December 27, 2015

Sunday Devotional With Mr. E: DON'T DRINK THE PAINT WATER!!

Most of the artists I know tend to be nocturnal, and paint late into the night or early morning.  Though this time can be some of the most "inspired" for an artists, things can happen in this tired state of creating.  I have to admit that on more than one occasion I have drank my paint water by accident. Usually the mistake is quickly noted & little paint water is actually ingested.....USUALLY! ha ha   It doesn't help that we often use the same cups/mugs for both our caffeine & rinse water.  Maybe if I used something different for my paint water I could avoid this horrid mistake.  Maybe if I kept what I was drinking out of my painting area all together I'd not have to taste "watercolor juice" again.  Maybe if I was more awake & aware of my surroundings this would not occur. 


Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1-2

God has called us to live a life that is vastly different from the world's standards.  However, when you look around it is often hard to tell the difference between those who believe & those who do not.  Compromising our beliefs for the sake of belonging, comfort, or ease shows a lack of transformation.  I am more than grace filled for new/young believers that are still finding their way & growing in the Lord!  I understand when others fall short & make mistakes.  We all do!  However, I'm wondering when we as true believers will stop making excuses, and start making changes in our lives that will allow us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God.  We have to set ourselves up for success if we ever want this to be our true and proper worship! 

What can we do?  None of us are perfect.

True, none of us are perfect.  We all make mistakes.  Praise the Lord for His grace!!  However, we can do things in our day to day that will help us avoid conforming to this world.  Ask God to reveal areas in your life that take your eyes off of Him.  There are different things that distract different people: people, music, tv, internet, money, power, possessions, self medicating..etc.   You need to be aware of what takes your heart & mind off of the things of God.  We need to place things in our life that will point us to the Lord.  Prayer, Bible reading, fellowship with other believers, music, and Christian books can be transformative activities in a believer's life.  

The most important thing is a true relationship with the Creator. Through the Holy Spirit, we can live this life God intended us to live.  We have choices to make in our life that allow us to have a deeper & more meaningful relationship with our Lord & impact on our world.  Will you make the choices needed for this to happen?  Will you refuse to conform to the patterns of this world?  Will you stop drinking the paint water?

PRAYER
Dear Lord... We all fall short.  We all have areas we need to give over to you where we've conformed to this world or taken what seems to be the easier way.  God, we want to be people that walk in THE WAY...THE TRUTH...THE LIFE!!!  Help us to make the choices we need to grow deeper in our relationship with you.  Thank you Lord for loving us & making THE WAY for us to come to you!

AMEN


2 comments:

  1. Amen and Hallelujah !!
    Happiest of the new year and a new you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks...proud to share

    ReplyDelete