Using Your Imagination
christian formation, spiritual formation, discipleship, prayer, bible study methods, mission, witness, how to, spirituality, spiritual, christian, christianity, lessons, study, guide,
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About This Project

using your imagination

The Holy Spirit works through your mind and heart to teach you about the mind and heart of Jesus. He can draw your mind and heart into communion with Jesus using your imagination.

When writing about Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Ellen White encourages,

Let us in imagination go back to that scene, and, as we sit with the disciples on the mountainside, enter into the thoughts and feelings that filled their hearts. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 1)

The reason why God uses your imagination in Bible study is simple. By

understanding what the words of Jesus meant to those who heard them, we may discern in them a new vividness and beauty, and may also gather for ourselves their deeper lessons. (Ibid.)

Again, in the book, Desire of Ages, Ellen White encourages the following,

It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene… (83)

Using your imagination to think about the Bible enables the Holy Spirit to guide your heart and mind into the thoughts and feelings of people living thousands of years ago. This work of the Holy Spirit brings insight and enables us to experience the awe of the truth which God placed into the hearts and minds of those biblical characters so many years ago.

 

example: the story of Zacchaeus

Here is an example of how you might use your imagination to explore what God was doing in the story of Zacchaeus.

  1. Pray that the Holy Spirit will be your teacher and guide as you read through the story.
  2. Read Luke 19:1-10 at least a couple of times so you are familiar with the story.
  3. Choose one of the people in the story and think about the story from their perspective.

Imagine you are Zacchaeus:

  1. What is it like to be small and unable to see in a crowd?
  2. What sort of view do you have up the tree? Can you see Jesus clearly?
  3. What was it like to hear Jesus ask to visit your home? Were you embarrassed?
  4. How did you feel when you heard Jesus say “today salvation has come to this house”?

Or, imagine you are Jesus:

  1. Why did you pick Zacchaeus to visit out of all the people in the crowd?
  2. What did you think when you saw Zacchaeus up the tree? What sort of look did he have on his face?
  3. How did Zacchaeus respond to your request?

Or, imagine you are someone in the crowd:

  1. Would you have preferred Jesus to come to your home instead of going home with Zacchaeus?
  2. What do you think of Jesus going to a tax collector’s house? Why do you think Jesus did this? Do you think that is strange?

 

application questions

When you have finished the story, you may like to consider a couple of general application questions:

  1. What did I learn from this story about God?
  2. What did I learn from this story about myself?

 

using your journal

Use your Bible Study journal to record what you have learned. You can use this method of study with any of the Bible stories. The stories in the Gospels and Acts are a good place to start. You may also write prayers in response to what God is teaching you.

Category
Bible study methods, Communion with God