Are you imposed by illness, imagining intervention, ignored, insulted, infested by insects, or in a self-inflicted meltdown?
Have you ever wondered how long cold or warmth will last? The off-and-on slow drips of an icicle may have a purpose: to remind us to reflect on God’s steady patience—a fruit of the Spirit. At times, ice helps relieve pain and aids healing; yet, other times heat works best. Gradual repetitive nature—such as the transition of February to August—indicates that each step is a gift to cherish, yet not idolize or immortalize. An individual’s conception, infancy into infinity, each season of life interacts with the next, ignited by the faith which impacts incredible improvement of integrity.
ATC inspired by FreshRetroGallery Prompts under the “I” column, made from crumbled aluminum foil formed into icicle shapes reflecting inky darkness and white light upon angular, blended, messy splatter bordered with a shredded edge of a spiral bound paper.
Life’s order of creation isn’t in human control.
Winter adjusts to summer by way of spring. Icy snow thaws to streams of water washing away dirt that’s been transformed to mud. Thankfully, the mercy of our interceding Creator has made everything beautiful in its time for a purpose(Ecclesiastes 3). I pray you invest time to immerse yourself in the infallible Word which will increase the faith and influence how you intelligently impress its importance to illuminate others.
Number six ATC back
Title
of the piece: Icicles • Media used: watercolor, aluminum foil & paper
• Date created: 2.18.2024 • Artist name and signature: Elizabeth Knaus •
Group or swap
information: Creative Trading Cards • Artist contact info (website,
email, etc.): freshretrogallery
Group or swap information is written on the back of each ATC in the series.
Group/swap goal for this ATC is use of the sixth letter, i, of the phrase creatIve trading cards.
Inspiration for the 2.5x3.5" piece of art is influenced
by prompts, 60 words listed under the letter I. Get started with Prompts for Creative Artist Trading Cards.
Do you wonder what your purpose is in such a time as this?
“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14b ESV Bible verse hand lettering marker sketch.
Day-to-day complexities of life’s relationships and personal responsibility to
care for our own spiritual, emotional, mental and physical health cannot be managed alone.
Thankfully, our patient Savior provides all that is needed to face each moment of each day. His perfect plan and timing is over our head. We may simply receive help, forgiveness and comfort by trusting Jesus has already won the victory over sin, death, and evil. Abundant opportunities surround us on every side to seek Biblical wisdom, practice patience, and pay-it-forward by sharing Good News, grace and mercy.
“Sometimes life seems as if we are on an incredible journey—and then suddenly, the bus breaks down. We feel trapped in a desert of delay with no way to move on. And in the in-between, it seems God isn’t doing anything to fix our situation. We’re tempted to complain and pout. To grumble and grow bitter. That’s when we need to remember the story of Esther and how God worked behind the scenes to rescue her people. We wait well when we remind ourselves that even while we’re waiting, our Lord is paving the way ahead, scheduling exciting experiences, and booking new destinations for our lives. That’s when we need to choose to rest in God’s providence.” Sharla Fritz in her book: Waiting—A Bible Study on Patience, Hope, and Trust
The Holy Spirit moves faithful people to encourage and listen to each
other. He knows each person’s unique roles in personal and community relationships—lays out opportunities, provides guidance—and carries out His promise to defend, protect, and deliver those who seek Him. The only help we can offer each other is in full light of His Word and gifts revealed in Christ crucified for us.
We may sow many seeds, share our faith everywhere we go, yet it is not us—it is our Creator who provides nutrients and
growth to each individual who is willing to honestly receive His Word. Trusting God’s powerful love, we confidently pray to our Advocate. We may live by grace throughout life’s storms until the Last Day when He makes final judgement and harvests His crop of humble, repentant believers to live forever with Him.
“His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Luke 3:17 ESV
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5–6 ESV
God
knows His purpose and plans. Our Heavenly Father offers salvation to
bring all souls out of trouble through faith which brings repentance and trusts Jesus is the
way to
peace beyond understanding.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 ESV
Book of the Bible dedicated to Esther
“Esther is the heroine of the biblical book that bears her name. Her Jewish name was Hadassah, which means ‘myrtle.’ Her beauty, charm, and courage served her well as queen to King Ahasuerus. In that role she was able to save her people from the mass extermination that Haman, the king’s chief advisor, had planned (2:19–4:17). Esther’s efforts to uncover the plot resulted in the hanging of Haman on the very same gallows that he had built for Mordecai, her uncle and guardian. Then the king named Mordecai minister of state in Haman’s place. This story is an example of how God intervenes on behalf of his people to deliver them from evil, as here through Esther he preserved the Old Testament people through whom the Messiah would come.”
Among the good blessings in life, we discover some surprises aren’t good. Like pouring sour milk on a dish of cereal, we never know when frustrations will seep in to soak up our energy and distract us from our goals.
