I have been a saved believer for about 8 years now. There are some things that I have known but not truly understood until now. For example, I had always known that a lot of the christian life truly is about obedience, but not an obedience given from a fear of punishment. No, I had always known of an obedience that led to understanding and a spirit at peace.  An obedience that was asked for from a loving God and for our highest good. I have not begun to understand that until recently.  I will only say that for these years I have been seeking answers from God and "exploring" his grace. I haven't gotten anywhere really, to be honest. I am reminded constantly by his Spirit of the fourth chapter of Philippians, where Paul tells the church to think about those things that are worthy and lovely and noble and true. Do this, and the God of PEACE will be with you. I have wasted so much time being disobedient to this word, and I'll tell you what, I have suffered for it.  I cannot stress how important it is to fight for your mind and how crucial it is to know who your enemy is.  Once again we are told in Ephesians 6 that it is not flesh and blood with whom we are at war, but it is against the spiritual forces of darkness. We are to love our neighbor as well as our enemy. We are to treat our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with the utmost honor. We are to encourage and not tear down. We are to be light and salt to a world desperately in need. We are to place all our hope and sight and faith in the only one who is worthy and faithful. It is not impossible, but I'll be honest, it is not easy. The flesh nature will be quick to rise and fight every effort made to submit to the will of God. It will try to reason with you to indulge its desires. It will make you think that you can't live without something. Its all a lie, and it is overcome by keeping the TRUTH in mind. The truth of who you are, who God is, who Satan is, and the nature of this world and the world to come. Keep your eyes on the prize.

There are enough preachers, enough teachers, maybe not enough missionaries and evangelists, but my point is this: artists have been given a unique gift from God, the gift of vision, to bring to life the spiritual world in a way that nothing else can. Whether that vision takes form in the written word or the sung lyric or the stroke of a pencil across a piece of paper or canvas, or anything else, it is a profound responsibility and process that is taking place.

Nothing would please me more than to see the Church overflow with art. There is a desperate need for beauty in the Church. Beauty can be a powerful window through which to catch a glimpse of God and truth. If you are an artist, create create create! If you are not, make it a point to recognize the beauty of God’s creation around you. You may find yourself surprised at the renewing and strengthening abilities it possesses.

 

I think its appropriate to mention a couple of things before I begin. The first and most important is that I am a dedicated Christian woman. I love God deeply, and everyday I want nothing more than to know him more and make him known, in all his forms and faces, to the surprise of some who would never have considered me to be "that kind of person".  :)  The second is that I am strongly artistically, poetically, philosophically, and controversially inclined. Perhaps this knowledge of me as the author will bring a fuller understanding of this and all future posts. I hope so, and I hope that you enjoy and are stimulated by my writings. At the very least I hope that you find yourself thinking about something you never did before, or seeing something from a different perspective. Happy reading!

 I will save you the time of reading the third chapter of Genesis in its entirety. Most of you know the story. For those of you who don’t, or aren’t sure of the details, here are a few. God is finished with the creation of the world. It is a beautiful and pure world, beyond what we can imagine. Man lives in harmony with himself and creation. Creation is in harmony with itself and man. Everything is as it should be, and it is very good.

Enter the serpent. “Is it true?” he asks. “Did God really say…?” The life and future of her every child lay trusting and gentle in mother’s hands. Every angel in existence stills its breath. What will she say? The lushness and serenity of the garden is breathtaking. “Well,” she starts, “We may eat fruit from every tree in the garden, but God did say , ‘You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not surely die.”

I don’t have to tell you what happened next. You already know. Her hands slipped, and we fell. And you, father, where were you? That perfect life is gone. The world is suddenly a strange and dangerous place. It doesn’t look quite as alive as it used to. The colors are somehow different. And what is this unpleasant sensation? Are we…scared? And so we venture, unsure, into life alone.

Now, enter the Promised Seed. Thousands of years it has been since the loss of Man. Thousands of years it has been that His holy eyes have looked upon the fruit of sin--failure, pain, heartache, sickness, and death. The faint glow of the original beauty and glory of his world grows only fainter with every passing of the sun and moon. It is time to reclaim it. It is time to enter the world, as one of them.