WHEN YOU REACH OUT TO GOD AND HE IS'T THERE

Mama said there'd be days like these.  Days when nothing goes the way we hoped they would.  In a succession of uneventful days when daily routine sets in, when we really have nothing to complain about, there will be that one day when everything is just off.

Well thank you so much humanity, because it happens to the best of us.  Yes, even those who are filthy rich and think that money can solve all problems.  Regardless of how famous you are, there will be days when maybe a spouse, a partner, kids, or co-workers, people who we encounter on a daily basis will let us down or set us back.

King David, of the Bible, someone who is near, dear and close to God was not immune to failure.  He had conjured up some scheme to send a woman's husband he was hot for out to battle and ordered him to the front line to be first to die, so he can swoop up his wife for himself.  The desires of his flesh became so overwhelming that he knowingly sinned and turned away from God to fulfill his carnal desires. 

Then after he has had his fill, he had the nerve to return to God and proceeded to write the Psalms begging God to forgive him.  Mind you, these were the days before Jesus died on the cross so that God's people are automatically forgiven for their sins.  I cannot imagine having to beg God to forgive me while at the same time writing music or painting artwork for Him just to be forgiven.  But yet, it took that much for God to finally forgive David.

When David wrote the psalms, one section, Psalm 22, caught my attention.  It was here that God was silent, choosing to ignore David's pleas.  It seemed like a long time because David talked about every day and every night.  Imagine having to pray and call out to God for so many nights and not hear a peep?  I mean David was groveling!  Not only did God choose to ignore him, everyone around him was sneering at him, being hated, scorned, and mocked.  They were witnessing someone who used to be at the top of the world with God's backing, overcoming all suddenly abandoned by the most powerful and awesome God!   It wasn't only affecting him psychologically but also he was feeling physical pain, almost to the point of death!

He is making all kinds of promises to God asking Him to forgive him and quell his pain.  He is giving up his entire kingdom and promising to do God's Will for generations to come.  I mean sheesh!!!  I can't imagine being banished and alone without God! 

There are times when I have felt this way.  When it feels like there is no escape from the current situation.  When that happens, my initial reaction is to panic!  But no sooner than that pang of fear sets in, the hope of God's grace, blessing and promises overcomes me.  And then the fear disappears.  You have to have the presence of mind to recognize this when it happens.  Why?  Because you are operating on blind faith.  Blind faith believing that God is omnipresent, He is someone we will never be able to comprehend.  He operates in a myriad of dimensions while we operate in 3.  We are nothing compared to His powers but yet He is loving and quick to forgive us for our sins.  That is why, my friend, He is such an awesome God!  Most doubters doubt because they don't understand God with their pea brains and without faith, their brains could literally blow up from trying to figure God out.  Well, as humans we will never be able to.  That's why we need to just love Him and rely on Him in all the aspects of our lives.

I speak from a place where understanding the power of God is a constant in my life and I hope and pray that you all would be able to get to that point in your lives as well.  If I can do it for all of you, I would.

Until my next rant.... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Port Isaac Cornwall England

 

Just felt like it.  It will be a landscape painting one day.

WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS IT ANYWAY?

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, we are approaching almost everyone's favorite holiday.  Christmas.  I love giving and receiving gifts ever since I can remember as a child.  Christmas could not come soon enough!  Then after Christmas, there is that sinking feeling of it being over and I have to wait another year for it to come around.  Year in and year out, the older I get the less and less I look forward to this holiday, at least as far as gift giving is concerned.  

These past few years, as my relationship with God grew, the real essence of Christmas and whom we should be celebrating has become more important to me than the gift giving or receiving.  I start to question why is it that I receive gifts when it is not even my birthday but Jesus'?  I know it is a tradition but just imagine this.

On your birthday, instead of you getting a birthday cake, your family and friends gave the cake and the party to your next door neighbor in your name.  They gave each other presents but didn't give you one.  They decorated their own house and each other's house but not yours.  They celebrated another year of your life but didn't invite you.   I wonder if Jesus is up there in heaven wondering the same thing when folks who were celebrating His birthday wasn't even thinking about Him or much less celebrating Him?

