Tag Archives: imagine

No eye has seen

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No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.  1 Corinthians 2:9-10

 

We were created with powerful imaginations. Some see a barren field and imagine a bountiful garden or a vast building project. Some see a blank canvas and imagine a beautiful painting. Some hear tones and rhythm and imagine a musical masterpiece. God will allow us even to imagine He doesn’t exist if we insist on such a notion. But what mind can imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him? The answer: no wisdom of man can unveil the mysteries of God. However, God’s Spirit reveals these things.

 

God’s Spirit searches even our hidden thoughts. Helpful therapies can scratch below the surface of our understanding of things. But whatever dark mental fortresses these therapies cannot penetrate, the Spirit of God is able to enter in and shine a revealing light. Beyond our thoughts God’s Spirit perceives the fiery desires that furnace our ambitions and motives, even when they are hidden from our own heart. And what the Spirit reveals, He can heal.

 

The gifts of God are revealed by this same Spirit, if He lives in us. While our eyes and ears can only perceive our physical world, the Spirit can reveal our spiritual reality.

 

Without the Spirit of God, such things are regardless as foolish and worthless. They cannot be understood. The Bible is the best seller of all time, yet it is not understood by mere human minds. To them it is foolishness. (V 14) Only the Spirit of God can reveal its meaning and application. We can call ourselves Christians, but if we don’t have or obey the Spirit of God, these things will remain hidden. They are discerned and related only by God’s Spirit. Philosophy, literature, education, the lessons of the humanities, the arts and sciences – all these speak of knowledge. But God’s wisdom is spoken by the Spirit to those who have the Spirit. That is, God speaks to those who have the mind of Christ. (V 16)

 

The mind of Christ is not molded after the ways of the world, nor does it pursue them. They are foolishness. And we cannot have the mind of Christ without being transformed by God’s power through the renewal of our minds by His Spirit. This daily cleansing is our path to understanding God’s good and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

 

We begin to imagine the mysteries of God and His will for our life when we ask Him to help us see ourselves and the world around us through the eyes of Jesus.

 

 

Imagine…heaven!

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I can only imagine!

 

Rolling Stones once wrote that John Lennon’s “Imagine” was the third greatest song ever written. To my ears, it is one of the most beautiful melodies of pop history. But as for me, I just can’t “imagine there’s no heaven.” Lennon hoped for utopia but I don’t think he knew how to find it. There will be such a world one day. Consider the vision of another man named John:

 

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” (Revelation 21:1-7)

 

It is as Isaiah prophesied:

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. 
The former things will not be remembered, 
nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

 

Imagine, a new heaven and a new earth, untouched by human corruption. Even the memories of past evils will pass away and be forgotten. Tears will be wiped away; no more sorrow, no more grief, or pain. The One who always was, always is, and always will be will personally quench our thirst forever and we will finally experience the fullness of what it means to be children of a holy and merciful God.

 

I hope you will take some time today to imagine “there IS a heaven” and what it might be like to be constantly and fully at peace in the presence of God. Let ‘the old order of things’ pass away from your life and enjoy the process of God making ‘all things new’ in your life.

 

Imagine living this day with heaven in mind! (It’s easy if you try.)