Develop a Clear and Detailed Commission Process: Establish a step-by-step process that outlines your communication, planning, and execution strategy. This includes clearly defining the scope of the project, setting realistic deadlines, discussing pricing and payment terms, and creating a contract that outlines the agreed-upon terms. A well-defined process will not only instill confidence in your clients but also ensure a smooth and organized workflow.
Communicate Effectively: Maintain open and prompt communication with your clients throughout the entire commission process. Actively listen to their ideas, preferences, and feedback, and address any questions or concerns they may have. Regularly update them on the progress of their artwork, sharing sketches or work-in-progress images to keep them engaged and involved in the creative journey.
Set Clear Expectations: Clearly communicate your artistic style, techniques, and limitations to your clients before starting the commission. This will help manage their expectations and ensure that both parties are on the same page regarding the desired outcome. Be honest about what you can deliver, and if a request falls outside your expertise, consider recommending another artist who may be better suited for the project.
Provide Samples and Portfolio: Share a comprehensive portfolio that showcases your previous work, demonstrating your range, skill level, and expertise in different styles or subjects. Offering samples or examples specific to the type of commission they are requesting can help clients visualize the final result and make an informed decision.
Ask for a Deposit: Request a non-refundable deposit before starting the commission. This serves as a commitment from the client and helps protect your time and effort in case of cancellations or changes. The deposit amount can vary but is typically around 25-50% of the total commission price.
Keep a Schedule and Meet Deadlines: Establish a schedule that includes milestones and deadlines for each stage of the commission process. Stick to this schedule to ensure timely delivery and manage client expectations. If unforeseen circumstances arise that may cause delays, promptly communicate with your client and adjust the timeline accordingly.
Maintain Professionalism: Treat your commissions as professional projects, regardless of whether they are personal or commercial. Be polite, respectful, and patient when interacting with clients, even in challenging situations. Professionalism builds trust and encourages clients to recommend your services to others.
Offer Multiple Communication Channels: Provide clients with different means of communication, such as email, phone, or video calls. Some clients may prefer one method over another, so accommodating their preferences can enhance the overall experience and strengthen your relationship.
Create a Positive Client Experience: Aim to provide an exceptional client experience from start to finish. Pay attention to the small details, such as packaging the artwork securely, including a personalized thank-you note, or offering suggestions for framing or displaying the finished piece. These gestures can leave a lasting impression and lead to repeat business or referrals.
Continuously Improve and Learn: Invest time in honing your artistic skills, exploring new techniques, and staying up-to-date with industry trends. Learning and growing as an artist will not only enhance the quality of your work but also attract more clients who appreciate your dedication to your craft.
Remember, success in commissioned artwork comes not only from your artistic abilities but also from your professionalism, effective communication, and commitment to providing a positive experience for your clients.
The Trinity Effect™ states that transformation happens best, and is sustained the longest in the place where your identity, design, and assignment converge.
Someone can know who they are in Christ, go to church, and be committed to the Lord, in every way but not embrace their unique design and assignment and live a lifetime of faithful frustration.
A person can embrace parts of their unique, God-given design, but outside of a life-giving relationship with Jesus,  knowing who they are in Christ, and having an understanding of how to walk in their Kingdom assignment, will live a lifetime of disappointment.
An individual who pursues their God-given kingdom assignment outside of the Grace that comes with identity in Christ and their unique design will live a life of striving motivated by performance rather than their position as God’s child.
Personal fulfillment, lasting transformation, and meaningful impact happen easiest when your assignment is pursued in the context of your unique design as your identity is established in Christ, not out of personal zeal for the Lord or a desire for impact alone.
Impact, wealth and influence pursued in an effort to do something for God rarely results in lasting fulfillment. Rather, it can just as easily lead you into striving like you did before you knew the Lord, just with a religious motivation. Walk with God. Cultivate a strong identity in Christ. Respond to His leadership in faith. Embrace your unique design as you pursue what He calls you to. This is where the abundant life is found.
?The Trinity Effect™ was developed my Matt Tommey as a methodology for helping believers experience the abundant life Jesus promised.
If the Jesus you are following doesn’t require you to leave anything behind – especially things you’ve become really familiar with, comfortable, or reliant on – then that’s not the real Jesus. If the Jesus you follow never calls you to a deeper relationship with Him based on His Word and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, then that’s not the real Jesus. If the Jesus you are following only calls you to accept everyone and everything in the world as ok – regardless of whether or not it affirms God’s original design as found in His Word – without rejecting the false narratives and identities of the world, then that’s not the real Jesus. If the Jesus you are following fawns over politicians and political ideologies, demanding allegiance to the Kingdoms of this world (parties, political agendas, nations, states, regions, continents) rather than the Kingdom of God, then that’s not the real Jesus. If the Jesus you follow tells you to celebrate yourself – your desires, feelings, and preferences – rather than celebrating a new, restored identity in Him, then that’s not the real Jesus. If the Jesus you follow encourages you to “live your best life” without inviting Him to fundamentally transform your life from the inside out through the power of the Holy Spirit, then that’s not the real Jesus. If the Jesus you follow is more concerned with equity, opportunity, and inclusion rather than transformed hearts living transformed lives, then that’s not the real Jesus. The real Jesus invites you into the wide, wonderful, abundant life in the Kingdom through the narrow gate of salvation. You cannot experience the abundance of the Kingdom without the laying down of your life, without exchanging your thoughts for His, your preferences for His, and your desires for His. Fundamental to following Jesus is this radical idea that as I die to myself, I am raised in Him. In other words, as I allow myself to be crucified with Christ, I am made alive in Christ – both through the singular salvation experience and the daily choices I make. There is no life in Christ without daily dying to the flesh, no matter how strongly the flesh may try to convince you otherwise. Christians realize that the only way to be fully fulfilled in this life is to lay down what we thought was life in order to receive the new gift of life offered through Christ. Otherwise, we add Jesus on to our list of preferences and ideologies rather than making a divine exchange.
