Imagination – A Deeper Look that Breaks us Out of the Lies that keep us from Soaring!

I’m just going to come right out a say it.  I’ve meditated on this and processed it many times over. This is what I believe God is showing me. “Imagination” is simply a word created in the English Language (which has only been around for about 1500 years) to attempt to describe the work of our spirit from a secular mindset.  It is evident in its use in our world today that we use this word to describe the functions of our spirit.  They are one in the same. However, the definition of the word “imagination” comes far short of describing the power of our spirit.

Think about it. Is there anything that we do with the imagination that isn’t performed as a function of our spirit also?  If so, I’d like to know what they are.

Your body is a temple (I Cor 6:19).  Your spirit lives in your temple.  It is what gives you life. If you are a Christian then you have also invited Jesus/Holy Spirit to reside in you.  So, it is God who gives us the freedom to choose what spirit or spirits we want to open the door to.

I would love to be able to say that once we open the door to Holy Spirit that we are done.  But the evidence tells us otherwise.  We may be saved, but that does not take away our freedom of choice.  Holy Spirit may have to put up with a lot of crud we allow in even after accepting Him.  We let the spirit of fear in, the spirit of doubt, spirit of anger… you name it.  We can choose to let any spirit in that we want.  Now ideally, we don’t and won’t.  But the hard truth is we do.  We have to learn to kick out all other spirits that are not of God and repent for opening the door and agreeing with those evil spirits.

So, we do have the ability to choose which spirits we want to let in and work through us.  Adena and I teach a class on hearing the voice of God.  Mark Virkler teaches this as well.  One of the important lessons to learn and understand when listening for the voice of God is how to tell the difference between the voice of God, your voice, and the voice of the enemy.  It can be difficult, but with practice, you can learn.  But here are the basics.  If the voice you hear is telling you good things and building you up, that is probably God.  If it is tearing you down and condemning you, it is almost certainly the enemy.  Sometimes you may find you talk to yourself, and that is ok if it is not out loud in a small group of people. Ha!

With imagination, it is very similar.  Your imagination/spirit can be used for evil, personal use (solving a problem), or to engage with God and all of Heaven.  How do you know which is which?  I can tell you that for me and what we teach in the Ultimate Impact Discipleship Course (UIM) that we do not step into the use of our imagination to engage with our Father’s Kingdom without first going through a process to make sure we are stepping into and through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only door to Heaven.  There is no other.

Bottom line is, you can engage your spirit with the demonic, personal use, with Holy Spirit anytime you want. You will know if you are doing it through the demonic if you are engaged/partnered with the demonic.  If you’re trying to engage the spirit realm and you’re not going through Jesus, you’re engaged with the demonic – STOP!  If you’re engaging your spirit/imagination to solve a problem or view a vacation spot you’re hoping to go to, that is probably just you using your spirit/imagination for yourself.  There is nothing wrong with that.  However, Jesus is the way and He is the door if you want to enter Heaven.  In UIM we teach how to safely engage your imagination/spirit so you can step into God’s Kingdom.  We teach you the Bible verses that show this is what the disciples did and how it was actually an expectation that we (God’s children) should engage with our Father in Heaven. This is not reserved for so-called spiritual giants.  No!  This is for you!

These things are true!  I can tell you after doing this multiple times a week for months and going on years, that there is nothing like it.  More and more people are experiencing the same thing.  It’s amazing to hear someone else describe what they see in Heaven and realize it is just the way I saw it!  There is so much to learn in God’s Kingdom, and yet we are only scratching the surface. I can say that after getting to know dozens of people personally who are doing this and seeing the intimacy they have with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that if that was the only thing that ever came of this, it would be so well worth it!  And no one can tell me this is of the devil.  That, I can say with full assurance, is a lie of the enemy. The devil is not in the business of teaching people how to develop a relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This may way off your grid or out of your paradigm.  But I believe that this is a marker of those who will be helping the church shift into the age to come. Almost everyone can sense that church as we know it shifting.  How that will look, we don’t really know.  But we know that from age to age we continue to grow in our understanding of God and He loves to reveal more of Himself with each new generation.

