faith

Posted on October 1, 2018January 4, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter Something Greater…Than Walking on Water

“Emmanuel In My Boat” © by Donna Gonzalez

This prophetic painting is based upon a sermon from Mark 4:35-41 where the disciples are in a boat late at night on the sea of Galilee when a sudden storm arose. Jesus comes to them walking upon the water, they think they have seen a ghost but He comforts them, enters the boat rebuking the waves and sea.

I found it interesting that my Pastor said the miracle wasn’t so much that Jesus was walking on the water – though a miracle nonetheless; but that He the Son of God in all His glory was willing to come down from Heaven, into a broken world into our broken lives by entering our boat. I went before the Lord in prayer and meditation of the scriptures and this painting is the result.

Iconography:

The type of boat is a skiff and it represents a person’s life. Skiffs are generally used in fishing or for leisure sailing and others are used in racing competitions.

The young woman is representative of any believer who puts their faith in Jesus Christ.

The waters represent several things; the world and all its anti-Christ philosophy, all the temptations, evils, the pain and sorrows caused by sin and the multitudes of unsaved people.

How does the application of this iconography in the painting relate to the 21^st century disciples in Christ? A lot actually.

First, notice the boat is a simple craft, it doesn’t appear too sea-worthy, and isn’t unless Christ is in control of that boat. I purposely didn’t choose a personal yacht because it’s not the everyday life most Christians can relate to. Since skiffs are generally used as a fishing boat it relates perfectly to Jesus’s command to go forth and make disciples, by becoming fishers of men.

¹⁹Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19

When one becomes born again Jesus willingly enters our boat (our life) regardless how much it has been broken because to Jesus all human life is precious to Him. That the holy King of Glory, the Son of God who created all things and holds all things together by His will, would choose to come and make His abode within a repentant sinner’s life offering the forgiveness of sin, eternal salvation and transforming them into a new creature for God’s glory with a new purpose in life – is so much more of a miracle than Jesus simply walking on water!

¹⁷ “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – II Corinthians 5:17

As the Christian surrenders every part of their life to God He takes control of the sail’s rope leading the believer onward to maturity in Christ Jesus. The believer’s faith, which is more precious to God than gold is refined through all kinds of storms and trials.

⁶In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” – I Peter 1:6-9

Jesus promises never to leave us and truly He is Emmanuel – God with us, if He sustains everything and holds the world together surely, He can hold our lives together!

¹⁶“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” – Colossians 1:16-17

Christ’s back is to the wind, His hair blowing representing Him protecting the believer from much of the wind and waves, often without the believer’s knowledge. Jesus lovingly and firmly holds His precious child close to His heart. Likewise, the believer holds tightly unto Christ, steadfastly refusing to give into fear or doubt, not allow anything, no compromise of heart or of mind to come between them. The believer rests her head securely upon His breast, her face serene in full child-like trust knowing He is mighty to save, He is faithful in all His promises and His way is best.

The goal is Heaven the journey is the faith walk of every believer in Christ. The Apostle Paul compares it to a race, competing for a prize, for believers in Christ are promised an imperishable crown through endurance.

²⁴”Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.²⁶” -1 Corinthians 9:24-26

May this painting encourage and strengthen believers everywhere not to give into fear or doubt Christ’s promises, no matter what stormy seas may lie ahead. To experience the incomprehensible love, the un-surpassing joy and peace of the Lord that can be ours through obedience and trust in Jesus.

In Jesus,

Donna

Posted on June 7, 2018May 29, 2023 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Living Stones Mosaic

“Living Stones Mirage Stained Glass” © Donna Gonzalez

Would it surprise you at all if I told you that what you are looking at is not a painting of a large stained glass window but instead you are looking at one painted mosaic duplicated multiple times? Fifty-four times to be exact. Each mosaic piece is not haphazardly placed but purposefully, resulting in a consistent pattern which is a unified whole.

If one of the mosaic pieces could speak about itself it would tell you it thinks it is of no consequence whether or not it were in the painting…because what is it among so many other identical mosaic pieces? Quite insignificant hardly serving any purpose at all.

On the contrary if that mosaic piece wasn’t there, it would have a great impact on the entire composition. My painting would be incomplete without it. Because the entire pattern relies on each mosaic piece fitting alongside the next mosaic piece in order to achieve any kind of symmetry, unity or harmony. Not one mosaic piece can be placed at random. Hmmm…

Christians, though not identical to each other are born of the same Spirit. We are one in Christ and in that sense each of us are like a mosaic piece or as the bible says a living stone being built up into a building for God’s purpose I Peter 2:4-5 . In Christ none of us are inconsequential in the Kingdom of God. All of us are His workmanship created to do a specific work Ephesians 2:10. A Christian cannot say because they don’t have exactly the same work or gifting of the Holy Spirit as another that they are less qualified, insignificant or serve no purpose in His Body. I Corinthians 12:15-19

Have you noticed not all of the mosaic pieces create an optical illusion of rings in the painting? Would those mosaics be considered less important than the others? Just the opposite! Those pieces are crucial as they unify the entire artwork and serve to frame and support those mosaic pieces which do create the optical illusion. The illusion wouldn’t appear otherwise!

The optical illusion of rings is highlighted in black below and run throughout this mosaic.

