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In The Image of…
Do You See What God Sees?

By

Ubong Ekpo

Introduction:


“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person…
2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into that same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the LORD.

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 8:29
For Whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.


God has an image of a great and abundant life for us which Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection provided for us. This is expressed as His will or what God wants for people.
And what He willed for people to have, He paid the price for them to legally enjoy through Jesus’ blood by the power of faith.
What He wills or wants for people can be summarized in this: “Every human being able to experience and enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection”
How does Jesus’ death and resurrection affect our lives today and how can it help people?
Why would what seems to many as one of many religious stories or fables have any bearing on our world today?
There are many religions and books and the internet is full of information on about any topic you could imagine of human interest.
There are professional and user groups, schools of thought, organizations and institutions that determine the validity or importance of information to human society.
Often weighted on popular vote or hanging trends, the Christian way of life for many is just another old tradition that has no bearing on realities of modern existence.
There is no end to the books in print and on digital platforms today. At least 5,000 a month are published.
Why would the thoughts, ideas and words of one book called the Bible be any different or hold more potence than the writings of other writers?
Are the ideas and images portrayed merely for informational and historical purposes or is there a definite purpose in mind behind the entire collection of books in the Bible?
The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable…
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
In the epistle of 2 peter 1:20 we are told that
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

²¹ For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Holy men known as prophets in Israel were supernaturally moved or prompted to record what we have as scriptures today.
The Bible was God’s idea and not a product of philosophical, academic,scientific or popular human decision.

We are told earlier in the book that …through the knowledge of God…are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The promises contained in this book are stated as having the ability to take the human experience and nature beyond its limited scope of the senses and science into a realm of the Divine existence and experience.
The world we live in is presented as one which is corrupted through lust and the Divine nature is the solution to escaping this corruption.
In these verses and the verses from Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 1 and 2 Corinthians 3, we see a definite plan of God to transform the human life and experience into a state and continuous experience like Jesus Christ Himself has.

We see a transformation plan in the mind of God.
A definite desire for us to become like and enjoy a life like Jesus Himself does.
God desires us to behold His image and be changed from glory to glory just like Jesus.
Is that possible?
How can these ideas and promises that are thousands of years old in scripture be applied in the technologically advanced world we live in today?
In a world which strives to negate scriptural thinking and the ideas of the existence of the Creator.
A world where as Paul said in the book of Romans:”professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God INTO AN IMAGE made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things”
Romans 1:25 says:”who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is BLESSED FOREVER”.
Mankind rejecting the image of God, turns to other images to dictate its existence and experience. Of course behind the scenes is the enemy of man’s soul who is the prince of the power of the air. Disconnection from God’s image leaves the images of the world as the only alternative. Sadly, the images of the ideals for life and man’s destiny are controlled and heavily influenced by the one who the bible says in the book of revelation deceives the whole world.
A world in which political correctness abounds, gray areas are generously provided for and the ideas of truth and absolute Divine Authority on any subject are subject to heated debate and rejection.
Times have changed but what about God’s image for people, His creation?
Has God changed His mind?
The bible says He changeth not.
It is wonderful to note that Jesus Himself said about praying to the Father: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God’s will IS ALREADY DONE in heaven and God wants it done in the earth we live in today.
That has never been altered by changes in technology, politics, government, business trends, fashion, media and so on.
Well, what does that will look like?
What does God’s will in heaven look like?

Is there war in heaven?
Is there bad governance in heaven?
Is there suffering in heaven?
Is there sickness in heaven?
Is there poverty in heaven?
Is there confusion in heaven?
Is there failure in heaven?
How about debt and hard, meaningless labour?
We would probably agree the answer is no.
If we truly believe in heaven which Jesus spoke so often about as being a real place.
It would at least be a standard of life better than the best on earth.
Heaven is the perfect representation of the manifested will of God.
Heaven is the picture of ultimate happiness, ultimate pleasure, ultimate peace, freedom from anything and everything that hinders limits or harms in any way.
The two concepts of heavens and the earth have always been the subject of much of the bible’s illustrations, stories and teaching.
It has always been about God communicating from heaven with the earth, interested in what happens on the planet and how the decisions, words and actions of men and women on earth have affected even heaven itself. Both are intricately woven together in ties that go beyond eternity.
In the Genesis account, the bible begins with the Blessed One in creation. Creation of the heavens and the earth is where the bible begins, ending in Revelation with His plan and image of the new heavens and new earth that will certainly come to pass. Heaven and earth will pass away but His words shall never pass away.

HEAVEN CHANGING EARTH IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER

Jesus spoke often about heaven and its connection to the earth.
God’s will in heaven or the picture of God’s heavens reflected on earth is one of absolute and total happiness.
A state of blessedness that is untouchable and cannot be diminished by anything.
But how do we reconcile that image with all the fear and evil in the earth daily?
It’s very important to remember that mankind was not always in the fallen state that you see today.
Our original design and destiny was not sin. Man was not created to experience fear, limitations, suffering, sickness or anything less than a heavenly experience. We need to look at how God designed the world and to do that we go past the fallen state which is Genesis chapter 3 to the very beginning of creation.
It is also important to understand the times we live in after the fall of man and the fact that our current dispensation and what is known as the “last of the last days” will come to an end soon. We are in a space of time that will soon mark the end of the “church” age. A period that followed Jesus death and resurrection until the rapture of the saints.
Romans 12 used as a text in the beginning of this chapter tells us in verse 2 that we live out the images of our minds in our daily lives. God has an image for our daily lives and future and if we start thinking differently than the world around us, we will start living a higher quality of life.
“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”is what Paul in the Book or Romans urges christians.
A transformation takes place in the minds and lives of people who accept God’s normal or God’s standard as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
The devil also has an image and blueprint for human existence which he drives through the world, its systems, governments and laws.
The word ‘world’ as consistently used in this text and the bible, has a specific meaning different from what is commonly perceived.
The English words, “earth” and “world” are often used interchangeably in our language. In Hebrew, however, earth and world refer to two separate things. The earth refers to the place, the physical planet on which we reside. The world refers to order or governing affairs. God created the physical earth and then He established the world – His government and divine order. “Earth” deals with the location where things are occurring; while “world” deals with who is running the governmental affairs.
Let us remember that John said in his epistle that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. So the ‘world’ as referred to by John is driven by lust and pride.
Earth represents the physical planet on which we dwell, while ‘World’ represents the governing order of the earth.
There is a governing order on how things are done in government, politics, business, finance, economy, culture and even religion.
The Word of God, as God’s Kingdom constitution, deals with the seen realm of the natural world and the unseen realm of the supernatural world. This kingdom of God is presented in the New Testament through the life and teachings of Jesus and the epistles from the New Testament church.
You may recall that Jesus when tempted by the devil in the wilderness was shown” all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”.
There are clearly two ways of living and doing things in life from the bible’s perspective: God’s way and the world’s way with the world’s way is largely influenced by the devil.
As we know the devil has been called the ‘god of this world’ in Second Corinthians 4.
The god of the governing order of the earth. Whether people have realized it or not, the devil has been for some time the god that sat above the governing order of the earth. It transcends all human authority and rule existent in the earth.
This means the results of following the world’s ways or norms will lead directly or indirectly to an image and end planned by the devil.
Images of his standard and norms are what he wishes to project on lives and those images lead to him stealing, killing and destroying things in our lives as Jesus said in John 10:10.
The world’s way of living is connected to a ‘carnal’ lifestyle which Romans 8 tells us is a way of thinking or a lifestyle that leads to death (physical and spiritual) while Gods way of living or being spirit-minded is life and peace.


THE IMAGE OF THE TRUTH OR TWISTED IMAGES OF TRUTH

Everyone follows what they view as their truth. There is “your truth”, “my truth” and “their truth”.
But have you stopped to consider that truth is truth regardless of whether you believe it or not?
Truth is truth regardless of whether you are aware of it or not?
People believe many things today that are not real truth.
Varied personalized versions of truth are proof in themselves that what is viewed as personal convictions is in most cases untruth.
Deceit is essentially believing that a lie is true.
The devil is called the deceiver and this is is his way to obscure the truth about God and what Jesus did on the cross to reveal to mankind who God really is.
I’ll say it again that whether or not a person is aware of the truth does not change the truth.
Whether or not a person belives the truth does not change truth.
Truth is truth regardless of societal beliefs and change, regardless of technology and the age we live in. Truth never changes because Jesus Himself is the image of the truth.
If you are seeing the right image of Jesus as truth, then every other image your mind and soul processes can be measured or filtered to ensure your thinking does not become twisted with images of lies dressed up as truth for your living your life.
Everyone’s way of thinking originates from images that have been projected on their minds over a period of time.
From your birth and over the greater part of your psychological development and growth to adulthood, you have been knowingly or unknowingly programmed by images of what life is, what life should be and what the truth is on everything.
Your life is a product of your thoughts and your thoughts are greatly influenced by what your eyes see consistently.
By the images that fleet before our eyes and which run through our minds daily.
I particularly mean the thoughts that float in our heads late at night when we get quiet and alone or when our eyes are lit by the dawning sun.
There are lots of images which subconsciously rule people’s thinking such as news of global politics and economics, terrorist threats, epidemics, wars and rumours of wars, financial and economic collapse, political instability, immigrant issues and more.
News flashes and reels on Instagram, Facebook and social media can flood your mind can be flooded with images in seconds. These images also cause your mind to swing in favour of or against a particular way of thinking and are usually crafted to that end. Knowingly by political or other agendas, or unkowingly controlled in the background by the one who the Bible says deceives the whole world.
Images rule the imagination.
It has always been that way.
And now through the internet, AI, the internet of things and the ability to alter what is reality, the images basically control perceptions, opinions and every sphere of thinking.
A lot of these images are now accepted as the norm in people’s lives.
Statistics show that foods many eat, the air many breathe, the water running through the plumbing in entire cities carry poisons that contribute to disease.
Many have succumbed to all this as being normal.
People believe it’s normal to fall sick, normal to have days of depression and normal for life to be a continuous struggle.
In a company I have worked with in the past, co-workers actually believed for years that Mondays and Thursdays are the worst days of the work-week and expect irate customers to call in and all sorts of things to go wrong. They believe these images and it has been an established reality. Every Monday and Thursday one could feel the gloom in the work atmosphere like a dark cloud that settled over the office if one lets it. This has become normal for them and the image of that reality in their minds became a physical reality. Normal.
The word ‘Normal ‘means conforming to a certain standard or model.
Romans 12:2 in the message bible tells us to “don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you just fit into it without thinking”.
So well-adjusted to the world’s standard or model for living that you don’t stop and ask: “Isn’t there any other way to live, any other options?”
Paul says in Romans 12:2 that there is an option by renewing your mind and the images you ponder on daily through the word of God.
In contrast to the images the devil has for people’s lives, Jesus said in John 10:10:”I am come that you may have Life (Zoe is the word used here for God’s kind of life) and have that life in abundance until it overflows. This is God’s image for your life.
Continuing from Romans 12:2 in the New Living Translation we are told: “Let God transform you by changing the way you think” and the message translation also says: “Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. If not… the world beneath will drag you down to its level”.
Jesus said that which is from above is above all and a man must be born from above to see and enter the kingdom of God (God’s way of living and doing things). We are also told that greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world and whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. All these tell us God pictures our lives with higher quality and free of the limitations, barriers, circumstances, problems and plagues that the world experiences.
What is normal for the world at large should not be normal for a Christian’s life.
Yet it is unfortunate that some Christians’ church attendance is the only major distinguishing factor between them and the rest of the world. The normal lifestyle for them includes what the world suffers.

What the world views as normal is not what God views as normal for anyone.
Jesus said to “search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me”.
He also said: “”I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life”.
The Apostle John said: “We know that the whole world lies in darkness”
“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overpower it”
and:
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
There is a lot of darkness in the earth today that the light of education, science, technology and medicine are failing to remove from the human experience.
The bible provides light to a dark world. It points to Jesus the true light of the world and causes us to have faith in Him. It moves men and women to begin to think on, speak forth and experience God’s images and plans for us.
God’s images of the human lifestyle are available for anyone and everyone who believes in Jesus. These images, plans and lifestyle is accessible by faith or thinking on and acting on what the bible says.
So it’s clear from all of the above that there is what the world views as normal and then there is God’s view of normal. If you have spent even a little time comparing what the bible says and what goes on with the world around you, it becomes clear that there is a great divide between the two.
If we wish to experience God’s best in our lives, then conforming to God’s standard by renewing our minds should become a priority in your life.
Only then can we be transformed into the image of His Son in life, experiencing: “brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person,” in the person of Jesus.

There are so many images we were raised on as children which have been the hidden forces guiding our lives. Some of those images are good but some may have been bad if our parents did not know and choose to live by the word of God.
What we were raised witnessing formed our ‘mindset’ and views on life and the world around us unconsciously.
For instance, I grew up believing that the only way to be successful, have a house and anything of value was just working really hard at a job.
I grew up seeing that we could not really avoid sickness and disease and our family was always ready with medicines, my father being a doctor.
Are medicines in themselves bad? Of course not.
There are good medicines manufactured from organic natural herbs and substances that generate, repair and maintain cells, tissue, glands, organs and systems with our bodies.
The problem with medicine is where we have deviously driven pharmaceuticals behind the production of drugs and medicines as our decade has witnessed.
Most medication suppresses symptoms and does not heal or cure and in a lot of cases destroy human life.
The ‘placebo effect’ keeps many trusting pharmacies and pharmaceuticals.
Some doctors and health professionals are sincere and good but there is a better way to live than at the mercy of a healthcare system which many the world over complain and groan under the weight of.
There is a better way to prosper and enjoy a fulfilling life than just plain hard work and hoping something will change someday.
It comes from understanding the image God has for us in the covenant of Jesus’ Blood when we are redeemed children of God.
Redemption initiates God’s normal in a person’s life, permanently removing the effects of the fall in the Garden of Eden.
Many however experience the world’s normal and are born and raised within the context of the world’s view of normal.

CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS

God’s Genesis account of creation shows His original ideas behind man’s lifestyle, experience and circumstances.
The truth is man was created in the image and likeness of God.
God Himself said this in Genesis 1:26. Think about that.
You and I were created originally in the image and likeness of God.
IN the likeness of God created He them: male and female created He them.
All creativity whether from God or man is based on an image.
A picture of a desired outcome or state.
Desires drive formation of images on the mind of the creator or thinker.
Once images are formed of a desire, there is motivation and momentum to create or produce that image.
No image, no stimulation to create.
Genesis 2:2 tells us that God on the seventh day ended His work which He had made; and He rested from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.
Remember He said in Genesis 1:26:”Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” and verse 27 says so God created man in His own image.
We see two words in play in the beginning.
God creating and God making.
God created and made.
So man was created and man was made.
Although both words are similar, creation has more to do with causing something new to exist.
Making could have more to do with forming something from something already existing like God did with man’s body.
He created His spirit by speaking or breathing into the body He made from the clay (or as the word in Latin used is humus).
Man is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body. We know that because Jesus said in the Gospel according to John chapter 4, that God is a spirit and man was created in his image so the real you is a spirit or what the bible calls in many places the ‘heart’ of man.
And being made in God’s image meant man was to be a creator like Him moved by images of God at work in them.
Even when people claim they had no specific idea in mind when they set about creating, they actually followed a nudge on the inside to brush the first strokes in a certain way or to put pieces together. Sometimes in a sudden wave of inspiration or pleasure they found themselves with a masterpiece on completion.

A practical example is illustrated by the writing of my personal development book titled: “The A.R.T of Motivation”.
I had consistently seen hundreds of young entrants to the “workforce” as New Hired employees without a vision for their future or building a career and this bothered me.
This repeated image of group after group and another image of the solution showing how things could be different, drove the desire in me to resolve this problem.
It caused me to start asking every New Hire group questions to provoke their thinking and then providing them with personality tests.
It finally culminated in the idea for the book title and an overwhelming desire to write once the book title dropped into my mind one day.
It all begins with an image, no matter how small or unclear at the beginning.
Of course, the more specific and detailed the image, the greater the beauty and perfection of the creation.

GOD’S PRIMARY IMAGE OF THE FAMILY


Romans 1 also quoted earlier shows people:” changed the glory of the incorruptible God INTO AN IMAGE made like to corruptible man”.
Mankind has replaced the glory or the manifestation of God who is absolute goodness and His plan with AN IMAGE made unto corruptible man.
Well-meaning people all over the world today live out images that match the corruptedness of fallen man. They have life experiences that are produced by the sinful nature of man after Adam left the Garden of Eden.
People live a lifestyle that conforms to sin and its devastating effects. A lifestyle termed normal that is now subject to limitations and conditions that are controlled by the curse of sin and death. The human being is forced to conform to standards, models and lifestyles that are far below the image of God’s created man and woman.
God’s created man and woman. “Male and female created He them”
Did you get that? Forget what you have been taught or had paraded on soial and other media as the new normal.
God’s did not set up “socially defined roles of choice” where politics and popular opinion define what a ‘sex’ is.
Modern society seeks to identify sexual orientation or ‘sex’ as attitudes, activities and characteristics that a particular society ( there are differences in different societies) accepts as normal for a man, a woman or…something else.
Romans Chapter 1 clearly warns what happens as man refuses to acknowledge God as creator and becomes unthankful to Him. Degradation of the human society, values and total darkening of the understanding.
Fundamental to understanding the image God has for people now and in generations to come is the truth that God made male and female. He created them. It was not voted on or legislated into creation.
The God of heaven and earth by His own Divine sovereignty created male and female. “In His image created He them”.
If you are reading this and have somehow been cajoled into the idea, confused or frightened into the idea that it is being tolerant to accept anything other than the truth, understand that you have made a choice and you have chosen an image that is devilish, false and created in rebellion against the Creator God.
Man, woman, family and procreation were never man’s idea or that of a social or healthcare system. They were ordained by God Himself and represent the true image of God’s view of man and this world.
There is God’s way of seeing things and the world’s way which is by and large controlled and influenced by the evil one.
Romans 12:12 also shows that we are either conforming to the world’s image or being transformed into the image of God’s perfect will for us.

GOD’s IMAGE OF MAN CO-RULING WITH HIM AS HIS CHILD
God has an image in Him of the universe so vast yet so detailed which moved Him to create. An image of love. An image of peace. An image of perfect order. An image of wealth so immense that scientists keep exclaiming with awe at each discovery of what He has created.
Uncovering what He made and desired for us to find and see images of through and beyond eternity.
He created it all and then put the crown of His creation in it all to rule with Him.

⁾ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place —
^5 (4) what are mere mortals, that you concern yourself with them;
humans, that you watch over them with such care?

^6 (5) You made him but little lower than the angels,
you crowned him with glory and honor,
^7 (6) you had him rule what your hands made,
you put everything under his feet —

Psalms 95:6 says

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

The sea is His and He made it and His hands formed the dry land.

Let’s begin with creating images in your mind about the earth ocean’s depths and then go all the way up to the heavens. God created it all intending for us to see it and believe in Him.
Divers go down to depths of about 40m except for deep sea divers on oil platforms who can go to depths of up to about 900 metres. The great deep blue whales He created can dive to depths of about 500m below the ocean.
At a depth of 1000m it gets really quiet and is the maximum depth sunlight reaches the ocean depths. The lowest point of the Grand Canyon in the U.S is 1828m down the ocean and we’re still going.
At 4267m we are at the average depth of the ocean across the earth.
At 8850m we have reached the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest going in the opposite direction of its peak.
Film Director James Cameron has actually reached a depth of about 11000m below the ocean. At about 11,034m we get to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
And Job 26:10 says He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
That’s an image of the sea, now going back up 11000 metres and up into the sky we see more images.

In one patch of night sky caught by NASA’s Hubble telescope, you can find thousands of galaxies. Each galaxy contains billions of stars and each star has planets in its orbit.

In all He created there is such wealth that is yet to be uncovered.
In an article on the discovery of a planet called the 55 Cancri e, I read the following:
[Quote] The most famous gems on Earth have new competition in the form of a planet made largely of diamond, astronomers say.

The alien planet, a so-called “super-Earth,” is called 55 Cancri e and was discovered in 2004 around a nearby star in our Milky Way galaxy. After estimating the planet’s mass and radius, and studying its host star’s composition, scientists now say the rocky world is composed mainly of carbon (in the form of diamond and graphite), as well as iron, silicon carbide, and potentially silicates.

At least a third of the planet’s mass is likely pure diamond.
Considering that the earth is one of the smaller planets in a galaxy called the Milky Way, thousands of galaxies existing in one small patch of sky really brings things up to scale.
The sun in our galaxy creates light and images are visible by its light. That sun actually has counterpart suns outside our galaxy like Arcturus which is 16,000 times larger than our sun in volume, Alpha Scorpii A which is 690 million times larger and VY Canis Majoris which is about 2.9 billion times larger in volume than our sun.
Then consider that our galaxy the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years in diameter and that God our Father created a galaxy called IC 1011 which is 6 million light years wide in diameter..
Just imagine all that could be inside that one galaxy. Billions of stars.
And we are told in Psalms 147:4 that He determines the number of the stars and He calls each one by name.
Each of the billion stars in each galaxy, He calls by name.
Each of the possibly billions or more galaxies, He has determined the number of stars in each.
How great is our God. He used those stars to inspire Abraham and an image of the stars assured Abraham of His promise.
Genesis15:5
“Now look up at the sky and count the stars.
How many was Abraham able to count? God used that image to inspire his faith and He still uses images today to stir faith in the hearts of men and women either directly or through His most powerful medium: words.
His love reaches higher than the heavens and still it finds its way to me.

Now you’re beginning to see images. Images which God put there for us to see.
Romans 1: 19 and 20 say:
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

There is so much that is beyond the human or NASA’s Hubble telescope eye that is hidden in the phrase “God created the heavens and the earth”.
God has always wanted man to know Him and see His image.
This is possible through His creation which is all around us and then through knowing Him personally and seeing Him spiritually.
And with all His creative power and the glory He has, we humans were created to be like God, a copy of His own image.
God reproduced Himself in creating man, another mini-creator with abilities like His.
He gave man the ability to see images spiritually and physically.
The ability to see images within us and around us to either spur us to know Him, to co-create or to enjoy the pleasures of His predestined creation. Once a desire or internal image was created in the physical, it could now be enjoyed as pleasurable. To experience the pleasure of all creation – His and ours, God then gave us eyes and the sense of sight.
The sense of sight is stimulated by light to view images around us. Light which stimulates images is simply another manifestation of God who is Light.

In creating man in His image means God has an image which he expects man to enjoy and reflect.
Men and women are designed to reflect and project an image to anyone seeing them. However, since man’s separation from God through spiritual death in Eden, he has not really accepted or understood the source of his fascination with models and images.
The world has always been looking for heroes and people to inspire us, model or be led by. Someone or something to show us the way.
From statesmen to musicians and from generals to film actors.
There is a lot of effort and investment around the world on the image and reputation of people, communities, organizations and entire nations.
It has become vital to modern-day business on how they are perceived and branded to customers. Politicians’ platforms and words create images and expectations in the hearts of followers. Everyone has an image of a better life or the world as it should be.
There are organizations and charities channelling trillions of dollars each year to battle poverty, help families, improve economies, advances in medical science and treatment of disease, broadcast inventions that would make life easier.
Oh and world peace, in the hearts of many that truly desire it is born out of an image of the world and life on earth as it should be.


Next in Genesis 1:28, the very next thing God did after creating and making man in His image was to pronounce a blessing or to bless man.
The image of God for man in the earth was to reflect His blessing.
The word blessing means the power of God to produce.
It means the anointing of God through which Divine favour flows.
The Blessing of God is the covenant of God that overrides any curse and Proverbs 10:22 says the blessing makes rich and adds no sorrow or as some translations say, the labour of man cannot add to it.
The curse on the earth came into being after the fall and man sensed a need to return the original image. The curse of sin, poverty, lack, sickness, oppression, evil of all kinds on the earth today is an image contrary to what man was created and made to be and enjoy. This is the reason why mankind keeps overcoming limitations and looking for ways to subdue the earth. There is an image at work in man the origin of which is God.
That image of the inherent ability to prosper and create wealth can be seen again in Genesis 1:28 with Adam’s creation.

“God Blessed them and said unto them…
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth”

Have you ever thought about the fact that after God breathed into Adam’s lifeless physical body ad he opened his eyes for the first time to see God Himself, the first words he heard were these?
When God said man should be in His image and likeness, Adam was not alive yet.
The first sounds that entered the human ear. The first words a human being ever heard, the first thing that Adam learned and understood about God, himself and his environment was the blessing pronounced upon him in Genesis 1:28.
This was the very first thing God chose to speak to the human he created which means it obviously held great priority with God.
If an artist created a masterpiece, He would give thought as to how he would name it and what it would mean to him and the world he would present it to.
God in creating man, had a clear message to give all of the universe about Adam.
He was blessed.
But the word blessed nowadays has lost its meaning to many. The reason why is it does not carry the image in people’s minds as it did when God Himself first used the word.
A study of scriptures clearly shows that wherever the word bless, blessed or blessing is used in connection with God, it always had a result of favour,well being, prosperity, happiness, freedom, safety and success.
Proverbs 10:22 says :”The blessing of the Lord. It maketh rich and He adds no sorrow with it”
The blessing of the Lord makes rich.It makes rich. The blessing of the Lord adds no sorrow with it. This means it produces a sorrow-free existence when in force.
Why would God decide that the first thing He was going to tell the person He created was that He was blessed?
It was and obviously is His will and desire for mankind.
God desires for people to proper, to be rich and to live free from sorrow.
The very garden of Eden was evidence of this. The blessed life.
The actual Hebrew translation of Genesis1:1 says : ”In the beginning, the Blessed One created heavens and the earth”.
The Blessed One also created man in his ”image” and likeness.
The image of the “Blessed” one.
Romans 1:25 shows that man:” changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is BLESSED FOREVER”.
He is Blessed forever and He blessed creation through Adam.
Through Jesus He provides the blessed life. The ability to be blessed forever like He is. Restoring His image and likeness in mankind.

Can a person be blessed? The bible gives so many illustrations of people being blessed by God.
Adam and Eve carried the blessing in and on them. After they sinned, the opposite of the blessing began to manifest in the earth as the curse.
The curse is the opposite of the blessing. It is an internal and external state of being that is contrary to the blessing. The curse is an internal and external image of the opposite of what God’s will is for mankind.
Galatians 3:13 says Christ was made a curse for us… that THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM might come on the gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Ephesians 1:3 says God has blessed all believers with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and David said in 1 Chronicles 17:27: for you blesses o Lord and it shall be blessed forever”.
Jesus is also called a high priest after the order of Melchisedec, who represents a never ending priesthood. This means that what Jesus executed on behalf of all believers as their High Priest has no end.
Hebrews 8:1 says :”Now of all the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens” and verse 6 says :”but now He[Jesus] has obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” and Hebrews 9:11 says:”But Christ being come an high priest OF GOOD THINGS TO COME, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands…..v12- neither by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood He entered in one into the Holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us”
Jesus, became our high priest and the high priest was the one sent by God to execute the covenant on behalf of His people. Jesus was sent to execute our salvation, our redemption, our new birth, our righteousness, our blessing.
And since Jesus has an eternal priesthood, His righteousness, His blessing, His life in the believer is not something that is here today and gone tomorrow but is forever.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are blessed forever. This is your true image and likeness.
Of course, as a man thinks in his heart so is he and as Romans 12:1-3 tells us, the renewing of our thinking and focusing on these images will transform our lives into a picture of God’s perfect will through Jesus. Just as it is in heaven. Days of a life of heaven on earth. This is God’s image for you.

Behind various causes and movements is a burning desire to be free from limitations, suffering, and to be free to enjoy life. Health, prosperity and wellbeing. It’s all driven by conscious or subconscious images.
Every person has a yearning for the true image of life as it should be. However, the focus of human thinking will determine whether God’s images prevail or those for the devil for every person.
Man has and will always live out images within and desires to reflect and project images to others.
The important question is “what kind of images?”
Even more important is: “who or what created or inspired those images?”
The answer to these questions determine the outcomes in life for those who think about or behold those images – for good or for bad.

An image will always create or perpetuate a thinking or belief system that will lead to further creation or distribution of those images.
Thanks to technology, social media and platforms, one shared YouTube video, Instagram or twitter post, one sentence from a speech on television is powerful enough to move entire communities and people groups to action or inaction.

As I mentioned earlier, creating man in His image means God has an image which he expects man to enjoy and reflect. Let’s consider some of God’s projected images from the scriptures:
God is Light.
God is Love.
God is good.
God is merciful.
God is righteous.
God is Holy.
God is gracious which means He is disposed to show favours.
God is rich.
God is full of compassion which means eagerly disposed to do well to others.
God is all of these things among others as the bible tells us.
One of His most prominently projected images in the New Testament is that He is Love and He is Light.

