hope, or your expectation.
Here are a few other verse, you can hold on to.
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. ( Philippians 4:4 KJV)
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ( Psalm 118:24 KJV)
The Bible has many words that point to imagination.
Many of these, I first heard from the church I attend. Reading the Bible after attending these services, I discovered more. These words, which were hiding in plain sight all these days, thereafter lit up brightly!
Ponder on
Implies imagine these things.
Psalm 119:15 says I will ponder on your precepts and consider your ways.
Psalm 77:12 says I will ponder your works and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Think on
Thus implying we should imagine these things.
Philippians 4:8 says that we should think on such things – things that are excellent and praiseworthy.
Renewing the mind
Changing our thoughts and imaginations we currently have and replacing these with God’s promises and following instructions from God’s word.
Philippians 4:8 says that we should not be aligned and conformed to the way the world operates and considers, but we should be changed and transformed by changing the way we think so that we may prove the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
Repent
It changes the way you think, which would result in a different outcome, because you imagine new thoughts and reject old ones.
The Hebrew origin of the word is metenoia.
Often, repentance meant being sorrowful for sinful ways and turning away from sin; holiness, the broader meaning based on the Hebrew origin, is given at the thought
Mark 1:15 says, The kingdom of God is near you: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
The Bible has more words aligned with imagination. These are left out so you would read the Bible and enjoy and celebrate the discovery process. Here is one more, as I felt the nudge from you wanting to hear one more. It’s the word “consider”.
Here are three instances from the Bible. David had an opportunity to fight for Israel and challenge the giant Goliath. None in Israel had the boldness, strength and resolve to fight Goliath. But David resolved that he would fight Goliath. He encouraged himself, reminding himself of fighting successfully the lion and the bear. He imagined that as the almighty God was with him, no one could win any fight against them (God and himself). This imagination and confidence enabled him to win the victory.
Gideon had low self-esteem and no confidence. He thought he was weak, fearful, and not capable of taking up God’s assignment given to him by the angel. God encouraged Gideon (Judges 6-7), appeared to him and called him a “mighty man of valor” despite his fear. God assured him, “I will be with you,” promising victory over the Midianites with only 300 men, and strengthened his faith through miraculous signs like the wet and dry fleece. Gideon kept upgrading his imagination and successfully carried out all the assignments of God.
A Syrophoenician woman approaches Jesus, asking him to cast a demon out of her daughter (refer Mark 7:24-30). Jesus’ initial response was that it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. This lady was a gentile. Yet she did not get offended. She persisted and told Jesus that even the dogs eat the crumbs. The woman had seen and heard about very many healings, signs, and miracles that Jesus had performed. The highest truth was that Jesus could heal her daughter. This was the only truth she was thinking about, considering and meditating about, imagining about. Her find was only filled with this expectation. So she refused to be offended. Jesus liked the way she chose not to be offended; she persisted in her faith. Jesus heals her daughter.
There are very, very many more in the Bible. From the above, you can see, how the right imagination can lead us into the path of getting a breakthrough.
Christ-centred imagination is for anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and His Word.
It is centered on Jesus Christ.
The imagination is all about the will of God in our lives.
The imagination is about obeying Jesus Christ’s will and purpose for our life.
This includes :
making disciples of Christ.
bringing God’s Kingdom here on earth.
healing and wholeness for us and others around us.
being channels of God’s Love, Peace and Joy.
This imagination is based only on God’s will – Jesus Christ.
When we intentionally keep remembering specific verses and choose to imagine the process, the progress will follow.
a) Jesus is the only one
The Bible clearly says that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6 KJV)
Read carefully the greater emphasis three words in bold above for you to notice,
so that no one misses it.
Read it in the latter part of the verse below.
From the very beginning of the creation of the universe, almighty God clearly mentioned the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as the Lamb slain. Here are a few. The book of Genesis, the book of Isaiah, and others also foretell precisely about Jesus Christ, the promised one.
And all that dwells upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8 KJV)
“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” (1 Peter 1:20 KJV)
b) Jesus for an abundant life
Do you remember the Samaritan woman had chosen not to come to the well at a time to draw water when others would come to draw water.
