“Just Your Imagination” Part 1 | Episode 132 | Changing Lives Podcast

you are now listening to changing lives a podcast presented by Mount gillot Full Gospel International Ministries hosted by co-pastor Elina Robertson welcome back to changing lives we are changing lives with the word of God I thank God for his word and that’s what’s going to change your life as we share today on this podast I’m glad you tuned in I believe it’s going to be a major blessing to you as you open up your hearts to receive the truth about your life and what God has in store for you today we’re going to talk about just your imagination is it really just your imagination what is it about your imagination is it really more to it than what meets the eye let’s get into the word and let’s find out you know as I begin to think about imagination and how uh important it is to us and how God created us we are made in His image and in his likeness and and everything about us that he put in US reflects who he is and God is very intentional about everything that he does and so when we think about our imagination God planted that on the inside of us the ability to imagine the ability to see something without it being manifested in in front of us and not only that as we connect our imagination with our faith and it’s aligned with the word of God there is a world of possibilities that can be manifested in our lives and so I don’t know about you but I want to have my life aligned in such a way that what I imagine that it will be lined up with his word and that manifestation will come all for his glory so you know when we think about imagination we think about images you know images um you know when you begin to imagine in your mind you begin to put pictures uh together almost like a a movie reel and you know when we uh reflect on really what our thoughts are all about it’s not really just words our thoughts are actually pictures you know of um that connects to our imagination and so it is so important that we’re able to tap into uh what God put inside of us as it relates to our imagination and so a lot goes into our imagination our thoughts um what we are able to see even in our current situation uh Taps into our imagination um you know um our faith is connected to our imagination and um and we want our imagination to to really operate in its foolish form because what God put it there so we don’t want our imagination to be dormant but the other thing is this we can have an imagination um but it’s critical that our imagination lines up with the word of God because we can be imagining so many different things and I don’t know about you but there’s a lot of things I’ve imagined in my mind uh stories and and and and and and things in my mind of how things have played out or how people see me or how people what people think about me or what’s going to happen you know um you know as it relates to this job or what’s going to happen as it relates to my life in in this area you know um and it’s our imagination that can run wild to take us down this Trail and down this journey that paints a picture of the way that our lives are going to be and it can be Bleak it can be detrimental it can be a Horror Story you know if we allow the enemy to feed into our imagination so as we get into the word let’s let’s allow the word of God to align our imagination with his word and so it’s critical so I think about how much our thoughts and how we think um has a lot to do with our imagination you know the word of God talks about how as a man think of in his heart so is he you know and so that so is he is that that life played out based on how we’ve been thinking um and our minds and our hearts are connected um as um because our hearts think you know and it thinks in pictures and so um I reflect on Romans chapter 7 where Paul he’s talking about this struggle that he has uh in his mind and I want us to start off there as far as our scriptural basis because I believe that if we can get this part uh straight or aligned then as we Veer into really uh allowing our imagination to to flourish in a healthy way uh that glorifies God then there is nothing that can stop us from from uh manifesting all that God has for us so you know in Romans the the the 7th verse and I’m going to just you know read a few of the scriptures that you know um relates to this struggle that Paul lays out for us you know and so in caption the new King James version it says law cannot save from sin and so and that keyw as you see throughout these scriptures that I’m going to read it deals with the law you the law and and when something is a law it it is that is the way it is and it and and you are to follow that law and um but there are many different types of laws and so that’s what stood out to me and so as we go through these scriptures pick out as we’re reading those different types of laws and what law you know should we abide by or follow or align Our Lives to okay so starting at the 13th verse again this is Paul he’s talking about this struggle okay and he says uh Romans the 7th chapter the 13th verse has then what is good become deaf to me he says certainly not but but sin that it might appear sin was producing death in me through what is good so that sin through the Commandment might become exceedingly sinful so sin is really gripping Paul he’s talking about our Humanity not just Paul but all of us all of us have this struggle dealing with sin in our mortal bodies okay and so the 14th verse says for we know that the law is spiritual okay law and this relation to the law of God which is his word okay so we know that the law is spiritual but Paul goes on to say I am carnal sold under sin now Paul is talking about about his life really before uh his you know how it was before he had his transformation of Allowing God to become Lord over his life and and surrendering his life to Jesus Christ okay and again all of our Lives all of Humanity’s story lines up with this exact struggle that Paul is talking about in the 15th verse it says for what I am doing I do not understand for what I will do that I do not practice but what I hate that I do have you ever been in a situation where you really hated something hated doing something maybe you talked about you know something that maybe you saw your parents do and you didn’t like it you hated it and you said I will never do that and then years later as an adult we find ourselves doing those very things that we say we did not want to do what’s going on with that it’s that struggle that sin nature that is trying to dominate in our lives and so so Paul goes on to say if then I do what I will not do I agree with the law that it is good okay and so but then the seventh verse says this but now it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me this is that this is that State uh that Humanity can be in before uh really surrendering uh to God and you know we can have salvation we can get saved we can give our lives to the Lord but that surrender is another layer another level of Allowing God to be preeminent in our lives and when we allow him