Tag: Music

This One Thing: Faith for Creatives

Published on by Candice Coates7 Comments

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind…The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole man.”~ECCLESIASTES 1:14;12:13

The book of Ecclesiastes was inspired by the Living Spirit of God and written by not only the wisest man to ever live, besides our Savior, Jesus Christ, but the wealthiest man of all creation; King Solomon.

In his lifetime, he had tasted of every indulgence he could, wealth was in abundance, of women he did not lack. There was nothing under the sun that was denied him.

And yet, after running around the mountain of indulgence and want, whether of Godly pursuit or in the attempt to appease the longings of his own flesh and desires; he came to the simple and yet profound conclusion, that nothing, NOTHING else was of true value, all was as chasing the wind, except loving God.

The word “fear” used in the scripture in regard to the Holy God of creation, is not that of being afraid and cowering, but one of awe and reverence. To be totally stricken silent by the glorious wonder of the One you are beholding. At the end of it all, King Solomon had found his One thing. God was his one thing.

Some may be thinking, “Well, that’s all well and good for him, but I live in the real world and I have real problems and cares.” So did Solomon. Whether at your greatest height or your lowest low, there is nothing so sweet as the embrace of Christ Jesus but you can only experience that by giving Him permission to take you in His arms.

Christ Jesus longs to love you and be loved by you. He died for you as His greatest expression of His love because YOU are HIS ONE THING.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.~ ROMANS 5:8

I encourage you to listen to the song again, read the words and maybe even sing along. Allow yourself to be enraptured by the truth that you are His One thing and His desire is to be close to you. And allow Him to be your One thing, for in Him are all things and you will lack for no good thing! (Matthew 6:24-34)

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”~REVELATION 3:20

*Revised from November 18, 2015

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

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How to Tackle NaNoWriMo: My Advice To You (Day 5 of Countdown) #NaNoWriMo #Writing

Published on by Candice Coates1 Comment

There are now less than 24 hours left before the worldwide writing frenzy of NaNoWriMo begins! Before you begin, I would like to give you my last token of creative advice.

Create a Soundtrack for your novel.

Now, I imagine that this may have you thinking of soundtrack in the same way one thinks of a movie soundtrack. Well, that is not exactly what I am referring to here.

Movie soundtracks are designed to emotionally lead the audience in a specific emotional direction while watching the movie unfold. If a romantic scene is on the horizon, cue the sexy music. If suspense, then in comes the music that gets your pulse racing.

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With the soundtrack for your novel,  collect tracks that get you into the head of your characters and reminds you of the spirit of your story as a whole.

Now there are songs that you can gather that help you to build certain scenes, similar to the way movies do, and those are helpful as well.

For me, I generally have specific songs for each of my characters. This helps me to keep every one authentic. Writing a novel in 30 days can cause a bit of character confusion if you are not careful. Soundtracks per person can help eliminate that.

HOW TO USE THE SOUNDTRACK:

Remember music is a muse. When I need to let my mind rest and my fingers stretch from a long stint of typing, I use this time to sit back, close my eyes, and listen to the songs that I’ve gathered that reminded me of my characters and my plot line.

This way, even while resting, I am still allowing my imagination to keep working on the story.

Think of it as an imaginative interlude and meditation. And trust me, it helps a lot.

A COUPLE OF BONUSES!

If you have time, check out my blog posting on this very subject, created while I was doing a form of NaNoWriMo while writing my blog novel, Ascension Graveyard (REVISIONS AND CHAPTERS COMING SOON!)

For The Muse in the Music, posting follow this LINK.

Should music not be the muse and medicine that you need to keep in tune with your characters (pun not intended) then try this writing prompt that I created, Coffee With Character…or Tea. The exercise is all about getting to know each individual character in your story on a more personal level.

For instance knowing your character likes to wear red socks on Monday may not be something you add to the story itself but it is something that helps you, the writer, build the world of their personality. It’s an intimate nuance that sheds greater light on their behaviors.

As laughable as it may seem, a person that specific with something as trivial as sock color will be less prone to certain behaviors, while more apt in yielding to others.

FINAL 5-DAY CREATIVE ADVICE RECAP

TIP 1. Write anything. Let your imagination take control. (Click HERE for full article)

TIP 2. Have a reader who will look over your daily progress with an honest reader’s eye, and give you feedback. (Click HERE for full article)

TIP 3. Set a daily word count goal that you can manage. (Click HERE for full article) 

TIP 4. Keep a “SPICE RACK”  of ideas  and scenes in a separate word document (Click HERE for full article)

TIP 5. Create a playlist that reminds you of your characters and plot, that you can meditate on during downtime.

BONUS: Need a creative Springboard? Try this Monday’s Muse Writing Prompt to help get your NaNoWriMo Story going. Click HERE for the opening line! *REMEMBER TO OMIT THE OPENING LINE WORD COUNT FROM YOUR TOTAL WORDCOUNT*

Most importantly, just have fun. Write because you can. Write because you want to, and write because your imagination is worth the time to share!

