In much of scripture the word “imagine” is used in reference to the wrong which men dream of. If we were honest, i believe most of us imagine domination, manipulation, we imagine control, seduction, surrender and gain at the other persons expense, or whatever comprises the vanities of men. But God, oh, there’s that phrase again, but God, is the originator and designer of imagination, and it was never meant to be such a dark thing as most of us may use it for. When we would rather think on the preferences of the Lord rather than what we can consume upon ourselves, suddenly our imagination can become the exclusive providence of God and the enemy has no control.
What would the Lord have us to imagine, if we were to possess a sanctified, dedicated, exclusively-for-God’s-purposes-dream-machine? What would we imagine? In order to discuss the idea of “imagine” from God’s perspective, we’ve got to be willing to entertain the idea of “what if”, in a righteous way, of course. So let’s play. “What if” as in “what if God is really who He said He is?” If He is, then we’ve got to do something about all our “yea but’s” which restrict and constrict our understanding of God. So, it’s a good question, “What IF God is really who He said He is?”
Imagine, in another “what if” scenario, YOU are really who God says you are. If we’re going to play the “what if” game, then, in this case, we’ve got to take the entirety of the New Testament as being relevant and true. We need to get over the old, “I’m just a poor old sinner man” teaching, calling ourselves worthless, resolving our internal conflicts in order to see ourselves as valuable. Valuable enough that the King of the Universe would not only die and then live again for us, but that He also, ALSO, by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father. i understand that all that goodness may be more than some can bear. At some point though, we must begin to see things as God sees them without the overlay of poor teaching. What the Lord has to say is infinitely more important than men.
What if you and i traded our regrets for God’s possibilities? How would our lives look if the disappointments and regrets didn’t bind us up and dictate how we conduct ourselves towards family, friends, and the rest of the world?
What if what Jesus said in Matt24:30 is true? Just try and imagine how that’s going to go. When the amazing Son of God appears, and in that instant all the people of the earth will see Him coming in the clouds, the hearts and minds of people everywhere will suddenly realize they were wrong, and God was right and there is no challenge to that. He is SO God and we are SO not. Imagine how that will impact all politics and all other religions. Any kind of atheism will be wrong, and right there before their eyes will be all the reasons why everything they did NOT think about God were wrong. If we think mankind is doing a giant cover up about things now, i say, we ain’t seen nothing yet. On that day, darkness won’t just be wrong, it will be SO wrong, and God won’t be merely right, He’ll be SO right..
What if you find out one day, all the things you missed out on, which God had for you, were not attained, all because you insisted, heels dug in insisted to do things your way? Maybe we should ask the Lord to show us where our plans have swept us in another direction other than His, and what can we do to get back on track with Him? What if the Lord opened your eyes to see that all the things you think you’re such a failure about, weren’t actual failures in His book, but doors which opened more clearly to God’s plan of your destiny? Rock bottom may seem a terrible place, but you know, it also looks like a great place to start a foundation. Donald Miller wrote that, “All the trees are losing their leaves and not one of them is worried.” They don’t see losing their leaves as a failure, but as the changing of the seasons to be more beautiful in what’s to come.
What if we choose to NOT believe in God and do what He says? In 1Kings18:21, Elijah asked a question which i think is still very relevant, “How long will you go limping around at the fork in the road, sitting on a fence? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.” Regardless of the world’s view, there are only two perspectives, God or the devil, and we can easily see that by rejecting one we automatically choose the other, and there are no alternatives.
What if we really believed, trusted God to do what He says, and took Eph3:19 literally? “That you may really come to know, practically, through experience for yourselves, the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience; that you may be filled, through all your being, unto all the fullness of God, having the richest measure of the divine Presence, a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!”
What if we prayed with real audacity, not being afraid to talk to God and ask Him for anything? Just imagine the possibilities that would open up. Can you imagine what it looks like to actually do something with all your heart? Do we do anything with “all your heart”?
In 1Chron4:10, Jabez cried to God saying, “Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request.” That’s not just a vision of owning property, or being the big-time leader of a big-time congregation, with everyone knowing your name. See it as a prayer of asking God to expand your vision and dreaming, beyond what is presently in your field of view. Imagine! Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. Dreams and imagination are God’s idea, they are His invention and He gave us the power to dream and imagine. Ask Him to help you make room for the “more” of God.
What do you think?