Painting

The Palette We Are Given

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10 Amp

It is true that life is short, but a morbid contemplation of how quickly it passes misses the point of why we are alive. God created each of us to be artists and the hours we are given are the colors He chose for us to use. Yes, some folks have been given far brighter hues than us, but don’t let that discourage you. Their daisy chain may only need robin’s egg blue for the sky and white and yellow for its petals, but your sunset, will demand all those darker shades, that God has dabbed on your palette. Every morning God hands each of us a blank canvas and places a brush in our hands. So, let’s begin today with flair, sketch out a design of doing and plan a portrait of praise. The colors we have, whether shocking and stark or gentle and subdued can all be brushed on to His glory. For He is the great Master Artist and He has painted us into existence and included us in His design to give Him praise forever!

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

A Picture Frame in Poetry

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
The picture frame that limits
Our quickly flying years
Marks a border to the canvas
On which our life appears

And day by day the choices
Of how we use our time
Are painting our life’s portrait
For those we leave behind

So why not give the artist’s brush
By faith To Jesus Christ?
Only He can paint the love of God
In our picture frame of life

 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, 
so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 
Ephesians 2:10 NLT

A Picture Frame of Life by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2022 all rights reserved
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

The Signature of God

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1 ESV

One of my favorite reasons for going to the beach is to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. Any sunset is beautiful but the most spectacular require some clouds on the horizon, for the sun to light up with amazing shades of red, orange and yellow below the canopy of a fading blue sky.  When my sister-in-law passed away recently, I was reminded of sunsets in our own lives. Our years of day trips into Chinatown, Christmases at the big house when all six brothers and sisters gathered and walks in Golden Gate Park reflected off the clouds of sorrow that came with the phone call telling us of Diane’s passing.

Though grief has settled on our horizon, God is painting the colors of sunset on our hearts with hope. Diane’s hope was not in the doing or possessing of anything here on this shore, but across the other side of the sea with Jesus Christ. The beauty of the hope we hold onto when the blue sky of our passing years fades is His signature which says, “This life is mine, and a new and happier one lies across the sea.”  There we will meet Diane again, where we will be able to run up heaven’s hills and together breathe deeply of its pure air. Our life here is just an unfinished canvas. If we put the paintbrush of our will into the Master’s hands, He will fill our days with His design and sign at the bottom when He is done. Just as every sunset tells us that God has finished another day, so a life that is His will receive His signature, declaring, “This is mine – and all that has passed is only the beginning of all the wonders that lie in store!”