Cheers! and Happy NaNoWriMo!

~Dream. Imagine. Believe. Do. CONQUER!

 

Hunger in the Veins: Flash Fiction #Monday’sMuse #SciFi #Thriller

Published on by Candice CoatesLeave a comment

Vein City. That wasn’t its true name, but that’s how he felt about it. From there the very lifeblood of the world seemed to flow. He flexed his hands and watched his own veins pulse. It had cost him nearly everything within him to get there. 

Flipping open his wallet he stared at the nearly faded photograph of his family. So much had happened in so little time, but it was enough to wipe his mind clean. He couldn’t even remember their names. All he remembered were their faces.

That would have to be enough.

Truth be told, few men ever came back from the grave in the way that he had and those that did were only shells of themselves.

That was what Embryous was all about. Taking fully grown men and women, developed in every form of the word but not in their hearts, not in their emotions. Emotions were fickle. They got in the way. They kept the underdeveloped, the embryous, from doing what they were designed to do.

He flexed his hands again. They still burned from the crushing grip they’d held on…what was his name? He glanced back at the dead man’s face. Daryl, his name was Daryl. Daryl’s eyes were cold, lifeless, the product of Embryous, meaning dead.

In fairness, the Daryl had asked for it. They all had. Anyone who looked him in the eye saw his hunger. For anyone who tried to stop him from feeding his appetite, that look was the last thing they saw. Nothing would keep him from his former life. Nothing would keep him from his family.

That was why he was in Vein City. His family was his lifeblood and he was determined to live again.

THE BEGINNING…

*I don’t know if I will ever get around to fleshing out this tale, but I am curious about the nameless main character and Embryous. I have an inkling that things for him are not what they seem and finding that out will be like kicking a hornet’s nest. Anyhow, these are my results for Monday’s Muse Writing Prompt August 21st, 2017.

~Dream. Imagine. Believe. Do. CONQUER!

Good Good Father: Musical Interlude

Published on by Candice CoatesLeave a comment

He is a Good GOOD FATHER! And we are loved by Him. His ways may not make sense as we face various struggles, pains, disappointments and trials, but Messiah Yeshua Jesus assured us in His Word that His thoughts for us ARE good and for us to be blessed. (Isaiah 55, focus on verses 8-13) (Jeremiah 29:11)

This day was the first time I heard this song. To His glory, it came on the cuffs of a prayer I was praying as I face various struggles and pains of my own life.

What has blessed my soul most in hearing this song is the fact that these are the very words He has been speaking to me since my growing pains began.

It is easy, in the face of confusion, to think we are not loved. But God’s word is true and doesn’t change. He never leaves us nor forsakes us and He loves us completely.

I am loved by Him, as you are loved by Him. I take comfort in that, like a child with a broken limb is told by their loving parent to allow that limb to be reset even though it is going to hurt. I take comfort in knowing that these fires are refining and ALL things will work for my good and His glory. (Romans 8:28)

Why? Because it has before. Why? Because He is a good GOOD Father. And I am loved by Him!

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

The Hill: Music Interlude & Word of Faith

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As I was having worship and pray and listened to this song for the very first time, my spirit was overwhelmed with the Lord Yeshua Jesus’ comfort and truth! And in so, I heard Yeshua Jesus say, “Share this with them.” Meaning you all.

Psalm 121 says:

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Travis Greene, the writer of this song, takes full grasp of this scripture, one I’ve often pondered, but he drives it to the deepest meaning. I mean why would we be instructed to look to the hills in the first place when we are in trouble? Here is the glorious answer. This song has a verse that brings it home:

On the Hill there’s a Cross. On the Cross there is Blood for me!” ~ Travis Greene

Yeshua Jesus hung on a cross that was on a HILL for us! The Word says that before the foundation of the world He was slain for us (Revelation 13:8), meaning He knew full well that we would need His redemptive work, and though He finished it outside of time, He came and died at the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4-5), but before that time He tells us to look in the direction of the help He has purchased for us!

It is like sitting outside right before dawn, waiting for the moment that the sun will break forth upon the horizon bathing the Earth with the day’s first kiss of light. It may be dark as we wait, but we know to set our gaze to the east.

We’ve well learned that the sun rises in the east, so no matter how dark it gets we know the light will come from that direction. We trust. We wait. He believe. And we are not disappointed.

Even still and greater still, the psalmist, in the spirit of prophecy, instructs us to look to the hills for our help. Look towards the horizon for though it is dark the Son will rise! And He will rise with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2).

Even Abraham rejoiced to see His day as he prepared to sacrifice Isaac upon Mount Moriah which was a picture and prelude to the Savior carrying His cross in His innocents to die for our sin, the perfect sacrifice for all creation.

