Harnessing Divine Memory and Imagination

Unlocking Divine Potential Through Positive Memory and Imagination

I. Introduction and Core Thesis

The central message of this sermon revolves around the idea that believers possess everything they need for "divine healing, divine deliverance, favor, prosperity, perfection" within their spirit, which is where the Holy Ghost resides. The key to "releasing everything you have in your spirit" and experiencing a "forceful, powerful, and supernatural" life is a positive and God-centered use of memory and imagination. The speaker emphasizes that God desires to teach believers how to utilize these faculties in alignment with His thinking, moving away from dwelling on past regrets or future anxieties.

II. Key Concepts and Themes

A. The Spirit as the Source of All Divine Provision

• Indwelling of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Ghost, healing, the voice of God, and the power of the resurrection all reside "in your spirit."
• "Everything You Need": Citing 2 Peter 1, the sermon asserts, "I've given you everything you need for life and godliness. Well, I can tell you it's all in your spirit. Favor, prosperity, perfection, it's all there."
• Rivers of Living Water: The goal is to move from a "trickle and a drip" to a "forceful, powerful, and supernatural" flow, referencing Jesus' statement about "rivers of living water" flowing from one's "belly" (spirit).

B. The Power of Memory and Imagination (Hebrew: Yet)

• Positive Memory as a Key: A significant portion of the sermon highlights the importance of using memory "in a positive way." This is presented as "a real key to releasing everything you have in your spirit."
• Avoiding "What-ifs" and "If-onlys": The speaker strongly discourages living in past regrets or hypothetical scenarios ("if only I would have done this," "what if I was born into a rich family"). "God is a today God."
• Imagination as Mental Image and Faith's Partner:The Hebrew word yet (translated as "thoughts" in 1 Chronicles 29:18 and "frame" in Psalm 139:15) is presented as referring to imagination.
• Imagination is defined as "the power of forming a mental image that is not yet present."
• It is directly linked to faith and hope: "This is what faith is. Faith is being sure of what you hope for. Hope is like the switch that turns on faith... Faith works with hope to produce a positive image of yourself. You're not going to be healed unless you see yourself in your mind healed."
• Vision and Purpose: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." God desires everyone to have a "purpose in life, a vision, some type of a calling." This ties back to the Catholic Catechism's purpose for humanity: "to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world."

C. Communion as a Tool for Positive Memory and Healing

• Remembering Christ's Sacrifice: Taking communion is presented as an act of remembering Jesus' "sacrifice," "finished works," and the reality of being "forgiven... healed... whole."
• Healing is the Children's Bread: The sermon emphasizes that "healing is the children's bread," citing the Corinthians' premature deaths due to their inability to "discern the body of the Lord" as healing.
• Practical Application: Communion can be taken "every day," even "three times a day," and does not require a church setting. Each instance has a "tangible presence of God" and "puts you in a status of Christ consciousness, not sin consciousness."
• Testimony of Healing: The speaker shares a personal testimony of his daughter's tumor disappearing after one cancer treatment, attributing it to taking communion and remembering Jesus' finished work.

D. The Battle of the Mind and Overcoming Negative Imagination/Strongholds

• Imagination's Dual Nature: While powerful for good, imagination can be used negatively (e.g., Noah's time, Tower of Babel).
• Strongholds and Casting Down Imaginations: Strongholds are "something in your mind that occupies your thoughts, something that's just all consuming" (e.g., fear, hatred, anger). The battle is in the mind, and believers are called to "pulling down of strongholds... casting down imaginations... bringing thought every thought into captivity to obedience to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
• Paul's Example of Forgetting the Past: Paul, despite his past as a murderer of Christians, exemplified forgetting "about the things that are behind" and pressing forward, knowing he was forgiven.
• Thinking Like God: "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is." Believers are encouraged to "begin to think the way God thinks" by focusing on "whatsoever things are true, are noble, are lovely, are good, are excellent, are praiseworthy" (Philippians 4:8) and setting their minds "on things above, not on the things of the earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).
• Controlling Emotions through Positive Memory: Recalling a negative memory (like an Italian family member's 30-year grudge) illustrates how negative memories control emotions. Thanksgiving is presented as a powerful tool: "Thanksgiving will free you from every toxic emotion."
• God's Perspective on Memory: "You will keep him in perfect peace. Him whose mind [imagination] is stayed or focused on you." God's thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are higher (Isaiah 55).