We do not come into this world unplanned by God nor are we place in His Body haphazardly. Just the opposite, the Lord Jesus knows us and puts us exactly where He determines us to be in His Body in a specific time in history and for a specific work to accomplish. When believers come together making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace something remarkable occurs Ephesians 4:3. Like the stained glass window made up of many pieces working together to create something beautiful, so do we and it’s pleasing in our eyes…and in His eyes.

Be blessed!

Donna

Posted on May 20, 2018May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Wait for The Lord

“Water Lilies Stained Glass” © by Donna Gonzalez

Note: This is a longer iconography but well worth the reading!

wait /wāt/verb

Stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens. Synonyms: hold on, hold back, bide one’s time, hang fire, mark time, stand by, sit tight, hold one’s horses.
Used to indicated that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen.

noun

A period of waiting.Synonyms: delay, holdup, interval, interlude, intermission, pause, break, stay, cessation, suspension, stoppage, halt, interruption, lull, respite, recess, moratorium, hiatus, gap, rest

pa·tience /’pāSHəns/noun

The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset .Synonyms: forbearance, tolerance, restraint, self-restraint, stoicism, calmness, composure, equanimity, imperturbability, phlegm, understanding, indulgence, perseverance, persistence, endurance, tenacity, assiduity, application, staying power, doggedness, determination, resolve, resolution, resoluteness.

I happen to love words and learning new ones too. In truth while writing this post I had always thought the word “wait” meant the same thing as patience and was a synonym for it as well…hmmm….was I wrong!

Perhaps you knew the difference. Take a look at the definitions above; two very different words and not having even the same synonyms! This past month while doing my errands I’ve noticed how very impatient some people are on the roads, perhaps you met them too on your travels.

Waiting is something most people are genetically opposed do even less show any patience. Because waiting and patience are two very different things. Staying where one is or to delay action until a particular time or until something else happens is one thing. One can pass their time by becoming busy changing the radio station in the car.

But who wants to learn a virtue at the cost of experiencing trouble and suffering – as in paying attention, using the breaks to slow down to the actual speed limit behind me before I quickly completed my right turn before said driver plowed into me? No, that is extremely difficult for some people to do.

Instead it’s far easier for driver to keep foot glued on accelerator gunning the engine past me on the left while mouthing something and shaking their fist in the mirror.

Hmm…. no wonder people warn others about praying for patience – but they should do it anyway. Patience really is a much higher noble virtue to attain! Which brings me to the artwork I created. “Water Lilies Stained Glass – Green” is an acrylic painting composed of 16 mosaics placed into a pattern. It comes in purple and pink too.

I happened to be conversing with a friend sharing favorite bible scriptures after a group bible study. Her favorite is Psalm 27:14. And when I got home I did something different again, usually the scripture comes after the pattern but this time I had to “find” which painting would best suit this scripture.

Iconography: I chose “Water Lilies Stained Glass – Green” as its bright colors resembled a stained glass window. There are pink and violet opened lilies surrounded by great big green leaves, highlighted in peachy orange. (See below)

The big green lily pads are highlighted in yellow and have a closed purple flower in between them. All of which is surrounded by the dark and light blue portions of the mosaic that representing water.

Easy-peasy.Now, did I know before hand that this mosaic painting placed into a pattern would create a flower, a lily pad and water? No.

Now here is where it all gets quite interesting…

I did some research on waterlilies to see if there was anything I could learn about them. I found that water lilies grow quickly and are invasive the lily pads can get really big (some up to 6′ across) covering almost the entire water surface of a lake or pond, preventing any other water plant from reaching the surface. Hmm.. so does this artwork have a good amount of lily pads too!

Now, the white lily flowers bloom in the evening, sending out a rich fragrance throughout the night. The flower must wait for a certain little beetle attracted by the fragrance to come pollinate it. Once it lands on the flower it enters in searching for nectar. The flower then closes up for a full day keeping the beetle safely inside, which it doesn’t mind at all, since it is happily drinking sweet nectar, but the flower has slowly started to change color – to pink.

And in the meantime the flower’s pollen has mixed with the pollen on the beetle. At last the blossom opens up to let loose the now heavily nectar-logged pollen-encrusted beetle as it flies away in search of another white blossom to imbibe and pollinate unknowingly. Hmm… fly, drink, pollinate and repeat…what a life! Lovely story.

But just how is all of this making any sense with Psalm 27:14? Well, a lot actually. There is so much deep biblical application in this for all of us, that I will try my very best to keep it succinct.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord.” – Psalm 27:14

This verse is part of King David’s prayer to God to deliver him from his enemies who conspire to bring him down. Being a king David could do anything at anytime against those who hated him, but instead he prays to God. David accepts that those who oppose him will most likely still give him trouble before God vindicates him, but instead of getting angry or upset he instructs his heart to be strong and wait for God’s timing to vindicate him. This is what it means to be patient before God.

Now the water lily blossoms at God’s perfect timing in the evening just as the beetle is out flying over the water in search for white water lilies. As the lily waits to bloom at God’s command so it is with us Christians. God’s word tells us to wait upon Him, not to go before Him but to sit tight, hold on, expectantly, He understands the whole matter better than we do.

