The People That Walked In Darkness Have seen A Great Light

8"x10"
Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

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An Abstract Expression from Handel's Messiah
The People That Walked In Darkness Have seen A Great Light

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, and they that
Dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
(Isaiah 9:2)

But Who May Abide

5"x7"
Oil on Panel

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An Abstract Expression from Handel's Messiah
But Who May Abide

But who may abide the day of His coming, 
and who shall stand when He appeareth? 
For He is like a refiner's fire. 
(Malachi 3:2)

I Will Shake All Nations

5"x7"
Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

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An Abstract Expression from Handel's Messiah
Thus Saith The Lord

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts:
-Yet once a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land;
And I will shake all nations;
And the desire of all nations shall come.
The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple,
Even the messenger of the covenant,
Whom ye delight in:
Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Every Valley Shall Be Exalted

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Oil on Panel

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An Abstract Expression from Handel's Messiah
Every Valley Shall Be Exalted

Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill made low,
The crooked straight and the rough places plain. 
(Isaiah 40:4)

Late Light

5"x7"
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I finally made it back to the lake this summer. I took the opportunity to paint both impressionistic and abstract expressionistic styles. Here's one that is somewhere in-between. it was painted in the late evening as the sun quickly set.

40 Days: Day 38: Mandatum

5"x7"
Oil on Canvas

with Palette Knife

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"A new commandment I give unto you: 

That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

Today we celebrate Maundy Thursday. The name "Maundy" comes from the latin "Mandatum" which means "Mandate." On this day, we remember Jesus' last supper with His disciples. On that night, he washed their feet and commanded them to do the same. He also took the bread and the cup form the passover meal and declared them as symbols of his body and blood—given for all of mankind. He also instructed them to remember Him in the breaking of bread and drinking of the cup. 

This abstract mashes all of those themes together as an outpouring act of love. 

It portrays the tone of the evening, the call to remember, and the command to love.

40 Days: Day 35: Morning Song II

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Here is a little impression from my back yard this morning.

40 Days: Day 21: Sight

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John 9:1-41

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”  His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”  He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Spiritual Blindness

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir?[f] Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

40 Days: Day 19: Daily Prayer V

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 

40 Days: Day 18: Daily Prayer IV

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 

40 Days: Day 17: Daily Prayer III

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 

40 Days: Day 16: Daily Prayer II

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 

40 Days: Day 15: Daily Prayer I

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

The next few posts will be examples of daily prayer with paint. 

40 Days, Day 10: Refuge

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Psalm 43

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
    against an ungodly people;
from those who are deceitful and unjust
    deliver me!
 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you cast me off?
Why must I walk about mournfully
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

 O send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling.
 Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise you with the harp,
    O God, my God.

 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help and my God.

40 Days: Day 8: Truth

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Hebrews 4:12-16

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

40 Days: Day 6: Water & Spirit

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John 2:1-15, Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signsyou are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believesmay have eternal life in him.”

40 Days: Day 5: Turning Tables

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John 2:13-22, Jesus Cleanses the Temple

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.  And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

40 Days: Day 3: Wilderness

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For those of you taking on spiritual disciplines for Lent, I have questions for you. Is the Honeymoon over yet? Are you tempted to break those commitments you have made for the season? Do you feel more like you're wrestling with your will to stay disciplined? Does the struggle with Lenten disciplines remind you of the way you struggle with sin? 

You're not alone. Everyone feels that way at some point in the journey. Some wrestle with these feelings every day. Since the first temptation in the garden, humans have struggled to live up to their potential as God's people. Even Christ.

Every temptation is a challenge to our identity. It is that moment when we want to be our own god and be in control of our own lives. We forget that we are human—dust creatures, lovingly made in the image of God. 

Our lives belong to God. We are totally dependent upon God for our existence and sustenance. We are broken and in need of repair and salvation. And God has big plans for us.

We are made in the mage of God. That's something special to consider. Too often we excuse our failures to temptation with the phrase "I'm only human." Jesus showed us how to be "Fully Human." He showed us our potential as a people made in the image of God.

So don't let the temptations and failures define you. You are a beloved child of God in need of God's grace. You are never alone. Let's follow the way of Christ. Let's move forward together in humility and gratitude as people of God.

40 Days: Day 3: Psalm 51

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PSALM 51:1-17
A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions. 

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin. 

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me. 

Against you, you alone, have I sinned,

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are justified in your sentence

and blameless when you pass judgement. 

Indeed, I was born guilty,

a sinner when my mother conceived me. 

You desire truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me. 

Do not cast me away from your presence,

and do not take your holy spirit from me. 

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and sustain in me a willing spirit. 

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you. 

Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise. 

For you have no delight in sacrifice;

if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased. 

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.