All posts tagged: vision

Picture This!: Capturing 2020 with 20/20

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Twenty-nineteen is almost at its end. And if we are honest, we can say that this year has gone by with a flash! Like with years past, we prepare to tackle the holiday season with knives and forks as if this will be our last indulgence before the clock strikes midnight for the last time on this side of the calendar year. For then, then we must set our goals, put on our workout gear and run ourselves to the gym with the single purpose of being beach-ready several warm months from now. For those of us who are focused on pursuing our creative callings, our goals tend to involve a different kind of exercise with a completely different destination in mind. “Success is not one size fits all and therefore requires a unique pattern.” For me, the goals that I have in the crosshairs are goals that I have been striving toward for several years now. But as I set out to take hold of them this year I am doing so while letting …

Fire Through The Window: The Season of Preparation

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  The Fall By Candice Coates, written September 28, 2015 The world looked like fire from the view of her bedroom window. The leaves on the trees had been set ablaze by the match called Fall. Life as she had known it, of thin layers and barefoot days, was slowly burning to smoke, leaving behind ashes of leather boots, sweaters and the scent of earth in the air. “I love the fall,” she said. “There is something lovely about it. It reminds me of the perfect kiss; sweet and intimate, zestful with the shock of chilled lips that slowly ebb into a warmth that leaves you hypnotized, never wanting to let go.” She closed her eyes to the warm caress of the sun’s rays sliding over her eyelids like the softest silk before she pushed away from the window. She wrapped herself within her own arms and smiled brightly. No one was there with her, no one except God, the One who had created the Fall with her in mind and heart. The Beginning. THE BLESSING …

Start with Fire: Start Here pt 2

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“We are on fire. Act now.” ~UKNOWN I saw an image of an activist with a sign that read, “We are on fire. Act now.” Instantly, the thought of the words of the Savior flickered into a flame in my heart. The scripture is Mark 9:35-38, which reads: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” What the Lord began to reveal to my heart in light of the sign and then the reminder of the scripture was twofold. ONE: The Lord was saying and is saying to all of us who know Him, that the people in the world are ready, right now, to hear about Him. They are thirsty for the …

Dare to Dream with God by Briana Lassiter

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“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” JEREMIAH 29:11 A few months ago I had an experience with God where He showed me a picture of Himself as a daydreamer and Author quietly sitting in His comfy chair, daydreaming about my character in His story He’s writing. The picture really changed my perception of God and challenged me to stop diminishing my own good daydreams and hopes and start recognizing them as unique desires He has placed within me for a purpose. Sometimes it’s very easy to ignore our dreams and hopes for ourselves based on our own disappointments or expectations not being met in the past, but God doesn’t want that for us, and in fact, says of Himself that He is the One who hopes and dreams up good things for His children! (JEREMIAH 29:11) I challenge you today to stop throwing away your whole dreams and hopes based on past disappointments and …

Start with a Seed: Start Here pt 1

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“…Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” -MATTHEW 20:17b When a person sets out to give life to their dream or vision, or even to undertake a project that is relevant for that season of their life, one thing they do without fail is to take stock of what they have in hand. Our Master and Savior, the King Creator, actually instructs us in His Word that a wise man takes inventory of what he has before he begins, lest when he starts he finds he is unable to finish (LUKE 14:28-29). The one thing that many of us find paralyzing about this is that when we do actually take inventory of what we have, we tend to lean on our own understanding, often stifling the voice of the Lord that is telling us to begin, in favor of believing what our eyes and logic …

Abiding Fruitfulness Series Up Until October 13th!

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Hello, Creatives! I don’t know if you had the chance to journey along with us in our first ever recorded series, Abiding Fruitfulness: 40-days of Resting to Success. If you did, that is fantastic! But if not, no worries. We will be having the videos and other content available until SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2019.  Now is the perfect time to spend some time in rest and reflection as you contemplate your ‘start‘ for the coming new year. There also may be some merch available soon to help remind you of the importance of your rest for success. Keep your eyes open!

Renewing Your Vision

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*Revised from April 15, 2016 “Worse than being blind is to see and have no vision” ~HELEN KELLER Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no VISION the people PERISH…” (Emphasis mine) To be able to see is one thing, to have a vision is another. Vision is the driving force that calls us to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Vision is the crown that causes us to press even in the face of repeated failure because it’s given you hope for the future. To be a person who has lived and not simply existed, you must have a vision–a goal. Although vision and sight are different, they are not mutually exclusive. To maintain your vision you must keep it ever before you (Habakkuk 2:2) Put it down in the simplest of words as a reminder of what you are aiming for. It is very easy to allow the challenges of life to stifle our vision. In faith, in Christ Jesus, we are called to ‘renew’ or minds, that we not be conformed to the …

Todd Polyniak: Creative in Action

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Interview by Briana Lassiter What a privilege it was for me to interview prophetic artist Todd Polyniak this week! As I’m preparing this article and looking through the beautiful art he sent me to be featured, I’m reminded of how one piece of God-given art can touch many of us in drastically different ways to minister to us exactly as we need. Our Father knows each of us so personally, and He communicates with us in the exact way He knows we can receive from His heart to ours. I hope this interview encourages you to ask for and receive your own gifts of creativity. No matter where you are. Whether you think you’re gifted or not. We are His beloved children, and we are all His favorites. We are spoiled by His love and there’s nothing as a doting dad, that He wouldn’t give us if we ask. If after reading this interview you find yourself asking the Lord for more, as I have, why don’t you pray with me for a fresh release …

Vision in the Gap: The Crushing pt 2

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The theme of ‘gaps’ has been swirling around my spirit for a few months now. At first, facing the gaps, acknowledging that they are indeed there and that there is a palpable distance in between myself and Christ is, at first, staggering, then confusing, and then later tempting. The temptation is not one of a negative sense, but it is one that drives my spirit into a desire for more, a thirst for more of Him; more closeness, more revelation, more outpouring. JUST. MORE! EXPLORING THE GAP Taking the first steps of faith to question the Lord about the gap, I found that the distance was and is an invitation for the more, the teaser reel to the grand adventure that awaits me, and all of us, if we will step forward in faith. The gap is created as a call to lay claim to what is already ours, to realize that we have victory over every fear, worry, circumstances, spirit, and mountain. But gap by stretching gap, the Lord calls us into communion and …

Turbulence of the Tongue: The Dangers of telling the Right Things to the Wrong People & 3 Ways to Preserve Your Dream

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Relationships can be funny things especially when it comes to transition and vision. There is nothing more exhilarating than having a God-given vision, or be in the midst of transition and find that those closest to you are undergirding you with prayer and celebrating your transformation in faith and position. But sometimes we face those who are not so excited about our dreams and have the propensity to try to minimize our vision from beyond-the-moon status to smaller than a posted note. It hurts. But the truth is sometimes we, as the dreamers who accept the invitation of the Lord to walk with Him on the water, set ourselves and others up for failure when we share with them secrets and truths that we were never meant to share with them. EVERYONE WHO IS WITH YOU IS NOT MEANT TO GO “IN” WITH YOU Remember that whenever our Lord showed some of His most intimate and vulnerable displays of power, He did not bring along the 72, nor the 12 who followed Him. He only …