So God, who is Light, in the Genesis account of creation spoke Light (Himself) into manifestation from the spiritual realm into the physical realm. The Light spoken into being and spread by the sun across our solar system produces or reveals images of all we see in existence.
Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith we understand that the worlds were framed (furnished and equipped) by the Word of God.
Prior to God’s speaking light into creation, Genesis 1:2 tells us that there was darkness upon the face of the deep and the earth was form and void.
So God released the image of Himself and His desire through His words.
By His words, images of His perfect will and desire became visible.
Then He spoke words about the image He had within of a man in His image and likeness.
He proceeded to form a body for man from the earth and breathed into man the breath of life.
Man now became another speaking spirit like God.

What do you suppose was the first thing Adam saw when he opened his eyes?
He saw God the Father in person.
The true image of who He was made like.
Remember that light causes images to be created and become visible in the natural realm.
So the light of God Himself caused the very image of God Himself to be visible spiritually and physically to Adam.
The first image Adam saw was God in His fullness.
The first thing man ever saw was the face of God His loving Father.

The first thing He saw was Light which after the fall of man became unapproachable light. His light was not unapproachable before the fall to man.

The first thing he saw was Love in its fullness.

The first thing he saw was righteousness, Holiness and Perfection in its fullest manifestation.

These formed the first image Adam saw. The image He was made in the likeness of.

We see that the first image(s) that man saw were formed or produced in God’s own presence and were images of who he was made to be.

The first images that went through the mind of man communicated by what he saw and experienced were from and about God.
Man could see and was in the image of the Glory of God.
Man then sinned and fell short of the glory of God.
The glory of God was the image of God that man represented.
Man lost the image of God and the devil began to poison his mind with other images.
Sin caused man to begin to see images that worked against him and who he really was.
Sin always distorts people’s image of God, self and others.
Images of fear, doubt, unbelief, depression, lack, failure, defeat and sickness.
His image of self-changed when he sinned and the devil used the opportunity to inject man’s consciousness with twisted images of God, self, other people and everything around man.
Adam and Eve were not required or forced by God to respect or obey His desires any more than you are.
They were put in Eden and given every tree that is pleasant to the eye and good for food;and the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.
They were given good things, a good environment. Even the tree of life.
It was expected that they have confidence in what God said and in His images for their lives as good.
Their life experience was to be one of goodness and blessing of Yahweh “The Good” and “Blessed One”.If they trusted in His integrity they would live and prosper with Him forever.

If they believed in His vision, His image for the good life and believed His word, his would remain their reality.
If they abused His trust and disbelieved His word, the process of deterioration would begin and they would die.
Without mutual faith between God and people, the good life ends.
Faith is what makes the image of God and His will real within the human spirit and soul.
Faith is the evidence of these things even if they are not seen and faith comes by hearing about God’s will and His image or picture for the good life.
From the fall of man in Genesis up until Jesus ‘coming, man’s battle with twisted images of God, self, other peoples and his world has caused the will of the devil to be done on earth which is stealing, killing and destroying.
God’s will from the lips of Jesus is and has always been that it be on earth as it is in heaven. There is no sin in heaven, no fear, no hate, no lack, no defeat, no poverty, and no oppression.
All the evil on earth today is produced from images that have been at work in the hearts of men and women over human history.
Jesus said in Mathew 15:19:
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man…”
Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts and as a man thinks in his heart so is he.
All the evil we ever see on the news or in existence today is the product of images, evil thoughts at work in the minds and hearts of people.
The image of God and the images of God for the good life have been distorted or rejected and since the mind and heart cannot be a vacuum, they have been filled with other thoughts and men’s own ways and desires that may seem right to them. However, a tree is always known by its fruit. The results of multitudes of evil thoughts have given rise to the violence, oppression, greed and evil we see today.
Our world today is a picture of the images and thoughts at work in hearts daily.
James chapter 4 tells us where even wars and fightings among people spring from. They come from lusts that war within people. A lust is an image of a desire that drives a person to satisfy self at the expense of others.
Fear is an image that causes people to oppress others or make decisions that are detrimental to self and others.
What Jesus came to do was really restore man back to the original image of Him.

He came to restore man back to God’s original image of self by enabling people to become recreated spiritually in God’s image.

Jesus came to solve the identity crisis of man due to the devil’s deceit and the fall of sin.
Sin always leads to an identity crisis and distorts the image of God and the good image of any person. It affects their self-confidence and twists their perception of self and others. The book of Hebrews tells us that sin is deceitful. It creates false images contrary to God’s true character and ours. Sin is always caused by an image at work in a person and causes an outwardly visible image through a person’s thoughts, presence, words and actions.
Man loses his true image of God and self when he sins.
This then causes a yearning to create other images in the hope of replacing the void of the right images from God and of self. This of course leads to worship of other things that are not God.
Worship is always connected to and inspired by images that create a sense of wellbeing or satisfaction.
Images will control a person’s thinking and worship.
When God gave the law to Moses in Exodus chapter 20, He commanded: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Over and again through the bible we are reminded to guard against idols and idolatry with John ending His letter with little children keep yourself from idols. Why?
Why would God be so concerned of an image and even mention idols?
Idols were IMAGES of false gods. The longer a person beholds an idol, the more his true identity and image of God and self becomes distorted.
Of course, idols in our day are not just wooden and carved images but could be people, property or possessions, hobbies and so on. Isn’t it diabolical to see that in our generation, the word ’idol’ is praised as something good and worth emulating. We have all kinds of talent shows and the word ’idol’ is attached to them to the delight of the devil.
Have you noticed how words and phrases like idol, evil, demon, darkness or the dark side, “killed it”,”sexy “ and many other words have invaded the human vocabulary over the past few decades and become accepted as ‘good’ and desirable words used in advertising frivolity and unconscious satan worship.
Words create images whether you have twisted them or not and we have many people using words and phrases that draw up images in their subconsccious that expose them to the control of the devil.

2 Corinthians 4; 4 says: 4 the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The light of the Gospel displays the Glory of the Anointed One who is the IMAGE OF GOD.
God wants us to see His image and images. The devil wants us to see his image and images. Images will dominate your mind and life.
They tell you how and what to think say and do. They tell you how to live, how to dress, what to eat, where to go.
Images tell people that immorality, adultery and fornication are NORMAL.
Ten minutes of television or on facebook will prove this.
Images convince people that living a life that has absolutely no room for God is a modern lifestyle.
Images convince people that boundaries do not need to exist and people can do anything they want, anywhere, with whomever they want.
Freedom of choice, speech and belief is often touted as the goals but the truth of the matter as Jesus put it is: “if you continue in my words, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”.
Freedom people seek is often in things that drive them into deeper bondage.
Knowledge of Jesus and the images His truth presents is what brings real freedom. Who the Son sets free is free INDEED.
“Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin”.
The reason why so many seek ‘freedom’ in what causes bondage is spiritual blindness that is deliberately enforced by images that flood the human mind and consciousness on a daily basis.
Our lives are ruled by images and man will always be drawn in worship to either something or himself.
He is made to worship something. And worship requires a convincing and consistent image.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and He also said that the Father seeks true worshippers who would worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
The greatest sources of images in our time include social media and advertising platforms. The communities created around these roll out images with amazing speed. From YouTube videos to Facebook images, Pinterest, twitter and so on.
Images, images, images.
Images are increasingly the communication means of choice. A picture is truly worth a thousand words. And memes,animated images or video are even more powerful.
Creating and popularizing a brand is important to business more than ever. Branding basically is about images. Even when fonts are used, the new fonts are all inspired by images and have a unique character.
Jesus was and is an image of who God is and how He relates to mankind.
Jesus according to Hebrews Chapter 1 is the express image of God the Father and the substance of His own person. God sent Him to restore man’s image of self by giving us for all time a visual of what He is like and what we were created to be like…Him.
God had to send an image. Something we can see. In this sense, seeing is believing when the eyes of your faith and spirit see Jesus.
The book of John Chapter 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word. The book of Second Corinthians 4 also tells us:

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The letter is to believers and tells us that as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same IMAGE from glory to glory.
We behold the glory of the Lord by beholding Jesus and the main way we do this is through the teaching and studying of the Word of God. This reveals the image of the glory of God that changes us. The Word being Jesus who is also the brightest revelation of the glory of the Lord.
As we read in Hebrews Chapter 1: 2

Jesus is the Brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.

The image of God’s person is Jesus. The express image. It’s the same word used in Greek in Hebrews 11: for ‘substance’.

Continually seeing images of who Jesus really is, what Jesus is, says and does is what empowers you to live a life like God intends for you. The glory of that image changes you. This is why it’s so important to spend time in God’s Word every day.
Jesus according to Romans 8: “in bringing many Sons to glory” as sent by the Father of Glory is the image we need to behold and keep before our eyes. “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.”
Remember Jesus also said: “he that has seen me has seen the Father”

Going back to Psalms 119 where it says: The entrance of His Word gives light. Light causes images to be clearly seen. So Jesus is the Light and revelation of and from Him causes the image of the Father to be clearly seen. Beholding that daily changes us from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Jesus said to Paul that he would bear witness of: “things you have seen and I will shew unto you.”
The more you see of Jesus through His word and fellowship with Him, the greater or brighter your witness of Him becomes to the world around you. This is because you become changed into that same image which is working within you. The Word of God creates images in your spirit and soul that are empowered by your thoughts, words and actions to manifest the glory of the Lord on earth or to cause physical manifestations of those images.

It is important for Christians to make the Word of God the ultimate and highest authority in their lives if they want to experience the life of God Jesus died to give us and to be powerful witnesses of Jesus.
When you found any part of your life on the Word of God, by looking to for guidance, instruction and remain in it, light continuously flows. Psalms 97:11 says:  Light is sown for the righteous and also said: Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Life is a journey and you need light to walk on the right path. This is increasingly evident by the events around us. The world is being covered by darkness and gross darkness but upon you the glory shall be seen.
The path that is as a shining light mentioned in Proverbs 4.The light that shines in darkness and is irresistible.

Consider plants for example, or the grass that is here today and gone tomorrow. The sight of those little beauties of creation generates such a feeling of wellness and serenity. There are few things that create a sense of peace and rest to your soul like the sight of fresh, well-maintained lawn of grass. The grass and little plants have such power within them to take the sunlight and convert it into food and a host of by-products needed by our planet to survive. Light is a wonderful thing.

The entrance of His Word gives light. Light causes images to be clearly seen. It is a wonderful fact that God created light which causes images to be produced and seen and then gave us eyes that can see the image and send signals to the brain, mind and heart. The unseen realities of God are actually only so, because of what the bible calls a veil of human limitation. The things of God can really be seen but for them to be visible in the natural realm, a person must believe in their reality though the unseen. This causes the things of God to take shape and become visible in our world. Hebrews 11 says through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God and that things that are were created from things that are not seen.
Even the things people take for granted that they can see touch and experience in the earth today. Everything visible was created from the invisible things which the natural eye does not see. Then God spoke words which became a bridge for our reality and the reality of the unseen to merge.
Faith bridges the gap between the things of God which are unseen and the natural seen realm.
I like an illustration of this my friend Pastor Krasy Mirchev gave of this in one of his messages on the supernatural: “Imagine an airplane propeller when on the ground. It is motionless and is visible. When that aircraft is in the clouds flying at a speed of about 900 miles per hour however, the same propeller in the jet engines becomes seemingly invisible. If the plane were to slow down its speed, make a landing and stop, the propeller can become visible once again. But it was always there. Just that in the air, it rotated with such a speed that made it impossible for the human eye to catch.”
The bible says God is light and we know that light travels at a speed of … miles per hour which is way beyond the speed of rotation of turbines and propellers of a jet engine. For the things of God and the spirit to be visible to the human eye we have two options: either they are slowed down for the human eye to catch them or a person has to accelerate into that dimension or speed of existence to be able to see them. This is exactly what happens when a believer begins to walk by faith. The things of the Spirit become easier to see and catch. Faith will also cause the unseen forces to cause a visible result in the earth realm.

Now let’s consider an interesting question: “What does God look like?”
You will get all kinds of responses to that question.
My next question is: “Does God want us to know what He looks like or what His character is?”
Does God want me to have an image of who, what and where He is? What He thinks?
Well, what if I don’t have accurate information about all of this? The result would be my mind processing images far from the truth and any mental deliberations on the subject would always lead to a wrong image, wrong belief and consequently wrong perception and experience of who God is.
God knows the power of images. Images are drawn or created by words and thoughts.
For you to be able to comprehend any subject or concept, your mind needs to have an image of what it is.

If I said “water” or “sunlight” or something like “Smartphone”, you immediately have a concept about what I mean and can actually see images in your mind of what was said.
Research has proven that if a language does not have a particular word for a thing, it is almost impossible for the speakers of that language to have a concept of what that thing is.
Again, words create images.
Also, seeing a physical representation of a thing registers meaning on your brain as to what a thing is or what a thing should be when it is referred to. Especially when you are introduced to that thing for the first time.
God knew that an image of exactly what He looked like was absolutely necessary to redeem mankind and restore them to their place as His Sons that.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. HE sent Jesus, The Word and through the life and words of Jesus, we were and are able to see the Father. We are able to see the fullness of God in greater measure.

I remember watching Ernest Angeley, American Christian evangelist, author, and television station owner as a child. Each week, his television program was aired in Calabar, Nigeria, far across the Globe. I remember being drawn to the screen time and again as a child between the ages of six and eight and hearing him say:
”I believe in miracles, because I believe in God”.
The image of his crusades and thousands being saved, healed and delivered by the power of God stir me to this very day. Those images were seeds of a call and future.
I remember my first children’s picture bible. Due to frequent use at play and reading the stories, it had been torn into several pieces. I can still see the pieces, like several volumes stacked amidst toys and other things in my bedroom shelf. Images of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, of Jesus’ temptation by the devil, of Sampson holding the jawbone of an ass, Jeremiah being drawn out of the well he was thrown in were common sights as I looked at the shelf which held the scattered pieces.
Those images have worked in my subconscious all these years. I still remember them vividly.
I remember horror movies I also saw parts of which put a fear of the dark in me as a child for a good number of years.
The eyes have been called the window to the soul and rightly so.
Our sight is connected to our imagination and our minds. The frequency of exposure and the decision to magnify or minimize the images seen in our minds affects our life experiences.
We can think through our eyes if just the right kind and frequency of images are let in.
Silently but relentlessly, images are formed and consequently our life experience.
On a walk through the park, commuting to and back from work, through the shopping mall or looking out the windows.
Nowadays through advertising and marketing tools, images have come even closer, getting past locked doors and into every facet of our everyday life through the internet and mobile devices. The internet of things and other ways to keep us… well…connected and informed.
We are creatures that can be stimulated by sight and images existed in the mind of God at creation as they do in the mind of every inventor or innovator.

These images are translated into spoken or written words and produce images in the beholders or hearers and take physical form in people’s lives.
I like to think of the word ‘imagination’ to mean an image in action. It marks the beginning of anything new. Your imagination is given to enable your mind tap into God-likeness and become a mini-creator.’
Your imagination provides a blueprint to put into action the images you have seen in your mind or subconscious.
Your mind is fed with images daily either by choice or seemingly by accident.
I say seemingly because sometimes images we do not want can find their way into the mind if we are not watchful.
These images create thoughts in your brain and mind which unconsciously affect your feelings, decisions and actions.
Think about this for a minute: all human communication and the free flow of meaning happens mainly through words and images.
The proliferation of screens and devices of all sizes, the proliferation of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more platforms we use everyday utilize words and images to convey suggestions, thoughts and ideas.
Words themselves actually cause your brain to immediately bring up images or form images of what was said with words.

God’s Word Creates Images in You

In Peter’s epistle we are told that we do well to take heed unto the prophecies of scripture as unto a shining light that continues until the day star dawns (2 Peter 1:19).
The Light of His truth produces images in you of what the God Kind of Life is, of the plan of God for you, of the dreams God has for you. There are so many verses I have heard or read that have been quickened to my spirit as direction and instructions regarding my future. Many of those things I am currently walking in and will walk in within the next few years but are not visible to those around me.

The image or the vision. In Proverbs 29:18, the writer tells us:” Where there is no vision, the people perish but happy is He that keeps the law (Word)”
In Habakkuk 2:2 God said: “write the vision, it is for an appointed time.”
God has appointed times in your life to manifest images or parts of His Divine plan for you.
God instructed Habakkuk 2:2 to document the thoughts of God that came as a vision to him. A vision is something you can see. In vision stage you cannot see it physically but you can clearly see it in your mind and heart.
It has potential and provides momentum.

Moses endured as seeing Him that is invisible and “SAW” a reward from God when He made a decision to leave pharaoh’s palace, not enjoy the pleasures of sin for a moment and identify with Christ and His people. An image drive Moses to take action as described in Hebrews 11 and it is on record that Moses did it ‘by faith’. So faith is clearly connected with images God puts and matures in you.
Consider every Christian’s race and calling.
Paul said one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which lie before, I press towards the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. At the end of his earthly ministry, Paul said: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Now is reserved for me a crown.” How did he know that?
How could Paul be so sure that during his life, he was not beating the air or running uncertainly?
He knew because he could see God’s images for His life. Jesus told him on the road to Damascus that he was to bear witness of what he saw and of what Jesus was going to show to him.
And did God ever show Paul things in his life.
Everything we enjoy from the Pauline epistles were all revelations or images that Paul’s spirit received from God and he was able to write and teach.
Considering that this represents two-thirds of the New Testament, I’d say Paul saw a lot wouldn’t you.
But it’s important to note that everything Paul saw and did that was of eternal value was the result of things he heard and saw from God. Words and images of God’s words at work in his spirit man.

Out of the mouth of the Master, Jesus Himself we know :”I only say what I hear my Father say, I only do what I see my Father do” and “the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do”.

Jesus Himself acknowledged that He could not and did not do one thing other than what He had seen the Father do. This is the reason why He never had one failure or defeat. This is the reason why He lived a perfect, sinless life and pleased the Father to the utmost.
His life was a complete reflection of total unity and obedience to the will of the Father and His every thought.
When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was seeing images from the Father for them and seeing the compassion of the Father pulsating through His spirit.
When Jesus saw situations, He was actually seeing images of what was really going on in the spirit. He was seeing the news behind the news. He was the One who said if your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light.
His words were always causing people to see God’s images, God’s perspective, and God’s heart. His words which are Spirit and which are life open the spiritual and physical eyes of man to see the images of God the Father.
In Matthew 10, He said: “Lift up your eyes and behold the harvest is white “
He called Himself the Light of the world. We will all agree that light is seen and is valuable in darkness. In Matthew 5 He said: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father which is in heaven”.
Jesus said: “he that has seen me has SEEN the Father”.
Jesus words and life brought sight of God’s image and the images of God for mankind for all eternity.
Paul speaking of his calling said in Ephesians 3:9:”and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of time had been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ” and that he was a “light unto the gentiles”
In Psalms 119 we are told that entrance of His words giveth light and understanding and “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”
Light causes things to be visible. The light of God causes God and the things of God to be visible and disperses darkness.
John tells us in The first chapter of his first epistle: “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all”
I love the way the bible accounts start and end for man with Adam seeing God as the first image ever and John seeing the heavenly Jerusalem descending.

What God says produces images. Anything you hear as words produce images. If I were to say the words….can you sense the images that rise within your mind and soul. Can you sense the disorder and chaos they can introduce? Words produce images. Words you hear daily are producing the images in your mind, soul and heart and your heart is processing and producing those images.
Have you noticed how people’s language, speech and communication has been consistently degrading over the decades with the use of words that were previously seen as bad, now accepted as God. The bibl ewarned woe to them that call evil good and good evil.

You hear the terms “bad boy”, mean man, lol used to mean things that are ‘cool’.
By the way, cool means lukewarm so that’s another word that has invaded even the dictionary of Christians. The devil is constantly trying to destroy people through their own words. How? Well. Those words create images in hearers’ hearts and release creative or destructive power to bring them to pass.
If you guard your tongue you will enjoy a good life.
Psalm 34: 10-12
…11Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good?
13Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit.…

James told us:
For he that desires to love life and see the good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile;

The Light of Men

Light also stands for development. Light signifies growth. Light signifies new horizons and reveals expanse. Light stands for nourishment. In all of these, one must see an image to create an awareness, desire and drive to reach for any of these.

As a man thinks in his heart so is he.

Paul saw something in that experience on the road to Damascus. God said I am going to show you more. There were things Paul saw over the course of his life and race which he penned as revelations in the New Testament.
All you are and can ever be will depend on the images you can see within your heart and mind and not the external circumstances.
The question is what do you see?
What you see will be influenced by what you see in your mind and spirit.

Solomon said in Proverbs that without vision the people perish but he that keeps the law of vision, happy is he. The word for perish in Hebrews according to Strong’s concordance means:
Word: RXT

Pronounce: paw-rah’

Strong: H6544

Orig: a primitive root; to loosen; by implication, to expose, dismiss; figuratively, absolve, begin:–avenge, avoid, bare, go back, let, (make) naked, set at nought, perish, refuse, uncover

It says people go back, people are set at nought.
If you have no vision for your life you are actually perishing and your happiness in life is dependent on the vision for your life.
Man was made to live his life from inside out. To see things inside or from beyond the natural that would cause images to be seen and enjoyed on the outside. We are given eyes to see and enjoy God’s and man’s creation and be inspired to create ourselves using the uniqueness of our own design.

So people perish or go back or are set at nought when they lack vision.
God said to His people in Hebrews 10:38: Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Drawing back is a result of a lack of spiritual vision for life. That spiritual vision is born out of faith.
This faith comes by repeatedly hearing the Anointed Word of God.

The Images God Gives You Produce The Vision For Your Life:

Once a person catches a glimpse of God’s desire for their lives, it feeds and fuels their entire existence.
Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
God’s images are dropped in a man’s mind and heart in various ways. What activates any of God’s chosen methods or makes us more sensitive to them is our attention to and obedience to the Word of God. Thoughts go through our mind on a daily basis. The mind which is part of the soul of man plays a crucial role in receiving, translating and experiencing the spiritual vision(s) God has for our lives.

God can give you dreams, visions either directly or through the Word of God. Other times, He will lead you to meet people or go to places to physically see something that triggers spiritual vision or images of the plans of God for your life.
The clearer our thinking and the more purified by the Word of God, the clearer the image of the things of God and His spiritual vision for us in every moment,situation and for our lives.
You even begin to see things in your mind’s eye before they happen. Remember, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would show us things to come. I confess that over me and my family and ministry daily and I see repeated results of this. I catch images of things before they happen or through dreams or in God’s word.
What we fill our mind with or turn our attention to daily is so important.
People with reprobate or polluted minds find it hard to perceive and catch spiritual visions of the reality of the things of God and His word that are theirs.
! Peter 1: 22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto … Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth in sincere
Reading the Word of God especially out loud washes and purifies your mind and soul.
There is so much filth on cable channels, t.v and the internet that you can many times sense people’s thoughts as being full of what they have been feasting their minds on day an night.

Similarly, the more time you spend in God’s word day and night every year, the presence of God and the light of the glory of God can be sensed and seen around you.
Romans 1:28 says: “And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”
So the question is what’s on your mind at the moment?
What’s on your mind late at night when you lie on your bed?
Verse 29 says:

“Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
So they did not like to retain the knowledge of God.”
The knowledge of God was offered them but they rejected it.

The Greatest problem of man in the earth today is rebellion and rejection of the images and will for God for him. It is not really ignorance and it is definitely not God’s unwillingness. Your life cannot be changed until you change who or what you believe. Your persuasions are based on the images and convictions you have decided to rule your life. Your persuasions then give rise to your experiences and seasons in life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDITATING ON GOD’S WORD:

Romans 12 says we are to not be conformed to this world and its ways but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Renewing the mind changes the images at work in you all day long. Whether we like to or not, our minds are going to be thinking all day long from the moment we get up to when we go to bed.

That is why God told Joshua this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, keep it in the midst of your eyes and you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may make your way prosperous and that you may have good success.
The Hebrew word for meditate means to murmur, mutter or repeat over and again what the word says. Its very enlightening to note that the Hebrew scriptures were originally intended to be read out aloud enhancing comprehension, attention and potential application of teaching.
Acts8:26 -40 tells us about the Holy Spirit instructing Philip to join himself to the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch who was returning from Jerusalem. We read :
26And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

Philip heard him read the prophet Esaias. He was reading it out loud.
This was how Philip knew what he was reading. The Ethipian had been taught by the Jews to read the scriptures out loud. This is a form of meditating on the word of God.
It is in reading the word aloud and turning over in our minds what the word of God says that we actually meditate.
This action causes hope, faith and a clearer image of what God is communicating to us become visible.
Meditating on God’s word is what takes images of God’s view of our lives and experiences and illuminates our lives with God’s will.
Then faith can now give substance to what we hope is ours from our knowledge of God’s word.
Many times, as I have repeated God’s word to myself, I have asked the Holy Spirit to guide me into all the truth and then as I have spent various lengths of time during the day turning it over in my mind, I have had sudden discoveries of how God wants me to act in a situation. Sometimes, I have had other scriptures I have known for years suddenly connect in my mind to what I was thinking about exposing a deeper understanding of what God’s mind on the subject is.
Jesus taught us that the Spirit of truth who is the Holy Spirit will testify to us of Him, the Spirit of truth will guide us into ALL the truth, the Holy Spirit will teach us ALL things, He will shew us things to come and He will even bring to our remembrance all that Jesus has said to us. I expect Him to do just that every day of my life as Jesus promised and He does.
Many times He has brought to my remembrance messages I heard years before on the topic but didn’t have much enlightenment on or the voice of the pastor in his last Sunday message with a sentence giving me the answer I needed.
There have been so many occasions in the workplace when I have even made statements to colleagues, made decisions for my team or taken actions prior to certain events occurrence. After the event, it seemed to all around me that I already knew what was going to happen and was privy to information that no one had. Indeed I was, to ‘inside information’ from the Holy Spirit.
I like to confess the word of God everyday of my life and specifically certain scriptures because we are told man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
For instance, my family and I daily confess those scriptures where Jesus told us what the Holy Spirit would do for us I mentioned above.
As a result, I expect and experience the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit by faith and this pleases the Father as well as enables me enjoy Jesus’ abundant life.
As many believers do, I take a good deal of notes when I listen to the word of God being preached by anointed men and women of God that have fruit and putiry backing them.
However, there are so many things that Jesus communicates to us that can be missed if we do not take time to go back over those notes and messages and meditate on what was being said specifically to us.
I like to do this at the end of every week or every 10 days to see what exactly God has been speaking to me and how to apply it.
This study or pondering is a form of meditating on the word to enjoy profit from it.
Jesus said in Mark4:24 :
“Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you–and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.”
There is a measure of thought and study required to be able to enjoy depths of revelation and tangible results from god’s word.
Paul told Timothy to study to shew himself approved by God. Jesus again said :”Search the scriptures for in them ye THINK that ye have eternal (the God-Kind) of life”
There is faith waiting for searchers.

There is revelation awaiting meditators on God’s word.
There are results that manifest when we are willing to dig deeper into god’s word through meditation.
Meditation , thought and study enables renewing of our minds to occur.
This is God’s plan so we can profit from the scriptures and enjoy His will.
Ephesians 4 tells us to “be not foolish but understanding what the will of the Lord is”. This means if one is not growing in an understanding of the will of the Lord, foolish decisions, foolish thoughts and foolish actions would be the result.
We are admonished to be not foolish but UNDERSTANDING what His will is.
Hebrews 11: 3 tells that by faith we UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed(equipped, furnished or completed) by the word of God.
So faith brings understanding of even things as initially complex as how God made everything.
Faith brings understanding and God wants us to understand how He does things and to understand His will.
This faith comes (Greek meaning for comes is it keeps on coming ) by hearing and hearing the anointed word of Christ as we read in Romans 10:17.
So when we hear the word, faith comes. This word needs to be ‘mixed’ with faith in us to produce God’s will (Hebrews 4:2) and that mixing can be greatly enhanced when we meditate and study the word we have heard.

There are many distractions and engagements that abound daily and just listening to a 45 minute message on Sunday morning will not give you strong faith.
Meditation,study and repeated hearing is necessary to mix faith with the word and to have the word bear desired fruits in your life.
One of my absolute favorite teachings of Jesus is the parable of the Kingdom of God in Mark 4.
Jesus actually told his disciples that if they did not understand this parable, how would they understand all parables. That makes this parable of how the Kingdom of God operates in a man’s life.

For the purpose of quick definition, let me say that the Kingdom of God can be defined as God’s way of doing things and being right as well as the nature and character of God.
In verses 26 and 27 of Mark 4 we read:
^“26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

²⁷ And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.”

