Seeing in the Spirit and the Imagination
When we speak about our imagination, many of us think back to our childhood and the imaginary friends we had, the stories we made up, or the games we played to amuse ourselves. Children find it easy to engage the imaginary realm. As adults, we learn that society sees the imaginary realm as one of foolishness and make-believe. We’re told that the only adults who engage the imaginary realm are hopeless daydreamers and the mentally ill. The phrase, “It’s just your imagination,” is used to dismiss the inspired ideas that come from this part of the soul.
In Genesis 8:21 the Lord said, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” In this verse, the Lord identifies the location of the imagination. It resides in the “heart” of man. The Hebrew word leb, translated “heart” does not refer to the physical heart, but the inner man, or what we commonly call the soul. Some people take this comment from God to mean that the human imagination in incapable of anything but evil. They believe we must resist any influence that comes from our imagination. But there is another way in which this verse can be interpreted.
The imagination can create things of beauty as well as things that are hideous. It is capable of creating both the sublime and the profane—that which is good and that which is evil. Because we have free will, we are capable of choosing what we create in our imagination. The passage in question simply states that prior to the flood, people chose to exercise their free will for evil purposes. They preferred to entertain evil in their imagination rather than good. Free will allows us to choose either one.
Man is made in the image of God, who describes Himself as a Creator. We are most like God the Creator when we’re engaged in the act of creation ourselves. Because we are created in the image of God, we’ve been given similar creative abilities that serve His divine purposes. The imagination is the creative center of the soul. It’s the place where original creative ideas are formed, and where creative inspiration is received from outside sources, such as angels and the Holy Spirit. God created our imagination as a way to communicate His detailed plans and purposes for us. His will can be revealed through the visions and dreams we receive in our imagination.
When the Lord gave Noah instructions for building an ark, it seems likely that He may have revealed the dimensions of the ark, the materials to be used, and the process of constructing it through Noah’s imagination. When He gave Moses details about the construction of the tabernacle, He wanted it to be a replica of things in heaven. Since Moses had limited information to work with, it seems likely that God imparted the information he needed through his imagination. And when the artisans and craftsmen were asked to create ornamental items for the tabernacle, the details were probably given to them through their imaginations.
One problem that must be addressed is the fact that revelations from both heavenly and demonic beings are received the same way—through the imagination. In addition to the beautiful scenes we’re shown from heaven, the imagination stores the grotesque, the perverted, and the frightening images we’ve been exposed to over our lives. It is constantly being bombarded by the kingdom of darkness with unpleasant images intended to harass, intimidate, and enslave us. God wants to reveal things to us through our imagination, and the enemy wants to prevent us from receiving them. The goal of the enemy is to so pollute the flow of revelation we receive through our imagination that we’ll decide we don’t want to see anything at all. Because the imagination is part of the soul, and the soul is controlled by our will, we can willingly choose to do whatever we want with our imagination. Because much of the imagery in this part of the mind is painful, in order to avoid the pain associated with these images, some people have exercised their free will and chosen to completely shut down the flow of revelation that comes through their imagination. In an attempt to safeguard their soul from the enemy’s attacks, they have unknowingly blocked their ability to receive revelation from God. If these individuals were to exercise their free will and make the conscious choice to receive revelation again through their imagination, their “spiritual eyes” would again be opened and they would be able to see in the spirit. The solution is not to avoid receiving all of the imagery that comes through our imagination but to learn how to filter it by sanctifying our imagination for God’s purposes.
This is an excerpt from my book Seeing in the Spirit Made Simple.
The first mention of being filled with the Holy Spirit was for the artisans that were anointed for the creative worship, utensils and construction of the tabernacle. Enjoyed this blog very much.
thanks for that revelation…i don’t think i’m alone in the whole “shutting down the imagination” idea…but if i am, again i say “thanks”…now i realize through your words, it’s time to allow all of my imagination to start dreaming again (like i used to)…
very informative PM…
i really can’t thank you enough for sharing this post, it’s opened my eyes again…
blessings 🙂
I have both of your books, and am doing a deep-read of this one, “Seeing in the Spirit”. Thank you for your obedience to Father and spreading the Word.
My pleasure sir!
Hi Mr. Medic.
I enjoyed your article, and it was amazingly relevant to what I’ve been going through. I had decided to ignore most inklings in my imagination as not being from God, but this has encouraged me to stay open to that possibility, I think..
I feel like I need just a weeeee bit more, though. I feel like at the very end you wanted to say more, but you ended it with “so ya’ll better sanctify your imaginations.” Which.. Maybe there’s something to that. But yeesh, the rest of your post got me interested, but it was like.. Well, I feel like I’m teetering on a cliff of revelation, hoping for some ground to materialize.
How can we sanctify our imagination? (Obviously put good things in it, for one. But is our imagination not already sanctified in Christ?)
How might we discern God’s imagination things from any other? 🙂
-Skyler
Update: never mind.. I saw it was an excerpt from your book.
I totally agree, seeing in the spirit sometimes is like a daydream. I once saw a incident play out in my mind concerning someone and as I proceeded to take action by what I saw happening in my “daydream” it stopped the plans of the enemy and brought freedom, revelation, peace, and a physical miraculous healing.
I’m in the process of reading your Seer book and I’m so grateful that you wrote it! I’m an Occupational Therapist in a large hospital and am inspired to use God’s gifts at work as you have very practically taught. Your book is very easy to read yet I’m getting revelation after revelation! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences!!!
For the last year after praying to see while laying in bed at night I see what looks like another realm, my ceiling and room is lit up with what looks like stars they swirl and shoot across my bedroom. I see white lights and what looks like smoke. Can you give me insight on what this it. I also see it when my eyes are closed and upon wakening from dream I see it in my sleep but the the stars or lights don’t swirl they look like they are moving in slow motion. Will you please pray for an impartation for my eyes to open? May God Bless!