The biggest hindrance I see to God’s creative people finding their stride and moving forward with their ideas is a reluctance to show their work.

Chronic procrastination and never-quite-finished syndrome keeps them from shipping. Perfectionism steals their confidence and prevents the doors from being opened wide for the fresh public breeze of feedback to blow through the workshop.

And the world remains a poorer place for it.

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Coming Out In The Open So God Can Be Seen

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00:00:02.100]
Yeah, today I want to share from a great scripture, let me just bring it up for you. This is I mean, the Bible never ceases to be full of favourite scriptures. I mean, it’s really like you think you find one gem and then you just keep digging and it’s like the soil is just full of diamonds. You know, you can’t go to the scriptures without finding something of incredible beauty and through which revelation shines into the heart.

00:00:37.070]
You know, if we come expecting to hear from heaven, expecting to hear not just read words, but hear the voice speak to our heart, they’ll always be something there for you to to discover and to enjoy. And there’s this scripture here in John, chapter one verse that a good friend of mine, Scholer Akala, has been teaching online just from these first verses of John. And as she dug incredibly deep into these, you know, I was kind of drawn to these scriptures anyways as a result of that.

00:01:15.710]
But yesterday I read this. No man has ever seen God at any time the only unique son or the only begotten God. He was in the bosom in the intimate present of the presence of the father. He has declared him now in the amplified. It then says he has revealed him and brought him out where he can be seen. He has interpreted him and made him known. And I was just so, so touched by this thought of bringing God out in the open, bringing God out in the place where he can be known, where he can be seen.

00:02:00.350]
And I think the biggest hindrance for a lot of creative Christians, a lot of kind of artistic, creative Christians who want to get their voice out, who want to get the word out to the world and share their message with the world is there’s often find themselves kind of reluctant to show their work. They find themselves kind of feeling you. They’re caught in procrastination in that place of, you know, it’s never quite finished or they find themselves in the place of perfectionism where, you know, actually perfectionism is one of these crazy things that says it’s never going to be finished.

00:02:41.720]
And those two things so often prevent us from really putting our work out, putting our words out, putting our message, our images, our pictures, our songs, whatever they may be, out to the world where we can get like that, that breeze of feedback where we just open up the doors, we open up the windows on our creativity, on our creative projects, and let the world see who we are and what we’ve got to bring.

00:03:13.790]
And so I encourage you, if that’s you, if you’re one of those people is caught in that procrastination cycle or that perfectionism trap to just really break out of it and understand that you have been placed on this planet to reveal God and bring him out where he can be seen. You know, the scripture here also says he’s interpreted him and made him known. You know, each of us as children of God are interpreters for him. We make him understood.

00:03:50.180]
We translate something that is invisible. We translate something that can’t be seen. And often for many people, you know, depending what their situation is, depending where they’re at in their walk with God who can’t be heard. And we become like the radio, we become the transmitter, we become the translator of invisible realities and truths into something that people can engage with and understand and connect with. You are God’s translator, and it’s through us, through the church, through the living, breathing holy church of Jesus, that God is made visible and God is made known.

00:04:38.690]
And it’s really the question is, are we ready? Are we willing to step out and bring God out where he can be seen? I believe that you are. I believe that you are ready. I believe I know it will take courage. And, you know, sometimes I like the picture I had is of like God here on the inside, hidden away inside of us. All of that. All of that beauty, all of that. Wisdom, all of that power and that life, all of that creativity, all kind of wrapped up underneath various layers and the Holy Ghost kind of pushing his way through, peeling away the layers, digging through the disappointments, digging through and coming through the layers of excuses and reasons why not and insecurities and finally breaking out where he can be seen.

00:05:37.660]
And, you know, the only place that he’s going to be made visible is as you find yourself, you know, in finding him, you will find yourself. There’s such a great scripture, you know, the scriptures where it talks about, you know, if a man loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, he’ll find it. How powerful and how wonderful and exciting is that truth that like whereas as we allow the Holy Ghost to strip away the things that kind of hiding beneath our ego as those ego things fall away, more and more and more of God can show through and shine through.

00:06:26.380]
And it does take courage. You know, we’ve really got to step out beyond the concerns about what other people will say or think. We’ve got to step beyond the fears of, you know, will anyone even care to listen? Will anyone even be here to to even give kind of an ounce of interest in what? I’ve got to bring all of those questions, all of those fears, all of those kind of seemingly legitimate ego based concerns really do need to be put aside.

