Deliver Us From Evil

This composite is quite simple in meaning, so I won't have to write much here.  Obviously this depicts danger and the need for guidance, protection and deliverance from evil, as the title says.

The waves and the rocks are one easy-to-find danger: there are many difficulties and obstacles to overcome in our lives (a ship represents a person's life, and/or ministry), including natural disasters that happen at an increasing pace.  The lighthouse is shining, which is the Truth of the Gospel (and thus, the Church, who has the Truth in her).  We do not have to fear, for He is with us always:

". . . teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Matthew 28:20

This does make it clear that He expects us to hear and obey His commands. 

Jesus instructed us to pray for deliverance from evil in what we call "The Lord's Prayer" (which is really His example for us to pray):

"And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."  Matthew 6:13

Some translations say simply "evil" rather than "the evil one".  One reference stated that the presence of a certain article makes it clear it is being specific about "the evil one" rather than simply "evil".  If we know what Jesus accomplished by His life, death and resurrection, we realize that Satan is already defeated, and that Jesus gave us an example of how to resist the enemy:  "it is written".  I don't intend to go into depth on that today, as it is a topic clearly seen in Scripture and much written about. I exhort you to study it out yourself if you feel that Satan is constantly defeating you.  Jesus won the victory over Satan and over all evil.  He made you to be "more than a conqueror"!

In the artwork, there are some gold coins in the corner.  This is a representation of this truth:

"For the love of money is a root of all [kinds of] evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. "  I Timothy 1:10

Notice that "kinds of" is in brackets, meaning that these words are not in the original: therefore it says "a root of all evil".  I didn't write it!  Is is so hard to think that any evil you see can somehow be coming out of a root of the "love of money"?  In the picture, somebody buried some treasure, and someone apparently died over it!  In a "parable" sort of way, pirates are the epitome of the "love of money."  Don't we all have greed, selfishness and whatever else that is unholy and unworthy inside of us, until we allow the Holy Spirit and the Word to rout it out of us.  The danger depicted in this artwork is not only physical danger, danger from a marauding enemy, danger from the temptations of this age, but also the evil that lurks in the depths of our own hearts (God calls it "iniquity").  Thank God Jesus paid for this as well, forgives us and cleanses us. 

Another part of "The Lord's Prayer" is relevant to this:

And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us." Luke 11:4

Taken very literally, we see we must forgive "those who are indebted to us".  If we're greedy, we won't even forgive someone a monetary debt.  But there is pride and other things that keep us from releasing others from whatever debt they may have incurred, for example, even a small thing such as "hurting our feelings".  So I see unforgiveness as a definite danger we need to be delivered from.

I could go on and on, but I'll try to stay close to the picture.  The last symbolic reference I see here is the burning bush, representing God's manifest presence, as Moses saw it:

So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."  Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites."  Exodus 3:3- 8

Moses had a fear of the Lord, which enabled him to obey Him and deliver the Israelites from their land of captivity.  Moses is a "type" of Christ, showing in a real-life parable everything that Jesus would do for us, including delivering us from evil and leading us to His Kingdom flowing with milk and honey.

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."  Galatians 1:3-5

Without a proper fear of the Lord (not a "phobia" that keeps us away from Him), we do not listen for His voice, follow His lead, or enter in by faith into the promises.  I, for one, want to submit to Him so that I can not only watch the devil flee from me, but be freed from the iniquity that leaves me open to temptation.  I want to overcome all the obstacles of this present age and enter safely into my King's presence.

If you see anything else in this artwork, I'd love for you to leave a comment and share it with me.

Here are the credits for the individual licensed images I used:

Treasure Beach Tree © Greg Payan | Dreamstime.com

Flames and brush © Peter Armstrong | Dreamstime.com

Carved Skull © Claire Collier | Dreamstime.com

Unfolded book dark smudged paper © Alexmax | Dreamstime.com

Surf & Clouds 3 © Joe Gough | Dreamstime.com

Seagull on the beach © Eric Gevaert | Dreamstime.com

Treasure! © Kristin Speed | Dreamstime.com

Bass Harbor Head © David Davis | Dreamstime.com

Rugged Coast of Pt Lobos © Ron Kacmarcik | Dreamstime.com

Atlantic Ocean coast © Anton Gvozdikov | Dreamstime.com

Hermit Crab 4 © Jose Gil | Dreamstime.com

Lighthouse No.2 © Npage | Dreamstime.com

Dreamy Sunrise on Tropical Beach © Heico Neumeyer | Dreamstime.com

Green waves I. © Erik Van Den Elsen | Dreamstime.com

Three-Masted Schooner On York River in Virginia © Kcastagnola | Dreamstime.com

This blog and artwork is by Karen Gladys Henry, Copyright 2009, All rights reserved.  For permission to use please email me at ArteZoe@gmail.com   Thank you.
This work is available for purchase at Imagekind.com, See my gallery.

