GOD’S CHISEL: WE ARE GOD’S MASTERPIECE

♥ The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh produced 2,000 paintings and drawings before he died in 1890. He sold only one of them, “The Red Vineyard,”which he painted in 1888. And he sold it for 40 Francs, or roughly $85. Van Gogh died, believing he was a failure.

♥Yet, recently, one of his paintings sold for 134.6 million U.S. dollars. This most expensive painting is the “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” (1890). Van Gogh never knew what a great artist he really was. He suffered from anxiety, and increasingly, frequent bouts of mental illness, throughout his life & died largely unknown at the age of 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

♥ What is true of Van Gogh is also true of many of us Christians. Few of us really appreciate in this life the greatness of our calling. Few of us really appreciate that each of us is  a work in progress in the very hands of God.

♥That is why the apostle Paul expresses in his letter to the Philippians, “I am confident of this, that the One Who began a good work in you will continue to complete it, until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6)

You and I, are God’s masterpieces. It is up to us, to help God’s hands in smoothing, chiselling and making straight the paths of imperfections we have often chosen.

♥Remember, we have been called by God out of darkness, into his own wonderful light. How well do we appreciate the great gift that God has lavished upon us? You are more than a Van Gogh. You are God’s Masterpiece.

FIVE STEPS TO ALLOW GOD’S CHISEL UNTO THE MASTERPIECE THAT WE ARE

1. CHOOSE

Choose Relationship areas in your life where there are the most presence of rough edges. (Jesus-Others-Yourself)

2. IDENTIFY

Identify particular attitudes, emotions, reactions that need to be addressed.

3. STRATEGIZE

Strategize (draw up a plan of action) about concretely smoothing these rough edges.

4. ENVISION

Envision (picture in your mind and heart WHO you SHOULD BE guided by your Strategy.

5. LIFT & LIVE.

Lift these master plan of action up to the Hands of God in Prayer & LIVE IT!

YOU ARE GODS MASTERPIECE

(ABRIDGED) SKIT GUYS

Text:

Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship, in essence His masterpiece. Now I don’t know about you, but when I get up in the morning and look in the mirror I don’t see a masterpiece. Maybe a Picasso. 

But I want to be a masterpiece.I want to  be everything that God has created me to be. And so I go to Him and I say, “God, do whatever it takes to get things out of my life that don’t need to be there. Mold me into the image of your Son so that I can be your masterpiece.”

God: “Hi!”

Tommy: Whoa. Who are you?

I’m God.

Tommy: No you’re not.

Yeah, I am. You said the prayer so here I am. That’s how it works. Step right up. (He prepares to begin chiseling)

Tommy: Hey, what’s this about? (referring to the hammer and chisel)

These are the tools I’m going to use to make you to my original masterpiece.

Tommy: Oh. Okay. Hang on! Yeah?

Tommy: I thought you were a carpenter.

That’s my son. Step right up. Here we go.

Tommy: Whoa, whoa, whoa. How do you know what to chisel and what to leave?

I take out all the things in your life that aren’t of me…kind of like dead weight.

Here we go. You have a lot of ANGER and some PRIDE, you COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS instead of Me…you’re LAZY but you PRETEND like you’re really, really busy… you have a problem with LUST…you’ve been holding on this for a long time.

Tommy: It hurts!

It hurts Me more than it hurts you!

Tommy: Ow…i don’t think you understand this pain!

Don’t talk to me about pain and all about pain. I sent my Son to die on the cross for pain, for sin. But i also did it for another reason: to give you freedom.

Do you know what insanity is? Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over and over again and expecting different results. And they are the things in your life, when you think back to high school, that you’ve been doing that do not work in your life but you go into these empty wells…whenever you’re hurting, angry, lonely and tired…but they DO NOT WORK…

Tommy: Okay…chisel away…just be prepared for what you’re gonna find in there…‘cause I know who’s inside there… ‘cause, God, I get up every morning and look him in the mirror. And it is this…this scared little kid who gets up every day and tries to dress like and adult and act like an adult but CAN’T! So, just be prepared for what you’re gonna find in there!

You’ve listened to so many voices for far too long that are not of Me. You think you’re JUNK, don’t you? You really, really, really think you’re junk! Listen to Me. I don’t make junk. What does that say about Me? Don’t compare yourself to someone else because that just trivial nonsense. You are My ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE. You are one of my workmanship. In you I find favour. This, don’t look at this as a prison. But look at this as a Father disciplining His child. A Father disciplines the ones He loves.

Tommy: I know, but it’s gonna be tough.

Yes, it will be tough. But you bought into the lie by thinking everything’s gonna be easy when you said YES to Me. That’s not how it works. I want you to do something…I want you to look out there and I want you to say, “Tommy is God’s Original Masterpiece.”

“Tommy….” No, no, no. The WAY I SEE YOU!

“TOMMY IS GOD’S ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE.”

YES YOU ARE!

So are YOU! GOD does not make junk. YOU ARE AN ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE.

God bless you!