If we can get past the stigma that our imagination is a toy and realize that the word itself is simply a lame attempt by secular minds to describe the functions of our spirit without admitting that we have one, then perhaps we will make massive leaps into this new season!  Imagination is part of who we are!  It’s time we give it the attention it deserves.  What better tactic of the enemy to keep us from our full potential than to convince us that our imagination is just a fluky daydream toy that will get you in trouble by your boss or teacher if you’re not careful.

Let’s learn to intentionally engage!

IMAGINATION

Where does it come from? Where does it go to?

First of all, I will say up front that some of the material I am about to share came from Chris Carter’s conference “Age to Age.” Chris does a fantastic job of sharing the journey of words and how they came to mean what they mean today. At some point in the future, I will get a video clip from that conference and I will post it. We love Chris and his humble yet entertaining delivery. If you ever get a chance to see him at a conference I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity. Many people, myself included, felt it was one of the best conferences we had ever attended.

Now, on to the meat.
The word “imagination” did not exist in its present form around the time Yeshua walked the Earth. What did exist was the word “inspiration.” This word carried, and still does carry to some extent, the connotation that an outside source, a spirit of some sort, came into a person and gave them ideas or thoughts… “in” “spiritization.” In other words, if a person came up with a new idea or a revolutionary thought it was due to a spirit from the outside coming into a person and “possessing” them with a thought or idea.
However, after Yeshua ascended into the heavens, He sent Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit came into those who invited him, BUT, did not leave. Holy Spirit inspirited people by permission only and stayed.
I hope you can begin to see this shift with me. Before, the idea was that a thought or idea, if or when it came, would come from the outside to the inside of a person and possess them with an idea or thought. Now, after Yeshua ascends and Holy Spirit comes, all of a sudden men and women begin having new ideas and thoughts (imaginations) that come from within them from the Holy Spirit.
Keep this in mind, your body is a temple. You get to choose what spirit you allow inside. Holy Spirit dwells in us permanently if we invite him in. However, we know from experience that we can still allow other spirits in that contaminate our temple. (That is a whole other article about how to get them out and close the door for good!) Holy Spirit will humbly take a back seat if you choose to ruin your life, by voluntarily opening the door to other spirits. God will not violate your free will.
So, now we have the Holy Spirit living within us and if we choose we can open ourselves up to more and more of the leading of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, you might notice that your level of wisdom begins to increase dramatically when you begin to live from the inside out. It is God (Yeshua/Holy Spirit) in you!
When you begin to engage with your sanctified imagination/spirit man you will begin to move and operate in new ways.
Some of you may be painfully aware of your unsanctified imagination and need to go through some exercises with Jesus’ blood to cleanse those unsanctified imaginations and get rid of them. However, when you begin stepping into the awareness of your existence in the Heavens and operating in conjunction with Holy Spirit led imagination, you will begin to see a whole new world and level of the Kingdom.
I guarantee you imagination is NOT a toy. God takes it very seriously.
In Genesis 11 when Nimrod and his people are building the tower of Babel. God comes down. Notice this, before they were finished, He says, “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.” [Gen 11:5 NKJV]. Now some translations will end that verse with the words “sons of men were building.” However, that is not the correct translation of the “Qual perfect” form of the Hebrew word. Qual Perfect is a completed act.
You have to understand, that when you imagine it, you’ve done it! That is why it is so important that we take every thought captive. It does not say every word or action. (“…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, [2Co 10:5 NKJV]). Our imagination is a very powerful tool that once we imagine it, it is done. “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” [Mat 5:28 NKJV] NOW, we know Holy Spirit resides in us. When we begin to engage with Holy Spirit to step into and engage with our existence in the Heavens we are working in conjunction with the Holy Spirit to see or perceive the Heavens. If you feel like you’re making it up, YOU ARE! With the help of Holy Spirit, you are engaging your imagination to interact with Heaven! I know this is a paradigm shift for many of you. But work with it. It is the truth. Ask anyone who is engaging in the Heavens and they will most likely tell you they are engaging their sanctified imagination to do so.
There are certain hurdles that tend to keep us from engaging the imagination because we think it is untrustworthy. One is the fact that we see children using their imagination all the time, and we don’t want to be thought of as childish. But remember what Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” [Mat 18:3 NKJV] Wow! Let’s unpack that. First of all, He starts off with a strong “Listen up… Take this seriously! It is true and faithful!” That is what “Assuredly” means. He says unless you are converted… born again of the Spirit… and become as a little child, you will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Here’s my interpretation. If you are not willing or able to be born of the Spirit so your spirit (sanctified imagination) can come to life, you will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Because it is only in the spirit that you can enter into the heavens! Let this sink in, your imagination and spirit man are one in the same. You can choose which spirits you want to allow in your temple. But if you choose Holy Spirit, then when you engage your spirit with Holy spirit you will see things and go places in the Heavens. If you choose to engage with the demonic, then you will see things and go places that the demonic wants to take you in your imagination/spirit. That is what witches, warlocks, new agers, etc. are doing.
Had Paul had the word imagination to work with when he was writing his letters, I believe they may have read more like this, “I pray that your imagination may be enlightened…” Instead of, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened… [Eph 1:18 NIV] I challenge you. Ask Holy Spirit. Ask Jesus. Ask Father. What is imagination? Why do I have it? What purpose does it serve? Why did you give it to me? What am I suppose to do with it?
If you can shake off religious spirits and preconceived ideas and just for a few moments give God the opportunity to show you something new and fantastic, you may find a tool that He has given you to engage with Him has been there all along.
The enemy, again, has temporarily won a battle over imagination by convincing us that, as Chris Carter said it something like this, imagination is ok for children under 5 and adults over 70, but the rest us need to stay grounded and logical. Therefore, the enemy has effectively taught us to disengage from our spirit and put soul and body above it. Spirit is just an impractical thing that is in the way.

