August 5, 2025 • 34 mins
What if the creative ruts you keep experiencing aren't just "part of the process" but actually fear-based barriers preventing you from fulfilling your God-given purpose as an artist?
Fear whispers that you're not talented enough, that it's too late, that your work doesn't matter—but these whispers aren't coming from your Creator. God has empowered you with a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, not a spirit of fear. When you understand this truth, everything about your creative process can transform.
Your brain naturally protects you from perceived danger, and unless you've intentionally trained it according to God's Word, it will raise red flags when you try something new creatively. That's why 95% of what we do daily is controlled by our subconscious mind—creating an internal framework that either empowers or limits your artistic expression.
The creative instincts inside you—your attraction to certain media, techniques, colors, or subjects—aren't random. They're divine clues about your unique creative voice and purpose. As a believer, you're in union with Christ, not separated from His creative power. This means you can trust those instincts as the Holy Spirit's guidance in your artistic journey.
Every brushstroke, poem, dance movement, or musical note you create is an act of faith that can become a catalyst for transformation in someone's life. The difference between artists who thrive and those who remain stuck isn't talent or training—it's their willingness to show up consistently despite fear, trusting that "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world."
The only qualification you need to step into your artistic calling is your "yes" to God. The only disqualification is giving in to fear. When you choose to create even when you feel inadequate or uninspired, you're declaring victory over fear and opening the door to supernatural creativity that flows through your art in ways you never imagined possible.
Ready to break free from creative fear once and for all? Join hundreds of artists worldwide who have renewed their minds and unlocked their God-given creative potential through our Foundations course. Your artistic breakthrough awaits! Listeners of this episode use coupon code PODCAST75 to get 75% off.
Find out more about The Created to Thrive Foundations Course
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, a lot of artists believe that being in
creative ruts from time to timeis actually a normal part of the
creative process.
But what if I actually told youthat the thing that's causing
your creative rut is not God'splan for your life, but it's
probably fear and anxiety and alot of other stuff that the
enemy tries to throw at us?
We're going to talk about todayhow you can actually start
unlocking the creative potentialthat God's put in your life and
(00:23):
start seeing the dreams thathe's put on your heart.
Actually start unlocking thecreative potential that God's
put in your life and startseeing the dreams that he's put
on your heart actually startmanifesting in and through your
life.
Today, on the ThrivingChristian Artist, all of the
world artists are awakeningPainters and potters, writers
and weavers, poets and dancersnot chasing followers or fame,
but sons and daughters calledfor such a time as this,
transformed from the inside out,creating with purpose,
(00:46):
releasing the glory of God andliving in the power of the
kingdom.
Right now, this is the ThrivingChristian Artist.
Well, hey, my friend, it's MattTommy, so glad that you are
back with me here in my studio.
Maybe you're listening in yourstudio, but glad you're here,
whether it's your first time,first time in a long time or
whether you're a regularlistener and viewer really glad
(01:08):
that you are here.
Listen, fear is something thatall of us deal with as people,
but especially as artists.
I just have found over theyears in my own life whether I'm
in the studio trying to pressinto a new idea, or whether I'm
mentoring artists like I doevery day and I'm hearing the
stories of blank canvas syndromeyou know just this fear of
(01:29):
being able to press into the newthing, or these constant
feelings of hesitation or that's, you know, never ending sort of
conversation that's going oninside your head and what many
people call the inner critic.
Fear is actually something,absolutely something, that can
be a big, big, major player inour life.
It constantly gets us to.
(01:51):
You know, have these ideasinside of us that we're not
enough, that you know, what if Imess up?
What if I do it wrong?
What if people don't like me?
What if I can't make money fromit?
Oh, you know all those kinds ofideas, but I think this is the
super important thing that Iwant you to know as we're
starting out with thisconversation today Fear is a
liar, and it's a liar because itcomes from the father of lies.
(02:14):
The Bible says that the devil isthe father of lies.
He's the accuser of thebrethren and you can realize
that in your life if you'refeeling fear and anxiety and
feelings of inadequacy and allthat kind of stuff, 100% of the
time it is not from the Lord,100% of the time that is not
God's best for your life.
I can remember a business coachof mine years ago talking about
(02:38):
fear when we were starting tostep into some things that God
had for us in business, and hesaid, matt, you got to realize
that fear.
And he used an acronym that Inow know is kind of a common
acronym.
He said fear is falseexpectations appearing real,
false expectations appearingreal.
I don't know about you, butsometimes when I get fearful or
(02:59):
when fear is trying to, you know, kind of get in my head and
mess with me in my head, itstarts to create this sort of
mirage that gets IMAX on thescreen of my imagination, right.
Maybe you felt the same thingand you start to experience
these, maybe these gut levelsort of oh I'm getting sick in
my stomach, butterflies in mystomach.
I start to imagine and seeinside of my mind's eye, all the
(03:23):
things that could go wrong, allof the worst case scenarios,
all the things that are notgoing to work out.
But listen, here's the thingI've learned over the years, not
only maturing in the Lord,maturing as an artist, but also
just knowing about brain science.
Your brain is kind of designedby God to protect you, and it
works.
You know, your protectionmechanisms work no matter what
(03:46):
you put in them, and so for mostpeople in their life, they've
not been trained to thinkaccording to God's word.
We've been.
We've trained our brains, we'vetrained the inner consciousness
of our heart, this innerframework that I talk about so
much.
We've trained that according toexperiences that we've gone
through, lies that we believed,situations where we believed
(04:08):
something to be true or sawsomething actually modeled in
somebody else's life, all ofthis stuff goes into the inner
framework of our consciousnessto create a grid, if you will, a
framework, a blueprint that weoperate from.
And you know, neuroscientiststoday tell us that 95% think of
that 95% of what we are doingevery day is not controlled by
(04:30):
our conscious mind.
It's controlled by oursubconscious mind, and so
imagine that, that if you'retrying to do something new.
You're trying to press into anew idea, a new thing that
you've never done before.
Artistically kind of approachan idea from a different thing,
press into new skills thatyou've never done before.
Artistically kind of approachan idea from a different thing,
press into new skills thatyou're just learning, or maybe
open up a whole new body of work.
(04:51):
95% of the time, I would say theframework of your heart, if
it's not been trained to respondthrough faith and through
expectation and expectancy inGod's word, what's going to
happen is your insides are goingto go.
Stop the train.
We're going in the wrongdirection.
(05:12):
This is not something that'ssafe.
Why?
Because the inner framework ofyour heart and mind have been
trained to believe that anythingthat's new is what Dangerous
right?
Anything that's new has theopportunity to really kill you,
to maim.
New has the opportunity toreally to kill you, to maim you,
to hurt you, to stop you, tobring anxiety.
And so what is the innerframework of your heart doing?
It's throwing up all the redflags it can emotionally,
(05:35):
physically, internally.
It's throwing all of that up,saying stop, stop, stop, stop,
stop, don't do this.
And part of the way it doesthat is that it creates these
mirages in your mind of theworst case scenario, why?
In order to convince you tostop whatever it is that you're
doing.
Well, listen, you got torealize that.
(05:58):
Number one you can change thatAll right Through the, through
the word of God, through theprocess of renewing your mind,
through what I teach all thetime here on the, on the channel
and all my books.
The, what we call the five R'sare for learning to renew your
mind.
You can absolutely change theway that your brain responses.
You can retrain your brain.
You can.
You can re form your heart withthe Holy Spirit in order to
(06:21):
begin to respond to life and toart and to the way that you're
walking through every day.
You can learn to respond tothat by faith.
