Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and you

Sometimes loved ones die, and we wonder why. We believe for a miracle or we expected a different outcome and the situation seems to be grim. Or your life doesn’t go the way you wanted it to, so you stay where you are and settle even when the Lord tells you to move on. Or maybe you are in a lifestyle that you know is destroying you, especially spiritually, but feel hopeless to walk out of the burning flames of a crooked desire.

There are multiple examples, but as believers this physical side of creation is but a faint whisper compared to how alive the spiritual side is. Despite our journey through this life, we need to be reminded sometimes that at some point we face physical death or we face spiritual death. It could be a loved one or you. For example, I faced watching my mother slowly die of cancer, but then later on in life I had to die spiritually to addictions and old ways of thinking to grow in my relationship in Jesus Christ. It can be painful either way but we have the Lord with us and no matter what we face. He will provide just what we need to get us to that place that glorifies Him.

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego were not super heroes from a comic. They were human beings with a spiritual side just like you. They endured to the end even if it meant death. Then miraculously, Jesus appeared amongst them and walked them out of the fire. It was a miracle. (Daniel 3:16-28)

So, no matter what you are facing in this life, what is your response going to be when the flames are raging, there seems to be no hope, and the temptation to give up and give in is high?! Will you trust Christ to the other side?

You have a beautiful story to tell.

2020 can be the year you look at your life like you never have before. Yes, I am already aware of the christian prophetic cliches about "vision" for 2020. Yeah, I get it. I am going to try my best not to do it here. From a humble christian perspective I want to go deeper, your soul deeper. I want to take us on a journey of true christian life examining and in the process enlighten and encourage you moving forward, so let’s go.

How have you come to see yourself up until now? When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, who is looking back at you? As an adult what has your life come to mean? How have you impacted others around you for the better, for glory to Christ. And the one question I had to find the right answer to: Is your identity in what you do or have you found your identity in “who” you are in Christ?

The one thing I have come to a revelation about in my close walk with the Lord is having a healthy perspective. How I see myself in Jesus according to the Bible is far more encouraging and peaceful than how I see myself without His help. As human beings it is much easier to look at the dark side of life and think you have wasted time and opportunity over and over again doing something you thought was right or, worse yet, knew was wrong. For example, living with an addiction for years, or seemingly wasting years pursuing a career that you thought would bring fulfillment but ended up not being what you thought or realized one day you were pursuing it all for the wrong reasons.

But what if I told you that instead of a just a waste of time, you were learning about yourself and hopefully growing to be a better version that more closely reflected what “He” wanted you to be?! Look at it like this. A person makes a fire and gets it really, really hot. He sticks an unassuming piece of metal in it that contains liquid and pulls it out, sticks it in a container of gravel like substance then begins to twist it constantly and throw water on it. He shoves it back in the fire again, pulls it out and as the person “blows” air down into the stick while the glowing glob on the other end is being twisted and spun over and over while being poked and prodded and shaped inside a metal trough. Or maybe the artist takes metal tools and tears off pieces and shapes the remaining parts into eventually recognizable designs. In the end there is this remarkably beautiful object made out of glass in all it’s shiny colors sitting before you. Now, you understand that that beautiful vase or sculpture needed to be fired and shaped, almost, seemingly violently, for the process to successfully work. But after seeing it done once you understood and had confidence that the artist needed to use fire, and water, blow air and use tools to get the glass the way he wanted it to go. We get it.

But what if I told you that this could be seen as the process that God is using to shape you spiritually. You may think that you haven’t turned out right or may feel like it’s too late for correction. Maybe you feel too broken to be helped or fixed. Worse, you feel unworthy, but if you are still breathing than the Creator of the universe is still breathing into you. Life may seem hard and confusing because He may be allowing you to go through the fiery trials to shape you into a unique and beautiful being to glorify ‘His” design. But if you are bending to His will, then the living water of the Word is also working to help shape you. The scriptures are filled with stories of broken people made to glorify the Father. As believers we are made to shine bright in a dark world and reflect the Son!

