God is Love
God is Love!
Woven together, the components of our lives are very much like this collage…separate and individual events, experiences, memories and traits all come together to make up who we are….
…but sometimes….
well, sometimes…our lives are really just a mess…
…and in that state, it can be more difficult to see value or truth or beauty or purpose…or promise…we just see the mess…
…and if we’re honest with ourselves, that mess can be disheartening at times!
So–I thought I’d show you my work table–before this collage all came together…
It’s not so pretty, is it?
The smeared mess of paints in my paintbox…the chipped handle of the paintbrush….seemingly disparate, disconnected strips of paper…spattered paint…
Yet, each of these had a very important–even vital role that they filled–well…that only they could fill…and a purpose in the whole project…even though they were a mess initially!
But all of these messy components have something in common…something that was revealed when the collage was finally assembled…
Can you guess what the common element is–tying all of these components together? You might want to scroll back up to the first picture to catch a clue….
Central to the collage is this theme from 1 John 4:7-16: GOD is LOVE!
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love . 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love , and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
GOD IS LOVE!
It is so true!
“GOD is LOVE” is the bridge that pulls all the separate components–and all the painted strips of paper, together–in the collage…(did you find it?)…and much, much more importantly, in our lives!
His love spans the gaps…brings beauty where there was only chaos…and gives purpose, completely! His love leads us to trust and obey Him! It’s so safe to do so!
And the blessed result of trusting and obeying Him brings hope and peace! It’s beautiful!
Just like in the collage!
His love can completely overcome the messes in our lives. If we’ll submit our hearts to Him, He can make something beautiful with us! Truly!
Will you let Him?
Something to think about!
If you have comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you!
You can send me a message by clicking on “CONTACT” at the top of this page.
I’ve included some Bible passages for you, if you are interested in reading further about how God can make beauty in our lives:
John 15:13-14; Romans 5:8-11; Galatians 3:26-27
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Hugs,
Lisa
P.S.
If you’d enjoy making a collage of your very own, it’s really quite simple to do!
Completely wet a piece of watercolour paper with water, and then randomly drop 2 or 3 colours of paint onto the page. When the paper is wet, the water encourages the colours to run together, creating a pretty effect! You can tilt the page to aid the process, if you like. (Below are a couple samples…on the second one, to add interest and texture, I pressed a circular object into the painting while the paint was still wet. You can enjoy experimenting.)
Once the paper is dry, simply cut it into strips …weave them together into a pleasing pattern, glue down onto card stock, and then choose some favourite Bible passages or phrases to set into your collage….then mat, frame and enjoy! Ta da!
Beauty from all of the mess and chaos! And that’s just what God’s love specializes in, in our lives…if we’ll let Him!
Heart Inspirations 
Beautiful Lisa!
THANK YOU Tina!!
Very inspiring, thank you Lisa. I love that you shared how to make a collage!
GOD is SO GOOD!
Glad you liked it–THANK YOU Michelle! So easy to do…hope you’ll be able to try it!
Hugs!