You can learn to respond tothat in a way that is not bound
by fear and anxiety.
But I just wanted to let youknow up front the feelings of
fear and the feelings ofinadequacy and the feelings of
(06:42):
I'm not enough or what if Iscrew this up or all that.
That is not destined to be theway that you have to live your
life.
Isn't that good news?
I mean, I just remember hearingthat years ago and learning
that years ago in my own lifeand, wow, like, if I change the
way I think and change what myheart is meditating on and learn
(07:02):
to filter everything that I'mhearing and seeing and
experiencing and interpretingthrough the Word of God, that I
can learn to respond to lifethrough the lens and the context
of the Word of God, and my lifecan change.
Because why Nothing?
Listen, this is reallyimportant.
Nothing in your external lifeis ever going to change until
(07:24):
your internal life changes.
In other words, your externallife is the fruit of your
internal life.
And so when we talk about fearand we talk about anxiety and we
talk about oh, I just can't,I'm in a creative rut and I
can't press through and I justcan never get into these new
ideas and I'm always justcompelled, with, you know, to
kind of hold back because I feellike I'm never going to be able
(07:46):
to, to measure up or be as goodas those other people that I,
that I see out there, andthere's just this idea of why
would I even try and why, whyshould I?
Don't have the skills and justall the stuff right that the
enemy is throwing at you.
You got to begin to believe andI hope that you believe you're
here by divine appointment todaybecause I'm sharing with you a
truth here you can begin to kickfear to the curb and unlock the
(08:11):
potential that God's put intoyou as you learn to renew your
mind in the truth of God's word.
So here's what I want to jumpinto today about this idea.
First of all, this is possible,all right, it's possible to
change.
But it's important for you tounderstand where fear a lot of
times is rooted.
Now, obviously, we know thatit's rooted in a design of the
(08:36):
enemy, right, it's rooted in ourflesh.
All right, we know that fear isnot God's plan for our life.
We know the Bible says whatGod's not given a spirit of fear
, but of what power?
And of love and a sound mind.
So, so let's just reverseengineer that right.
Anytime that you feel likeyou're not walking in the power
of God, in the love of God, oroperating with the mind of
(08:57):
Christ, you realize that you areoperating outside of the
perfect will of God for your art, for your creativity, for your
life.
Isn't that good?
I mean, that's just kind of areally easy framework If I'm
walking in a place where I'mfeeling unempowered, if I'm
walking in a place where I'm notrooted and grounded in the love
(09:17):
of God, if I'm walking in aplace where I'm just imagining
all the things that can go wrong, you can every time, 100% of
the time, stop yourself and sayHoly Spirit, I realize that I'm
walking in a way, I'm respondingin a way.
Right now I'm seeing through away that is not your best for my
life.
Help me to reframe this.
What's your truth about thissituation?
(09:39):
That's one of the first partsof the five R's that we talk
about all the time learning totake every thought captive,
right, recognize and then repent, come out of agreement with
those things, like Lord, I'msorry, I changed my mind.
I'm not going to go down thatroad and believe that fear and
anxiety and stress andinadequacy is my.
You know the thing that I'mgoing to suffer with my whole
(10:01):
life.
I believe your word that saysI've got power and love and a
sound mind in Christ.
So that's the first thing yougot to.
You got to realize See, theenemy knows and this is so
important for you Fear in thismirage is an all out assault on
your identity.
Why?
Because he knows that you know,he knows he can't stop you in
(10:25):
Christ.
Right In Christ, we have thevictory.
In Christ, we're more thanovercomers.
So what is he trying to do?
He's trying to convince youthat you're unqualified, that
you're too late, that you're tooold, that you're not talented
enough, that your work isn'tgood enough.
He's trying to convince you allof that stuff.
Why?
So that you'll come intoagreement with him, out of
agreement with the Lord, andthat opens the door for all of
(10:47):
the fruit of that agreement withhis lies to start showing up in
your life.
That's why he's whispering allthe time who do you think you
are?
Why are you even doing this?
Nobody cares about your art.
Nobody cares about what you'remaking.
Do you think you can actuallymake money from this?
You'll never be able to quityour job or you're way too old
to do this.
You should have done this 30years ago and you've lost your
(11:12):
momentum.
You've lost your mojo, you'velost your opportunity.
God's done with you.
It's time for the young peopleto take it right.
All these things he's tellingyou that in order to get one
little yes out of your heart toagree with him, and that's going
to open that door.
See those lies of the enemy,those accusations of their enemy
are designed to keep you fromshowing up and creating with God
every time, 100% of the time.
(11:34):
You can always know that ifyou're hearing anything or
feeling anything or sensinganything that even remotely
feels like that 100% of the time, it's not the Lord, that is not
God's plan for your life.
God does not operate out ofshame and fear and accusations
of inadequacy and everythingright Now.
(11:55):
Are we inadequate in our flesh?
Yeah, absolutely On my ownoutside of Christ.
Am I a hot mess?
Yeah, I am.
But here's the deal In Christ,which is what you are.
When you're saved, right, whenyou accept Jesus in your heart,
when he comes to live inside ofyou as Savior and Lord, guess
what?
The Holy Spirit takes upresidence In that moment.
(12:17):
You've been seated with Christin heavenly places.
You're empowered.
You've been seated with him.
You've been sent on a divinemission, empowered by him.
And so when you create, whetherI'm weaving a basket or in the
woods, or I'm painting orcreating sculpture with clay, or
I'm worshiping on the piano,making music or whatever it is
(12:39):
listen, creating in itself is anact of faith.
Why?
Because it says I believe, lord, that the thing that you put in
me is worth pursuing.
I believe that it's a gift Ibelieve that you want to give me
.
You've given me this idea, thispassion, this desire to create,
and I'm going to say yes, I'mgoing to see and agree with that
and I'm going to release thatthrough my life.
(13:00):
Listen, that in itself isspiritual warfare.
See, the enemy is just tryingto get you conned enough and get
you feeling inadequate enoughthat you just don't even show up
in the studio, that you justbelieve that you're always
disqualified, that you just keepfear on your mind.
I'm just telling you, even youstepping in the studio and
(13:21):
saying yes to the lord, that initself is an act of spiritual
warfare.
Why?
Because when you do that,you're connecting with who God
has created you to be.
When you create, you'rereleasing his beauty and truth
and transformation into theworld.
Through what you're doing,you're waging you're literally
waging war in the spirit.
(13:42):
And so that's why there's suchan allout assault on artists
because the enemy knows If hecan get you to come out of
agreement with who God says youare and out of faith for what
he's called you to do, and intofaith with all of your
inadequacies, seeminglyinadequacy in yourself, he knows
(14:02):
that that's enough to stop you.
That in itself is enough tostop you.
See, a lot of times we thinkthe enemy's, like, got these
huge big plans and these bigpowers in our life and all of
that.
No, all he's listen, all he'strying to do is just get you to
quit believing that you are whoyou are in Christ.
Now, I could say a lot more onthat, because maybe that's a
(14:23):
whole other, a whole other youknow episode here.
But you know, that's why it'sso important that you know who
you are in Christ.
Most artists operate on feelings, not on faith, right, they
operate on what they feel.
They're just kind of going withthe flow.
They think that if thriving intheir life is going to happen,
if the kingdom life in theirlife is going to happen, it's
(14:43):
going to happen because Godwants it to happen.
No, it doesn't happen justbecause God wants it to happen.
It happens because God wants itto happen and you appropriate
it by faith in your life.
Remember, god's already givenus through the cross, the
finished work of the cross,everything we need for this life
.
By what Grace already there andhow do we get it in our life?
