Faith is like a tender plant, rooted in Christ alone, watered by the Spirit and the Word, strengthened by the winds of adversity and the sunshine of blessing.~Anne Graham Lotz
All creative projects and ideas have been put away like books on a shelf ready to be reexamined, dusted off and completed. Art has been so much of the way I express myself that it is impossible for me to stop creating in one way or another. Organizing all those thoughts on a piece of artwork helps me to express what sometimes can't always be said in words. For me at least, I learn more from visuals so its understandably why I express myself the same way!
Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.~Martin Luther
I have learned so much this year, mostly from books, articles and people. You really never get to the place where you have it all figured out. That is something that you seldom figure out when you are young. I appreciate the patience that God has in me in all my flaws and imperfections.
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.~ 2 Corinthians 12:10
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| Fact notes... Love is mentioned 551 times in the bible.(NIV) |
Out of all the books, posts, blogs and articles I have read lately the one I always go back to is the bible. It is living, breathing, pure poetry and shoots straight to the heart. Holy Spirit inspired, written by ordinary men, guided by the hand of God. Words that can bypass the condition of the human heart and speak to it as if it was written only for you.
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12
When storms rise up (and they will) and your ship is tossed about in seemingly endless blows, aimlessly adrift in a ocean of cares. God's word is the still small voice that says "Peace be still", "trust in me" All things are working out for your good!
One of my New Year's goals is just to breathe, trust and try not to over think. Of course I always have many projects on the shelf as I take on new challenges this year and most of those are challenges I give myself. I can rest assure in God's grace and mercy and that He sees me as I am and still loves me. With all my tattered sails, weaknesses and my very own weathered ship.
If God sees our brokenness as beautiful, how does He see us when we think we have it all together?
What if it is our very own weaknesses that are used by Him to shine His light to a hurting world?
What if His glory can ONLY be revealed in broken places?
What if that broken place is in the heart?
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
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| Fact notes..."'Truth" |
So in that alone I can breathe, and rest in the Father who loves me and you so deeply and is the anchor of our souls.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139 1-18
Like a plant that starts up in showers and sunshine and does not know which has best helped it to grow, it is difficult to say whether the hard things or the pleasant things did me the most good. ~Lucy Larcom