Jesus did not come to condemn the world because of sin nor ignore it in the name of relationship or what the world sees as acceptance, tolerance or love. He did not come as a good (or even great) man in history with a model for living that we should try to aspire to in our lives in the name of social justice. He is not one among many good people with messages of love, acceptance, and tolerance, but first among all, primary and singular. He stands apart. He did not come to make us feel better about who we think we are or endorse our ideas about what identity, life, and love should look like, no matter how deeply we feel them or how radically the world celebrates them. He is God, who came to earth as a man to walk among us, empathize with us, and love us. Save us from sin and restore us to life in Him.
Jesus came with the gift of salvation for all who would receive it: redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. That gift gives us freedom from death, hell, sin, and its separating power from God and each other. It brings us back to long walks in the cool of the day with our Father. It allows us to enjoy the blessings, benefits, and responsibilities of walking as sons and ambassadors in the Kingdom.
Receiving the gift of salvation requires a choice: to lay down your old way of thinking, living and loving, and putting on Christ. Jesus’ invitation to all is to leave the patterns of this world and be restored to true love that can only be found in Him. A love that cleanses, purifies and restores. A love, like the eye of a needle, which requires we leave all our baggage behind and choose too follow Him.
As the old hymn says, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. Though none go with me still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back.” Don’t confuse Jesus’ unconditional acceptance of you with permission to live the way you want to in the name of what the world calls love. That way of thinking is a golden road of deception designed to keep you from all God has for you, not welcome you into it.
Ever felt something so strongly that you felt like it had to be true? But when you checked it out against God’s Word, you realized that – although you felt it deeply – it just wasn’t God’s best for your life?
It can be confusing, and frustrating and even cause us to feel anxious anger and a desire to rebel as we pursue our own path, our own “truth”.
If we’re honest, I think every believer has experienced this moment of decision in various situations. Some seemingly insignificant and sometimes in times that seem to define us as people.
Regardless of how these moments feel, know the enemy’s strategy is always to get you to 1) doubt God, 2) minimize His Word, 3) rationalize based on popular worldview, and 4) trust your feelings and experiences more than anything else.
It’s the original bait: choose the tree of good and evil over the tree of life, your way, not God’s way, figuring out life for yourself vs. receiving life by faith from the Father.
But the challenge (and invitation) for every believer in Jesus is to choose to deny themselves, trust God, and align themselves with His Word versus what they feel, think, or believe.
Our thoughts, feelings, and opinions will always lead us to self-serving options, but the Holy Spirit draws us to the Father and enlivens God’s Word so we can be transformed in His presence. It emboldens us to shed the old identity of our sinful nature and put on Christ.
Our identity is not based on what we feel but on who God says we are. Anything else is unstable shifting sand. When you choose to intentionally align, God’s grace is released to transform you from the inside out. You are enabled to choose life when the world says choose comfort, feelings and preferences. You will be conformed to the image of Christ and walk as the new creation He has already made you to be.
Mental flip-flopping creates spiritual instability. Thoughts and feelings come and go like the changing of the weather. However, if you allow yourself to be tossed – to and fro – by these, it creates an atmosphere of double-mindedness, which leads to instability.
As a gardener, I am reminded of how true this is. Once you plant something in a good place, you must leave it where it is. You have to water, fertilize and cultivate an atmosphere around it that is conducive to growth. If you keep digging the plant up and moving it to different locations based on the outward circumstances of the weather, it may hang on for a little bit, but eventually, it will die. Why? No roots are going to be established.
Renewing your mind is the same way. You have to decide what you believe about who God says you are, what you can do, and all he has for you in the kingdom. Once you do, you have to stay planted in that reality. This is not something God does to you but something God does with you. Over time, your roots will grow, and you will become established in the Lord. If you choose not to and allow yourself to be dug up every time the wind blows, no matter how much you love Jesus, it’s impossible for you to experience growth.
When your identity is established in Christ, your unique design is uncovered, and your kingdom assignment is revealed. But when your identity is rooted and grounded in brokenness from the past, your unique design remains covered and your kingdom assignment is hidden.
Many well-meaning Christians live their whole life in this place. Saved, and on their way to heaven, but still defined by who they used to be before they became a new creation in Christ. They spend their whole Christian life trying to do things for God, be a good Christian and ultimately pay him back for the free gift of grace. He is so generously given.  Not realizing the whole time that they have been restored as sons in the Kingdom of their Father. 
But seeking an assignment – along with the resources, ideas and opportunities – to do something for God never produces lasting fruit. it produces striving Christians trying to realize spirit birth results through their own works. 
The model of living that enables you to have lasting impact in the kingdom is to allow your assignment to flow out of your unique design, as you are rooted and grounded in the love of God as his child. 
No accomplishment for God, however earnest in your intent, will ever satisfy the longing for his presence only found in knowing your identity in Christ.  No amount of expertise will ever replace the favor of God and his grace operating in your life to open doors and connect you through divine appointments in a supernatural way.
He is the well of life, which is now living in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. He desires to flow freely through us in the unique way he has designed us for the unique things He is created us to do withHim in His Kingdom. The frustration many Christians experience in not being able to walk in the abundant life, is not due to God withholding, blessings, or favor from them, but in their misunderstanding of how the Kingdom of God is designed to work in the life of the believer.
The Kingdom is always on, always working, always available and always abundant for everything at all times. Alignment begins with establishing your identity in Christ, so that you can see the world, God, and yourself the way He does. His perspective for His assignment in your life.
In Matthew 6, when Jesus taught about provision, He revealed a little-known Kingdom principle: you are designed to receive your provision through your design.
And why would he use the examples of birds and flowers? Because they have completely different ways of receiving from the Father in line with their design, yet both are abundantly provided for each day. They were made to exist and thrive in a different realm.
Consider the “birds of the air”. They are constantly moving around as they fly. They have unique vision to see opportunities for food and shelter. They peck the ground, eating bugs and earthworms. They have the ability to build their nests, lay eggs, and multiply. None of this stresses them out because it’s how they were designed by God. They were made to move and exist in the realm of the air.
And consider “lilies of the field” – simple flowers. They sprout, bloom and wilt all in one place. They grow deep roots which enable them to receive nutrients from the soil. They grow foliage that reaches toward the sun to receive light and life through the magical process of photosynthesis. They were made to bloom and flourish in the realm of the ground according to the seasons.
What about the branches in Jesus’ parable in John 15. They receive everything they need through their connection to the main vine. They were made to grow and thrive in the realm of the vineyard.
Birds can’t grow roots and aren’t designed to receive provision by photosynthesis. Flowers can’t eat earthworms. It’s simply not their design. It’s impossible.
But when each receive God’s abundant provision through their unique design – in the realm they were designed for – they thrive while in a place of rest. It’s second nature to them. There’s a flow and a rhythm to life unique to them. They don’t have to work for it, only cooperate with what God has already provided for them.
And so, Jesus finishes the story by reminding us that if the Father provides for the birds and flowers like this, how much more will He do it for us, His children, “of you of little faith.” In other words, you’re going to have to choose to walk this way by faith if you want to experience these results.
When you pursue provision outside your unique, God-given design and the realm God designed you for, it’s like a lily trying to eat an earthworm. It only leads to frustration. What brings exhilaration to one will bring frustration to another. What brings life to one will bring death to another.
The quicker you embrace this principle in your life and your uniqueness in the Kingdom, the quicker you will start to experience the abundant flow of Heaven’s supernatural provision in your life. That’s God’s plan for living.
Many people resist the fact that God loves to bless His people with material blessings. Denominational church leaders rail against what they call the “prosperity gospel” while refusing to embrace the truth of God’s word regarding practical provision and finances.
One verse I love is Deuteronomy 8:18, where it says “Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you the power to be successful (create wealth), in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.” Here, God is saying that His blessing of His people with the ability to be successful (create or get wealth) actually confirms His covenant with His people. In other words, when people see how blessed you are because of me, they will know I am the Lord who keeps my part of the deal. Wow.
God’s supernatural provision in your life not only demonstrates His goodness and faithfulness to you, it also becomes a sign and a wonder to others who are still striving in their own strength.
“But Matt, if I’m struggling financially, does that mean God doesn’t love me? Or if someone is walking in financial abundance that God loves them more?” No, and no.There are lots of issues at work when people take a hard look at their financial life, like bad choices, mismanagement, fiscal frivolity, greed, or on the other side good stewardship, generosity, and talent.
Regardless of where you may need to grow and mature, realize your provision is a promise from the Lord because of your position, not your performance. Choosing to receive that by faith and disconnecting from the life of financial striving is where that begins.
No matter where you are on this journey, realize God has already blessed you with everything you need to thrive and flourish in this life because of your position as His child, not your performance as His worker. You only have to receive it by faith.
Have you ever realized most of the things people pray for and/or prophetic words people seek after are often things already promised by God and restored through the finished work of the cross?
Blessing and Favor: done.
Assurance of Salvation: done.
Forgiveness of Sin: done.
Physical Healing: done.
Financial Provision: done.
Guiding My Steps: done.
Overcoming the Enemy: done.
We all need prophetic encouragement from others from time to time. That is one of the beautiful benefits and blessings of being God’s child, and a part of the body of Christ. And probably why Paul tells us it’s the gift we should most earnestly desire in order to edify, encourage and comfort one another. But don’t get addicted to seeking the convenience “a word from the Lord” from others when really what you really need to do is learn to walk by faith on the word you already know.
Walking by faith requires us to take hold of what God has already declared as true and walking in that reality now, regardless of whether we see the manifestation yet in our life.
Prayer, in its best form, is a way for us to commune with God in His presence, hear His voice, allow Him to mold and make us into the image of Christ, and receive by faith those things which He’s already provided for us. No need to beg, plead or get desperate. Simply come and experience the freedom of new life in Christ. Then get up and walk in that new reality. As you do, the reality of the Kingdom you cultivate on the inside will be experienced on the outside.
In John 7:38, Jesus’ promise to every believer is rivers of living water flowing out of your belly. The promise of Holy Spirit power moving in and through your life. What a picture of God’s overwhelming abundance!