Jesus was and is God's gift to us.  The most precious gift anyone could ever give us is the gift of life.  You are on this earth because your parents gave birth to you and if you love your life, you thank them for giving you that life!  Jesus didn't have to die for us, He could've saved His own life, but then He would just be another Adam.  He would have defeated the purpose of God's plan for Him.  Then we would all have to go to hell in a hand basket.

So this year, why not celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, which is Jesus Christ?  Why not give yourself back to Him as an offering by commemorating His birthday doing something nice for someone, a gift of hope.  How about doing something nice for others to give them hope?  Have you forgotten for a minute who this celebration is for?

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE - THE NAPA VALLEY CRAFT FAIRE December 13 & 14

My first big gig since inception of www.anamariefox.com, and it was quite a learning experience!  I present you with visuals...

I have now experienced swimming with both big and small fishes.  

When I decided to join this I had no idea how big it was but the space rent should have been a tip-off.  No matter how much I resisted at first, I figured in order to get where I want to be, I had to get my feet wet, and Napa is the best place for it.  I learned later on that majority of the exhibitors were not even from the locality.  Better for me since I didn't have to travel far and wide to be a part of it.

So what to fit in a 10x10 space?  I had 2 6-ft tables and 4 display stands.  I only learned about the faire a month before the date so I really didn't have very much to sell.  I worked day and night and missed so many events to do this, one of which was a funeral of a friend.  R.I.P. Rudy.  

So this is what I came up with initially.  It worked pretty good but after about an hour, I noticed people were not venturing inside as much as they did at the start.  Enter my newfound friend Mel.  He is a veteran at this and he comes up and says, "Your feng-shui is all wrong!  It was bugging me this whole time!  You need to move the table up, do this do that, etc. and do it now!" He wasn't pushy right? NO not really, he was soft-spoken but the urgency was dire!  So we moved things around and got to this.

 Well, it really worked so thank you Major Mel!  Then there is the stark white wall behind me.  That is what I would concentrate on next time is to have that wall filled with stuff to maximize the use of every inch.  I guess that is the premise of this whole thing to maximize profits as well!

I got a lot of compliments on my work as it seems most of the exhibitors were commercialized reseller, as opposed to my 100% handmade items.  Money cannot buy pure appreciation for what you have created, but along with that I had to also sell myself by appreciating their appreciation, if you know what I mean?  Here are the lovely faces of happy buyers!  Enjoy!

So ok, I am in the black after it is said and done but not by much.  In other words, it cost money for me to learn the tricks of the trade and I am giving it to you for free, in case you want to do it yourself.  However, the cost of the fee paled in comparison with the valuable lessons I've learned.  Below is the list of things to remember:

1-)  Make use of every inch you are given.  If you have a stark white wall, fill it up as high as you can reach.  Bring a step stool (so important! My plug was located 7 ft up).  
2)  Have your business cards, flyers, banner available to see.  Make your business card so eye-catching so they will not throw it away instead keep it.
3)  The photos you see here were highly edited due to the yellow cast lighting they had at the hall.  You may have to bring flood lights to negate the yellow cast, unless your hall is well lit, which is highly unlikely.
4)  Raise your tables up about 2 feet higher so that people wouldn't have to bend over to look at your stuff.  
5) Place the table right up to the aisle where people walk so that they can see and touch as they go.  Happy colors are helpful and make sure you cater to all ages with your items.
6) Have change ready, or use Square https://squareup.com/ .  OMG!  Square was the best thing ever!  No more trying to get change or risking to accept checks and losing business!  So easy to use!
7) Don't get intimidated.  I did.  When I saw the commercialized exhibits I felt like my handmade items might get passed on.  On the contrary, I got a lot of comments about people almost not coming because of the commercialized exhibitors and they were glad I was there.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
 

CHOICES

Free will is a precursor to choice.  God’s generosity to us as humans because of his undying love graced each and everyone of us free will.  Freedom to choose Him over flesh.  Flesh meaning self or temptations from the evil one.  God desires mutual love and admiration from us but He does not want to just take it, even though as a powerful God, He can do so.  But then to put it in perspective, if He did so, He wouldn’t be the pure and perfect God that He is. 