Note that a man ‘casts’ seed into the ground. It’s the man’s responsibility to sow the word of God into his heart which is the ground.
The seed then springs and grows up and he knows not how.
The man’s responsibility is to keep casting seed into the ground or sowing seed into the ground. Of course, the issue of the soil of his heart could be a problem but if he keeps casting the seed of the word of God in his heart, meditating and studying the word of God on the subject, it will transform even the bad soil of his heart.
Romans 12:2 confirms this as well as Psalms 19:7:
“the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”
The soul is the mind, will, emotions, intellect and will of man.
When a person’s mind is renewed and his or her soul is converted, they see things from God’s viewpoint and his or her thinking causes the images of God’s will to force a physical manifestation of whatever God’s thoughts are.
We probably all know Ephesians 3:20 that tells us God is able to do exceeding above and beyond all that we can ask or THINK according to His power which works within us.
Our thoughts can activate the power of Christ at work within us to supernaturally turn situations around, heal sick bodies, produce financial turnarounds, grant favour and manifest the will of God even in seemingly adverse conditions.

God has not designed us to relate to our world mainly through what our physical eyes see but through what he sees and the images He has for us as being in His image and likeness, demonstrating His reign over our natural world.
If we are not daily renewing our mind with the images of God and His word for our lives, we will be conforming to the world and its images of thinking, saying and doing.
Romans 12 verse two tells us that we are either conforming to the ‘worlds’ way or being transformed to live God’s way.
God said to Joshua and the Psalmist mentioned in the first Psalm the importance of keeping the word before our eyes day and night and then speaking the word.
Speaking the word continuously is a form of meditation and how we release our faith.
Faith operates in the heart and in the mouth as we are told in Romans Chapter 10.
Continuously speaking the word causes the images of the human mind and heart to be magnified. Just the same way anything we repeatedly say is kept alive in our thinking. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and in Matthew 12, that if you make the tree good, its fruit would be good. In explaining further, he said a good man out of the treasure of his heart produces good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart BRINGS FORTH evil things. So people bring forth in their daily lives good or evil things based on the treasure in their heart that has been accumulating.
How do those things get into the heart?
Through what people hear, see and say continuously. We are told in Proverbs 4:22 that we should guard our hearts with all diligence above all things for from it are the issues or forces of life.
Keeping the images or thoughts of God and His word before your eyes and in your mouth is important. The next important step is meditating or saying or pondering over and over the images of God’s word in your mind.
The main reason God gave us a mind and heart is to keep images of Him and His thoughts for us playing over and again so that we can create or produce those same images of the good life in our world.
The way those images of God get into our minds and hearts is through the eyes, ears and what we say ourselves.
Meditating on the word of God is not the same as the cheap satanic imitation advertised as meditation and yoga rituals.
Meditation originates from God and is simply spending enough time praying, thinking, muttering and picturing the instructions or written word of God for a person’s life.
If you can set aside at least 15 minutes a day or various times of the day when you consistently think about, pray about, confess and picture how God’s specific words should apply to your daily life, you will begin to see an increase in manifestation of God’s promises in life.

It will take more than a few bible verses and a five minute prayer to tap into the precious revelations of truth from God’s word that go beyond head knowledge, producing real faith for manifestations. It’s a matter of digging into the Word of God and staying there until the words and images of God are so clearly formed in you, you become unshakably convinced of what He promised.
When this happens, you will see that your confessions of faith will not feel like just words anymore but you will sense a spiritual release of power from your spirit as you speak them. Your joy will increase and your expectation grows so much that you start acting like the word of God is true because it is.
Many times I have spent meditating on scriptures or thoughts from God without sensing how deeply I was being affected and in a matter of a few days dwelling on scriptures on a specific topic, a confidence rises and I sense power behind the words I speak on that topic.

So meditation involves reading the word, listening to the word, praying the word, and thinking about the word, muttering and picturing the instructions or written word of God for a person’s life. From Joshua 1 and Psalms 1 you will see that the eyes, ears and mouth play a major role in meditation.

This is one of the reasons why I am convinced that all spiritual or physical deafness, blindness and muteness is of the devil and God wants every such person healed.
Blindness, deafness and the inability to speak hinders one’s ability to enjoy the good images God has for them and experience God’s life. They hinder the receiving and release of God’s revelation and power in the earth.
Every time I see a deaf, blind or mute person, I have a strong desire to heal them.
Paul said: “meditate on these things, give thyself wholly to them and thy profiting shall appear to all”. Meditating can be on the written word or anointed words spoken by brethren or ministers of the gospel. It could of course also be from what God said to you personally.
In 2005, God led me and my family to move from the second largest city in Bulgaria to the capital of Sofia. Specifically to a part of Sofia known as Bankya.
When we moved, I had been seeking God for over a month on what he was doing next with our lives. The very next day after we moved to Bankya in obedience to God, it was like a floodgate of revelation and instruction
opened. God immediately began to speak through dreams, His word and other means about things to come.
One day as I knelt down to pray about a new job opportunity God opened for me in the IT industry, I heard the voice of God in my spirit say: “Take the kingdom of God into the IT industry”.
This was a mandate from God that He has confirmed repeatedly over the last 11 years in the IT sector. I have seen promotions each year, raises, bonuses, favour with colleagues, superiors, clients and even people who were adversaries. That word and abiding in it has brought increase and honour to me within the IT field and I carry a ‘sent’ anointing with unique results for people in IT. Every day of my life I have thought about, spoken and pondered those instructions from god for this phase of my life and ministry. I have spoken those words in the face of challenges and seen them give way because one word from God revealed has the power to fulfil itself when released in the earth. Meditating on this word from god has brought me so many testimonies over the years.
One and the same word.
Knowing scriptures or what God said is not enough. It should be in your eyes, ears and heart in increasing measure to cause your faith to receive the full benefits of the word.
As a child I lived with a spirit of fear and was terrified of the dark and all kinds of things growing up in Nigeria. As I meditated in later years on teachings from Kenneth Copeland and my being free from fear by Jesus as Hebrews 2:14 says, I began to experience that freedom. It culminated in a night when I drifted off to sleep listening to the teachings as was my practice for long periods of time. I had fallen sick during this time and I suddenly an experience in a dream where a demon appeared to drag me off in the dark and I rebuked him causing him to flee.
I had two similar experiences with the spirit of fear in dreams in which I was victorious. From that point forward I began to see freedom. Over the years as I have continued in the truth in Hebrews 2:14 where: “Jesus took part of death destroying him that had the power of death and delivered me who through all my lifetime was subject to bondage”. I have continued to experience freedom in various degrees of the fear of men and other things that were hidden fears that caused bondage. Glory to Jesus!

Another unique example of the results of meditating on God’s word came listening to Jerry Savelle teach on the blessing and favour of God over the years.
I became so convinced of the blessing of God on my life and expecting it to manifest, it became part of me and my family’s daily confession. We have enjoyed great benefits of believing and confessing this.
I meditated on Proverbs 10:22 and other verses I had known for years but began to enjoy its manifestation greater than before.

THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALS THE IMAGE OF JESUS AND THE FATHER

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
John 16:13


The Holy Spirit has always been the unseen personality of the Godhead at work on the earth.
We see Him present in creation hovering over the face of the waters . We see Him present in the end of the book of Revelation :”And the SPIRIT and the bride say come”.

In John 16:13, when Jesus said the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, the word used for guide is the word odega which is from the Greek word “odos”. The word odos refers to a road. There is a road, a way that God has planned for you to walk and live in to experience all His goodness.
Proverbs 4:18 says the path of the righteous is as a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day.
There is a road for your life charted for you to see and experience God’s goodness in its fullness and the Holy Spirit will guide you along that road.
I live in the center of the city with a famous cathedral about 100 metres from where I live, the nation’s parliament, the most recognized university in the nation close by and other attractions. If you were a tourist, you may want to employ a guide who knows the ins and outs of the city to be able to enjoy the bets of what the city and country has to offer.
The Holy Spirit has been in the future. He knows the plan of God for your life and the entirety of God’s plan for mankind to the most minute detail. He knows how you fit in. He knows the relationships that will help you grow in the fullness of God’s abundant life. He knows the places and events that have been masterfully positioned along your life journey to bring out the fullness of Divine deposits in you.

Jesus then said :”He will shew you things to come”. This clearly refers to the future. The Holy Spirit will show you future events regarding your life and beyond.
In guiding you into all the truth on life’s path or showing you the future, images are brought before you inside and outside as your life experience.

It is the Holy Spirit that is giving you revelation and understanding of Jesus and the image of the Father as you read the bible, this book or any book about God.
The Holy Spirit reveals distinct images that help you see what God wills and desires.
When Jesus appeared to the Apostle Paul on the way to Damascus and dramatically saved him, he said:
in Acts 26:16-18:
“But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Jesus said I have APPEARED unto you for THIS PURPOSE. To make you … a WITNESS both of the things which you have seen and of those things in the which I will APPEAR unto you.
A witness is someone who can give an eye-account of an event or occurrence.
Jesus said Paul was to give account of what He witnessed and of the things in the which Jesus would appear to Him.
He further sad that Paul was to open people’s eyes implying that people are spiritually blind or limited as to what they can see of God’s reality.

Jesus also said in John 14:18:” He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
Jesus desires to make himself visibly seen to people and this is done by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said He will testify of me.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

¹⁰ But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

¹¹ For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

The Spirit of God make sus know the things that are freely given to us by God.
The Holy Spirit reveals what no eye has seen, ear heard or entered into the heart of man, the THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED for them that love Him.

v10- But God has revealed them unto us BY HIS SPIRIT.

The Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead that reveals to us Jesus and God the Father.
The images of what no eye has seen and what God has prepared for your life are revealed to you by the Holy Spirit and He does this in various ways.
He speaks to everyone individually when each one is open and yielded to hear what He is saying.
The main ways the Holy Spirit reveals to us the image of God and images of God for our lives are by :

1. The Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 says :
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of God is the most spiritual thing in existence. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh.
The Word of God is the most stable determining factor of the willof God and the foremost judge of any spiritual leading or experience. Nowadays, there are all kinds of false teachers, prophets and experiences which are taunted over the internet, facebook and youtube.
There are many false preachers with wrong motives- ministers of satan with lying signs and wonders or false claims of visits to heaven and hell to deceive those who are not grounded in the word of God.
If you do not know the word of God, it will be easy for the devil to deceive you.
Faith according to Hebrews 11 is what pleases God and faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.
A solid understanding of the unadulterated truths of God’s word and your ability to rightly divide the word of truth is your greatest ally to being led by God and guarding against the enemy’s deceit and operations.
Don’t buld your life on supernatural encounters alone but first and foremost on the word of God.Let the word of God be the platform for the producing of supernatural encounters and experiences in your life. Even in the absence of a seeming supernatural experience, the word of God will never lead you astray.
Hebrews 4;12 says the word of God PIERCES even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
These days when people have itching ears to hear something new and not based on the word of God, knowledge of sound scriptural teaching will help you judge spiritual from carnal, what is from God and what is not.
Moreimportantly, it will help you judge what is from your spirit, what is from god’s spirit, what is fromyour soul and what is from other sources. Paul says in Corinthians that there are many voies in the world today and he also says in 2 Timothy 3:16:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Perfection comes through the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of TRUTH. He will not witness to anything that does not agree with the truth. Jesus said of God’s word: Your word is truth.

How do you get trained in knowing God’s leading through the written word:

a. Read the bible everyday for yourself (begin with a chapter a day)asking God to speak to you personally and meditate on what He tells you. This helps you build a strong spirit. I advise that you spend most of your time studying the epistles in the new testament to grow as they are specific instructions to the New testament church on how to live pleasing to God. Read the whole bible and receive its entire teaching but remember that the New testament is specifically addressed to bible believers in Jesus Christ.

b. Pray the prayers the Holy Spirit gave the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:14-18 and Ephesians 3:14-18 for yourself everyday and expect God to speak to you from the word.

c.Develop a habit of immersing yourself in God’s word by having audio bibles on your tablet, laptop, in your car or on your phone that you can listen to at various times of the day.

d.Become part of a bible believing church that teaches and lives the truths of God’s word.
You can judge all teaching based on Jesus’ words, the teachings of the apostles and Paul’s epistles specifically to the church on how to live.The epistle steach practical Christian living and guide decision making.

e. Spend time thinking about the word of God you hear and what it means to you.The Holy Spirit will guide you into applying all truth in your personal life.

f.Be a doer of the word of God or you will deceive yourself as James 1 says.
There are tonnes of teaching that can be found online and people just ask:”ok wheres the next one to listen to?” without thinking they are supposed to sdo something with what they hear.
Everytime you listen to God’s weord or are exposed to it, ask yourself what God expects you to do with it and be set to be a doer.It is the doers of the word that are blessed in their work. Faith without works is dead and a bunch of head knowledge alone puffs up without any substance.
People that do not listen to God’s word with a decision to do it are like the foolish man Jesus described in Matthew7 who buil ton the sand. Challenges will come and decisions will need to be made everyday. If you are not a doer of God’s word it will make things difficult for you and for God.

g.Read good Christian books. I say good because not all that is termed ‘christian’ is good. There’s a lot of music out there called Christian that does not bring you closer to God or lead into worship but rather into worldliness. There are a lot of books that confuse people and do not build them up in Christ. A good Christian book is a book from an author with a proven personal and family life and strong foundation sin the word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in them. Jesus said by their fruits you shall know them. You cannot pick figs from thistles.
Research the authors relationships and associations to see if they are in a good company of faith.
Paul the apostle and Daniel were great readers and this enhanced the leading and work of God in their lives:

