Our imagination is very potent and pragmatic. It is the only sensible reality in a beautiful and blessed world filled with unknown and unexpected challenges and obstacles. The only sure way is to use our imagination to take hold of the things we desire and need. Concerning man’s imagination God says:

“There is nothing that they imagine that will be held back from them” (Gen 11:6).

Examples of how we can use our imagination include:

1. Imagine virtual mentors. This means “read, study and learn from others”. You may not have the time or opportunity for a one to one with the person you most desire to understudy and learn from. You may not even have access to him or her physically. But you can have him, her and them to yourself as much as you want virtually by reading their books and listening to their audios. The Bible says study to show yourself approved. If you wait until you meet Jesus face to face before learning from Him the truth that sets free, you would never learn it and would never be free. But you can learn from Him everyday by reading His word. By the way, you must also plan to be a mentor to others by writing and making audios that they too can learn through.

2. Imagine your virtual audience or congregation. This means whatever your ministry is, minister and serve joyfully and with excellence as if you already have before you the large crowd you desire and dream of having. In short, the number should not affect or restrict your own quality. Be joyful and focus on the fact that you have an audience and not on number. Your mini can be more vital to God’s divine plan than another person’s mega.

3. Imagine virtual time. This means that you should set apart for God, and give to Him whatever amount of time and service you would give Him if you had all the time in the world. Whatever amount of time it is that you can imagine and see yourself giving Him under such circumstances, that is the right thing to give Him. Calling things that be not as though they were is the first step in making them be. Begin faithfully and excellently with the time you have now and as God sees your faithfulness He will supply the needed (Phil 4:19, Luke 16:10-12). “Ifs” are no excuse to the God who calls things that be not as though they were.

4. Imagine virtual money. This means that whatever things you can see yourself doing for God if you had all the money you wanted, and did not have to pursue money to meet your needs, begin to do them because that is what God actually expects you to do. The enemy is always trying to frustrate you from doing the right thing to please God. The devil wants to distract you from fulfilling purpose by dragging what is actually yours already away from you and making you spend all the time (time that you should use to rest and serve and please God) pursuing it. You can beat the devil and go past him with the use of your imagination. Seek first the kingdom of God. Put pleasing God first and all other things will He add unto you.

5. Imagine the end virtually.

God sees the end from the beginning. He does not waiver in His determination to achieve it, no matter the limited amount of resources immediately available. Genesis 1:2 says that “the earth was void and without form and darkness was on the face of the deep” when God began to imagine and create. Only a lively and vibrant imagination could have seen light, hope and beautiful creations in such circumstances. If you want to be successful and please God you must also begin at the end by seeing it from the beginning and working with faith and determination to see it manifest physically.

6. Imagine virtual demand. This means that you should imagine a large demand (clients or customers) for your business or service and offer them excellent service and customer care. This excellence is what will gradually attract and draw people to what you offer. For instance if you are a writer, imagine your virtual readers. Do not be frustrated that no one is giving you a look. Do not be frustrated into mediocrity not caring about the quality of what you write, simply because you believe no one is interested anyway. Rather, even if no one seems to be interested, continue to write and write with quality and excellence as if those you earnestly desire to see reading it are not only reading it but also responding positively and testifying that they are being blessed. The truth is that your imagination can give you impetus for anything and the zeal with which you work can draw attention to what you offer.

7. Finally imagine virtual answers and breakthroughs. It is the root of faith. This means that you imagine how you would serve and operate if you did not have the situations, challenges and circumstances that seem to afflict and restrict you. The devil has a hand in bringing these problems your way in order to distract frustrate and incapacitate you. The solution is for you to frustrate the devil by looking past your weaknesses and infirmities, seeing yourself without them and beginning little by little to do what you would be doing if they were not there. God looks at you and sees too much stuff and garbage but looks past them and deals with you as if they were not there. That’s what it means to say you have been justified. Justify yourself too in these matters, despite your circumstances. Live to please God and disappoint the devil.