So we own our will.  The question is, will we pattern our will according to His, or according to the world’s?  Let’s look at the world’s will for a moment.  The world seems to follow a pattern of immediate self-gratification.  Whatever feels good to us at the time, whether it is right or wrong, must be right.  So many people say, “Well, as long as I am not doing evil against another, then that means I am good and I deserve to be in the kingdom of God after I die.”  WRONG!  Yes, there is a basic tenet that doing the right thing makes you a good person, but just by being a good person doesn’t give you the golden ticket to the stairway to Heaven! 

It was kind of a shocker when I came across a verse in the Bible John 1:1-5.  It says, “In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through him.  The word gave life to everything that was created and His life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” 

So I picked apart that whole verse.  It could only refer to one person, and that is Jesus.  God in this verse is the Father God.  But He was with someone else.  The bible calls Him the “WORD” and the Word existed with God.  And it goes on to say His “LIFE” brought light to everyone.  Ok, so we know God was already in existence but Jesus lived a “life” and to understand it, the book has to parallel it to something we can understand because each of us has a “life” a physical birth and a physical death.  So did Jesus.  In other words, if you really think about it, the verse is saying that even before Adam and Eve, Jesus was already with God and in the works and Genesis to Revelation our the whole story.  The thing is, we are living in that story.  Our generation is that which is close to the end.  Everything that went on from the writing of the book of Revelation didn’t stop there.  Tara, my daughter had a good point that I didn’t even think about.  We were watching the movie “Monumental” and she said, “So if the Bible stories continued, the pilgrim’s story would be in it.”  Light bulb moment!  And yes, to this very day, the Bible stories continues because we are still awaiting the return of Jesus to get His church back.  His Bride.  Wow! It’s so amazing to me!  But I digress.

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect.  No one is.  A sin is a sin is a sin and in God’s eyes, all sins are the same.  It’s the choices that we make that have definite consequences.  So here’s an example.  A person gives up on life and CHOOSES to commit suicide.  That person needs to understand that once he makes the choice and follows through with it, his choice becomes the dominant factor that in turn chooses for him.  He is no longer free to choose the consequences of his choice.   His choice has chosen for him and that is death.

When we make bad choices, it doesn't surprise God.  He already knows and He is in control.  Thanks to Him he can reverse that choice but only if we allow him to do so.  The suicidal guy didn’t have to choose to kill himself.  He could have chosen to allow God to move in his life and straighten out whatever he thought was hopeless.  As long as he has Jesus in his heart, as the verse says, “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.”

In my own experience, when difficult times arise, I give God complete control and forget about it.  Time and time again He has proven that nothing is impossible for Him.  Otherwise, I would have been a complete basket case today as I sit here writing to you because of all the trials I have been through in my life.  I give GOD the glory, every day, in every way.

Until my next rant…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

NAPA VALLEY HOLIDAY GIFT FAIRE! TAKE HOME OR GIVE A PIECE OF ART!

I've been so busy these past few weeks getting ready for my art show at the Napa Valley Chardonnay Hall.  I live and breathe creativity to sell.  Here are some photos.  If you are in the area come see us!  Back to the fine arts and blogging after this week.  Although I will still be posting this Sunday so come back!  Love ya all!

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

OUR WORLDLY FIGHT

Being a Christian is not an easy task.  However much we would like to think that because God's got our back, what makes being a Christian so difficult is because we have to fight sin 24/7.  I'm not gonna lie, it is a round the clock battle for me.  It is so as we are innately sinful human beings born into sin and lived a life of sin from birth.  Just because we are born again, it doesn't make us immune to the outside influences we marinade in day in and day out.

