My Father's House

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also." -John 14:1-3

Anyone who knows me know I love Howard Finster. One of my favorite all time prints of his is of a chapel, a grand mansion type chapel, and it says "IN MY FATHERS HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS" If it were not for this piece of art I would not be familar with this bible verse. This is one of the reasons why I love Finster so much. He used his art to get the Word of God to the people. I beleive God choose Howard to do so. I would like to think that I may be chosen to get God's word out. I am not 1/10 as familar with the bible as I should be but I am trying. One verse at a time I'm learning God's word. The best way for me to learn anything is my visually seeing it. By putting it down on paper, it helps me acknowledge and understand. If someown just read this verse to me it would go in one ear and out the other. But seeing it. Seeing Howard's vision, seeing my own visions. This is what tugs at my heart and swells my eyes with tears. This is when I know that it is real. Heaven is real. God is real. The bible is real. It is really God's word. Jesus said, "if it were not so, I would have told you".

If you are not familar with the Reverend Howard Finster please click on this link.

http://www.finster.com/

also see the post down below "In my Father's House"

What piece of art speaks to you?

Giving Up

Sometimes we give things up to God and sometimes we just give up. Or at least I do anyway. Sometimes there is no bible verse, no rainbow, no light at the end of the tunnel. On these occasions the devil is winning. He is foaming at the mouth with another kill. Demons attack me on all fronts. What can I do? I am not strong enough to fight the darkness off. I am not strong enough to silence the negative voices. Satan knows this and uses it against me. My own weakness as his ammo. I am not strong enough. But God is. He sends the Holy Spirit in to hold me up, to give me strentgh and to give me protection. Satan is strong but God is stronger. There is not doubt in my mind that my Lord can crush satan like a dried up ole wasp nest. Crush him and his demons. So why do I let myself get so down? Human laziness? Not spending enough time in the word of God and in the presence of God? Whatever it is I'm thankful that it doesn't last long. I know I am never alone and God has my back.

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my sheild and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." -Psalm 18:2

I give up.

I pray and there is no answer. I simply cannot do all the things I am expected to do. I am a failure. I give up.

the freeway

I heard this on the radio the other day and I think it is a very good analogy. If you are driving on the freeway and you need to get off on a certain exit and you accidently pass that exit do you just keep on driving? Do you say "oops, I misssed my exit, guess I'll just keep on going even though I don't know where I'm headed now, and I'll probably get lost and it won't be easy to get back where I was going." No, that's silly. You would turn around as fast as you could and get back to where you are going. So why don't we do that in life. When we sin we have a habit of saying "oops God, I sinned, please forgive me" but then we keep on sinning. We keep on heading down the freeway getting farther and farther away from our destination. We get lost. And it isn't easy to get back. In life we need to recognize that if we keep on sinning, we get further and further away from God. We can pray and ask for forgiveness all we want but until we stop the sin, until we turn around and say "God I'm coming back on track" our lives will keep going out of control. How foolish we are to think we can keep on sinning and denying the fact that we are off track. The fact of the matter is there is one road, one way and any other way is just the enemy fooling us into destruction. What road are you on today? Did you miss your exit?

lilies of the field

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:" -Matthew 6:28 Worry. Worry. Worry. In these times of layoffs and high gas prices we have a lot to worry about. If you're like me and you have little money saved up the thought of losing a job is enough to make my heart stop. No paycheck, no mortgage payment, no house, no home, then what? This can not happen, but it does happen. It happens all the time to people who never thought they would be in such a predicament. What do we do? It's hard to even think about helping others when our own lives are on the line. But what exactly is on the line? What is the most important thing in our lives? A house, a car, things and more things? No. God is the most important thing. Yes that's easy for me to say because I still have a roof over my head. I still have a job for the time being. But I must not forget my purpose. I am not on this earth to aqcuire things. I'm on this earth to serve and praise my Lord. I'd rather be a lamb of God than a slave of the devil. I thank God every day for the roof over my head and the job that provides the money to buy the groceries and pay the bills. The hard part is not worrying. To let it all go to God and know that He is in control. I give myself to Him so that He can guide my steps and I know that He will take care of me. I know this and yet still it's hard not to worry sometimes. Lord I pray that your grace will see me through. That no matter what life throws at me I have you to hold me up, to show me the way. I pray that I make the right decisions and follow your path. Ofcourse just praying isn't enough. I know that to live the life God wants for me I must study His word and live by His word. I pray that we all may study God's word and spend time in prayer to be able to know Him better and live the life that He Has mapped out for us. I pray that I may be like the lilies of the field and not worry about what's coming next, but know that my God is watching out for me. Amen. Oh yeah, just a side note, lilies of the field are now my favorite flowers. :)

In my Father's house.

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14:2

I love this verse because I associate it with the image of Howard Finster's poster titled "In My Father's House". You can find it in this link: http://www.finster.com/Message%20Posters.htm

I also love it because it reminds me that this world is only temporary. The house that I live in now will one day crumble and fall (hopefully not while I'm still in it). My true home is in Heaven in the presence of the Lord. It helps to keep things in perspective. I may not have exactly the house I want with all the rooms and the big yard full of magnolia trees but in Heaven I will not want for anything. I will be fully content. It reminds me that while I am on this earth I can also be content, because I know that I have a loving God that I will be united with in Heaven. Whatever trials I go through I can take solice in the fact that my Lord is with me. He never leaves my side. I praise Him for His glory.

The Ultimate Creator

God is the greatest artist of all. He is the Ultimate Creator.

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars." -Martin Luther

I often think about the artist who inspire me. My top three (human) artist are Vincent Van Gogh, Howard Finster and Edward Gorey. These are the artist that I feel most in tune with. Each has a style completly different from the other. I love them all with a passion. My greatest inspiration however, comes from God. He is the ultimate creator.

"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all" -Cecil Frances Alexander

I am in awe of his creations. From the beauty in a sunset to the beauty in a flower to the amazingly intricate design of our own human bodies.

"The world of nature bears spectacular witness to the imaginative genius of our Creator." -Philip Yancey

I am blessed to live in a world created by our God.