Bless the Lord-A Sonogram of the Soul

 














Our soul consists of the mind, will, and emotions.
With that said, let's have fun with some words:
Ultra-beyond; on the other side of; extreme; to an extreme degree.

Sound-vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear.

Sonogram-a visual image produced from an "ultra sound" examination.
Now tie it all together...

Bless the LORD, O my SOUL, And ALL that is WITHIN me, bless His Holy Name!

(Psalm 103:1)

"Talk to the SHIELD"

Back in the 90's, there was a gesture of discourtesy with an equally discourteous directive aimed towards a person that you didn't want to be bothered with. The bothered one would extend their arm in the international stop sign position towards the annoying one's face and then look away while saying in a condescending tone, "talk to the HAND."  This latest painting draws from that as well as what St.Thomas More said: “The devil, that proud spirit, cannot endure to be mocked.”

 When the enemy comes at me talking trash, I extend this piece of my armor in his face and say, "Talk to the SHIELD."  Conversation over. Fancy that.

You fight fire WITH Fire; that's one way to extinguish the devil's "annoying darts."
This Shield has the Bloody Red Fire of the Lord upon it and highlights the Cross that reminds the enemy he was DEFEATED. Amen. Shields UP.

Consuming Fire

The consuming fire of Jesus is the exact opposite of the consuming fire of hell.
I wanted to convey in this digital painting that His Name, Consuming Fire, was His promise to burn up all those things that keep us bound.
The placement of the words in the shape of the cross is explained as follows:

SHAME-how many people are bound by shame; this word is at the top of the cross where the head of Jesus was. When shame gets burned out of us, we are free in our minds where the battle is. Jesus keeps us in perfect peace when our mind rests on Him.
                                                                                                                
 ADDICTIONS and HOPELESSNESS-these are located at the place where nails were pounded in Jesus' hands. The touch of Jesus can empty and cleanse hands that are clenching all the "fixes" that poison both the body and soul.

UNFORGIVENESS- Our physical bodies suffer when we don't forgive. It's a fact. When Jesus forgave us, He lay His body and life down on the cross. May we forgive others as often as Jesus forgives us.

HATE-this is at the bottom of the cross where Jesus' feet were nailed. Hate causes one's feet to trudge a trail of bondage. How beautiful were the feet of Jesus as He walked with purpose and love to give His life as a ransom for many. The good news is: Jesus loves us and knows "we're a piece of work" but through Him, we're a piece of work IN PYRO PROGRESS.

Mission Field

This pic had a real JUNGLE feel to it before I added the heart. And the HEART of the missionary is to go and share the good news whether in the "concrete jungles" or the actual jungles.

The red on the "plants" symbolizes the blood of those who were martyred.

The background flames represent those who have gone before us and spread the fire of the gospel thus causing other flames to arise.

The blue represents the Living Water Himself to refresh the one called to go and baptize the one to receive.

The pink flashes are simply the GRACE of God on the missionary.

If you'll look closely at the heart, you'll see that it has what I just described IN it; this is the heart of the joyful one; they have the Fire, they know the Living Water, and they remember the blood and sacrifice of those who gave their lives because the God of Love in them gave His own.

God Speed

There is something speedy looking and violent about this picture that makes me snicker... Perhaps the violence of it makes me think of chaos in the natural; the "stuff of life" that is NOT funny when everything hits you all at once-less than courteous attitudes both at work and home, sickness, financial woes, spiritual warfare and even unanswered prayer.

 The Word says that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. With that in mind, my God is a  God who laughs at His enemies. His LOVE for me is VIOLENT and when the violence of the enemy tries to take ME out, The Lord does a God SPEED thing and crushes the enemy under my feet shortly. It is by His power and His alone that helps me be "victoriously violent."  So when you look at this "chaotic violent picture" remember that the BATTLE belongs to the Lord, not you, and that His God Speed to deliver you is right on time.

Take Up Your Cross

The cross was a place of horrifying beauty. Horrifying in the realization that MY sins along with the sins of the world nailed Jesus to that cross. The beauty comes from the astounding, unfathomable LOVE that Jesus said "Yes" to and that He IS.

 The loveliness of this cross before you represents what happens when YOU take it up and follow Him: the flame color represents His promise to burn up all that is not of Him, which in turn will cause a Holy Fire for His Word to burn within you. Like Jeremiah, you cannot contain it; "it is a FIRE shut up in my bones." (Jeremiah 20:9)

 The dark red in the middle represents that His blood, not yours, is what gives you access to the Father, who by the way, loved YOU so much that He sent His own Son Jesus to die for you. (John 3:16)


The blood is in the middle of the cross to remind you that you can be in the center of God's will. And finally, the swirls represent our very present Helper, the Awesome Holy Spirit Who, in His most magnificent power, raised Jesus from the dead.

Waves of Grace

I simply heard WAVES OF GRACE over this one and so I pray that "wave after wave" of GRACE floods your mind, body, and soul. The gold and the purple colors are to remind you that in Jesus, you ARE of Royal Descent and you SHALL come forth as gold.

The Angels Rejoice

"I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

Think of how wildly humans rejoice when their favorite team scores against the opposition, take THAT to the nth degree, and you'll have an idea of how angels freak with joy when a lost person "makes it into the end zone" where Jesus is waiting.

Psalm 9:1

I put this opaque glass heart on top of the confetti, the confetti showed through, and I marveled at the spiritual picture! Praise that resides in the heart overflows in celebration.

The Lord INHABITS the PRAISES of His people, and THAT is something to celebrate.

May our memories be sharp and our stories be long on all that He has done for us.

Zephaniah 3:17

This picture just makes me feel GOOD. I had no scripture for it, but out of the blue came Zephaniah 3:17-"The LORD your God is with you,  He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Well no wonder this picture made me feel so good! LOL! Have at it.

Though It Tarry, Wait For It

This is based on Habakkuk 2:3 and Psalm 34:15. Waiting on the Lord can sometimes challenge our faith to the extreme. But His eyes ARE on the righteous and His ears ARE open to their cry.

There comes a day when the veil of WAITING, with its shadows of doubt hovering, is ripped and the answer comes.

Shoulder to Shoulder

"Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (2 Kings 6:16).
Can you see the heavenly warriors standing shoulder to shoulder with weapons drawn?

Blessing and Honor

This is taken from the book of Revelation Chapters 4 and 5.

 Not only is it pretty loud in Heaven with "falling down praise" but the COLORS blasting all over the place from the Throne have their own unique "volume" as well.

His Voice Was Like the Sound of Many Waters

 At first I was going to name this painting "Standing on the Edge Looking Down" but wanted to convey HOPE, not despair.

Jesus is the LIVING Water and it is my prayer that  His LIVING Water Voice will DROWN out all others that make you want to quit and jump over the edge.

Go ahead and take a leap into HIS Rapids; underneath and all around are the Everlasting Arms.

Psalm 139:16

This is one of my first digital paintings.

I was reading Psalm 139 verse 16 and loved the fact that my "unformed substance" was already SEEN by my Creator as He took a blank canvas and began painting ME. 

Celebrate Love

                                                                  

I love close up FILTERS. You can save a boatload of money by using these rather than a macro LENS. I sandwiched a few filters together, tossed out the confetti,  took my ring off and threw it in the mix.WHEEEE! These close up filters made both my ring and the confetti look HUGE and I just had to grin at the revelation...The Love of God IS huge and so is the CELEBRATION for all eternity. What JOY to CELEBRATE THE LOVE OF GOD in this life and the next. More confetti, please...