Sunday, August 19, 2018

Imagination


Imagination is a gift from God, but how many of us have been scolded for using it? You know… we’ve been told to live in the real world and not to let our imaginations run away with us. Have you ever wondered what the real world really is? I know I’ve always found myself thinking, “there has to be more than this.” There is.

I love things that spur my imagination. Wendy Alec wrote the Chronicles of Brothers Series of books. The way she described heaven and the way she described Jesus expanded my vision. I believe C.S. Lewis had a huge gift of imagination and shared it with his readers. His writings have been very key in my life. I’m reading Perelandra right now. It’s the second in The Space Trilogy that he wrote. He describes encountering what he called a floating island on a different planet:

“The thing had looked, in that first glance, so like a real country that he had forgotten it was floating – an island if you like, with hills and valleys, but hills and valleys which changed places every minute so that only a cinematograph could make a contour map of it. And that is the nature of the floating islands of Perelandra. A photograph, omitting the colours and the perpetual variation of shape, would make them look deceptively like landscapes in our own world, but the reality is very different; for they are dry and fruitful like land but their only shape is the inconstant shape of the water beneath them.”

            He goes on to describe learning to walk on them…

“It was much harder than getting your sea-legs on a ship, for whatever the sea is doing the deck of the ship remains a plane. But this was like learning to walk on water itself… And then, too, it was so strange, after rolling head over heels down into some little dell, to open his eyes and find himself seated on the central mountain peak of the whole island looking down like Robinson Crusoe on field and forest to the shores in every direction, that a man could hardly help sitting there a few minutes longer – and then being detained again because, even as he made to rise, mountain and valley alike had been obliterated and the whole island had become a level plain.”

Wow! Can you close your eyes and imagine that experience?

Dimensionally different. I wrote a little about that back in 2012 when I was really beginning to see things in a new way. My friend, Daryl Boucher, calls it “higher thoughts and higher ways,” or limitless.  I love when I get to sit and visit with him and talk about things that seem far out there to some people. We hear phrases like kingdom, new covenant, heaven on earth, but are we really open to what that is?  

“This is why the scriptures say: Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine – these are the many things God has in store for all his lovers.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 TPT.

The season I’m in is continually asking Holy Spirit in every subject matter, “is this the lower way, and if so, what’s the higher way.” There are things that aren’t “wrong,” yet there is so much more! You see, we’re seated with Christ in heavenly places according to Ephesians 2:6. Outside of time. Outside of this earth system. With all supply. With the mind of Christ. That’s what we’re bringing to earth. We’re aliens.

It’s time to work that imagination. Ask to see the unseen. Be who the universe is waiting for you to be.

The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin. But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children.” Romans 8:20, 21 TPT.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Taste and See

"O taste and see that the Lord is good..." Psalm 34:8
If you've been around church very much, you've probably heard this scripture. It's always been one of those that I've heard so many times that I didn't think about it much. About a year ago it really got my attention. How do you "taste" God? Let's think about our senses. The long distance sense, if you will, is sight. As you move a little closer you can hear and smell. You've got to be pretty close to touch. And then there is taste. It's the most intimate of our senses. In fact, it's probably the most guarded of them all. For the most part, you are in complete control of what you choose to taste, and you usually choose what is pleasant to your palette.
So God is suggesting that we bring Him up close and personal and choose to ingest Him. Romans 10:8 says, "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart...” Psalm 119:11 says, "Your word I have hidden in my heart..." John 1:1 says "...and the Word was God." We are meant to be changed from the inside out by inviting Jesus into our heart just like we were told when we were kids.  We must choose to taste before we can truly see that He is good. We "become" and it's who we are, not what we do. Our identity changes.
Kris Vallotton says, "If it's not good yet, it's not the end." If you feel like your vision is lacking, or you're not seeing enough good, you may need to adjust your palette.