Prophetic Imagination Part 2

THE POWER TO DREAM/IMAGINE:
Martin Luther King Jr.:
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall
be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be
made low, the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight;
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and
all flesh shall see it together.”
Martin Luther King Jr. made history because he
was driven by a highly personal, yet powerfully
transcendent dream—a dream that went beyond
his own life, generation, or cultural climate.

Do you have such a dream? Do you have a dream
that reaches beyond your life and into the next
generation? Do you have a dream that transcends
the orbit of your day-to-day desires and reaches for
the stars of freedom and liberty for all—for those still
oppressed, exploited, disenfranchised, and
enslaved?
The dream so profoundly
articulated by Reverend
Martin Luther King Jr.
made history. And yet, he
could not have made
history otherwise.

Most people float through life without any clear
intention regarding the mark they want to leave on
history—even if only their own family’s history.
History belongs to the dreamers—those driven
by a clear and compelling vision of a better
future.
Look at Abraham, Noah, and Moses who dreamt of
a new life, home, and identity for their people; they
might not have lived to experience it, but because
they were able to dream it, it came to pass—and
David who dreamt of building a magnificent temple
for the Lord his God; he didn’t live to see it, but his
dedication assured his son would.

“How much are you willing to invest in a
dream you might not see come to pass?”
Those are the kinds of dreams that make
history.
A dream is nothing more than a vision of a
possible future.
And whatever you envision and
deliberately focus your attention
on will come to pass. Ancient
wisdom from all parts of the
world has long understood that
you bring to pass what you
steadily fix your gaze upon.

Biblical wisdom teaches, you will
ultimately become like that which you behold.
In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle
Paul wrote that as we behold the Lord, we are
changed into His image (see 2 Corinthians
3:18) and urged the Philippians to only focus
their attention on what is virtuous and
praiseworthy (see Philippians 4:8). Why?
Because what you focus on becomes your
identity and therefore your reality—it frames
your belief system about what is possible.

The thoughts of your mind govern your
capacity to grow,
just as your mindset governs your
capacity to dream.
Your sense of identity—or how you
identify yourself—is determined by the
internal agreements you make about
who you are, where you belong, and
what you are capable of. You mirror what
you identify with—you reflect what you
see and focus upon.

What dominates your attention determines the
direction of your life. This is why King David declared
he would “refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar”
(Psalm 101:3) and why you should “guard your heart
above all else, for it determines the course of your
life” (Proverbs 4:23).
This is why it’s so critically
important to articulate your
dream—to visualize it— to
imagine it --to create not only a
powerful word picture by writing it
down, but to also display images
on a vision board so you can
keep it before your eyes visually.

The Holy Spirit can use dreams to print on our
spirits things our conscious minds would not
dare to believe. Though our bodies are
asleep, our spirits are very much awake and
in communication with eternity. We are
downloading the purposes of God and
reloading our souls for battle when we wake.
Don’t be mistaken about sleep; God is at work
to will and do His good pleasure. Dreams can
plant images that give us pictures of destiny.
Though the mind may not understand them
because they are discerned spiritually,

Nonetheless they are there filed away in our
spirits, waiting for the time that we dare to
imagine them and bring them forward.
If God can do that, then why can’t He
indelibly imprint direction for our lives by
giving us godly imaginations? He can.
WORDS CREATE PICTURES
PICTURES CAN CREATE DESTINY.

THE POWER OF MAGNIFICATION
Imagination:

Psalm 16:11
You make me know the path of life;
in Your presence is unbounded joy,
in Your right hand eternal delight.
In God’s presence is unbounded joy or
fullness of joy. Fullness – pleroo means there
is nothing more that you can put inside; it is
full. It has no capacity for anything additional.
In God’s presence is the full capacity for all
that we need pertaining to life and goodness.
We cannot receive all He has for us without

God’s presence.
In order to shrink a problem, you must first
magnify the solution. The bigger God
becomes, the smaller the problem becomes.
The solution is not in magnifying the problem;
the solution is in magnifying God’s name.

