The Door: Imagination

Sharing good news of great joy to all people,

Elation Church. This is week number three in

our series entitled The Door. Everyone say The

Door. We're going to do a little bit of recap,

but I can't preach all two messages here this

morning. Everybody goes, Amen. I'm glad you can.

But we will do a little bit to recap. Ephesians

1 .19, I'm reading out of the New Living Translation,

unless otherwise noted. And it says this, I also

pray that you will understand the incredible

greatness of God's power for us who believe him.

Now, this is right there in the middle of the

Ephesians 1 prayer. And in that prayer, Paul

is just... crying out to God saying, God, enlighten

my understanding. Help me to see all that you

have and all that you are. Because if you're

aware, we need to hear from God. Amen? We need

to hear him. We're supposed to be led by him.

So therefore, we need to hear him. We need to

know him and acknowledge him in all things. Amen?

Amen. So he's saying, enlighten my understanding,

reveal yourself to me, O God. And here he's asking

for understanding for a specific thing, the incredible

greatness of God's power. Incredible greatness

of God's power. And what it's saying here is

that when we invest our belief in God's word,

our understanding of God's power builds within

us. If you invest your money in... systems, right?

You invest it in the stock market, for instance,

because you deem it valuable. You honor it. You

want it to grow within you. Faith is your investment

of your belief in the Word of God and allowing

the greatness and that revelation power to grow

on the inside of you. Because it's the most valuable

thing to you. Amen? So when we invest our belief

in God's Word, we see and we understand With

His revelation, the power that He has, what?

For the believer. It's not just generic. He's

not saying that God's power is just, oh, He's

powerful. But He's saying that His power is for

His people to accomplish His will in the earth.

Amen? It's directed. It has a purpose for you.

Point to yourself, it has a purpose for me. It's

directed towards me for us to accomplish things

and to build his kingdom in the earth. That's

why in the Lord's Prayer, it's his will. Let

your will be done, O God, on earth as it is in

heaven. Amen. That's his will. On earth as it

is in heaven. Let that sink in. Let that saturate

your mind this morning. On earth. as it is in

heaven. That's the will of God. Amen. And then

we turn now to Genesis 28. We're reading a passage

in the Old Testament that reveals a New Testament

reality. And this is the story of Jacob's ladder,

if you're familiar with it. But verse 11 says

this, Jacob found a stone to rest his head against

and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed

of a stairway that reached from the earth up

to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going

up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway

stood the Lord. And then Jacob awoke from his

sleep. If I saw the Lord, I'd awake from my sleep

too, right? I'd be like, whoa. So he awakes from

his sleep and he says, surely the Lord is in

this place. What an awesome place this is. It

is none other than the house of God. Everybody

say house of God. None other than the very gateway

to heaven. Everybody say gateway to heaven. And

as we've seen these words, house of God is Hebrew,

it means house, household, temple, or dwelling

place. And that word gate there is shahar, meaning

opening gate or door. So what it's saying is

there's a door. There's the dwelling place of

God, but then there's a door, there's a gate,

there's an opening between heaven and earth,

between the spiritual and natural realms. There's

an opening. And where is this opening located?

Jacob saw angels. He's moving from this temple

dwelling place through a door to accomplish his

work in the earth. But when we turn now to Revelation,

in Revelation 4, 1 through 2, John says, Then

as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven.

And instantly, I was in the Spirit. And I saw

a throne in heaven and someone, I included this

because he's talking about God here, God sitting

on it. In church, it's important for you to understand

that why is all this written out in so much description?

When he looked, he saw something. You will not

see what you're not looking for. God says to

seek and you will find. Knock and the door will

be opened to you. We have to focus our attention,

as we saw last week, we have to focus our attention

on heavenly things in order to experience heavenly

realities. And instantly, sometimes we want the

instantly things. We pray for the instantly things,

but we're not looking. Instantly, he was where?

In the Spirit. And in the Spirit is where he

sees heaven in all its glory, the throne room

of eternity. Amen? That's good. 1 Corinthians

3 .16 reminds us that do you not know? That means

there's something that you should know. As a

believer in Christ, you should know this, that

you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit

of God dwells in you. Amen. So, and then I want

us to turn now, I included this, Revelation 3

.20, when God is talking to the church of Laodicea,

He says this, Look, I stand at the door and knock.

