The title of the message this morning is “Repainting Your Canvas.” How many of you have seen “The Mona Lisa”? I don’t remember the painter’s name, but whoever he was, “The Mona Lisa” was in his mind long before it hit the canvas. Every stroke of “The Mona Lisa” was already up here (pointed to my head).
Most of you know how movies are made right? The first thing the director does is a story board. He would take the movie that has been playing in his mind and put it on a story board so that those who are making the movie can see what he sees.
Now, for years, we have been painting our spirits, stroke by stroke. “I hate that guy.” Stroke. “This person needs to get hit by a bus.” (Laughter) Stroke. “I love my Heavenly Father.” Stroke. My point: we paint the canvas of our spirits by what we think and what we say. So every time you have a thought. Stroke. Every time you say something. Stroke. You are stroking the canvas of your spirit.
For some of you, what you’re going to hear today will be an answer to prayer. It’s going to help you understand why your prayers are not getting answered. Isn’t that wonderful?
We’re going to begin in Proverbs 23. Look at verse 7.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
How many of you have quoted this part of the verse? How many of you have heard that part of the verse quoted to you? Have you ever had any say to you the last part of that verse? No. I’m going to lift that verse out of context this morning because “for as a man thinketh, so is he” is true. But so that you can see the context, let’s go back to verse one.
Read verses 1 through the first part of verse 7.
Do you see the context? He’s talking about someone who has evil in his heart.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”
We say the first part of this verse without thinking about the setting, the context, in which it is found.
The word “thinketh” means “to act as a gate keeper.” This man is thinking about certain things that may not be in the person’s best interest. We need to be gatekeepers of our thoughts also, making sure that our thoughts are the same as God’s thoughts.
Look in Proverbs 29. Another verse you’re very familiar with – verse 18. Read first part of the verse.
I have had that verse quoted to me but stop right here. People take this verse and say we need to have a vision, we need to develop a vision statement, for our business or for our ministry. But that’s not what it’s talking about. How do I know this? Look at the second part of the verse.
So what is the vision that we must have? The vision, the revelation, of God’s Word in us. Where there is no vision, where there is no hearing from God, the people perish. This verse is talking about God’s Word living in your life because if it’s not, you’re perishing.
We read these two verses so that I could as the question, “What do you see?” Now I want to go to what you must see. Turn to Genesis 1. The verses we are about to read is WHAT YOU MUST SEE. Read first part of Genesis 1:26.
Do you know what’s so fascinating about this verse? In every place of creation, the Bible says “And let, and let, and let.” God spoke things into being. But when it came to man, when it came to us, He got personally involved!
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Read verses 27 and 28.
God said “Let us create man in our image.” He’s giving you a picture of WHO YOU ARE.
Now Genesis 1 came before Genesis 3, did it not? By the time we get to the end of Genesis 3, the man and woman God made, formed and created are no longer in His image. But then, after Jesus rose from the dead, man would once again be in God’s image.
God says listen, “Man is going to look like Me, he’s going to act like Me and everything I would do He going going to do.”
How many of you have really seen that picture of yourself? Think about this. We are exactly like God with one exception – we don’t have deity. We don’t see ourselves where we are. We see ourselves where we’ve been beaten down to. And we know who has been whacking away at us.
Look at Colossians 2. Read verses 9 and 10.
(After reading first part of verse 10.)
Now the translators did us a mis-service by translating this word “complete” because it’s the same word as “fullness” in verse 9. Get the image. The fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Jesus and we are full in Him! In other words, there is no lack! We can’t get any more.
Read remainder of verse 10.
And since we are His body, where are we? Over all principality and power.
This morning, we are repainting your canvas. With each verse, with each stroke, we are looking at ourselves as God sees us.
Look at Ephesians 2. Well, look in chapter one and verse 17. Read remainder of the chapter.
Now look at verse four of Chapter 2. Verses one, two and three describe who we used to be.
(4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.
(5) Even when we were [were being kicked by the world, were not having our needs met, were not having healing in our bodies, were, were, were. If it’s were, it’s not now. How many of you are still living in were? You’ve got walk out of it sometime. Otherwise you will never fulfill what God has called you to do. You are never going to have what God wants you to have as long as you are living in “were.”] dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
(6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Where are you seated? In heavenly on the right hand of the Father! Get the picture! Stroke. Stroke. If you can’t see what God is saying about you, you will not receive what God has for you.
(7)That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
He wants to show the exceeding riches of his grace. Don’t just think about money. When you pray someone and they get healed – that’s the riches of his grace! When you can walk over to someone in a wheelchair and say get up and they get up – that is the riches of his grace! It’s not about how many trinkets you have. It’s not about how much money you have. If you think the riches of his grace only has to do with money, then you are living in “were.”
