Wednesday, August 28, 2013

PEACE

PEACE - Christine Nichols, 2010

This painting combines wax and acrylic paint - a new technique for me. When I painted this piece in 2010, I remember wondering if I heard the Holy Spirit correctly to place HOT WAX on the canvas, but I took a leap of faith and trusted the instructions came from the Lord. The result is like a throwback to 1970's art or a contemporary version of a stained glass window. As I outlined the wax in black acrylic paint, the Holy Spirit focused my attention on the wax pattern atop the large heart. To my amazement it spelled out PEACE. As I was dribbling the hot wax on the canvas, I did not intentionally write a word. Peace and the large heart were then highlighted with sliver paint. The inner heart with silver and gold paint. This represents God's refinement of the hearts who love and seek Him to make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ.

To give you an idea of how this painting took shape,

I am including some photos of the creative steps.

I love the second snapshot. To me it looks like a keyhole.

Christ holds the key to my heart!

Peace-heart Scripture verses:

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Philippians 4:7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

All of these verses hold a special place in my heart

and I hope they do for you as well! <3

PEACE - Christine Nichols, 2010

All my paintings begin with prayer. I ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance from beginning to end - from choosing the canvas and paint colors to the last brush stroke. I pray that the Lord's message would go forth through the art and that Father God would be glorified.

I believe all prophetic art has a message, but what the Holy Spirit speaks to me about a specific piece of art, may be different than what the Spirit says to you. Seek Him for a personal interpretation.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Peace! Be Still!

Peace Be Still - Christine Nichols, 2009

"PEACE!

BE STILL!" said with commanding voice of authority is how I envision Jesus saying these words when a sudden storm hit the boat He and the disciples were sailing in one evening.

Jesus Calms the Storm

As evening came, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with His head on a cushion. The disciples woke Him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

39 When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Peace! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then He asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey Him!” Mark 4:35-41 NTL

I've read this story in the Bible many times - it's one of my favorites, but this was the first I noticed that the disciples were SHOUTING at Jesus to save them! The thought just occurred to me that they had to shout to be heard above the roaring wind. NIV says there was a "squall" which is a sudden, violent gust of wind that brings rain. Can you imagine what that furious gust of wind did to the waves? It's no wonder the boat was filling with water! The disciples were sea-worthy men, some of them fishermen by trade and they would know, by experience, whether a storm on the sea was dangerous or not so it must have been one heck of a squall for them to fear for their very lives!

The other thing I noticed was the huge contrast when Jesus rebuked the violent wind and the high, choppy waves with just three words, PEACE. BE STILL. And it was very still. Most translations say there was a "GREAT CALM." The Message says, "The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass." The storm didn't just naturally subside - as in the wind died down and the waves became smaller, both the wind and the waves obeyed Christ's words EXACTLY and IMMEDIATELY! No wind. No waves.

"Peace. Be still."

Studying this Scripture passage, I found this commentary by Jamieson-Fausset-Brown who noted that "Israel has all along been singing of Jehovah, 'Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them!' 'The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea!' (Ps 89:9; 93:4). But, lo, in this very boat of ours is One of our own flesh and blood, who with His word of command hath done the same! Exhausted with the fatigues of the day, He was but a moment ago in a deep sleep, undisturbed by the howling tempest, and we had to waken Him with the cry of our terror; but rising at our call, His majesty was felt by the raging elements, for they were instantly hushed- 'What Manner of Man is this?'"

Can you answer that question? Who do you say Jesus Christ is?


Peace Be Still - Christine Nichols, 2009

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Perfume Poured Out - The Fragrance of Christ

Perfume Poured Out

"Pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfumes; Your Name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love You!" Song of Songs 1:3 is the text for this artwork which was created by painting one canvas as lead by the Holy Spirit, and then placed another blank canvas over the wet painting. The result is "Perfume Poured Out." I think if I asked ten different people what they saw in this painting, I would get just as many different answers, but to me it looks like an ancient perfume bottle. This painting represents the Fragrance of Christ.

Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth

for Your love is more better than wine.

Pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfumes;

Your Name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the young women love You!

Take me away with You—let us hurry!

Let the King bring me into His chambers.

Song of Songs (Solomon) 1:2-4

Heather Clark's song, "Kisses of His Mouth"

sets to music the above verses.