If you hear my voice, If you hear my still small

voice, and if you open the door, I will come

in. That's a promise. If you hear my voice, if

you open the door, I will come in. And we will

share a meal together as friends. Somebody needs

to get excited about this. This is good. Amen.

God's word is good. We need to get a hold of

this. Amen? It's not just information. It can

no longer just be information to us. It's got

to be more than that. God wants to come in. He

wants to share with you. Amen. He's knocking

at the door. So God is in heaven. He is in you.

What does it say? God is eagerly waiting on you

to open your door to Him. And that's what we've

been talking about. We open our door so that

His power can flow through us. Amen? It can flow

through you today. It's for you to accomplish

His will in the earth. And that's why this series

is called The Door. So we realize the door between

heaven and earth lies within us. And then we

read here in Matthew 16. 13 through 19 is our

main passage. And it says this, tells us a story

about, picking up in verse 13, when Jesus came

into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked

his disciples saying, who do men say that I,

the son of man, am? Who do men say that I am?

So they said, some say John the Baptist, some

say Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, are one of

the prophets. And then Jesus looked at him and

said, he said to them, but who do you say that

I am? Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter

answered and said, you are the Christ, the son

of the living God. Jesus answered and said to

him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh

and blood has not revealed this to you, but my

Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you

that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build

my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail

against it. And as we've seen, Peter's flesh,

even though there's a large portion of the Christian

body that likes to... Think that Peter is the

foundation. His physical bones are the foundation

that the church is built on. He wasn't saying

Peter the person, but he was saying Peter what

happened, what he said. This revelation that

came to him that Jesus is the Christ, the Son

of the living God. The rock is the rock of the...

The prophecy being fulfilled in Jesus that he

is the coming one, the Savior, amen? And then

it's the method of how he received this news,

this grand revelation. It was the method. Where

did it come from? He said, Jesus says, look,

Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this

to you. This did not come from your own head,

your own imagination. Where did it come from?

It didn't come from someone else. It came from

the Father in heaven. And there's things that

the Father in heaven wants to show you. Peter's

door, we see, we could say Peter's door is open

to God's power. And then divine truth flows out

of Peter to accomplish God's purpose in the earth.

This is written so that we understand, but it's

like he's speaking in a crowd and a group of

other people, and all of a sudden, This is a

bold statement that Jesus, you are the Christ,

the Son of the living God. I mean, this is huge.

This had impact. This truth is flowing out to

accomplish God's purpose in the earth. And then

a little bit later, he gives an interesting key,

we could say. He says, I will give you the keys

of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on

earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you

loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again,

we're talking about that through you is a door

that you can open or close to spiritual realities.

This is not just talking about heaven, the abode

of God. This word heaven here in the original

language is talking about the heaven realm. It's

talking about the heavens. And he's saying that

it's you. He's given you the authority to open.

He's given you the authority to keep close, to

bind, to lose spiritual influence in the earth.

God gives us the keys, meaning the method, the

ability, the authority to open and close the

door. But he lets us decide. He's a great gentleman.

You are a moral free agent. You have free will.

That means that he respects your decisions. He

lets you decide what influence. He doesn't just

rush in and force, push his way through. He lets

you decide. Continue reading verse 21. From that

time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that

he must go. Notice that it says he showed them.

Did he pull out a flannel graph? Has anybody

ever seen one of those flannel boards where they

stick the little things? Did he show them some

kind of image? What is he talking about here?

He showed them something. He's telling them words

filled with graphic imagery. He's showing them

something to his disciples that he must go to

Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders

and chief priests and scribes, and be killed

and be raised the third day. He was telling them

something, a future, showing them what the future

would look like. Okay? Then Peter, listen, Peter,

verse 22, Peter took him aside. Why do you think

that happened? He takes him aside. He's probably

because that image that Jesus just showed, listen,

was different. than Peter's image that he had

already built up and preconceived. It contradicted

it. It was not what he thought. It's not the

way he thought life should be. And Jesus' future

would be. Even though Jesus had constantly told

and told and told them this is not the first

time, but they didn't believe it. They were still

struggling, still trying to figure it out. And

they're like, Jesus, what do you mean? Quit,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. grabs Peter, pulls him

to the side, and then rebukes him, scolds him,

saying, far be it from you, Lord. This, what

is that? The word, the spoken word, the prophetic

word that Jesus just delivered, this shall not

happen to you. It's never innocent, as we've

seen, it's never innocent to say that God's word

will not happen. It's demonic. It's from Satan.