Are you bending to His will and allowing yourself to be what He wants you to be? Are you seeing that with the God-given breath of life still in you He will design you with unique abilities and characteristics to be used to glorify Him? Your story isn’t finished or even shelved like an old book that no one wants to read anymore. You have a beautiful story to tell and He wants to use you to help others, no matter how far along you are in your journey of life. Become part of the beautiful piece of art called life.

Dark, Darker, Darkest

I have always loved movies. Ever since I was a kid the theater was a magical place where I could escape the normal day to day and be transported to another world. A magical world where I could absorb the latest adventure, unbridled by reality. And when I left, full of excitement and candy my friends and I would spend days replaying and retelling the adventures. Now, as a believer, I have slowly but surely gotten more and more sensitive as to what I allow in my ear and eye gates. I have gotten more sensitive to the Holy Spirit even if, at times, haven’t obeyed His prompting and said no to a particular show or movie. Movies have seem to have gotten more and more violent and dark. For example, Netflix went from having a wide range of ratings and reviews about the films they offer to now, it seems alot more of the tv shows and movies are rated TVMA. And my wife and I have gotten burned a few times to where we decided to avoid those shows and movies so this makes the selection for finding a movie we can watch without cringing and turning it off, harder and harder. But this presented to me a question. Is that Netflix’s fault or is it our own?!

Ok, well, I’ll just watch the films where the good guy and bad guy are clear and distinct. The good guy even if a bit dischevelled wears a tie and stands for justice because, after all, he knows right and wrong and loves goodness. He doesn’t cheat on his wife, or beat her. He is not divorced, or hung up on a drug. He isn’t suicidal or lost a loved one to some crazy tragedy. He has conflict with corruption simply because everyone around him knows he cannot be corrupted. He deals with murder and violence, not with a gun or violence in return but treats even the murderers with compassion and respect. He doesn’t respect the people for the murders they committed but for the potential good qualities he sees in them.

Where are the heroes that keep their nose clean and always see the good in a situation or stand up for truth for the sake of truth and stand for justice with honesty and good morals. Have I raised the bar too high? Have I tried to come up with such an outstanding and seemingly unrelatable “good guy” that no one can touch him? Is my imagination so far fetched and naive for wholesomeness that not even the Cleavers from Leave It To Beavers tv show would buy it? Then maybe you should go check out a detective show that started in the late 60s and ended in the early 2000s called Columbo. That’s right, he fits the whole description from above. In fact, I was thinking of him when I wrote it.

“But, Adam, come on man! Those kind of characters are so unrelatable now. Now people are rooting for violent brawlers and killers to be our “anti-heroes”, who solve problems with their weapons and fists, not pausing long enough to count the cost. Our heros today don’t have time to be nice!” But as believers, we know the principles in the bible are timeless. The principles of corrupt morals of the anti-hero are lasting all this time but couldn’t the principles and morals for good be timeless and precious, and pushed to be the everlasting standard, instead? What does the violence and anger portrayed in films today say about us, especially as Christians? Granted, there are more and more “family friendly films” that are coming out and we could turn a blind eye and go watch those, but we can do something else. We have the power of the greatest super hero, Jesus Christ, to not pull out our wallet and or credit card and give power to that kind of behavior at the box office. But until we can listen and obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit Hollywood is going to rake in billions, and billions of dollars from viewers.

The Moon

I love looking up at the moon at night, especially when it is full, when it is cold and the sky is crisp and clear. Many times I have found myself sitting in my office on the floor with the lights off quietly staring through the blinds up into the dark blue sky late at night before bed. There is something peaceful about it. The light starts to glow brighter as your eyes adjust to the darkness. And I even get excited about the patterns left behind on the floor, walls, and me. I sit there, take a breath in the silence, staring up at that glowing ball and I am in unexplainable peace. Have you ever found yourself doing this? Try it sometime. It could give your a better perspective in more ways than one.