And yet, for many, the issues of life have formed a dam over their heart, blocking that flow. Fear and anxiety, worry and distress, wounds from the past and their associated traumatic effects, beliefs, and assumptions that have little to do with God’s best, comparison and inadequacy, lies from the enemy and others.
Each moment of pain is like a rock, expertly placed over your heart until the gushing flow of God’s river of abundance is slowed to a trickle or even stopped. Years of trickle or no flow can make you believe that’s normal, but it’s not. Your normal isn’t always Kingdom normal. Thankfully, Jesus has made a way for you to return to abundant life in Him.
He is the dam breaker, the wall destroyer, the rock remover. As you invite Him into your situation, ask Him to show you what rocks are blocking the flow of your river. When He shows you, simply offer them to Him and invite Him to remove them from your life once and for all, healing your heart and restoring your flow. There’s freedom IN you… let it out. There’s freedom FOR you as you let it out. There’s freedom for OTHERS as they experience your freedom flow.
I hear people say “I’d love to but don’t have the money “ a lot these days. They blame it on the economy, political, the usual suspects. Normally, it’s in regards to something they desire to pursue regarding their calling in God’s Kingdom. Something like a conference or course, tools or skills, a program or resource they need to progress in their calling. And so there they sit… Stalled. Paralyzed. Shut down. Frustrated. For another year or even decade. in full agreement with their belief that they don’t have enough.
Affordability has nothing to do with whether or not God said to do something. That’s simply a reflection of your natural situation, not God’s supernatural ability. Moments like this have everything with it to do with your willingness to step out in faith toward the vision God has shown you. Believing that where He guides, He always provides.
Someone who says they can’t afford $10, $100 or even $1000 to pursue their dream (or the knowledge it takes to mature in the skills they need to operate in it) would “beg, borrow, and steal” to find that same $100 if I told them it would buy them a brand new car. Why? Because they are fully convinced in their heart that the car is worth much more than the $100 they need to exchange to get it.
Conversely, you encourage someone to step out in faith and believe God for the provision they need BEFORE they have received it in their hand and they will look at you like you’re crazy. Why? Because they are fully convinced that it sounds like a crazy idea. It won’t work out. You and God are not trustworthy. They trust their disappointment in the past more than God’s promise for the future.
I know this sounds offensive to some but it’s true. God always calls us to exchange what we have now for the promise of what’s to come. He always requires us to sow before we can reap. And Jesus himself tells us to pray in Mark 11 to pray like we already have the thing we desire, not begging like orphans. That’s how the Kingdom of God is designed.
The sooner you get used to coming into agreement with God and stepping out in faith – especially when it doesn’t make sense to your natural mind – the sooner you will see supernatural provision showing up in your life.
As you mature in the Kingdom, you have to pass through a number of moments that are designed by God as “eye of the needle” moments. An invitation to promise and fruitfulness, impact and influence that requires a shedding of the old. A release of what has been for what’s to come. A recognition of and repentance for reliance on things other than His voice.
For Abraham, it was his certainty and security. For Paul, it seemed to be His knowledge, authority, and reputation. For the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10, it looked like his desire and dependence on his wealth. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:25 NKJV. For the rich young ruler, it wasn’t about the money, per se. It was about his heart. And it is the same for us today.
These moments are designed by God as refining moments where we are faced with an opportunity to deeply examine our own hearts and make a decision. Will we choose our desire, comfort, and understanding or trust God in the unknown?
Are we willing to voluntarily lay down the things we have drawn strength, identity, and comfort from in exchange for the security of God’s presence and what He has has promised.
For every person, these moments are different and divinely crafted. Moments of struggle and contemplation that make us ask the hard questions and look deep into our own motives and framework for living. But in the end, when we choose to lay down the things that so easily entangle us, we are freed to pass through, unencumbered, to the next season.
What are you carrying today that needs to be released in order for you to move into the next thing God has for you?
Christians who aren’t experiencing fulfillment and joy in their walk with Jesus often complicate Kingdom living through religious pursuits.
The simplicity that Jesus offers in walking with the Father and responding to the Spirit in alignment with our design and assignment gets replaced with more “spiritual” activities.
I’ve met so many believers over the years who are completely focused on things like praying for revival, spiritual warfare and intercession over their region/country, social injustice and political issues of the day, etc, and are completely worn down and worn out. It’s overwhelming. They are often pursuing things out of personal zeal and obligation without the grace needed to do it.
When we walk in the fullness of who God actually created us to be, it is spiritual warfare in itself. It causes demons to flee. It causes the powers of darkness to be pushed back. It places Jesus on the throne, and He is glorified in and through us. Don’t hear what I’m not saying… none of those things are inherently wrong or bad. I just think it’s a lot easier for the religious mind to focus on things that “seem spiritual” rather than the simplicity of living in the freedom and power the Kingdom of God offers every believer.
It seems if believers would actually start walking in the power they already had, the revival the have been praying for would suddenly appear.
Every person is called by God and entrusted with a part of His nature as an image bearer: one who reveals and reflects God to the world. Such a high calling, yet one we easily forget because of the mundane pressures of life. Our fleshly reactions often replace purposeful Spirit-led actions.
Paul encourages believers to lead a life worthy of this calling and gives 5 principles for us to pursue: humility, gentleness, patience, unity, and peace.
Humility, the willingness to put others before yourself, knowing your identity is in Christ, not in recognition or achievement.
Gentleness, the choice to extend purposeful kindness and grace in moments when you want to respond harshly.
