GALLERY
Abstract
Covenant
Covenants are agreements God has made with His people and that includes His promises. We can know that God will preform everything He has spoken, for He is faithful and true. However God will not bring His promises to pass in isolation, but will complete them in partnership with his people. Biblical covenants describe how God relates to His people and determines how His promises are fulfilled and how the redemptive story will conclude.
In Genesis 12, God begins to define His redemptive plan by calling out Abraham and giving him very specific promises. Abraham and Sara could not produce the promised son in their natural condition, so God would have to provide the son. The covenant declaration in Genesis 12 was followed by the covenant ceremony in Genesis 15. In this encounter God committed to Abraham that He would keep His promises on the basis of His strength and character. That is the reason why God put Abraham to deep sleep, unable to contribute to the covenant ceremony. Faith or confidence in Gods word was the only thing God allowed Abraham to contribute. Two parties had to walk through the animals to confirm the covenant, yet Abraham saw two manifestations of God, a flaming torch and a smoking fire pot, moving through the animals together. God mad covenant with God to guarantee Abrahams promises.
Genesis chapter 15 is significant because it is the basis of the Gospel and salvation by faith. We are saved by faith because Abraham secured his promise by faith. Paul interprets Genesis 15 as an on going covenant: “For what does the Scripture say? „Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.“ (Romans 4:3)
The Blood Speaks
God has given us a wonderful weapon to use, the blood of Jesus. This is our weapon, our shield and our hiding place. In Revelation 12:11 we are told that, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” They overcame not just by words, but by the testimony to what God has done coupled with faith in the blood. The blood has overcome everything that comes from Satan, and when anything is overcome it has no more power. No matter in what way the enemy comes, whether in discouragement, temptation, sickness etc., he is overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the words of our testimony. When the conflict is fierce with the adversary, our testimony will be directed to him. The applied blood of Jesus always calls his bluff. The enemy was stripped of his power at Calvary and is utterly helpless against the blood of Christ. God promised His people that when He saw the blood He would deliver, and God will keep his part of the covenant. Do not limit the power of the blood of Christ to what you understand. Apply it by faith. Be a child of God who practices the “sprinkling of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ”. God wants it for a witness, “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkeling, that speaketh better things..” (Heb 12:24). Praise the Lord, the Blood speaks!
(60*80, acrylic on canvas)
Wind, Fire and Living Water
Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29), yet His Spirit is like the wind (Acts 2:2). At other times we might experience Him as Living water, that we come and drink from (John 4:14). This fascinating combination of expressions of who God is, are blended together in this painting: He is like wind, like fire and like Living waters.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2
(75*110, acrylic on canvas)
GALLERY
Landscapes
Quiet Resting Place
Quiet resting place (60*60, acrylic on canvas)
Inspired by Isaiah 32:16-18
Mercies New
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-22
The mercies of God can be a difficult thing to understand and apply rightly to our lives. Many misunderstand them to either be an opportunity, to give as little to God as possible, or they neglect them completely, due to a religious approach to the Bible. Truth is that God desires His mercy and grace to motivate us, to ask Him to empower us, so that we can give ourself totally and fully to Him. The nature of man wants to reduce the word of God, and make it fit our comfortable lifestyle. But the mercy that God delights in, is a mercy that leads us to press on to know Him. He continually seeks to win the of His children to Himself. As I painted this sunrise, I was meditating on the promise of Gods grace being new every morning, bringing fresh mercy and grace to press into Him (Lam 3:22). Regardless of what happend yesterday we can come and ask of Him: “How much grace will you give me today, to give myself fully to you? How deep can our walk togheter go?” This is not complicated, but simply requires us to belief in His strength to bring us to Him. We cannot produce this kind of “leaning into Him”; it is the power of His mercy and grace in us, combined with our weak “yes” to Him. As the prophet Hosea wrote: “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” For I desire steadfast love (mercies) and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:3, 6)
God’s primary desire, is that His mercy would touch our hearts, and lead us into a repentance that turns to Him, and presses into knowing Him in a deeper way, rather than laying heavy yolks on ourself and trying harder. In the bitter moments of experiencing our failure, we soon get to see the insufficiency of what we have yet known of Jesus’ power to save, and a deep heartfelt longing to know Him better is awakened.