"Spiritual Armour"

I have a statue of a knight sitting on my desk in my office. I look at it and I am reminded that we should put on our spiritual armour. In spiritual warfare we must always be at the ready so we are protected when the enemy attacks us. In scripture it goes into detail on how to prepare yourself for spiritual battle using the roman armour as an example. But a like the inspiration of the medieval suit of armour. It has protection from on all sides. The armour was somewhat heavy but after a while of being in battle the person wearing it got used to the weight.

The same can be said with spiritual armour. It may seem restrictive to protect our hearts from certain activities like certain foods, or movies or not participating in an event you feel conviction about. But we each have our own style and design of protection in the Lord and after a while we can get used to it. I am reminded by my little statue to try to always be armoured up and ready for that days battle.

Psalm 23:5

I have never been in the military, nor have I ever fought in a physical war, but I do admire warriors and I am a big fan of WW2. By the way, if you don't know who Audie Murphy is you should to look him up. Amazing! That being said, spiritually, being a soldier for Christ has always resonated with me. I see obeying the Lord like I see a soldier following commands. It may not always make sense at the time to do what the Lord asks but like a good commander over his troops, following the orders, like a good soldier, always turns out for the best. As a christian, in the spirit, I also see the bible as your weapon, memorizing scripture as loading your weapon, and speaking against the evil spiritual forces, as firing at the enemy. Even if the firing is acts of love in Jesus's name. Love destroys evil. (Romans 12:21, 1 Peter 3:9)
That being said, what inspired this warrior painting is the scripture Psalms 23:5. - You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. https://www.adamhembroughchristianart.com/#/psalm-23-5/

Like I said I never was in combat nor ever shot but I did go through a small scare several years ago. I got a melanoma freckle on my back. When I went to the doctors they said they caught it in the 95% "survival range" and if removed, very soon, I will be fine. Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer so I was immediately struck with worry and fear, especially since my mother died of cancer in 1998.
I had to wait weeks to have it removed. I had to be patient, with plenty of opportunity for the enemy to strike at me. I saw it as going through a spiritual struggle with the "enemy" literally at my back! However, I had to remind myself, while I waited for the successful surgery, that I could fight back. I fought back with the truth that when spiritual forces are attacking with worry, doubt, fear or confusion, I could speak scripture of peace and healing. And I can turn to the Lord, take a deep breath, and gain back peace, joy, and comfort in the little things, like eating. Do you have a scary story of testing where the Lord showed Himself to help you through?

The Inspiring Smith Wigglesworth

Sometimes when I say to a friend, "Hey, have you ever heard of Smith Wigglesworth?", I usually get the same answer, "Who?" I heard about this man back when I was in college and ever since I have been blown away by his testimony. He was born in Menston, Yorkshire, England 1859 and died in 1947. Among many other miracles that happened as a result of his ministry, he supposedly raised 14 people from the dead. On one example, he went to attend the wake of a man who had been dead three days. He attended the wake with a particular goal in mind. He went straight in to where the body was, told everyone to get out, grabbed this man's body out of the coffin and slammed him up against the wall a few times. Telling the man to "live!" According to testimony of people there, this man's spirit reentered his body and he walked out of the funeral home with Mr. Wigglesworth. Goal accomplished. That is just one of the many stories surrounding this man. In fact, in 2011, a building project was underway to honor him with a museum in Manningham, England, to remember his legacy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/…/religion…/newsid_9382000/9382480.stm
Mr. Wigglesworth, a plumber with a special measure of faith, was noted to be really rough in his method of healing, but, it would seem, by his fruit, that he tried to minister and heal like Jesus. Typically, we tend to associate the act of "raising people from the dead" to Jesus alone, but Jesus even said, "...you will do the things I have done and more." John 14:12-14. In fact, in our time, there are many testimonies of people being raised from the dead. We just live in an era where the truth is really suppressed or we find it hard to believe.
It takes a special kind of ministry and faith to operate in a capacity like that. But if God wants to choose to use you in a particular ministry are you going to step up despite the consequences? It may not be raising the dead but will you obey despite other people's opinion of what you are doing? Do you have the faith to do what He asks you to do according to His Word? This is why I was inspired to make this digital painting. To remind me that He can use me for greater works. Something to think about.

