An open canvas gleams in white awaiting colors of the rainbow. It beckons you to show it how to fly. How to speak. How to dream with imagery. How to shine most passionately. When you paint eternity into the hearts who crave the King.

Birth Heaven to life…
Create beauty from God’s fire.

“He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are craftsmen in all the work and artistic designers.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭35:35‬

He gives me the paintbrush and He asks me what I see beyond the empty space where creativity awaits my hands to fill the celestial space of wonder. He grants me to paint like He does. To form like He does. To dream like He does. To make beauty rise like He does.

Beauty created is beauty awakened from God’s own impartation of that gifting in you.

“His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. Thus, people are without excuse.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭

God creates beauty. In the earth. In the Heavens. In you. For you.

There is no excuse for believing you are anything other than beautiful… anything other than divinely inspired… anything other than eternally powerful… His own attributes are engraved in you. God made you. God paints beauty!

I love to paint you, He says.

I know every inch of your skin, every follicle of your hair, every crevice in your heart, every desire in your soul, and I bring it to life on the canvas I’ve painted of you.

I love it when you paint me, God…

Let Me paint you, My love…

Jesus, paint me forever…

They tried to paint me. But I looked at the picture and it doesn’t look like me at all.

They don’t know you like I know you. Let Me tell you who you are.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:14

God says… you are My beauty. I know how to paint you.

Apostle Paul awakened with vibrant colors when He saw Jesus’ light. His glorious light. He radiant light, shining with His regal splendor. Jesus had already died and rose, and been resurrected, so when He appeared to Saul, before Saul’s name was changed to Paul, Jesus appeared in His resurrected body. Thus, Saul saw the most real and royal version of the glory of Jesus that anyone had seen thus far. He saw more of Jesus’ glory than Jesus’ own disciples had. This was a powerful encounter for Paul and one that would immediately redirect his whole life and trajectory.

But before this epiphany, Paul tried to paint Jesus in a negative light.

We read about this ongoing situation in Acts chapter 9 where we find Saul, one of the Sanhedrin members, threatening to kill the Jesus followers and doing whatever He saw fit to rid them out of the parts of Asia Minor.

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭9:1

Saul did not welcome Jesus’ name nor His renown. So he provoked conflict against them and spoke negatively about Jesus. He tried to undermine their words and discount His claim as Messiah. He slandered them, harassed them, killed them, sent the religious leaders against them and the Romans against them.

All because he did not know who Jesus really was. He needed to know. You need to get to know who someone truly is before you begin to assess who they are. Only God knows you inside and out.

Don’t persecute someone who you don’t know. You may just find out that you were wrong about them.

Saul is going to find out that every word he had spoken against Jesus and His disciples was wrong.

Jesus really is the Messiah.

The true God.

The loving Savior, who even after all that Paul has said against Him, still loves him.

That is a radical kind of love.

“Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Acts 9:4

The fact that Jesus would come close to Saul shows us Jesus’ passionate loving heart for His people. He sees and hears Saul’s words… but it won’t keep Jesus from inviting Him into His arms. Jesus knows deep down that Saul will love Him if He would only get to know who He really is. But first, Jesus has to confront this area of blindness in Saul’s heart so that he can truly see Him accurately. So Jesus asks Saul a question, “Why are you persecuting Me?” In other words, what is the real reason here?

Why are you persecuting God?

He has done nothing wrong.

Don’t persecute God for doing things His way. He has a reason and every reason unfolds in beauty overtime, painting an extravagant story of love that magnifies beyond anything we can imagine. We can trust the Lord and His Spirit in everything. At all times.

We find here in Acts chapter 9 that God has compassion for even those who can’t see Him yet… and He gives Saul the opportunity to see Him in His glory… and then decide if he wants Him. The next verse uncovers that Saul already knows who God is. He just needed an encounter with Jesus.

Jesus loves you so much that He will personally come and find you… to give you an encounter of His light.