So we wait with patient endurance, whether or not it includes struggles, trouble or suffering we persevere with calmness, because we know that in God’s timing it will all work out. As David did. We as believers are encouraged not to faint, or loose heart in the endurance of persevering, because when it is complete it leads us to maturity in Christ.

James 1:2-4 says: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, Perseverance must finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

What would happen if the water lily didn’t wait at God’s command to bloom but chose it’s own time to bloom; or chose instead to close up it’s petals before the beetle arrived? It would have missed its one chance at being pollinated.

When we take matters into our own hands and do not wait upon God as He says, we miss out on blessings. This is what happened to Saul when he lacked patience, didn’t restrain himself nor have the capacity to accept delay in waiting for the prophet Samuel to show up. Saul became perturbed, disregarded the word of the Lord from Samuel to wait to do the sacrifice until he came and it ended up costing Saul not only his blessing from the Lord but his very kingdom! I Samuel 13:8-14

The flower does not lack anything when the wait is finally over. You see, pollination isn’t the end of it all. For after the pink blossom has been pollinated it will shrivel up and sink back under the depths of the water and die – but here is the wonder of it all…it will bear fruit – a seed!

And this seed will now grow up in maturity to become a beautiful new water lily for the glory of God!

⁸This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -John 15:8

Hmmm….Maturity in Christ by waiting on God showing self-control in patience – leads to blessings and fruit which glorifies God! Now, isn’t that were we all want to be?

Be blessed my friend!-Donna

Posted on April 11, 2018April 3, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – His Brokenness Our Healing

“My Body Broken for You” acrylic on canvas 16″x20″ © by Donna Gonzalez

I had been waiting on the Lord to give me inspiration in painting another prophetic artwork. Usually it comes after prayer, during praise and worship or like Sunday as a thought.

This past Sunday at church while discussing with another Christian about the uniqueness of similar events occurring like bookends in Jesus’ birth and death/resurrection a vivid image occurred in my mind; and I knew it as an answer to prayer.

“My Body Broken for You” is that idea.

Praise God! I’m so excited to share with you this painting!

A bit of background. During a Passover meal there is a plate of matzah on the table. It looks like this:

Curtesy PublicDomainPictures – Pesach Matza

Three matzah breads are wrapped together and placed on the table. There are various explanations for these three, some rabbis call these three a unity of the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Among Christians and Messianic Jews the three represent the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, where the middle matzah represents Jesus.

In the matzah we can see a picture of Messiah, notice that it is striped…
“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

And that it is pierced…

¹⁰“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” Zechariah 12:10

That vivid image was this…what jarring emotion and feeling Jesus must have had when taking that middle matzah, seeing the holes and stripes, knowing the true meaning of it and having it broken in His hands?

The Jews of the Old Testament for a thousand years earlier and His disciples knew the matzah pertained only to the story of the children of Israel who fled Egypt so quickly they had no time to wait for their dough to rise; instead they quickly made unleavened bread and allowed the hot desert sun to bake it flat. Scripture teaches that leaven symbolizes sin.

⁶“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? ⁷Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” I Corinthians 5:6-7

That night Jesus explained to His disciples the unleavened matzah in the New Covenant now represents His sinless body. In a few short hours His body would be marked with scourging and pierced as the bread He held in His hands. Did they fully comprehend that?

What if Jesus after having given thanks to His Father … intending only to gently break the bread neatly into two identical halves, instead to His shock it shatters violently into many pieces!

What if with tears in His eyes picking up pieces of broken bread hands it to His disciples saying: “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Would He have been cut to the core by the striking confirmation from His Father of the savage brutality that would happen to His body to redeem mankind? Of course they both planned it in eternity past…but oh how jarring when that hour becomes reality!

What if the Father purposely allowed the bread to fragment with such ferocity as to demonstrate a powerful visualization to everyone around of what Jesus had just said? Did the disciples get that?

The bible never tells us if Jesus’ broke the bread neatly in two perfect halves. Tradition and artists have always portrayed it as so as it’s only aesthetically pleasing to the viewer…. and to do so otherwise is …well not kosher! [forgive the pun!]

I’m reminded of how before He ever felt the cold rusted iron spikes pounded into His hands and feet, before ever a cat’o nine tails sliced and tore His back into ribbons, His heart had been crushed by the sins of His people.

“Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.” Ezekiel 6:9

Then His heart, now His body.

I captured a moment in time, a visual aid for 21st century disciples of Christ, depicting the deafening crack representing the intensity of Jesus being crushed for our wickedness. The wine that was poured into His cup has spilled upon the tablecloth, the wrinkle in the tablecloth reminds us of His greatest accomplishment.

Jesus was willing to be broken for us, so that we may be completely whole, healed…..what a wonderful Savior!

May this post encourage you in your walk with Jesus Christ!

-Donna

Posted on March 11, 2018March 23, 2022 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – God Reconciling

“God Reconciling” digital art by © Donna Gonzalez

I wanted to share with you a post I written a while ago that I still think is apropos for this Lenten season.

That artwork up there is not a painting rather its a mixed media graphic art composition I did last summer after spending quite some time pondering on II Corinthians 5:18-20 and Romans 5:6-11. It was supposed to be a painting but having considered the depth of what was pondered, painting what was in my head on canvas that adequately captured the full meaning of it was quite difficult. And still this graphic composition doesn’t fully show what I meant to portray; perhaps it’s an impossibility.

Iconography: I had no wood laying around so I made a cross using two large cinnamon sticks. Cinnamon symbolizes the fragrant sweet life of Jesus our Lord. The Ceylon cinnamon pictured below has a uneven textured surface, often with holes or damaged areas and is made up of multiple layers of rolled bark which when peeled apart break easily. This cinnamon symbolized our Lord Jesus after being beaten and scourged which left His body bruised, broken, lacerated and torn apart in ribbons. Not knowing this until later, but the ground bark of this cinnamon as well as cassia was used in the holy anointing oil for the priests in the Old Testament as they ministered to God in His tabernacle and then later in the Temple (Exodus 30:22-30). Isn’t that what Jesus is – our holy anointed High Priest? I’m sure there’s probably a sermon hidden in all of that!

The flames enveloping the cross represent God the Father as Hebrews 12:29 states, “For our God is a consuming fire.” Jesus isn’t shown on the cross because this artwork is an allegory. Sufficient to say, Jesus the One Who knew no sin became sin and in His great love for us took upon Himself the full penalty that was ours – His Father’s wrath against sin. Just as fire annihilates, Jesus destroyed the power of Satan, sin and conquered it (Hebrews 2:14).

Jesus sacrificed His life for all of humanity represented by the dark green rays extending outward from the cross reaching out towards every corner of the world. (II Corinthians 5:15). Simultaneously He poured out His blood for all of humanity that everyone, everywhere can be forgiven by God represented by the bright red rays extending outward from the cross (Matthew 26:28, John 3:16-17).

God the Father was at work in His Son reconciling us toward Himself. He extends His forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of His Son (Hebrews 9:22) granting us eternal salvation which is represented by the bright burst of green emanating from the cross reaching anyone, far and near (Ephesians 2:13) who would believe in His Son and accept His free gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8). Both the Father and the Son worked in tandem to secure our salvation (John 3:16-17). Only the Son of God could endure the wrath of God. Only the Son of God could break the power of sin and death. No angel, no mortal nor demon. Later the Spirit of God would raise Jesus on the third day (Romans 8:11). At a very important time in history – the Creation of the world, all three persons of the Trinity were actively at work likewise at another significant time in history, the cross of Christ, all three persons of the Trinity were at work.

And yet, I had to correct my thinking on a point while meditating on this. One, that I had always thought a specific way about God regarding Jesus’ death. Perhaps because God was always portrayed “up there”, seated in the heavens on a majestic throne by artists all throughout history that I naturally assumed He was only observing from Heaven while His Son was doing all the work down here. Scripture says otherwise. Most incredible is Romans 5:10 and II Corinthians 5:19 where God didn’t even count our sins against us while we were an enemy of Him! This is profound.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit imparts life. Yet He chose to continue to allow life in those who were mocking, blaspheming, beating, scourging, hating, spitting and crucifying the innocent Son of the Living God. Incredible. And all the while the Father is pleading with everyone through His Son on the cross…..come to Me for forgiveness and salvation! (Isaiah 1:18) Can we fully grasp the enormity of that kind of extravagant lavish love of God? (I John 3:1) And how does an artist even begin to paint something like that?

Hmm…crazy-kinda–radical-incredible love… no wonder the Apostle Paul was so excited wanting people to boast “how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

“⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:6-11

^“8All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” II Corinthians 5:18-20

What a wonderful God we have not only offering us forgiveness of sins, eternal life but the awesome ministry of being ambassadors for Him in bringing the message of reconciliation to others! May you be encouraged and blessed to know how much you are loved of God this Lenten season.

In Him,

-Donna

Works cited:

“Cassia and cinnamon.” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded. 2011.

Posted on February 11, 2018May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Love Mosaic

“Love Mosaic” © by Donna Gonzalez

February is here, for us Michiganders it usually means another 6 to 8 weeks more of wintery snow..ugh! But it’s also a time for cherishing your loved one(s) with love, affection, long stem roses, chocolates and candy in celebration of Valentine’s Day!

Some historians claim this holiday was the Church’s “Christianization” of the pagan Roman fertility and health festival Lupercalia, observed February 13-15th. It had its roots at least as far back as 44 BC. However; did you know there really was a man by the name of Valentine?

Though there are several versions of his life, and it’s not historically clear which hagiography is most accurate, the story goes that Valentine (Latin Valentius) was a Christian priest and former bishop of several towns in Umbria Italy during the 3rd century of Rome under emperor Claudius II. Claudius had banned his soldiers from marrying as he thought single men made better soldiers due to not being hindered on the battlefield because of strong affections.

Despite the Emperor’s edit, Valentine continued to perform marriages of young soldiers who were in love in secret. The Emperor found out about this and had him arrested and imprisoned. Some accounts accredit Valentine in the healing of the jailer’s blind daughter others that he fell in love with her and wrote a card to her signing it, “Love, your Valentine.”

Other versions accredit Valentine in proselytizing many to the Christian faith, defied the Emperor by helping Christians escape the torture and persecution by the Romans, and unsuccessfully convince the Emperor to embrace Christianity. Claudius II refused commanding Valentine to either renounce his faith in Christ or to be beaten with clubs and beheaded. Valentine stayed true to his faith in Christ and was martyred on February 14, 269 AD.