There is such a deposit of God’s goodness
when we make His name bigger than the
problem. Yes He dwells upon within us, but at
times He wants to come upon us as well.
Scripture tells us that when we get into eternity
we shall know, even as we are known. You do
not have to figure things out through language
interpretation or mental deliberation – you just
know. This understanding is so deep within
your spirit that it becomes woven into your
thinking. It is the manifested reality of the
work of the Spirit,

As He is allowed to take up residence and
express Himself within you.
When the Spirit of the Lord begins to mesh
and communicate with our spirits, it becomes
an intimate and eternal relationship He
planned from the very beginning. He wanted
this relationship with Adam and Eve. He went
into the Garden and communicated. It wasn’t
in the sense of human communication; the
communication was more in line of Creator
with creation. Words could never express the
volumes that were spoken.

Spiritual intimacy far exceeds any other
form of communication that we could
possibly engage in. When we magnify
(Make bigger) our awareness of the
Holy Spirit, His imagination in us kicks
into overdrive and we can simply muse
at all He has done and wants to do in us
and through us.

Now, please, if it is really the case that I have found
favor in Your sight, show me Your ways; so that I
will understand You and continue finding favor in
Your sight. Moreover, keep on seeing this nation as
Your people.” 14 He answered, “Set your mind at
rest — My presence will go with you, after
all.” 15 Moshe replied, “If Your presence doesn’t go
with us, don’t make us go on from here. 16 For how
else is it to be known that I have found favor in Your
sight, I and Your people, other than by Your going
with us? That is what distinguishes us, me and Your
people, from all the other peoples on earth.”
Exodus 33:13-16

Moses knew the importance of God’s
presence. He made a request, he told God he
didn’t want to go with out God going with him.
Having that awareness allows us to magnify
God’s will in every matter rather than fearing
how big the problem seems to be.

How does God want us to deal with our
problems? He said that if we magnify the
Lord, we shrink the problem.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
Psalms 34: 3-4
The power of magnification is simple.
Make the might of God bigger by giving
thanks for His deliverance from the

Problem. Fear is an imagination that can
take over easily when we believe our fears
can become reality. Instead, allow your faith
in Christ to imagine what success looks like.
Ponder on the best coming out of the
situation you face. Fear tells your enemy he
has you against the wall and there is no way
out. Magnifying the Lord through praising His
name says to your enemy you will not fail;
you will magnify the Lord over the problem
and succeed.

Too often people deliberate over the
problem instead of liberate the solution. The
word deliberate implies to delay liberation.
To be liberated one must join the liberator.
It happened after this that the people of Moab with
the people of Ammon, and others with them
besides the Ammonites, came to battle against
Jehoshaphat.2 Then some came and told
Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming
against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and
they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En
Gedi). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself
to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout
all Judah. 2 Chronicles 20:1 - 3

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the
son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of
Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of
Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said,
“Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says
the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed
because of this great multitude, for the battle is not
yours, but God’s.16 Tomorrow go down against
them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz,
and you will find them at the end of the brook before
the Wilderness of Jeruel.

You will not need to fight in
this battle. Position yourselves, stand still
and see the salvation of the LORD, who is
with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not
fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out
against them, for the LORD is with you.”
They rose early in the morning and went out
to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they
went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said,
“Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your
God and you will be established. Put your
trust in His prophets and succeed.”

When he had consulted with the people, he
appointed those who sang to the LORD and those
who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out
before the army and said, “Give thanks to the LORD,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 22 When they
began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes
against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir,
who had come against Judah; so they
were routed. 23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab
rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir
destroying them completely; and when they had
finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to
destroy one another. 2 Chronicles 20

The odds were against Jehoshaphat as he
was facing two large nations. After he
enquired of the Lord, he had his answer.
Notice how God deals with our enemies.
Instead of focusing on the enemy and using
human instinct, God told him to appoint
singers to go out front. The first thing Moab
and Ammon would see were unarmed
people, but really they were armed with the
magnification of the Lord of Hosts.
JEHOVAH SABBAOTH. The singers were
instructed to praise the beauty of holiness.