But God understands our shortcoming.  He knows that it is a losing battle.  How does He know that?  Because He experienced it Himself through the life and death of Jesus Christ.  He sent His only Son and multidimensionally, Himself, to experience the evil in the world.  It is, of course, part of His plan and ties in the Old and the New Testament with the world's future.  He is not expecting us to be perfect.  There is no way for that to happen.  All He wants is for us to include Him in our everyday lives because if and when we do so, and follow His guidance and instructions, we are able to fight sin as it is thrown at us.  

As we grow with every testimony and acceptance of God's grace and favor, we are more apt to walk in His Will, instead of ours.  God's Will is the right way to live our lives and become a great example for others in their lives.  Everything that in God's plan makes perfect sense if we just open our hearts, our minds and our spirits to God's instruction.  Whatever our conscience says that is good, is God's voice.  Heed.

Till my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I love the colors of fall, it is God's artwork for all of us to enjoy!  I try to capture it the best I can with my own expression.  I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for your continued support.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Sketchbook Entry -Groovy Granny

Groovy Granny sketchbook entry

ABANDONED

 

Abandonment takes on many forms.  Physical, emotional and spiritual.  No matter what form it takes on, the results are almost always devastating.  Usually, physical abandonment progresses in to an emotional one.  It could be an absentee parent or parents, a spouse or lover, or children abandoning their parent/s.  But why are we so offended for being abandoned?  Why does it affect us so much that we carry our resentment towards them?  

Perhaps it is because as human beings we are created in Love, it is love that we seek throughout our lives.  Time and again we meet people who guard their hearts from others who could hurt them, by putting up a front and abandoning their feelings and becoming numb to such emotion.  But no matter how much we deny it, our human make up is to be loved.  

The very essence of the word is so innate in our human existence and so powerful that the hardest of all hearts could melt in the presence of love.  

But then when we are rejected and abandoned the feeling is so devastating. We have to remember though that we can never rely on another human being to give us happiness because we are just as vulnerable and erroneous as the person next to us.  We hurt others just as much as others hurt us.  I pity the ones who are so reliant on others for their fulfillment instead of having God in their lives, someone who is omnipresent and available at our beck and call 24/7.  God will never, ever, whether we like it or not, abandon us.  Yes, I'm there, just like you, it's sometimes hard for me to rely on someone who I can't see, or physically feel.  But for me it's that much more special because I know that I am in Him just as much as He is in me.  What I mean by that is that wherever I go, He goes.  I never feel abandoned, even when everyone else has abandoned me at one point or another.  I could be alone, but never lonely.  It's other humans who try to make us feel that way.  However, it is a choice, you have an option.  Do you opt to feel God's presence all the time or rely on another human being to be there for you and be disappointed?  I choose the former.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!  

LOOK ABOVE YOU, NOT BEHIND YOU

Today, I read the verse in the Bible from Luke chapter 12 verses 4-5 when Jesus said, “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that.  Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.  Yes, He’s the one to fear.”

On face value, after reading it quick I was stunned.  How can a merciful and forgiving God also have the harshness of murder?  I prayed about this and the Holy Spirit cleared it up for me to impart the message to you. 

Jesus talked about the power of God in this verse.  He is trying to make us understand that the power of God to create us is the same power that can kill us.  Killing in a sense of eternal damnation.  Eternal is not just a big word, it is a forever word coming from the word eternity.   Eternity is a long time.  Actually to put it in perspective it is more a status than it is a time period.  Compared to our afterlife, this life we currently live in, in the flesh is a short period of time.  If you lived till you’re a hundred, that lifetime is considerably shorter than the eternal life that is waiting for you.  Most people say that heaven is boring, listening to music and doing practically nothing.  I’ve heard it over and over again, sometimes in jest but the more we hear it, the more we believe it. 

