David Lee Martin

Opportunity is a strange thing.

It often comes dressed like a threat to your comfortable status quo.

The world is presently undergoing a creative revolution called AI.

I'll be the first to admit that the possibility of artificial intelligence overshadowing over my warm creative life frightened me. The pace of progress made my head spin.

Until a conversation with God shifted my perspective.

I will always come first to Almighty Intelligence before leaning on anything artificial, and thankfully prayer gives us free access to the greatest mind in the universe.

I shared my fears and concerns and the Holy Ghost spoke up inside me and said, as clear as the words on this page, “Embrace AI as an opportunity to tell more and better stories”.

The ethical storm around AI use is a real one, but I’m realising that the tool is not the trouble, it's the hands that use the tools that make the difference.

In the same way that technological progress has opened never-before-seen creative opportunities in centuries past, could AI offer similar opportunities for us today?

Could this synergy of technology and the beating heart of human love actually be a relationship that will bear wonderful fruit and amplify our effectiveness as Christian creatives?

I believe so, and even more after my conversation with the Holy Ghost.

I’m not yet certain how that synergy looks, but I’m actively embracing my education in this new opportunity that’s been placed in the hands of our generation.

How about you?

What are your thoughts or concerns around the use of AI?

I would love to hear from you.

Waiting is difficult.

In a same-day delivery world, the idea of gratification delay is anathema.

But there’s more to waiting than meets the eye.

We’re told in Scripture:

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14 KJV)

This fabulous Hebrew word, “wait” (Heb: Quavah) holds secrets.

“Qavah” means to bind together by twisting, to collect and expect, to gather (together), to look patiently…

Wrap yourself around God’s promises.

Collect and expect what He has spoken.

Gather your thoughts and emotions and bind them to the mast of faith.

Look and see what He has in store.

Let the unseen realities of faith fill your vista.

Faith is the evidence of those things not yet manifest, the substance of the things you hope for.

When you wait in faith you are actively engaged. Entwined. Expectant.

And your heart will rest in assurance that while you wait, God will act.

“For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.” (Isaiah 64:4 AMP)

Selah.

Prayer is your lifeline.

No, that’s not the right picture.

Be careful what pictures you live by.

A lifeline sounds like you’re drowning in a raging sea, barely hanging on.

No, no, no.

Dear friend, prayer is the ocean!

The great deep of God’s judgements and mercy.

The vast expanses of holiness and wholeness.

The deep flowing rivers of abundant pleasure and joy.

All are entered through a beautiful doorway – the doorway of prayer!

The Holy Ghost said to me one time before I taught prayer in Bible School:

“Prayer is the place of entrance to the heart of God”

I have found this to be true.

As Scripture says:

“Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep (ocean): O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.” (Psalm 36:5–8 KJV)

Drink deeply.

Your words have power.

Words spoken.

Words written.

Choose them carefully and let them fly.

Jesus could not have been more clear:

“The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11 KJV)

Today’s harvest is the result of yesterday’s seed.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV)

Not happy with your present trajectory. Turn your tiny rudder in the right direction.

“Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member,” (James 3:4–5 KJV)

Your lips and your fingers are made for war.

Not with flesh and blood, as we often see on social media.

But for a Kingdom not of this world.

My book, ‘Choose Your Words Change Your World’ shares a life-changing truth. One you can put to work immediately. God has placed simple (but not always easy) principles in your hand. Use them.

And for the writers among us?

Here’s a sticky note for your workstation…

“Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle—” (Psalm 144:1 NKJV)

Papa has equipped you to conquer.

Your words work.

They are powerful.

Amen

What does the Lord God require?

That your ego takes the passenger seat, making way for your spirit.

Your natural man was never designed to carry the burdens of life. When the Three made mankind they created man and woman in their own image, giving them stewardship of the created order.

“Dominion” is the word good ole’ King James uses.

This innate mandate still courses through the invisible veins of men. The problem is that the mandate has been cut off from the Maker.

Misplaced mandates lead to all sorts of madness!

God has called you to make a difference in the world. He has blessed and commissioned you to rule within your sphere of influence.

The first place to dominate is your ego.

Firmly planting your face to the floor or knees to the boards harnesses all of that wonderful egocentric energy to something that doesn’t shift.

Unleashed it will strain at the bit to compete and compare. It will ache to take the glory, and grizzle when others succeed. One day ego will think it’s Superman, and the next will lambast you for being such a loser.

Ego is fickle.

But connected to God it can conquer.

Your sense of self-worth is not measured by the metrics of the world.

It is shaped by the everlasting love of the One who has called and commissioned you.

Bow low and you will rise knowing who you truly are!