As Christians, we are holy people (that is, people set apart for God, to serve Him and have fellowship with Him). God has always called His people out of the darkness of the world so that they can “go and worship” Him through building a relationship of reciprocal love, fellowship and giving, with Him. He called out Noah, Abraham and Israel to bless them and build with them, a close, intimate and exclusive relationship. As can be expected, exclusive relationships always attract jealousy from other wishful thinkers and wannabes. The Bible shows us that the devil is the number one wishful dreamer and wannabe:

ISAIAH 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, …

14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;

14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Satan is jealous of God’s relationship with us. Since his failure and expulsion from heaven, his main goal has always been to frustrate the beautiful relationship God is engendering between Himself and man. He does this by throwing obstacles, detours and distractions in man’s way as we seek to put God and His kingdom first (by worshipping or serving Him), to serve our community, to enjoy life more abundantly and to please God with our lives.

Given the wrestlings and warefare we must face daily, the imagination is one great tool and weapon God has given to us for achieving victory, for dwelling in joy and peace, experiencing a successful Christian life and above all building a wonderful relationship with God. Together with the powerful armour made with the material of God’s word, the imagination is a powerful weapon for disappointing and defeating the devil. As a Christian, you can use your blessed imagination to daily rise above the endless limitations of this world and fully live out the spirit life that brings you fulfilment and brings pleasure to God and men.

May the Lord our God sanctify your mind and illuminate your spirit to see beyond the natural limitations of this world and the satanic obstacles and distractions that abound. May He strengthen your will and your inner man to rise up and act on what you see in your imagination, one quality step at a time.

Remain triumphant in the power of God’s hand.

– Peter Osahon

Genesis 15:6 says that Abram believed and God counted it for him as righteousness. However the real test of his commitment to that faith came later by way of sacrifice. Sacrifice is the evidence of faith and commitment. If you claim to be committed to your marriage, your church your ministry, your dream, what is your sacrifice?

God knew that it is easy to say “I do”, “I believe” or “I agree” without having to engage any personal sacrifice, so He sent a day apart for the test of his heart.

When Abram said I believe it was no more than a promise or decision to be patient and to stop complaining and grumbling about his problem of childlessness. There was another level of trust and commitment which could only be tested by sacrifice. Do you believe in your vision, your spouse, your Church, your pastor and his grand vision or his grandiloquent declarations? If so what have you sacrificed to prove it or what are you willing to sacrifice?

Abraham sacrificed Isaac, the very son of promise and the hope of its fulfilment as proof that when he said he believed God’s promise to give him a son and multitudes of descendants, it was not just about the son or descendants but his faith in the person of God; His ability, faithfulness and care. It was undeniable proof that he believed God has power over all things whether living, dead or inanimate and that can bring even the dead back to life. Abraham demonstrated that he believed that even after he sacrificed his son the all-able God would raise him from the dead. It was proof of his faithfulness to that belief and to God. It was proof of his commitment to follow God to the very end regardless of the price.

God says in PSALM 50:5 “gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice”.

God takes personal interest in those whose faith in Him will make them sacrifice anything for His sake. God takes personal delight in those who give up what they have (time, talents and abilities, money, effort, service etc) for His name and for the gospels sake. He loves to reward them dearly:

“So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life (Mark 10:29-30).

These to Him are His true disciples.

Do you trust God? Will you follow Him to the very end regardless of the cost or do you have red lines? What is your sacrifice? Whatever you are willing to give up and sacrifice, that is what will determine how you truly see and esteem God.

God delights in your prosperity. His plans for you are good. He will never withhold any good thing from you. God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realms. He has made available to you all things that pertain to life and godliness. God has already allocated your blessings and inheritance to you. He has set them apart. Not even the devil can steal them. But within you exists a power that can stop you from entering your promise land. If your truly want to prosper and appropriate what God has set apart for you, you will have no option but to kill the enemies within you. 

JOSHUA 7, Micah 7:6, Matthew 10:36,

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In 3 John 2, God declares clearly and unequivocally that He wants you to prosper. That’s why He has allocated blessing to you (Ephe 1:3). God cannot lie.