E. God's New Covenant and His Forgiving Nature

• Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness: Under the New Covenant, God's nature is characterized by "grace," "mercy," and "forgiveness." The law made people "sin conscious"; Jesus made us "grace conscious" and "Christ conscious."
• God's Forgiveness of Sin: God's forgiveness is complete and eternal. "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness... and their sins, and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more." This means God "blotted it out of his memory."
• God Remembers Only the Good: At the judgment seat of Christ, God will remember only the "gold, with silver, and with precious stones" (redemptive, blessing actions) and burn away the "wood, hay, and stubble" (negative things). Believers are encouraged to emulate this and "remember only the good things of the past."
• God's Unconditional Love: "Father, you love them [disciples], As much as you love me." God's love is "beyond our belief, beyond our imagination."

F. God's Foresight and Orchestration of Life

• Predestined Purpose: Psalm 139:15-16 is interpreted to mean that God "wrote everything in a book before you were born." He has "perfect foreknowledge without control," knowing when a person will choose Him and orchestrating their life accordingly.
• Imitating God: Believers are called to "be imitators of God as his dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us" (Ephesians 5:1). This means thinking and acting like Him.

G. New Testament Laws (Laws of the Spirit)

• The sermon clarifies that "we're not under the law" of the Old Testament (10 Commandments, dietary laws, Sabbath), as they were "nailed to the cross."
• Instead, there are New Testament "laws" written in the mind and heart:
• Law of Love: "Love one another as I have already loved you" (John 13).
• Laws of Giving: "Give and it shall be given unto you." God desires prosperity to be a blessing to others.
• Law of Liberty: "Stand fast in the liberty where Christ has set us free." Not burdened by the "yoke of slavery."
• Law of Faith: (Romans 3:28)
• Not "name it and claim it."
• "Faith without works is dead." It requires action.
• Based on God's promises.
• Believing "they've received before you even get it."
• Looks back at "the finished work of Christ. It's already done."
• God speaks from the "inside out," not the "outside in," often through "thoughts and impressions" in one's own "vernacular."
• "Faith has a voice. It speaks. It's not silent. It speaks. It declares." Believers should "speak to the problem," not just tell God about it.

H. Benefits of the New Covenant (Psalm 103 as Prophecy)

• Psalm 103 is presented as a prophetic psalm about the "finished work of Christ," not fully applicable to David in his time.
• "Don't forget all his benefits":"Who forgives all your iniquities." (Unlike the Old Testament's temporal forgiveness).
• "Who heals all your diseases." (Jesus' stripes healed us; healing is part of the atonement, "it's in your spirit").
• "Who redeems your life from destruction." (Crossing from death to life; spirit is "impenetrable" by sin).
• "Who crowns you with loving kindness, which is the word hesed, which is grace. And he crowns you with mercy." Goodness and mercy "shall follow me all the days of my life."
• "Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like an eagle's." This refers to speaking life and experiencing renewed strength, effortlessly soaring like an eagle by "waiting upon the Lord."

III. Practical Applications and Call to Action

• Daily Communion: Actively engage in communion as a daily practice to remember Christ's finished work and activate healing.
• Control Your Thoughts: Be intentional about focusing your mind on God's truth, positive images, and His character. Cast down negative imaginations and strongholds.
• Practice Thanksgiving: Cultivate a spirit of gratitude to overcome toxic emotions.
• Speak to Your Problems: Use your voice to declare God's will and truth over challenging situations, not just tell God about them.
• Live in the Present: Embrace the "I am" nature of God by focusing on "this moment" rather than past regrets or future fears.
• Document God's Work: Keep a "book of remembrance" of all the times God has supernaturally intersected your life.
• Seek Help When Needed: While God is supernatural, if struggling for years, seek help from those with spiritual gifts (visions, prophetic, word of knowledge) who can "lift you from the realm of doubt into a point of reception."

IV. Distinguishing the Old and New Covenants

The sermon frequently contrasts the Old Testament (law, temporary forgiveness, sin consciousness, God not forgiving all iniquities/healing all diseases) with the New Testament (grace, permanent forgiveness, Christ consciousness, complete healing, God's indwelling in the spirit). This distinction is crucial to understanding the believer's current position and access to divine power.