“I HATE HIM!” “THEY CAN GO TO HELL!”

I see people say this of others on Facebook, and worse, more often than I care to remember. They throw out words of hate so easily that it would seem little regard is given to the people they are saying it to. I am seeing more and more that the ability to communicate with each other is becoming less and less “human”. I look back when we just had phones and no internet and emotions were defined better through a phone call because you could hear the sound of the other person’s voice and deal with it. Technology has given us a lot of freedom to do wonderful things like text and share your opinion about information in a faster way on line than we ever before. But technology has given us so much freedom and responsibility that the ability to say good and bad things to and about others can be done with little human contact, and even less immediate consequences.

As christians I would hope that there are none who fall into that negative camp of dialog but unfortunately I have seen these type of hateful Facebook posts from believers, as well. As christians there is a greater need to communicate with Christ-like love now than ever before. You may see what you type with your fingers on your key board as just your opinion and it doesn’t really matter and it is not really significant. But what you say to others in any form of fashion matters because you are significant, you really matter. There is someone somewhere who loves you. Be it here on earth or in heaven, you were made with a purpose and that means something. Scripture says, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

I am not trying to condemn anyone,we all have our opinions and they should be heard, when there is a time and a place. However, I truly believe that given some thoughtful prayer and guidance by the Holy Spirit each one of us can make a "kingdom-minded" difference in the way we touch each other’s lives.

HEAVENLY PERSPECTIVE

Have you ever the expression, "Look at it from a heavenly perspective."? People throw this term around pretty loosely but have you ever really thought that expression through? Have you ever taken just a second to think what it must be like to see the earth from the edge of space and wonder what God was thinking when He created it?

Life can make us so busy and perhaps so difficult that we see things too close up to our face. Have you been watching the news lately? Have you been absorbing all the things that seem crazy in the media? Does this world seem like it’s catching fire and turning upside down at times? This world with everything going on in it can look like a beautiful place, or it can seem to look like a difficult and destructive place. And why, when things seem tough, is it possible to see the beauty in this world anyway? We recognize through loss of time, loss of money, loss of possessions, and even the loss of a loved one, that life is tough sometimes but, good can come out of the injustice of bad things happening to good people. Do you believe that?

As believers in Christ we can see the Lord’s hand at work in the world. We can step back, take a deep, deep breath, count your blessings and look at it with a heavenly perspective. I don’t mean gloss over everything and from a distance and paint the world with one “everything is fine” paint stroke. I mean, lean into the Father and Savior and ask Him to help you see through His eyes. He can give you a “higher” perspective in the chaos of life and help you discover, in your unique style, a way to have an attitude that reflects Him. I believe that this is the way that you can truly have peace.

By the way, the bottom picture is the exact same photo as the top one but flipped, and sprinkled with a dash of Photoshop. It’s amazing how different the world can look with a slightly different perspective. Thank you Lord!

JARS OF CLAY

Have you ever watched a pot being fired in a kiln? There is such beauty in the glow and light of the firing process. Sure it gets extremely hot, as we know, but afterwards the soft material becomes quite hard, or what's called vitrified and resistant to water leaking through it. In life sometimes it seems like it takes forever and a day to get through a spiritual obstacle. You ask, beg, and plead, for God to hurry up but sometimes the answers don't come quickly. Sometimes, the answer is wait, or soon. You can even know in your heart that God loves you and wants what is best but He still makes you go through a trial to grow you up in a particular area. It could be an addiction, anger issues, finances, car troubles, family, you name it, you seem to be stuck right in it for the long hall. There is no backing down and you just have to face the fire and endure the uncomfortable firing process. But, in my experience, despite the trial, it would seem that the Lord is more interested in my attitude during the trial more than He is interested in ending it. The trial always, eventually, ends. But am I going to be patient and stay in communion with the Father to learn what He wants me to or am I going to pout and get frustrated, and quite possibly miss out on the beauty of the process. Am I going to want to quit the process too early there by exposing me to leaks and weakness in my earthly vessel? Something the Lord is definitely working on in me. Is He working on that in you? Are you letting Him?