(15:05):
Not just because it's God'swill.
We get it in our life throughfaith.
The Bible says it's by faith,right?
We can't please the Lord exceptby what Faith?
All right, so it's faith that'sseeing and agreeing.
That's how these things startto operate in your life.
All right, now, when it comes tolearning to trust in your
(15:26):
creative instincts.
Now, when it comes to learningto trust in your creative
instincts, you've got to realizethat one of the other lies the
enemy will try to get you tobelieve is that?
Well, is that just you?
Are these things that you'refeeling?
Is that really God?
Did God really say that?
He's been saying this the wholetime, right?
Read Adam and Eve, read Genesisand Exodus, all through the Old
Testament, new Testament.
He's always trying to sow doubt, right?
(15:49):
So I want you to forever getthis idea out of your head and
out of your heart that you aresomehow, as a believer,
separated from God, separatedfrom the will of God.
You are not In Christ.
You have been brought intounion with Christ.
In other words, there's noseparation.
Where he starts and you start,right, you're melded together,
(16:12):
you're in union as one.
You're in him, he's in you.
And so this idea that you knowsomehow, when you're in that
place and you go to create thatsomehow you're separated from
the love of God, separation fromthe mind of Christ, separated
from God's good intentions foryour life.
That's ridiculous.
You already have all thingshe's living in you.
(16:41):
So I would say to you that whenyou are living a life fully
submitted to the Lord, whenyou're living a life that is
cultivating His presence and anear to His voice, when you're
filling your heart with in yourears and your eyes with his word
, right what, what begins tohappen, you start realizing this
, this creative instinct that Ihave, this creative passion that
I have to make art, do art in away that you do it, the things
(17:01):
that are really important foryou.
You realize those things arenot just random.
Those are actually the way thatGod speaks to you.
Those are actually the way thatGod starts to lead you in your
life.
So you've got to start trustingthis flow, trusting the
connection.
Assuming connection that's notyou being prideful, that's not
(17:23):
you being just kind of off thecuff and casual with the Lord.
No, that's you trusting thathis word is actually true.
That's you trusting that Christin you, the hope of glory, is
actually seated in residence andworking and flowing inside of
you right now.
That is a huge, huge deal.
Religion teaches you that you'restill separate from God.
(17:45):
The enemy lies to you and tellsthat you're separate from God.
Your flesh and feelings ofinadequacy will always tell you
that you're still separate fromGod.
The enemy lies to you and tellsthat you're separate from God.
Your flesh and feelings ofinadequacy will always tell you
that you're separate from God.
But in Christ you're a newcreation.
In Christ you're seated withhim.
In Christ you have everythingyou need for life and godliness.
And so in that place ofconnection I would say you know,
(18:05):
practically start noticing whatlights you up creatively right.
What mediums are you drawn to,what color palette, what subject
, what techniques you know?
For me, I love naturalmaterials, right.
I love being in the woods.
I love pods and nests and rocksand branches and the way things
work together in nature.
I love all that, right, and theway things work together in
(18:31):
nature.
I love all that right.
That's a clue to the uniquevoice of God through your
creative outlet in your life,through your creative voice.
So, again, get rid of that ideathat, oh, those aren't spiritual
enough, those don't really seemlike God could use those.
Those don't seem like Christianart that I've ever seen before.
Forget that.
Forget that You're in Christand so trust that.
The things that are on yourheart when you're fully
(18:53):
submitted and walking with him,these things that have always
been with you, these things thatare passions and desires and
instincts, he's the one that putthem there.
These are his idea.
They're his idea for youthrough you.
That's really really important.
They're his idea for youthrough you.
That's really really important.
Number two I would say sometimesone of the ways that we start
recognizing, you know, the flowof God in our life and learning
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to trust that is what otherpeople say.
You know, when do you get themost accolades in your art?
When are the times that peoplesay, wow, when you do that man,
I felt the Lord on that.
Or wow, you're so talented inthat area.
Or wow, when you do that,that's so beautiful.
Or I've never seen anybody dosomething like that before.
Listen, the Bible says out ofthe mouth of two or three, let
(19:41):
every word be confirmed.
God will use people, sometimesin spite of themselves, to
confirm who you are in him, andhe'll use people in, sometimes
in spite of themselves, toconfirm who you are in him and
he'll use people in the contextof your art to lead you and
guide you in that way.
Number three I would sayexperiment without expectation.
Now, this is really, really big.
(20:01):
I've done a lot of episodes andteaching on this over the years.
We talk about it a lot in thementoring program, but this idea
of purposeful play, if you will, in your creative process, this
is so important.
It's one of the ways that youdiscover what gets your motor
running right, what lights youup.
So if you can build that intoyour life, build that into your
(20:22):
studio, just get in there andputz around, you know, with
materials, doing things thatinspire you, and just let go of
the outcomes, right, just getcurious with it, you'll be
amazed where you'll be led.
And again, I'm believing that,as we do that as sons and
daughters, what it's?
The Holy Spirit that's leadingus.
It's the Holy Spirit that'sbringing things to our
(20:43):
remembrance, it's the HolySpirit that's opening our eyes
in those moments to thoserevelations.
You know, that's not justcoincidence, that's not just oh,
wow, this happened again.
No, hello, newsflash.
This is the Holy Spirit tryingto lead you and trying to guide
you in your process.
Again, you've got to assumethat God is leading you.
(21:05):
He's you know, I think so manytimes we're waiting for, like
the sky, to open up the goldenscroll, to fall down, the
lightning bolt to hit you in thehead Like I am God, this is
where I'm leading you.
Listen, just start creating.
Just assume that the HolySpirit is leading you in in the
creative flow.
Enjoy it and trust it.
All right, listen, everybrushstroke that you create,
(21:26):
every sketch that you make,every sculpture that you create,
every poem that you write,every dance movement that you do
, every piece of music that youwrite, whatever it is, it's all
an act of faith.
It's this decision to see andagree with what God is showing
you and to act on it.
You and to act on it.
(21:51):
When you act on what God isshowing you, that in itself is
faith.
That in itself releases thenature of God in you, the power
of God in you and through you.
This is why listen, this is soimportant.
I've been teaching this foryears.
I remember years and years ago,when God began to show me this
what if it's your creativeexpression?
That when somebody connectswith that, your song, your poem,
(22:13):
your painting, your piece ofsculpture, whatever it is.
What if that act of faith andsomebody seeing that and
engaging with it?
What if that becomes the thing,the catalyst, if you will, that
God uses to dislodge astronghold in somebody's heart?
What if it's that act of faiththat you participated in and
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released to the world?
That is the thing that causes amountain to be moved in
somebody's life?
Listen, what you do is important.
What you do is is supernatural.
And so when you say yes to theLord, you're saying Lord, I
agree that what you've plantedinside of me is from you, and I
will not let fear stop me.
(22:54):
I'm on assignment, not only formyself, but for others.
I'm on assignment not only tolive the abundant life that you
promised, but also to be areleaser, an overflower of the
kingdom life that you put insideof me, and I do that through
creating the art that you put onmy life.
I do that through trusting you,even when I don't always know
(23:17):
every little next step.
And so, listen, here's the deal.
If you're waiting for for fearjust to go away, if you're
waiting for anxiety, thesefeelings of inadequacy, if
you're waiting for those just tolike never hit you again and
never go away.
Let me just tell you you'reliving in a la la land, right.
Until we are living with theLord for all eternity, the enemy
(23:39):
is not going to stop knockingat your door.
So the issue is not is he goingto stop knocking at your door?
The issue is are you going toquit answering?