You’ve heard me say this before, and I’ve told my children this, money is tool. It’s just like a hammer. It’s just like a screwdriver. A power tool. You use it. You don’t let money use you. How many of you have a hammer at home? Has that hammer ever gotten up and started beating you upside the head? But we let money do that to us.
So get it in your heads. When God talks about riches, He’s not talking primarily about money. Money. Money. It’s going to be the byproduct of your relationship with Him. Just like healing is going to be the byproduct of your relationship with Him. Having all your needs met is a byproduct of your relationship with Him. Okay?
Read verses 8 and 9.
Now, we’re getting ready to stroke another part of your spirit. I don’t want you to look at verse 10. Instead, close your eyes and listen as I read it to you.
Read first part of verse 10.
We are God’s handiwork. We are God’s Mona Lisa! Do you see that? Do you see that? Remember when I said in Genesis 1 that God got personally involved when it came to man? God crafted us! We are exactly what He designed us to be. You are His handiwork. You!
Now we know that the handiwork is only as good as the one doing the work. Can I get an Amen! Now if we are God’s handiwork, there is no one who can come behind God and improve what He did. But we often act like we’re something else other than God’s handiwork. That is what the world puts on our spirits. Stroke, by stroke, by stroke.
The world says Barry, you are God’s handiwork. Stroke. The world says Barry, you just think you are God’s handiwork. Stroke. Barry, if you were God’s handiwork, would this be happening to you? Stroke. That’s why we must do what we read back in Proverbs 23 and be a gatekeeper of our thoughts that put us back in “were.” God wants us to think like Him.
Now let’s look at why seeing is important. Hebrews 11. We’re going to look at a familiar verse but now seeing it differently. Read verse 1.
Hope. Vision. Image. I am going to use these words interchangeably and I’ll explain why.
For most of us, a hope is a wish. For God, a hope is not a wish. A hope is what you actually see on the inside of you before you see it in the realm of the natural. God does not grant wishes. That’s why prayers are not answered. Until you have hope, until you have a vision on the inside, until you can see it, it will not happen.
You have a stack of bills and in your mind you are seeing them wondering how in the world you are going to pay them. In your mind, you are seeing a stack of bills rather than a clean desk. You are seeing bills rather than a check book with a positive balance and the bills are paid. What are you giving God to work with?
Faith Is the substance of things hoped for. You have to have the hope before faith is activated.
Look at Romans 8:24 and 25.
(24) For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? [If you already have it, you don’t need to hope for it.]
(25) But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. [Why? Because you can see it. You know it’s coming!]
Habakkuk 2. Read verses 1 and 2.
If you have a need in your life, write it down. Write what needs to happen to it. Write the vision. As you write it down, a stroke goes across your spirit. As you confess the word and you look at what you want to happen to that need, stroke. It’s a stroke across your canvas and that’s what you want. Why? So when it comes to pass you will know it!
(1) For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: [Do see this? The vision is going to speak and not lie.] though it tarry, wait for it [Do you know why you have to wait? It’s because you’re painting your canvas. When the full picture gets into your heart, the faith comes. But you have to paint. Stroke by stroke by stroke.]: because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
(2) Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Before we read the just shall live by faith, what did Habakkuk say? Write the vision. Make it plain.
Faith possesses what hope sees. If hope is not seeing it, there is nothing for faith to possess.
Godly hope is when you are moved to the point where you agree WHAT HAS BEEN IS NOT WHAT SHALL BE. This is how God defines hope.
What has been is past and is not what shall be – the future, unless you stay in the past. Unless you stay in “were.”
There are some strokes that you need to stop and other strokes you need to start.
Listen to me: when you confess the word on something that you already see, faith is on the way. And when faith hits that painting inside of you, you will have it!
Who wants to influence what you see? We know the answer don’t we? It’s the devil. Turn to Genesis 6. Read verse 5.
The devil was continually filling the minds of people with evil and that’s why God had to bring the flood. It was not going to change. Every stroke on their hearts was evil continually. What was in their hearts is how they lived.
Now look at Numbers 13. This is the record of Moses sending the spies into the promised land so that they could see for themselves that what God had said was true. That’s the only reason. If Moses had had his way, the spies would not have gone into the promised land. But the people “couldn’t see it” and that’s why the spies went in to bring back proof. Read verses 26 through 33.
(After reading verse 27)
“The land was just like you said it would be Moses. It flows with milk and honey.” Stroke. They’re painting a picture for the people who had not seen the promise land. Stroke.
(Before reading verse 28)
When we don’t agree with God’s Word, our lives contradict what He has for us. The first word of verse 28: Nevertheless. Stroke.
