Beloved  Father

Many thoughts reached through my mind when I decided to paint a portrait of my Father. I did not want to paint Him just as a large overwhelming spirit or a beam of light, but more of a personal nature, the person of God. However, I also wanted Him to be with all His glory, big as the sky yet up close and personal as well. I began to search through my mind of who God is.

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:13

"God is love." 1 John 4:16

"The great "I Am." Exodus 3:14

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible." Colossians 1:16

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind." "Numbers 23:19

 "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty." Zephaniah 3:17

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” Revelation 1:8

“For I the Lord do not change." Malachi 3:6

"The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made." Psalm 145:9

 “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself." Isaiah 44:24

"for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me." Isaiah 46:9

"One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:6

"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5

So how does one portray someone like that? How does one capture all that God is in one painting? I decided it was best to ask Him myself. The answer came as He simply and gently said, "How do you see me?" I said, "Father, I see you as I always have... a loving, giving, compassionate God who has blessed me far more than I deserve." Then He softly whispered to me, "Then paint that."

I remembered one time (as foolishly it may seem to all of you) going before Him in His throne room, (in a vision I had) kneeling down on the floor with my head bowed down deep into my knees, with my arms fully extended outward as I said. "If I may Lord, I would like to say something." He smiled and patiently waited, knowing full and well what Was about to say, as He always does. I said, " Lord, I just want to thank you from the very bottom of my heart. Not for all that you have done for me and provided me with in my life... but just thanking you for being you. You are God, and you could have been anything you wanted to be, but you choose to be good. Not just good, but absolutely good in everything. Thank you my Father for being who you are. Thank you."

So in trying to create a portrait of the Father, decided to take the Lord's advice, and paint Him as I saw Him, gentle, loving, all powerful yet kind and compassionate, for that is the Father I have come to know and love all my life. I can only hope I have accomplished that in this painting, because the entire world needs to see Him as He is.

I am not by any means saying that my portrait of Him is more accurate than all the other artists, indeed, it was not about accuracy at all, but more of a heartfelt impression. Artists generally create from deep within ourselves,as we feel inside - When creating a portrait we tend to try and bring out the qualities and character of the person whom we wish to portray. The painting before you is how I wanted to portray God to others. Yes, God is many things to many people. We all have our own "portrait" of Him within our own mind, imprinted within our hearts. Sometimes our portrayals of Him change even within ourselves, how ironic that is when you consider God Himself never changes.

One day we shall all stand before Him and see Him as He really is. (1 John 3:2) I have no doubt that when we do, He will look nothing as I have portrayed here, but then I was not attempting to reveal an accurate facial of the Father. As I stated previously, my accuracy, if any, was from the heart - how I see Him from my spirit. I suppose you could say my portrayal of the Father is merely an impression, my impression retained throughout all the years having known Him. How do you see the Father of Lights?

Many artists have portrayed God as they see him, from Michael Angelo on down. Some have been in full detail, some more obscured and roughed in, some of a harder or stern nature, all artist paint from their own perspective. This is mine.