Which brings me to why I’m so excited to share with you about this beautiful artwork above entitled “Love Mosaic”. What you are looking at is an abstract mosaic artwork representing God’s love. It is made up of 16 individual mosaics put into this unique pattern and based upon I Corinthians 13:4-8:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸Love never fails…”

Iconography and hidden symbols:

A large cross in the center of the mosaic.

Pairs of hearts each with its own reflected heart.

There are large “X”s and “O”s …

and four smaller pairs of “Xs” and “Os”…

There are 2 pairs of smaller crosses originating from the horizontal crossbeam of the central cross and hearts, there’s many hearts in this mosaic!

Four small butterflies at the edges of the mosaic.

So…how does all of these hidden images within this mosaic relate to Valentine’s Day and I Corinthians 13:4-5? Much actually! There is so much richness in this mosaic!

We know that love originates from God our Father, the cross is where He demonstrated His great love.

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:8

“We love because he first loved us.” I John 4:19

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

The heart of course is the universal symbol of love, in this mosaic there are two pairs of large hearts connected to the horizontal crossbeam of the main cross. Each mirrored pair extending downward symbolizes God’s immense love towards us, and the upward pairs represents our hearts raised towards Heaven in gratitude for all He’s done for us.

The large “X’s” and “O’s” represent God’s lovingkindness and compassion. The smaller ones represent our love towards each other.

²²“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
²³They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Jesus speaking… ²⁷“He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

The two smaller crosses represents the believer’s position in Christ. The hearts within the crosses symbolizes obedience to Jesus’ new command.

²⁰“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

³⁴“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

Just as a butterfly is an entirely new creature beyond the lowly caterpillar, likewise when a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation for the forgiveness of sins, they are translated from death to life, from darkness into His glorious light. Those who’ve been transformed by God’s love are like the butterfly flying outwards beyond the painting, compelling others to be reconciled back to God.

Jesus is speaking…. ²⁴“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

¹⁷“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” II Corinthians 5:17

²⁰“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” II Corinthians 5:20

Jesus paid an enormous price to secure our salvation. Like saint Valentine we too ought to love Christ beyond measure, beyond what anything this world has to offer, despite any suffering, hardships, or persecution and to remain faithful to Christ even unto death.

¹¹“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Revelation 12:11

We are commanded to love others the way He does, meaning with patience, kindness, without envy, without being boastful or prideful. We show our love by putting others needs first, and without getting easily angered. And like Jesus’ great loving-kindness in forgiving us and not counting our wrongs against us, likewise; we too are to show forgiveness to one another without keeping a record of how they have wronged us.

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day may our hearts and minds be renewed in Christ, to love others as He loves us. May this post encourage and bless you in your walk with Christ!

-Donna

Below is a Slideshow of the hidden symbols in this mosaic artwork.

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Posted on January 11, 2018May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — 2 Comments

Chi-Rho Newsletter – The Narrow Path Mosaic

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“The Narrow Path Mosaic” © by Donna Gonzalez

Yey! It’s a New Year!! Happy New Year to all of you and wishing all of you a blessed safe New Year filled with thanksgiving and joy!

The above painting is comprised of 35 identical mosaic paintings which when placed into a pattern creates this particular composition, it is just one of several possible pattern combinations. And I am always humbled how God’s fingerprints are there, this one is relatively easy to see the symbolism and the scripture that came to mind was Matthew 7:13-14.

Jesus is speaking:

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Iconography:

This mosaic painting has alternating horizontal rows of wide and narrow bands, each band is representative of a pathway. Highlighted in yellow below is one of several narrow pathways.

And one of several wide paths…

As I write this post right now I just had an epiphany about this mosaic I hadn’t noticed before…….Wow! Praise God! I’ll explain what it is in a minute…but for now hang tight…it gets deep!

Notice that the narrow path below is made up of alternating brown and green elongated oddly shaped rectangles and concave squares. It is bordered by two sets of red parallel rows of tiles with wavy edges or wavy lines (highlighted in yellow) resulting in hemming the pathway at intervals making it even more narrower.

Whereas the second pathway is opposite, it is wider made up of alternating blue and purple perfectly shaped squares and rectangles. Though it too is bordered by the same set of red parallel tiles, it is the straight edges or lines (highlighted in yellow) which border the wide path making it a perfectly straight unencumbered pathway….

This is where it gets really interesting…

When this piece was completed I wasn’t thrilled with the results, and in hindsight admonished myself for not choosing a different color pallet. The alternating bands of blues and red remind me of bricks, there is no hierarchy, and it annoyed me. Though the wide and narrow paths reminded me of Matthew 7:13-14, I didn’t think there was much to say about this piece.

Until today… when I needed one that was completed and felt led by God to write about this mosaic of all pieces! Trusting God I started to write knowing His ways are always better than mine – and thought this was going to be a very short post, until I got that epiphany…..and now everything has changed!

The epiphany are the straight v. wavy lines, the colors and the Christian disciplined walk in holiness in light of Matthew 7:13-14. I didn’t paint this mosaic with all of that in mind this is God’s fingerprints! Glory to Jesus!

The straight edges/lines of the sets of red tiles represents how wide and welcoming is the world’s philosophy of doing things. It’s gateway is wide, alluring, deceptively encouraging one to forego such foolish hardship of the other narrow path. Many chose the world’s path to because it deceptively fools them into believing lies, that life should be unencumbered.

