Creativity

I wish to share with you today's devotional of Ransomed Heart Ministries (their motto is Love God, Live Free). It seems every where I turn the Holy Spirit is speaking to me about creativity (blog of 4/8 :) It's interesting as I am not an incredibly creative person. It seems He is continuing to reveal more of Himself to me- showing me that I am created as His image-bearer. Therefore, there is some creative potential within.

I am reading Wide Awake by Erwin McManus, hear some of his words about creativity:
"We know from the scriptures that God is the only One who creates out of nothing. He created the universe when there was nothing. God spoke and everything came into being. This is God's unique arena, creating ex niholo-- out of nothing. And by the way... you are incapable of this...
For some of us, it is a daunting thing to consider that we are a part of the creative process. We would rather think only God paints or writes the symphony. After all, He is the Master Artist-- the Creator of the universe. He is much better at this than the rest of us. I agree, but that's just not the way it works. The Creator, as the ultimate act of creativity, has created you to be creative...To create is in your essence and is essential for living the life God created you to live."
Erwin continues:
"It's amazing there are so many sounds and songs and styles of music. Especially when you think about the inherent limitation-- there are only twelve notes.... It's the same with art. Wouldn't you think eventually there would be no more original paintings, no more original ways to approach a canvas? I mean there are only three primary colors. What can you really do with three colors? We are so limited. You thought twelve notes were limiting. Three colors, talk about having our hands tied in the creative process! Not for the artist. For them the boundaries are the parameters, not the limitations..."

He goes on discussing architecture (lines, circles & angles) and mathematics (only nine digits). Next he shares:

"All of us long to find our own unique path. Even those [of us] who are deeply devoted to Jesus strive to imitate Christ without becoming an imitation. We know the difference between authentic and cosmetic. We are also called to conform the the character of Christ and not to conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). Both change us at the core and shape who we become. But there is a difference between them-- not only in their outcome but in their intent. The world, as Paul describes it, will rob from you your uniqueness. If you conform to it, you will lose your soul. You will lose yourself. To conform to Christ is to allow the One who created you to shape your character. It is here that God begins to reclaim, redirect, and unleash your creative potential. To conform to Christ is not to surrender your creative potential but to fully actualize it."

I could go on & on... but I can't type out his entire chapter! I hope you can sense the excitement in my spirit :) It is exciting to be reminded that yes, I am created in His image. He has blessed me with gifts, talents, and creativity within the realm of His creation! Oh how He loves us!!

Some of you may chuckle, as you have known your creativity for many years now; walking in the light of Him, shining as stars in the universe! Well, chuckle on in exhortation :}
Some of you may be as I am... delighted for the first time to really delve into this realization; to continue to seek Him to see avenues in which He leads so that we too may shine in the darkness of this world bringing Him glory and praise :}

Hallelujah!

OK, Here's the devotional that started this rant :]

Ransomed Heart Tuesday, May 25, 2010

On Mozart and Martha Stewart
"Somehow," notes Os Guinness, "we human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us." Now, some children are gifted toward science, and others are born athletes. But whatever their specialty, all children are inherently creative. Give them a barrel of Legos and a free afternoon and my boys will produce an endless variety of spaceships and fortresses and who knows what. It comes naturally to children; it's in their nature, their design as little image bearers. A pack of boys let loose in a wood soon becomes a major Civil War reenactment. A chorus of girls, upon discovering a trunk of skirts and dresses, will burst into the Nutcracker Suite. The right opportunity reveals the creative nature.

This is precisely what happens when God shares with mankind his own artistic capacity and then sets us down in a paradise of unlimited potential. It is an act of creative invitation, like providing Monet with a studio for the summer, stocked full of brushes and oils and empty canvases. Or like setting Martha Stewart loose in a gourmet kitchen on a snowy winter weekend, just before the holidays. You needn't provide instructions or motivation; all you have to do is release them to be who they are, and remarkable things will result. As the poet Hopkins wrote, "What I do is me: for that I came."

Oh, how we long for this-for a great endeavor that draws upon our every faculty, a great "life's work" that we could throw ourselves into. "God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing," says Guinness, "and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there." Our creative nature is essential to who we are as human beings-as image bearers-and it brings us great joy to live it out with freedom and skill. Even if it's a simple act like working on your photo albums or puttering in the garden-these, too, are how we have a taste of what was meant to rule over a small part of God's great kingdom.

(Desire , 152-54)