They were told to sing, “Give thanks to the
Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting”.
When they began to magnify the greatness of
the Lord, God caused the enemies to kill each
other. The power of magnification changes
the odds in your favor.
Whatever we enlarge is the very thing that
catches our eye and captures our faith to
believe. We can rehearse a problem to
everyone we see, and even replay it in our
minds so that it magnifies to the point that we
accept defeat.

Proverbs 23:7
It is easy to see how imagination can
work against you – and for you.
Consider the problems you can
overcome when you magnify the
solution more than the problem!!!

Numbers 20: 2, 6 - 8
There was no water for the
congregation, and they assembled
themselves against Moses and Aaron.
Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence
of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of
meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of
the LORD appeared to them; and the LORD spoke
to Moses, saying,
Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron
assemble the congregation and speak to the rock
before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You
shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock
and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

Moses was told to only speak to the rock. But
instead of speaking to the rock, he spoke to
the people. God never told him to speak to
the people; all Moses could see was angry,
ungrateful people. Instead of speaking to the
rock, which would have given the prophetic
image of speaking to Christ our Rock, Moses
spoke to the people.
A perfect example of how we could save
ourselves anguish if we would only talk to God
about the problem first before speaking to the
people we think are the problem.

His first act was not obeying what God has
said; instead he called the people rebels.
Though what he said may have been a fact, it
was not what God had instructed him to do.
The complaining was magnified in Moses’
mind over the instructions of God.

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because
you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in
the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall
not bring this assembly into the land which I have
given them.” Numbers 20:12
Moses reverted to past experience and
struck the rock as he had done before.
Though he got results for the people, he had
lost his promise of entering the land he had
so desperately longed for. God told Moses
that because he did not treat God as Holy in
the sight of the people, He would not bring
the assembly into the land that God had

Given them. It was the grand opportunity for
Moses to magnify and show off the love and
greatness of God in front of this entire
emerging nation. Instead, Moses magnified
his frustration and lack of patience over the
mercy of God, and it cost him his promise.
God wants us to take opportunities to magnify
His name before the people with whom we
have influence. He wants us to go before the
people of our City and Country as His own
personal ambassadors. He wants us to
demonstrate this attribute of Holiness in

Our daily lives with our friends and families.
Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his
sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the
women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle
of meeting.23 So he said to them, “Why do you do
such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all
the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report
that I hear. You make the LORD’s people
transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God
will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD,
who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did
not heed the voice of their father, because
the LORD desired to kill them. 1 Samuel 2:22-25

Eli the priest was responsible for the spiritual
climate. His sons were described as
worthless by the Bible. At Eli’s age, he
became complacent with his sons. Though
he knew of their sexual perversion and
thievery, he did nothing to change their ways
and influence on the community. As a result
of their lawless behavior, 1 Samuel 3:1
And the word of the LORD was rare in
those days; there was no widespread
revelation.

Prophetic words from the Lord were
infrequent and visions were rare because
they defiled the image of God. They no
longer had access to prophetic revelations
from God.
Without a fresh revelation of God, we merely
go through the pomp and ceremony and fail
to experience a demonstration of God’s
power.

30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I
said indeed that your house and the house of
your father would walk before Me forever.’
But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me;
for those who honor Me I will honor, and
those who despise Me shall be lightly
esteemed. 1Samuel 2:30
The rebuke to Eli was that he had honored or
emphasized his sons’ ways more than the
ways of God. To honor is to glorify or bring
illumination upon. Because Eli did not
magnify God greater than his sons, he lost

The potential of God honoring him in an
enduring way. History records Eli’s failures
and none of his good deeds. Magnification of
God brings to pass the promises we have in
Christ for ourselves and for our family
generations to come.
Obedience can not be the second step and
still be obedience.

He made his ways known to Moshe,
His mighty deeds to the people of Isra’el.
Psalms 103:7
God was telling them He did not want them to
merely know of His acts; He wanted them to
know His ways.
Israel saw the power of God and even saw
the acts of God, but they still did not believe!!
When it came time for them to enter into the
promise, they could not bring themselves to
trust God. They failed to enter due to doubt
and fear of the unknown.

