The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
122 - 5-Minute Mentoring: Practically Partnering with God
One of the greatest revelations the Lord has ever shown me is that we are not designed to just wait on Him to move and do everything for us.
In reality, He designed us all as His sons and daughters to walk WITH Him in this great adventure called the Kingdom of God.
But this leaves us with a really good question and that is “how do you practically partner with God in your life as an artist in His Kingdom?”
Well, I’m going to tackle that topic in today’s episode of 5-Minute Mentoring.
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Have you ever wondered how to practically partner with God in your life as an artist? Well, I'm going to cover that today really quickly and really practically right here on 5-Minute Mentoring. Have you ever wanted to have someone in your life who you could ask real questions about your art, your business, and even your walk with the Lord? Well, that's exactly what we do every Friday here on 5-Minute Mentoring, where I answer one question from one of my awesome podcast listeners in order to help you start really thriving as the artist you know God created you to be. Well, hey there, my friend. I'm so glad that you're here with me on 5-Minute Mentoring. You know, one of the greatest revelations that the Lord ever has shown me in my life is that I'm not designed and you're not designed to just wait on him to move and do everything, but that he's designed me and you as his sons and daughters in this life to be ambassadors of the kingdom and to walk with him. in this great adventure called the kingdom of God so that we can not only live the abundant life, but also be used by God to be releasers of transformation everywhere we go and everything that we do. I love that. And so the question for us is never, well, How do we beg God to get to, you know, to move in our life? God, would you please do this? God, would you please do that? Listen, I've been in that church before where we spend weeks and weeks and weeks praying the paint off the wall, trying to get God to move. And, you know, all of a sudden I remember one time I'd gone through a season like that. And I told a friend of mine, I said, listen, I am, I'm just tired of this. I said, if we go to one more church service where somebody says, revival is just around the corner or God's getting ready to move or if we'll just do this or that, then somehow, you know, everything will be incredible and revival will happen. I said, I'm just tired of it. And you know what they told me? They said, you know what, Matt? You can have as much of God as you want whenever you're ready because the kingdom lives inside of you. And I was like, what? Are you kidding me? And that started this whole journey of me understanding really how the kingdom works years ago. But I mean, that was like, bam, that was a huge revelation. Maybe that is for you right now, that you don't have to spend your whole life begging and waiting on God to move, but that you can move with him, move with the Holy Spirit under his leadership, by his grace, doing the things that God has called you to do. So that's what we're going to talk about today. Just practical tips, again, for partnering with God as an artist in the kingdom. So number one, I would say this, You've really got to take this to heart of embracing your divine design. Listen, God designed you specifically as an artist, specifically with the nuances that are in your personality, specifically with your desires, your way that you interpret life, your way that you engage with him, your way that you express creatively. Listen, all that's on purpose. And there's a unique design that's inside of you that is you that unless you welcome and unless you cultivate, you will never really step into the fullness of who God's called you to be. How do I know that? Well, I know this, that most of the time, people that don't embrace their unique design end up trying to be like everybody else. They try to do life like everybody else. They try to do church like everybody else. They try to do the things that they think look spiritual, the things that they think look artistic. They try to make things that they think will sell. Why? Because they're uncomfortable with who they really are. Westwell, we spend so much time in the mentoring program helping to reorient people's hearts to who God has created them to be, because unless you really embrace who God's called you to be, you will always be out there trying to generate some sort of counterfeit that you think is better than how you interpret yourself to be. And that's not God's best for you. All right. So number one, embracing your divine design, really, really huge. And just celebrating that. Number two, I would say taking time to listen along the journey. Now, listen, as much as I want to tell you that, you know, you've got a role in this and you're supposed to be walking and moving and, you know, I say this all the time. God directs your steps, not your standing still. As much as I talk about all of that sort of thing, there is a foundational, pivotal kingdom principle of listening and of taking time with the Lord before you launch out on your own. Why? Because otherwise, you can get ahead of the Lord. Otherwise, you get out there way, way beyond where he's got for you right now or way in some other direction that you thought was a good idea. And it has nothing to do with God's plan for your life. So what do you do? You've got to cultivate a atmosphere and an environment of listening in your life. What does that look like? Well, for me, journaling every day when I get up. Listen, you can set the clock by me. 5.30 or 6 o'clock in the morning, I'm getting up. I go get my coffee. I take the dog out. I sit in my chair. I start praying. I start journaling. just spontaneously writing my thoughts and prayers. As I'm praying, I'm just getting all that stuff out, just kind of, you know, cathartically, if you will, getting all that on paper with no meaning, no judgment, just allowing it to flow. And then I take time to just with gratitude in my heart, begin to visualize my day and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, what does you want to do with me today? What do you want to speak through this painting that I'm working on? What do you want to speak through this client that I'm working with? What do you want to do in this book that I'm