I have been a logical, western thinking, skeptic most of my life. I began to see through the deception that the enemy has fed us, thinking that logic and reason are king, rather than spirit, I made choices to put aside my skepticism (always trying to find reasons why NOT to believe) and began to reason within my spirit to see how things actually might fit together. My life has become so full of God encounters that I will never go back. The experiences I am having are phenomenal! My intimacy with God has grown exponentially in this season! I know Him better than I ever have! My love for Him is greater than it has ever been. If using my imagination and believing and understanding it to be my spirit does only that! I’ll sign up every time!
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” [Mat 7:22-23 NIV] You can have your prophecies, miracles, and casting out of demons! I’ll take my intimacy with Yeshua. I don’t want to chase after those things, I want to chase after Him. When I have Him, those things will follow.
Amen!

As Christians, we glibly quote verses like Ephesians 2:7 about being seated with Christ in heavenly places and Hebrews 4:16 about boldly coming to the “throne of grace” for help in time of need.  We usually don’t stop to think about what this really means.  Is it simply poetic language?  Or is there a powerful truth of what we have access to here and now?

Most of mainstream Christianity teaches you that you cannot enter heaven until you die.  Why?  My guess is because it is what they were taught. For the most part, we (most Christian churches) have only regurgitated what those before us taught. It takes fresh eyes, sometimes, to look at things a bit different.  Scripture seems to indicate a person can indeed go to the heavens before they die.

However, we have often been taught that “You can’t go to Heaven until after you die.”  This basically is telling us that death is the door to Heaven. Death is how we get there.  Until you die you can’t see Heaven.  Yet, in scripture and all throughout history there have been people stepping into and seeing into the Heavenly realms without dying and coming back. With the exception of Enoch and Elijah whose final trip took them there with their body, the rest were evidently going only in spirit.

