Video – Freedom in Your Thoughts
This is a message I gave at my home church, a local church in Apex, NC, recently (February 18, 2018). It is about taking control of your God-given ability to imagine…using your imagination in ways that are Godly and biblical.
Wow. Thanks for this. Very powerful truths. We have spoken before about spiritual warfare. Ive had thoughts pop into my head that something will happen, say in the middle of church with spiritual warfare, but it doesn’t. Sometimes I wonder if Holy Spirit is training my mind for various scenarios. Oftentimes I wonder if my imagination is going. The imaginations are good and bring glory to God, but they are just popping up…my question, what is a good way/THE way to determine the difference between Holy Spirit and our imagination?
Great question! Sometimes God will show you something so that you can pray His will into it and change it. Sometimes He will show you something so that you can agree with Him that it will come to pass. But, sometimes the enemy will try to show you something to bring fear, suspicion, worry, or all sorts of other things. The best way to handle this is to ask the Holy Spirit what He wants you to do with what you are seeing. He will always lead you with peace. The enemy will try to control you through fear, deception, enticement, etc. And sometimes, because of our own flawed history or experience or bad habits, we can come up with mental pictures that are just wrong. A simple rule of thumb, as you start trying to learn about this, is to pay attention to what fruit the pictures produce. Does it make you feel confident, peaceful, empowered, draw you closer to Jesus, etc? This is good fruit from a good source. Or does it make you feel fearful, anxious, worried, alone, etc? This is bad fruit. The fruit is a good way to determine what source it is coming from. But I believe the best way is always to ask Holy Spirit and do whatever He says.
Awesome. Thank you. Your response rings true.