See & Say

Remember the old Fisher Price See & Say toy? It was a round dial, with an arrow and a crank and all the farm animals were pictured around it. You pull the lever and whatever the arrow lands on it would tell you which animal picture you were seeing and what it says. We will have either defeat or victory in our lives based upon what we see and say. And sometimes what we see and are hearing is great! We can just come into agreement with that. But when what we see and hear is not in line with God’s Word, we are going to have to do some seeing and saying. And I don’t mean seeing and saying what it looks like. Anybody can do that. People in your life can easily do that when they see and hear what’s going on. But the Word says in Romans 4:17 “even God, Who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which BE NOT as though they WERE.” We do that by faith! We must, first of all, know what the Word says they should be if we are going to speak that out. The not knowing will keep us in defeat. When we get some knowing, we do some showing. We face the facts but then begin to declare what we know to be the truth.

Our imagination is a gift from God! It is the ability to see things which do not yet exist in a tangible fashion. Something that we see in our mind’s eye before it has manifested. What a powerful gift to possess! The ability to see things differently than what they may appear. God desires for us to utilize our imagination in the realm of faith, to purposely visualize that thing we are believing for as received by us right now. The enemy has no creative power of his own as he is a created being and not made in the image and likeness of God like we are as sons of God. The enemy can only try to pervert the gift of imagination and give us thoughts in the realm of fear to stir up images that suit his purposes. For whatever we focus on is what we will be drawn to and inevitably draw into our lives. So, in the midst of sickness, we imagine ourselves well and whole because the Bible says Jesus took the curse of sickness for us. No matter what we feel, we picture ourselves strong and confess 1 Peter 2:24 with our mouths. When our bank book looks depleted, we must feed on scriptures that promise us that God would be our Provider! Faith comes by hearing the Word and is built up in us as we feed on it. So, we feed so much on Phil. 4:19, that no number in a checkbook can shake the knowing in us, that God will make a way and that we live from full supply to full supply. Instead of the enemy’s picture of fear, that we are going to go under, we see the Lord’s picture of abundance, that we will have more than enough. That we can be cheerful givers and have perfect peace knowing God will make a way where there seems to be no way! This is the true purpose for our imagination!

Let’s look at that same verse in the Message version, it reads, “We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in scripture, God saying to Abraham, ‘I set you up as a father of many peoples’? Abraham was first named “father” and then he became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, decided to live NOT on the basis of what he SAW he couldn’t do but on what God SAID he would do.” So, Abraham saw the lack of his old body and the lack that was always there in Sarah’s body even when she was young, but he chose to see what God saw and say what God said.

Mark 5:21-43 Jairus’ faith, demonstrated by his words of faith, caused Jesus to follow him. The movement to Jairus’ house got delayed when the woman with the issue of blood received what she had seen and said she would if only she could touch the hem of His garment. While he was still speaking men came from Jairus’ house to let him know not to trouble Jesus any longer that his daughter was now dead. Rather than be encouraged by the woman’s testimony of great healing, Jairus let what he saw (the men coming) and heard (what they said) cause him to loosen his grip of faith and let fear have an entrance. But Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, only believe”. Jesus said it to Jairus, but He could say the same to us. What was He telling Jairus to believe? To believe what you first told me you believed, (verse 23) that I would come with you to your house, lay hands upon her, that she would be made well and live. Jesus is saying, Stick with it, Jairus, stay with Me. Stay with the faith you saw and said. It says Jesus only allowed Peter, James, and John to follow them to the house. It matters who you allow to hang close to you when you are needing to be strong in faith! When they arrived at the house, there was much commotion and loud weeping and wailing for the girl had indeed died. But how did Jesus respond to what He saw and heard? Verse 39 He said, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” Huh? Didn’t Jesus know she was dead? Why did He say she was just sleeping? Of course, He knew! But He knew if He was going to allow all the power of heaven to have access to this girl’s situation He was going to have to change what He saw and said about it. He was going to have to envision her being raised up, whole and well and that in order for that to manifest He was going to have to say so.

Verse 41, 42 “And taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” And immediately the little girl rose and began to walk; for she was twelve years. And immediately they were completely astounded.”

It happened exactly as Jesus saw and said it would! This is just one example Jesus gives us of seeing and saying. Search the Word, there are many more times when people spoke what they believed in spite of how things appeared and Jesus said, “Be it done unto you according to your faith!” Because our faith always has to see and say. What are some things you are seeing in your life that you’d like to see differently? How can you begin to use your imagination to first see it differently and then begin to declare by faith how God’s Word says it should be until it comes in line with that truth?