to be preeminent in our lives that means we say God what is your law what does your word say and that’s what I want to govern my life no longer what I feel no longer what my flesh yearns for and desires whether it’s sexual sin or just pleasurable things that you just just want to have your way with no longer that and so what we when we say that we want the law of God to to flow in our lives we’re saying we want the word of God to take presidence in our lives and so Paul goes on to say you know about this struggle in the 18th verse he says for I know that in me that is in my flesh that’s what he’s talking about nothing good dwells for to will is present with me that means he wants to do what’s right it’s present there but then how to perform it what is good I do not find so he struggles with trying to find you know I want to do this what I know to do right but there’s something in me that Waring in me keeps me from doing what um I know that I need to do the 19 verse says for the good that I will to do I do not do but the evil I will not to do that I practice now if I do what I will not do not now if I do what I will not to do it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me so that means that’s that tozzle that that that that fight that goes on within that Paul says now if if if I’m doing the very thing I don’t want to do and I know I don’t want to do it that’s a warning in the flesh okay and so um the 21st verse says this I find then a law that it that evil is present with me the one who Wills to do good good for I Delight in the law of God according to the inward man so Paul is saying I love the word of God I I Delight in it I take my delight in it you know I get and I’m reading the word you know in the mornings when I wake up I’m meditating on the word you know but then there’s this struggle still that I’m dealing with and in the 23rd verse it said goes on to say but I see another law in my members in my life Waring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members and when I read that verse it just really stuck up because I’m really big on dealing with our minds so there’s the Waring that actually it’s it’s in our minds that our um that the sin nature that’s in US wants to do what it wants to do and and in our minds that law of our minds that means there is a part of our minds that is able to reason and in everyone’s mind is that ability to kind of differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong some of us have more of a bent to you know what’s right some may have more bent to what’s wrong based on our backgrounds and the things that we’ve experienced sometimes trauma sometimes uh abuse neglect you know all kinds of different things that sin brings along with it can really skew our ability to reason in the the right way uh which would be according to God’s Will and God’s word for our lives and so you know this Waring In the Flesh how can we be delivered from this you know um I’m thinking about the scripture where it talks about in 2 Corinthians the 10th chapter the 5ifth verse is one of my one of my dear scriptures that helped me to get my mind straight and it talks about how uh we wrestle not against flesh and blood um but against spiritual wickedness in high places you know and um and then it goes on to to talk about it’s a spiritual battle really in essence and and paraphrasing it it’s a spiritual battle it’s not something that we can fight in the flesh and whenever that sin nature that whenever you do what you know you shouldn’t do that’s that sin nature taking over and that’s connected to the flesh um that’s connected to the part of us that in our reasoning we reason you know um against what we should do um because that sin nature is tugging more at us than that spiritual nature that will pull us more on the side to align with the truth of God’s word and what his word tells us to do okay and so um so but I think about this the part of the scripture where it talks about casting down imagination and um the Amplified version and other versions it talks about casting down imaginations reasonings thinking um thoughts that exalt itself against the knowledge of God so when you’re talking about this actual battle this actual War that’s going on um that’s Waring against the law of your mind what comes into play is this particular scripture that lets us know when you get to that place where you’re not sure what to do and you’re toggling and tussling in your mind is like a toing in your mind a wrestling then that lets you know that’s the time when you got to differentiate between what’s spiritual and what’s your flesh what’s the solish part of you what’s the what’s your physical part that’s trying to dominate and what’s the spirit part and to recognize that it’s not a war that you fight in the flesh but you have to fight in the spirit and so when you begin to to to cast down that reasoning that says oh it’s okay for me to to do this in my flesh it’s okay for me to have this or have that and you know it don’t line up with the word of God but you allow that reasoning to to help to seem like it makes sense like it’s okay I’m I’m Justified to be able to do this you know um and so when you get to that place then you always have that opportunity to decide which way to go okay we’re going to connect all this to our imagination because every imagination does not glorify God it doesn’t you think about the the uh Israelites um with the Tower of Babel Genesis 11 and it talked about how they were in this place where they were all gathered and they began to Talk Amongst each other reason hey we out here and we’re seeing looking amongst us of all these people who are well able and got possibility why don’t we build a tower that will reach to the sky you know and they talk about all the things that they can accomplish they can make a name for themselves now anytime you try to make a name for yourself come on that right there can preach all by itself when you try to make a name for yourself that means you are concerned about your own uh identity you’re you’re concerned about your own uh popularity uh your own recognition um it’s different when you say oh I want to do this so I can glorify God and you really not only in lip service but you really uh set it up in such a way where you glorify God and what you do then that’s totally different when you try to make a name for yourself you know is it you know some and often times we get caught up in that you know we have all kinds of platforms that we can use these days social media Instagram Facebook you name it Tik Tok and all of these things are you making a name for yourself or are you using these platforms as an Avenue as an interest way as an opportunity to glorify God come on now that that you know to me in life uh we’re getting down to the last days and now we got to make every moment count and every opportunity count and so what we’re doing with our life lives we got to be aligned to glorify God in everything that we do why because in glorifying God God can use that as a witness to win souls as a way to touch people’s lives