And Jesus reveals this in verse 23. He says,

Now, did Peter turn into Satan? No, Peter didn't

turn into Satan. But he opened his door to Satan's

power. And we see that this manipulation and

deception, this... Misunderstanding flows out

because he questions what God says, the vision

of the future. Why did this happen? Well, Jesus

tells us, as we've seen in verse 23, it says,

For you, Peter, are not mindful, everybody say

mindful, mindful of the things of God, but the

things of men. And this Greek word here means

to think, to set one's mind on, to have a mindset

of. So we see in one instance, his mind was on

the things of God, and God was able to accomplish

his purpose, and his power flows through Peter

in that moment. And then in a moment's turnaround,

we see the opposite happening. His mind is focused

on what he thought, his own understanding, and

instantly Satan... flows through the door of

his mind, flows through his mouth, and starts

saying that God's word will not come to pass.

So the door is in us, but it's specifically in

our minds. We have to choose who we open our

door to, who we keep our door closed to, who

we permit or deny access, right? And as we've

seen, because, listen, the truth that we've seen

in this passage is that you are empowered by

what you set your mind on. This is not just a

good saying. This is the truth of God's Word

being revealed. You are empowered by. There's

more going on than just you thinking a thought.

No thought is neutral. You are empowered by what

you set your mind on. And like Peter, what you

are mindful of then determines what influence

the door of your mind is open to. And we've looked

at Romans 12 too. It says this, and do not be

conformed, means in the likeness, in the fashion

of this world. Don't mirror it. Don't conform

to it. But be transformed. by the renewing of

your mind. This word transform is the Greek word

metamorpho. It's where we get our English word

metamorphosis, exactly. And it means to transform

or to change form. Like a caterpillar to a butterfly,

there's natural change involved. And as we saw

in week one, this is the same word at the transfiguration

of Christ. It's used there too. So it goes, transformation

is... Beyond just natural things, it's supernatural

things. It's heavenly realities becoming real

in the heart of man. Coming down to earth. That's

the transformation God is offering. But listen,

does it just happen because you want it to happen?

How does this transformation take place? Who's

with me? Who's tracking? It says, but be transformed.

Because God is all -powerful. And God has a will

that He wants to accomplish in your life. No.

It says, be transformed. How? By the renewing

of your mind. Be transformed by the renewing

of your mind. What does this mean? To escape

the natural consequences of a sin -corrupted

world? And to see God's transforming power change

us? Into something brand new? It's up to us to

renew our minds. It's up to us. We must renew

our minds. We saw last week Romans 8, 6 says,

For to be carnally minded, listen, is death.

But to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

This is the reality to you, to a renewed mind.

If you're spiritually minded, it's a life in

peace. It brings life to your body. It brings

peace. This carnally means carnal flesh or the

earth. It's merely of human origin or empowerment.

But often in my life, I've thought of renewing

your mind as simply just reading Scripture verses.

How many of you have ever thought that before

or think that? It's just like, oh, well, I've

got to renew my mind to the Word of God, so if

I'm in a tight spot or I'm in a circumstance

or just when I feel like it, I'm going to open

up the Bible and I'm going to read passages that

specifically deal with my thing. And I'm just

going to keep my eyes and read and read and reread

and reread and reread. And the problem is you

do that and you don't experience the power of

God. You don't see change in your circumstance.

And that's what we're talking about today is

to see the power of God. real in your life, to

transform, to change the natural. And look, you

can rehearse Scripture all day, you can teach

a bird to repeat words after you, and it will

not change the bird's life. It will not be free

from the cage. Because the words are not the

power. It's just information. It's always been

a vehicle for the power. Now the Word, when we

put our eyes on it, it builds faith within us.

We see it. We understand it. It grows in us.

But we need the Word to transform us into His

image, into His likeness. Change, make our earth

and our present circumstance look like heaven.

So we've been talking about what does it mean

to renew our minds. Because as these verses taught

us, what you set your mind on, listen, determines

your experience in this life. So we can say it

like this too. You can look at your experience

as an indicator for what your mind is set on.