"My Times Are In Your Hand"

Most of the time, I make art because I have something on my mind, or in my spirit (both really), and I have to express it. The things that are the deepest tend to percolate for a long time, and then bubble up at the appropriate moment. This artwork expresses a combination of celebration and grief. The topic: life in the womb and the loss of that life.

As images go, this is a simple composite with easy symbolism, at least to me. The child's silhouette is the key to interpreting this image. (It's my oldest grandson~ who is now 5~ when he was first toddling around, looking out at the rain through the door in the den). I probably had more emotion as I created this artwork than I have had with many others put together. Perhaps this comes through, but it's impossible for me to discern, as I will always feel the feelings when I look at it from now on.

It usually happens (when I make art) that I'm feeling first, then groping to express artistically what I feel. The thinking is intuitive as I gravitate to photos I've taken or licensed that I keep archived for just such an "emergency". As I made this, the Scripture verse I quoted in the title above ran through my mind. I was struggling to find comfort for a loss~ someone else's loss of a baby by miscarriage~ that seemed to trigger something in me I couldn't explain. Grief welled up in me and threatened to bring on depression if I didn't deal with it. Art's good therapy, especially if we let the Spirit of God be involved, which of course I do.

I'm not going to go into a big discussion of what's on my mind, as this is an art blog, meant for interpretation (although I do get teachy and preachy here, I just can't help myself sometimes). But I am sure I will pursue the topic more in depth on "Fireberries" when I have time. For now, just let me say that my understanding of the preciousness of life has deepened over my lifetime, and it is a compelling force behind my artwork.

No matter what people think in this day and age, every life that is conceived in the womb is created by God. He breathes life into that tiny embryo, and it is a living person with a spirit. No child, born or unborn, goes unnoticed by Him or is unknown to Him. Whether they are miscarried or aborted they go to be with Him. I learned this when I miscarried my first pregnancy so many years ago. I will tell that story sometime when I blog all this out.

I actually titled this piece "Revelation #16" and included it in my series (as I felt it had universal revelation in it and worked visually with the rest). The background is an outer space image from the Hubble telescope, and this particular photo is of the Crab Nebula. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula Its appearance was perfect for my artwork with the glowing, womblike section that holds the child. I love working with these public domain space images (I've been invited to submit some of my artworks using their Hubble images for one of their official websites, I just haven't gotten up the nerve to go for it-- fear of rejection you know). http://hubble.nasa.gov/multimedia/astronomy.php

When I look at the small version of this artwork, I see angels circling the womb. The "angels" are actually dogwood blossoms, which of course you can see when you look up close. But I like the feeling of the womb being protected here, and I believe this is God's heart and action: to protect the life that is carried within.

Although death has not yet been "laid at Jesus feet", I believe it has been defeated by Him via the cross and resurrection. It is one of my great burdens that we begin to get a hold of this revelation. The dogwood traditionally represents the cross and passion of Christ. I think it is fitting here, for He "tasted death for every one". "He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," so He also knows how to comfort us in our losses and grieving. He always gives us hope and courage to help us keep on living life with joy and thankfulness.

In this artwork, the womb is portrayed as a vehicle, a "space ship", for the journey of growth and development that takes place for 9 months. It's spiritual counterpart is the concept of "the hand of God", which never lets go of this infant no matter what happens. The new life (each an eternal spiritual being), here, is being escorted to the heavenly realm: if the fetus is born a baby in the world, then God's hand is ever-present to guide him into the heavenly realm, by the Spirit, as the child grows naturally.

There's a white heart of light/love around the baby, which is God's heart of love, always present no matter what the circumstance. I like how the patterns made by the nebula and the flowering branches created an umbilical cord. Natural life is drawn from God through the birth-mother, and spiritual life is drawn from God through the spiritual mother, the Church (Body of Christ). As you can see, there is a deeper, more spiritual meaning to this artwork. We are to nurture all lives that are given into our care, for they all belong to God and derive life from Him.

Textures were overlaid in this artwork, one of rain through a curtained window during a violent tropical storm, signifying grief and a "veil" of oppression that keeps us from seeing the purposes of God when things look dark. Laid over that is another texture: a peaceful beach scene with gentle waves at sunrise, after a storm. This signifies the natural birth by water, and the spiritual birth represented by baptism. Life overcomes death, and light overcomes darkness. Underneath all of this is a texture made from a photo of light shining through a chalcedony stone, which is blue like the sky. To me this says the light of the third heaven breaks through the second and first heavens with the Truth of God, colouring everything we see, whether we know it or not.

I hope you've gained some insight and inspiration from this artwork and from my explanation. Thanks for reading! Be blessed.

References:

Psalm 31:15 (whole Psalm recommended)

Psalm 22: 9-11

Hosea 13:14

Romans 8:38-39

Hebrews 2:9

Isaiah 53: 3-4; 61:2

II Corinthians 1: 3-4