Patience, the willingness to delay gratification and extend grace to others in a moment of frustration or desire. To wait expectantly while being filled with hope as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Unity, the choice to prefer and pursue the collective good over our individual desires in order to honor one another and achieve a desired result in the Kingdom.
And peace, the eagerness to walk as a conduit of God’s abundance, demonstrating our completeness in Him and inviting others into the same.
Choose today to walk worthy of the calling God has set before you.
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.” – Ephesians 4:1-4 NLT
Creativity is not the exclusive realm of artists like Bach and Beethoven, Michelangelo or DaVinci. Nor is it reserved exclusively for Jesus in the working of miracles. It is the birthright of every person who’s Father is Creator God.
Creativity is how the Kingdom works. And while it carries inherent power on its own by virtue of being God’s gift in us, creativity is most powerful when inspired, directed and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Creativity is the divine process by which Heaven is ushered into earth through the cooperation of sons and daughters of the King. When we see and agree with Heaven through our divine design, gifts and graces, we become a conduit of God’s transforming power in the earth.
Creativity is an invitation to every believer to become a portal of God’s Glory.
Watch as Artist and Illustrator, Jessie Nilo, shares how she overcame her garbage-filled thinking about money and began to thrive as a creative because of what she’s learned from Matt Tommey and his Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program. You can find out all the details about this transformational program and join today at https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor
Monica Foye, a talented visual artist from Jacksonville, Florida, shares her inspiring journey of self-discovery and growth. Despite her passion for oil and acrylic painting, Monica faced a significant challenge: she struggled with her identity as an artist. For a long time, she painted and created without truly considering herself an artist, hindered by what she believed were necessary credentials and qualifications.
Battling Imposter Syndrome Monica’s journey was complicated by imposter syndrome, a feeling that she wasn’t a “real” artist. This led her to overwork and undervalue her art. She even stopped taking commissions due to the immense pressure, overthinking every brushstroke and color choice. Often, she would give away her paintings for free, feeling that no one could complain about a gift.
A Shift in Perspective Joining the Created to Thrive Artist Mentorship Program marked a turning point for Monica. She experienced a paradigm shift, moving from a narrow focus on her abilities to a broader understanding of her identity in Christ. She realized that being an artist was part of her divine creation. A profound piece of advice from the program – that she wasn’t working for God, but with Him – changed her entire approach to art.
The Results of Transformation This new perspective brought about tangible changes in Monica’s art. Her paintings improved significantly, and she began to price and value her work appropriately. She rejoined the world of commissions, this time enjoying the process. Monica’s sales have increased since joining the program, indicating not only her artistic growth but also a newfound confidence in her abilities.
Embracing Her True Self While Monica admits she doesn’t have everything figured out yet, she feels much closer to realizing her true potential as an artist. The mentorship program helped her embrace her identity and create art in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. Monica’s story is a powerful testament to the impact of mindset and spiritual alignment in artistic expression.
For artists facing similar struggles, Monica’s journey underscores the importance of self-acceptance and the transformative power of seeing one’s work as a collaboration with a higher power. Her story is a beacon of hope and inspiration for anyone doubting their artistic identity.
Looking for free and low-cost resources to grow as a Christian artist spiritually, creatively and in business? Here’s 7 great places available now:
✅ The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly: A weekly newsletter devoted to encouraging and equipping artists in their creative calling with devotionals, tips and best practices in their personal art practice and business. https://thrive.www.matttommeymentoring.com/tca-weekly
✅ The Thriving Christian Artist Podcast: A weekly podcast devoted to encouraging and equipping artists in their spiritual, artistic and business journey. https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/podcast.html
✅ Matt Tommey Mentoring Blog: Years of encouraging blog articles on a variety of subjects related to thriving as an artist in God’s Kingdom spiritually, artistically and in business. https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/blog
✅ YouVersion Bible App Devotionals from Matt Tommey: A variety of free devotionals based on God’s Word to help equip and encourage artists in their creative calling. https://www.bible.com/search/plans?q=matt%20tommey
✅ The Real Reason Your Not Succeeding as an Artist (and how to fix it): A free PDF that uncovers the underlying reasons many artists aren’t really thriving in their life and how to fix it. https://thrive.www.matttommeymentoring.com/therealreason
✅ The Created to Thrive Foundations Course: The groundbreaking and transformative course by Matt Tommey that has helped hundreds of artists around the world experience creative confidence and freedom in Christ. https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/foundations.html
Has your art hobby grown large enough that you’re thinking about turning your passion into a business? In this article, I’ll share a few quick tips that will help you know when and how to get started on the road to business success as an artist. I know it will be a big help as you consider starting an art business. Start with a Call to the Experts
While there’s plenty of sites that offer “free” legal advice out there on the internet for starting your own business, nothing beats professional, local advice if you want to get started on the right foot.
From navigating local, state, and national laws, picking the correct business structure, and exploring the liability and tax implications of owning a business, a good legal advisor and talented financial advisor can help you navigate the decisions you need to make and the steps you need to take as your hobby grows into a business.
Is Now the Right Time?
Once you have your team of experts assembled (attorney and CPA to start with), it’s time to take a look at the state of your art. Do a little cost-benefit analysis with your financial professional, and decide if your hobby has indeed grown into a business. A few of the questions to consider when you’re at a crossroad like this:
Are you regularly investing personal money into your art hobby? Are you regularly selling your work or teaching art classes? Is the money you’re making from your art becoming significant enough to replace a part, if not all, of your work income? Are you making enough money to offset the expenses of having an official corporate structure in place?
As you work with your team of experts, you’ll answer these and many more questions in making this determination. But if you and the experts agree it’s time, then your next move will be to…
Pick Your Business Structure One of the first things you and your team of advisers will consider is what type of structure you’ll be using to start your art business. Here in the United States, we use three basic types of business structure:
Sole Proprietorship
Limited Liability Companies
Corporations
While I’m no legal expert (and this is not legal advice), here’s a basic overview of each type of business entity you and your team of experts will be considering for your needs.
Sole Proprietorships are the most basic types of business entity. This type of business always has one and only one owner. Generally, legal documents are needed to start a sole proprietorship because it’s not considered a separate legal entity, different from its owner in the eyes of the law. The advantage is that it’s easy to start, and you’ll have total control of the business, but the downside is that as the owner, you’ll be personally liable for all the debts and liabilities of the business.
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are a step up from the sole proprietorship in terms of both complexity and legal protections for the owner. LLC’s were created as a hybrid of the sole proprietorship and corporation to stimulate small business growth. An LLC blends the simpler legal administration and tax treatment of a Sole Proprietorship with the personal and business liability protection enjoyed by corporations.
Corporations are the most complex of the three legal entities. These are businesses that are owned by shareholders, managed by a board, and operated by officers. While a corporation does offer excellent liability protections for the owners, the increased fees, the complexity of annual reporting, and changing tax rules often make this a choice best suited for larger ventures.
Want to dive deeper and learn even more? Check out what my friends at LegalZoom have to say on this subject by clicking here.
Looking for more tips? Listen to what I shared with Bonnie, one of my podcast listeners.
Has your art hobby grown to the point that you’re considering turning your part-time passion into a full-blown business?
In my blog and in this week’s episode of 5-minute mentoring, I’ll be sharing a few quick tips that will help you know when and how to get started on the road to business success as an artist.
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
Has your art hobby grown to the point that you’re considering turning your part-time passion into a full-blown business?
In my blog and in this week’s episode of 5-minute mentoring, I’ll be sharing a few quick tips that will help you know when and how to get started on the road to business success as an artist.
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
Once you’ve determined this is the time to turn our hobby into a business, do it right and do it with integrity. Setting up a business is not the kind of thing you want to leave to chance. Don’t fall into the trap of doing business under the table just because it’s easy and may save you a few dollars.
Walking with integrity in business, setting up your business, taxes, and financial accounts correctly is like weaving a net for the blessing God wants to send your way. If you have huge holes in your net because you’re not thinking and working through the details or because you’re avoiding taxes, then you’re potentially setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.
If an art business is in your future, then begin by finding those experts who can help you determine the best time, the best structure, and the best way to set up a business that will be a blessing to both you and others.
Have you ever wondered about the balance between God’s design for your life and your responsibility to actually walk that out? Well, I want to share what the Bible says about this balance and reveal the two things every believer must do if they’re going to find it.
You know, I love talking about the Kingdom of God. It’s so simple. It’s so clearly laid out in Scripture. And yet, so many people, me included for many years, have no clue how the Kingdom works. But once you get an understanding of how the Kingdom of God works in your life. Wow, things really begin to change.
Ephesians 2:10 is one such scripture. It talks about the balance between the design of God on your life and your responsibility to walk it out. It says this, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
You Are His Workmanship
Now the first Kingdom truth I want you to grab onto is this: You Are His Workmanship. The Greek word for “workmanship” is poema, which we get the word poem. With that in mind, I want to paraphrase and expand upon the first part of this verse…
“You are a skillfully crafted artistic narrative that expresses the beauty and the heart of God.”
You are not here by some random chance or happenstance. You are explicitly designed as a work of art by the Lord for His Glory.
You Were Created for a Purpose
The second Kingdom Truth I want to highlight is this; You Were Created for a Purpose. “Created in Christ Jesus” is how Paul puts it, but what does that mean for us today? That means we are one in Christ Jesus, joint-heirs with Him, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and fully able to receive and walk in the fullness of the Kingdom of God. But for what end?
“For good works, which God prepared beforehand.” God designed, crafted, and fully equipped you to express His nature and His Heart to humankind in a way that only you can do. You are the perfect person for this mission, should you choose to accept it, which brings me to the next truth.
You Just Have To Do It
“That we should walk in them,” or as another version puts it, “for us to do.” Maybe you can relate to this, but for many years, I thought that because God had a plan for my life, that He was just going to make it happen. I believed that my role in fulfilling God’s call on my life was to wait on Him to do it. Guess what? That led to a lot of frustration because that’s NOT how the Kingdom works.
Overt action is implied at the end of Ephesians 2:10. While it’s true that God has a divine plan for your life, one that He’s had in mind for you for a very long time, His plan was for you to do it with Him. If you don’t walk out the thing God created you to do, then you’re going to miss the fullness of God’s design for your life.
I love talking about the Kingdom of God. It’s so simple. It’s so clearly laid out in scripture. And yet, so many people, me included for many years, have no clue how the Kingdom works.
For instance, have you ever wondered what your responsibilities are when it comes to fulfilling the plan, purpose, and calling that God has for your life? Well, in my blog and today’s episode of 5-Minute Mentoring, we’ll dive into what the scripture says about this.
