—Fantasy‚ Imagination, Dreams & Visions! DO 20473/85

1. THIS "VISIONS OF PARADISE" IS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE & I REALLY GET INTO IT! I get into it & I can just almost feel it! When you really study it & get into it‚ then it really comes alive. That's the way it is with children‚ they have vivid imaginations. They can really trip into that picture! That's the way I used to be when I was a little kid, I'd look at pictures or look into that little egg that had that cute little cottage scene, & if you shook up the snow it would fall‚ & it was real to me! It just becomes real.

2. YOU CAN CALL IT FANTASY & IMAGINATION, BUT I THINK IT'S SPIRITUAL!—And I think maybe the Lord intends for children to be that way. I'm sure He made'm that way, where they have such vivid imaginations & can fantasise, because it is something spiritual. Remember, God's Word says that "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen"—only seen in a little child's imagination or fantasies or you Artists' visions—"these things are eternal!" (2Cor.4:18) The spiritual things are eternal! So the so–called World of imagination & fantasy, they can call it that if they want to‚ is spiritual, & you get into the spiritual in that sort of thing. That's what we're getting into with these pictures.

3. I'M TRYING TO SHOW YOU THAT THE WORLD OF FANTASY & IMAGINATION IS NOT NECESSARILY FANTASY & IMAGINATION!—IT COULD BE INSIGHT, IT COULD BE VISION, JUST LIKE DREAMS, IT COULD BE SPIRIT TRIPS INTO ANOTHER WORLD! Maybe you Artists are not just seeing your imagination or your fantasy, I believe God's really giving you insight & you're peeking into the next World! Where do these pictures come from? You have to see it before you can draw it. Where did you see it?—In your mind! Well, Who put it there? If you're really seeking the Truth & you're really seeking reality, if you ask for a fish He'll not give you a serpent, if you ask for bread He'll not give you a stone. (Mat.7:9,10) He's going to give you what you're asking for & He's going to put the picture there. You're like a channel, like me, you simply have to transfer it onto paper where people can see it. I just transfer it into sound where people can hear it, & eventually it gets transferred to paper too so they can read it.

4. YOU ARTISTS HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT! YOU HAVE TO REALLY TAKE A SPIRIT TRIP & GET IN THE SPIRIT & REALLY PRAY & ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU VISIONS! "Young men shall see visions!" (Joel 2:28) Old men like me, we just dream dreams!—Ha!—But they're marvellous dreams, thank God, & when you're asleep you're really in the Spirit! In dreams you're totally there! When you're seeing visions, you're both there & here, if you know what I mean. You know you're conscious, you know you're still in this physical World, but you're seeing pictures that are in another World. So dreams in a way are even more spiritual‚ because you're really out-of-this-World, you're not even conscious that you're asleep. You're actually living it & doing it & acting it in that dream, you're actually there! And who knows but what maybe you are? Your spirit is you! You could be on a spirit trip & there!

5. THIS IS A VERY SPIRITUAL MINISTRY THAT YOU ARTISTS HAVE & YOU REALLY HAVE TO GET IN THE SPIRIT & REALLY ASK GOD TO GUIDE YOU & SHOW YOU EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT! You've got to see the spiritual realities in order to create these physical pictures. So that's a big job. I've said that before, that you Artists come closest to having my kind of job. You put it onto canvas where all the people can see it, but I have to translate it into words, in English, & it's got to be recorded so everybody can read it. You have to do the same. You're doing exactly the same as I'm doing, you're doing exactly the same with your art & these pictures. So you can see what a heavy responsibility it is, because you want it to be true & just what God shows you.

6. MY INTERPRETATIONS & TRANSLATIONS & SOME THINGS LIKE THAT IN PROPHECY MAY NOT ALWAYS BE PERFECT, BUT AT LEAST I TRY! Sometimes I have to touch it up a little bit when I get the rough transcript. So that's what we're doing with the art, we're just sort of polishing up the rough draft. We get the first sketch in rough colour & then we go to work on it polishing up the fine points & finishing it off the way it ought to be & the way it obviously is supposed to be from what God's originally given you.

7. YOU CAN'T BE EXPECTED TO REMEMBER EVERY DETAIL OF THE PICTURE YOU SEE. How many people remember every single detail of a scene of any kind that they see, even in reality, in this life? Some of these trials in the movies with criminals & witnesses etc., how often do they really remember everything? Sometimes they can't even remember how the guy was dressed or the colour of the car or a lot of things, they're very unobservant. But you Artists have a special knack for really remembering what things look like.

8. IT'S AMAZING SOMETIMES HOW YOU CAN JUST DRAW FROM YOUR IMAGINATION EVEN WITHOUT A REAL LIFE MODEL!—Of course, it's always safer to draw from the real thing. But if what you're seeing is not existent in this real World, then you've got to draw from the vision or imagination or the fantasy that you've had, & that's not too easy! It's supernatural, it's miraculous, inspired!

9. I CONSIDER THAT YOU ARTISTS ARE THE MOST INSPIRED PEOPLE IN THIS WHOLE OUTFIT BESIDES ME!—I mean it!—So stay that way! Keep in the Spirit! Be inspired! Really see Visions! That's what the Lord called them‚ Visions! Hallelujah! GBY! Thanks for your wonderful visionary work! Sometimes they call us visionaries‚ well, "without vision the people perish!" (Pro.29:18) So thank God! GBY!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family