When we finish this verse, listen. Listen to

what it says. So do not be conformed to this

world. Be transformed by the renewing of your

mind. Listen, that you may prove what is that

good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Did you know that the will of God is not just

one? It's like He has a perfect will. You can

live in His perfect will. That's the will that

He projects from Scripture. That's His plans,

His purposes that He shows you. But He knows

that, hey, there's things, you know, we're going

to mess up. We live in a fallen world. Things

are going to happen. And you can live in God's

acceptable will. You can live in His good will.

For instance, a good example of this would be

the Israelites. God's perfect will was for them

to be without a human king. Right? That's what

he told them. That's what his desire was. Oh,

I desire for you not to have a king, for me to

be your king and your leader. And what did they

do? They chose. They said, no, we don't want

that. We don't want that. Give us a human king

like all the other people of the world. I want

it to look like them. I don't want it to be what

you look like. And God honors their decision.

And he gives them Saul. Saul accomplished a lot

of great things when he was operating in God's

will. But was that God's perfect will for his

people? No. Everybody say no. It wasn't his perfect

will. And listen, when you think about it, they

faced a lot of unnecessary problems and circumstances

due to their decision. Not because God wanted

them to go through it. That wasn't His desire.

That wasn't His will. But because they chose,

they lived in a good will instead of the perfect

will. And that road was tough. Kept leading to

more and more tough circumstances. But God was

always there. He always saw them through. And

no matter what decision happened, He was always

directing them, leading them back. And if they

would just set their focus, if they would just

keep their attention on what He showed them,

listen, they could always enter back in. They

could always go back towards him, run towards

him, and God opened his arms, poured out his

blessing on them. Years of peace, plenty, provision.

Soon as they got their eyes off of him, though,

they would step out from his perfect will. They

would just wander around. Now, there was still

some good things that happened, right? Manna

would still come. The quail would be on the ground.

There's all these good blessings from God. But

they could have had so much more. God wants so

much more for you. Your experience in this life

then proves if your mind is on the good, on the

acceptable, in the perfect will of God. This

is the way it works for us. We can limit. our

experience of heaven if we just say, if we limit

God to just perform certain things in our life.

The lady with the issue of blood, for instance,

right? She built with her words the limitations

on how God was going to heal her when his perfect

will for her was for her never to be sick. His

perfect will for each one of us is to not face

the difficulty and the sin and all those things.

That's his perfect will. But she built with her

words. She said, if I touch the hem of his garment,

I will. be healed. She heard that he was the

Messiah, and listen, what happened? She built

that up in her, that faith began to grow, and

as soon as she performed the action, she received

the transforming power of God to restore, to

make her whole. So the question is, and what

all of us need to know then, is how do we renew

our minds? How do we renew our minds? As we learned

last week, one of the key contributors to renewing

our mind is focus. We must focus. Colossians

3, 1 -2 says this, If then you were raised with

Christ, seek, everybody say focus, focus those

things which are above where Christ is, sitting

at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things

above, not on. things of earth. We have to set

our minds. We focus and then we set our minds.

Seeing ourselves above, right? Not the things

of earth, not experiencing the things of earth.

We set our minds on heavenly realities and we

refuse to focus on any thought. As we learned

last week, we must refuse. Just because thoughts

fly around, we don't let them make a nest in

our hair. You know, just birds, we don't let

it make a nest in our hair, we said. Just because

you think a thought doesn't mean that, you know,

you got to meditate on it. You got to stay stuck

with it. Spiral. Let it ruin your whole evening.

Because some thought hits you that you weren't

expecting. We have to focus. Not on the temporal

condition. We have to focus on who God is. We

have to keep our focus on our position in Him

and what we have in Christ. And what you focus

on, what your focus is directed at, helps you

see clearer. It helps you see. So you focus to

get a clear image, right? Like the other day,

I can't remember what day it was. A couple weeks

ago, we were driving back from Myrtle Beach.

My wife and I, we were up there visiting her

dad and grandparents. And, you know, it's late

at night. We're talking about something that

was serious, and we were talking about it way

too seriously. And as we're driving, all of a

sudden, like, I miss, I was on the toll road

of 429. I was supposed to turn on 192. And we're

talking and I'm driving and I'm focused on that.

And I just blow right past the exit. And if you've

ever been on that road, like you got to drive

to the next place to turn around to get back,

you know, and I'm just like, I'm sitting there

and I'm just driving. I passed it even. And I

was like, oh, and we're just talking and I'm

just focused on what we're talking about. And

I just completely didn't see what was happening.