Connect with Matt online at www.MattTommeyMentoring.com or on Instagram and Facebook @thethrivingchristianartist
Get encouraged and connect with other artists on the Thriving Christian Artist Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/thethrivingchristianartist/
You can also listen to this episode of the podcast on the app of your choice like ApplePodcasts®, Amazon Music®, Stitcher®, Spotify®, GooglePlay® or online at MattTommeyMentoring.com/podcast
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
I love talking about the Kingdom of God. It’s so simple. It’s so clearly laid out in scripture. And yet, so many people, me included for many years, have no clue how the Kingdom works.
For instance, have you ever wondered what your responsibilities are when it comes to fulfilling the plan, purpose, and calling that God has for your life? Well, in my blog and today’s episode of 5-Minute Mentoring, we’ll dive into what the scripture says about this.
Connect with Matt online at www.MattTommeyMentoring.com or on Instagram and Facebook @thethrivingchristianartist
Get encouraged and connect with other artists on the Thriving Christian Artist Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/thethrivingchristianartist/
You can also listen to this episode of the podcast on the app of your choice like ApplePodcasts®, Amazon Music®, Stitcher®, Spotify®, GooglePlay® or online at MattTommeyMentoring.com/podcast
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
This Might Be Your RoadblockBut Matt, if it’s that simple, why is it so hard to simply “do” the thing God has called and created me to do? The biggest roadblock most people face when fulfilling God’s call on their life is their mindset.So many good, well-meaning, Jesus-loving people simply don’t know who they are in Christ. Despite being fully saved, they allow their old natural way of thinking, their non-renewed mind, to dominate their life. Things like…
The Imposter Syndrome (click here for my podcast on this)
…keep people from being everything that God has called and created them to be. I know it kept me from that for a long time. It may be keeping you from that right now. If it is, I want to encourage you to do what Romans 12:2 teaches and “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
All of us have a past; it’s just a normal part of the human condition. But have you ever wondered how to let go of the past so that you are free to do all the things God has called you to do in life? I’m going to share a really practical strategy for renewing your mind, right out of God’s Word, that will enable you to let go of the past and truly begin to thrive in all God has for you.
How God Sees Your Past
All of us have done things and have had things done to us in the past that we want to forget. We want to get rid of it, but the enemy loves to continually bring those things up over and over. He uses these images of the past to torment us in order to impede our walk with the Lord. It’s frustrating for many and for some, it can be downright paralyzing.
This may be your current reality, but it’s not God’s best for you in the Kingdom!
I’m so glad that Roman’s teaches us that:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”Romans 8:1
And that Paul, in 2nd Corinthians, builds on this verse when he wrote:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”2nd Corinthians 5:17
But as helpful as these two verses are, I love Scripture that gives us real practical strategy on how to walk out a Biblical principle here in the real world. And Philippians 3:12 – 14 is such a passage. Here, Paul lays out a powerful strategy for walking in freedom from the condemnation of the past:
“Not that I have already obtained it or have become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I don’t regard myself as having laid a hold of it yet, but one thing I do, here it is: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3:12-14 Emphasis Added
Forgetting What Is Behind Is A Process
That passage is such an excellent strategy for getting rid of, what is commonly referred to as stinkin’ thinkin’. I love how this passage starts with, “Not that I have already obtained it or have become perfect, but I press on.” Right at the beginning, Paul is letting you know this is a process, that he’s still in process himself…
I haven’t laid hold of all of this yet.
I don’t have it all down.
I have not made all of the right decisions.
I don’t have it all together.
If we’re honest with ourselves, I think we all can relate.
But Paul doesn’t camp out there. He continues with, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I love how Paul forgets with intent.
As he is laying things down from his past, it’s as if Paul is intentionally saying, “You know, these thoughts, fears, and anxieties over my past that keep playing over and over in my mind, I’m choosing to and take those thoughts captive and forget it!” But he doesn’t stop there.
All of us have a past; it’s just a normal part of the human condition. But have you ever wondered how to let go of the past so that you are free to do all the things God has called you to do in life?
Well, in my blog and this episode of 5-Minute Mentoring, I’m going to share a really practical strategy, right out of God’s word, that will help you let go of the past.
Connect with Matt online at www.MattTommeyMentoring.com or on Instagram and Facebook @thethrivingchristianartist
Get encouraged and connect with other artists on the Thriving Christian Artist Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/thethrivingchristianartist/
You can also listen to this episode of the podcast on the app of your choice like ApplePodcasts®, Amazon Music®, Stitcher®, Spotify®, GooglePlay® or online at MattTommeyMentoring.com/podcast
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
All of us have a past; it’s just a normal part of the human condition. But have you ever wondered how to let go of the past so that you are free to do all the things God has called you to do in life?
Well, in my blog and this episode of 5-Minute Mentoring, I’m going to share a really practical strategy, right out of God’s word, that will help you let go of the past.
Connect with Matt online at www.MattTommeyMentoring.com or on Instagram and Facebook @thethrivingchristianartist
Get encouraged and connect with other artists on the Thriving Christian Artist Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/thethrivingchristianartist/
You can also listen to this episode of the podcast on the app of your choice like ApplePodcasts®, Amazon Music®, Stitcher®, Spotify®, GooglePlay® or online at MattTommeyMentoring.com/podcast
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
What does Paul mention next? He exercises his faith, believing that God has so much more for him, and he leans into the process. Paul purposefully shifts his attention from the mistakes, hurts, junk from the past and begins to focus on:
The good things God has for him
His calling and purpose in the Kingdom
His divine design
Where God is taking him next
Many of us have spent years focusing on the things we have done wrong. It’s too easy to be wrapped up in all the ways that we missed it and walk in condemnation over the weaknesses and temptations we’ve given into in the past.
