JUST MY IMAGINATION

 Greetings O Ye Thinkers and Dreamers...what's on your MIND?

That little thing house within your cranium...sitting atop your body...is an amazing and mysterious thing.  Since the beginning of time...people have pondered, studied, pontificated, worshipped, and proclaimed man's...wo-man's...the hu-man's POTENTIAL.   The first picture we see is of Napoleon Hill who wrote about the human potential in his classic THINK AND GROW RICH. His most famous quote from the book is..."Whatever the MIND of man can CONCEIVE and BELIEVE...it can ACHIEVE." 

Of course many Christians point their finger and poo-poo at this...but I think it is a true observation.  There is nothing new under the sun...including the human potential.  I like reading about the positive things from those positive thinkers...because I think they have tapped into Biblical principles.  The only problem...well maybe not the only problem...but one of the problems with the "positive thinkers" many times give a nod to God...or some sort of cosmic entity, but they miss the Lordship of Jesus.  But as the saying goes..."don't throw the baby out with the bath water.  The truth is the truth...even if it is uttered by someone who is wrong.

After the fall...as a result of A&E's disobedience in the garden (Genesis 3:1-24)  NOTE:  This is the first mention of a car in the Bible...where God DROVE them out of the garden (Genesis 3:24)  Sorry.

In Genesis 11 we see that the whole earth was "ONE LIP" or "used the same LANGUAGE and the same WORDS." (Genesis 11:1)  These dwellers and settlers in the land of Shinar...spoke in this "ONE LIP" to one another...and said..."Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly."  They used these burnt bricks for stone and used tar for mortar. (Genesis 11:1) 

NOTE:  Stone was the natural...burnt bricks was the unnatural choice for building material.  They then spoke to each other in this LIP LANGUAGE and said, "Come, let US build for OURSELVES a city and a tower whose top will reach into the heaven, and let US make for OURSELVES A NAME; lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4) 

NOTE:  So far...there is no mention of God...only US and THEMSELVES.  The wanted a NAME for THEMSELVES.  There reasoning seems logical..."lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth."  This was what they FEAR.  The tower was not one for worship of their creator...but for SELF-PRESERVATION.

The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the "sons of men" had built.  The Lord's perspective on what He saw was..."Behold, they are ONE PEOPLE...and they all have THE SAME LANGUAGE.  And this is what they began to do, and now...NOTHING WHICH THEY PURPOSE (IMAGINE) TO DO WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM." (Genesis 11:6)

NOTE:  This oneness is not necessarily a bad thing...but when God is not the focus...and the focus is based on human intent and fear for self preservation...it is.  The HUMAN POTENTIAL was limitless.  If they (the human mind) could CONCEIVE IT...and the human mind could BELIEVE IT...the human potential was...they could ACHIEVE IT.   We will look later at how this MIND POTENTIAL can be used for the Lord.

The Lord decided that this IMAGINED PURPOSE of these people was a dangerous thing...so He

(1) confused their language (2) made it where they could not understand one another's speech (3) and then scattered them abroad over the face of the earth. 

NOTE:  Notice that the thing they FEARED...being a SCATTERED people...was exactly what happened to them.  Job voiced this thing called fear..."For what I FEAR comes upon me...and what I DREAD befalls me.  I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, and I am not at rest, but turmoil comes." (Job 3:25-26)  Why do you think Jesus spoke the words "FEAR NOT"  when they were either faced with troubles?  The unknown or our IMAGINATIONS running wild...makes us fear...and do irrational things or makes us try to elevate ourselves to save ourselves.

 The SPIRIT OF GOD was given to a man named Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah (Praise).  The Lord told Moses..."I have filled him with the SPIRIT OF GOD in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of CRAFTSMANSHIP...to make ARTISTIC DESIGNS for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship." (Exodus 31:1-5) 

Walt Disney was a visionary to make people happy.  In his mind...he had imagination...and expressed what was in his mind in art, music, various lands in Disneyland. Those working for him would be called not engineers... but IMAGINEERS.  I love Disney World...but realize that it is merely a fake world compared to the Kingdom of God.

John Lennon was a dreamer...and according to his song IMAGINE...he was "not the only one."  He dreamed of a world of peace...and where the "world could be as one."  The only problem with this IMAGINED world of John is that it is to close to the land of Shinar...where everyone had ONE lip...ONE language...ONE word...and ONE PURPOSE...to create a name for themselves.  People are still attempting to unite this chaotic world...but we continue to be scattered over and over again.  You can imagine "there is no heaven...it's easy if you try...no hell below us... above us only sky"...but no matter how hard you try to imagine it...reality there is a heaven...there is a hell.

How can we harness this thing called the MIND...with all of it's IMAGINATIONS?  We see in I Corinthians chapter 2 verse 16..."For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?  But WE HAVE...the MIND of CHRIST."

"Unrestrained THOUGHTS (what we think)...produces unrestrained WORDS (what we say)...resulting in unrestrained ACTIONS (what we do)." (Unknown).

I believe that Napoleon Hill was right ...to a point.  Whatever the (renewed) mind of man can CONCEIVE (imagine)...the mind of man can BELIEVE (have faith in God)...and it (the renewed mind submitted to Christ) can ACHIEVE.  Oh...the man without Christ can conceive, believe and achieve...and good things may come out of it...but the life will be scattered.  God's purpose in our lives is creativity...for worship of Him...and not worshiping at the ALTAR OF HUMANISM.

Love and Imagined Kisses
Rodney "Dreamer" Boyd