The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. 2 Timothy 4:13
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Daniel 9:2
2.The inward witness:
Romans 8:16 says :” The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”
In order to be a powerful witness, you need to have the witness of the Spirit in you not just that you are saved but regarding your life decisions and path.
You can expect the Holy Spirit to give you a witness or a signal regarding decisions or paths in life you are considering. Remember He is your “odega” or guide to the path of God’s plan for your life.
The witness of the Holy Spirit can be explained in its simplest form as a sense of right or wrong or using the illustration of a traffic light, you can have red, orange and green signlas.
When you are before a situation or circumstance which God does not want you to get involved in or proceed with, you normally feel a deadness, a stop or something akin to a strong repulsion in your spirit around the pit of your stomach. This can also represent a warning to leave a place, person or stay where you are.
I remember about eight years ago in the office where I worked for an IT company as a trainer.
One evening I had finished my training engagements for the day and still had some time left to the end of my work day. As I sat behind my desk, about twenty minutes before the end of the work day I suddenly had a strong sense of danger and a desire to leave the office immediately. There was no physical evidence of anything being wrong and I had been quite relaxed at my desk. The best thing to do when a person wonders if they are receiving an inward witness is to take a little time to separate ourselves from noise and ask the Lord praying in tongues(in the Holy Spirit).As I prayed silently at my desk, the urge became stronger and stronger of impending danger and I sensed I was to leave immediately. I lingered on and kept praying without obeyng. Suddenly, as I decided to leave just after my work day was over, the company’s IT system administrator charged over to my desk and began scolding me loudly in the open office space about something for which I was not guilty. This caused an anxious situation and I immediately sensed that I had not obeyed the leading of the Spirit or the “stop light” I had in my Spirit about remaining in the office.
Another time, I was driving back home after work at night on what was normally a road free of traffic by that time of night. As I approached a junction I had passed so many times without event in a quiet neighbourhood, I suddenly had as strong “stop” signal or witness in my spirit.
I had been praying in the Spirit minutes before and I hesitated for about two seconds but decided to obey and stop the car.As I slowed to a stop just about a second before the junction, a speeding car from the left of the junction rushed across the junction without slowing or giving any signal. If I had not obeyed the witness to stop, it would have hit my car head-on from the driver’s side where I was seated and I may not have been alive to tell the story today.
When the Holy Spirit wants you to wait or be ready for an open door, opportunity or to be involved in something, it will feel like an orange light in your spirit around your stomach area.
When the Holy Spirit is happy about what you are about to do or involved in, He releases joy from your spirit as a Divine signal. It’s like a rush of delight that says go,go, go.It also signals God’s willingness for you to get involved in something or make a particular decision without hesitating. In 2015, I had been promoted from trainer to Senior Training Specialist for the IT company I worked with and we had a visit from the CEO and Global Operations Director to our office in Sofia Bulgaria.
She had asked me whether I would like to meet with the new CEO to discuss training and development plans for the company future with the CEO and I had readily agreed she should set up a one-on-one.
A full week had almost passed and the CEO was set to travel back on Saturday and I had no news about the planned meeting.She had been in and out of various meetings and it looked like it was not going to happen. I had been confessing the word of God on the blessing and favour of God working and trusted God in faith to hold her to her word. AS I sat at my desk, I suddenly had an urge to get up immediately and head for the office lounge and relaxation room without any reason to do so. It was not a physical feeling or voice but a sense I knew came from my spirit that my mind and head knew nothing about. I prayed a quick silent prayer in tongues and sensed it was the Holy Spirit giving me a witness about an instant instruction. I got to my feet and headed for the lounge. Suddenly as I obeyed, the urge changed into a desire to increase my pace into a run towards the lounge. This seemed strange to me but I instantly obeyed.
As I ran through the lounge listening in me for the next instruction, just coming out the other end, I almost ran into the Global Operations director.OF course, she was startled but immediately said:”Oh, I’m so sorry I was supposed to set up a meeting for you with the CEO.Lets do it today”
As a result I got to meet the new CEO and events following that discussion led to my promotion to the position of Manager or Talent Development. A position that was created specially for me and a first in the company. This was the result of following the witness like a green light telling me it wa snow time to act or do something.
When I say signal and feeling in your stomach area I want to caution here that I am not referring to a physical feeling in your body.The Holy Spirit lives in your human spirit which is around your stomach area but we need to watch for mistaking physical feelings for the Holy Spirit. Your conscience is the voice of your spirit and is a major way the Holy Spirit communicates to your spirit in terms of right and wrong. Its vital to note that your knowledge and understanding of God’s will in the bible will greatly enhance your ability to follow His inner witness in your Spirit. You will also notice that your spirit signals to you of things that your head does not understand simply because the Holy Spirit is a Spirit. The real you is a Spirit and the Holy Spirit communicates to the real you.He aso give syour mind understanding of things that are revealed by the Spirit because as a believer you have the mind of Christ.

3. The voice of the Holy Spirit.
This is usually much more authoritative and although it is not a physical voice, it is so powerful that your entire being has a sense that it was physically heard. I remember this happening to me when my daughter Sara Ekpo was born in the first week of April 2006. I had been praying in the Spirit the night before and meditating on verses about children from Psalm 127.This was around the time my wife was giving birth to our daughter. Between 5 and 5:00a.m in the morning as I lay with my head on the pillow, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say very clearly:”Shoot, Shoot”. As I heard this my spirit instantly knew what god meant and went over to Psalms 127. Even when we sleep our spirit man is very much awake and you actually spend almost 66% of your life sleeping.When the human mind is quiet and free from noise God can communicate easier to you if you have been praying in the Spirit during that period of time. This can happen through His voice or dreams.
In this case, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly and rising from bed I instantly turned to Psalms 127:3-4
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

⁴ As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

When I heard shoot, I instantly had understanding about God’s plan and instructions for Sara’s future. Parents, believe God to reveal to you by His Holy Spirit your children’s future and constantly speak God’s word and promises over them. It may not be by the voice of the Spirit. It may be by a dream or by the inner witness or through a special encounter or circumstance but He will speak to you and always confirm it by the witness of the Holy Spirit.
I understood by Divine revelation that as arrows fly fast, far and hit the target so would Sara’s life and I was to bring her up and prepare her like a Divine arrow to her generation.

4. The Voice of Your Spirit:
The voice of your own spirit is usually what the Holy Spirit has communicated to your spirit and may not sound as loud as the voice of the Holy Spirit or God speaking to you.
In 2005, my wife and I , newly weds of nine months had followed the witness of the Holy Spirit to leave the city of Plovdiv, leave our jobs and sustainance, leave our own apartment which we didn’t have to pay rent for and move to the city of Bankia just next to Sofia the capital of Bulgaria. To the mind, it seemed illogical.
I was in what seemed a good church, an influential church and I was already actively involved in missions work and youth ministry which matched my calling and opportunities seemed to exist for the future. My wife had a good job as a nurse and we were starting out our lives together.
We moved to Bankia and lived with her parents for about a year. Nine months after the move, I got a job in Bankia exactly as my inner witness had told me when we moved out of Plovdiv.
I had been praying for long periods of time before leaving Plovdiv regarding God’s will and other than the witness in my spirit I had no further instructions.This agitated me as I wanted something more spectacular.
The next morning after we moved, God gave me a dream showing me future direction. This also repeated within the same week to confirm God’s leading. The next set of instructions could not come until I had obeyed the inner witness and prompting to move to where God wanted us.
Walking by faith and following God’s leading an sometimes feel like using a torchlight in a dark area.The light of the torch can only shine so far. To be able to see what is beyond, you will need to take the next step forward in the light you currently have. This also teaches us to walkby faith and not by physical sight. But you will always have enough vision and pictures of God’s image to take the next step.
So as a result of the inner witness causing us to move to a new city and church, further direction was released to us. I heard the voice of my own Spirit one day in prayer after God gave me a miracle,well-paying job starting my IT career in October of 2005. As I prayed at my bedside on my knees I heard in my spirit:”Take the kingdom of God into the IT industry”
I knew God had aspecial assignment for me in the IT field growing a career as a trainer for that season and phase of my life. The result has been people saved in the office, creative miracles and healings of discopathy,kidney and liver problems, knee problems and so on.All in the very office building where I worked. I was able to preach the gospel in various ways by the wisdom of God to trainees and coworkers numbering over 1000 people in the space of seven years.
Many young people decided to take steps towards marriage and many others were able to be positioned into successful professions and careers as a result of my work.
I had taken the kingdom of God into the IT industry and the word in my spirit from the voice of the Holy Spirit had been confirmed.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city- Proverbs 16:32
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.-Proverbs 16:2-4

Something very important I want to note about the voice of your own spirit and the inner witness that will help us avoid mistakes and tragedy.
You can absolutely trust the leading of your spirit man and the voice of your Spirit IF your thinking has not been deceived by wrong teaching, wrong confessions and believing.
There are many Christians and times in my own life where I have endeavoured to follow what I knew was the voice of my own spirit or what was an inner witness but later found out that it did not lead to good simply because my thinking in that area had been negatively affected and I had made confessions that convinced my own spirit that this was from God in my spirit.It was actually me convincing myself from my own spirit which had been preprogrammed through wrong teaching and thinking.
This is where I must mention that where you go to church and who your pastor is remains critical to your ability to fully follow God’s perfect will and plan for your life and will determine your life experiences.This is because every Sunday your spirit is being programmed by what you are taught and the understanding your pastor has.
In the past, I have suffered trials and tribulations as a result of listening to wrong teaching from a pastor that was in contradiction to God’s word but I was misled by the fact that the pastor had a strong spirit, vision and anointing. I reasoned that if he was not led by God , miracles would not happen and the ministry would not grow. I however forgot that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. A person can operate in the gifts and callings of God and be in sin or be misled in their thinking and believing.As a result they will mislead others and cause bad experiences for those who listen to them. This is why some Christians experience tragedies because they expose themselves to wrong teaching from everywhere and try to mix the truth with lies and it causes confusion. People also end up getting bitter and offended by not judging things with the word of God first, then their inner witness influenced by the truth and then other means of leading.
DO I have examples from scripture? OF course I do.

Balaam is an example. God told him not to go with Balab King of the Moabites to curse Israel.(Numbers 22:5)
He had been clearly warned by God :

He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.
² And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

¹³ And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

but yet:
¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

²⁰ And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

Balaam wanted to go with them and conditioned his own spirit to be in a place which endangered his own life where the angel would have smote him dead if the donkey had not saved him.


The Apostle Paul repeatedly went to Jerusalem in spite of the fact that the Lord Jesus had instructed him to go the Gentiles and that evil would befall him. He said he was actually ready to die in Jerusalem:
But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus – Acts 21:13

Was it God’s will for him to die in Jerusalem? No it wasn’t.
Paul had stubbornly purposed in his heart to keep going back because of his zeal to see his fellow Israelites saved .A noble seeming motive but it was not God’s plan and leading for his life.


5. Dreams and Visions:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: – Acts 2:17

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.- Matthew 2:12

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Genesis 41:28,32

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. – Acts 16:19

Dreams and visions are the language of God’s spirit and this is an area I particularly love having been led by dreams and visions for the past 15 years. However, I always subject dreams and visions to the authority of God’s word in udging, interpreting and applying in my personal life.

It is undeniable that God used a dream to save baby Jesus’ life, lead the Apostle Paul to a new work,issue warnings and reveal the future throughout the bible. I have experienced all of these in dreams.
Dreams are experienced when one is asleep although you can have a vision in a dream.

I have developed the habit of recording with audio, drawings and notes my dreams over the years and have judged, tested and proved them, counseling with wise mature Christians and growing my own discernment.
God speaks a lot through dreams especially to maturing and mature Christians.He also uses dreams when the person cannot seem to hear God’s leading clearly enough in daily life.
There are different kinds of visions and different kinds of dreams. Based on my knowledge of God’s word, experience and understanding, I present a list which is by no means exhaustive.


Types of Dreams:

1) Dreams from God – These are dreams the Lord uses to direct your life.
Usually in full colour and in many different forms, you wake from these dreams knowing the
Lord is telling you something. It could be about the past, present or future, about you or
someone else.

2) Dreams from your own mind or flesh – These are dreams that are heavily colored, influenced
or born out of your own thinking, perception, bias, the carnal mind or fleshly desires.
These dreams are not beneficial and should not be used to determine Divine direction.
They simply show your own attitude, perception, thinking or carnal desires.
For instance if you see yourself involved in sinful activities or fleshly lusts due to the fact that
you have been heavily influened in the past weeks by associations or places in which such
activities happen, it is clear that your flesh and carnal thinking is involved.
You need to get into the Word of God and allow the water of the Word to wash your thinking
and the Holy Spirit to remove those carnal desires that are makign war aagainst your soul to
bring you into captivity. Use the Name of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer
and the Word of truth to establish and stay free.

3) satanic dreams – These dreams are usually dark and depressing or frightening in nature.
lacking colour. On waking they usually result in a feeling of weakness, bad moods, cycles of
undesirable events happening. You feel stolen from, used, abused or affected by evil in some
way. They are different from dreams God gives to warn you of evil which push you to pray,
seek God and use your Divine authority.

You can also further categorize dreams that God gives you. These categories include btu are not limited to:

1) Warning Dreams

2) Symbolic Dreams

3) Message Dreams

4) Prophetic Dreams

5)Combined Dreams


There are also four kind of visions I know of biblically:

1) Open visions – Where a person’s physical senses are still active and usually happens like a flash of images or what is seen while about daily activities in a woken state.

2) Trances- Where a person’s physical senses are temporarily suspended

3) Dream Visions: These happen in dreams when a person is asleep.


VITAL ADVICE ABOUT DREAMS:
Some people dream a lot and some hardly dream at all.
Dreams are real and are a Biblical way God can lead His people.
But we are not to go overboard with dreams and try to interprete every single dream in our sleep without using discernment from the Holy Spirit and Biblical understanding.

Some dreams are for the future, some are for now and others are about the past.
There are dreams I have had years ago and just recently came to pass. I had spent months asking God what they meant but they were not for that particular time.
At times God will use an event like a dejavu experience or to trigger a past dream He gave you or tell you the meaning and timing of the dream.
It is best to record dreams you believe are from the Lord in a notebook or diary specifically for this purpose or else you can quickly forget them.
It’s like disappearing ink in the spirit. If you don’t record the message and details, they fade away as you go into your daily activities.
The devil looks for every way possible to cause us to forget any message God gives us, so develop a discipline if God gives you dreams to record them and from time to time or as the Holy Spirit leads you, go back over the dreams of the month or last few months.
They could hold the key to questions that have lingered in your mind for months on Divine direction.
Dreams are full of images and are also a powerful way God speaks to us.


6) Confirmations Through People:
God can confirm His leading and instruction to you through believers and unbelievers. People you know or do not know.
What is important here is that this is to serve as a confirmation of what God is saying and we are not to seek to be led in this way.
As many as are led by the Spirit of God THEY are the mature Sons of God.
Many times people seek confirmations from their spouses, family, friends and various external sources in ways God has not intended. If God intends to confirm though someone, he will. Note I use the word ‘confirm’ and not tell you what to do. New Testament believers are to be led personally by the inward witness and the word of God as a priority.
You could be in a place and “coincidentally” overhear part of a conversation that has instructions or confirmation from God.
You could go to a place and see a billboard or sign that confirms uin your spirit what God has been saying to you.
One of the main ways God confirms leading for His people through others is when we listen to preaching and teaching in our Biblically-based local churches or from anointed, proven ministers of God.
They will say things they may not have planned to say in that specific way or use illustrations they didn’t plan on simply because the Holy Spirit wants you to hear it. There have been many times while preaching or teaching, i have found myself going in a particular direction for a few minutes and then navigating back to my main message. This was because the Holy Spirit intended to speak to someone else and because I was sensitive to my inward witness or His instruction to yield to Him, he was able to convey a message of confirmation or instruction to someone. Preaching can be very prophetic when dne under the unction of the Holy Spirit.

