TODAY!!!

This morning in prayer and quiet time with God, He spoke to me about three of my paintings. He showed me that they speak to things happening now. He wants us to remember who He is and consequently, who we are.

#1 We are all in Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (New American Standard Bible). He loves us and cares about what we are going through. We need to look to Him and not man to meet our needs and to answer our prayers. This chapter in

1 Corinthians has so much to say that needs to be heard today. We are a part of one another, no one greater than the next. We must work together.

#2 The Prayer. We do not realize that even as we pray God is bringing what we need. He has us and our needs are being met, whether we see it or not. In this painting, as the one in grief, pain, anger, and depression releases those emotions to God the weight is lifted. The colors change because their prayer changes, the situation is changing, but they may not see it right away. Heaven is opened as they pray and the very hand of God is holding them, though they may not know it.

Phillipians 4:6-8, "6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and

supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the

peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your

minds in Christ Jesus.8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if

there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things"

(NASB).

#3 God is sending an army from Heaven to help us fight! He sees all that we are going through and He is sending His army of angels to do war in the heavenly realm.

We are in a mighty war. Battle is going on in the heavenly realm and in the physical where it can be seen. We only see part of the battle with natural eyes. We are not alone. Victory will come! What happens in the heavenly realm brings about what we see.

Do no grow weary. We must fight in whatever way God leads. Each one of us has gifts to use for the battle. Simply loving others well is fighting. Pray in your natural and heavenly languages, fast (if led), sit in God's presence, speak truth, love the hard-to-love. Lift one another up! Do not fear!

Let us not be distracted and take our focus from God. The enemy would have us focus on his distraction tactics and forget who we are, do not forget!

Romans 8:14-39,

14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Our Victory in Christ 26In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This entire chapter becomes so real during this time of crisis. Remember who you are in Christ and if you don't know I urge you to pray and read the bible to find out. Ask the Father who you are, He will show you. It is important to know who you are and what your gifts are. We must be willing to let Him use us as He intended when He created us. We all have a purpose in the plan of God. Do not give up, do not leave it all to others to figure out. God is waiting for you to realize who you are and to move in that direction. He is calling you, leading you, and He will never leave you, no matter what your senses, the world, news, or your emotions tell you. He is always there, working behind the scenes at times. Believe me, His hand is at work and we see it when He is ready to show it! We are the Body of Christ, how will the world see the fullness of who He is if we are not willing to move?

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