The issue is are you going tostart learning to say yes to
what God said to you?
Reframe your heart and mind,retrain your brain, retrain the
(24:02):
ears of your heart to listen tohim and to recognize his voice
over the lies of the enemy.
Listen, if you're waiting forhim, the enemy, to stop.
You're going to be waiting along time, all right.
You've got to learn to face fearwith faith and with the truth
of God's word.
And every listen, every timeyou create in the face of fear,
every time you walk in and yousay, even though I'm, I'm
(24:22):
feeling this right now from theenemy.
The enemy is trying to bringthese feelings of inadequacy,
but I'm going to step forward infaith, you are declaring
victory.
You're coming in the oppositespirit of what the enemy is
trying to bring in your life,and that's when you begin to
walk by faith and actually seethe flow of God happen in your
life.
So you want to know whatseparates artists from those who
(24:46):
are growing and thriving andwalking in all God's got for
them and those who stay stuck orcontinually get stuck.
You know the difference.
They show up.
They show up in faith.
They show up even though theydon't feel like it.
They show up even though theenemy's at their door firing
those darts.
They show up and believe thatlisten it their door firing
those darts.
They show up and believe thatlisten.
It's not about my talent.
(25:06):
It's not about my training.
It's not about all the thingsthat I can or can't do.
It's about me being seated inChrist.
It's about me being in Christ.
It's about me stepping into allthat Christ has appropriated,
given to me by his grace.
It is about me stepping intothat by faith and believing that
he who is in me is greater thanhe who is in the world.
(25:30):
That's the difference.
Listen, can I just tell you itdoesn't matter if you've been to
art school.
I've never been to art school.
It doesn't matter if you've hadart lessons.
I never had any art lessons.
I've only.
You know, I've only taken onebasket class in my whole life.
I've made hundreds of thousandsof dollars over the years
selling my basketry.
I've never taken.
Well, I have taken somepainting classes.
(25:52):
I started when I started doingcold wax and oil.
But I don't have an MFA or BFA.
I don't have a doctorate instudio art or whatever.
I've just been faithful everyday to show up and do the thing
that God's called me to do.
And has God brought help alongthe way?
Yes, absolutely.
Has he brought mentors in mylife and teachers in my life?
Yeah, absolutely he uses thosethings.
(26:13):
But listen, not having any ofthat does not qualify you or
disqualify you from being whoGod's called you to be and
walking in what he's called youto do.
The only thing, listen, theonly thing that qualifies you to
be stepping into what God'scalled you to do as an artist is
your yes.
And the only thing that candisqualify you is your fear.
(26:38):
Is saying that is saying yes tothe lies of the enemy.
Listen, it's the ones who arewilling to go back to the studio
day after day after day, evenwhen they're tired or they're
unsure or they're feeling likethey're uninspired.
It's the ones who are willingto create a rhythm, right, who
(26:59):
are not waiting.
You know, as the famous quotesays you know, not waiting for
inspiration, we just show up anddo the work.
Chuck Close's, you know, as thefamous quote says, you know,
not waiting for inspiration, wejust show up and do the work.
Chuck Close's, you know, famousquote, like that, it's just
showing up, whether you feellike it or not, it's blocking
the timeout, it's putting it onyour calendar right, it's
putting on the music.
It's getting down there andsaying Lord, I know that I'm an
artist and because I'm an artist, I'm showing up, faithful,
(27:21):
today and doing this thing, eventhough the enemy's knocking at
the door.
I believe that you havesomething for me today, and so
I'm giving you my yes and I'mshowing up to do it.
Listen, that's when the flow,the overflow of the creative
nature of God, that's when thewhoosh of creativity, that's
(27:41):
when, when, when supernaturalconfidence is going to hit you.
That's when transformation notonly hits you but moves through
you, when you say yes andactually start showing up.
Listen, my friend, I believe ifyou're still listening to this,
watching this, I believe thatmaybe fear has been something
that's been holding you back,but I just want to encourage you
today.
Jesus has got freedom for you.
(28:02):
Right now I just, I just wantyou to believe in your heart
that God believes in you.
God's got a plan for your life.
God's got a promise on theother side of your yes that he's
waiting to release into yourlife.
But you've got to quit cominginto agreement with fear and
come into faith.
(28:23):
You got to start trusting thatsmall and that still voice
inside you, that voice of theHoly Spirit that says you're an
artist.
What you do matters.
This is important.
You've got to start beingintentional about choosing those
things.
That's when the flow begins tobe released.
Listen, I want to pray for youright now.
(28:43):
In fact, jesus, I thank youthat you've not given us a
spirit of fear, but a power andof love and a sound mind.
In other words, god, we canwalk in your supernatural power,
we can walk in yoursupernatural love, rooted and
grounded in that, knowing who weare, in you.
And we can walk with a soundmind, a mind of Christ, not one
(29:06):
that's rooted in fear andanxiety and inadequacy, but we
can walk rooted and grounded inyou, knowing that we are seeing
life and processing life andwalking in life empowered and
led by the mind of Christ.
Wow, father, I bind the enemyin Jesus' name.
(29:30):
Lord, in the life of my friendthat's listening and watching
right now, lord, I bind theenemy in Jesus' name and I lose
peace, I lose grace, right nowin their life to be able to step
into this invitation ofcreating, this invitation of
faith that you have for themtoday, god, break every
stronghold of the enemy overtheir life in Jesus name and
(29:52):
release your grace, release yourpeace, god in new ways and God
begin to to lead them by yourspirit into every good thing
that you have for them.
God, strengthen them in theirinner man that they may be able
to walk worthy of the callingand walk according to every good
and perfect plan that you havefor them in your life.
(30:13):
In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen.
Listen, my friend, this is whatGod has called you to to walk by
faith and not by sight, to walkempowered by his spirit and to
learn to renew your mind.
Listen, the Bible says if youcan't renew your mind, if you're
not willing to step intointentionally renewing your mind
(30:35):
, empowered by the Holy Spirit,you will never be able to
experience all the benefits andblessings that God has for you.
Listen, if that's somethingyou've struggled with your
entire life.
If you've been on this rollercoaster of emotions up and down,
one step forward, two step back, I want to invite you to join
us inside the Foundations course.
That's exactly why I created itand for hundreds and hundreds
(30:57):
and hundreds of artists all overthe world, in just about every
creative medium, the Foundationscourse has proven itself to be
a pathway that God can use inyour life to bring healing and
faith and wholeness, to breakthrough the roadblocks that have
held you back for years andstart allowing you to remold and
(31:17):
make your heart and mind withthe power of the Holy Spirit and
actually start stepping intowhat God's called you to do.
Start clarifying his plan andpurposes for your life.
Start creating habits thatactually let you start walking
in the fullness of those andlisten.
If you want to do that, I've gota great offer for you.
It's right here in thedescription, in the show notes
(31:38):
If you're on the podcast,there's a discount code there as
well.
Let's you get a big discount onthe foundation scores just
because you're on the podcast,there's a discount code there as
well.
It lets you get a big discounton the Foundations course just
because you're a regularlistener and listen.
Nothing would give me more joyto be able to walk with you
during this process and connectyou with the hundreds of artists
around the world that arealready experiencing this
freedom through the Foundationscourse.
(31:59):
So do that today.
Listen also, make sure.
If you've not subscribed, ifyou've not ever left a review on
the podcast, if you want toleave a comment here on YouTube
and let me know what God isspeaking to you, as you've heard
this teaching today, please dothat.
I read every one of thempersonally, and there's no bot,
there's no assistant.
It's me.
I'm reading them, I'mcommenting on them.
(32:20):
I love hearing and seeing whatGod's doing in your life and
they give me a lot of joy Toknow that this is being a
blessing to you.
All right, I love you, myfriend.
Share this podcast, share thisepisode With a friend of yours
and remember until next time youwere created to thrive.
Bye, hey, my friend.
Before you go, make sure thatyou're signed up for the
(32:41):
thriving christian artist weekly.
It's my free newsletter, fullof spiritual encouragement,
creative inspiration andpractical tips to help you
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Every issue is absolutely freeand it includes the latest
podcast episode, featured artistspotlights, a worship song of
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(33:02):
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everything that God's got foryou as an artist in the kingdom.
You can click the link righthere in the show notes to join
us, and it's a great way to stayconnected.
All right, love you Bye.
You know, a lot of artists believe that being in
creative ruts from time to timeis actually a normal part of the
creative process.
But what if I actually told youthat the thing that's causing
your creative rut is not God'splan for your life, but it's
probably fear and anxiety and alot of other stuff that the
enemy tries to throw at us?
We're going to talk about todayhow you can actually start
unlocking the creative potentialthat God's put in your life and
(00:23):
start seeing the dreams thathe's put on your heart.
Actually start unlocking thecreative potential that God's
put in your life and startseeing the dreams that he's put
on your heart actually startmanifesting in and through your
life.
Today, on the ThrivingChristian Artist, all of the
world artists are awakeningPainters and potters, writers
and weavers, poets and dancersnot chasing followers or fame,
but sons and daughters calledfor such a time as this,
transformed from the inside out,creating with purpose,
(00:46):
releasing the glory of God andliving in the power of the
kingdom.
Right now, this is the ThrivingChristian Artist.
Well, hey, my friend, it's MattTommy, so glad that you are
back with me here in my studio.
Maybe you're listening in yourstudio, but glad you're here,
whether it's your first time,first time in a long time or
whether you're a regularlistener and viewer really glad
(01:08):
that you are here.
Listen, fear is something thatall of us deal with as people,
but especially as artists.
I just have found over theyears in my own life whether I'm
in the studio trying to pressinto a new idea, or whether I'm
mentoring artists like I doevery day and I'm hearing the
stories of blank canvas syndromeyou know just this fear of
(01:29):
being able to press into the newthing, or these constant
feelings of hesitation or that's, you know, never ending sort of
conversation that's going oninside your head and what many
people call the inner critic.
Fear is actually something,absolutely something, that can
be a big, big, major player inour life.
It constantly gets us to.
(01:51):
You know, have these ideasinside of us that we're not
enough, that you know, what if Imess up?
What if I do it wrong?
What if people don't like me?
What if I can't make money fromit?
Oh, you know all those kinds ofideas, but I think this is the
super important thing that Iwant you to know as we're
starting out with thisconversation today Fear is a
liar, and it's a liar because itcomes from the father of lies.
(02:14):
The Bible says that the devil isthe father of lies.
He's the accuser of thebrethren and you can realize
that in your life if you'refeeling fear and anxiety and
feelings of inadequacy and allthat kind of stuff, 100% of the
time it is not from the Lord,100% of the time that is not
God's best for your life.
I can remember a business coachof mine years ago talking about
(02:38):
fear when we were starting tostep into some things that God
had for us in business, and hesaid, matt, you got to realize
that fear.
And he used an acronym that Inow know is kind of a common
acronym.
He said fear is falseexpectations appearing real,
false expectations appearingreal.
I don't know about you, butsometimes when I get fearful or
(02:59):
when fear is trying to, you know, kind of get in my head and
mess with me in my head, itstarts to create this sort of
mirage that gets IMAX on thescreen of my imagination, right.
Maybe you felt the same thingand you start to experience
these, maybe these gut levelsort of oh I'm getting sick in
my stomach, butterflies in mystomach.
I start to imagine and seeinside of my mind's eye, all the
(03:23):
things that could go wrong, allof the worst case scenarios,
all the things that are notgoing to work out.
But listen, here's the thingI've learned over the years, not
only maturing in the Lord,maturing as an artist, but also
just knowing about brain science.
Your brain is kind of designedby God to protect you, and it
works.
You know, your protectionmechanisms work no matter what
(03:46):
you put in them, and so for mostpeople in their life, they've
not been trained to thinkaccording to God's word.
We've been.
We've trained our brains, we'vetrained the inner consciousness
of our heart, this innerframework that I talk about so
much.
We've trained that according toexperiences that we've gone
through, lies that we believed,situations where we believed
(04:08):
something to be true or sawsomething actually modeled in
somebody else's life, all ofthis stuff goes into the inner
framework of our consciousnessto create a grid, if you will, a
framework, a blueprint that weoperate from.
And you know, neuroscientiststoday tell us that 95% think of
that 95% of what we are doingevery day is not controlled by
(04:30):
our conscious mind.
It's controlled by oursubconscious mind, and so
imagine that, that if you'retrying to do something new.
You're trying to press into anew idea, a new thing that
you've never done before.
Artistically kind of approachan idea from a different thing,
press into new skills thatyou've never done before.
Artistically kind of approachan idea from a different thing,
press into new skills thatyou're just learning, or maybe
open up a whole new body of work.
(04:51):
95% of the time, I would say theframework of your heart, if
it's not been trained to respondthrough faith and through
expectation and expectancy inGod's word, what's going to
happen is your insides are goingto go.
Stop the train.
We're going in the wrongdirection.
(05:12):
This is not something that'ssafe.
Why?
Because the inner framework ofyour heart and mind have been
trained to believe that anythingthat's new is what Dangerous
right?
Anything that's new has theopportunity to really kill you,
to maim.
New has the opportunity toreally to kill you, to maim you,
to hurt you, to stop you, tobring anxiety.
And so what is the innerframework of your heart doing?
It's throwing up all the redflags it can emotionally,
(05:35):
physically, internally.
It's throwing all of that up,saying stop, stop, stop, stop,
stop, don't do this.
And part of the way it doesthat is that it creates these
mirages in your mind of theworst case scenario, why?
In order to convince you tostop whatever it is that you're
doing.
Well, listen, you got torealize that.
(05:58):
Number one you can change thatAll right Through the, through
the word of God, through theprocess of renewing your mind,
through what I teach all thetime here on the, on the channel
and all my books.
The, what we call the five R'sare for learning to renew your
mind.
You can absolutely change theway that your brain responses.
You can retrain your brain.
You can.
You can re form your heart withthe Holy Spirit in order to
(06:21):
begin to respond to life and toart and to the way that you're
walking through every day.
You can learn to respond tothat by faith.
You can learn to respond tothat in a way that is not bound
by fear and anxiety.
But I just wanted to let youknow up front the feelings of
fear and the feelings ofinadequacy and the feelings of
(06:42):
I'm not enough or what if Iscrew this up or all that.
That is not destined to be theway that you have to live your
life.
Isn't that good news?
I mean, I just remember hearingthat years ago and learning
that years ago in my own lifeand, wow, like, if I change the
way I think and change what myheart is meditating on and learn
(07:02):
to filter everything that I'mhearing and seeing and
experiencing and interpretingthrough the Word of God, that I
can learn to respond to lifethrough the lens and the context
of the Word of God, and my lifecan change.
Because why Nothing?
Listen, this is reallyimportant.
Nothing in your external lifeis ever going to change until
(07:24):
your internal life changes.
In other words, your externallife is the fruit of your
internal life.
