Corruption of our Imagination

“Lord, Help! Why am I thinking about things that do not honor You? I love You and hate what has crept into my mind. I know it displeases You.” Negative thoughts, not from the Lord, immediately address them. Do not accept them! Rebuke the enemy and renounce these thoughts. Repent for any thoughts that do not line up with Father’s heart.

Jesus came to teach Father’s heart. He warned about guarding our thoughts against lust, anger, pride, and much more. The ancients considered putting fences around our minds so the devil would not get a foothold. Paul used the example of anger that could form a fortress in our minds.

“Be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sun set on your anger; do not give the devil a foothold.”

Ephesians 4.26-27; BSB + Strongs

In this era, we need lots of fences of protection around our minds. Past and present, our minds are full of world-thoughts. Satan, the fallen mighty serif angel kicked out of the throne room of God, is the prince of the power of the air. Jesus stripped him of the authority he cleverly received through deception from the first created couple in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).

The devil and his demons speak to our minds. The Holy Spirit of our Father and Jesus speak to our minds. Like speaking in tongues, they are spiritual and separate from the natural brain. What will we do with these two voices? As believers, we desire a pure and holy flow of thoughts between us and our Heavenly Father, Jesus, and their Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 2.1-10: ESV

1.  “And you were dead in trespasses and sins,
2.  In which you once walked, following the course of this world when you conformed to the ways of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now is at work in the sons of disobedience ---
3.  Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of humanity.
4.  But God, being rich in His mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us,
5.  Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ---by grace, you have been saved---
6.  And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7.  So that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8.  For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God,
9.  Not the result of works so that no one may boast.
10.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”. 

Like YHWH instructing Abraham, Paul, as heaven’s ambassador on earth, instructs us in 1 Corinthians 10.5. The church in Corinth had some Judeans, but the majority were pagans who had many customs that were not of God. Paul had an enormous job to train pagans in the ways of God. One way Paul instructed them and us was by using their imaginations. Paul began to teach them the differences between righteous and unclean.

If believers are to work united with Christ Jesus, they must cleanse their minds of the unholy past and present thoughts and actions.

 2 Corinthians 10.3-6; ASV

3. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4. (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, by mighty before God to the casting of strongholds),
5. casting down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6. and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full”.

Considering verse 5, what imaginations will we cast down? What does “cast down” mean? To cast down is to violently demolish, destroy, or utterly obliterate. No mercy for the thoughts not of God. God is Holy. The devil lies, kills, and destroys what is of God. As children of the Kingdom of God, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are always talking to us. Satan and demons run interference using anything that has not been sanctified in our lives. We are not to accept the devil's thoughts, suggestions, and visions. Although I am merely scratching the surface, we oppose anything we know does not come from God.

The world around us is corrupt and is getting worse. Everywhere we go, we see and sense things in the natural world. Father wants us to perceive in the spiritual and receive all the good things He has prepared for us. We have an inheritance in Christ. Anything clinging to us of world-things clog up, bog down, or completely dam-up our communication channel in the Kingdom realm.  

Father provided the solution for reconciliation with Him by sending His only Son, Jesus, to shed His Blood on the Cross for our benefit. Jesus paid a horrific price to redeem us to Father. Then, he rose from the dead and left an empty tomb.

How does the Blood work? It is simple. The Blood of Jesus is a free gift that sanctifies and sets us aside as holy. We are not righteous, but Jesus is. We are sinners, but He isn’t. We are saved from hell and from what we have submitted our soul to (mind, will, and emotions) that are not of God. We have an active part in the latter. I consider this as deliverance, especially self-deliverance. We can do this! Holy Spirit will help. Residing in us, we are God’s powerhouse. Repentance is the key to freedom.

Let’s stop for a moment, thank God, and practice repentance.

“Father, thank you for my gift of imagination, which I can fellowship and commune with You. I desire to rid myself of anything that would dam-up and stop our communication flow and Your love in my life.”

Then, list what Holy Spirit brings to mind. Some examples:

• I repent for _________________ (any previous sins).
• I forgive _______for_________ (any wrongs incurred by others).
• I repent for ______________ (any imaginations, unclean thoughts, visions, anger, etc.).
• I repent for _______________ (anything you have submitted yourself to).
• I repent for any of my flesh nature, anything impure or unrighteous.
• I renounce anything unclean, any hidden things that need to remain clean (be specific).

Holy Spirit will lead you. This is a process. Take time. It took me weeks to rid myself of the original list. Some people make lists in each area and later burn, rip up, or bury the lists. Ask Him what you need to:

1. Repent
2. Forgive
3. Renounce

Following repentance and forgiveness of others, to renounce what is not of God is very important. We renounce and reject anything displeasing to God. We disown it. Our heart’s desire is to let go of any attachments, any emotions that will hold us back from a close relationship with our heavenly Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.  

“Father, forgive me for any way I have grieved you. By faith, I receive your forgiveness by the Blood of Jesus and thank you for washing and cleansing my imagination. I declare my imagination is now sanctified, holy, and set apart for You.

Thank you, Jesus, for Your cleansing Blood. You came so low to rescue me.

Holy Spirit, please mentor me. Help me to steward my mind and separate what is from You and what is from demons.

I want to grow in my ability to discern and stay clean. Please give me the grace to cast down any imagination that displeases my Father and stops our fellowship.

My five spiritual senses, open and activated, I want to understand everything You speak to me.

I desire to cast down and rid my mind of vain imaginations against the knowledge of Your revealed Truth in Jesus.

I choose not to yield my mind to the voice of the world and the voice of demons.

Holy Spirit, please help me focus on what Father, Jesus, and You are speaking to me so I can perceive and embrace everything you have prepared for me. Amen.”

Everything we do is to be of God, for God, and with God to give Him glory. United, we are unstoppable.