“We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing - that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment.” ~ Oswald Chambers

Have you ever set aside your own writing purposes to realize His? Maybe it caused you to shift gears entirely.

Another thought: does our writing glorify God?

I’m not asking if we’re always writing about Him, but whether or not our words reflect the purity of His heart to the world?

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

“Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.” ~ unknown

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I do not know what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” ~ Patrick Henry

Many enjoy and celebrate national freedoms while their very souls are still imprisoned. The shackles of sin deceive and blind us. We won’t know true freedom until we receive the Life of the One who came, died, and rose again. Christ came to set us free…from sin, self, and our old exhausting way of life. Knowing Him will make us free, really free.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
~ John 8:36

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” ~ 2 Corinthians 3:17

Blessings on your weekend. I’m taking a short break.

“This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

“When we allow God the privilege of shaping our lives, we discover new depths of purpose and meaning. What a joyful thought to realize you are a chosen vessel for God - perfectly suited for his use.” ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

“I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say ‘he feels deeply, he feels tenderly.’”

“An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.”

“The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech.”

Excerpt from Vincent’s letter to brother Theo:

“And God sees the trouble and the sorrow and He can help in spite of all. The faith in God is firm in me - it is no imagination, no idle faith - but it is so, it is true, there is a God Who is alive and He is with our parents and His eye is also upon us, and I am sure He plans our life and we do not quite belong to ourselves as it were - and this God is no other than Christ of Whom we read in our Bible and Whose word and history is also deep in our heart.”

Letter from Vincent to Theo, Amsterdan, May 30, 1877