And so when we talk about fearand we talk about anxiety and we
talk about oh, I just can't,I'm in a creative rut and I
can't press through and I justcan never get into these new
ideas and I'm always justcompelled, with, you know, to
kind of hold back because I feellike I'm never going to be able
(07:46):
to, to measure up or be as goodas those other people that I,
that I see out there, andthere's just this idea of why
would I even try and why, whyshould I?
Don't have the skills and justall the stuff right that the
enemy is throwing at you.
You got to begin to believe andI hope that you believe you're
here by divine appointment todaybecause I'm sharing with you a
truth here you can begin to kickfear to the curb and unlock the
(08:11):
potential that God's put intoyou as you learn to renew your
mind in the truth of God's word.
So here's what I want to jumpinto today about this idea.
First of all, this is possible,all right, it's possible to
change.
But it's important for you tounderstand where fear a lot of
times is rooted.
Now, obviously, we know thatit's rooted in a design of the
(08:36):
enemy, right, it's rooted in ourflesh.
All right, we know that fear isnot God's plan for our life.
We know the Bible says whatGod's not given a spirit of fear
, but of what power?
And of love and a sound mind.
So, so let's just reverseengineer that right.
Anytime that you feel likeyou're not walking in the power
of God, in the love of God, oroperating with the mind of
(08:57):
Christ, you realize that you areoperating outside of the
perfect will of God for your art, for your creativity, for your
life.
Isn't that good?
I mean, that's just kind of areally easy framework If I'm
walking in a place where I'mfeeling unempowered, if I'm
walking in a place where I'm notrooted and grounded in the love
(09:17):
of God, if I'm walking in aplace where I'm just imagining
all the things that can go wrong, you can every time, 100% of
the time, stop yourself and sayHoly Spirit, I realize that I'm
walking in a way, I'm respondingin a way.
Right now I'm seeing through away that is not your best for my
life.
Help me to reframe this.
What's your truth about thissituation?
(09:39):
That's one of the first partsof the five R's that we talk
about all the time learning totake every thought captive,
right, recognize and then repent, come out of agreement with
those things, like Lord, I'msorry, I changed my mind.
I'm not going to go down thatroad and believe that fear and
anxiety and stress andinadequacy is my.
You know the thing that I'mgoing to suffer with my whole
(10:01):
life.
I believe your word that saysI've got power and love and a
sound mind in Christ.
So that's the first thing yougot to.
You got to realize See, theenemy knows and this is so
important for you Fear in thismirage is an all out assault on
your identity.
Why?
Because he knows that you know,he knows he can't stop you in
(10:25):
Christ.
Right In Christ, we have thevictory.
In Christ, we're more thanovercomers.
So what is he trying to do?
He's trying to convince youthat you're unqualified, that
you're too late, that you're tooold, that you're not talented
enough, that your work isn'tgood enough.
He's trying to convince you allof that stuff.
Why?
So that you'll come intoagreement with him, out of
agreement with the Lord, andthat opens the door for all of
(10:47):
the fruit of that agreement withhis lies to start showing up in
your life.
That's why he's whispering allthe time who do you think you
are?
Why are you even doing this?
Nobody cares about your art.
Nobody cares about what you'remaking.
Do you think you can actuallymake money from this?
You'll never be able to quityour job or you're way too old
to do this.
You should have done this 30years ago and you've lost your
(11:12):
momentum.
You've lost your mojo, you'velost your opportunity.
God's done with you.
It's time for the young peopleto take it right.
All these things he's tellingyou that in order to get one
little yes out of your heart toagree with him, and that's going
to open that door.
See those lies of the enemy,those accusations of their enemy
are designed to keep you fromshowing up and creating with God
every time, 100% of the time.
(11:34):
You can always know that ifyou're hearing anything or
feeling anything or sensinganything that even remotely
feels like that 100% of the time, it's not the Lord, that is not
God's plan for your life.
God does not operate out ofshame and fear and accusations
of inadequacy and everythingright Now.
(11:55):
Are we inadequate in our flesh?
Yeah, absolutely On my ownoutside of Christ.
Am I a hot mess?
Yeah, I am.
But here's the deal In Christ,which is what you are.
When you're saved, right, whenyou accept Jesus in your heart,
when he comes to live inside ofyou as Savior and Lord, guess
what?
The Holy Spirit takes upresidence In that moment.
(12:17):
You've been seated with Christin heavenly places.
You're empowered.
You've been seated with him.
You've been sent on a divinemission, empowered by him.
And so when you create, whetherI'm weaving a basket or in the
woods, or I'm painting orcreating sculpture with clay, or
I'm worshiping on the piano,making music or whatever it is
(12:39):
listen, creating in itself is anact of faith.
Why?
Because it says I believe, lord, that the thing that you put in
me is worth pursuing.
I believe that it's a gift Ibelieve that you want to give me
.
You've given me this idea, thispassion, this desire to create,
and I'm going to say yes, I'mgoing to see and agree with that
and I'm going to release thatthrough my life.
(13:00):
Listen, that in itself isspiritual warfare.
See, the enemy is just tryingto get you conned enough and get
you feeling inadequate enoughthat you just don't even show up
in the studio, that you justbelieve that you're always
disqualified, that you just keepfear on your mind.
I'm just telling you, even youstepping in the studio and
(13:21):
saying yes to the lord, that initself is an act of spiritual
warfare.
Why?
Because when you do that,you're connecting with who God
has created you to be.
When you create, you'rereleasing his beauty and truth
and transformation into theworld.
Through what you're doing,you're waging you're literally
waging war in the spirit.
(13:42):
And so that's why there's suchan allout assault on artists
because the enemy knows If hecan get you to come out of
agreement with who God says youare and out of faith for what
he's called you to do, and intofaith with all of your
inadequacies, seeminglyinadequacy in yourself, he knows
(14:02):
that that's enough to stop you.
That in itself is enough tostop you.
See, a lot of times we thinkthe enemy's, like, got these
huge big plans and these bigpowers in our life and all of
that.
No, all he's listen, all he'strying to do is just get you to
quit believing that you are whoyou are in Christ.
Now, I could say a lot more onthat, because maybe that's a
(14:23):
whole other, a whole other youknow episode here.
But you know, that's why it'sso important that you know who
you are in Christ.
Most artists operate on feelings, not on faith, right, they
operate on what they feel.
They're just kind of going withthe flow.
They think that if thriving intheir life is going to happen,
if the kingdom life in theirlife is going to happen, it's
(14:43):
going to happen because Godwants it to happen.
No, it doesn't happen justbecause God wants it to happen.
It happens because God wants itto happen and you appropriate
it by faith in your life.
Remember, god's already givenus through the cross, the
finished work of the cross,everything we need for this life
.
By what Grace already there andhow do we get it in our life?
(15:05):
Not just because it's God'swill.
We get it in our life throughfaith.
The Bible says it's by faith,right?
We can't please the Lord exceptby what Faith?
All right, so it's faith that'sseeing and agreeing.
That's how these things startto operate in your life.
All right, now, when it comes tolearning to trust in your
(15:26):
creative instincts.
Now, when it comes to learningto trust in your creative
instincts, you've got to realizethat one of the other lies the
enemy will try to get you tobelieve is that?
Well, is that just you?
Are these things that you'refeeling?
Is that really God?
Did God really say that?
He's been saying this the wholetime, right?
Read Adam and Eve, read Genesisand Exodus, all through the Old
Testament, new Testament.
He's always trying to sow doubt, right?
(15:49):
So I want you to forever getthis idea out of your head and
out of your heart that you aresomehow, as a believer,
separated from God, separatedfrom the will of God.
You are not In Christ.
You have been brought intounion with Christ.
