The Proceeding word by Anthony Higginson February 2010
Do you have a good Imagination or a strong Belief? Maybe you, like me, enjoyed a good childhood, remembering key moments such as birthdays and Christmas? Christmas as a child for me, was always a time filled with anticipation and imagination, not to mention excitement, in the hope that the guy in the red suit would deliver all that I had hoped and imagined he would bring. Fortunately for me, most of the time Santa never failed to deliver. Whenever I think of Christmas,somehow the magic never appears like it did back in those early days. Disney have taken pity on guys like me realising this effect and because of this, they invest millions of dollars in the hope that by creating films on certain subjects, one will be able to rediscover the magic and imagination of childhood. The movie “Polar Express” starring Tom Hanks, was truly a magical film for me, as it is the only Christmas movie that actually made me feel like a child again. After watching it I really felt like I had rediscovered the imagination and belief I once carried as a child growing up. Now that I have grown up, I realise that life no longer works on childish imaginations but works on principles, choices and decisions made in everyday life. I also realised that guys in red suits don’t deliver presents down chimneys, but instead they are purchased from shops with credit cards instead of real money. The word ‘imagine' means to: 1 verb Conjure up, create, devise, dream up (informal), envisage, fantasize, form a mental picture of, frame, invent, picture, plan, project, scheme, see in the mind's eye, think of, think up, visualize.
So much of modern day church is spent exciting people to the point of people treating God like Santa Clause, imagining him delivering their every wish, hope and dream. Pastors and preachers alike, it has to be said, are the biggest proponents of this philosophy, as many preach this in the hope of drawing and harnessing large crowds of people. Look at the above descriptions of the word imagine and you can see words such as, devise, envisage, dream up, project and scheme, all of which is not the bible kind of faith and belief taught by the apostles or Jesus himself. Preachers are constantly advertising their churches as the place to live the dream, with the number one problem being we are not called to live just any dream, but reveal to people exactly what the dream of the king entails, as revealed to Daniel in the book of Daniel 2:19-23. Imagine by John Lennon Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one. Imagine no possessions. I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger. A brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one.
Wake up John Now, I don’t know about you, but I cannot imagine living a life like John describes. A place with no countries, no heaven and no hell. Most people actually live their lives like John describes, in that they simply live for today, as many cannot see their own future, as it is lost in today’s confusion. John says, ‘you may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one' which tells us that there are many more like him, all of which are people who spend their days sitting, dreaming and imagining their lives to be something different. What John doesn’t realise and has described so elegantly for us, is all that he describes is found in the kingdom of God. The bible teaches us that in paradise there is no hell, grief, tears or sorrow. There is no need of worldly possessions, no greed or hunger, no murder or religion, not to mention no countries, which means no cultural prejudice or racism, but instead just beautiful harmony. And why does all this exist? Because there are people alive with eternal hope in their hearts living with a belief system of God and his word. For John Lennon to enter this world he had to imagine it, but for us Christians, we inherited it the moment we believed and were saved. Heaven is not a place we have to die to inherit, heaven is meant to be brought to earth so that God and his kingdom can manifest. Mt 9:18-22 While Jesus was saying this, a ruler came. He got down on his knees in front of Jesus. He said, “My daughter has just died. But come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again.” Jesus got up and went with him. So did his disciples. Just then a woman came up behind Jesus. She had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. She touched the edge of his clothes. She thought, “I only need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Dear woman, don’t give up hope,” he said. “Your faith has healed you.” The woman was healed at that very moment Here is a woman whose life was very different from most people, in that she had suffered an illness for twelve years. No amount of imagination, visualisation or mental projection was going
to cure her without her moving and operating in faith and belief in God. This lady shows us that without belief in God and the word of God, no amount of positive thinking or imagining is ever going to set a person free. Eph 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us ,
God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine simply because he is not limited to our way of thinking, for his thoughts are not our thoughts, nor is his ways like our ways. God doesn’t do things because he imagines them, he does things based on his divine and eternal purpose which he willed before time. God never asks us to imagine him doing things, he clearly teaches us to believe in his word, trusting him explicitly - Psalm 23. Isa 48:3-5 “Long ago I told you ahead of time what would happen. I announced it and made it known. Then all of a sudden I acted. And those things took place. I knew how stubborn you were. Your neck was as unbending as iron. Your forehead was as hard as bronze. So I told you those things long ago. Before they happened I announced them to you. I did it so you would not be able to say, ‘My statues of gods did them. My wooden and metal gods made them happen. You have heard me tell you those things. Think about all of them The reason why God speaks is so you can begin to believe him and from belief you are then able to imagine his thoughts coming to a point of reality in your life. (Watch the process here)
1. What you believe you can begin to imagine God doing, for this is called activating faith 2. What you believe and imagine you begin to see with clarity, for now faith is getting stronger 3. What you begin to believe, you begin talking about 4. What you begin talking about you begin to plan towards, for now faith has an outward action 5. What you plan towards, momentum, movement and expectation is then created 6. When you create momentum, movement and expectation, you begin creating fresh hope in people’s minds and hearts. (now it has moved from you to we) 7. When you create hope you create destiny in the hearts of people 8. When you create destiny in the hearts of people, people are moved towards fulfilling purpose. 9. When people are moved towards fulfilling purpose, legacy is transferred
Isaiah 48:6-11
From now on I will tell you about new things that will happen. I have not made them known to you before. Those things are taking place right now. They did not happen long ago. You have not heard of them before today. So you can’t say, ‘Oh, yes. I already knew about them.’ You have not heard or understood what I said. Your ears have been plugged up for a long time. I knew very well that you would turn against me. From the day you were born, you have refused to obey me. For the honour of my own name I put off showing my anger. I hold it back from you so people will continue to praise me. I do not want to destroy you. I have put you to the test in the furnace of suffering. I have tried to make you pure. But I did not use as much heat as it takes to make silver pure. I tried to purify you for my own honour. I did it for the honour of my name. How can I let myself be dishonoured? I will not give up my glory to any other god.
When you have imagination without belief it’s called a vain imagination.