With gratitude I enjoy breakfast …
Coffee—a staple in my diet
Cereal—variety or combination of rice, wheat, corn, barley and oats
Nuts—pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds
Fruit—fresh or frozen blueberries
Milk—if sour and there’s no fresh milk on hand, ice cream makes a rich and smooth substitute
Sour milk ruins cereal, so start fresh and substitute ice cream! To fix the breakfast blunder: strain and pick out cereal
to dispose, rinse/save the blueberries/nuts, add fresh cereal and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Voilà—a blessing in disguise!
Words sour, substitute, purpose and accomplish inspired me to take this picture and motivated me to write.
And then questions came to mind:
“What does your daily routine look like?” a friend asked, knowing I’d made a career change to work from home.
“What do you hope to accomplish in this life before you die?” came up during a class studying a man of integrity, Martin Luther, who translated the Bible so it could be printed for everyone.
His last written words were, “We are beggars: this is true.” from Holy Ponderings of the Reverend Father Doctor Martin Luther, translated for Project Wittenberg by James Kellerman
I push forward to accomplish purposeful goals and keep an open mind to where the Lord may be leading me. And then I sin.
Sin can be summed up as all the things we say, think, do, and don’t do,
that fall outside of God’s holy will for our lives and end up separating
us from God. —Lutheran Hour Ministries
All of us should watch out for various ways Satan tries to trick, confuse, pull us into
his lies and distasteful ways. Our own and also other people’s sin cause
us to suffer all kinds of unpleasant consequences: sad situations,
horrible circumstances, harmed or broken relationships.
So, what do we do about the sour moments?
Do not swallow the sour milk. Sin is more than we can handle and fix on our
own. To be strong we should quickly pick up our heavy sin and give it to Jesus, saying, “I’m sorry” to Him and also to each person offended. Seek help, change direction, work hard at not repeating mistakes—it’s called repentance which receives God’s mercy.
Love others because Christ
first loved us. Thrive on every ounce of the Holy Spirit’s fruit to face difficulties caused by darkness coming from another person, poor health, or natural disaster.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV (whole chapter)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… Galatians 5:23 (whole chapter)
Like strained sour milk, rinsed fruit and rich ice cream, let the merciful love of God save the day.
The Holy Spirit creates faith and comes to us in the water of Christian Baptism and the Word. Once received, always there—stronger than evil which the Truth of Scripture exposes.
When sin is repented, it is strained completely out through Christ. Jesus, Our Substitute has accomplished what was necessary. God looks into the hearts of believers and sees not our sin, but sees His Son who took away the sin of the world. More about repentance and forgiveness: click here
To top it all off, we are covered by the richness of the Holy Spirit to smooth over our conscience.
Out of thankfulness, we study the Bible with friends regularly in church. To follow God’s perfect recipe, complete with instructions for life: we drink, eat and inwardly digest the Good News which sustains and holds us safe.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 ESV (whole chapter)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. … Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding… Proverbs 3:5,13 ESV (whole chapter)
Explore God’s purposes for allowing us to experience disappointing hardships.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ESV (whole chapter)
Our loving Heavenly Father desires all people to be saved.
He expects us to ask questions and examine Scripture for guidance and wisdom.
Reminder to reconnect if we’ve wandered, procrastinated, or have become arrogant and lazy about faith matters.
If you love God with your whole heart; just trust He’s working it for good.
Reminder to: “Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. … So then, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are
of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:2,10 (whole chapter)
The power of the Holy Spirit
Educates and opens our eyes to realize we need our Savior; then leads us to repent and strive to change
Offers relief from fear and comfort for pain
Lifts depression—replaces it with contentment and joy
Grants freedom to be faithful
Makes clear methods to improve self-control
Allows us to receive
forgiveness, goodness and kindness
Equips us to forgive others (even when thy have not admitted guilt); then permits us to be good and kind toward them
Strengthens us to patiently, mercifully, bear with the faults and burdens of others
Encourages and motivates us to be gentle, peaceful and loving
While I can’t escape sour milk moments, in an average day my routine may include:
Sleep about 7–8 hours until I wake for the day
Stretch and tone up for about 40 minutes
Listen to Worldwide KFUO and other internet radio stations
Pray, read and listen to prayers, various devotions and Bible
Work creatively in some form such as sketching or writing in this blog
Business at FreshRetroGallery Etsy and Handmade-Amazon: plan, design, research, development, product creation, photography, graphics, promotion, purchasing, maintenance, organize, bookkeeping, customer service, print labels, package, take shipments to the Post Office, continue education
Home—organize, shop, meals, laundry, clean
Exercise—long walks or swim laps; use stepper
Socialize in person or online
Relax with a novel or Netflix
I expect additions and changes in my daily routine:
Vocations and family experiences make life full
High-gear pre-Christmas business shipping rush
Church, theater, concerts, museums, travel, extending/receiving invitations, celebrations, book club, dates, festivals, special organized activities and events
Opportunities to volunteer or give special offerings.
Health issues and appointments for myself or to help others
Dear Lord, thank You for the love Christ has shown to me through His death and resurrection. May that love motivate me to continue in my Christian faith, even when it’s hard. In Jesus’ name. Amen. — prayer from Mustard Seed Devotions
