Tag: hopeanchor

Trust God

When It Seems Like God isn’t Talking

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Obregonia D. Toretto on Pexels.com

When titling this post I was torn between the current title or “When We Don’t Hear from God.” But, I know this God is always speaking to us, we aren’t always hearing. Even if God is silent, He is still speaking to us, through His creation, through others.

God was silent for 400 years between the Old and New Testaments. We don’t know why God chose to be silent. I like to think that it was because people needed time to process what was taught (hold this thought) generations before or to rest a beat like in a musical piece, to highlight what was about to come in the New Testament, a theatrical pause. If you don’t think God is dramatic, read the book of Daniel and Revelation. But God doesn’t need to answer for His decisions. We just need to accept and trust. (I know not always easy). God may have been silent, but He was still working.

Today, God gave me an ah-ha moment. Have you ever experienced a “oh wow” revelation whilst reading God’s word? Heavenly information just keeps flowing. Sometimes I feel like I can’t keep up so my writing becomes almost illegible and I end up rewriting everything. Then the next day, I want more and I hear nothing. I get a little disappointed. Has this happened to you? What’s even more disappointing, the next day, I can’t remember what the passage of scripture was or what point God was trying make.

So, here’s what’s happening. My husband and I are getting ready to move and as you know the house is kinda outta sorts, boxes, not to mention a disruption in the daily routine, trying to keep up with my art projects and this blog, etc. Yesterday was one of those days where God revealed to me what I needed to focus on. He gave me Philippians 3:14 – “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I have so many things that I need to do, we all do, and I can get so distracted by one thing, to shift my focus not only from God but from the tasks He has for me. Then He brought to my mind, Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was focused (and a man of prayer). He had distractions and opposition (expect that especially when doing God’s work). But, yet Nehemiah kept the mindset he needed to finish the work God had for him. Nehemiah 6:3 – “And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” I cannot come down is the focus I need when distracted.

Ok so let me tie these verses together. God gave me Philippians 3:14, to press toward the goal. My goal right now is to not be distracted by the unsettled feelings, distrust and disappointment I have towards someone right now. We don’t have time to acquiesce to their requests that aren’t urgent. I have so many other things to focus on other than what I feel this person is trying to do to make our lives difficult and it’s distracting me from my focus on God Himself. God will be the judge, vengeance is His. (honestly for the life of me I don’t know what we did to make this person act the they are and I am asking God to reveal that to us).

Today, I wanted God to give me more. And guess what? Nothing. Say what?! C’mon I thought I was on a roll? Then another ah-ha moment. God wanted me to learn, commit to heart what I learned yesterday. The Bible is God’s word, the Bread of Life right? God wants me to chew on it, savor it. And like Mary in Luke 2:19 – “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” God is giving me a pause before the next big reveal. He is giving me time process and treasure up. I am sure He is thrilled I want more but if I can’t remember what He spoke, what’s the point.

So the next time you sit down to read your Bible or do a devotional and you don’t hear anything from God, go back to the day before or a few days before and re-read the passage, maybe there’s something there you may have missed. Read your favorite verse and pick out the words that speak to you and look up the original Hebrew or Greek words. But don’t despair. Keep seeking Him. Be still and know that He is God. He may seem silent but He’s still working and still speaking.

art

Design for Life Extra – If Jesus Was Your Favorite Color

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Alexander Grey on Pexels.com

If Jesus was your favorite color, what would that be? Colors have values. Value is one of the seven elements in art; line, shape, space, form texture, color and value. “As an element of art, value refers to the visible lightness or darkness of a color” (thought.com). What a color is mixed with determines it’s value. or lightness or darkness.

Let’s take the color red and use watercolor to illustrate. Red is a primary color. There aren’t two colors you can mix together to make red. But red can be mixed with other colors to create various shades of red and other colors. Mix red with any of the other two primary colors blue and yellow and you get purple and orange. So with one color such as red we can create different levels of lightness and darkness by adding various amounts of water or pigment. Add lots of water and you have light wash of red or pink. By adding more pigment we are adding value or darkening the red.

The same principle can be applied to our relationship with Jesus. If Jesus was your favorite color what would that be? Jesus is the color in our lives, He adds value. Without Jesus we are nothing. That may sound harsh, but it’s the truth. We are all sinners fallen short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23. How much value does Jesus have in your life? Are you a light wash with some pigment or are you a bright, vibrant red with lots of pigment? How much pigment of Jesus are you adding to your life daily?

