Creation: Have you forgotten what you were designed for?
Our original design
As children, we all are gifted with a creative talent. Whether it was making stick figures with play dough, writing on the sidewalk with chalk, or dancing and singing without a care— as children, we learned to adopt hobbies that brought us joy. Because, well— God created us with it. But somewhere along the journey of growing up, we forgot what it felt like to create because the demands of daily life became so overwhelming that the thought of adding one more thing to our plate was insurmountable. The traumas we develop over the course of our lives, dim our light, and if we let this darkness hover over us for too long, we start to forget what we were truly designed for— creation. This blog post is a beautiful picture of how God’s saving grace redeems us from unintentionally neglecting our truest design as humans.
Our sinful nature
On April 17, 2022 my dad and I were both miraculously saved and baptized in the hospital just two weeks before his passing. Prior to that, I hadn’t talked to my dad in over 17 years. It might sound cliche, but since that day, my life has never looked the same.
Just three short months after my dads death, I packed my bags in California and headed off to a land where I knew absolutely no one. That land, was Denver, Colorado. This was the first time in my life I had left my hometown seeking radical change. What I didn't realize was that I was headed into a wilderness season so that God could undo all of the brokenness, pain, guilt, shame, fear and anxiety that was driving my life for 20+ years. I didn’t realize it at the time, but all of that baggage I was carrying was weighing me down and making me forget the gifts God had original given me as a child.
God’s Redemptive Plan
It was in this season of preparation that I slowly started to realize God's redemptive plan for all of his children happens in a series of phases. Those phases are what I'd like to share with you today.
Justification - to declare righteous
When you’ve reached the end of yourself— full of mistakes and carrying a weight that feels too heavy to bear; a surrender to the one who has never left you is what’s required in order to bring new life to a broken soul. He first justifies our sin, because he died on the cross for it. Once we simply believe, we no longer have to work our way to become a better person. It’s in God’s character to gather his children back to himself and through this act of kindness, he declares us righteous in his sight.
Sanctification - To set apart, to purify
Once we have been declared righteous, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, a washing of ourselves must take place— an undoing of past beliefs, hurts and conditions. This process is called sanctification, and if I’m being honest, it never truly ends. We are being sanctified day by day through the power of the Holy Spirit that now dwells within us.
Vivification - to live life in newness
As we are being renewed by the holy spirit day by day, new life is born within us. Old patterns slowly wash away & new desires spring up within us to be made into new wine. Jesus not only gives us eternal life, he provides us with a new one. Things that used to satisfy you, no longer have the same craving. New desires spring up within you, and rebirth begins.
Multiplication - to receive a double portion
As our broken nature has eternally been forgiven, and we are being sanctified into new life with the creator of the universe, our God not only equips us to be on mission for him, but multiplies everything we do, if we do it in his name. Expect abundant blessings once God is in the driver seat of your life.
As you can see, there is a process that one must go through after they've come to the conclusion that they can’t do this life on their own, and that we need a God who is bigger than us in order to see worthwhile change in our lives. Realizing that we cannot go about this life alone, and there is indeed a creator that is guiding and paving a path for us much greater than we can ever ask, think or imagine.
Love God, Love Others
In the last two years, I have experienced all of the steps of redemption described above. Multiplication is a phase that is very special to me because God's redemptive plan doesn't stop with us. He doesn't just save us from our past so we can continue to live life alone. He equips us to love him and most importantly to love others.
I never knew how to truly love others, until I started serving our homeless community through Neighbors Denver. It was fascinating to me to understand these people's stories, and how they ended up on the streets. One day, while I was eating lunch at Gracefull Cafe (a non profit cafe in Littleton Colorado that gives one free meal a day to the homeless), a man named Bob sat down next to me and asked if he could eat with me.
Bob quickly settled in as we waited for our food, and opened his laptop to share with me that he was an artist. He would paint pictures at the library, take pictures of the paintings and then create beautiful patterns out of them. His dream was to one day sell his art to help fund his cancer medication and also pay for his debt.
Bob's art invoked in me a spark of the creativity that I once lost as a little girl, and so I decided to start making my own patterns inspired by the one thing that brought me joy as a child—sunsets. My hope for this creation was that I could use the funds to give back to our homeless community.
All For His Glory
Neighbors Denver is a nonprofit that supports our unhoused friends by giving them basic needs like food and water on a monthly basis. All of the proceeds I get from the sales of these prints goes into helping get them feel supported and taken care of. I am grateful for my conversation with Bob that day, because that single interaction came around full circle. I am now giving back to our unhoused friends through my art, which was inspired by Bob, an unhoused individual. A beautiful picture of how God's redemptive plan works in and through his people to serve others. We love, because HE first loved us. God works all things for good, for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus. - Romans 8:28
Cheers,
Nicole
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