The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
Is it Irreverent to Imagine God in the Studio?
Unlock the divine potential within your artistry by embracing God's presence in every brushstroke and melody. What if the presence of God isn't confined to traditional sanctuaries, but rather fills your creative spaces with divine inspiration? Journey with me as we explore the profound truth that God desires to be intimately involved in our creative processes, transforming them into acts of worship. Using insights from scriptures like Matthew 1:23 and 1 Corinthians 3:16, I'll reveal how God's guiding hand is ever-present, from the quiet corners of your studio to the vibrant canvases of your imagination. This episode promises to reshape how you perceive your creative calling, empowering you to integrate faith seamlessly with artistry.
As we continue this heartfelt conversation, I express my deep gratitude for your companionship on this artistic journey. Our time together is dedicated to inspiring and motivating you to thrive, fully embracing the creative potential and purpose instilled within you. Stay connected and enriched by subscribing to the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to grow your creative spirit. Join me on social media or visit matttommymentoring.com, where our community of artists is committed to nurturing the unique talents God has given us. Remember, you're not just an artist—you're a creator made to thrive in God's kingdom.
Join us inside the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the podcast, where we hope you connect with God to bust through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tama, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey, my friend, welcome again to the podcast. I'm Matt Tommy, your host, super glad to be here with you. Listen, we're right in the middle Well, not really the middle, but we're kind of just getting started actually with the experience course that I've been telling you about for a few weeks. Hundreds of artists have joined us from all over the world and we are just already seeing God do some really, really incredible things and just setting artists free and getting them motivated and encouraged and envisioned with all that God's got for them. But I got a comment the other day in the Facebook group and kind of took me aback a little bit, but I was like I really want to address this on the podcast, and I did with the folks in the chorus too, because I thought, man, this is so central to our understanding of who we are as artists and the nature of God and what's possible and all of that. And I just thought, man, if people are not getting this which I think you know, depending on the place in the body of Christ, the stream of the body of Christ that you may have come from, you may not understand this. And so I want to really, really unpack this for you guys today, and the question not really a question, but kind of the comment was all about, you know, an artist being able to experience the presence of God in their studio. And I was teaching on that in really in depth in one of the lessons and they were just kind of reflecting on that and they thought first, well, wow, how awesome is that, you know? And then she thought, is that, is that irreverent? Like? Is that? That doesn't seem right that God would be in my studio Like God's in the church, God's in in holy places, god, god's not going to come in and just hang out with me in the studio? And so I was like, wow, I I was just really taken aback that that people have that thought and I was so encouraged that they're in the group learning actually what God's word says about this, so that they can get free and start walking in the things that God has for them. Because, listen, god's presence is not, you know, only in heaven. Obviously, god's presence is not only with us, but he's in us and working through us for his glory and for his purposes in whatever we do.
Speaker 1:And so I wanted to kind of break this down in three parts today, just so that you have a really clear biblical understanding that this idea of expecting to meet with and encounter the presence of God in your life, in your art, in your studio, this is Christianity 101. This is kingdom living 101. This is like how God designed for us to walk in this. We were not designed to try to figure this whole thing out on our own and live in silos of separation where our art life is over here and my business is over here and my dreams are over here and then, oh yeah, my religious life is over here. That is the fastest way to get into striving and to get into a whole bunch of frustration on your own trying to please God and get into this worker bee mentality rather than learning to walk with God in cooperation with him.
Speaker 1:And so the first thing I want to go to is Matthew 1, 23, which is famous in the Christmas story, but it says look, the virgin will conceive a child. This is the new living and she'll give birth to a son and they'll call him Emmanuel, which means what God with us. God is with us. See this from the very beginning, and I think, really, even if you go back to the garden of Eden, god's heart from the very beginning, has not been to be separated from us, god in heaven, us on earth. The whole point of his creation was relationship that he would be walking with us in the cool of the day. Obviously, through sin and through original sin with Adam and Eve, their choices separated us from our ability to walk with God in the cool of the day and be able to experience him. But the whole point of Jesus coming was not just to save you from sin and death, hell and the grave that is, yes, a big, big part to redeem you from that but also to reconcile you with the Father and also then to restore you to relationship with him and to the fullness of the kingdom. That's why Jesus came. Listen, god with us is the, I think, central tenet of Christianity. This is huge. Even in 1 Corinthians, paul talks about this.
Speaker 1:1 Corinthians 3.16. He says hey, don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you. So see, as a believer, as an artist, we carry not only corporately but also individually. We carry the Spirit of God in us. He's not out there somewhere. We're not begging God to come be involved in our life and in our art business. And, oh God, would you just throw me a crumb from the table? No, when you got saved and you accepted Jesus into your heart, he took up residence inside of you, not from a distance, but intimately involved in every aspect of your life, and of course that includes your creativity. So he's with us, he's in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He's also working through us, right? Philippians 2.13 says for God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. So, as he's working in you, that power goes through you to be able to touch the lives of other people.
