It is more than just pie in the sky when you die. It is life and more abundant life right now. What did Jesus say you have now and will have?
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 KJV
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:13 KJV
How has church benefited you?
Do you expect benefits?
Are you interested in benefits, or in benefiting others in church?
What's the actual purpose of church in your life?
Let's make a list. What is the one thing you would like to have right now in your life?
What would you like to have happen in your life?
What's one thing you would not like to have happen in your life?
Take some time and think about what you would like to be, like to own, like to see.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:17-23 KJV
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:6-9 KJV
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 KJV
There’s a curious incident recorded in Genesis 11:1-9
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
It was a unique demonstration of a group of people in unity, albeit against the specific wishes of God! God's testimony of them was that nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. What was His solution? Confound their language to stop them from understanding each other. It effectively blocked their progress.
Why did God confound their language and scattered them? To stop them from doing what they imagined to do. They were ignoring God's edict and doing their own thing, plotting their own devices.
When we all speak the same language then the impossible becomes possible. This is not referring to the ability to speak a common dialect but more of an inward agreeing that manifests itself outwardly. We can learn from this a serious lesson in unity and agreeing about the same thing. The enemy has also learned from this and has had great success confounding the language and unity of God’s children! He has a home ground advantage in that he is able to control the carnal nature of man. God noted of man in the following verse: And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. Genesis 8:21 KJV
What is imagination?
Definition of IMAGINATION (Merriam Webster)
1: the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality
2 a : creative ability
b : ability to confront and deal with a problem : resourcefulness
c : the thinking or active mind : interest
3 a : a creation of the mind; especially : an idealized or poetic creation
b : fanciful or empty assumption
Wikipedia: Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability to form new images and sensations that are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses. Imagination helps make knowledge applicable in solving problems and is fundamental to integrating experience and the learning process
A man stood on the side of the road hitch hiking on a very dark night in the middle of a storm. The night was rolling and no cars passed. The storm was so strong, he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly he saw a car come towards him and stop.
Without thinking about it, he got in the car and closed the door only to realize that nobody was behind the wheel. The car started slowly. The guy looked at the road and saw a curve approaching.
Scared, he started praying, and begging for his life. He hadn’t come out of shock, when just before he hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and moved the wheel. He, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appeared every time before a curve.
The guy gathered strength, got out of the car and ran to the nearest town. Wet and in shock, he ran into a cantina and asked for two shots of tequila, and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he went through. A silence enveloped everybody when they realized that he was crying and wasn’t drunk.
About half an hour later, two guys walked into the same cantina, and one said to the other. "Look, that’s the character who climbed into the car while we were pushing!"
It is vitally important that your imaginations be sanctified and in line with the will of God.
It also important that it will bring glory to God.
Be on guard against becoming vain in our imaginations!
Vain imaginations bring darkness into our hearts. When darkness is in our hearts we cannot see clearly if we can even see.
IMAGINATION
What movies are playing on the screen of our imaginations?
Our imagination acts as gateway to our heart! Vain imaginations can result in darkened hearts.
It's like molding clay. We mould the thoughts in our minds and fashion them after our imaginations. These eventually coalesce and harden into fixed thoughts and ideas in our lives that set and bring us into what becomes our mindset. When that happens we usually become set in our ways for good or bad and it usually is difficult to break. We are thankful for the power of the Holy Spirit, but we also have to be willing to change and cooperate with Him as HE transforms us through the renewing of our minds.
Rom. 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The power of the renewed mind! What a vast potential lies within the believer! The soul of man consists of mind, emotions and will. The mind of man is gifted with imagination which has a great need to be properly channeled. It’s where our dream and visions find their origin.
It's possible to get a renewed mind because the Word of God says so!
Nurturing the dream and vision!
Most if not all of us use our imagination in a self destructing way! We continually imagine all manner of bad things, defeat, loss, tragedies, and disappointments. Some of us are perennial pessimists. We are not usually aware that this has all been a consequence of the fall and the subsequent continuous evil thoughts, contrary to the Word that floods our minds. It was Eve’s imagination that the devil enticed her by. She saw and desired, as her imagination was fanned into blazing hot flames by the enemy.
Instead of allowing the influences of the world to shape our imaginations, we need to resist this desperate assault to confirm us to the world, and rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the ministry of the Spirit
To communicate with someone both of you must speak the same language. What may seem like you're speaking the same language as God may not really be. To find out if you are speaking the same language you need to find out what His language is. The best way to find this out is to examine His word! Now we know that He does not change! He remains steadfast, the same! Therefore the next thing to do is to examine and check where our language differs from His and begin making adjustments. Oh I know you may have been a long time speaking the way you do and do not think you ought to change! But has it connected you to His outpouring? Has it been beneficial to you? Maybe we really need to reexamine where the changes need to be made.
Almost every waking moment of our day we are influenced by input from various media, magazines and family, friends, relatives, peers, coaches, as well as bosses. Without us realizing it we are influenced in our imaginations by this input. It shapes our thoughts, feelings, reactions and responses. This needs to change so that we allow God and His Word to influence our imaginations instead.
A salesman, driving on a lonely country road one dark and rainy night, had a flat tire. He opened the trunk- no tire wrench. The light from a farmhouse could be seen dimly up the road. He set out on foot through the driving rain. Surely the farmer would have a tire wrench he could borrow, he thought. Of course, it was late at night- the farmer would be asleep in his warm, dry bed. Maybe he wouldn’t answer the door. And even if he did, he’d be angry at being awakened in the middle of the night. The salesman, picking his way blindly in the dark, stumbled on . By now his shoes and clothing were soaked. Even if the farmer did answer his knock, he would probably shout something like, “What’s the big idea waking me up at this hour?” This thought made the salesman angry. What right did that farmer have to refuse him the loan of a tire wrench? After all, here he was stranded in the middle of nowhere, soaked to the skin. The farmer was a selfish clod- no doubt about that! The salesman finally reached the house and banged loudly on the door. A light went on inside, and a window opened above. A voice called out, “Who is it?” His face white with anger, the salesman called out, “You know darn well who it is. It’s me! And you can keep your blasted tire wrench. I wouldn’t borrow it now if you had the last one on earth!”
Let's turn the energy we use for doubts and worry into active imagination for good...to picture our prayers being answered and our dreams coming through!
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:22-24 KJV
Change starts within. Take some time and think about what you would like to be, like to own, like to see. Check to see if it aligns with the Word of God then go for it!
Taken from the tomb of a Bishop in Westminster Abbey 1100 A.D.:
When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits I dreamed of changing the world.
As I grew older and wiser and realized the world would not change I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country: but it too seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years I settled on changing only my family and those closest to me, but alas they would have none of it.
Now as I lay on my deathbed I suddenly realize that if I had only changed myself first, then by example I could perhaps have changed my family, and from their inspiration and encouragement to me I would have been better able to help my country and from there I may even have been able to change the world.
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 KJV
With the mind of Christ for comparison we examine our minds and attempt to remove all things that do not line up with His mind. We take steps to eliminate everything that cries out against the mind of Christ until all we have remaining is in harmony with Him, with His thoughts, with His Words.
We continue to compare each facet of the Christ nature to see where we fall short and having found it we allow the Holy Spirit to make the required changes until we are changed into His likeness.