We hear the saying that “seeing is believing.”
Seeing a display of God’s power does not
ensure that a person will believe. The slaves
who came out of Egypt saw again and again
God’s demonstration of power and favor, but
their years of slavery kept them in hindsight
and hindered their foresight.
The ability to imagine what God has for you
can depend on getting free from past
experiences that, by default, choose for us
what we will see. The power to imagine
beyond what you can even think breaks the

the auto responses that cause you to decline
the offers. IT IS POSSIBLE TO GET
RESULTS; BUT IF WE DON’T KNOW THE
WAYS OF GOD, THE ACTS OF GOD
BECOME BLENDED INTO THE
BACKGROUND OF EVERYDAY LIFE.
The covenantal people of God were missing
one crucial element in their preparation for
the promise. They had experienced God’s
acts, but they lacked a personal encounter
with God. They knew what He could do,

But had yet to meet Him in an intimate way as
God their Father. They only knew Him as
God their Deliverer.

When your ways please the Lord, even
enemies have to stand aside your gate and
watch you pass through. God says that He
will give you safe passage through the
enemy’s camp if your ways please Him. The
ways of God simply means how He view
things from His perspective.
I can make my demand using the word of
God, and I can say, “Your Word says…”. I
may even get results, but all the while I am not
magnifying the Lord.

We are magnifying our own faith and our
ability to get it done. The Word without the
leading of His Spirit can de a dead letter.

The Hebrew word for magnify literally means
a twisting together like the twisting of a three-
fold cord. The word implies the increase of
something until it is larger than what is being
compared to it.

When Israel entered the Promised Land, they
needed to know the God they worshipped
and magnified was greater than the Sons of
Anak (giants). If they did not magnify their
God, then they would have been diminished
and appeared to themselves like
grasshoppers… WHEN GOD IS MAGNIFIED,
EVERYTHING IN OPPOSITION IS
DIMINISHED.
The reason Moses was not allowed to go into
the Land was because he diminished God in
front of the people.

To the people, it appeared as if it was Moses
who had opened the rock and released the
water to satisfy their thirst. God wanted the
rock to be seen as their prophetic future when
the rock would be seen as their Messiah.
Messiah would be struck once and then there
would be a New Covenant.

In the New Covenant one can speak to the
Rock and the Living Water will flow out.
“When that day comes, you won’t ask
anything of me! Yes, indeed! I tell you that
whatever you ask from the Father, he will
give you in my name. John 16:23
God says: “I want you to learn to speak to
the rock. When you get into the land and I
am magnified, the giants will not be an issue.
When something is magnified, it becomes a
bigger reality than the thing we are facing.

Jesus taught us to pray: Matt 6:10
When we magnify what is happening in
Heaven greater than what is happening on
earth, then the greater reality is released to
come into our circumstance.

WHAT WE MAGNIFY, WE PERMIT TO
RULE.
WHO WE MAGNIFY IS WHOM WE
WORSHIP.
When we say, “magnify the Lord,” we are
saying let the reality of His Kingdom take
precedence over mine.
If there is sickness in my body, and I
constantly magnify the doctor’s report and
the disease and all its symptoms, then I am
increasing the disease and diminishing the
Healer.

If Jesus the Healer is magnified in the middle
of the struggle, then we are declaring Jesus is
greater than the infirmity.
This poor psalmist cried out and the Lord
heard him. Why? Because he magnified the
Lord more than what was surrounding him.

FAITH – THE SUBSTANCE OF
REALITY
Faith is not just the result of what we
feel; it is the substance of reality.
But about midnight Paul and Silas were
praying and singing hymns of praise to
God, and the prisoners were listening to
them. Acts 16:25
Paul and Silas are in prison. They could have
magnified the fact that they were imprisoned

Unjustly. They had the option to complain and
reflect how they could have done things
differently or blame circumstances. But
instead of magnifying their problem, they
choose to magnify the Lord. They rejoiced
because they were able to suffer for the Lord.
Their reality was not held to the confines of a
jail cell. It was not held to people who
maligned them or to Roman torture. Their
reality was the glory of God!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Acts 7:55, Stephen was stoned for
sharing the Good News of the Kingdom. He
was not captured by the brutality of the
people or anger over the lack of angelic
rescue. He refused to magnify the stoning.
Instead of addressing those hurling the
rocks or focusing upon his circumstances,
he chose to look up and catch the image of
Jesus standing at the right side of God.
Everything changed at that moment.
Stephen knew his identity and destiny did
not lie with those persecuting him.