EXAMPLES:
My daughter has always been interested in horse-riding and around her eleventh birthday, my wife were thinking of the best present for her as an experience rather than a possession.
At the time, my wife worked at a florist shop and it turned out that one of her colleagues at work was actually an animator who worked with children during summer at a horse camp for children some sixty kilometres from where we lived at a location that interestingly enough, my wife had many childhood memories. It so turned out that her colleague mentioned the camp about two months before it happened and after further research we were convinced this was a leading of the Lord to bless our daughter. My wife had actually been led online to apply for a job at this exact florist shop which, matching my wife’s requirements was quite close to our home and it turned out that this other lady worked there as well. This was an example of how God orders our steps and confirms his leadings through other people.

I also remember in 2009 when I worked for an IT B2B company owned by Jewish investors. An experience I will never forget as I learned so much about business.
At a point when the financial crisis in the US began to hit Bulgaria, the investors withdrew support for this company and disbanded the teams. During the last month of our being together, a colleague of mine that did not believe or even want to entertain ideas about God was an instrument of God to confirm the next professional season of my life which was to be a time that saw people saved, healed and helped on their way to life goals in the IT industry.
We had about 40 days left to leave the company with a pay-off of a month’s salary in advance and everyone was on a job search for something new.
One day after we went out to lunch, Bobby came up to me and said :”You know I don’t dream and don’t think about such things but I dreamed you the other night and I feel very strongly that I have to tell you the dream”
In his dream, he had seen me conducting corporate training in an IT setting in front of a whiteboard or wall with a group of trainees. Coming from someone that had refused to listen to me about God or the supernatural and seeing how complexed he was by the experience, I held it in mind and my spirit witnessed to me that God was confirming his direction for my life as well as showing Bobby he was real. The dream came to pass within four months with my beginning the most successful part of my IT career with the Hostway corporation and lasting almost eight years with multiple promotions, bonuses, opportunities to influence company leadership and travel. I began as an IT trainer teaching people in front of whiteboards and using a projector. Exactly as he had seen in his dream. He had dreamed I was teaching people about something involving computers and lo and behold, I was teaching people about servers, web hosting and how the internet works with software and computers. Something which continued for over seven years and served the Global staff of over three hundred and sixty people and training well over 1000. At this job, I never failed to receive a promotion and bonus with each passing year. The last year before my career ended, I actually had my salary increased by 29% when I was promoted to Manager of Talent Development.


7) Prophetic Utterances and Words from the Lord from People:
This leads me to prophecies and leading.

HOW TO CAUSE THE IMAGES OF GOD FOR YOU TO BECOME REALITY – FAITH HOPE & PATIENCE:

The New Testament says Christ in us is the hope of glory. That word hope means absolute red-hot expectation.
Not a mere day-dream of what would be nice to happen but something that is imminent.
Interestingly, Paul calls the hope of salvation a helmet that believers are to don.
The helmet of salvation is intended to protect your mind or thoughts.
It is supposed to influence the images that are formed in your mind.
Real Hope is The Result of an Image that is perceived as a result of God’s word.
That image is formed when we either hear God’s word spoken under the anointing of God or we see an action carried out in obedience to an instruction of God which causes a manifestation of God. This brings a real image of God’s will into man.
Hope is the result of this formed image in your mind and heart and is actually a picture. Romans Chapter 5 says hope makes not ashamed and Paul said in another place that our hope.
Let’s look at some verses that show how hope creates images of God’s will and an anchor for our souls and minds:
Hebrews 6:19 NIV

19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

This hope is called firm and secure that even enters the inner sanctuary where God’s presence is.

Titus 1:2 NIV

2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

Titus 2:13 NIV

http://www.biblestudytools.com/titus/2-13.html

13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Remember that Jesus for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.
While Jesus was being scourged and beaten and going through all that Isaiah 53 describes, He had a hope before him. It was obviously not something He could physically see but rather an image of the joy that was before Him.

This hope as a picture or image of God’s desire for you is so powerful it will cause you to live a life of true holiness and righteousness which is your true nature in Christ. 1 John 3:3 NIV

3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

All who have this hope in Him, purify themselves, just as He is pure. Well, if they do not grow that image of hope or if the image of that hope diminishes, they will not purify themselves.

Faith Causes You to See the Unseen

1 Corinthians 2 tells us what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. There are things which the eye has not seen which God has prepared for believers in Jesus. Blessings not yet seen, revelations not yet known, ideas not yet conceived, inventions not thought up that belong to believers. If the eye has not seen them and they are prepared for us, doesn’t God want us to see them?
The bible says Moses obeyed God and chose God’s plan instead of Israel because he endured as seeing the unseen. He was moved by the reward. What reward?
He obviously saw a reward others didn’t see that exceeded the pleasures of sin and the glory of Egypt. Moses saw something.

Abraham obeyed God and left to find a land that God would show him. By faith he stepped out seeing with the eye of faith.

How do you see the unseen? You see the unseen things of God by faith. The word of God especially when spoken by the Holy Spirit to you or by anointed men and women of God mixes with your faith and produces profit. It releases the presence and power of God’s reality and the pleasures of His unseen realm into reality.

Faith causes images of God’s reality, God’s plans. God’s thoughts, dreams and intentions to be visible in a person’s heart and then their mind.

Hebrews 11:1 gives us a classic definition of faith that can never be explored in all its entirety by any preacher. Hebrews 11:1 NIV

http://www.biblestudytools.com/hebrews/11-1.html

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Faith is the substance of hope or what gives your hope substance.

So your hope is an image, an anchor for your soul, set before your mind’s eye but faith is the substance of that hope.

We usually hope for all kinds of things. Well, faith is the substance of things hoped for.
So God’s word gives us the hope as images of what we can expect from God and faith gives that image, picture of our hope substance to materialize n the natural.

Hope is also targeted at the future and hope in itself is not enough to materialize the image of what god wants and desires for you.

Faith is the substance that is NOW. Faith brings it from the future into the Now and from the spiritual into the natural. However, both need to be at work.

Romans 8:24 NIV

24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?

Romans 8:25 NIV

25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Your faith needs an instruction, a target, a picture, an image, a location, a destination, an image of your future and faith gets it to you.
Faith even calls things that be not as though they were.
The word calls used in Romans Chapter 4 means it summons like acourt order would a person to show up in a particular place at a particular time and date.
Romans 4:18 NIV

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Two very important things to know about faith and where many people trying to walk by faith miss are:
1) Trying to walk by faith independent of clearly hearing the leading of the Spirit of God. You cannot walk by faith independent of hearing from God. Faith comes by “hearing ” from god. The guarantee God will be involved and you are really walking in faith is if God is really the One that quikcened the scripture to you, that spoke the words to you, that gave you the direction or desire, that motivated your heart in that direction. Always be sure it was not your own idea or an external desire from somewhere that drove you to believe something. You must be convinced and fully persuaded in your heart that God gave it to you or else God is not obligated to bring it to pass. Too many have missed God then and then said their faith failed. Faith does not fail because if you heard from Him, He is committed to do it. What happens is we have called many things faith that were not faith at all.

2) Faith comes by hearing but until you actually do something about it, that image God gave you will remain just that and never become a reality. We should spend time listening to faith teaching that builds us up on a regular basis but never ever allow that to replace acting on what God tells you.
The woman in the issue of blood that was healed in Mark chapter 5 kept saying to herself that if she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed but until she actually began to move towards him, she could not experience the healing power of God.
She believed fully but had to put her faith to action.
The Bible tells us in James 2:17 that faith that is not accompanied by action is DEAD!
People can hear about Jesus and His work of redemption on the cross.
They can shed tears of conviction by the power of the Holy Spirit and feel remorse for their sins or sorry for them.

They can attend church services or have good Christian friends they enjoy being around and hearing about the Christian life.
However, until they actually repent and ask Jesus to come into their heart and become their own personal Lord and Saviour, they will not see the image of salvation become a reality in their lives.
A church can have prayer meetings every single day and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in intercession but until one of them goes out to preach the Word or lead people in some way to Jesus, they will not be saved.
After the mighty manifestations of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Peter still had to preach for the three thousand souls to be added to the kingdom of God.
Another great example is people thinking that just giving offerings in church will lead to a big financial harvest but refusing to save, work or invest. Refusing to take financial educational opportunities or steps towards financial increase.
God is not a magician. His miracles respond to faith that has corresponding works.
Jesus advised in Luke 12 that anyone intending to build a tower to have a project management plan.
We are encouraged to give, save and invest both in God’s kingdom as well as in the natural.
Just like it takes faith when you hear God to give finances to God’s work in church or elsewhere and obedience to follow through, it also takes faith and obedience to position yourself to receive the harvest.
There is always what you need to do to be in a position to reap financial increase from God. It is real but also requires faith and obedience to receive the harvest.
In Luke Chapter 5 we see how Jesus asked Peter’s permission to use his boat for the ministry and teaching the people.
This was a big seed for Peter. To invest the time and his resources and equipment to help a preacher propagate the Gospel to others.

But the story doesn’t stop there.
When it was over, Jesus told him to launch out into the deep.
At this point, Peter was in danger of losing a financial harvest from the sale of a huge catch of fish. He said: ”Master we have toiled all night…”
He was a professional fisherman and knew how the tides were.
He had done this for years and he knew there were no fish to be found at that time of day under the clear water conditions.
But he added: ” nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”This is a powerful statement showing his willingness to submit his expertise to the word of the Lord. But he still had not done anything and there were no fish in the net.
The next verse goes on to say:”And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.”
It was only “when they had this done” that they got a net-breaking miracle of fish.
Faith without works is dead.

A final excellent illustration of this is with the marriage event at Cana of Galilee where Jesus turned water into wine.
Mary, his mother said to the servants:”Whatsoever He says to you do it”.

“Jesus said unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.”

John 2:8
“And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.”

There were instructions given by Jesus and they were followed precisely before a miracle came.

There were no arguments about the possibilities of a miracle, what the point was pouring about 120 gallons of water into waterpots instead of going to the market in the fastest way to purchase wine.
They just did what they were told.
Whatever He says to you, do it and you will see mriacles.
Not think about it for three months.

Not just post about it and get a thread with five hundred comments on what to do.
Not watever he says ask others what their opinions are.
Not whatever He says to you, rejoice you have a miracle and wait and see.
No.
Do it.

Do it.

Do it.
If you know you heard from Him, do it and you will see the miracle image turn to a reality.
So when you are believing God to do something based on an image in your imagination or heart, always check your heart and ask God what the corresponding action is to receive the manifestation.
Wait til lyou hear His exact instructions, then do just that!!!

Patience: The Third Piece of the Three-Fold Cord:

Patience is usually understood to mean tolerating something or passively waiting for something to happen. Many have the idea it refers to doing nothing and just expecting something. After all, Abraham against hope believed in hope.

Yes he did. But note that after he had hope, he kept that hope alive and then he had to believe in the picture or image of that hope.
”Abraham believed God”, we are told in Romans 4.
So he had hope, he believed or had faith that gave substance to his hope and he had patience.

What patience did he have? Just waiting?

No. Patience means being consistently constant or staying the same. For the New Testament believer it means holding fast to your profession or confession of God’s word and resting in that promise while refusing to allow doubt, fear and unbelief dissuade you from the hope you got from god’s promise to you.
In Hebrews 12 we are encouraged to be followers of those who through faith and hope obtained the promises.

To really live life like Jesus did, to be changed into His same image from Glory to Glory, to do the works of Christ and greater and to enjoy our eternal rewards, we will need to be changed into the image of … God’s will for us. As it is in heaven, so be it on earth. And this will happen through receiving the images of God’s Word as hope, mixing those images with faith and consistently acting on God’s word as true through patience.
Jesse Duplantis, a famous New Orleans preacher once told ministry school graduates: “”Don’t ever think with your eyes because the devil will make sure he gives you enough to throw you off course in the natural”. He went on to say believers are to think through the word of God.

There are images and distractions in the world today that can mess up a Christian’s mind and cause the image of the things God has promised and given us to fail to manifest and allow the images of the world instead.
To be able to produce the images of God’s word as your physical daily reality, it is going to take diligent and consistent reading, listening and faith action on what the promises of God say in season and out of season.
In other words it’s a lifestyle and not something that is done from time to time.
The word of God tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:18 that while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are unseen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are unseen are eternal.
We walk by faith and not by sight. We do not live or allow ourselves to be influenced by what our physical eyes see in the world but by what our spiritual eyes see in God’s word and as God’s revealed plans or images.
We now come to another important point as a person applies the images they have of God that they have understood from His word.
That is confirming that the images we have of God and what His will and Word really says are the right ones. Kenneth Hagin has said that wrong thinking leads to wrong believing and wrong believing leads to wrong experiences.

What Do You See When You Think of God?

How can you be sure that the images of God’s word or what you heard God’s word says are true.
The answer to that is amazingly simple but not very many bother to think about.

Ask yourself about every single thing you believe whether you can find two or three New Testament scriptures that literally and doctrinally agree on what you believe. This scriptural evidence should come from the life of Jesus, the early church and the letters of the apostles. If you can’t find verses to back it up, then your thinking is wrong and your believing is wrong.

What you believe about God and consequently how He sees you will determine your lifestyle, experiences and circumstances in life.
This is so important because Jesus said it is unto you according to your faith.
How do you see God the Father?
Do you see Him as good?
Do you see Him as loving?
Or do you see Him as evil and harsh?

Do you see God as happy with you or angry with you and looking to punish you?

The image you see of God will colour your life experience and you cannot live beyond it.

The question is are we seeing the right images of God.
We will eventually be changed into the image of what we behold within so it’s important to check what we are really thinking about God.

This leads to the next set of images that control our lives and that is the image we have of self.

If you do not see God as He is, you will not see yourself as you should and t will also affect the way you see others.

Do you have images of yourself as a person of great worth?
A person who has a good future?
A person worthy of being loved and capable of loving others?
A person who has great talents, abilities and influence?
A person who is successful and should expect good things to happen to them?

What Are We Thinking?