To name a few Biblical characters who encountered heaven: Job, Jacob, Moses, Elisha, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Stephen, John, and Paul.

I think we would all agree that Heaven is not something we can see with our natural eyes or senses. One way to describe it is that Heaven is in another dimension. Scientifically, we can exist with or next to other dimensions simultaneously. Jesus said in Luke, “… behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” [Luke 17:21 KJV] Wow! Another mind tweaker. Not only is the God and Creator of the Universe living inside you and me, but He’s a huge enormous (unmeasurable) being that exists across every dimension He has created. So, if this is true, why would we be limited to just this one dimension of existence. If we are in Christ, and He is in us, and Jesus is in the Father, then are we not all in the Father with Christ? And, if Jesus is a gate into the Heavens and we have Holy Spirit in us to help us communicate with God, is that not a gate? Are we not a gate into the Kingdom/Heaven as Jesus was/is?

Whoa!  I know some people may be checking out right now. But hold on!  Do you believe in Heaven? If so, Why?  I suggest it is because that is what you have been taught.  What if the teachings of the church have fallen short of teaching the fullness of what God intended?  If you believe in Heaven, then shouldn’t we believe and accept that the God of the Universe that dwells in you has likely given you unique abilities.  I’m convinced that the key to tapping into those abilities is humility and selflessness. The only way up into His Kingdom/Heaven is to go low.  It is the principle of Priest and King.  When you understand how to be a great priest, then and only then, will you be given power and authority to tap into the supernatural power that resides within you.

You see, that power within each of us, Holy Spirit, is the power to do God’s will.  But until we fully submit to His will, we can’t receive its fullness. It is the power to bring us to maturity as sons so that we look like Jesus.  Jesus was a firstfruit. “…Christ the firstfruits…” [1Co 15:23 NKJV] Jesus was not only the firstfruit of resurrection, but He fully expected us to operate in power and authority as He did and MORE! Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [works] than these he will do because I go to My Father. [Jhn 14:12 NKJV]

What did Jesus do?

He Controlled Nature

1. Calming the storm – Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:37-41; Luke 8:22-25
2. Feeding 5,000 – Matthew 14:14-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14
3. Walking on water – Matthew 14:22-32; Mark 6:47-52; John 6:16-21
4. Feeding 4,000 – Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-9
5. Fish with coin – Matthew 17:24-27
6. Fig tree withers – Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25
7. Huge catch of fish – Luke 5:4-11; John 21:1-11
8. Water into wine – John 2:1-11

He Healed People

1. Man with leprosy – Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-44; Luke 5:12-14
2. Roman centurion’s servant – Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10
3. Peter’s mother-in-law – Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:30-31; Luke 4:38-39
4. Two men possessed with devils – Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-15; Luke 8:27-39
5. Man with palsy – Matthew 9:2-7; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26
6. Woman with bleeding – Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48
7. Two blind men – Matthew 9:27-31
8. Dumb, devil-possessed man – Matthew 9:32-33
9. Canaanite woman’s daughter – Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30
10. Boy with devil – Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:17-29; Luke 9:38-43
11. Two blind men – including Bartimaeus – Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43
12. Demon-possessed man in synagogue – Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37
13. Blind man at Bethsaida – Mark 8:22-26
14. Crippled woman – Luke 13:10-17
15. Man with dropsy – Luke 14:1-4
16. Ten men with leprosy – Luke 17:11-19
17. The high priest’s servant – Luke 22:50-51
18. Nobleman’s son at Capernaum – John 4:46-54
19. Sick man at the pool of Bethsaida – John 5:1-15
20. Man born blind – John 9:1-41

He Raised the Dead

1. Jairus’ daughter – Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56
2. Widow’s son at Nain – Luke 7:11-17
3. Lazarus – John 11:1-44

Other Fascinating Miracles

1. In Heaven and Earth at the same time – Jesus said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven.” [Jhn 3:13 KJV]  Jesus told Nicodemus, “I’m in Heaven” even though He was seated in the physical right there with Nicodemus.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Where are you right now as you are reading this? Well, guess what, You are also in heaven at this very moment. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” [Eph 2:6 NIV] This says that He HAS ALREADY seated us in Heavenly places.  It does not say, “He will.”  It is already done.  We have to learn to believe so we can operate there.

