What you desire to see without, you must see within!
Did you know that the Bible calls your imagination the eyes of your heart?
I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! –Ephesians 1:18-19, TPT
The word translated here as imagination is also translated as “innermost” or “heart.” Imagination ALIGNS the eyes of your heart with your natural eyes, so that faith becomes sight! Both Abraham and Sarah, at one point, expressed doubt and unbelief in God’s promises. Yet, they were both praised for their faith in Hebrews chapter 11. What happened in between? Yes, God breathed His breath into them, changing their names, but He also had Abraham behold the sand (Genesis 13:16) and the stars (Genesis 15:5), so that his spiritual eyes could begin to see what his natural eyes were beholding. Abraham is not the only Biblical character who saw stars. In Genesis 37, we see that Joseph also dreamed about the sun, moon and stars bowing down to him. He knew this represented members of his family, and, after many years and many trials, that is exactly what happened. What your spiritual eyes see will be! Yeshua demonstrated this truth by doing the miraculous things He saw the Father doing.
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” –John 5:19, NKJV
Yeshua was not speaking figuratively when He said He saw the Father. He saw with the eyes of His heart. And He did this, not out of His divinity, but out of His humanity. Jesus was the firstfruit of a fully mature son, demonstrating to us what is possible and available to us! His sacrificial death on the cross made it available, and His earthly life demonstrated what it looked like.
In 1979, Ellen J. Langer, psychologist and author of Counterclockwise, did a very unorthodox experiment proving the power of the imagination. She and four of her graduate students put an advertisement in the local newspaper for what they described as a “study on reminiscing.” They selected 16 participants, all in their late seventies or early eighties, and divided them into two groups of eight — an experimental group and a control group. Prior to the experiment, they consulted leading geriatricians to find measurable biological markers of aging, so they could gauge their results. Amazingly, they were told that there were (and still are) none! So, for the sake of the experiment, they tested weight, dexterity, flexibility, eyesight and memory. They took photographs to later evaluate appearance of change. And they administered a psychological self-evaluation. They found an old monastery in Peterborough, New Hampshire that seemed “timeless” enough for them to replicate the world of 1959. They carefully studied what life in 1959 was like, creating that setting down to the most minute detail.
The experimental group was told to live as if it were 1959, with every conversation being in “1959-present tense.” They were told not to bring any current magazines, newspapers, books or family photos, but they did bring photos of their younger selves, which were shared with other participants. They were asked to write a brief autobiography as though it were 1959 and were told that they were not to “act as if it is 1959,” but just to let themselves be who they were in 1959.
The control group went to the exact same location one week later and were told to discuss things that took place in 1959. But their bios were to be written in past tense, their photos were of their current selves, and they were told to reminisce about 1959, rather than allowing themselves to “be” there.
Interestingly, by the second day, all members of both groups were actively involved in serving meals and cleaning up afterwards, despite having been extremely dependent upon caregivers before the retreat. After the week, both groups were retested and showed improvements in hearing, memory, height, weight, gait, posture, joint flexibility and manual dexterity, but the experimental group showed greater improvement. On intelligence tests, 63 percent of the experimental group improved their scores, compared to 44 percent of the control group. Finally, volunteers who were unaware of the experiment’s purpose were asked to compare photos taken before and after the study, and these objective observers judged that all of the experimental participants looked noticeably younger at the end of the study. Langer goes on to say this:
This study shaped not only my view of aging but also my view of limits in a more general way for the next few decades. Over time I have come to believe less and less that biology is destiny. It is not primarily our physical selves that limit us but rather our mindset about our physical limits… If a group of elderly adults could produce such dramatic changes in their lives, so too can the rest of us. To begin, we must ask if any of the limits we perceive as real do exist.
In previous posts, you’ve learned that your thoughts create and your emotions create, and that they must be in agreement in order to be an unobstructed channel through which your miracle can flow. Imagination is the thread that weaves them together and sets them ablaze with passion! In 2014, scientists filmed for the first time ever, a brilliant flash of light that sparks at the very moment a human sperm cell makes contact with an egg. This spark can be likened to the fire of imagination touching and fully uniting the thought and feeling realms. It brings forth manifestation!
Imagination bridges the gap between what you know to be true
and what you are actually experiencing!
I hope you have been blessed by this excerpt from my book, Miracles Are Normal: Co-Creating Through Oneness With God. Click here to purchase paperback or digital copies from my website: Miracles Are Normal. And click here to purchase from Amazon: Miracles Are Normal on Amazon
May 2021 be YOUR year of miracles manifested and promises fulfilled, as we enter the decade of His rest…
Until next year 🙂
Virginia