The purple squares represents extravagance, luxury, power, wealth, and independence, trust and pride. The blue squares represents trust, wisdom and intelligence.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; ²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” I Corinthians 3:19-20

The broad path is paved with the world’s wisdom, enticing promises that striving after extravagance, luxury, power, wealth, independence from all moral constraints and accountability is considered successful. But the end of it all is eternal death.

^{13 “}Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:13-18

In contrast the wavy edges/lines of the sets of red tiles represents trials in life that hem believers in from all sides, is actually enabling them to draw closer to Christ.

The green colored shapes represents youthfulness, growth, renewal, safety, fertility and life. The brown colored shapes represents reliability, security and steadfastness. All of which pertain to the journey of a true follower of Christ.

In the Kingdom of God believers let go of pride trusting fully in Jesus as a young child puts it’s trust in a loving parent’s decision. They are exhorted by Jesus to reject the wide path and chose His difficult narrow way.

Difficult because it involves giving up the word’s ways of doing things, trusting and obeying Jesus so they may grow in maturity in Him. When a Christian chooses to remain steadfast in Him, Jesus renews their strength despite the unrelentingly ups and downs of life. Jesus alone is consistently faithful, reliable as our safety and only security in this troubled world. Jesus’ way leads to producing fruit that glorifies God and always leads to eternal life.

^{3 “}If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” II Timothy 2:13

^{8 “}This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:8

May Christians be encouraged to remain steadfast on the narrow path!

In Him,

-Donna

Posted on September 3, 2017May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Pastel Mosaic

“Pastel Mosaic” © by Donna Gonzalez

I love good surprises don’t you? And this artwork is no exception, it’s now one of my favorites and I’m so very excited to unpack what this mosaic painting holds for us. This acrylic painting is composed of 16 panels put into a pattern.

A bit of a background here… a couple of weeks ago I had asked several of my friends on social media for their favorite scriptures because I wanted to have some bible verses to put on my already painted mosaic artwork so that it would bless others, and unbeknownst to me, God would honored that!

One friend’s favorite scripture is from the Gospel of John:

“Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ; whom you sent.” – John 17:3

As with many of my mosaics there are often hidden Christian symbols in my work which I call God’s fingerprints. And I did noticed the central cross, but nothing more.

God’s like that, sometimes He won’t let me see all the symbols until later, and that is perfectly fine by me because in finding them, I get to praise His Name, and in sharing what I find out with another believer who happens to be blessed by it; they too get to praise God! What you’re about to read is His doing not mine. Glory to Jesus!

As I said, the obvious symbol is the center cross.

Hmmm…

John 17:3 reminds me of the cross of Christ and why He came and the answer is found in one of the most beloved and often quoted bible verses:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

God loves us and desires that none perish and to show His love He gave His Son Jesus to take the penalty of our sin and to die in our place. God’s love enables us to love Him and to love other people.

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” – John 4:7-12

Is not the heart a universal symbol of love? And there is not one but two in this painting! What is really cool is notice how each heart is joined together with their points encompassing the central cross. Upon further reflection this thought came to me:

Two hearts. God’s love shown at the cross is extended towards us radiating outward to reach all people. While the love of a redeemed heart set free by the cross of Christ extends upwards towards Him. But there’s more!

When a person is saved the Holy Spirit makes them a new creation.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” II Corinthians 5:17

And isn’t that what a butterfly not only represents but is?* An brand new creation with wings to fly heaven-ward from once being a lowly earth bound caterpillar? We die into His death but live a new resurrected life in Christ Jesus when we come out of baptismal waters.

“³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” – Romans 6:3-4

But there’s even more surprises!

As believers in Jesus He sends us his help through angels. There are four of them in the painting. Though the image below is only a portion of the painting they are found at each quadrant corner of the mosaic just to the right and left of the center cross. Now these are harder to see which is why I never saw them before.

“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” – Hebrews 1:14

And still there is more!

After studying this painting more I noticed there’s this figure….doubled actually (one upside-down which is part of the first figure). Each doubled figure is located above and below the center cross and it’s body is what makes up the butterfly. As I pondered about this figure and realized the figures have their arms raised like an orant figure. Just like the orant figures which were painted on the inside walls of Roman catacombs.

The orant figure was a person standing with arms raised and it was considered to be the gesture of prayer for the early Christian church. Early as in the days of St. Peter and Paul and afterwards. Wow! The figure in the painting even has a face and wears a type of hat… or maybe a helmet? Hmmm…The helmet of salvation?

¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” – Ephesians 6:17

Now I don’t see a sword in this painting (and if you find one let me know!) but I’m reminded of I Thessalonians 5:16-18.

“¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – I Thessalonians 5:16:18

Now I ask you….isn’t that what we as Christians who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and have been shown God’s great love, mercy and grace are supposed to be doing all throughout our lives? Praise God! I soo love this mosaic!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.” – Romans 12:!

May this artwork bless and encourage you in your walk with Jesus my friend!

in Him,

Donna

*Yep, caterpillars really do a death and resurrection

Posted on August 31, 2017May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Rivers In The Desert

I love how this mosaic came out it’s one of my favorites! It is comprised of multiple mosaic panels offset on an angle to create this mesmerizing abstract painting. The use of repeated mosaics creates the effect of movement. The blues and greens capture the rippling movement of fresh water glistening in the sunlight contrasted against the desert browns, yellows, and oranges representing sand and rock.