(80*60, acrylic on canvas)
GALLERY
New Art in Old Frames
Mountain of Myrrh
“Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.” (Song of Solomon 4:6)
In Song 4:1-5 we see the cherishing heart of Jesus our Bridegroom King, as He is affirming eight “budding virtues” in the Bride’s life. Each godly virtue starts out in “seed form” as a sincere desire to obey. In her season of discipline (Songs 3:1-2) the King described her beauty (4:1-5), even while her obedience was immature. He saw her sincere desire to obey before it was fully manifested in her character. In other words, the Lord says to her, “You are beautiful to Me even in the process of rising up and facing your fears to obey Me.” This is what motivated her to commit to obey Him by rising up to go to the mountains with Him (Songs 4:6).
This painting is inspired by the story of the Bride receiving the Lord’s affirmation in the midst of her weakness, andby the power of that perfect love, she rises to go to the mountain of myrrh. Jesus washes and cherishes His Church and His cherishing heart and affirmation breaks the power of accusation in our lives.
26…that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church…29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. (Eph. 5:26-29)
Jesus washes us by the Word of God. What part of the Word? The part of the Word of God that reveals how much He cherishes us. The Lord transforms us by cherishing us. He removes the stain of shame from our heart by affirming the budding virtues in our lives. It can be hard to grasp this, but the Lord loves us and actually enjoys us in our immaturity, while He disciplines us because He has zeal in His heart for the relationship, and not because He is angry. It is very opposite! He disciplines us because He has delight in and is interested in the relationship.
(45*35 ,acrylic in old frame)
Thirst
„As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.“ Psalm 42:1-2
(110*60, acrylic on canvas in gold frame)
Come away
The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. (Songs 2:8-9)
The Song of Solomon is the greatest love song in the Scriptures (Songs 1:1). It is a poem that has both a natural and spiritual interpretation in describing the beauty of married love and the spiritual relationship between Jesus and His Bride.
This painting is inspired by Song of Solomon 2:8-17, where Jesus shows a new dimension of who He is. He shows Himself as the Lord of all nations who has easily conquered all the mountains—He is like a gazelle or a young stag (adult male deer) who leaps victoriously on the mountains with boundless energy, effortlessly leaping over all that would be obstacles that would get in the way. Nothing can hinder Him, because He has all authority. The Bride is amazed at this, but then suddenly He looks at her and calls her. He says, “I challenge you now to rise up and join Me leaping on mountains.” In other words He is saying, “Now it is time for you to go forward and for an additional challenges to come to your life. I want you to be challenged to go to new places with Me.”
(75*110, acrylic on canvas in white frame)
GALLERY
Prophetic Mix
Daughter of the King
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:2-5
There is a certain peace that comes over us, when we know who we are and to whom we belong. When walking through the dark valleys of this life, what bring us peace, is to know who it is that went before us, and who it is, that will bring the victory in the end. Jesus called several of the women he ministered to “daughter” – why? To build up their confidence and faith, in knowing they had access to the King of Kings, not just a stranger, but as daughter of His household.
We as sons and daughters have access to all that belongs to the Kingdom, and we can come boldly, knowing that we can reach into what is in our Fathers house: all the grace and resources we need to fulfill, what He has asked of us, is available to us in prayer, when we live in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus said: “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven..”” (Matthew 6:7-9) We are thought to pray to God as a Father and to relate to Him as a child. And children do not beg their parents for their basic needs, they go to fridge when they are hungry. Knowing who you are has everything to do with knowing to whom you belong.
Another aspect of being a daughter that is displayed in this painting, is to know that when we do suffer in this world due to its brokenness and the persecution that comes with it, but yet stay faithful to Him, we gain the crown of life (James 1:12, Rev 2:10).
(40*50, acrylic on canvas)
Darkness Tremble
When we turn on the light, darkness leaves. Darkness doesn’t have an option. The second light comes into a room darkness has to flee. Jesus said to his disciples, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). Then, anticipating His departure, He said,
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
Light reveals tings. Taking our position as light of the world, means that we are responsible to unveil and display the reality of the Kingdom. The kingdom lives inside every believer (Luke 17:21), yet the power comes when we fully embrace and believe this truth. We only shine with the light of Jesus, when we are plugged into Him. Light doesn’t shine from you believing the right doctrine, but from engaging in the relationship with our Father in heaven through the Spirit. The more we absorb His love and live in the power of His truth, the more light we carry.
We live with a constant confrontation between light and darkness. In an hour of confusion and as darkness deepens, the Lord is awakening the dawn of a new day (Isa 24:15). This includes songs of praise and proclaiming the name of Jesus in this dark hour of History. As we begin to understand the authority we have in intercession, taking our rightful place in the Kingdom, we turn on the light and many will be brought out of the bondage of darkness.
(120*100, acrylic on canvas)