In other words, there's noseparation.
Where he starts and you start,right, you're melded together,
(16:12):
you're in union as one.
You're in him, he's in you.
And so this idea that you knowsomehow, when you're in that
place and you go to create thatsomehow you're separated from
the love of God, separation fromthe mind of Christ, separated
from God's good intentions foryour life.
That's ridiculous.
You already have all thingshe's living in you.
(16:41):
So I would say to you that whenyou are living a life fully
submitted to the Lord, whenyou're living a life that is
cultivating His presence and anear to His voice, when you're
filling your heart with in yourears and your eyes with his word
, right what, what begins tohappen, you start realizing this
, this creative instinct that Ihave, this creative passion that
I have to make art, do art in away that you do it, the things
(17:01):
that are really important foryou.
You realize those things arenot just random.
Those are actually the way thatGod speaks to you.
Those are actually the way thatGod starts to lead you in your
life.
So you've got to start trustingthis flow, trusting the
connection.
Assuming connection that's notyou being prideful, that's not
(17:23):
you being just kind of off thecuff and casual with the Lord.
No, that's you trusting thathis word is actually true.
That's you trusting that Christin you, the hope of glory, is
actually seated in residence andworking and flowing inside of
you right now.
That is a huge, huge deal.
Religion teaches you that you'restill separate from God.
(17:45):
The enemy lies to you and tellsthat you're separate from God.
Your flesh and feelings ofinadequacy will always tell you
that you're still separate fromGod.
The enemy lies to you and tellsthat you're separate from God.
Your flesh and feelings ofinadequacy will always tell you
that you're separate from God.
But in Christ you're a newcreation.
In Christ you're seated withhim.
In Christ you have everythingyou need for life and godliness.
And so in that place ofconnection I would say you know,
(18:05):
practically start noticing whatlights you up creatively right.
What mediums are you drawn to,what color palette, what subject
, what techniques you know?
For me, I love naturalmaterials, right.
I love being in the woods.
I love pods and nests and rocksand branches and the way things
work together in nature.
I love all that, right, and theway things work together in
(18:31):
nature.
I love all that right.
That's a clue to the uniquevoice of God through your
creative outlet in your life,through your creative voice.
So, again, get rid of that ideathat, oh, those aren't spiritual
enough, those don't really seemlike God could use those.
Those don't seem like Christianart that I've ever seen before.
Forget that.
Forget that You're in Christand so trust that.
The things that are on yourheart when you're fully
(18:53):
submitted and walking with him,these things that have always
been with you, these things thatare passions and desires and
instincts, he's the one that putthem there.
These are his idea.
They're his idea for youthrough you.
That's really really important.
They're his idea for youthrough you.
That's really really important.
Number two I would say sometimesone of the ways that we start
recognizing, you know, the flowof God in our life and learning
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to trust that is what otherpeople say.
You know, when do you get themost accolades in your art?
When are the times that peoplesay, wow, when you do that man,
I felt the Lord on that.
Or wow, you're so talented inthat area.
Or wow, when you do that,that's so beautiful.
Or I've never seen anybody dosomething like that before.
Listen, the Bible says out ofthe mouth of two or three, let
(19:41):
every word be confirmed.
God will use people, sometimesin spite of themselves, to
confirm who you are in him, andhe'll use people in, sometimes
in spite of themselves, toconfirm who you are in him and
he'll use people in the contextof your art to lead you and
guide you in that way.
Number three I would sayexperiment without expectation.
Now, this is really, really big.
(20:01):
I've done a lot of episodes andteaching on this over the years.
We talk about it a lot in thementoring program, but this idea
of purposeful play, if you will, in your creative process, this
is so important.
It's one of the ways that youdiscover what gets your motor
running right, what lights youup.
So if you can build that intoyour life, build that into your
(20:22):
studio, just get in there andputz around, you know, with
materials, doing things thatinspire you, and just let go of
the outcomes, right, just getcurious with it, you'll be
amazed where you'll be led.
And again, I'm believing that,as we do that as sons and
daughters, what it's?
The Holy Spirit that's leadingus.
It's the Holy Spirit that'sbringing things to our
(20:43):
remembrance, it's the HolySpirit that's opening our eyes
in those moments to thoserevelations.
You know, that's not justcoincidence, that's not just oh,
wow, this happened again.
No, hello, newsflash.
This is the Holy Spirit tryingto lead you and trying to guide
you in your process.
Again, you've got to assumethat God is leading you.
(21:05):
He's you know, I think so manytimes we're waiting for, like
the sky, to open up the goldenscroll, to fall down, the
lightning bolt to hit you in thehead Like I am God, this is
where I'm leading you.
Listen, just start creating.
Just assume that the HolySpirit is leading you in in the
creative flow.
Enjoy it and trust it.
All right, listen, everybrushstroke that you create,
(21:26):
every sketch that you make,every sculpture that you create,
every poem that you write,every dance movement that you do
, every piece of music that youwrite, whatever it is, it's all
an act of faith.
It's this decision to see andagree with what God is showing
you and to act on it.
You and to act on it.
(21:51):
When you act on what God isshowing you, that in itself is
faith.
That in itself releases thenature of God in you, the power
of God in you and through you.
This is why listen, this is soimportant.
I've been teaching this foryears.
I remember years and years ago,when God began to show me this
what if it's your creativeexpression?
That when somebody connectswith that, your song, your poem,
(22:13):
your painting, your piece ofsculpture, whatever it is.
What if that act of faith andsomebody seeing that and
engaging with it?
What if that becomes the thing,the catalyst, if you will, that
God uses to dislodge astronghold in somebody's heart?
What if it's that act of faiththat you participated in and
(22:33):
released to the world?
That is the thing that causes amountain to be moved in
somebody's life?
Listen, what you do is important.
What you do is is supernatural.
And so when you say yes to theLord, you're saying Lord, I
agree that what you've plantedinside of me is from you, and I
will not let fear stop me.
(22:54):
I'm on assignment, not only formyself, but for others.
I'm on assignment not only tolive the abundant life that you
promised, but also to be areleaser, an overflower of the
kingdom life that you put insideof me, and I do that through
creating the art that you put onmy life.
I do that through trusting you,even when I don't always know
(23:17):
every little next step.
And so, listen, here's the deal.
If you're waiting for for fearjust to go away, if you're
waiting for anxiety, thesefeelings of inadequacy, if
you're waiting for those just tolike never hit you again and
never go away.
Let me just tell you you'reliving in a la la land, right.
Until we are living with theLord for all eternity, the enemy
(23:39):
is not going to stop knockingat your door.
So the issue is not is he goingto stop knocking at your door?
The issue is are you going toquit answering?
The issue is are you going tostart learning to say yes to
what God said to you?
Reframe your heart and mind,retrain your brain, retrain the
(24:02):
ears of your heart to listen tohim and to recognize his voice
over the lies of the enemy.
Listen, if you're waiting forhim, the enemy, to stop.
You're going to be waiting along time, all right.
You've got to learn to face fearwith faith and with the truth
of God's word.
And every listen, every timeyou create in the face of fear,
every time you walk in and yousay, even though I'm, I'm
(24:22):
feeling this right now from theenemy.
The enemy is trying to bringthese feelings of inadequacy,
but I'm going to step forward infaith, you are declaring
victory.
You're coming in the oppositespirit of what the enemy is
trying to bring in your life,and that's when you begin to
walk by faith and actually seethe flow of God happen in your
life.
So you want to know whatseparates artists from those who
(24:46):
are growing and thriving andwalking in all God's got for
them and those who stay stuck orcontinually get stuck.
