Zondervan - The Creative Soul Within: Rediscover Your Imagination, Let Go of Stress, and Develop the Creative Gifts God Has Given You

In this ebook edition, please use your devices note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your devices highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

The truth is, whether or not you feel creative, you are.

In the midst of hectic day-to-day schedules, its easy for our creative dreams and aspirations to fall by the wayside, or even become lost altogether. From managing calendars to fulfilling family, work, and household responsibilitiesall of which are good and importantour creative spirits can sometimes fade into the background. Between all of this doing, there is still a part of us that longs to make something.

There is a unique creative instinct that still lives within each of us, and its time to reawaken it.

The first step in reconnecting with that creativity is quieting the noise around us to allow ourselves time to be alone with our thoughts. So, what happens when we take the first big step of drowning out the sights and sounds of the day to focus on the creative task at hand and suddenly find ourselves... stuck?

Maybe this is where you are. You dont write stories. You dont make pottery. You dont draw or dance or design...

The truth is, regardless of whether you feel creative, you are creative. These are not empty words of encouragement. Rather, this is about who created you. You are the product of a wildly, unimaginably, profoundly creative God. You are His workmanship, Paul said in Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Another word for workmanship? Masterpiece. Imagine that. We are creations of a perfect God, and even with all our human flaws, we are made in His image. We are masterpieces made by a perfect Creator.

Michelangelos David is known as the masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture. Some even call it the greatest sculpture the world has ever known. The piece, begun in 1501, wasnt completed until 1504. It is said that Michelangelo worked nonstop over the course of those three years to complete the impressive, seventeen-foot marble statue. But even one of the worlds greatest artistic masterpieces is still only a replica of Gods design.

You are the product of a wildly, unimaginably, profoundly creative God.

We can only know true perfection in heaven, so anything we create here on earth is free from the pressure of being flawless. Thus, we can create in gratitude for the desires and abilities that God has given us. When the act of creating becomes an act of worship, there is no room left for worry.

Also in Ephesians, Paul said we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world (1:4). If the worlds greatest statue took less than four years to complete, and if God has been planning your design since before the world came to be, you must be impressive. Well-thought-out. In fact, Scripture says you are wonderfully and fearfully made (Psalm 139:14).

Thats what this journal is about. Remembering that we are creators.

But does that make you creative?

Your Master Sculptor gave you much more than beauty and careful design. He gave you life. You are His masterpiece designed to move and breathe and think and, yes, create.

So, who cares if your sculpture doesnt look like a masterpiece? God gave you breath in your lungs, hands to hold tools, and a creative desire in your heartthese are gifts to be celebrated.

We create with God, the first and last and far-above-all-others Creative One. He is our Father; we inherited creativity from Him. We also create with each other. All of us masterpieces walking around on this earthwe work together. We support each other.

Thats what this journal is about. Remembering that we are creators. Expressing gratitude for our creative gifts. Connecting with God, and each other, as we awaken the creative soul within.

On the creative process, on Gods creative process, on finding your way into creating.