There are things within you that resist your progress, success and prosperity. They are not allowing you to take possession of your blessings. They have become your soul mates, your neighbours, friends, housemates. Some of them have even become your family members; part of you. This is why you say things like – ‘that’s the way I am’. ‘That the way we do it in our own place or culture’.

These things are destroying your destiny. They have held you captive for years without your realising it. You can assume that things are normal when you have become used to their presence. You cannot even remember a time when things were different so you cannot imagine that they are your problem. But even though you are used to living with them they are the bugs eating your leaves (robbing you of life and fruitfulness). They are little foxes eating your vine and denying your life of the wine of joy.

You merely condone and tolerate some of them because you believe they are harmless. But it is the lie of the enemy. They are sweet poison. They are weed planted into your life by the enemy in your time of innocence, ignorance and naivety.

TWO KINDS OF ENEMIES WITHIN

• JOSHUA 7 – Achan (lust). God told them to take nothing because everything is accursed to them but out of lust and covetousness, Achan took some things

• GALATIANS 5:16, 19-21 – Old inhabitants of the land (old nature) – God told the children of Israel to totally destroy the old inhabitants of the land but they did not. Rather they left some and tolerated them. These they became a trap, a temptation and a distraction for them. They allowed some of the old inhabitants to stay because they thought they could help them and serve them. The old inhabitants of the land represent the old nature and old habits that we have always used to our own advantage even though they were ungodly. We keep them and tolerated because they gratify your lusts, and paper over the crack in the wall of your character. They help hide (conceal) your weakness and your laziness. They seem to make life easier for you. They are agents of the devil and you have been deceived by the devil to let them stay. An example were the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:3-27 . They deceived the children of Israel and remained in the land.

How do you recognize the enemies within you?

You know the enemies within by their fruits and their works.

• Like Achan the enemies within will not let you have your victory. They will not let you go forward and possess your possession.

• Like the heathen they will always serve as the devils agents for distraction, ungodliness, a thorn in your flesh and an ever present weakness in your life of which you are always conscious. They will be a constant reminder that you have failed to fully obey God and so you have no authority to punish demonic disobedience or execute God’s written judgement on your enemies.

• They desensitize or deaden you to the graveness of sin. They make you not to see sin as a very serious thing. TV. Soaps. Fashion. Idolatory. They even make you question and redefine what is really sin. They are always quick to point out weaknesses in the people that God used in the bible and to remind you of grace. They point out that all our righteousness is like filthy rags and that no one is perfect etc. They say we are human and we need to be free to enjoy life so we should leave God to judge whoever He sees as doing wrong. They make you do things that God hates; things that separate you from God

• To tranquilize you towards the commandments of God and towards vital and necessary action for your breakthrough and success. This includes vital actions like investing time with God to truly hear Him, obedience, giving and loving.

• To bombard inundate you with worldly (civilian) concerns, lusts and ambitions so that you will be too tired and will always have hardly any time left for the things of God. They make you think more about earthly success than the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

• To kill your love and commitment for God and there take the place of Lord and God over your emotions and your life. You can worship fear, Anxiety etc.

• To truncate you destiny and keep you limited and stuck in mediocrity by making you believe their lie which is that you are okay; you have achieved God’s ultimate for you; and that at least you are better than some others. The fact that you are okay does not mean that you have achieve God’s purpose for you. The man who buried his one talent may not have lost it, but he truncated and limited it and denied it its potential. In short he wasted it.

One other way you recognise the enemies within is that they make you angry with God and God’s people and also lie and hide things from God’s people. Anything you have to hide from God’s people is an enemy within. God’s family is the family of love. There is no fear or secrecy in love.

Enemies within us include:

• Our Appetite for food and drink can put us in a state where we slumber and cannot spend time with God or have money for His works.

• Our Temper, uncontrolled anger and outbursts that make us hurt people and do things we regret.

• Covetousness that makes us overwork, cheat, deceive, lie and dishonour the Sabbath

• Envy. Jealousy. They make us not to appreciate others and sometimes even hate them

• Pride and arrogance that makes us oppress, disrespect and look down on others

• Laziness and love of comfort and ease that make us to be laid back, and will not let us do what we know that we out to do. A little sleep. A little slumber leads to poverty.