Your Name is like Perfume Poured Out - Christine Nichols, 2009

Below is the original painting from which this piece was created.
It is entitled, "Beauty Within."
It depicts the human heart of a believer.
'Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart.'
1 Samuel 16:7

Beauty Within - Christine Nichols, 2009

A third piece of art came forth from Beauty Within:

This artwork was created by placing two images of "Beauty Within" together, then rotated, flipped, and adjoined. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Christ's eyes looking back at me!
Christ is the beauty within!

(The) Rapture

The Rapture - Christine Nichols

Scripture tells us that when the disciples witnessed Christ ascend into heaven forty days after His resurrection, they stood staring at the sky even after clouds hid Christ from their view. Then two men in white robes appeared and told the disciples that Jesus would return in the same manner. (Read Luke 24-Acts 1:11) This painting depicts that glorious event, commonly known as the Rapture, when Christ returns to gather His Bride, the Church, unto Himself. Here's how I see the painting:

The periwinkle blue is the earth.
The two golden strips in the lower half of the earth represents the graves of people who have died believing in Christ to save them and are being raise to life in the Rapture. The title for the painting comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:16. "The dead in Christ will rise first."
The risen dead together with those alive at Christ's return will be changed in an instant with a new glorious body like Christ's - transformed from corruptible to incorruptible.
The upper center gold, which looks like a golden bowl with steam rising from it, represents all believers with their new bodies being "caught up" and rising from the purple earth to the blue sky to meet Christ in the air!

The Comfort of Christ’s Return

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. ¹⁵For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

The Resurrection of the Dead

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— ⁵²in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (transformed) ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”^[^{Isaiah 25:8]}

⁵⁵“O Death, where is your sting?^[^{Hosea 13:14]}
O Death, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

The Rapture - Christine Nichols, 2010

He who testifies to these things says,
“Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Revelation 22:20-21

Many people have questions about Christ's Return - the Rapture, the Second Coming of Christ, and the End Times Tribulation. I have found that gotquestions.org is a reliable source of Biblical truth.

Questions:

"What is the Rapture of the church?"

"What is the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming?"

"When is the Rapture going to occur in relation to the Tribulation?"

How does the Bible describe the glorified bodies we will possess in Heaven?

More questions about End Times

Receding Floodwaters

This painting depicts the floodwaters receding after the great flood that covered the entire earth and even the highest mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits which equals approximately 23 feet or about 6.8 meters. The account of Noah and the ark is told in Genesis 6-9. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. "But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. ²Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. ³The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, ⁴and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible."

Receding Floodwaters lit by natural sunlight from behind.

As you can see in the painting, the floodwaters are receding but have not disappeared. The ark that Noah built is still riding the waves of the flood with Noah, his family, and the animals inside. This sunlit version of Receding Floodwaters takes on a darker mood, surprisingly. It looks like the difference between day and night compared to the painting as it would be seen hanging on a wall in natural light, but it does illuminate distinctive shapes. Painting this piece in 2010, what I remember the most is how hard the Lord made me work to complete this piece. The Holy Spirit lead me to paint multiple layers of color and then scrub off the paint at the end. This revealed hidden images beneath the top layers that I had not intentionally painted and are highlighted in the photograph above. Seek the Lord for the images He wants you to see and ask Him for an interpretation that applies to your life.


Receding Floodwaters - Christine Nichols, 2010

Just for fun, I'm including a video of a replica of Noah's Ark built in the Netherlands. Before painting, Receding Floodwaters, I had not seen a replica of the ark or even knew anyone had attempted such a feat. Here's also a link for the real ark built by Noah believed to be in Turkey.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Reconciled Love

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Christine Nichols

Reconciled Love has the longest working history to date of more than one hundred paintings the Lord has given me. It was created in stages over a span of three years. The first stage was completed by prepping a 2 x 3' piece of plywood and painting layers of mint green, soft lavender, and iridescent gold then moving my hand with a large putty knife diagonally across the board like gentle waves rippling on the sea. I waited for more instructions, none came, but the Lord spoke the words, "Sea of Glass" over the painting. I was surprised by His words as I've always found that name in the Book of Revelation intriguing, but I never envisioned it like the abstract I had just done.

