DESTRUCTION OF STRONGHOLDS
Watercolor with pen & ink

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

I created this piece many years ago for a few young men graduating from high school. I had been leading/co-leading this small group/bible study for 6 years at our church and some of the guys, God help them, had been with me since they were in 6th grade. I had been praying for a way to give them something that could encourage/inspire them in their walk with the Lord as they moved into the next season of their journey. This verse seemed to ring true as a needed reality to grasp, and not only for young men graduating high school, but for one in his mid-twenties who was also struggling with a lot of his own fears and insecurities. When Jesus walked the earth, He said He had come to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). God has commissioned us as men to do the same and this is an image made to represent that battle. These verses combat the poor thinking we, as men, can have about ourselves. "I'm not enough," "I'm hopeless," "I will never get over this sin," "I don't need anyone else," "God can't use me".... In short, God is looking for us to say "yes" to His words about us and "no" to our own selfish and evil thinking. Wonders will happen if we repent and believe (and I am preaching to myself)!