Our own little pea brain cannot even begin to imagine what heaven will be like.  There is a snippet of its description in the Book of Revelation and from just that, I came to conclude that Heaven is AWESOME!!!  Let me tell you that as sure as I sit here, I would rather have the music filled boring life in heaven than the fires of hell filled with moanings and groanings of damned souls, ANY DAY!  And that’s just from what I think.  We will never know.  I don’t even want to know, either!  You see, God is quick to forgive because He knows what it’s like to be human through His Son Jesus.  He knows what we go through everyday but even as God, He cannot intervene because He also gave us our free will.

Going back to the verse, I know about millions upon millions of missionaries who bravely reach the depths of unknown territories on this earth to teach people about God and more often than not, they come back home safe to tell their victorious stories about spreading God’s Word.  It is because God has been with them even physically, providing protection for them with each and every step they take.  Like the verse said, don’t fear that another human being takes your life, because they can’t do anything else to you, not to your spirit at least.  But be prepared always so that the dangers of this world will never cause you to fear where you will live in eternity.

Until my next rant… LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!

SKETCHBOOK - SHARE "NEVER TOO OLD TO GIGGLE" HAPPY FRIDAY!

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

SO YOU THINK YOU GOT THE POWER?

The Spear of Destiny aka the Holy Lance, the spear that the roman centurion used to pierce Jesus in His side, is believed to hold a power to whomever possesses will have a supernatural power to rule the world.  Adolf Hitler, as a traveling artist in Vienna, heard the guide at the Hofburg Palace Complex, that houses the Spear of Destiny, explain the power of the spear.  Hitler became completely fascinated with it.  He then spent countless hours in the Hofburg studying the occult and Eastern religions, and meditating over the spear.  He learned that Constantine held the same spear when he conquered Rome in 312 AD, and that some other generals, kings and emperors had carried it as well.  Those words changed Hitler's life.  

Years later, when Hitler became the supreme dictator of Germany, he conquered Vienna without a shot being fired.  The night the city fell, Hitler entered the Hofburg Complex, and upon removing the spear from its case, held it to his chest and was recorded to say, "I knew I held the world in my hands."  He believed the spear's supernatural power, and in the same night decided to exterminate the Jews and Christians in Germany.  

The unique aura in Germany gave a megalomaniac the opportunity to manipulate the most powerful nations of the world.  Similarly, in America today the same aura exists, the New Age Movement, that encourages regular people who believe that there are gods and principalities whose  truth is "the truth."  There is an overriding misconception that we are powerful enough to rule our world.  Be mindful of this subtle but arrogant and egotistical thinking that ignores the authority of God and the supremacy of Jesus Christ.  We cannot do it our way.  We must do it HIS way.  Hitler believed that he was more powerful than God and it is the same arrogance that led him to his demise.  It seems that the deeper we delve into the flesh and the world, we forget that God is incomparably more powerful than our own merits.  We start thinking that we are invincible.  We have to continue to be mindful of our place in this life.  God is the ultimate ruler, leader, guide and finisher! 

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!

First Oil Painting-so succulent!!

THE TIKBALANG

Back in the day, as a little girl, my siblings and I used to get terrorized by stories about this Philippine mythical creature by our uncles.  When spending the weekend with my grandmother, we would sit out on their candlelit patio in the dark of the night and the stories will begin.  

The tikbalang is said to have been from the earth and guards their territory in the woods from intruders.  They stand watch leaned up against a tree smoking a cigar all night long.  They would devour anyone who crosses the line.  The only way to tame such creature is to steal one of its thorny golden strand of hair without its knowledge and it will do whatever you want for the rest of your life.  It is also believed that if you walk in the woods with your shirt worn inside out, you would go undetected.

As a child, I was terrified of this and other creatures that lurk in the night.  Imagine if I could sleep that night.  Uncles are great, aren't they?

In life, there are no Tikbalangs at all.  I think that this folklore was conjured up so that people can deal with the reality of their lives and tikbalangs are merely symbolic to their own.  There are fears in each and every one of us that we face each and every day.  Notice that my uncles never mentioned God and how we are protected?  They never once said well if you prayed, God will protect you from these creatures' harm.  