And here I am blazing past and Caitlin goes.

Don't you think that was where we were supposed

to turn? What are we supposed to turn back? Yeah,

yeah. What you focus on is what you're going

to be attentive to. What you focus on is magnified

to you and grabs your attention because you're

seeking it. You're not just looking and something's

hitting you in the face, you know, even though

there was a giant sign telling me to turn off

the road, right? But I wasn't paying attention

to it. I wasn't focusing on it. And that's why

I didn't see it. And that's why it's important.

Listen, we have to focus our imagination. We

have to focus our minds. We have to focus on

what we see because that's a key contributor

to renewing your mind. It's not just focusing,

but we need to know what we are focusing on.

I can't just drive down the highway looking at

every sign. But I've got to know. I've got to

have a vision of me turning off in the right

place. And I'm going to be like, oh, I'm getting

close. So I need to pay attention to the road

signs. Right? I need to pay attention to them.

So, imagination. What am I describing that as?

I believe God's Word reveals that it's a God

-given. creative ability to mentally picture

something. It's God -given. That means that when

he created us, he gave each one of us this ability,

this ability to see with our mind's eye. That's

why everyone can operate in this, in these principles,

because that's how he created us, okay? And there's

four image sources. Everybody say, four image

sources. There's four image sources. In a peer

-reviewed, credited couple of articles that I

read, I combined these thoughts into one sentence

that just communicates their message, and it

says this. The mind converts external signals

from the eyes into visual information, which

forms our perception. Okay? So we see things.

And it comes through our minds, comes through

our eyes, and then we receive it in our minds,

right? That's how we experience the world around

us. That's how we perceive the natural world.

But it can also create similar neural image patterns

without any external input. And it's interesting

that in the article, it was trying to say that,

like, Our perception, our mind views like the

natural world and the things that we create in

our minds, it views it and it experiences it

in the same way. Think about like when you dream

at night, it feels real. It impacts your body.

If you have like a nightmare or something, all

of a sudden you wake up, I'm sweated wet. You

know, I'm like breathing heavy, like I've done

something, right? Our mind is that powerful.

It doesn't know the difference between the physical

world and this created world of your mind. It

experiences it the same way. This says that you

can see images with your eyes, but you can also

create images with your mind. You can create

an image with your mind. It's our ability to

create. This is how God created things. Remember,

he wasn't looking at this perfect created world

and building things together. No, what he was

looking at was formless and void. Where did all

this exist? In the mind of God. And when he acted

upon that vision of what he saw, boom, it came

to be. He saw light, then there was light. You

can see images with your eyes. You can create

images with your mind. One thing that these articles

left out is that there's two more image sources

because the Word teaches us that images can also

be received through the Spirit, by Satan, and

God. Satan and God can reveal images in your

mind to you. So why is imagination important?

Everybody ask why. Why? Why is this so important?

Back to what we've been talking about, because

what you focus on is the direction you move towards.

What you focus on in this life is the direction

your life will move towards. I'm not the first

person to say this. There's many... motivational

speakers that talk about this all the time because,

listen, this is a God -given creative ability

of man that we all have. Each one of us has.

If you focus your direction, focus your mind

on your goals, your achievements, those things,

you can move towards that direction. You see

a child wanting to be, oh, I want to be a veterinarian

one day, right? And from that moment, even a

little child will start. cultivating things about

being a veterinarian. They're seeing themselves.

They'll buy toys directed that way, right? They'll

do little mock shows. They're experiencing something

before it ever happens. They're moving their

life towards a direction from what they envision

their life should be or what they want it to

be from their desire. Because the image you focus

on, you just, you move towards it. Creates momentum

and direction in your life. So it's important

to know and to distinguish where's the image

coming from that we should focus on, right? Where

is it coming from? Because that moves you towards

it. So let's look now at some examples in the

Word that show us different things about what

we see and how we react to them. and how God's

people did. In Numbers, we see that we know from

Scripture, I don't have time to read the whole

thing, but God leads his people out of captivity.

He gives them a vision of, you know, the promised

land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Remember

how many times he's showing them this? Remember

how many times he's giving them a mental image

of where he wants to take them, where his perfect

will was for them? It was a land. It was a place.

