IS YOUR IMAGINATION WORKING AT ALL?

Yesterday I shared, "Is Your Imagination Working Overtime?" Well, today I want to talk about the positive place the righteous imagination should have in the Christian's life.

Many Christians realize while some of the things we hear and see through the cults may well be real, the power source is Satan rather than God. Since it is rather scary for most of us to think too long about Satan, many in the Christian world have simply decided to throw out all supernatural, assuming it is all satanic. When we do that, Christianity itself becomes more a pared down, mechanical routine than an exciting, beyond-our-understanding kind of experience. Today, it seems if we can't explain it, we negate it.

In the yesterday's devotional, I quoted the verse, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." Oswald Chambers presents a different view of this verse for me: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose imagination is stayed on Thee" (Isaiah 26:3, R.V. margin). In his devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, Chambers asks: "Is your imagination stayed on God or is it starved? The starvation of the imagination is one of the most fruitful sources of exhaustion and sapping in a worker's life. If you have never used your imagination to put yourself before God, begin to do it now...Imagination is the greatest gift God has given us and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him."1

Let me give you some examples of how we can utilize our imagination in getting to know God better. "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine" (John 10:14). "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them" (Psalm 34:7). What do these verses mean to you? What pictures do they bring to your mind? For me, I see Jesus always with me. I don't think of Him just dwelling in my heart, but He is with me. He walks beside me. He takes my hand and leads me. He listens as I speak. He sits in the front row and encourages me as I speak. His eyes sadden when I fail Him and brighten when I please Him just as a father's should. Is the Word alive to you? Is Jesus alive to you? Ask God to allow your righteous imagination to become active in a way that will give you some excitement in your Christian walk. Keep your imagination stayed on Him and let His Word come alive in your life. In your prayer time today, ask God to allow your imagination to become righteously active. What picture do you get from the verses I included above?2 Dedicate your imagination for God to use positively rather than Satan to use negatively.

Marilyn Willett Heavilin

Marilyn is a wife and mother, author, and international conference and retreat speaker. She and her husband Glen serve as Counselors-in-Residence at America's KESWICK during the summer months.

DIGGING DEEPER
Psalm 128:3-4
3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.

1 Chambers, Oswald, My Utmost for His Highest
2 Portions of this article were taken from I'm Listening, Lord, by Marilyn Willett Heavilin, pages 27-32.