When we choose to serve God by serving others, when we seize opportunities to share what Jesus is doing in us, when we are praying and obeying we are adding pigment to our lives. We are deepening the value of who we are in Jesus. The blood Jesus that covers us and washes away all our sin gives us value. Only Jesus can take His deep, rich, red, precious blood and wash our hearts and make them white as snow. I can make lots of colors mixing paints and I can turn red into pink but I can not make anything white with the color red. How are you letting God add value to your life? Please comment below and please like and share this post. Thanks : )

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Design for Life – Alignment

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

There was a point and there are times where I felt like and feel like my prayers were and sometimes are hitting the ceiling. I begin to wonder if God is hearing me, why isn’t He answering me. 

But I know that’s not true. 1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (ESV)

Jeremiah 29:12-13; “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Psalm 116:1-2 ; I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. 2 Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!”

So when I feel like I’m on mute, I stop and evaluate what am I doing or not doing? If I am spending time with God and my prayers still aren’t being answered, what gives? It’s not only to whom I am praying but what am I praying for. Are my prayers self centered? Am I asking for material things? I then realized I need to pray His will, “Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done …”  Matthew 6:5:15. I realized I need to pray His will for my prayers to be answered. I needed to align myself with His plan (whatever that is) for me, or for the future.
 

After some research in scripture and reading some books on prayer, I already knew this but I’m not so sure I always practiced this. God may hear us but He won’t answer our requests if we have any sin or unforgiveness in our hearts.

Psalm 66:18; “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” 

Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

So now let’s look at how we can apply scripture to the design principle of alignment. Let’s define, in art terms, alignment. 

Art definition: “…it’s the foundation upon which your design stands and appears attractive to the viewers… alignment refers to the arrangement of different design elements on various positions. Alignment declutters the design and frees it from becoming a disorderly chaos. Believe me; no one likes a design with scattered text and misaligned graphics. It’s the worst design sin anyone can commit!” (https:// http://www.designmantic.com/blog/art-of-alignment-graphic-design/) 

When we aren’t aligned with God our lives can become chaotic and disorganized. I like how this definition states, “Alignment declutters the design and frees it from becoming a disorderly chaos.” I am sure it’s a pleasing sight to God when we are in alignment with Him. 

There are four ways to align objects, elements and text in a piece of art. 

  1. Center 
  2. Justified 
  3. Right flush 
  4. Left flush.

So how do we align ourselves with God? What does that look like? What does it look like and what happens when God is the center of our lives? What does God tell us? 

Seek ye first the kingdom of God – Matthew 6:33

 Have no other gods before me – Exodus 20:3 

To me, both these verses mean that God comes first.

How can we do that? We need to highlight some things in our lives, make them habits, make them a priority.

– Reading and spending time in God’s word – Matt 4:4 ““It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

  • Prayer – 1 The 5:17; “Pray without ceasing”

    – Serving, our families, community, church 1 Peter 4:10; “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

    – Tithes and offerings – 2 For 9:7;”Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

    – Using our gifts and talents for God’s Kingdom – Romans 12:6;”Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:…”
  • Obedience – John 14:15; “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
  • Forgiveness, asking God for forgiveness and forgiving others. Ephesians 4:23; “…forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

These are all things that God asks us to do. This is His will for us.

Mike Donehey wrote a book, Finding God’s Life for My Will, Mike struggled for years wanting know God’s specific plan for his life, I think we all struggle with this. We want specifics. But Mike had an aha moment, he says; “Perhaps God isn’t giving me the plan because He wants to be the plan.” 

After all He is the plan of salvation, He is the way the truth and the life, John 14:6. There’s something else Mike said that struck me, “ God doesn’t want our success, He wants our surrender.” Whoa. We can align ourselves by making God the center of our lives, by surrendering ourselves, our plans, our desires to Him. We don’t have to work at being perfect, we don’t have to perform, we don’t even have to try. We don’t have to be successful. 

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you.”

All these things being, rest, order, joy, peace. Our lives can become free of disorderly chaos when we are aligned with God and His word. His will for us is to be aligned with Him, He is the plan. If we are aligned with Him and we trust Him, and as we begin to hear His voice, we will begin to pray His will and He will lead us to take those steps of faith as Joshua and the Israelites did at the Jordon. 