I believe there are principalities out in this world running amok and their chief is satan.  They don't roam around the earth scaring us with their images, although I believe they are as ugly as tikbalangs, but they feed us the lies, talking down on us so that we could not forget that even though are sins were washed away by Jesus' sacrifice, we are made to believe that we are not worthy of it so why even try?  Well, there is some truth to that, we are NOT worthy of the life of God's only Son, but do we have a choice in the matter?  Jesus did it, He died for our sins!  Whether we like to admit it, accept it, or stand on it or not, He did.  My reasoning is, why fight it?  It's there for the taking.  It's there for FREE! We didn't have to work for it.  He loved us so much that to this very minute He is up there standing guard from God's mighty wrath!  He's all, "Not yet, Father.  Give them a chance."  But instead of recognizing this, most people ignore it.

So why not pluck that strand of a tikbalang's golden hair?  The acceptance of Jesus in our lives and in our hearts?  It is the only antidote from being devoured by satan and his principalities! When you have Jesus, you tame satan, et al. and they will stay away from you forever.  Sometimes the stories of our childhood translated into the truth of God is a lesson to be learned.

Until my next rant.... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

THE PERFECT SQUARE

So you may wonder, how connected are we to God?  The answer is your everything is!  

You are made up of Body and Spirit.  When you die, your body dies but your spirit is removed from your body and stays alive.  You have a soul made up of Will, Mind, and Emotion.

Your Spirit feeds on spirit food (the Bible, God's Word), which produces a spiritual force that is called Faith.

Your mind feeds on the Word of God as intellectual food and produces an intellectual force called Will Power or Power of the Will.  A physical man eats physical food that produces physical strength or a physical force.

Jesus said that those who are of the spirit are Spirit, and those who are of the flesh are flesh (or satan's - because satan rules this world)

God is a spirit and those who worship Him do so in Spirit and in Truth.  Therefore, we contact God in our Spirit and not our mind.  He is not in our mind, He influences our minds but He is in your spirit.  Your mind is in your Spirit but so is God.  The Bible says we have to renew our minds according to the Word.
Mark 11:22-23
Ephesians 1:16-20 and 2:14

Till my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Acrylic as oil study

Experimentation

TRUST -- WHY NOT?

Trust of this world is overrated in my opinion.  The reason is because majority of what or whom we trust daily is laughable.  Seriously, we trust people more often than not.  People who make our cars that we trust to get into every single day of our lives only for it to break down eventually.  Do we know when it will break down?  The answer is usually, No.  But nevertheless, we trust it to take us from point A to point B, no matter how long or short of a distance it may be.  We trust restaurants, even though time and again, we hear of horror stories about disgruntled employees taking out their frustration on their customers who trust them with food handling.  We trust the government to keep us all protected from haters who want to kill us or diseases like Ebola to enter into our country and wipe out as many in its path as it can.  You may argue that we need to have a certain level of trust for each other or for people who make this world go round, and I may agree with you in your stance.

The thing that I have trouble with is that we, in our daily lives, fail to trust God.  Why?  Because we don't see Him in the flesh?  Ok, to see is indeed to believe but only if you have no faith.  This world is full of people who are out to hurt others.  We have no control over them.  But trusting in a God that time and time again has shown his strength, power and love has been proving Himself daily, in miracles that happen to terminally ill patients surviving from the disease, in all the world tragedies that tug at our hearts showing kindness by giving aid.  In missionaries who trek to other countries to help the poor.  Anything in your own life that's good is all a result of God's love.  But yet, because you don't see Him you pretend He's not there.

We are all guilty of such distrust.  Christians are not immune either, in that, just because we're Christians we sometimes fail to give God the power to work our problems out.  We advise others to "give it to God" but yet when we are faced with the problems of the world, we stress.

Instead, why don't we trust God like we trust that our car will take us to work everyday, people we are married to will love us forever, none of our friends will betray us  etc.  The only difference between God and the rest is that God will never, ever, ever, in your existence (which is a long time) eventually disappoint us or FORSAKE you or turn your back on you.  Everything else... well... will.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!