You know the difference.
They show up.
They show up in faith.
They show up even though theydon't feel like it.
They show up even though theenemy's at their door firing
those darts.
They show up and believe thatlisten it their door firing
those darts.
They show up and believe thatlisten.
It's not about my talent.
(25:06):
It's not about my training.
It's not about all the thingsthat I can or can't do.
It's about me being seated inChrist.
It's about me being in Christ.
It's about me stepping into allthat Christ has appropriated,
given to me by his grace.
It is about me stepping intothat by faith and believing that
he who is in me is greater thanhe who is in the world.
(25:30):
That's the difference.
Listen, can I just tell you itdoesn't matter if you've been to
art school.
I've never been to art school.
It doesn't matter if you've hadart lessons.
I never had any art lessons.
I've only.
You know, I've only taken onebasket class in my whole life.
I've made hundreds of thousandsof dollars over the years
selling my basketry.
I've never taken.
Well, I have taken somepainting classes.
(25:52):
I started when I started doingcold wax and oil.
But I don't have an MFA or BFA.
I don't have a doctorate instudio art or whatever.
I've just been faithful everyday to show up and do the thing
that God's called me to do.
And has God brought help alongthe way?
Yes, absolutely.
Has he brought mentors in mylife and teachers in my life?
Yeah, absolutely he uses thosethings.
(26:13):
But listen, not having any ofthat does not qualify you or
disqualify you from being whoGod's called you to be and
walking in what he's called youto do.
The only thing, listen, theonly thing that qualifies you to
be stepping into what God'scalled you to do as an artist is
your yes.
And the only thing that candisqualify you is your fear.
(26:38):
Is saying that is saying yes tothe lies of the enemy.
Listen, it's the ones who arewilling to go back to the studio
day after day after day, evenwhen they're tired or they're
unsure or they're feeling likethey're uninspired.
It's the ones who are willingto create a rhythm, right, who
(26:59):
are not waiting.
You know, as the famous quotesays you know, not waiting for
inspiration, we just show up anddo the work.
Chuck Close's, you know, as thefamous quote says, you know,
not waiting for inspiration, wejust show up and do the work.
Chuck Close's, you know, famousquote, like that, it's just
showing up, whether you feellike it or not, it's blocking
the timeout, it's putting it onyour calendar right, it's
putting on the music.
It's getting down there andsaying Lord, I know that I'm an
artist and because I'm an artist, I'm showing up, faithful,
(27:21):
today and doing this thing, eventhough the enemy's knocking at
the door.
I believe that you havesomething for me today, and so
I'm giving you my yes and I'mshowing up to do it.
Listen, that's when the flow,the overflow of the creative
nature of God, that's when thewhoosh of creativity, that's
(27:41):
when, when, when supernaturalconfidence is going to hit you.
That's when transformation notonly hits you but moves through
you, when you say yes andactually start showing up.
Listen, my friend, I believe ifyou're still listening to this,
watching this, I believe thatmaybe fear has been something
that's been holding you back,but I just want to encourage you
today.
Jesus has got freedom for you.
(28:02):
Right now I just, I just wantyou to believe in your heart
that God believes in you.
God's got a plan for your life.
God's got a promise on theother side of your yes that he's
waiting to release into yourlife.
But you've got to quit cominginto agreement with fear and
come into faith.
(28:23):
You got to start trusting thatsmall and that still voice
inside you, that voice of theHoly Spirit that says you're an
artist.
What you do matters.
This is important.
You've got to start beingintentional about choosing those
things.
That's when the flow begins tobe released.
Listen, I want to pray for youright now.
(28:43):
In fact, jesus, I thank youthat you've not given us a
spirit of fear, but a power andof love and a sound mind.
In other words, god, we canwalk in your supernatural power,
we can walk in yoursupernatural love, rooted and
grounded in that, knowing who weare, in you.
And we can walk with a soundmind, a mind of Christ, not one
(29:06):
that's rooted in fear andanxiety and inadequacy, but we
can walk rooted and grounded inyou, knowing that we are seeing
life and processing life andwalking in life empowered and
led by the mind of Christ.
Wow, father, I bind the enemyin Jesus' name.
(29:30):
Lord, in the life of my friendthat's listening and watching
right now, lord, I bind theenemy in Jesus' name and I lose
peace, I lose grace, right nowin their life to be able to step
into this invitation ofcreating, this invitation of
faith that you have for themtoday, god, break every
stronghold of the enemy overtheir life in Jesus name and
(29:52):
release your grace, release yourpeace, god in new ways and God
begin to to lead them by yourspirit into every good thing
that you have for them.
God, strengthen them in theirinner man that they may be able
to walk worthy of the callingand walk according to every good
and perfect plan that you havefor them in your life.
(30:13):
In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen.
Listen, my friend, this is whatGod has called you to to walk by
faith and not by sight, to walkempowered by his spirit and to
learn to renew your mind.
Listen, the Bible says if youcan't renew your mind, if you're
not willing to step intointentionally renewing your mind
(30:35):
, empowered by the Holy Spirit,you will never be able to
experience all the benefits andblessings that God has for you.
Listen, if that's somethingyou've struggled with your
entire life.
If you've been on this rollercoaster of emotions up and down,
one step forward, two step back, I want to invite you to join
us inside the Foundations course.
That's exactly why I created itand for hundreds and hundreds
(30:57):
and hundreds of artists all overthe world, in just about every
creative medium, the Foundationscourse has proven itself to be
a pathway that God can use inyour life to bring healing and
faith and wholeness, to breakthrough the roadblocks that have
held you back for years andstart allowing you to remold and
(31:17):
make your heart and mind withthe power of the Holy Spirit and
actually start stepping intowhat God's called you to do.
Start clarifying his plan andpurposes for your life.
Start creating habits thatactually let you start walking
in the fullness of those andlisten.
If you want to do that, I've gota great offer for you.
It's right here in thedescription, in the show notes
(31:38):
If you're on the podcast,there's a discount code there as
well.
Let's you get a big discount onthe foundation scores just
because you're on the podcast,there's a discount code there as
well.
It lets you get a big discounton the Foundations course just
because you're a regularlistener and listen.
Nothing would give me more joyto be able to walk with you
during this process and connectyou with the hundreds of artists
around the world that arealready experiencing this
freedom through the Foundationscourse.
(31:59):
So do that today.
Listen also, make sure.
If you've not subscribed, ifyou've not ever left a review on
the podcast, if you want toleave a comment here on YouTube
and let me know what God isspeaking to you, as you've heard
this teaching today, please dothat.
I read every one of thempersonally, and there's no bot,
there's no assistant.
It's me.
I'm reading them, I'mcommenting on them.
(32:20):
I love hearing and seeing whatGod's doing in your life and
they give me a lot of joy Toknow that this is being a
blessing to you.
All right, I love you, myfriend.
Share this podcast, share thisepisode With a friend of yours
and remember until next time youwere created to thrive.
Bye, hey, my friend.
Before you go, make sure thatyou're signed up for the
(32:41):
thriving christian artist weekly.
It's my free newsletter, fullof spiritual encouragement,
creative inspiration andpractical tips to help you
thrive in everything that God'scalled you to do as an artist in
His kingdom.
Every issue is absolutely freeand it includes the latest
podcast episode, featured artistspotlights, a worship song of
the week and, again, tons oftips and encouragement and
(33:02):
inspiration for you to keep youinspired and encouraged, and
everything that God's got foryou as an artist in the kingdom.
You can click the link righthere in the show notes to join
us, and it's a great way to stayconnected.
All right, love you Bye.
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