Marvin was putting our new audio message on the web site (which by the way has been newly revised and updated for our new focus). He asked me "What do you want to call this message?" I am the queen of one-liners. It is my forte. God's given gift to me. :) I always figured when times were tough over the past years, I could have been a stand up comic if all else failed. Again another :). Now back to focus on the ONE whom I love - Jesus Christ.
When He asked me this question, without a hitch I answered back "Infinity and Beyond!" How awesome is that! When one moves as a creative expression of Christ Jesus in the earth, one is simply in agreement, with heaven, by faith, in grace, to BE who you are already are in Christ. In other words, to move in a creative grace by faith, you agree with the infinite realm to bring heaven to earth in a unique and challenging way. I love that and even when I am writing, I am excited about where my life is going. Creative expression. I will say that over and over. Why? Because it is us and you are reading this blog because you love something about us. At least I hope so. For the rest of this week and perhaps beyond, I will focus on that statement above relating to creativity.
Creativity abounds in creative expression. In Christ, there is no beginning and no end. You simply enter into an increasing revelation of Christ in YOU, the hope of glory and move step by step to create what He has had in you since day one. In effect, creativity is not outside oneself but inside oneself in Christ. It is looking to Him in you and acknowledging that in Him all things are possible. That is why NO ONE can say that aren't creative. You just have not yet tapped into Christ in YOU the hope of glory.
Creativity is found in grace in Christ. In other words, you have to know how much He loves you and in that you find freedom to move and to be in Him. There is an abundance of grace in Christ so that no two people are alike. We are all uniquely formed by His hand. In grace, you move in Him to find that unique path that makes you YOU. Of course everyone else should be doing this also. That is why I get so frustrated at cloned and mimicked Christianity. There is so much in Him - infinity and beyond.
Once you are moving by grace, you need to find that place of faith in creativity where you have to STEP OUT. You can't stay hidden forever and you have to step out in faith which exposes you to yourself, others and the system of law in religion which simply hates creativity. Look how they hounded Jesus step by step along His path.
Creativity flourishes in an atmosphere of grace and faith. Creativity moves. It is not stagnant. Each day holds the possibility to create and move. So more will be coming on this. I love this topic.
So, how am I going to move in the creative expression of Christ in me? Well we are going out about in Helsinki Finland (where we live) and making a 15 minutes video to post on You Tube. It should be up by this weekend God willing. It is about circles. Yes you heard right. Circles and the wonderful form of living in Christ that abounds and makes life so rich and full and abundant in Him. So more tomorrow. It is a good day.
Love you guys.
The reason that I choose these collage pictures is because they are completely unpredictable. There is no specific form or structure. They develop as they are forming until someone says "Ah that's it!' Then the collage picture is formed and one is satisfied with the result. Collage, to me, is an ordered chaos that is birthed in the heart of an artist that abides by no particular rules except the desire and flow in their own heart. Collage is outrageous and defies rules! Just sayin' of course. :)
Collage = a piece of art made by sticking various different materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric onto a backing.
A thought just occurred to me. Wow! A collage may be considered a less formal type of art. Perhaps it is considered not sophisticated enough. It may even be looked down on because it has no real appeal and looks like a child could do it. But, to me a collage is beautiful, even changing, ever forming with no set rules except what is in the artist's eyes. One needs to look at it. Really look at and let is speak to YOU.
Jesus was a type of collage. Don't you think? He came to those in a form that defied explanation unless one really opened their eyes to see the beauty of the whole piece. He appeared to be chaotic, without reputation, perhaps childlike, and a mess compared to the religious system. They did not see what He really was, just like the collage. When they tried to box Him in and reign Him in, He simply wouldn't allow that to happen. Look at this simple example. When the disciples tried to steer Him away from children, He rebuked them and simply replied:
Matthew 19: 14 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for such is the kingdom of heaven."
What a powerful statement! This statement puts iconic leaders in their place. This statement stops traffic. It simply says "Hey you guys don't have a clue what I see, what I feel or the ways of the kingdom! Move over and let these kids, these nobodies, come to me!" In this case, under these circumstances, I want to be childlike. Not childish but childlike.