Sketchbook Entry

Some nights I am an insomniac.  This helps me sleep.  My two poms relaxing while my jack russell is about to pounce.  Cheekah has the watchful eye on Deedee.  Mango watches me intently in case there's a snack on the horizon for her, lol!

CHANNELING THE MASTERS - VAN GOGH SKETCHES AND MODIGLIANI

 Pen, ink and Copic

The Ladies of Plimouth

In a day trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts, I was inspired to sketch The Ladies of Plimouth Plantation.   The actual village the pilgrims inhabit during the 17th century after arriving from England to escape the tyranny.  They reenact how they lived by very humble means when life was simple, struggles were high but the determination of these people who stand for God were on fire!  They live by the tenets of the Bible and somehow built the strong country, free and powerful which we now enjoy.   In our time today, we are veering farther and farther away from the teachings of the Bible and this is why our country is beginning to get weaker.  Although I was born and raised in a totally different culture, I can relate with the Pilgrims because we have God in common.  Since I am a naturalized American citizen, I am proud to be and American and proud of my country, the country that the Pilgrims built.  

So I believe it is only apropos to draw these two ladies in the style of Van Gogh's sketches in his letters to his brother because like Van Gogh, emotions are high, he for his art, me for my country and my art.  I hope you feel the same emotions I aim to invoke with these two ladies.  

It began when I asked the lady with the book what she was reading.  She said it and the subject quickly turned into how the ladies presented a song they all sang for a couple who was getting married.  She said the song was the wedding gift.  Imagine that?  A wedding gift of song.  She went on to say that whether they were good singers or not, the couple appreciated their song.

I think that I could give up my modern conveniences if it meant that I could live in a world where simplicity was grandeur.  What do you think?

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER! 

WHAT DO YOU REALLY KNOW ABOUT GOD?

How much do you know about God? Did you learn about Him from faithfully attending church your whole life?  Maybe read the Bible from cover to cover?  Three times over? Or even got a degree in theology?  A pastor?  A Christian advocate?  I could go on and on.

Did you know that you can be adroit in the subject of God but still be in the dark on the things that matter?

Paul teaches us that NO ONE knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  What that means is that no matter how much we spend learning and  knowing about the subject of God, the Spirit of God or the heart of God is the only factor that will truly reveal to us who GOD really is.

What does the Spirit of God reveal to us?  It reveals that the only thing in me that glorifies God is God in me.  It's that Spirit of relationship, the Spirit of favor, the Spirit of faith etc. that can show you what is worth living for, which is what is in His heart.  If you fail to understand God at times, it is because you have not tapped into that Spirit that He is trying to reveal to you.  There is something that is hindering Him from emanating in your heart.  It could be a sin that you have forgotten to ask forgiveness for.  It may be a guilt or fear that you haven't relinquished to Him.  Search your soul and define that something that is blocking the Spirit of God.  

What I fear is that you have never really experienced Him, truly, truly in your heart!  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and everything will be given to you.  Remember that verse?  Only God's Spirit can show you your place within His body, who you are in Him and the service to which He has called you.  Try as you might to fight that, as long as you know God, every detail in your life will lead you back to your purpose.  Know that.  

We can never figure things out on our own, only the Spirit of God reveals the heart of God.  The Spirit of God knows the things of God.  Since this is true, then it's not about you.  It's about God.  Ask God to reveal His Spirit to you so you can find your purpose in this world.  Live outside yourself and focus on what God wants you to achieve in this world for Him because the prize is not from this world.  It's like playing the tv game show the prize is right... you pick a door and the door you didn't pick reveals a better prize than the one you chose.  That's what God has for us.  It's a better feeling than the best feeling you've ever felt in your entire existence.

Lead your heart to His heart and your life will be the brightest you've ever felt!  

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

The Nesting Doll Principle

Nesting dolls are popular and made mostly in Russia.  I’ve searched the meaning of the nesting doll concept online and the only comparison I found was likened to an onion.  Each skin, as it is peeled is like the one before but smoother and healthier.