Speaker 1:You've heard me say for years that our creativity in our art is an act of worship to the Lord. It's a thing that God comes in and fills with his presence to the Lord. It's a thing that God comes in and fills with his presence. It becomes a means of grace that other people can experience the goodness of God, a way to bless others when we align it with his purpose and offer what we do to the Lord. And so this idea that you know God's over there, I'm over here, I'm over here doing my art thing, hoping that he'll bless it. I need to get it right and follow all the rules so hopefully it'll please him in order to be good enough for him to use.
Speaker 1:Listen, those are religious lies from the pit of hell that are designed, I believe, by the enemy, to keep you separated from the life-giving nature of God that's already living inside of you. When you start to realize that your prayer life should not be about oh God, please come and get me out of my mess, but say Lord, thank you that you're with me in the middle of the good times and bad, in the places that I know what to do, in the times that I don't know what to do, in the moments where I'm confused, in the moments where I'm clear, god, you are no less present in any of those, and my prayer and your prayer, I would say, today, should be all about Lord. Heighten my awareness, open the eyes and the ears of my heart, make my spirit more sensitive so that I can respond to you and understand the things that you're doing in and through my life, so that I can be used by you, so I can show up faithful to the calling that you've called me to. But again, I'm not having to beg you to do it. You want me to get this more than I want it, because this is your story. So, just having that understanding, you may need to stop today and just say wow, I just need to meditate on that that God is not just with me, beside me, he's not just shouting from the side like a coach, he is literally in me, empowering me by his presence and by his grace. And so, with that understanding, when you go back and kind of look at the question or comment that my friend had in our foundations course and said, well, is it irreverent, you know, to imagine God's presence being with me in the workshop or the studio, I would say absolutely not right, because that's the place where we meet him intimately, where the desires of our heart are being poured out, where we're seeing and sensing with him. We're moving by spirit led intuition. And listen, he put those dreams and desires and and and you know visions for, for the art that you create inside of you. Obviously it's our role in life to to increase our skill and lean into the presence of God. But listen, I know that if God put it in you, he delights to be a part of that process with you.
Speaker 1:Psalm 139, seven through 10 says I can never escape God From your spirit. In other words, there's nowhere I can go that you're not there. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to heaven, you're there. If I go down to the grave, you're there. If I ride on the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me and your strength will support me.
Speaker 1:So, whether you're at a show, whether it's your house, in your studio, in your sheddio, in your man cave or she shed, whatever it is, wherever you're creating, god is there in the moment. And again, it's not about you begging him to come and be a part of that, but it's about awakening yourself to his presence. That's already there, this sort of modern play, a modern temple, if you will, this modern sacred space where you can commune with God. We've got a woman in our mastery program, robin, who did a great teaching not too long ago in our mastery program, all about how she sees her studio and also her sales tents as sort of a tent of meeting, you know, where the Lord is present and there to engage and there to interact with not only us but also the people that are engaging in our work. And I just love that because, just like Moses encountered God in that tent of meeting, we get the opportunity to experience his presence in our creative process and our sales process and in anything that we're doing for the Lord.
Speaker 1:You know, I love that verse in Colossians 3, 23 and 4 that says work willingly at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward and that the master you are serving is Christ. Listen as you work with the Lord and you pursue excellence and skill. Listen that not only honors God, it inspires others, it increases your opportunity for blessing in your life, for opportunity in your life, and I think also just offering that story to the Lord and offering your art process and offering this place of studio to him reminds you that you are a part of his story, you're not begging him to be a part of your story. And as you develop that intimacy with the Lord and just that idea that, hey, I'm not, I don't just pray in the mornings, I'm in a constant state of prayer, I'm in a constant relationship with the Lord. I'm in a constant state of prayer, I'm in a constant relationship with the Lord, I'm in a constant state of leaning into, discerning what he has for me and walking by faith and trusting that he's, he's, going with me.
Speaker 1:Listen, the things that God has designed for us, all right, are powerful, not only to bless us, but also to bless others through us. Remember that verse in Ephesians 2.10 that says for we're God's masterpiece. Right, His poema. He created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the what, the good works that he planned for us for long ago. God's been planning on you doing this for the whole time, right? But you never have been designed to do this by yourself or on your own. You've been designed to do this in a way that reflects his glory, reflects his image, is empowered by his nature, is led by his spirit, is in constant communication with him, so that all of you can be filled with all of him to express his nature in the world and so that you can live the abundant life that Jesus promised.
Speaker 1:Listen, I hope that this is resonating with you today and I hope, whether it's dedicating your art space to the Lord or just inviting him into that process, or just taking a moment to take a deep breath and say, lord, thank you that you're with me, I hope that you will realize that Emmanuel, god with us, is as much for you as it is for anybody else. It's as much for your art process and for your studio as it is walking into church or anything else that you would do in your life. I love you, my friend. I pray you have a great day.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being with me here on the podcast and until next time. Remember, you were created to thrive. Bye, hey. Thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on the podcast. Listen, I hope it's been a huge encouragement to you on your journey as an artist. Hey, also, before you leave, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other episodes of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook, instagram or at my website, which is matttommymentoringcom. Until next time, remember you were created to thrive. Bye-bye, thank you.