Tuesday, May 31, 2022

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Read: Psalm 51

 God, create a clean heart for me
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:10-11

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I’m convinced that I can teach anyone to draw. Many people have told me that they cannot possibly learn to draw, they just don’t have it in their genes, but genes are not necessary to draw.

It could be that you need some sort of genetic predisposition to be a bonified artist, but I suspect that for the most part creative skills can be acquired.

In Stephen King’s book, On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft, (incidentally the only book I’ve read by King), he says that you cannot teach a bad writer to be a competent writer, and you cannot teach a good writer to be a great writer, but you a competent writer can become a good writer.

He has written a lot of books, so I suppose he knows a thing or two about writing, but I’m not sure I agree with him on this point. I think people can be taught to be great – and it’s precisely the attitude that someone can’t become great that some people never try to become anything!

And when it comes to art, I figure if an elephant can sell its paintings for hundreds of dollars, then I’m pretty sure we can find some hidden reserve of creativity within you.

In the end, I think everyone has a creator within them. It may come out in odd places like being able to see math equations that no one else does. To the right audience, even math looks beautiful. Just like some artists (Pollock) are wildly successful and yet to some, it looks like a lot of paint splashed on a canvas.

But skill level doesn’t matter when it comes to the power of creating.

I used to meet regularly with a young lady in our youth group. I sort of tag-teamed with one of our female pastors as we tried to help this girl out. But she was guarded. Very, very guarded. However, she was an artist. So, we gave her some homework of creating some pieces for our next meeting.

Wasn’t she surprised when we practically read her mail after looking at those drawings? She actually looked frightened that she had let a piece of her heart show that she wasn’t intending to.

This is the power of art; of creating. And it does more than communicate, it heals.

I think this must be at least part of the reason that David wrote the Psalms he did. The art of writing and composing healed his heart. His heart was broken over his brokenness and Psalm 51 is what seeped out from that wounded place.

It is a beautiful, healing Psalm.

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OPERATION PRAYER – Germany – Germany’s wealth, influence, and location in the EU and Europe could be of great value for the Kingdom of God. This would require strong, courageous leadership based on Christian values, but the spiritual health of Germany is currently in decay. Destructive criticism of the Bible in the 19th century weakened the Church, and opened the way for pagan Nazi rule in the 20th century. New Age, the occult, Satanism, and new forms of the old pagan religions all gain followers, but none grow as quickly as the group claiming “no religion”. Horrible crimes and murders recently increased, along with depression and suicide rates. Pray for God to raise up leaders who will love righteousness and strong moral values, even when they face temptation to compromise. Read more.