“Who are You, Lord? ” he said.” Acts 9:5

This is so revealing… Paul knows who God is. He calls Him “Lord!” So it’s not that Saul hates God. He actually does believe in God. But some kind of blindness was keeping him from seeing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God. He knew God but He needed to connect Jesus to God, and as a Jew during this time period many Jews could not do this. So God decides to clear up this problem and just reveal Himself directly. Here I am… Jesus is going to show Him who He is.

“I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭9:5‬

Saul falls on his face in front of Jesus.

Saul fell in love with Jesus’ light. 

From then on, Saul became Paul and lit up vibrantly declaring Jesus’ beauty.

Paul went on from there painting Jesus in the same bright light that found him on the Road to Damascus. Because He knew Jesus was God. And that Jesus loved him despite everything he had said about Him.

Jesus comes close to the very one who was persecuting Him. Jesus is not afraid nor intimidated by those who slander Him. He knows who He is. He is the King of the Universe. Remember who you are! Jesus, rather, wants to show His glory to every soul who would receive him. Show Him you love Him and that you want Him in your life. Paul will go on to say yes to Jesus’ mission for him after this encounter, because Jesus has now chosen Paul to be His minister to go and preach to all the gentiles. The gentiles were the ones who were not a part of the people of Israel. Yet they encompass every single person who lived on the earth outside of that people group.

All are wanted by God to be His people.

“This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” Acts 17:3

This is beauty.

Beauty spoken.

Beauty painted.

You paint beauty when you say the Name of Jesus.

“The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.” Psalm 18:10

Jesus’ Name inspires hearts to revive into infinite, ethereal light. Say His name. Preach His truth and no other.

This sermon at the Acropolis from Acts 17 brought many into salvation. Here we hear the clear communication of Paul’s heart declaring Jesus is the Christ. This was the truth He preached all throughout the region of Asia Minor. He tirelessly travelled around the region preaching and beckoning anyone who welcomed him, listened and wanted Jesus to be their Savior. Yet even in distressing, turbulent environments, Paul remained resilient.

In Acts 17, Paul preached to a group of Athenians who were mainly atheists and tampered with a lot of Greek mythology and philosophy. There is nothing wrong with learning philosophy and historical thought, but in this context these people had not yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and they needed to. God wanted them to be His people too.

God sent Paul to the ones who were outside of the Jewish people-group. Because God wants ALL people to be HIS people.

God paints beauty in every single child born into the world, blossoming into the amazing, intricate adults God made them to be. God wants you to be His. He wants to love you. He wants to know you. He wants to bless you. He wants to take care of you. He wants to interact with you everyday because your presence brings Him joy.

God delights in you being close to Him.

Your beauty paints His earth with technicolor wonder. 

Your presence delights his soul.

Stay with Him.

Forever.

if i could stay with you

forever

I would

tell me to stay with you

forever

I will

God still loves you… even through everything you said about Him.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12

Turn away from the slander now, and start coloring Him the way He shines majestically and brightly in technicolor light. He will paint you in His marvelous light of hues reviving your soul into Gardens of rainbows and lover’s love.

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8

Let your smile radiate again… the way it does when His fire is in your eyes. Let Him give you love… deeper than you ever dreamed.

“God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.” Psalm 46:5

Because Jesus is with me, He reminds me of what real beauty is. I see it when He shows me. I won’t forget it.

God reminds me

He’s with me

He’s in me

He loves me

and I know He does

My love still beats for you. You are still in me and I in you. It will never fall, never break, never change and never fade away.

nothing changes My heart for you

I still love you

like I always loved you

come to Me

and find I’ll love you

relentlessly

choose Me

and find I’ll kiss you

unceasingly

with Heaven’s wings

My passion for you

is beckoning

your heart into Mine

affectionately

I love you

like I did

the first time

I saw you

glistening

under the golden leaves

remember

My love

for you

is everlasting