I want to be a collage filled with the surprise of color and form that develops over time. I want to be a collage that no one can quite figure out. I want to be filled with color and texture and design for that is how God has created me. I started out this blog today wanting to write about something else but then this morning happened. And I knew I must press through the chains of predictability, the prison of mundane Christianity and move on. I may not know where or how but I am moving.
You see, there is a continual pressure put upon us just like the pressure put upon Jesus from the religious system and the disciples that walked with Him. Thank God I don't have people around me that put a pressure on me to conform and not to form in Him. But I do consistently face a religious system that tries to knock us out and they never stop trying in various and unique ways. They often make me feel like I am not quite right, not quite good enough. Or they act like we don't exist and pretend that we are not worthy of their attention. In years past, sad to say, I bowed to this actually thinking that something was not quite right with me but I am not developing into something else along the way. I am a collage that many try to put into a prescribed box but they can't. When they can't, then they label me as rebellious, angry, unsubmitted or some such thing. I refuse to accept that. I am FREE! I am a collage that is developing in a free form with the colors that God chooses to throw in, the form God chooses to design. Free to be exactly what the Lord tells me to be and nothing less than that. A little bit of venting goes a long way. I love blogging.
This is a blog. Not teaching or preaching but expression. Outrageous is to be bold and to stand out. I was outrageous when I was younger but then something horrible, terrible, awful happened. I was inducted into religion over time. Told to be a good girl. Told to not rock the boat. Told to BE in the context of what people in the church wanted me to BE. Right now I feel like I am violently shaking off any and all remnants of a coat that simply does not fit. In the process, I am losing people from this list. I am being defriended on Facebook. I get few responses from what I write and no one presses "like" on my FB posts anymore. Sigh!!!! What's a girl to do? :)
But what is the alternative? To BE what people want me to be? To follow the existing norm of Christianity as defined by the leading iconic Charismatic movement. Heck no! I won't say "hell no" for that may upset some religious people. :) It seems that I have tried so hard to fit, that I have lost who and what I am in Christ and I am taking it back and not looking back. Want to follow? I am walking with no regrets and no guilt.
Jesus was outrageous. He was and still is an enigma, not readily understood. He never faded into the woodwork but always stood out for doing outrageous things as He moved around in His day. His life was based upon an outrageous connection with heaven that put His life on earth into the proper perspective. That is where it all starts. To be truly outrageous, you must walk in the earth with a total focus on eternity, an ear to hear and eyes to see. In living an outrageous Christian existence, you live and move and have your being in the reality of Christ Jesus, the finished work of the cross and the shed blood. Such freedom is not found in anyone or anywhere else but in Jesus Christ.
For years I have been in transition. The purpose of this transition has become so simple to ME. I realize that I have been transitioning within myself. It has nothing to do with an external transition but an internal movement away from anything that hinders God from moving in me and through me in a new wineskin. I have been filling up with new wine. It has not been external shaking, quaking, chasing conferences, talking about angels and third heaven experiences. No no no! It has been an internal transformation to see a new way and to move a new way. In other words, previous to this time, God was wanting to download new revelation but my internal computer system could not read what He was trying to say. So in this time of transition to return to the norm of outrageous Christianity, I have been re-programmed to see where He is moving and to move that way. Out of the box in every way.
I am waiting on God in every aspect for my greatest concern is to move ahead of Him in what is predictable and normal rather than to think and move out of the box. I don't want to talk about it anymore but to do it. That is reflected in Rivers of Eden. I don't want to build something that looks like what is out there. So what is it I do want? I want a creative design workroom where people can come into a creative environment to be challenged to grow in their creativity in a revelation of Christ Jesus. This is not easy at the present time for the current norm fights creativity in every aspect. So we are stopping predictable meetings and looking for a small building to rent to decorate a design and Creative House for the Lord. That is step one. I can see it in the Spirit and now I want to see it manifest in reality.
Who shall come to this? I don't know. Time will tell and in this blog you are essentially following my journey in this and I pray it helps you to start your own journey into being outrageous. :)
