Every time I paint a new series, I start out thinking that its going to go one direction, and it ends up taking a turn somewhere along the way.
I woke up this morning and saw a post by Jennie Allen that shared this verse.
“In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.”
Psalm 36:2
Seeing the sin in our own lives is so much harder than seeing the sin in others. Sometimes it's a sin that we might even know we’re committing, but slowly the Holy Spirit stirs in our hearts to bring it to our attention.
I thought my new landscape series, "Hope," would ONLY be about renewing our hope in Him, but I’ve come to realize, it’s more about sharing our hope with others.
The sin in my life that God has brought to the surface is my desire to change the minds of others.
Like most of you; I watch the news, I read the Facebook posts, I see the chaos and confusion right before my eyes.
I wanted to change the minds of everyone who was saying or posting things that I didn’t agree with.
What I’ve realized, it’s not a change of mind that we should desire, it’s a change of heart.
And only Jesus can truly change any heart.
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel 36:26
Once our heart is changed by Jesus, the Holy Spirit becomes our guide.
"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
Romans 8:14
"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
Romans 8:26-27
It's our duty as Christians to share the hope, love and joy we have in Jesus. Planting that seed of hope in others and letting Jesus take care of the rest.
"I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work."
1 Corinthians 3:6-8
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them."
1 John 4:16
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
John 15:12
It’s my prayer for a change of heart.
To put others needs before our own.
To show the love of God in all we do.
To find the joy and peace that only comes through Jesus.
To let the Holy Spirit guide us.
To desire what He desires.
To not only renew our hope in Jesus, but to share that hope with everyone we encounter.
I wanted to end on this verse. I love that it’s written in present tense. The light is winning and will always overcome the darkness.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5
If you don't know this hope, I'd love to share it with you today!
Sincerely,
Shelby Leigh Kizer
To learn more about this painting series, click here.
To submit a landscape photo for this series, you can shoot me an email, text or message. I love a good story/memory, so please feel free to include that as well!
Sending a photo in no way obligates you to purchase the painting I make, BUT you will get first look at the painting before it goes on sale to the public!
My original goal was to paint 30 of the 50 states, but because of all the support from so many of you, my new goal is 50 of 50! I couldn't do this without yall!