Proverbs 23:7 – “For as he thinks within himself, so he is…”  NASB

Let me ask this question to allow us to continue considering the subject of Imagination and the understanding that it is the Gift of God for us to use for good.  “Why does God hate an evil imagination?”  If God created us with the ability to use our imaginations, and He did what is it about it that makes Him hate its misuse? 

Our Imagination or the ability to imagine is directly connected to the purpose for which we were originally created.  God said, “Let us make man in Our Image…”  God created an “Image” and as a result that is reflective of the Life and Power of God in us.  Our Imagination is a reflection of who we are, and we are supposed to be “Images of God.”

I have talked to inventors and read accounts of people who achieved incredible scientific and technological advancements.  I always found it incredibly interesting that most of the time they described ‘seeing’ before ‘doing.’  They would see the machine or whatever it was and how it operated before they designed or built anything.  It was first in their Imagination then became a creation.

Imagination is one of the powerful tools God uses to enable us to ‘see’ what He is doing and desires.  With the picture in our minds, we are emboldened and encouraged as well as enabled to bring it into reality.  When our Imaginations are under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit, they are invaluable tools for use in the Kingdom of God.  If they become directed by the lust of the flesh they come into direct conflict with the principles and purposes of the Kingdom and must be rejected and even repented of.

Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden and the Fall of man.  I contend that the devil did not attempt to force Eve to disobey God.  What he did was maneuver her into Thinking about disobeying.  How did he do that?  By Suggestions.  He suggested there were benefits that God was wrongly keeping from her and she had not been given the full truth.  He helped her create thoughts that produced images of having what the devil suggested.

Think about the process.  She changed how she viewed the tree and its fruit.  It looked good but, the fruit had not changed, it was exactly the same as before, but in her mind, it looked Good.  The fruit and reality had not changed only Eve’s thoughts had.

That brings me to a reality that I have addressed many times regarding our Thoughts or Thought Life.  I have had people insist that we are only responsible for what we do with our thoughts, not the thoughts themselves.  I contend that every thought must be brought into immediate captivity to Jesus.  We are responsible for our Thought Lives or Thought Processes. 

The Psalmist addressed this in Psalms 139:23-24 when he cried out, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”  Paul spoke to it in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 

It is a spiritual process and results in spiritual progress.  It is important and vital that we renounce the idea that as a believer we are unable to control what we think.  We cannot prevent the devil from offering suggestions, but we do not have to allow them to come into our minds.  He delivers a package and we do not have to sign for it.  Reject it and set your mind on Christ and things above.

Remember in Matthew 9:4 it says, “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?”  The Scribes and Pharisees would hear Jesus forgiving people and the thought that was conjured in their minds was, ‘This is Blasphemy.’  Jesus held them accountable for their thoughts as well as their words.  Paul tells us in Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  Then in Philippians 2:5, we find the powerful and needed injunction, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”   The mind of Jesus was Pure and so must ours be.

We are instructed to meditate on the Word in Joshua 1:8 and the promise was if we did and observed the directives, we would have Good Success.  God has given us authority over all the power of the devil and our own thoughts.  We can decide, with the help of the Holy Spirit and in harmony with the Word of God, what we think.  We do not have to accept thoughts that are contrary and inconsistent with God’s Word and Covenant.

Romans 8:7 warns that the carnal mind is the enemy of God.  God tells us to Rejoice in Him Always.  The carnal mind says, “When I feel like it.”  God instructs us, when wronged, to go to the person and discuss the matter with them for reconciliation and redemption.  The carnal mind says, “No, I’ll tell everyone I can what they did and get my ounce of flesh in revenge.”  God tells us to be Thankful in all things and at all times.  The carnal mind says, “If I don’t get exactly what I want, I will not express gratitude.”  God tells us to Fear Not.  The carnal mind says, “But something bad might happen.”  God tells us to resist Covetousness.  The carnal mind says, “How can I keep from wanting what I do not have, and others have?”

I ask the LORD to help each of us bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus and allow the Gift of Imagination to propel us into the next level or dimensions of His purposes for us. 

Have a Great Day in Jesus!