I thought about this a little bit more.  As we grow more mature and gain wisdom of the true meaning of life, we begin to get deeper and deeper in ourselves.  When I was younger, the hustle and bustle of daily living was all I could focus on.  My relationship with God was more on the back burner, only to tend to it when I needed a prayer answered.  As I grew more mature in my relationship with God, I have been able to get more and more in touch with the deeper layer of my heart and the deeper I touch, the bigger God became.  I found myself relying more and more on Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, all at once.  The more transparent I was with God, the more motivated I was to stay in His lane, meaning detouring from a sinful nature, into a blessed nature.

Just like a nesting doll, the more we dig into each layer, the smaller and smaller we become and the bigger God becomes in our lives.  Each doll in encased in one larger than it, the largest one being God and we are engulfed and protected by Him.

Until my next rant… LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

GREED

The silent sin that kills.  In a dog-eat-dog world, wherein we all strive to succeed, greed an act that is pretty much undetected because it cloaks itself  as a normal human factor to survive.  We work hard to gain worldly possessions, have the best of the best in life, or even finance some of our lavish habits.  It all boils down to what can we do to gain more and more. 

We all have the fundamental sin of greed.  It is undetected because it feels like everyone is doing it so we do not feel the need to ask God to forgive us for it.  That’s where the danger lies.  In every listing of the seven deadly sins, greed is present and the evidence of greed in our everyday lives is very real.

What most people don’t understand is that you can be a greedy rich person, or you can be a greedy poor person.  Greed is the monster that saps your strength, your energy and your emotions.  Left unchecked, it will dominate your life.  In the late 1970’s a gallup survey revealed that 50% of college freshmen were just as interested in having a meaningful life as they were in achieving financial security.  In a similar survey conducted in 1987, 81% of college freshmen were more interested in financial security than they were in building a meaningful life.  This means the numbers don’t lie.  As years progress, having a meaningful life is overshadowed by financial gain.  The sin of greed has made inroads through the years.

For a culture that is bent on getting and choked with greed there is a way out.  It is called giving.  Greed is killed by giving.  If you own something you cannot give away, then you don’t own it, instead, it owns you.  If you are not satisfied with what you have and instead driven by a desire to have more “just a little bit more,” then you can slay that greed dragon by the virtue of giving.  Give until it hurts!  Then keep giving until it begins to feel better.  You’ll be surprised at the liberating feeling giving brings.

In Luke 12:15 (NLT) he said, “Beware!  Guard against every kind of greed.  Life is not measured by how much you own.” 

Do you have a lot of giving to do?  Until my next rant…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!

LOVE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

     How many times have you gotten caught in the web of other people's jealousy, belittling, criticism, and small-mindedness?  We are merely human, with emotions of the flesh which cause us to react to these types of people.  For whatever reason they do what they do, we need to stand our ground and remember that they don't control our destiny.  God does.  

    People who don't celebrate you, your successes and achievements, people who will try to make you feel small, people who are jealous of you.  These people are merely distractions in life designed to tempt you into their own shallowness to prevent you from God's best.  Your purpose in life is too important, time too valuable to get caught up in it.

   The ultimate judge in your life is God.  Only God.  God tells you that you are designed in His image, blessed you with his grace and glory, giving you authority over evil and the power to do His work just by using your words and prayers!  So if God says that about you, why listen and give credence to what the jealous, critical and small-minded people say?  Who has more authority in your life?  If you listen to those people instead, that poison will seep inside of you and you will find yourself fighting a battle that you were never supposed to fight to begin with!

     Isaiah 54 says that no weapons formed against me shall ever prosper!  God says that you will see His wonders, meaning; His protection, His vindication and His favor!

    You are not defined by your past, God says you are being prepared for the future.  The future lies within God in His Glory.  We need to shut the world's noise in our heads and start listening to only one God for He is AWESOME!!!!!

Until my next rant.... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!