It was in their perfect will. It was in God's

perfect will for them. And when they get there,

it took them way too long, but when they finally

get to the edge, everybody look this way, it's

okay. When they finally get to the edge, Of walking

in and stepping in to the promise, to the thing

that God showed them was theirs. Things that

God had already made available to them. They

questioned it. They questioned it. Instead of

just entering in, doing what God said, what'd

they do? They waited back. They built camp right

outside and they said, let's send spies in. Check

it out first. Oh, God help us. We do this in

our own lives all the time, you know. We get

to the border of the transformation, the power

of God, and we just stop and we say, now, what?

Did God really say that? Is that really true?

And so we want to go back in and question it.

And it's funny because that's the thing that

we've been praying for. That's the thing that

we've been believing God for. And then all of

a sudden we get to it and we go, I don't know,

God. It seems a little too good. I don't know.

I don't know if I deserve this. Seems too much.

Or it seems unachievable. All of a sudden it's

like God had led them all the way there, but

then now it's their responsibility to take the

land? Makes no sense, right? But they get to

the border of it. They're waiting out. They send

spies into the land. You know, the spies that

come back. Some of them give a good report, but

I want us to see this. Because this is the report

that they focused on. The land we traveled through

and explored will devour anyone who goes to live

there. All the people we saw were huge. Massive.

We even saw giants there. Isn't that how you

describe big people? They really wanted to emphasize

it. I mean, these people were giants. Descendants

of Anak. Next to them, listen, we felt. Next

to them, we felt like grasshoppers. And that's

what they thought too. So now they knew what

the giants thought. They've made up this whole

thing. I want you to notice here. Notice that

my computer's freaking out. Get away. Notice

the image of defeat. They had already lost before

they ever walked in. Was that what God wanted?

Was that his perfect will? But what they looked

at, they said, we can't have. We will surely

die. No future, no hope, no promise. We will

die. They will devour us. And the feelings that

set in, anxiety. I don't think we should. I don't

know, you know, that uneasiness, that dividedness

within them, fear. Why? Because they're looking

at a picture. They're looking at their natural

surroundings through the eyes of their own understanding.

They see their inadequacy to take the land. And

they believe that image. Over the image, God

said that this is your land. They could have

looked at it and said, those giants are on your

land. God gave it to me so I can take it. And

that's what some of the spies said, right? But

the Israelites focused on their ability, their

effort. It's kind of like when we focus on religion

and our effort to achieve salvation. Same thing.

And what did they do? They created this fantasy.

Created this fantasy. They see us as grasshoppers

and they look at us as grasshoppers. I want you

to notice something. There's a difference between

what is real and the truth. Things can be real.

These were real possibilities, real giants, real

obstacles. And everything that they said was

a real possibility of what could happen. And

I guarantee you, if they would have entered in

and not seen, not looked at what their eyes,

you know, if they would have entered in just

filled with fear, with doubt, with worry, guess

what? Them giants would have taken them out.

You will have exactly what you think. You will

have... What your mind is pictured on. That will

be your reality. It was real possibilities that

they were looking at. It wasn't made up. But

it was void of the truth of God's Word. And that's

the difference between what is real and what

is true. Because there's only one truth. There's

only one way. This reveals that if your focus

is on just the natural, every negative circumstance,

you will only imagine a future following natural

results and progressions. Their mind was not

thinking that God would see them through. Their

mind was thinking that God has taken us this

far and has left us in the desert, and now he

led us out of Egypt. I should have been better

at Egypt. Where they had spices and stuff. My

life would have been better in captivity than

it is in God's promise. And their life was just

going to be what it always, you know, what anyone

else would view it to be. That they wouldn't

have the victory. That they would be defeated.

They would be devoured. And listen, just like

it kept the Israelites out of the promised land.

this type of thinking, focusing on the natural,

seeing the natural as your reality, it will keep

you out of God's perfect will. It'll keep you

from the place of promise He has for you. God's

not holding out on you. It's not up to God. You

have to choose. Am I going to believe the image

and the promise of God and I'm going to move

on that, move in that direction? Or am I going

to believe my own imagination, my own what's

made up in my head of my earthly experience and

the world around me and I'm going to let that

lead me and determine my decisions? Because listen,

you are either moving in God's will or away from

God's will. There's no neutral ground. Now, another

source, like I said, was Satan. Satan can give

us images in our minds, and he uses truth. Now,

this is a lot different than like our natural

just imaginations of how we think the world is

going to work. He likes to be a little bit more

suspicious and sneaky. Because if you don't know

the truth, you can't spot the lie. So he likes

to use and manipulate good things, good moral

things that sound good, that feel right. I think

this, you know, and God, he likes to use godly

things. It's like he protects good, right, beneficial.