The Samaritain women had 5 or more men, some as husbands, she was ashamed to come to the well at a time when others came to the well. She preferred not to be seen by others in the Samaritan city.
Yet, Jesus Christ, on his route from Judea to Galilee choose to intentionally travel through Samaria. Jews used to avoid Samaria, although Samaria was on the route from Judea to Galilee. But Jesus had decided to go through Samaria with the intention of rescuing and transforming the Samaritan lady. So where you are in life does not matter. Even if you are one like the Samaritan woman doesnot matter.
Like the Samaritan woman, we can hear what Jesus speaks, hear the Word. As she had given much attention to what Jesus spoke, her past life, she earnestly desired the living waters. Her imagination, enthusiasm, and excitement to receive the living waters led her to speak to people in her city. The Samaritian woman became the first evangelist, bringing the citizens of Samaria to know Christ Jesus as their Lord.
Imagination expressed in terms of enthusiasm and excitement in her drove her to action. She went to meet the citizens and spoke all about Jesus Christ to them.
c) The triune God
We know that Jesus told his disciples that it was necessary that He go to the Father so that the Holy Spirit would be sent to us. Read this verse from the Gospel of John 16:7 from the AMPC version.
However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. (John 16:7 AMPC)
From the above verse, we can see that the Holy Spirit’s role is to help us imagine Christ-centered thoughts.
From the verse Proverbs 29:18, we understand the importance of the revelation of God for freedom. Vision is also similar to imagination – being a determined and intentional imagination decided upon after consideration of various other options.
Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]–blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he. (Proverbs 29:18 AMPC)
We know that Mary pondered on what she heard. Mary had heard what Angel Gabriel had told her. The shepherds also told her about the good news of Jesus Christ, as they also had heard from the angels.
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. ( Luke 2:19 NKJV)
The AMPC version of the same verse makes the way she handles the process of imagination. But Mary was keeping within herself all these things (sayings), weighing and pondering them in her heart.
Imagination comes from the Hebrew word Yetzer, which means spiritual womb. Thus, we can see it’s important to ponder, keep thinking the promise, the word which came as part of the promise. Mary carried all that was told to her about Jesus in her spiritual womb. This is the very same process we need to carry out the promises we have received.
Jesus says a parable of a certain man who had a vineyard and let it to husbandmen in Luke 20. At harvest season, the man sent a servant to gather some fruit. But the husbandmen were not having the right thinking or imagination. Rather, their minds were filled with greed, covetousness, and ungratefulness. So that shamed and hurt the servants. And when the owner’s son was sent by the vineyard owner, he was killed by them. Clearly pointing to the evil and wicked results from the wrong and vain imagination.
In Luke 20:45-47, Jesus alerts us to avoid such wrong behaviour and vain imagination – so we keep away from it. As we become more aware of these vain imaginations, we should keep our efforts to stay away from such imaginations.
45 And with all the people listening, He said to His disciples, 46 Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes and love to be saluted [with honor] in places where people congregate and love the front and best seats in the synagogues and places of distinction at feasts, 47 Who make away with and devour widows’ houses, and [to cover it up] with pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation (the heavier sentence, the severer punishment). (Luke 20:45-47 AMP)
We are also not to think not to be confirmed to the superficial standards of the world. We should not be thinking highly of ourselves.
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], ……… I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. (Romans 12:2-3 AMPC)
People with vain imaginations do not honor God, nor are they thankful to God. They indulge in godless thoughts, foolish reasoning and stupid speculations. Here is the reference verse.
Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. (Romans 1:21 AMPC)
Matters that consider themselves more important than knowledge of God are certainly vain. We should keep reminding ourselves that with God, all things are possible under every situation and circumstance. Kingdom of Heaven is a supernatural realm that cannot be explained or limited by logic or reasoning. We know that spiritual matters are so powerful that against the matters listed in Galatians 5:22, there is no law.
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; (2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV)
Vain imaginations also include anxiety, fear, envy, jealousy, hatred, mercilessness, and low self-esteem. These are some of the vain imaginations to be thoroughly avoided and banished from our minds and lives.
Reference verse:
“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.” ( Philippians 4:8 KJV)
Note: This blog post was inspired and created by what I heard preached by the Senior Pastors at the church where I get nourished and nurtured.
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