If you are following this series on YouTube, thank you. Please like and share this post and follow The Kedge Anchor and Caryn’s Corner Btq on social media, it will help build this community.

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prayer

Praying Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Ric Rodrigues on Pexels.com

“Be careful what you pray for, you might get it.” We’ve all heard that saying before. Sometimes what we get isn’t necessarily what we don’t want, it’s not what we expected and that can be either good or bad, depending on your perspective.

Think about the times you have prayed for someone, for their situation, for their salvation or for a situation to change and the outcome or the answer wasn’t what you expected. One thing that God has brought to my attention is as I pray I need to trust Him. Honestly, sometimes scenarios are going through my mind of how things will work out or how God will work things out. I don’t think that’s for me to know, I think that’s for me to trust.

“Not my will, but yours.” It’s God’s desire for all men to be saved, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” 1Timothy 2:3-4. When you are praying for someone to be saved and know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, what are you thinking?(Not “what ARE you thinking?) What are you imagining to happen? Maybe that they will be driving along one day and have this overwhelming desire to know Jesus and be forever changed. Not that, that can’t happen. But look at Saul or Paul, he was stopped dead in his tracks and made blind for a while. I know I think of easy transitions, smooth sailing for others and for situations. Rarely does that ever happen. That’s not how God works. I am learning that.

Only God can work through situations and change hearts and for Him to do that, He sometimes has to bring us and others to our knees, whatever it takes if we are sincere in our prayers. That’s also not to say we are wishing ill on them or bad things to happen, heavens no, we want to see changes and sometimes that takes hard times. Look at Jesus and His ministry. His ministry was to preach salvation to all. He came to earth as fully human and fully God as a baby to grow up in stature, teach, and to one day die on the cross and rise again in three days. Things got bad before they got better, same with Paul.

This was an “ah-ha” moment for me. When we are praying for God to change situations, change hearts, we need to be prepared that things may get worse before they get better. We need to trust God. We don’t know how God will work in each individual or situation. God knows the details of every challenging situation and the hearts of the people He created. He works “all things together for our good and His glory” Romans 8:28. God will work things out according to His plan, we have to trust. God may direct you or use you in the plan (be prepared for that) and He may give you specifics through the Holy Spirit pressing in on you to say something or do something specific.

Think back to Jesus in the Garden, things had to get worse before they got better. Sometimes we or our loved ones need to go through situations that will get worse before they get better.

We need to remember this:

  1. Trust God, His Providence, His timing.
  2. Things may get worse before they better.
  3. Ask for endurance, courage to get through the next few days weeks, months, however long it’s going to take for God to work things out.
  4. When we get to the other side, when victory comes, remember to give thanks. “Give thanks always” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16 so let’s remember days, weeks, months, even years later to recall God’s goodness in the situation, or any situation. It’s good to keep remembering what God has done for us.
  5. Keep praying for the situation or person. “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Now that things have changed, ask God to help you not make the same mistakes, to keep walking in His light, continue to pray for the person or situation that the person will grow spiritually and the situation will remain stable.

We have to trust God when we are praying for changes in others and in situations. We can’t know how God will work things out, other than He will work them out according to His plan for our good and His glory and that can and will look totally different than what we imagine. That’s dangerous prayer, are we bold enough to pray dangerously?

Design for Life

“Give it to God,” “Lay it at His Feet.” What does that look like to you?

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com

Do you get frustrated when you’re struggling with something and someone says, “Give it to God,” or “Hand it over to God.?” What does that look like? Me being the visual person I am, being an artist and all, I need to know what that looks like or at least looks like for me. So, I imagine putting all my worries in a box, (probably an Amazon box), wrapping it in brown paper, labeling it “To: God – Worries” decorated with red hearts and tying string around it, then attaching it to an arrow and shooting up to heaven as another package comes down looking the same but labeled, “To Caryn – Peace, with Love, Your Heavenly Father.”