It reminds me of several scriptures relating to water. However; Isaiah 43:19 seems to say it best as the Lord says:

“Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.”

Those words are part of a longer discourse from the Lord to both Israel and Jacob. In this chapter God repeatedly acknowledges Himself as “The Holy One of Israel” then lists His credentials: your Savior, your Redeemer, your King, your Creator. Then says everyone called by His name He created for His glory. Wow! Incredible words describing our God and our purpose!

The last line of this chapter reads: “…Because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen, This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”

We try all kind of things to drown out or fix our problems, when really only one thing is needful.

To the outcast, downtrodden: “Jesus answered, ’Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” – John 4:13-14

To those who believe: ³⁷On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” ³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” – John 7:37-39

Many people are lost, walking in a dry wilderness, searching in vain for anything to satisfy a gnawing thirst in their souls which can never be quenched by anything of the world. Those who are born-again and are filled with the Holy Spirit have that living water. The ministry of the Holy Spirit flows out of a heart that has been redeemed by God and it blesses other believers. Through the believer it brings a word of life to a lost and dying world.

And that is why I really love this mosaic, because it not only speaks of the believer’s calling and purpose but it is a constant reminder for the believer to continuously draw strength from Christ. No matter the circumstances or how bleak the situation we may experience or what dry patch of wilderness a believer may go through we look to Jesus. Only He can make a path where one doesn’t exist, bring life out from a barren wasteland, and bring beauty from ashes. Jesus exhorts us to come to Him for wisdom times of refreshment, healing and rejuvenation.

From eternity past to present and for all eternity, Jesus will continue to reign supreme as the Holy One of Israel, our Savior, Redeemer, King, and Creator. In agreement with Peter let us who are redeemed be strengthened in these words: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” – I Peter 2:9

Be encouraged!

Donna

Posted on July 4, 2017May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – “Here am I, send Me!”

This acrylic painting is comprised of four mosaics set into a pattern, if it reminds you of the Peacock Cross Mosaic earlier it is because it’s the same painting; however, this is the second pattern. Often I’m able to find multiple patterns with just one mosaic painting, depending on how I flip and rotate each mosaic panel it can create a very different pattern. This one is just slightly different than the first pattern but oh that slight variance changes the whole symbolic iconography of this piece! Wow!

A bit of background before I dive into the iconography of this painting. A friend of mine is planting churches and I mentioned to him that an acrylic block with one of my artworks and a scripture of his choice would make a nice gift to the new pastor of that home church. He chose Isaiah 6:8 but he didn’t specify which of my artworks he wanted, and left that up to me. I prayed and chose this artwork because I knew there needed to be a cross but didn’t know exactly how Isaiah 6:8 was going to work with it. We’ll was I in for a delightful surprise! And it’s all God’s doing!

It wasn’t until I intently looked at the pattern of this painting for a while that I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. I had seen a couple of images before, but now there were more, which not only lends more interest but unbeknownst to me the Lord would show me how all of the hidden images really does fit perfectly into Isaiah 6:8! Glory to Jesus is all I can say because I didn’t make this up! Lol!

What I had always seen before was the cross and swords as shown below.

The two swords make up the crossbeam.

There are radiating arcs emanating from the center of the cross and…

These unusual creepy ram-horned creatures with hands held up. I outlined their eyes.

So how to put this all of this into perspective and what exactly is the message? Some of you bible scholars probably can already guess! I see it as just another of God’s fingerprints, His hidden message in my artwork that He wants me to find and share with you.

Iconography/Symbolism:

The deep hues of blues and green represent living water that comes from Christ that wells up to eternal life within a believer.

“¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Next to Jesus the cross is paramount in the Christian’s faith. The radiating arcs that originate from the center of the cross outward represents the saving power of God.

“¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I Corinthians 1:18

The swords within the crossbeam symbolizes the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. God’s words are not just merely words uttered but they are life. They are alive, active and are used in faith by prayer warriors to pull down the enemy’s strongholds.

¹²For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

“¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

” ³For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

And I bet your wondering if there is a sword what is it used against? Where is the enemy? In the painting of course! Those creepy creatures that are backing off with hands held up! As Christians submit to God and resist the enemy of our souls, the devil must back off and flee – just like that image of the creature! Praise God! And we know we are more than conquerors over in this world and over the enemy’s attacks through Jesus Christ who loves us dearly.

“⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

“³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

But how does it all fit in with Isaiah 6:8?

Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, but he was afraid because he was a sinful man standing in the presence of a holy God. After his guilt was taken away from him by the seraph, Isaiah was now most eager to answer the Lord’s call and complete it. Likewise, the blood of Jesus takes away our sin makes us right before God’s presence because the cross continues to remind us it is the power of God for our salvation.

Like Isaiah, Christians now have a duty to answer God’s call. Just as the Father had sent His Son into the world to complete His Father’s will, likewise Jesus sends us out into the world to complete His work but that work is not without attacks from the enemy. But we are to take heart and not fear…

Because… unlike Isaiah, we are made more than conquerors because our enemy has been defeated at the cross. Even more we have at our disposal a very powerful weapon to destroy strongholds, to demolish onslaughts of the evil one, to demolish worldly arguments and pretensions that go counter to God.

“⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

²¹Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21

And isn’t all of this iconography and it’s symbolism exactly what an elder or pastor of a new church needs? To be encouraged daily to drink deeply of Christ, to know the cross will be foolishness to those who are perishing but it is the power of God for salvation. To remain at peace in Jesus fully submitted, resisting the devil and taking the full armor of God and with the sword of the Spirit to wage spiritual war against the enemy’s tactics. To be able to say with Isaiah in faith, confidence and without any fear answering God’s call on their life, “Here am I, send me!”

Glory to Jesus!

-Donna

Posted on May 23, 2017December 29, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Pennants, Flowers & Butterflies … Where?

This acrylic mosaic painting is made up of one floral mosaic which is arranged into a specific pattern. The pattern is duplicated a dozen times with each layer positioned over the previous layer but offset slightly at an angle. The result is this dizzying random pattern.

It’s tedious to make an artwork like this because it takes many hours and requires a lot of patience…and coffee. Yet fun nonetheless. But what makes this artwork so special is what is not seen. One has to wait patiently for the hidden images to emerge. And in this day and age waiting is an acquired virtue. It’s an optical illusion.

God’s fingerprints are once again seen in this artwork and it’s always amazing and humbling to me because paintings like this which at first glance appear to be a random mess of sequential patterns, without anything worth noticing; once deciphered will eventually serve a greater purpose and give glory to God. Now that is cool beans!

To see the hidden images in this artwork you’ll have to sit back and relax, cross your eyes staring at the center of the painting, [the lower image is larger and easier], adjust your focus a bit and you should slowly start to see rows of triangular pennants with flowers blinking all around, with tiny butterflies floating among the flowers as they “pop out”. Now I’d gladly draw a highlight around the hidden images to show you but doing so involves me crossing my eyes while using my mouse – not good! LOL!

Iconography: The rows of flag pennants is interesting, a pennant can be a military flag and aren’t Christians in God’s army? Is not the Father God also Lord God of Hosts? A synonym for a pennant is a banner, and God’s banner over us is love. Song of Solomon 2:4

Flowers: Matthew 6:28-30 There are several references to flowers in the bible, however; these flowers “blink” they quickly appear and disappear. James reminds us so does the wealth of the rich. James 1:10-11

Butterflies: Butterflies were once pudgy earthbound caterpillars, consuming and devouring all day long, yet they “die” and transform into an entirely new creature from the chrysalis, believers are made a new creature in Christ Jesus. II Corinthians 5:17

So how to put this all into perspective? Sometimes life becomes overwhelming, a seemingly dizzying confusion, like the first glance at this artwork below, with many things vying for our attention, one can loose sight of what is really important, because there is no hierarchy no main element in this painting. In the midst of it all, it can be very hard to see the spiritual promises, God is hidden to us but He’s actually there we just have to refocus a bit. In Christ we are told not worry about anything. If He is truly Lord over our life, He is in control and will supply all that we need; even those things we’ve forgotten to ask or not aware of. Hardship in life can never remove the truth of His word, it may seem hidden but as in the painting below once you’ve seen the iconography you know it’s there. Though tempting, we are commanded not to put our hope or trust in riches or materialism as these things are only temporary. They can never compare to the true riches and promises we have in Christ Jesus. As new creatures in Christ we soar above and beyond the old life, we don’t backslide into doing things the old way because of trials, confusion or persecution. Instead believers are to trust fully our Father is Lord of hosts, who loves us, fights for us and protect us. May God help us to dig deeper, see past the confusion, mess and deceitfulness of the world and refocus on the spiritual promises in Christ Jesus.

Be blessed!

-Donna

Posted on April 23, 2017May 12, 2021 by Resurgent Art LLC — Leave a comment

Chi-Rho Newsletter – Jesus Christ Chief Cornerstone

Yes, this month’s newsletter comes at the last day in April and what better way to wrap up this busy month than to begin again remembering Jesus as our Chief Cornerstone our sure foundation!

The painting above is of 16 mosaics put together to create a unique pattern, I did add a filter overlay which rendered the brushstrokes to look like neon light. The finished composition reminded me of I Peter 2:6.

As Christians celebrated Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday this month we were united with other believers around the world in memory of the glorious morning our Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over sin, death and the grave! Praise God! The disciples’ faith in Jesus was tried like never before when they witnessed the crucifixion and death of their beloved friend. And three days later it would be renewed stronger – rock solid – having seen first hand the Son of the Living God risen. What a glorious moment!

This painting is special to me because it reminds me that I not only can I depend on Jesus as He is faithful in all things but I can also have my art ministry founded on Him as well. A cornerstone is “an important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based upon.” Exactly what Resurgent Art’s mission is dependent upon God and the importance of who Christ is while pointing others to Him, showing beauty all for His glory. 😀

There is an optical illusion of X’s that are visible at a distance. It happens often in my paintings, I don’t know why this happens; but my daughter pointed out to me there’s either O’s or X’s in many of my works. Hmmm….maybe it’s a reminder how much Jesus loves all of us dearly? Just a thought! May your week be blessed my friend!

-Donna