Popular mind-sets, thinking, Facebook posts and the news do not normally convey good images of God, ourselves or life in general. Most of the movies, popular music and voices of influence do not present good images of God, ourselves or our world around us.

So what are you images are you allowing your mind to ponder daily?
What you see, hear and are around will consciously or unconsciously affect what you see inside.
Mike Murdock said the atmosphere you permit determines the product you produce.
Do you create an atmosphere that inspires the right images or do you leave it all to chance?
Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall SEE God.”
HE also said in John 14:21 that if any man loves Him and keeps His word, He would make Himself to be visibly seen by that person.
That’s a confession and expectation of mine to see Him clearly as I choose to obey His word.
Remember that we have the mind of Christ and we are admonished to let this same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.
We are even further told in Philippians 4 about what kinds of images and thoughts to entertain. Whatsoever things are pure, true, noble, right, praiseworthy, excellent and of good report.

We are finally told how to deal with wrong images or thoughts in 2 Corinthians 10 where we are instructed to cast down imaginations, thoughts, arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
Anything that exalts itself against what I know God and His word wants is to be cast down and not tolerated in my mind.
These are the fiery darts of the wicked one that we are to take up the shield of faith and quench ALL of having the helmet of salvation protecting our thought life.
As Christians we are responsible, expected and instructed by God on what to think on, what no to think on and what to resist.
My mind is my garden that I must protect.
Your mind determines your future.
It will determine shoes image you reflect.
Romans 8 tells us that to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
This means the degree of Jesus’ abundant life and His peace which he left to us that we experience depends on our mind.
If there is death present, it can be traced to the mind and wrong thinking.
Your life cannot be changed until you change how you think.
The amount of thought, study and attention you give to the truth you hear will determine the amount of grace, anointing, blessing and fruit you enjoy in life.
What you hear outside determines what images you see inside. Create an atmosphere that focuses your thinking on the right things and you will see rapid manifestations of the image and images of God around you.

The Image of His Son:

The most important image you will ever see in your mind is a true representation of God the Father and His character through Jesus. Hebrews Chapter 1 tells us that He is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person.
Jesus said He that has seen me has seen the Father. He said “I am the Way, the truth and the life”.
Jesus is the way to the father. He is the truth about the Father. He is the Life of the Father to anyone that will believe. Believe in the words about Him and let fresh images of Him change your life to live like Him.
God’s image for us is eternal life or the God-Kind of Life through knowing Him and Jesus His Son.
God’s image for us is to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Jesus came to redeem us back to the original image God had for us.

Paul said: “Be ye imitators of God as beloved children” You can only imitate by seeing what He is like. An image of what that is like.
Then you imitate.

The apostle Jon even went as far as saying “if a man says he abides in Jesus, he ought himself so to walk” “As He is so are we in this world”


So how do I imitate God. How can I live His life now in this world with all the challenges, temptations, trials and evil that seems to be prevalent in the lives of many?
Our feelings and emotions try to dictate what we should live like based on the old sinful image that man inherited from Adam.

Be Ye Imitators of God as Dear Beloved Children

Ephesians 5:1 has been a favorite verse of mine for many years. God wants and expects me to imitate Him like a Father does His children.

In Ephesians 5:1, the apostle Paul wrote these words: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” The word “followers” is the Greek word mimetes. This word mimetes means to imitate someone or to mimic what you see someone else doing.
It was used to describe actors or performing arts artists who acted on the stage. The word mimetes also frequently depicted the modeling of a parent, teacher, champion, or hero.
Here are some thoughts on this verse by Rick Renner from his book “Sparkling Gems from the Greek”.
Rick is a prolific author and a highly respected Bible teacher and leader in the international Christian community. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the bestsellers “Dressed to kill” and “Sparkling Gems from the Greek”.

“When a person was known for his high moral character, others were encouraged to emulate or copy that person.

The word mimetes is frequently used in the New Testament. For instance, Paul used the word mimetes when he told the Corinthians, “Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:16). This verse could be translated, “I’m urging you to act like me! Watch what I do, and duplicate in your own life everything you see in me.…”

In Second Thessalonians 3:7, Paul used the word mimetes when he told the Thessalonians, “For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us.…” This could be translated, “It would behoove you to follow our example — to imitate and mimic us with the goal of replicating the things you observe in our lives.”

Hebrews 13:7 also uses the word mimetes. It says, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” The last section of that verse could be translated, “…You need to carefully model your faith after theirs — doing what they do, saying what they say, acting like they act — considering the great maturity and fruit produced by their lives.”

Because Paul uses this word in Ephesians 5:1, he is telling us to model our lives after God. Just as a professional actor is committed to capturing the emotions, looks, voice, character, and even the appearance of the person he is portraying, we are to put our whole heart and soul into imitating God in every sphere of our lives. This means we must make a decision to act like God!

Putting all the meanings derived from the Greek in Ephesians 5:1, it could be interpreted:

“Be constantly in the process of becoming more like God — making it your aim to act like Him, to duplicate Him, and to exactly copy Him in every area of your life….”

A person can decide to put unsanctified emotions, thoughts, feelings, and behavior aside, and start acting like God.
What would happen to your life, your family, your church, your community, your nation, and the world if you did that? What would happen if you approached every problem acting as God does when He approaches problems? What difference would it make in your life if you acted like God every time you have to deal with an unloving person?

In all these cases, your world would be dramatically affected if you acted like God. Problems would appear very small, and you’d believe you could overcome every one of them. You’d have sufficient love, patience, and forgiveness for every unloving person.

God’s Images for Us as a New Creation:
Many times I have thought: “it is not possible for me to imitate God and do what Jesus did or greater if I do not have what Jesus had”.
The good news is everyone that believes that God made Jesus sin and to die for us and raised up Jesus Christ from the dead and then goes on to confess Jesus as their Lord becomes a new creation in Christ.
The cycle is complete from Adam before the fall to Jesus’ resurrection. Man has been restored to God’s image in Christ Jesus.
The image of God for a man’s life is now possible.
Even better, the image of Jesus’ life as God’s Son is possible for us as well.

John1:12 says: “as many as received Him to them gave He power to become the Sons of God and in 1 John 3, “Beloved now are we the Sons of God”.
We are God’s workmanship (masterpiece) recreated in the anointed Jesus and His Anointing (Ephesians 2:10) and if any man is in Christ, He is a new creation. Behold old things are passed away and all things are become new” (2 Cor5:18).
Once you become a child of God, congratulations, you are recreated spiritually in His image. The image of God’s Son is the image of your reborn spirit with all the capabilities that Jesus had when He was raised to life or begotten again from the dead according to Hebrews 1.
It will take us all our Christian lives discovering what happened from the cross to the throne in restoring God’s back to and in man.
And it all took place through the re-creation.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the word for “creature” is the Greek word ‘ktisis.’
It is the same word used to describe the creation of the world.
When God created the universe, he used no existing materials or old elements to make it. Everything in creation was newly made. That very same word is used to describe what happened to you the day you got born again or saved.
Everything about you is new! You’re not an amended, corrected, improved version of what you used to be. You are an absolutely brand-new creation! You are completely detached from the person you once were before Christ.
Now being made in the image of God through salvation or the new birth, we need to renew our minds and be transformed into that same image according to Romans 12 or as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians, to put off the old man and put on the new man who has been created in righteousness and true holiness.
There is a new image put in you when you believe in Jesus’ work on Calvary.
Further understanding of who that new image or person is comes as you spend time in God’s presence through daily prayer and His word. As you behold His glory as in a ‘glass’, you are changed into that same image from glory to glory.
The images of God for us can be seen throughout His word and especially in the New Testament epistles which are directed at the church. God’s images come from God’s words to us which form images of who God says we are, what He says we have and what He says we can do. These images when meditated on over and over and confessed release the power of God to manifest these images physically in our lives.
This is well in line with the law of faith in romans chapter 10. With the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (soteria in Greek which means salvation, healing, prosperity, well-being, deliverance, protection etc.).

The book of Hebrews also says Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession and we should hold fast to the profession (confession) of our faith.
Jesus being the Apostle and High Priest of our confession means He is the One sent from God to execute our confessions.
Here are a few snapshots of how God sees us from His word that have helped me in my walk in continuous transformation into the image of Christ:

1) the image that God the Father is My Shepherd and Guide through His Holy Spirit every day.
A daily confession I like to make for this is based on several statements of Jesus in the gospels: The Holy Spirit testifies to me of Jesus, guides me into all truth, teaches me all things, shows me things to come and puts me in remembrance of all that Jesus has said to me. (Jn14 and Jn16)

2) The image that God loves me just like He loves Jesus. The Father Himself loves me and has loved me as He has loved Jesus. (John 16:27 and John 17: 23)I have known and believed the love which God the Father has for me.

3) Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world and I have received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness so I rule in life by one Jesus Christ (1 John4:4 and Romans5:18)

4) The blessing of the Lord is on my head, it makes me rich, adds no sorrow with it and empowers me to prosper (Proverbs 10)

5) I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and am created in Holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21 and Ephesians 4:24)

6) By Jesus’s stripes I was healed (1 Peter 2:24)

7) The Love of God is shed abroad my heart by the Holy Ghost which is given to me (Romans 5:5)

8) I can and will do the works of Jesus because I am a believer (John 14:12)

9)I have been delivered from the authority and power of darkness with authority over all darkness and nothing shall by any means harm me (Col2:13 and Luke 10:19)

10)I am righteous and the righteous live by faith. My faith works by love, grows exceedingly, calls things that be not as though they were and is unfeigned.

These are just some of the images of who believers are in Christ.

You were made in God’s image and recreated in the image of the anointed Jesus and His Anointing.
You will become changed in the image of…what you see inside.
What’s in an image? Everything.
You see God.
You see yourself in His image.
You see others as He made them.

If you are reading this and have never made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life and become born-again, you have a unique opportunity to do so this very moment with the following prayer:

“God, I see you have an image for mankind and for my life.
You have a good plan for me to be like Jesus by believing in what He did for me to restore me back to your image and plan for me.
I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, was crucified bearing my sins, sickness and the curse.
I believe He went to hell for me for three days and three nights and was raised up from the dead by the power of your spoken word and Spirit.
I believe He was raised from the dead for me to be able to live like Him in His power. I receive your Holy Spirit into my heart now and thank you for the witness that I am a child of God.
I confess now with my mouth that Jesus is Lord of my life and my saviour from everything I need saving from.
Thank you for saving me and teaching me daily about you and what pleases you.
I am saved. I am forgiven and I receive forgiveness for all my sins. I am righteous because the bible says Jesus was made sin for me so I can be made righteous as if I never sinned before God in Jesus’ blood.
Thank you that according to John 1:12 I receive power to become a child of God and your word is true.
Thank you for showing me daily the images you have predestined for my life in Jesus Christ and I receive them all by faith in Jesus’ name. Thank you for connecting me with other believers and people you planned me to be connected with in a church to grow in knowing God and experiencing His plan in Jesus’ name.”


Now you are saved, you should begin to expect God to connect you with a bible-believing church and group of believers as well as a pastor that can help you grow spiritually.
Acts 2:41-47 shows us images of God’s thoughts about how people should grow and churches should function. So God presents to us images of how we should live by being a part of biblical congregations with a pastor.
Hebrews 10:25 says: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
God’s image for believers is to be part of a local church or congregation and to grow as parts of it.
Once born-again or saved, you can never reach the fullness of the image of God for your life if you are not part of a church of believers led by a pastor whom God has called you to.
God clearly shows this to us in Ephesians 4:8-11:
“⁸Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. ⁹(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) ¹¹And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;”
When Jesus rose up from the dead, one of the first things He did was to give gifts unto men. Unto you and me.
He gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
He gave.
Jesus gave to believers, to the church.
People do not just become pastors and ministers of the gospel by going to a seminary or bible school.
They are called, chosen and predestined to be such.
This is what is called the five-fold ministry because of the five different roles Paul mentions in Ephesians 4.
Each with different roles and functions in a local church to fulfil His will on earth and His image for believers’ lives.
The main purpose of this is seen in verse 12 to 16:
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

So believers in Jesus are perfected, are equipped to do the work of the ministry and are edified, getting to the unity of the faith… unto the perfect man God planned as an image for them through ministers of the gospel in the context of a bible-believing church.Please remember that to live out the life of God , it is important and necessary to spend time daily in Jesus’ presence through prayer, reading the entire bible (of course it’s best to spend most of your time as a new believer in the testament to really grow as they are addressed to believers on how to live).
The Christian life is based first of all on a flourishing personal relationship with God and a strong relationship with a church and believers.
The next vital step is to live a life and be a witness of the salvation of God and His image of goodness for others. This can be through preaching or sharing who God is with others in fulfilment of Jesus command in Mark 16:15:
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

And in verses 17-18 above, we can clearly see the answer to the question, how is my life supposed to look like as a Christian.
Jesus Himself said we are supposed to have signs and wonders or miraculous, supernatural occurrences follow us as the norm.
We have authority to cast out devils in Jesus’ name, to speak in heavenly tongues by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-6), heal sick people and a lot more…all in Jesus’ name.
God is supernatural.
He has a supernatural life planned for you.

The images God has for your life are far beyond what you could ask or even think (Ephesians 3:20) but He has good plans for a good life He preplanned for you to live (Ephesians 3:10 Amplified bible translation)

You can have and enjoy the God-Kind of life by becoming a child of God. You can have your spirit reborn and the Holy Spirit of God come to live in your spirit.

It’s vital to feed your spirit the same way you
feed your natural body. This is done with the spiritual food of the Bible.
Set aside a time each day when you are alert and with a sincere and reverent heart, ask the Holy Spirit of God to speak to your heart as you read the Bible.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth sent to reveal truth to our hearts and teach us while talking to us about who Jesus is.
Then begin by reading just one chapter each day from Genesis in the Old Testament and the New testament beginning with Matthew.
So each day you can read from both the Old and New Testaments.
If you are sincere and take a little time to listen inside you and think about what you read, a part of what you read will make an impression on you.
This is God communicating something to you.
You can write it down and as how to apply it to your daily life.
If you are consistent in doing this, you will discover that each day, you will read something that applies to what you face that day or week and the Bible will come alive to you.
The Bible is really God speaking to you.
You can now really experience and see the image of God for your life.

2 Peter 1 tells us:
³According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: ⁴Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
By His exceeding great and precious promises, we become partakers of the Divine nature.
We become sharers of the Divine nature. We enjoy God’s nature.
We walk out the image He initially had for us through the promises of His word in the bible.
Jesus said the scriptures are they which testify of me.
And as we behold His glory as in a mirror, we are changed into the same image from Glory to Glory.