But I think there’s more to that. The visual helps me, but there’s a part B. Sometimes I find myself, usually unaware of myself grabbing and taking it all back from God where the worry and stress start all over again. Then there’s more prayer and I’m really earnest this time and then I decide I’m gonna pray everyday at the same time for this situation or person. That’ll do it!!! And then nothing so I ask others to pray. Not that we shouldn’t but sometimes I think the more prayer lists my prayers are on God is surely gonna hear it and answer it. And we should be persistent. Pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17. But maybe we need to come up for air and take a breath. God hears us, He knows what we need before we ask, Matthew 6:8. Be persistent in prayer, Romans 12:12 and Luke 18:1-8 (this is a parable to show persistence), it’s a general, overall command. It doesn’t say be persistent in giving God your specific worries. (I could be wrong here, so let me know what you think).

So most of my answered prayers have been when I just casually told God what was on my heart and gave Him my request and got so busy with other things, like life and serving and reaching out to others, just carrying on, that’s when I realize my prayer has been answered. Now I’m not saying this is how it is or how it is for everyone, this has just been my observation in my prayer life. But I do think it’s important to surrender our requests our worries to God and I also think that it’s important that we don’t obsess over our requests where they become an idol, “have no other idols before me”, Exodus 20:3.

I look at it this way; it’s tax season, most of us give all our tax info to an accountant, right? An expert, someone who knows what they are doing and are efficient at it, a pro. Most people just drop it off, they trust their accountant, their accountant knows them. So after dropping it off, they may go get coffee, run an errand or two, pick up the kids, go to soccer practice, go home, go bed and then a few days later the accountant calls and your taxes are done right and complete, perfect. Now you may or may not like the outcome. But you surrendered your information, you went about your business and then it was done. Kinda the same with our prayers. We hand them over to God we go about our business and then after a while, in His timing and sovereignty we get an answer. We can still be persistent, we can still ask others to pray, we just can’t make it an idol.

I don’t know what “giving it to God” looks like for you, it might look different. If so leave a comment what that may look like for you. It helped me to think of giving God my worries this way, I hope it helped you.

If this blog has helped you, please like and share and stay tuned at Caryn’s Corner on YouTube, I am working on a new video and can’t wait to share it.

scripture

March 1, 2023

The Kedge Anchor

Happy Friday Eve and Happy second day of March!

March 2023Click here to download

March is the month shamrocks, leprechauns, pots of gold and luck. Well, I don’t believe in luck, leprechauns or pots pf gold but I do believe in the Lord and He wants to bless us.

So I created this desktop wallpaper for you to download with a calendar to help keep track of days and a verse to memorize.

Let me know if this is helpful, leave your comments below and please if you like this post or what you see here please subscribe and you can follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

art, Uncategorized

Design for Life – Contrast

The Kedge Anchor
© Caryn’s Corner Btq 2023

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2(ESV)

One thing I have learned from Bob Ross is to show dark you need light and to show light you need dark. That struck a chord in me and always stuck with me. When I want something to stand out in a piece of art I highlight it. I can highlight an already light color by placing dark colors around it. Our lives need to be highlighted in a way that we stand out from the rest of the world. When we follow Jesus and walk closely with Him, those characteristics begin to show and we begin to live them out, others will start to see that there is something different in us, something different about us.

When we as Christians start to live conformed to God’s word our lifestyle begins reflect how God desires for us to live. We can live out the Gospel by helping others, doing something “for the least of these,” Matthew 25:40, loving our neighbor as ourselves; Mark 12:31, love your enemies and do good to those who hate you; Luke 6:27-36. When others see us do these hard things, when others see us loving the unlovely, when others can’t understand the peace we have amidst the chaos of today’s world, when they see us and they just don’t understand what’s different. Then we know we are living in contrast to the world. Even when others are rejecting us for what we believe, we can be assured they see a contrast.

When it comes to attracting or highlight something in a piece of art, adding contrast can be a pretty important principle. I found this definition of contrast, “Contrast Paired with Unity:  Contrast can be a matter of arranging opposite elements (light versus dark, rough versus smooth, large versus small) within an artist’s piece, when the artist is working specifically to echo and repeat different levels of unity. In such artwork, contrasts can be paired colors which are chromatic opposites: in a work strictly adhering to unity those colors would be complementary. When the artist uses contrasting paired shapes such as two circles of different sizes, or a triangle and a star of the same size, contrast can be seen as opposite but partnered with the element of unity.”(https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-contrast-in-art-182430) 

How cool is that??? Think about it for a minute. Where else do we see contrast? And where opposites can compliment? Within the body of Christ we can be unified through contrast!!! 1 Corinthians 12:12, “There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ.” (NIRV)  “Contrasting paired shapes… can be seen as opposite but partnered with the element of unity.” We can still be who God created us to be no matter how different we are. In the world we will be seen as a contrast. In the body of Christ we can be unified and compliment each other. We can still have unity within the body of Christ. When the world sees how we as Christians are the same but different still living in unity as one body in Christ we can be the highlight, the contrast the world needs to see.

