God’s Creative Spirit

Wednesday nights are really special to me. Every Wednesday (well, almost) I am blessed with the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of fun, delightful, exciting, and insightful people… as we study and open ourselves to God’s Holy Spirit while delving into His Holy Word. In other words: we meet for Bible study. Pastor Ron usually leads us, often sets us up for amazing revelations, and always challenges us to think, consider, and be open to the Holy Spirit. Schedules being what they are, the attendance fluctuates a bit, but… overall it is a very faithful study group.

Sara Stuckenberg is a part of our study group. She is not just a church member, or even a partner in ministry… she is a disciple of Christ. On Wednesday nights, we study for about an hour and a half. That time flies by so fast, that many of us usually hang around “in discussion” for a while. Recently, Sara was telling us about some Spirit-led art she had created. Knowing how well she writes and organizes her thoughts, I asked Sara to send me the pictures and some descriptive prose for the blog. So… today I share Sara with you. Enjoy!

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Though I do believe the gift of visions is still an active gift of the Spirit, I have only recently begun to explore what this gift looks like. Though I rarely paint, and have no talent as a artist, every once in a while I began to feel as though images or “visions” (if you can call them that) come to me as a gift from God with a story to tell. Sometimes they arrive during a favorite song or in the course of silent prayer; it always seems God imprints these images on my mind and moves me to complete them.

So, here are two of my most recent images. The person with the heart and cross I call: “Life from the Love of Christ.” The image came one Sunday morning during a sermon on love. A comment was made about how the love of God and Christ comes forth from within, almost exploding from your chest… and suddenly I had this image in my mind. It was powerful to watch this image unfold with the light of the love of God shining from within a grey person in a dark space. The original painting sits in my bedroom and is a constant reminder that the love of God and Christ is what really gives us life and light to the world.

The 2nd painting came during the song it is named after: “Lead Me to the Cross.” While singing this song a few weeks ago, I closed my eyes to hear God, and poof… this image appeared. It took me a while to draw it because sometimes the image provides an optical illusion and honestly, crosses are hard to line up straight. I remember thinking... “If I am truly living for the Cross, I leave it all behind me, all my sin and sorrows and frustrations...” and that is where I got the black mess from at the bottom. Obviously the cross and what Jesus did for us is what stands out and truly… the light symbolizes us drawing into the death and resurrection of Christ. Once again, the person becomes a shiny grey “essence”, pointing to the lost and undefined character of our selves.

I believe deep down a 3rd painting is near, and will somehow connect all three paintings together. Though faint images have appeared in my mind, nothing has stood out. God always surprises me though, on his timing and with his love; with his talents and his created masterpieces.

Thanks Be to God!
Shalom In Christ!
-Sara

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How about you? I have published lots of stuff from lots of people. How has God’s Holy Spirit inspired you in your writing, in music, in art, in photography, or in video? Since there are infinite ways that God inspires us, I’m pretty sure I left out a couple of ways YOU might have been inspired by God. Don’t be shy. Don’t hide your light under a bushel basket. Share it with us. Share your inspiration as a comment, or… if you want to include additional media, send it to me for consideration as a blog post (check out my profile on how to contact me).

Your brother in Christ,

Dave