• Nature: Grumbling. Strife. Discord. Being quarrelsome rather than seeking peace

* Another enemy within is the Second option, or alternative mentality which is also (or actually) doubt. If you believe you have another option you will never put all your life into even what you somehow believe in.

* But not until you are ready to die for something you do not yet see it a reason to live. Are ready to that for the fulfilment of your purpose and destiny on earth? Are you ready to pay any price to enter your promise land and possess your possession? Only then do they truly become your purpose and reason to live.

* Many of us love the enemies within us as if we are doing so in obedience to God. But when Jesus said love your enemies, He was not referring to the enemies within. Concerning those, He wants you to mortify them (Matt 10:34-39, Rom 8:13)

• Others – Things that God hates

Who are the enemies within your own household? What are your own Enemies within?

No matter how much God is your fortress, as long as these enemies are within you they will have the power to hinder and destroy you from the inside.

These enemies are within you as an individual. They have become part of the family. But God is keen to see you proper and have life and joy and victory (3 Jn 2 Beloved I wish above all …).

What must you do if you want to prosper succeed and have true and total victory in your life ?

God is very uncompromising and unforgiving when it comes to dealing with the enemies of His people. He said that whatever destroys His temple will be destroyed.

If you want what God wants for you from now on, you need to take some drastic steps.

If you want progress and victory, immediately begin to identify them.

Locate them and destroy them.

They may look like harmless things you can control. You may think the problems were just your mistakes. But No. That is not how God sees them. He knows they will not let you prosper.

Just as God told them to deal with Achan, deal with your own enemies within. Show them no mercy. Kill them before they not only kill you but also deny you and your children and even your descendants if your blessing (the more abundant life that God has given in the spirit or in heaven)

The only solution is to kill them. Watch out for them. Strangle them. Give them no breathing space in your life. Deny them any space or time. How do you do this?

1. First and foremost, recognise that they are agents of the enemy to cause disobedience and dishonour towards God and failure and defeat for you.

2. Invite God’s fire to consume them from your life as was the case with Nadab & Abihu.

3. Stone them with God’s word just like Achan. Make solid declarations of who you are whose you and what you believe, accept and permit and what you reject and renounce. Speak to your flesh. Speak to the old man inside you. Speak yo the ungodly nature that sometimes manifests. Speak to the enemies within you.

4. Ask the earth to swallow them like Korah and his accomplices.

5. Deny yourself unnecessary pleasures and indulgences which weaken you, make you slumber and take up your cross

6. After Achan and all his household were destroyed, Joshua rededicated the nation to God. Uproot what is ungodly and then proceed to plant what is godly with words.

Dedicate your life to God afresh. Make up your mind that henceforth you will reject and deny any agent of instant gratification. Deny them of air that is vital for life by not giving them any time within your thought life. Deny the enemies within, a foot hold in your life.

7. Instant hold captive and extinguish any ungodly self-gratifying desire, lust, covetousness and pure materialism. Show them no mercy. They can destroy your destiny

Killing the enemy within is not easy or without much pain. But the grace of God is enough to see us through. He said when we are weak then is His strength made perfect for us.

Killing the enemies means Change. Change is need if you want to be successful and victorious. Apostle describes this “change” in various words including very aggressive ones:

• Transformation – Romans 12:2

• Renewing – Romans 12:2

It is our personal responsibility to disarm, paralise and destroy the enemies within us. God will not do it for us. Apostle Paul describes what we need to do in very aggressive words:

• Mortify – Romans 8:13

• Bring under – 1 Cor 9:27

• Crucify – Galatians 5:24

• Separate – 2 Cor 6:14-18

These enemies are embedded in our character, our attitudes, our mindset and our priorities. They stagnate and frustrate us through agency of our passions, lusts, habits, customs and traditions. Romans 12:2 says we should not conform to the very source of these agents – the world. If we conform our new man will be compromised. Once Your nature is compromised the process of rededication is arduous and tedious but unless we yield to it, we will forever be going round the wilderness reciting God’s promises but never being able to truly take hold of them.