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© Caryn’s Corner Btq 2021

art

Introducing – New Series: Design for Life

The Kedge Anchor

Our Heavenly Father is the master artist. He is the creator of all things. Only God can create something out of nothing. He has a purpose and plan for everything He created, from the tiniest single cell sea creature that keeps the ecosystem alive to the Blue whale, the largest among it’s species, God created it and created it out of nothing. John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Everything we use to create art has already been created by God. The pigments used in paint come from the earth, paper is from the trees, all that God has created. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made”, Psalm 139:14. God created Adam from the earth, like Adam, we are created from dust with the breath of God in us giving us life. He is the potter and we are the clay and not one of us is the same. We are all unique, one of a kind, precious in His eyes.

God’s plan for us was to live in perfection here on earth until Adam and Eve fell to sin.
But before God created anything, He knew Adam and Eve would sin. He already had a plan in place. He had a plan of redemption and sent His Son to die and rise again on the third day. He provided a way for us to be free from the penalty of sin so that we could live with Him in perfection for all eternity.
Just as He created the universe and humans He had a plan and purpose, a design for life.

In this Design for Life series, we will see how the design principles of design can be applied to our journey walking with Jesus not just to our art. Design principles are guidelines to follow if you want to create visuals that are effective. God gives us principles and commands to live by to help set ourselves apart from the world. There is a scene in The Chosen where Jesus is sending out the twelve and gives them instructions as to what they can and cannot bring with them. Jesus wanted them to be distinguished from the cynic philosophers. So I had to ask myself, what am I doing to stand out, to be distinguished from the rest of the world, what am I doing to live in contrast to the world?

In this new series, here on The Kedge Anchor, I’ll give a short devotional how you can apply design principles to your walk with God then join me on Caryn’s Corner YouTube Channel where I will talk more about these Design for Life posts and teach you brush lettering. Lessons will include free downloadable worksheets to practice your brush lettering.

I am excited to share with you how these design principles can be applied to our walk with God. So please, subscribe, like and share these posts and be sure to visit Caryn’s Corner Btq on YouTube.

prayer, Uncategorized

Devotionals

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Thought Catalog on Pexels.com

Reading God’s Word daily is essential to the Christian life. It’s our lifeline. Reading the God breathed words in the Bible is one way God communicates to us. Praying is talking to God and without prayer and daily communication with God… how does that relationship survive? How do we cope?

Our quiet time, devotionals, Bible study, time with God, whatever you call it looks different for everyone. Some are morning people, some are before bed people, some mid day people. I don’t think it really matters what time of day, just that we “get away often” as Jesus did. Luke 5:16 “But Jesus often went away to be by himself and pray.” The Bible doesn’t say what time of day or for how long, just often.

Now my point here is if you are in the habit daily of getting away and setting time for God, how many times have you said, or heard someone say, “my day just doesn’t go right if I don’t start my day with my devotional” or perhaps something similar. Well, what about the just before bed people? Does that carry over into the day for them? Will their sleep not go well? What about the morning people, will their sleep not go well?

Often times when we get up and hit the floor running, we sometimes don’t have time for a devotional and the day gets away from us and the day seems to go sideways, the car breaks down, sick kid at school, boss got crazy, lose your keys, computer crashes and you think, “see, I didn’t do my devotional.” Well, have you had days when you did your devotional and the day still went bad? I know I have countless times. And here is where I think the difference is; regardless what time of day we choose to spend time with God, life is going to happen. The car will break down, the kids, will get sick, the day can go sideways regardless. God is not punishing us by making the day hard and things braking down because we didn’t spend time with Him. He may use those things to remind us or use them in some way for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). But I know there have been days I have spent time reading and praying and the day still sideways.

