The Empty Canvas

It is not impressive at first.

In fact it is the farthest thing from impressive. It is plain and empty and unless you know what you are looking for you will walk right by it and completely miss it.

If you miss it at first, please don't feel bad. I truly believe that 90% of the world misses it.

It's a canvas called life.

For most people they look at it as just an empty canvas and struggle to find within the empty canvas something worth seeing. They stop, stare, and hesitate because quite honestly they do not know where to start when it comes to pulling a picture out of the canvas.

So they choose the action they are the most comfortable with...they freeze.

They look around from side to side to see who else is in the room and what everybody else is doing with their canvas and choose to mimic the movements and creative styles of the other artists. Most never even pick up a tool to create with because they are afraid.

What if I mess it up?

What if it looks bad?

What if I cannot create  on the outside what I see inside?

So the canvas remains blank.

The book remains unwritten, the song remains unsung, and the world misses out on hearing the voice that The Master Artist gave it to hear.

Your voice.

Your canvas.

I read a quote once that has stayed with me:
I think when we breath our final breaths on this earth it would be ideal to be surrounded by our loved ones so that their voices of love and tear filled farewells would drown out the cries of the dreams that hover close with frustrated groans, "We came to you to bring us to life and now we are doomed to be lost forever."

What book was supposed to be written?

What thought was supposed to be expressed?

What dream was supposed to be brought to life?

What person was supposed to be helped?

What life was supposed to be touched?

The canvas awaits.

The crazy part about all of this in relation to life is that we have everything we need to paint a "masterpiece".

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:" ~Hebrews 8:10

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;" ~Hebrews 10:16 

Sometimes we tend to think that nothing really changed at Salvation and that we just gained a "Jimmy Cricket" style Conscience named the Holy Spirit who just sits aside meekly trying to help us one day become a "real boy". Nothing could be further from the truth! Paul said that we are a new creature in Christ! Old things are passed away and all things have become new!

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. "
                                                                                                   ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

The heart has been made new! What about being desperately wicked??? Before the Holy Spirit made His entrance, it was desperately wicked, but He does not share a dirty space and just live in this little clean area that we make for Him and sit wishing we would clean more square footage of our hearts so that He can finally have room to breathe.

He completely rewires us!!! He quickens our Spirit and remodels everything! He is power! He is dynamite!

He gives us everything we need to paint a masterpiece for Him!

The tray has been completely stocked with every tool and art supply we need and if we take the time to ask, He waits within us to teach us how to paint.

He longs to teach us and lead us into all Truth!

He desires us to know how to bring to life and reality upon the canvas everything that God created us to paint.

There really is no wrong move here!

He places the dream within us and He places the desire deep into our spirit and the hunger to see it accomplished.

What is it that ignites your passion? What is it that stirs you when you meditate on Father?

That very well may be the very picture that He is asking you to paint with your life!!!

How do I begin working on my masterpiece then?

I love this passage so very much. Paul tells the Christians at the church exactly what his prayer for them is. This is the same thing that I ask the Holy Spirit to teach me more of every single day.

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,"                                                                                         ~Ephesians 3:14-20 

BAM!!!

Paul is praying that they would be able, through the Holy Spirit, truly understand how much God loves them and as you begin to understand His incredible love for you it frees you from the bondage of self image that unknowingly you have placed upon yourself.

When I consider His love I see myself as being made worthy of what He has made me to accomplish in Him.

I was making posts on face book about a year ago and two different people messaged me and asked if I had considered writing a blog as a devotional. I had never thought of that and mainly because I not only did not have the Internet, but I also did not even have a computer. I was posting from my phone and writing a blog on my phone was NOT appealing to me.
The third person that asked me went a bit further. "Do you have a way to do that?" they asked.
When I told them no, they instructed me to go and pick out the computer I needed and they would purchase it for me.

So as I read the tail end of this passage I smile in absolute amazement...

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,"                                                   

Here is one person with no Internet or computer but just a dream and a message who has now taken the brush and began applying color to an empty canvas.

I am just a person with a seed planted in their Spirit of using a stick man and a wall to help people understand the message that God is not trying to destroy them but rather allows hurts to bring them into a greater relationship with Him. This message has reached over 76 countries and been read more than 62,000 times!!!

One man, one wall, one message!

This is a chalk picture I drew that started out as just an empty canvas. The island was always there and it just needed some tools to bring it into a place where it could be seen by everyone that passed by it.

I asked the Holy Spirit if He would let me see what the canvas of my life contains through Him and the things that He is bringing to my view point absolutely stagger me! This message He has given me is growing and it is coming into view in a breath taking way. I am absolutely stunned to think at how large this message of Him is growing and the colors that He is placing on the tray to match the tools that He has given me and continues to give me make me shake with anticipation.

What has He given you?

Don't be afraid to "mark up the canvas". He gave you the canvas, and He gave you the tools needed to match what He has placed within your new heart. You ask Him to teach you His love for you and then in confidence of that love begin to sketch.

Don't be afraid to move.

Don't be afraid to move with Him and in Him.

The entire world is waiting to view the canvas!!! Paint His masterpiece!


Climbing with you,
~Dan