writing? What do you want to do this thing? Whatever it is, I begin to visualize and with gratitude in my heart, just begin to say, thank you. Thank you. And I see inside my mind's eye, this beautiful imagination that God has given me. I see the best version of what I believe God has for me that day. And I meditate on it and I meditate on his word. And I, And I'm just in this beautiful, imaginative, worshiping, visualizing place of connection with the Lord, listening to his voice and sharing my heart. That's something that I do every day. That's a really, really big part of partnering together. with God in your life. Now listen, number three is just as important, all right? Because people either kind of fall on one side or the other of this, but it's so important. Number three, after you've embraced your divine design, after you've taken time to listen and cultivate the voice of the Lord inside of your heart. Number three, you got to take action. That means you got to start taking steps in the direction that God shows you because God does direct our steps. But if we never get off of stop, if we never get off of wait, then we never see the movement of God showing up in our life. We never see the signs and wonders. We never see the opportunities. We never see the intersection points that God brings into our life as we respond to him in faith. Remember, the Bible is really clear. Without faith, what? It's impossible to please God. And so as you embrace who God's created you to be, as you take time to listen and visualize and worship and meditate on the Lord and meditate on his word and meditate on the promises that he's given you and the vision that he's given you for your life, then you've got to step out and start taking action. And then number four, this is so important, especially in regards to taking action. Wouldn't it be nice if we had the whole picture up front? Yeah, I know. Well, we don't. And so you got to realize, all right, number four, that you'll never, ever, ever have the whole picture. You're always walking by faith. But you know, as you do walk by faith, that what? The path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter like the dawn. That's God's word, all right? That God's directing our path. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean to your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge him. And what? He will make your path straight. Listen, he wants you to get this more than you want to get it. But just realize that the Lord is never going to give you the detailed, you know, roadmap of every step that you're ever going to take. You're always in a place of faith. You're always in a place of trusting, but that's the beauty of the adventure. All right. And then number five, and I think this is so important. If there's a place for expectation in your life, it is this. There's not a place. Let me just draw a distinction. There's not a place for expectation in terms of, I expect it to happen just like this. And if it doesn't happen like this, then I'm going to get you know, all upset. No, the place of expectation is this. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know that what is going to happen is going to be incredible. That is the place of healthy expectation. And one of the great places, I think, to really have healthy expectation with the Lord is expecting God to bring others in your path. Because you know what? None of us are designed to do this alone. None of us were designed to be Lone Ranger Christians out there trying to make it happen, make it, you know, be successful all by ourself. Take the kingdom all by ourself. No, that's not the way it was designed. We're a body. Each joint supplies. We each have different gifts and different needs. We have different perspectives and we need each other. And God's going to bring you into somebody's path to be successful. that next step that they need. And God, the same way, he's going to bring people into your life, all right, that are going to bring you to the next place that you need to be in the Lord. And so listen, as you're considering this year, stepping out, partnering with God, really being who God's called you to be, I want to encourage you, again, those five things. Embrace your divine design. Take time to listen and cultivate listening in your life. Take action. Realize that you'll never have the whole picture and then also expect God to bring others in your path because you're not designed to do this alone. Well, listen, one of the really practical ways that you can step out and start partnering with the Lord, I believe, is to be a part of our Artist Rise Up Masterclass. It's starting on January the 23rd. Maybe you've seen the ads on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe you've gotten an email about it. But listen, I would love for you to be a part of this Artist Rise Up Masterclass. It starts on January 23rd. You can click the link that's in the show notes right here and get all the information. Once you do, you'll get access to the downloadable, printable Masterclass workbook that's going to allow you to follow along with each of the five sessions I'll be teaching live inside of a private Facebook group that I've designed just for this Masterclass and just for the participants. Plus, during every Masterclass session, I'll be taking live Q&A, from all those folks that are watching. And again, don't worry. If you can't be there live every time for every one, you can watch the replay. It's not a big deal. All right. We'd love to have you live because, you know, sometimes I drop little surprises for people that are live there with me. But listen, if you can't make it, there's always a replay available and that'll be available for the duration of the course. So make sure If you want to be a part of this army of artists that God's raising up all over the world, find out how to overcome the five biggest roadblocks to every Christian artist, start really seeing accelerated breakthrough and sustained breakthrough in your life, and then really, really, really start taking your place this year as an artist in God's kingdom, then I want to encourage you, be a part of the Artist Rise Up Masterclass, all right? Again, starts January 23rd. You can register right now by clicking the link in the show notes, all right? Well, hey, my friend, it's always a pleasure having you on the podcast. I love you very much. And until next time, remember you were created to thrive. Bye-bye.