Oh, well, it's beneficial for my life, for my

family, for my future, spiritual even. Oh, this

seems right. I got a verse or something, you

know, and I'm moving in that direction. Oh, this

looks good. It feels good. It matches my desires

of how I see what God has for me. He's the father

of lies. He's the God of this world. He's constantly

wanting to steal the truth. What is the truth?

The truth is the image of a future probability

that's based on God's perfect will. So if he

can steal that from you, if he can say that that

image is not for you, if he can say that, oh,

he actually means it like this, he can steal

the future from you. He manipulates the truth.

Think about this. who was later named Paul, we've

been looking at this in our life group, he truly

thought, he was zealous even, spent his life

following God's plans. He's like, I got this

figured out. I know what I'm supposed to do.

This seems right. Where did that come from? And

this goes to show you that no... No matter how

godly you think you're going in, the direction

of it, no matter how much you feel, it's the

right thing. If it's not God -given, it's not

of Him. Saul, on the road to Damascus, he received

this great revelation, and God goes, Saul, why

are you persecuting me? Can you imagine what

that was like when a person who had devoted his

life to the things of God, to the works of God,

to his religious system that he was born into,

and he's like, I am so zealous, I'm the best

at this thing. The Pharisee of Pharisees, right?

He was the best, the most devoted, the most devout,

accomplishing God's will, God's work in the earth.

And God says, Why are you persecuting me? God

is on earth. God's moving, doing all these things,

and he's constantly against Jesus and those connected

to Jesus, tracking people down, hunting them

down, carrying the coats as they stoned Stephen.

All in the name of God. It shows us that even

things perceived to be good, godly endeavors,

plans, goals, etc., if they are born from our

own understanding, they are outside of God's

perfect will. Now, the world looks at this in

a little bit different ways because it says that,

okay, well, I want to be... I want to be in a

better health condition. I want a better situation.

So they set their minds and they realize this

because that's a God -given ability that everyone

shares, right? It's like people realize this.

I can do my vision. for the year, for the five

years, for the ten years, and I have these plans,

and this is good for my future, for my family,

for my everything. And they can be good things.

They can move you towards really good things

and good outcomes. Listen, because that's the

way God designed it. But there's only one perfect

will of God. And unless you're seeking Him, and

allowing Him to determine your future and your

direction, listen, you'll experience less than

what He wants for you. You might experience some

good things. Why? Maybe because you're in Christ

and there's things promised to you that are good.

His blessing, favor, all these things. You can

experience those things. And you might just think,

I'm good. But you can be so wrong, and God has

so much better. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, just, man,

I always, I just always come back to this. Trust

in the Lord with all your heart. Often this word

heart means your mind. It's your sphere of existence.

It's talking about your beliefs, your mind, your

will, your soul in that sense. It says do not

depend on your own understanding. Do not live

by your own understanding. Get this, seek His

will. Just in spiritual things? Seek his will.

Just for the spiritual direction of your life?

Seek his will just on Sunday morning. Seek his

will in all you do, in everything. Seek His will.

And He will what? Show you. And my friends, you

have to seek in order to see. Don't move unless

you see. Don't step ahead in your own understanding.

Come on. We must seek His will. Be Spirit -led

people in everything, in every arena. We have

to, must to, seek His will. It can't just be

what we think His will is. It has to be His will.

Because He shows you which path to take. He shows

it to you. He reveals it to you. The things,

like we saw last week, the Holy Spirit takes

the things of God and declares them to you. He

makes them known to you, right? Because listen,

you do not want your life to mirror the image

your mind creates. You don't want that. My mind

changes. From day to day, I'll move and I'll

waver and I get tossed and turned. My mind creates

all these negative possibilities and things that

could happen. Should they be? Should they not

be? Listen, you don't want your life to mirror

the image your mind creates. Your focus and our

focus. Today and from this day forward, listen,

must be a God -given revealed image. That's the

only way we're going to walk in the God -given

divine plan and experience the divine transformation.

