Shaken and Pried Loose

 I held another Paint Party at my house last Saturday.

Oh, they were so serious! 

 But we had a lot of flowers bloom!

This is my friend Dory-

I think she surprised herself!

I really like encouraging sisters bring out their creativity! 

 "Walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

"We live by believing, not by seeing." Do we believe God listens, even if sometimes our prayers are not answered the way we want? Do we even believe He exists at all, when there is cruelty and evil and unfairness He allows? It would be so easy for God to destroy Isis, pedophiles, drug traffickers, abortionists..... but then, where do you draw the line? There is a seed of evil in each one of us. Evil is anything opposed to God. He would have to destroy every last one of us!

 But I believe God has faith IN US! We can walk by faith, not by sight, if we follow His example. God acts as if each and every one of us is precious and worthy, even if what He sees is contrary to that. He loves us as if each one of us is capable of doing something great and wonderful for Him. He died for us, even when we were sinners, unredeemed. As His children, He planted an indestructible seed of faith in our eternal souls. Let us water that seed, nurture it, by prayer, by reading His Word, by being with people who also desire to obey and follow Him.

 "We own nothing, and yet we have everything." 2 Corinthians 6:10

I have to confess I own a whole lot of things! Ever since we were young, I've been a "collector". My whole family, we are all "collectors". And not discriminating ones either! Bottle caps, deodorant bottle balls, bubble wrap, styrofoam, etc etc. Not to mention books and magazines, photographs, travel brochures, etc etc. A house, cars, money in the bank, etc etc. So by no means, can I ever say, like Saint Paul, "I own nothing."

Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and a whole lot of saints, lived out of the proverbial suitcase. They traveled from place to place, giving the only thing of value they had- Jesus Christ. In Jesus, they had everything. In Jesus, WE have everything. For the saints in Jesus' time, everything that could be shaken in their life had been shaken, pried loose, until there was nothing left but faith in Jesus. 

It's harder, when you have a lot of things, when you have people to take care of, and a business to run. But we should allow God to shake us, so that bit by bit, those things that keep us from getting closer to him, can fall away, and we depend on Him more and more. For the truth is we own nothing. Everything we have is just lent to us by God. Borrowed. Even time. Perhaps we need to ask God what He wants us to do with the time, money, resources, things, he has lent us. If we use it the way He wants us to use it, multiplying it for the Master, then He will say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:23

Previous Posts

For my growing collection of 

prompts, inspirations, creative pursuits,

courageous artists and their art,

join me at papemelroti art and faith workshops!

or on Facebook and Instagram

I find a lot of inspiration

visiting here:

So many WONDERFUL blogfriends

to discover!

Funday Monday, Creative Mondays, 
Gracelaced Mondays, Mondays @ Soul Survival

Jean Ferguson at Soli Deo Gloria

Trusting Tuesdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays

What We Accomplished, Wow Us Wednesdays

The Weekly Creative

 Small Wonder,  Word Art Wednesday

Worthwhile Wednesdays

The Beauty in His Grip, Unite, Counting My Blessings

Weekend Blog Hop, What We Accomplished

Super Handmade Sunday, Sacro Speco

Sunday Snippets

  

 

Be blessed,

patsy