2. Angels ascending and descending on/through Jesus. – “He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” [Jhn 1:51 NIV]

Hmmmm? Sound familiar? “He [Jacob] had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. … 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” [Gen 28:12, 17 NIV] Do you see it?  Jesus is the gate to heaven.  We’re taught that death is the gate to Heaven.  It is not.  Jesus is.  Death without Jesus will not get you to Heaven.

3. Transfigured – “After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. [Mar 9:2-4 NIV] Here we see Jesus shifting from His normal body, like you and I have, to something totally supernatural. Here is a question to ponder.  Was this the first and only time Jesus did this?  Or, was it simply the first time He invited His disciples to see Him do it?  Jesus went away to pray a lot.  I suggest this was not the first time at all.  And, that this is one of the things we can expect as we become mature sons.
4. Jesus walks through people – “When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.” [Luke 4:28-30 NLT]
5. With a word, Jesus pushes over a group of soldiers – “Now when He said to them, “I am [He],” they drew back and fell to the ground.” [Jhn 18:6 NKJV]

There are so many more things Jesus did, and yet we are expected to do more. Is going into the Heavens so unexpected? Is it that far of a stretch considering all that Jesus did? No!  It is fully expected, especially since Jesus is already there, now.  We are invited into the Heavens.

Death is NOT the door to Heaven.  Jesus is the door.  He is the only legal way in. This is so cool!  Look at this, Jesus says “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. [Jhn 10:9 NKJV]  It says those who enter through Jesus will “go in and out.”  In and out of what?

Well, what is Jesus the door to?  John 1:51 Jesus says angels will ascend and descend on Him in and out of what?  Heaven!  Jesus is the door to Heaven.  Jesus is the Way!  He said, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. [Jhn 14:6 NKJV]

Jesus came to tear down the wall of separation that kept us out of Heavens.  “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split” [Mat 27:50-51 NIV] This also took place in the Heavens so that we could boldly step into the Heavens.  “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body” [Heb 10:19-20 NIV] “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. … Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” [Heb 4:14, 16 NIV]

WOW! Why has this not been taught?  It is difficult to teach what you do not understand.  For the most part, Christians have not had a grid for this.  It does not fit our normal everyday life.  And up until recently, there has been only a handful in each generation that has by faith stepped in. BUT NOW!  God is revealing this to His people in masses.  It is time for the mature sons to rise up and take their place on Earth and in the Heavens.

My wife and I have been teaching this at our church in the Sacramento, CA region as we receive greater revelation.  It is changing lives!  We have seen an increase of intimacy with Jesus like never before!  If that were all we ever got from it, it would be far more than enough! But we are seeing so much more power and authority beginning to be released.  People are being set free and we are becoming what Jesus called us to be – His Ekklesia…  His government on the Earth.

This has been an extremely abbreviated summary of this topic.  There is so much more you can learn from our online course called “Ultimate Impact.”  You can join it at www.UltimateImpactMovement.com

Blessings to you and yours!

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My wife (Adena) and I started an online course in July of 2017 called “The Ultimate Impact Movement.”  You can find it at www.UltimateImpactMovement.com. We won’t dazzle you with eloquence words or fancy film and studio settings.  This course is simply meant to find those meek and humble ones who want to work together AS ONE in the body of Christ to see His will brought from heaven to earth.  We believe in a wholistic approach to entering into His presence and doing His will to see His Kingdom revealed on Earth through His Ekklesia. Although it is best done with a group/Ekklesia, this is an online discipleship course you can take at your own pace with direct connection to Adena and myself to help you through.  Join us for the adventure of a lifetime!

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