So, often it’s easy for me to attach a superstition to this and that’s just another subtle tactic of Satan to get us to feel guilty, like we are a bad Christian, or his popular lie, you’re a failure. God sees your heart. He’s not ready to beat you down with a bad day if you skip or miss time with Him. He never leaves us or forsakes us, (there are many verses about God always being with us, Google it) He is always waiting for us to come to Him. Sure you’re likely to feel a void or an emptiness because you’ve been out of synch but being aware and just having thoughts of God on your mind can be worship. Because think about it, when we worry and have a problem occupying or hearts weighing us down, thought churning in our heads, we are worshipping the problem. God has thought about us, Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (KJV). The difference is, when we spend time with God, no matter what time, when the car breaks down, when the kids are sick, when the day goes sideways, we handle it better. We have been armed with God’s Word (Ephesians 6:11-15). We deal with problems differently. God’s mercies are new each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Your day is going to go the way it’s going to go. God sees it, no surprise to Him. Just try and make it a priority. Priority just means it gets done, not necessarily first, but done. Keep the lines of communication and worship open when your quiet time looks a little different, sing, think about God, think about getting away with Him and then do it.

.

art

Interpretations

The Kedge Anchor

Art speaks to me. It can convey a feeling, an emotion be it happy or sad or a concept. It adds beauty and color to my surroundings. It can motivate me. But what speaks to me more is God’s word, the Bible. It adds more color and beauty than art. It shapes me, encourages me, leads me to knowledge of God and His ways.

There are many ways to interpret a painting or a piece of art. For example, a few years ago in an art history class I was taking, the teacher asked us to interpret a piece of art. It was a black and white checkerboard similar to the one pictured here. I remember exactly what it looked like. It was square with the black and white squares on the right and as the eye moved across the image, the black squares began to fade, becoming grayer and eventually white. I don’t remember the artist, barley remember the textbook it was in.

(colourbox.com)

So as I saw it, the black and white squares represented time and as the color began to fade, it was marking the passage of time. I don’t remember what the other student’s interpretations were, I just remember getting an “A.” Now that doesn’t mean I was right. There were other perspectives my fellow students had. There was no right or wrong way to interpret that piece of art.

However, the Bible has only one interpretation but many applications. The Gospel has one interpretation; Jesus came to die for us sinners, rose again on the third day, conquering death and saving us from eternal separation from God. We have to choose Him, we have to recognize our need for Him to save us. There are many words that can be used to convey salvation. But adding to God’s word, Deuteronomy 4:2 or His plan of salvation or to take away anything to make it fit our beliefs, is wrong. You can speak the Gospel with different words that mean the same thing but the meaning is still the same. And yet scripture, with one interpretation can be applied to many areas of our lives.

For example, James 1:9 , “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” – KJV.

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ” – NKJV

Two different versions saying the same thing. Digging deeper into the original Greek can help understanding this passage even more. The message is pretty clear, listen first, be slow to respond, don’t get angry so quickly, keep your mouth closed until the other person is finished speaking. And this passage can be applied to so many situations in our lives; in a marriage, communication is a big part of any relationship, parents, siblings, families. It can be applied to the workplace with your boss and co-workers. Anywhere there is talking between two people this verse has application. Get all the information first before you react or respond.

When it comes to scripture it’s important to understand, the who, what, why, where, how of who wrote it, what is the message God is speaking. Like communicating with others, God is communicating with us through His word. So out of respect to the men, authors who penned the books of the Bible we need to be objective when studying scripture and try to understand what the author, the prophet or apostle, ultimately God, is trying to communicate to us. Once we have the meaning we can apply it to many areas of our lives.

Now the artist who painted the simple black and white checker board only he or she knows what he or she was intending to communicate. With art we have the liberty to interpret it anyway we want, it can have any meaning we want. But, with scripture we have a responsibility to read and interpret it the way God intended.

Is there a piece of art that speaks to you? One that stirs your soul, strikes an emotions stirs up a memory? I love this image of the wave engulfing and crashing on the lighthouse. Imagine for a minute, being inside that lighthouse.

Image: Mathieu Rivrin/Solent News

What does it look like, sound like, feel like? The lighthouse is Jesus. The water, waves are life crashing around me. But I am safe inside the lighthouse, safe in the One who is in charge of those waves crashing on me. (“Even the winds and waves obey Him.” Matthew 8:23-27)

Is there a verse in the Bible that encourages you, comforts you, corrects you? Hebrews 6:19 – keeps me anchored in Hope. Comment what pieces of art speak to you, what are your favorite verses that speak to you, comfort you, encourage or correct you.