It's available. 1 Corinthians 2 .9 It says, no

eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has

imagined what God has prepared for those who

love Him. The plans He has for you are so much

greater than the plans you have for yourself.

He wants so much more for you. It's more than

your mind can imagine, and I can imagine a lot.

It's more than I've ever heard. Of someone else's

experience. It's more than I've ever seen. The

plans. The places. For those who love him. He's

got it all figured out. He's got it figured out.

But we have to be spirit led. People of God.

And I'm almost done. God's word. Listen. is not

only for you to hear and read, it is for you

to see and act on. We must see His Word. That's

why there's so much imagery in the Word of God.

See yourself in Him. See yourself seated with

Him in heavenly places. See your life. You have

to see it. Not from the circumstance or the situation.

You have to see it as God's words already completed.

God's work is already finished. You have to see

it. Think about Joseph. God's the revealer of

visions and dreams, right? He gave him a direction

from an early age saying, you're going to be

a king. The hay bales bowing down, the whole

universe bowing down to him at a young age. David,

it's like, you're going to be the king. A future,

plan, purpose. And they had to stay focused on

that. But I tell you what, as soon as that happened,

the enemy was trying to rob him of that. Everything

that could happen, the people they were involved

around, all those things. Satan was using all

those things to keep both of them from being

in the promise to getting to the future that

God had for them. But the gates of hell cannot

stand against. Those who hear the word of God

renew their minds and open their door for God's

power to transform their natural temporal world.

If you see it, you got to see it. You got to

see who God is through who he has been. That's

when we read our Bibles, we're seeing who he

has been. So we can rely on His faithfulness.

We see who He is and who He will be at the end.

It's an image to see yourself in Him, seated

with Him, and your life, listen, your life aligned

with His perfect will. Hebrews 11, 1, Now faith

is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence

of things not seen. Hope, as you know, if you've

been in a Lation church for a while, for any

amount of time, you know that we talk about hope

a lot as being a confident expectation. What

is that? It's seeing the future with certainty

that God's will has already been accomplished.

And that's what brings faith, because we hear

it, we believe it, and then we act on the truth,

not on the circumstance. Not on the reality that

we face. We act on the truth of what we know.

Not on what we see. Not on what we feel. Not

on what our minds have imagined. We act on what

we know. The truth of God's word is higher. Means

more. Carries more weight. I'm going to invest

my belief in that. That's what I'm going to take

to the bank. That's what can't be taken away

from me is the vision that God has for me, despite

of my situation, despite of the hardship. God

didn't promise you not to go through hardship.

He promised that he gives you a vision of hope

and future that no one can steal. Unless you

open the door of your mind to Satan, unless you

get your mind on the circumstance, on the symptom,

on the lack. Come on. As soon as you get a sniffle,

if you turn to WebMD, they're going to have you

in the hospital somewhere. You're going to be

planning out my insurance policy. And what are

my kids going to do? Why? Because it's Satan

using an image to get you to see a future. It

might be real. It might have potential. But listen,

it's not the truth of God's Word. His promises

and plans are not just for you to know, but for

you to mentally image yourself, your life, and

your world according to them. And this is the

key component to renewing your mind. This is

what opens the door to divine transformation,

for God's power to flow through and to change

your natural and temporal circumstance. You've

got to believe more strongly in what the Word

says. than what the temporal circumstances say.

And that's when faith, listen, faith then is

the bridge for the power of God to flow through

the door of your mind and produce the transformation.

Faith does not bring the power. Your mind being

renewed opens the door for God's power that you

know, that you're certain of, flows through.

So that means for us today, and I'm done, we

have to refuse to accept any image of yourself,

of your family, any future thing. We have to

refuse anything that contradicts who God is,

who you are in Christ, and what you have in Christ.

Got to refuse it. We don't allow our imagination

to run wild based on fantasies. Real probabilities

with no truth. You've got to direct your imagination

to see your future based on God's promises. Renewing

your mind daily, as we've said, is taking control

of your focus. It's directing our imaginations.

And next week, we're talking about aligning our

words to God's reality. The mind is the door.

Everybody say the door. Spiritual powers. And

the image you focus on determines which power

influences your life, the lives of those around

you, and your sphere of influence in the earth.

It's your choice. This online worship experience

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of Elation Church.