Story behind the Painting:

My oldest son, Jake, works for an awesome company, Waters Bluff.  The picture below is of their warehouse/office. Recently they commissioned me to paint a 3 piece acrylic panel to grace their walls.

They had Jake send me a picture of a “bluff”, as inspiration for this creation.

The above collage is the photo Jake sent me, coupled with the final 3 piece panel, prayed over, painted, and now ready to be posted!

Please take a sec to click on the link below to read what this company is about.

https://watersbluff.com/about

 Browse their website to see their product lines and join me in praying Psalm 90:17 over their work!

As a mama, I have been praying this verse around my children’s schools for years.  As a wife, I have prayed it around my husband’s place of employment on a daily basis and I have circled my own hands in this prayer countless times a day:

that every word I write, or painting I paint, mouth I feed, car I drive, laundry I wash, bed I make, etc… would be soaked in God’s favor, having HIM establish the work of my hands, in double portion fashion-

not for my glory but for God’s glory;

not to build my kingdom but to build HIS Kingdom here on earth!

Take-away Treasure:

As I studied the picture Jake sent me to paint, I began to get curious.

What’s up with a BLUFF?

And where can I see the spiritual reflected in the natural?

***Of course google came in very handy.  (**see footnote)

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In the natural, bluffs are steep cliffs that overlook a plain or body of water.  Water creates a river bluff through erosion, primarily at the bend, where water pushes the most.  On an ocean shoreline, storms may create the bluff.  In the natural realm, erosion is considered negative,” a gradual destruction.”

In the spiritual, from a “higher perspective”, we can see erosion more like this definition, as a kind of ” weathering in which surface soil and rock are worn away.”  When I think of a bluff from God’s vantage point, I see a formation that shows layers of life, minus the useless, “surface level” shifting sands.  Christ is our Living Water, who walks with us through the twists and turns, around the bends, of life, allowing the wear and tear to get rid of the parts we don’t need.  The storms of life come and go, but it is going THROUGH the storms that gets us to higher ground.  The storms create the bluff, allowing us to look far and wide and see how far we’ve come, to see how faithful HE HAS BEEN and always will be, because he never changes, unlike us!

In the natural we see that growth of vegetation can protect the formation from erosion.   Deep roots help to hold the unstable soil together.

The spiritual truth here is that seeds will always bear fruit, if the seeds take root. Deep roots of faith, hold the human soul together, producing a harvest, the fruit of the Spirit:

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Gal. 5:22-23 (NLT)

In the natural, environmental services say that no vegetative clearing is allowed in a bluff area except pruning to afford a view.

The spiritual truth that I gleaned here is that the “environmental service” of our hearts, entails “guarding the good deposit that was entrusted to us” (2 Tim. 1:14) and removing the “waste” from our lives.

God alone, can and will, prune us in order to make room for:

HIS CLARITY (to afford a view):

 “…let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace…Now stay focused on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1-3 VOICE) 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT)

and HEALTHY GROWTH!

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:2

In the natural, we see a bluff as the beautiful land formation that is the reality left in the wake of years of erosion and storms that we did not see. The bluff is the legacy left behind.

In the spiritual,  I see a bluff as a beautiful life transformation that is the reality left in the wake of years of weathering away the surface stuff, persevering through trials and tribulations that we no longer see.  The bluff is the “beauty mark” left in the wake of a life walked by faith, not by sight!

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 NLT

If you have been reading my blog for a while you have noticed this picture in the side bar.   It is there to remind me of my vision, of the legacy I want to leave behind.  It is part of the fabric of my “new in Christ” DNA!

Let me tie this post up with a “Waters Bluff” bow.

If you have not already checked out the  Waters Bluff site, I hope you do so now.  You will find the last sentence on their “About” page reading:

“Welcome to our journey. Now go make waves!”

I love this, because it is an invitation and a charge. They give you a view of their vision, welcomed you into their world and then charged you to find your own vision and go do something, go make waves!

We have seen how “waves” leave bluffs in their wake.  We have seen how “waves” can leave “beauty marks” in ours!

WHAT IS IN YOUR WAKE?

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BLUFF RESOURCES:

** http://worldlandforms.com/landforms/bluff/

**http://www.co.cass.mn.us/government/county_directory/environmental_services/faq.php#bluff