Father God, let this touch someone’s heart and let them know they can do anything good with all their heart and soul. I thank You in Jesus Precious Name Amen.
I would like to speak of Artists a few minutes. Artist in their lifetime were rarely appreciated. A few lucky ones had supporters that would sponsor them allowing them to work at their leisure, on their own special talents. If an artist was working it was usually on a consignment basis, when they were able to get paid work, creating something for the church, for businesses, events or a wealthy family back in the day. Most artists were barely able to obtain recognition for their well-deserved talents. Most of them were uncommon, dealing with some form of addiction, physical or mental illness and alcohol problems. Most of the famous artists we know today were not recognized and celebrated within their lifetimes. They may have sold some paintings, but few achieved the state of fame that some of them did after death. They were rarely able to support themselves let alone a family. Most of the artists on this list introduced something new and were not without disagreements surrounding them and their work. This is why many struggled.
The artists on this list below died in poverty and relative unimportant to society but important to God. What is really interesting is researching each one of these artists and their works. Something I love to do.
El Greco known as “The Greek” was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance.
James Barry born in Ireland in 1741
Jean-Honore Fragonard: was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism.
Amedeo Modigliani: Was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and figures that were not received well during his lifetime.
Johannes Vermeer: Was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognized in Delft and The Hague.
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin: Was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinct from Impressionism. Toward the end of his life, he spent ten years in French Polynesia.
Vincent Van Gogh: Dutch painter, generally considered the greatest after Rembrandt van Rijn, and one of the greatest of the post-Impressionists. The striking color, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of his work powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art.
Gustave C. Langenberg: Was probably one of the most widely traveled painters from the Düsseldorf School of Painting, who, after stints in Munich and Paris, also undertook very productive trips to North and South America.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn: Rembrandt’s portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits and illustrations of scenes from the Bible are regarded as his greatest creative triumphs. His self-portraits form an intimate autobiography. Rembrandt’s foremost contribution in the history of printmaking was his transformation of the etching process from a relatively new reproductive technique into an art form. His reputation as the greatest etcher in the history of the medium was established in his lifetime. Few of his paintings left the Dutch Republic while he lived, but his prints were circulated throughout Europe, and his wider reputation was initially based on them alone. In his works, he exhibited knowledge of classical iconography. A depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt’s knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam’s Jewish population. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called “one of the great prophets of civilization”. The French sculptor Auguste Rodin said, “Compare me with Rembrandt! What sacrilege! With Rembrandt, the colossus of Art! We should prostrate ourselves before Rembrandt and never compare anyone with him!”
All 10 of these artists let their light shine while they were alive for Christ and when they went into heaven was unable to take pennies with them. But each one of them have a past and have an eternal future with God. It is heartbreaking that they will never see just how celebrated their art and talent has become over the years. It is so amazing how their paintings sell now for millions of dollars and are displayed in museums, galleries, restaurant’s and people’s homes from around the world. People fight to buy them for themselves. See they found that these precious art works are the shade of happiness on the walls of those who appreciate them and their works. God has proved His masterpieces in all ten of these artists. Even an artist cannot paint what God has already created. But God can create master pieces out of all of us.
So, they left behind signs of God’s wonders through their time talent and treasures, if you look on each name and research them, you will find history they kept God’s wisdom in view and their eyes on God’s will for their lives.
Letting your talents and treasures do God’s work.
In all this I hope you see how all that we give or do right is not taken for granted.
“Today is “International Friendship Day” This should be every day, just like Christmas should be everyday where everyone gives of themself and to others in kindness, love and compassion.
God is your best, most perfect friend. He is always available, willing to listen to your complaints and show you a way out, a solution to your problems. He never gets tired, He never exasperates. If you search Him, He will be there for you to patiently assist you. When He is rejected by ignorance or human rebellion, He discreetly awaits.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you” is a striking blessing that has been used by Jewish people and Christians throughout history. It is a way to invoke and call upon God’s blessing of provision and guarding of those who believe in him and follow him.
God really bless you if you tithe.
The only logical answer is, because tithing isn’t for God. Meaning, the tithe doesn’t benefit God, it benefits you. Tithing Helps You to TRUST God “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Some people will say! I want to see that church’s financials. Usually, it is someone who has no knowledge of what it takes to run a church because they have one wife at home running their household and they think that a church can be run the same way. They don’t see the bills, debts or what the church does to give to the community back what it gets in tithes. It takes a lot of people volunteering and a lot of employees to run a church. Takes a lot of work without giving up.
So, if you live in a home. You have to pay all the bills to keep the home running, clean it and take care of its surroundings. Take care of whoever lives with You also. Whoever lives with you should contribute also?
Same with a church. I have seen church’s open and close cause no one contributed but the people who opened with all they had. I have seen churches built and then the next year tore down. I see a church for the past several years be built by two people who was working making a paycheck and then their family members were doing the same to get that church-built piece by piece. They opened the church had people in it. Services in it. I got to watch bulldozers tear that church down in very little time. I have prayed for those people all these years and I still have been praying for them from my heart. A Spanish church that was on Hwy 242. A church is not a building, but the Children of Christ are the church going the same way eternally. God’s children should meet together as community.
Hear these quotes with me because they are so true.
“A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” Whole body of Christians standing on Holy ground with Christ.
“You are no saint,’ says the devil. Well, if I am not, I am a sinner, and Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Sink or swim, I go to Him; other hope, I have none.”
Quote by Charles Spurgeon
“My evidence that I am saved does not lie in the fact that I preach, or that I do this or that. All my hope lies in this: that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. I am a sinner, I trust Him, then He came to save me, and I am saved.” Quote by Charles Spurgeon
As mentioned in the other answers, when God shines his face on us it means that he is pleased with us, our relationship with him is intimate and personal, plus we are living in obedience to his commands. The bible also says in Exodus 33:11 that “The Lord would speak to Moses’ face to face, as one speaks to a friend. “Make his face shine – This is an enhancement of the preceding benediction. “The face of God” imports not merely God’s good will in general, but his active and special regard. With the “face” or “eye of the Lord accordingly is connected alike the judicial visitation of the wicked. Peoples of the Ancient Near East would speak of the shining face of a king or a god. This image may have been based on the way in which a smile “lights up” one’s face. Or it could have been related to the shining of the sun.
To be gracious means ‘to favor,’ ‘to show kindnesses’ to an inferior, and ‘to be compassionate.’ In the Old Testament of the Bible, this adjective applies to God, indicative of His favor and mercy, His long-suffering and general inclination of favor and kindness. It has three main meanings: to lift up anything, to bear or carry (especially guilt for sin), and to take away (often of removing sin). This phrase, “lift up His countenance upon you” involves God taking us into His presence to see His face.
(Let’s Pray)
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
{Power Verse}
Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16
"Only Life Changes" 