"Be brave and don't be afraid.

I am here."

- Jesus

Matthew 14:27 The Passion Translation

That is not the typical I AM statement of Jesus I think of. But Jesus said it a number of times to his followers, "I am with you, even to the end of the age, I am here..." Jesus, his Spirit, Holy Spirit, Comforter, with me... always. I am receiving this in a deep way today. Stepping out in faith, working on a new project that looks big, harder than I can attempt on my own, needing to be smarter than I am. One reason I've written less than normal on my blog the past few weeks is I've been writing, praying, working on a dream I believe God gave me.... Transition. Growth. Risk. Out of the boat, aka as my comfort zone (which a friend of mine observed is "about the size of a walnut"), and into the great unknown... again.

Today as I read in Matthew 14 where the disciples are in a storm on the lake, I imagined being in the boat with them. It must've been quite a storm because many of the men were seasoned fishermen, and they were afraid. Around 4 am, Jesus approached them, walking on water. Unexpected, terrifying them. They thought he was a ghost. That's when Jesus said to them, "Be brave and don't be afraid. I am here." One thing I didn't see before in the story is, as soon as Jesus and Peter got in the boat, the storm ceased. Jesus' presence. God with us. I don't need to be afraid. Jesus is here with me, in my story. Even the wind and the sea obey Him.

I didn't think I had an image to accompany this blog post, and then, going to the studio I remembered a demo I did at a monthly art gathering I facilitate. My friend Michelle had given me a magazine page about surfing and riding the waves, since my word of the year is flow. The goal of the demo was to incorporate and connect a line drawing (aka one of my coloring pages from Colorful Blessings) with a magazine page and make them flow together using paint application. I had put a post-it note on the page with words I planned to include : "Go with the Spirit's flow and don't be afraid to ride the waves. Flow..go..grow..." Now, two weeks after the demo, after reading the Scripture in Matthew 14, I adjusted the text, and finished the page (shown above). I had been so focused on the project, I had forgot I had worked on the page earlier this month. Serendipity. Now it was time to finish the page, rest in the process,  and let God speak to me. I received a YouTube suggestion just before I sat down to finish painting these pages. I turned the audio YouTube on to listen to Graham Cooke's  Favor of the Lord: A Prophetic Soaking Experience. It blessed me so much, I've added it here for you.

Here is the link in case the YouTube video doesn't show up on your device:

https://youtu.be/rHob8vPAGVI

May you be blessed today with courage

to enter into the dream God has placed in your heart!

Love,

Valerie