to turn people’s lives around from going down a path away from him to directing it to go to a path that will be aligned with his will his way and to him and so hey are you trying to make a name for yourself but the but the the the children uh uh the Israelites there they were that was their focus and God was like wait a minute hold up that I’m not even in this at all you know they’re not even think about you know trying to glorify me trying to add to the kingdom trying to build the kingdom no they’re trying to build their own kingdom what they imagined in their minds was no way aligned with the kingdom of God so that’s how why God came down and Confused their language they couldn’t talk together they couldn’t do anything but the principle was this that they were so they were on such a united front that they were able to visualize and imagine and when you’re able to get an imagination in your mind that you can lay hold to then I’m telling you that the world of possibilities open up I mean come on even in the Scripture it talks about uh I believe it’s the sixth verse where it talks about how um God himself even said you know there you know I I had to confuse their language and all that because they were going to there was nothing that can be restrained from them they were going to really accomplish all kinds of possibilities and so that’s how you know the process or the the the the the the awesome tool of imagination that’s how powerful it is that when you put your mind to something and you know you can believe you can have faith or you can believe for something that’s not align with God’s word because it is a actual force that happens our faith is an active living um you know force and so you can believe for something that’s totally out of line with God’s word and you can draw that thing to you yep and so if that happens you know that you think about the world of possibilities that when we really align our imagination with the word of God what can happen when we believe God in our lives I mean you know believe God for for great things believe God for for opportunities to open up believe God for healing because even you know if you’re dealing with sickness in your body and you know you can you can also um imagine yourself being healed you know as opposed to imagine yourself being on your death bed and dying what are you fueling your mind with okay because what can happen is and I can understand being in certain situations where you get a diagnosis or you know you go into these Ann annual checkups and it can go different ways right and so the enemy is messing with your mind but what he’s trying to do is play into your imagin if he can get you to develop pictures which will uh tap into your faith and you begin to see things played out in your life he can take you down a road where it is not God’s will for your life at all sickness disease dying all of these things are not God’s will for your life so your imagination is such a powerful tool and so we see here this this wrestling that Paul talked about how powerful it is to have to surrender your life and your mind to the spirit of God so that we can align our imaginations with the word of God come on let’s think about this you know imagination connects to reasoning okay um it’s a god-given gift to be able to reason and to think through things okay okay um but our reasoning can draw us away from God all right and so um you can’t rely on just pure reasoning reasoning has to be laced with the word of God the truth of God uh the promises of God um the direction the guidance of God as he speak to us you know in day day in and day out living uh as the Holy Spirit fuels us and empowers us and only speaks what he hears the father say if we align our reasoning with that oh my gosh we are a weapon to be Reckoning with glory to God and so our minds need to be brought under the control of the Holy Spirit when we go through that reasoning process when we are yielded under the control of the Holy Spirit then we won’t be led astray we we won’t be led down a path that that really is not God’s will for our lives Okay so in that part that Paul talked about there’s a war Waring against the law of my mind that means your ability to to reason okay there’s a law with it when you reason about certain things then uh when you reason then you it apply it connects to your faith connects to your thoughts and and it happens okay um and so our minds have to be set on the word of God it has to be programmed to the word of God come on we know about programming we got all these devices that we work and we figure out and we we set them a certain way to work to our advantage why not program your mind to work to your advantage meaning to the advantage of glorifying God okay another way of just saying it is Renewing Your Mind okay when you renew your mind you program your mind to line up with the word of God so when sickness is presented to you then you’re not allowing your ination to take that thought and begin to develop pictures of it come on in in Hebrews the 11th chapter um it talks about the third verse it talks about how through faith okay our faith frames our world how do we frame our world by the thoughts that are given and so when we take those thoughts we begin to frame our world we begin to frame our life we begin to frame our day based on what we believe will happen so if you believe you’re going to have a yucky day if you believe that you’re going to fail this test if you believe that uh you’re not going to live if you believe that you can’t get along with nobody nobody likes you if you believe you don’t have favor guess what your faith has framed your world and that’s what will happen that’s what will uh connect to your imagination and what you see in that frame is your imagination come on what’s in the picture that God has uh for your life have you you been focusing on what he has or you’ve been looking at the frame that the enemy has set up for your life that does not align with God’s word what are you going to connect your faith to the truth of God’s word that’s framed Hallelujah beautiful a thoughts that have that that of God’s coming to fruition that that is of a great expected end come on now there’s going to be Hills there’s going to be valleys but you can best believe amongst the Horizon there is going to be glorious things happening in your life do you believe that if you don’t that means you believe the picture of what the enemy has given you and you’ve allowed your imagination to tune into that and that’s the reals that you allow to play over and over again in your mind when you lie at bed in bed at night and when you think about all the bad things that can happen to you when you think about oh I’m so lonely and you’re constantly thinking about I don’t have this and I don’t have this person with me all of those things fuel your imagination come on now this has been another episode of changing lives be sure to subscribe to stay updated on new episodes also find us on the web at Mount gillad fgim m.org and follow us on Instagram at Mount gillad fgim [Music]