Take Me Deeper - February Week 2

Morning! Well, it's been another rollercoaster of a week here! I'm not going to talk about the flood of nastiness and negativity which hit this week on social media from people who should know better! I'm taking it as a test of faith and while I'm of course not perfect, I'm remaining strong! Thank goodness for HKC and our Take Me Deeper project! Things I have pondered since the start come flooding back to me at various times, all designed to be at the best time to help me, naturally! Although the negativity really dampens my creativity, I still managed to find strength, with a lot of praying, to open up Photoshop and create! In losing myself in that process, I found again the peace that I need and the confidence that the long arms of hatred can't actually reach me when I am safe with God, and when my focus is all on Him!

SO, starting from Matthew 22:37 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, I then went on to v.38 - This is the greatest and most important commandment and v.39 - Love your neighbour as yourself.

Then I searched for other scripture containing similar words and found Deut. 6:5 which then led me to Deut. 6:7 - Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. And v.18 - Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight.

So I'm still thinking about how do I show love on the page and in life, and the word serve came to mind. This led me to Deut. 10 v.12 - ...what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to observe the Lord's commands...

Then I found Deut. 10:14-15 - To the Lord your God belong the heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set affection on your ancestors and loved them...

Then I wanted to search the New Testament and was drawn to 1John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Also 1 Corinthians 8:3 - But whoever loves God is known by God.

Finally I found a commentary which I found interesting to ponder! It said that it is humanly impossible for fallen mankind to love God with ALL his heart, soul and strength, 24/7. Without the cleansing of sin that God provides and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, he fails at this commandment. But as Christians we are cleansed from sin and do have the spirit, so we ask God for help and it is in this power that we do the impossible. Also that we cannot fully love someone we don't know so knowing Him is the priority.

As I was just about to start my page, I read again the words on a piece of art my eldest daughter (18) had painted for me after I'd gone to bed and had left for me to find on my computer desk in the morning...for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Luke 12:34). Which gave me a final thought about making God our treasure and our hearts will be there.

All these ideas are tied up in my page! I wanted to use the hands gently sheltering the butterfly to symbolise a gentle love that allows freedom and yet shelters from harm. It looks as if the butterfly is treasured. The hands look like they are doing good, and I hope the feel of serving comes across in the attitude of the hands - it's just the feel of them to me! I liked how one hand is coming from 'below' and one from 'above' hinting at how we love and are loved in return.
I wanted the idea of a road represented, and the hands seem to be formed up and out of that road...we love wherever we are, wherever we go. The suggestion of wind is there again, representing the Spirit we have, and the rays of light - the good we strive towards and God's love also shining out towards us. Setting this within a landscape fitted nicely with the Deut. 10 words.
Phew!
TFL!
Bernie x

Made with my own papers, the hands were a brush from Spiritsigh at DeviantArt, and the rest is CU brushes.

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