What God had said was true but because of fear, 10 of the spies stroked fear onto the canvas of the hearts of the people. Our enemy tries to do this very same thing to us every day. Whatever God’s word says, he tries to stroke it out of us. Remember that’s the first thing he did to Eve in Genesis 3. “Did God really say you couldn’t eat of the tree?” Stroke.
Who are you allowing to paint on the canvas of your heart?
Read verse 30. Stroke.
Read verse 31. Stroke.
Read verse 32. Stroke.
Read verse 33. Stroke.
These are the same men who saw Moses stand on the rock and say “You don’t have to fear the Egyptians anymore because after this day, they will never bother you again.” And the Red Sea parted. They saw that. These are the same men who saw the 10 plagues come to pass one right after the other. But the fear on the inside of them negated all of the “Godly strokes” that they had witnessed at the hands of Moses. They didn’t see it anymore!
In verse 32 it says that the 10 spies brought up “an evil report.” What they saw was factual. The fruit they brought back – they could see it. So why their report evil? They didn’t trust God to be with them and to take care of them if they went into the promise land.
Is one of the strokes of the painting on your heart is “God will take care of me?” Is it?
Let’s go back to Genesis 6. This is really good. This is the record of God painting a picture for Noah of how the ark is going to look. Noah “sees” the ark in his mind. He knows what it will look like once it’s finished. Read verse 14 through 21.
Now notice verse 22. God has given Noah the picture. God has given you the picture. Noah had to make a decision. Am I going to do what God tells me or am I not. Read verse 22. The image of the ark had been painted inside of Noah before he ever cut that first piece of gopher wood.
God has given us an image. Look at Genesis 15. Read verses 1 through 6.
(After reading verse 4)
“This shall not be thine heir.” What has been is not what shall be. Do you see this?
(Before reading verse 5)
God has told Abram what He’s going to do and then He says “Come here.” So God tells Abram to look up at the dark night. “What do you see, Abram?” “I see stars – lots of them.” And God says to Abram, “So shall your seed be.” God gave Abram something to look at. He gave Abram something his faith could grab a hold of. And then God told Abram to look down. “What do you see?” “I see sand. In my toes. All over the place.” And God again says “So shall your seed be.”
This is the principle ladies and gentlemen. God shows Abram “his shall be.” Abram looks over in the corner. No baby crib. No diapers. No formula. He doesn’t have that yet, but God says listen, your seed is going to be more than the stars in heaven. Your seed is going to be more than the grains of sand.
Can’t you see Abram at the end of the day telling Sarah, “Honey, tonight I want to eat dinner outside?” So he goes outside and he looks up “My children. My children.” He goes to work the next day and sees all the sand. “My children. My children.” When he comes home and looks in the corner, “My son!”
God painted a picture for him. We have to take that same principle and paint Godly pictures and confess the word. God’s word doesn’t come back void. Confess that word.
Jesus Christ is out hope, our vision, our image.
Read 1 Timothy 1:1. Jesus Christ is the image we are to have on the inside of us. Stroke.
Read Colossians 1:27. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Stroke.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:18. Same image. Stroke. From glory to glory. Stroke. Christ is the image we are to hold on the inside of us. If you can’t see yourself doing what Jesus did, believing what Jesus believed, then you are not going to be changed from glory to glory.
Let me share with you something the Lord said to me.
“But the enemy of your soul will do everything he can to stop you from conforming to the image of My Son. He will cause situations and circumstances to arise to try and cause you to believe that the effort to conform to the image of My Son is not worth it. But isn’t it worth conforming to the image the image of My Son to give sight to the blind? Isn’t it worth conforming to the image of My Son to give strength to the lame so they can walk again? Isn’t it worth conforming to the image of My Son to be a beacon of light to a dead soul to give that soul life? Yes, it’s worth it! My Son died on the cross to make every effort you make to be like him worth it!”
Now, with all that we have seen this morning, let’s restate Hebrews 11:1. Remember, we’re stroking. We’re creating the image.
“Now faith is the substance of Christ (our hope) in me, the evidence of things not yet seen.”
How do we paint hope – Jesus – on the canvas of our hearts?
Read Matthew 9:32-35. Stroke. This is how God sees us.
Read Matthew 15:29-31. Stroke. This is how God sees us.
Read Ephesians 2:6, 10. Stroke. This is how God sees us.
Read 1 John 4:4, 17. Stroke. This is how God sees us.
This morning I started painting on the canvas of your hearts to help you see the image that you are supposed to be seeing. And that image is Jesus Christ and everything that He did. This is who we are looking at. He is our stars in the sky. He is our grain of sand. We must get this image of Him inside of us.
Please stand.