Abraham received the ram caught in the thicket as we receive the Lamb slain for us. (Genesis 22,) (John 8:56-59)

Glory to God for the Hill, for the cross upon the hill, and the blood shed upon that cross upon that hill for us! The blood still has power! His blood still saves! His blood still HEALS and RESURRECTS!

Let us continue to believe with child-like faith. It doesn’t have to make sense. He never asked us to reason it out. He simply invites us to believe.

Isaiah 53 does not change. Even Peter echos this truth reminding us that we are already healed in this life! (I Peter 4:24) It is our right to receive wholeness in this life! Take hold of it! Let God be true and EVERY MAN a liar.

His Word says we are healed. Take it by faith! By the stripes on His back and by His blood which gives you the right to have it!

Listen to the song in entirety. Travis Greene, the writer and worship leader gives 3 testimonies of how the Lord has worked miracles for him in his life. The same God who did it for him will do it for us as well.

We simply must believe no matter how long it takes. He is outside of time. And the Son always rises! He has already risen…

I love you all!

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

Closer: Music Interlude

Published on by Candice Coates9 Comments
Romance is such a glorious thing. But I have found that though the love of man to woman is something divinely inspired and beyond glorious, there is nothing in all creation that can compare to the love that one experiences in the arms of god. to draw closer to him, to know his heart, to know his greatest and purist love is for us, for you, to be wrapped securely in that does more than take your breath away.

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

My Joy & My Strength: Music Interlude & Encouraging Word

Published on by Candice Coates1 Comment

The joy of the LORD is my strength!” ~Nehemiah 8:10

If we’ve all learned nothing else about the darkness, it is the truth that all it takes is the smallest flicker of light to DISPEL it. As it Says in the song above, “In the darkness I’ll dance, in the shadows I’ll sing. the joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Rend collective) Joy is light. light breaks all darkness. it’s when we are at the point of a breakthrough, a major change and victory in our lives, that darkness seems its thickest. but remember the enemy is of the dark and there is no truth in him (JOHN 8:44.) It’s in these darkest hours that we can take the biggest moment to rejoice because Breakthrough is just ahead of us. The darkest hour is always before the break of day. But day surely comes!

We Will Declare!: Music Interlude

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Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples, for great is His steadfast love toward us; the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Hallelujah.” ~Psalm 117:1-2

From the rhythm to the words, this song of adoration and celebration of the Glory of the True and Living God, Yeshua Jesus, has blessed my soul since first I heard it. It turns my heart immediately to His joy and celebration, moving my lips to smile, my voice to raise and my hands to lift in worship, reminding me of how SWEET and WORTHY HE truly is! I pray that it will do the same for you!

~Poiema, Poetry In Motion

Good To Me: A Music Interlude

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Psalm 63:3-6 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.”

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

The Joy Of A Spiritual Love Affair: Music Interlude & Word Of Faith

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For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” ~Psalm 84:10

To look upon the one you love and to say that one day with them, in their presence is better than 1,000 days put together is a mighty statement. These words are the embodiment of an incredible love and devotion.

Have you ever been in love? Have you ever felt so strongly for another soul? Whether you have or not the truth still remains that we all were created with the desire for such a great love.

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You are worth more than sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31)

The beauty, being made so, is that the first and greatest fulfillment of this love, one which never ceases but ever are we made aware of its intense sweetness, is the spiritual love that we all can have with God through trusting faith in His Only Son, Yeshua Jesus.

His righteous, unrelenting love will NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US! (Hebrews 13:5)

The Song of Solomon is a grand reflection of intimate, romantic love and devotion expressed between the Groom and His Beloved, but more it is an allegory of the love Yeshua Jesus has for us. Out of all His creation, He loves you most and best!

Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father’s will, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don’t be afraid, You are of more value than many sparrows.” ~Matthew 10:29-31

Consider how many sparrows fly throughout the earth. God knows each of them and cares for them. Yet God’s love, His admiration of you is so incredible that He knows even the number of hairs that are on your head! You would have to care a great deal about a person to even see the worth in knowing something so seemingly trivial, yet the God of the universe knows this about you because He is that much in love with you!

The greatest experience of Love is not only knowing that you are loved, but being able to receive that love while giving love in return.

This is what a spiritual Love Affair is all about. It is delighting in the presence of your Savior, receiving His love while loving Him, basking in His beauty and being refreshed by His presence.

Joy comes in His presence and their are Delights every more at His Right Hand! (Right Hand is Yeshua Jesus) (Psalm 16:11) (Romans 15:13)

His strength for all things comes through His joy for His joy is our strength and our joy is literally HIS JOY! (Nehemiah 8:10) (John 15:10-12)

What better way to show love than to give Joy?

I encourage you as you listen to the song above to really allow your heart to be enraptured by the love of God through Yeshua Jesus. I promise you you too will say like the Psalmist, better is one day with Him than 1,000!

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion