Untitled

I'll start this off by saying that my piece (above), does not have a name. It's not that I couldn't think of one, but rather I just decided that it was better without one. I felt this way because I think a title would probably only confuse people more than the piece's abstract nature already does.

The area of the piece that the viewers eye is drawn to initially is the mouse. This is because it is this high contrast and detailed picture in the midst of a beautiful and formless chaos of color. Obviously, I did this intentionally. I wanted the entire point of the piece to be the symbolism of a mouse, not just abstract colors. To me, a mouse represents being small, and humble as a result. Not humble by choice, but humble because the mouse recognizes the nature of reality. Which is, in this case, that the mouse is smaller than most things and therefore must not act like it is something much bigger than a mouse.

I believe that this idea carries over into us humans, in relationship to God. But sometimes we forget it. So to remedy that, I propose this: don't just build up the idea of God in your head with thoughts and ideas alone, but go outside on a clear night and stare at the stars and think about how each one is bigger and brighter than our own sun. Go to a science exhibit or something and learn the physics that govern this entire universe. Watch the freaking Planet Earth series on the Discovery Channel. Explore creation.

What I'm getting at is this: make it a point to realize the nature of this reality and the fact that we are practically nothing, especially in comparison to God, and you will quickly see that always saying "Lord I am so small", is not very necessary. It goes without saying.

Be blessed!

-Kenny

Xtreme

The Cost of Following Jesus
Luke 9:57-62

As my eyes followed the words on thin, wrinkled pages, I distantly read through the endings of Luke 9. Luke unfolds the interaction between Jesus and the people who had wanted to become devoted disciples of his. Jesus answers with what appears to be a somewhat harsh response. I expected our loving Jesus to reply with words that I would have liked to hear, putting myself in the place of that man on the road approaching Jesus. But again, he surprises me with his reaction, difficult for my flesh. When Jesus says “Follow me,” one man insists that he may go bury his father first and the other pleads to say good-bye to his family before he can follow Jesus. Jesus’ blunt reply seems a bit startling. To each of them, he explains that he has no room for such things for those who want to follow him. With the abrupt ending of the chapter, I was somewhat puzzled and left to wonder why Jesus has acted the way he did. Don’t things like family matter? Families are sometimes the most important things in our lives.
Jesus knew this.
He was carefully and honestly explaining that nothing, not even what you hold closest to your heart, can get in the way of you and Jesus. In chapter 14, he elaborates more about the cost of becoming his disciple.

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

How often do we let the world tell us what is most important to us? Jesus was not saying that you have to hate everyone after you become his follower. I realized that instead he was helping his listeners really recognize and understand how much you have to give, how much you can’t hold back, and how you can never look back when keeping your eyes on Jesus. When Jesus describes the “cost” of becoming his follower, he sounds so extreme, so intense. The thing is, Jesus sounded this way on purpose. He didn’t want any half-hearted or even “99% hearted” followers. He wants everything. He wants all of you. He might have sounded extreme but really, that’s what he asks for us to be. Jesus didn’t want people get the wrong idea of what it means to follow him. He showed his love by being so plain, so blatant with his words to make sure that those people would know what they giving themselves to. Like with those people, he doesn’t bargain about how much you are willing to give, he doesn’t agree to be sought after only when you have time. He asks us to drop everything…and follow. How much does it cost? It costs us everything.

-Mae Leah

Bienvenido

Hello and welcome to the RBBC devotional and art blog :)
My name is Kenny, and I'm one of the leaders of this devotional and art team.

The idea of a devotional and art blog seems pretty straightforward to me, but let me clarify things a little, if only for the sake of clarifying.

This blog was created to showcase a continually growing collection of writings, paintings, and anything else (art), contributed by anyone who wants to contribute. Mostly though, the things here will be the product of members of the RBBC devotional and art team. The things that you will see here will be inspired by a multitude of different things, but ultimately everything here is for the glory of God.

We also created this blog because we recognize that the internet is an extremely powerful tool in the way of communication and so we intend to utilize it by sharing the things here with not only each other, but the rest of the internet community as well.

If you are interested in contributing your art, let us know!

-Kenny