The second stage of the painting happened two years later, at an art workshop hosted by First Love in Le Sueur, Minnesota. The Holy Spirit had prompted me to take the "Sea of Glass" painting to the workshop. Before beginning to paint again, I prayed over the painting and sought the Lord's guidance on how to proceed. The Holy Spirit lead me to draw a heart and then added the swirly lines in hues of dark crimson, gold, purple and white directly from small paint bottles. Applying paint to piece in this manner was a first for me. It sort of had a Jackson Pollock look to it, but more refined than his famous abstract style.

Sea-of-glass-heart-swirly painting

Although the painting had multiple layers, a background, foreground and showed motion, it still didn't seem done to me and so I waited upon the Lord again. In the interim, God lead me to Digital Art as a new medium for the prophetic art. Just as in acrylic painting with a canvas and a brush, the Holy Spirit guides me through creative steps on the computer to achieve artwork that glorifies God and sends forth a message of His love. In fact, the Lord has been combining the acrylic art with digital to create new or finished pieces of art. Reconciled Love is a classic example of this collaborative media.

The last step began shortly after the art workshop with a supernatural yearning for the colors of rose magenta, crimson and vermilion. The color combination touched something deep within me and would not let me go! The color obsession mystery was solved several months later when the Holy Spirit lead me to digitally enhance a photograph of the sea-of-glass-heart-swirly painting. (That's a mouthful!) I could hardly believe my eyes when the green, purple and gold hues changed to the very colors I craved for months! The Lord showed me the name for the painting by leading me to Romans 5:1-11 and 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, both of which deals with God's love through reconciliation in Christ Jesus. Reconciled Love.

Reconciled Love - Christine Nichols, 2013

Scriptures for Reconciled Love

The Ministry of Reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God! 21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin[or be a sin offering] for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 5:5-11

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Redemption

If you were to choose a synonym or phrase for the word redemption, what would it be? Atonement. Sacrificial Lamb of God. The Blood of Christ. Ransom for All. Purchased with a Price. Forgiveness of Sin. Justified. Grace. Deliverance from Sin's Bondage. Righteousness through Faith. Freedom. Eternal Inheritance. Peace with God. Adoption into God's family. Reconciliation. Choose one, choose them all for such words and phrases describe the powerful redemptive work of Christ on the cross as the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! John 1:29 & Revelation 5:8-14 There is no doubt in my mind, as the artist lead by the Holy Spirit, that this painting speaks of redemption through the blood of Christ for all who have faith to believe, and the painting also signifies the importance of the "sprinkling of the blood" explained in Hebrews 9 & 10.

Righteousness Through Faith - Romans 3:21-26

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,^[^{*See note below]} through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance (long patience) He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. ²⁶God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous^{[and acquit]} the one who has faith in Jesus.

^*^{The Greek for sacrifice of atonement refers to the atonement cover (mercyseat) on the ark of the covenant (see Lev. 16:15,16).}^{Learn more about redemption at Gotquestions and Studylight. Both websites include multiple Scripture passages.}

^{As I was preparing this blog, the Holy Spirit brought the song, "I am Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave to mind. I thought, "Okay...that goes along with the message of redemption," but it wasn't until I found two videos on Youtube where the lead singer, Mike Weaver, shared the story behind the lyrics that I realized how very applicable the song is to every Christian believer.}

^{Quote from video: "Real humility is simply agreeing with whatever He (God) says about anything. Over my life, as a child of God, as someone who has been ransomed by the blood of Jesus, when He looks at me, He says, "Redeemed.""}

Redemption - Christine Nichols, 2009

Refiner's Fire

When a goldsmith purifies metals, the process includes fire to heat the metal to a liquid state and then remove dross which is solid impurities floating on a molten metal. Scripture speaks of the same type of process God uses to purify His people through trials and hardships. Peter, the disciple and apostle of Jesus puts it this way: "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6-7

But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a REFINER'S FIRE or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a REFINER and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and REFINE them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Malachi 3:2-4

"This third I will put into the FIRE;

I will REFINE them like silver

and test them like gold.

They will call on My Name

and I will answer them;

I will say, ‘They are My people,’

and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.” Zechariah 13:9

This painting went through a process of refinement as well including multiple paint layers, a covering, a dousing, and the final top layer of paint which is how the tie-dye effect was achieved on a 2'x4' canvas. Here's photographs of the creative process...


Refiner's Fire - Christine Nichols, 2009

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9