00:07:02.470]
And we need to understand that it’s only as we begin to step out that we will ever find out, you know, we can have these questions as to is this going to work? Is this not going to work or whatever. The truth be told is, no one can guarantee you anything. No one can say absolutely this will work or this will happen or it will happen this way. What we do know is 100 percent of the people you are called to reach will not be reached if you don’t take that step.

00:07:36.460]
And like that, the scope of that, who knows what it will be. It might be five people, ten people, 10 million people. But there has to be that choice that we make that like, God, I’m here. I don’t want to live in self-protection. I don’t want to live in a place of where you are layered and hidden and all of these other things. So the only thing the world sees is me. And there’s nothing wrong with them seeing you.

00:08:09.340]
This is a duet. Yeah. And that’s the great thing. You know, I’m thinking about, you know, being an interpreter. You know, some people interpret in French, you know, I’ve been to a number of events where they would have people doing sign language and they would have people translating into different kind of dialects and languages. Like when we were preaching in Africa, you’d have an interpreter, etc. and but you need a different interpreter for different audiences.

00:08:39.580]
You need a different interpreter for different languages. And and so, you know, as an interpreter of God, okay. As someone who is bringing God and making him known and making him seen as your interpretation. Okay. Is going to reach a certain audience. You know, I’m not necessarily called to interpret the you know, the ways and the wisdom of God to, you know, the audience of solicitors or medical practitioners or dentists or or whatever else it may be.

00:09:15.940]
You know, I’d like it in my blog today. I said, you know, I’m not necessarily called to talk to kind of aspiring single mothers or something like that. They may hear and they may engage with what I’ve got to say. But the truth is, my my translation, my interpreting work in the kingdom right down here on planet Earth is to work and speak and interpret the things of God to Christian artists, authors, entrepreneurs, creative Christians who are looking to get their message and their voice out in a digital platform, out into the world, through books, through courses or whatever else it may be, you know, that that all of these different streams and avenues to market.

00:10:07.790]
Streams and avenues to audience. That’s my that’s my tribe, that’s who I love to work with. I understand them to whatever degree I speak their language, I share their their their anxieties often. And so I’m able to interpret for that group of people and you that’s why it’s so important that it’s it’s not just a matter of, well, why do I need to step up? Why do I need to step out on on all of these other people doing it?

00:10:39.800]
And, you know, many times, aren’t they doing it better than I could? Truth be told, no one else can do it the way that you would and the way that you do and the way that you can, because as God’s interpreter, as the one who brings God and places him where he can be seen and brings him out, where he can be seen, you know, you are speaking the language. You are speaking in the dialect.

00:11:10.310]
Of in a very particular and very special way that will resonate and the deep resonance of God’s voice and God’s character and God’s wisdom and truth is going to come through you and reach people that maybe it could never be resonant with them when it comes through and is translated through me. Like if if someone were translating into kind of French or Spanish or. Well, or some Indian dialect or something in a in a meeting room, I would not be able to understand it wouldn’t resonate with me.

00:11:51.320]
I would be like, you know, like I can speak in tongues. But that’s about as far as my kind of multi language goes. Okay. That’s, you know, so it’s really understanding that as the child of the house, as the commissioned wine, to come and represent or represent Jesus as an ambassador, you know, you have a special place and a voice in that arena, in this arena called the World.

00:12:30.050]
And I really believe that there’s so many opportunities for us today, so many opportunities for you as a minister of the gospel. Whoever you are is you know, we’re not talking about jumping on a pulpit. I’m not in a pulpit right now. I mean, in like just an office, just in my room at home here. You know, it’s it we don’t need some ministry kind of badge or what do you call it? Like what do they like?

00:13:01.940]
Some title of some kind? All we need is a hard to really interpret God’s heartbeat for humanity, to hear what he wants to say. And I believe that this wonderful duet that we sing with Jesus, you know, as more and more people join the choir, as more and more people begin to join this symphony of the multifaceted wisdom of God being made known to the nations through the church that we were that just something. Beyond the current imagination can begin to take place because God wants to reach into every sector of society and he doesn’t just want to reach in with, like, neat little stories or sermons or sermonettes or whatever, he actually wants to impact through the genius and the and the wisdom that’s at work within people like in in business, in education, in politics, in family, in the arts, in entertainment.

00:14:10.690]
And we want to see that the people of God just come up like rise up through the ground and fall for these layers of doubt and layers of insecurity and fear to be peeled away. And for more and more voices like the nameless, faceless, ordinary folk like you and I, to step out and really begin to make a difference and raise our voices in the marketplace to say, hey, Jesus, first everything else follows. Well, thanks for listening.

00:14:44.650]
Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today. If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.