Jesus was being magnified many times
greater than anything happening on this earth.
Perhaps that is the only way that Stephen
could say, “Father, forgive them.” The stoning
became a lesser reality compared to the glory
of God. The image of Jesus standing for
Stephen was now of greater value and power
than anything anyone had ever done against
him.

WHEN YOU MAGNIFY THE LORD,
YOU ARE BRINGING THE REALITY OF
WHO HE IS TO INFLUENCE WHAT IS
TEMPORARILY HAPPENING AT THE
MOMENT. CHOOSE THE GREATER
GLORY, AND YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE
THE RIGHT PICTURE IN MIND.

WHEN GOD’S REALITY BECOMES
GREATER THAN THE REALITY OF
WHAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH,
THEN HE IS MAGNIFIED. THIS IS
WHAT IS CALLED LIVING OUT THE
WAYS OF GOD.
Jesus is magnified in our hearts when we
think more about Him than we do anything or
anyone else, when we talk more about the
goodness of God than any injustice.

I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your
lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according
to all Your name. Psalm 138:1-2
For as is His name, so is His praise.

For instance, as you praise Him as the Lord
of mercy, He shows up as the Lord of mercy.
If we magnify Him as Jehovah Jireh, then He
shows up as the great Provider.
When we magnify Him as Jehovah Shalom,
He reveals Himself as our Peace.
No matter what you are dealing with, set your
affection and heart on the Lord, and not on
the problem.

1 Samuel 17 we read the story of David and
Goliath. The armies of Israel had heard all the
taunts and the threats for 40 days. It came to
the point Israel believed what was being said.
It paralyzed them and they started believing
the imagery Goliath was developing in their
minds. When fear captures a home or an
individual, all that can be seen is the end
game of destruction and failure. The counter
to this is to measure the circumstance
against Jesus the Word.

When you see the problem start to shrink in
light of how big God is in comparison to the
problem, you know you are on the way to
victory.
Because the army of Israel was living in the
delusion of fear, they could not move ahead.
What did David say regarding the threats of
Goliath? He told him that he came in the
name of the Lord. That is one huge name. It
meant that he had come in the name of the
Lord of Hosts. He is the one and only Lord
Jehovah who possesses the whole angelic
host from Heaven, and they stand ready to

Respond to His every command. Who could
hope to withstand the army of the Lord?
David told Goliath that the Lord Himself
would deliver him into his hand.
David was not claiming that he would do it
under his own power. He said, “It is the
Lord.” He is the one who would deliver him
into his hand that day. David saw an
opportunity for God to be glorified against a
giant that Israel thought could not be
defeated. What do you see?

WHEN GOD IS MAGNIFIED, EVEN OUR
ENEMIES ARE SCATTERED.
GOD IS BIGGER THAN ANYONE AND
ANYTHING, EVEN THE PROBLEMS THAT
COME OUR WAY.
WHEN HE IS MAGNIFIED ABOVE THE
PROBLEM, THINGS TURN AROUND.

But you have to choose. You have to
choose what you set your sights on—
you must choose the dream that will
frame your vision of what is possible in
the future.
We will become like Christ when we see
Him (see 1 John 3:2)—and as we behold
His glory, we are transformed into His image
(2 Corinthians 3:18). That is powerful! So let
me ask you, “What are you
beholding/imagining on a daily basis?”

What you behold you will become—
and what you meditate/imagine upon
you will give birth to.
In other words, what grows in your
mind will grow in your life.

Prophetic Imagination Part 2

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Prophetic Imagination Part 2