“Your outer life is the fruit of your inner life.” – Matt Tommey
Yet, if you allow those past failings to define you and dominate your thought life, then your life is going to be a mess. Why, you ask? It’s because your outer life is the fruit of your inner life. That’s why Paul talked so much about this in the New Testament.
Forget that junk! Press Into ALL That God Has For You.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8
So, I want you to get this concept deep into your spirit today as you read this. If you’ve been having trouble letting go of the past, there is an easy place to start. Take a moment to reflect on one anxiety, fear, or regret from your past. When you have that thing in mind, find a few quiet minutes and take it to the Lord in prayer…
Lord, would You take this memory from me?
Lord, would You take this pain from me?
Would you heal this place in my heart?
Father, would you give me fresh vision and hope for my calling in Christ?
God, would You give me vision for this next phase of my life so that I can begin to meditate on that?
Listen, friend! That’s how you let go of the past. You take those old thoughts captive, you throw them out, and you replace them with the truth of God’s Word. You make that vision, God’s plan and purpose for your life, a reality by leaning into it. As you do, you’ll begin to move forward.
Have you ever felt like your everyday experiences in life aren’t lining up with your hopes, dreams, and the promises of God over your life? Many people feel that way, including myself over the years, until I discovered a key in 3rd John 2 that unlocked a Kingdom perspective on prospering for me.
“I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3rd John 2 emphasis added
I love how this verse so perfectly defines thriving in the Kingdom. This is the same way that I explain it to my Created to Thrive Mentoring Program members.
This verse begins by showing that prosperity in life and walking in divine health are both part of our inheritance in the Lord. They are both meant to be a regular part of every believer’s life.
Over the years, I’ve found it’s easy to believe that God wants to abundantly bless His people with physical health, healing, and wholeness. But the idea that God wants His people to “prosper in all things,” financially, in the marketplace, and in life seems to be harder to accept for many people.
In His sermon on the mount, Jesus said this,
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33 Emphasis Added
Thriving in the Kingdom isn’t a matter of working, sweating, figuring it all out on your own, and striving harder than everyone else around you. That’s the world’s way. That’s operating out of the mammon system and John knew this when he first penned the letter that would become 3rd John.
John learned first-hand what Jesus taught on that mount; that true Kingdom prosperity begins when you:
Put God first.
Commit to doing life, art, and business God’s way.
Expect God to provide for all your needs.
Believe that God wants to abundantly bless you in all areas of life.
That’s normal in the Kingdom of God. God doesn’t have favorites. God doesn’t make some people sick and some people healthy. He doesn’t prosper some and not prosper others just cause He’s playing favorites. Nope, prosperity and health are your birthright; it’s normal for every believer.
Helping Your Soul to Prosper
Have you ever taken a moment to think about what it means for your soul to prosper? And what does thriving internally have to do with prospering externally?
Everything that we do in the Kingdom is through faith. Meaning we see it, feel it, and believe it first, internally before we ever see those things manifest in our life, externally. That’s just how God has set it up. It’s not something God does to us but rather something He does with us through the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
I think that’s why Jesus taught us in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” You see, prospering in your soul starts with renewing your mind and aligning your heart, will, and emotions with the truth of God’s Kingdom. So when you pray, you pray like you already have the thing you’re asking for – from a place of gratitude – rather than begging God for what you need.
As you intentionally sow these Kingdom principles into your life, your thought life and belief systems begin to change. And over time, the internal prospering begins to manifest externally. Maybe that’s why Proverbs 23:7 teaches us that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
People reach out and ask me all the time how to make money as an artist. Yep. Many well-meaning artists have asked this question and most believe that it’s a single answer, like there’s some shortcut or secret ad you can run to make everyone buy your art and make a million dollars.
SPOILER ALERT: There’s no silver bullet for learning how to become a successful artist. However, after working as a creative now for over 25 years, speaking to thousands and personally mentoring thousands of artists via my books, podcasts, and online artist mentoring program, I’ve come to understand some of what it takes to really thrive. I’m going to share some of those insights with you right here.
Since I also believe no one person has the corner on success, I reached out to several of my thriving artists friends who are creating beautiful work and selling the heck out of it all while living an incredible life.
Based on their input and my experience, here’s my top 29 tips for taking your artistic calling to the next level so that you can really start thriving in 2021.
Have a Consistent Studio Practice and Treat it Seriously, like “Work”
Don’t Wait for Inspiration… Start Creating
Stay Focused by Minimizing Distractions
Understand Why You Create & Stay Connected to that Story
Keep Learning & Experimenting, Especially When You’re Successful
Under Promise and Over Deliver.. in Everything
Constantly Improve Your Communication Skills
Fill Your Creative Well with Inspiration Outside Your Artistic Medium
Cultivate a Positive Mental Attitude toward Your Work
Avoid Negative Self-Talk
Strive to be Uniquely You and Own It
Practice Gratitude
Cultivate Relationships with Your Clients
Know Who Purchases Your Work & Why
Listen to Your Heart
Don’t Be Afraid
Selectively Choose Your Place in the Market: Don’t Get Overexposed
Focus Your Creative Expression within a Chosen Medium
Practice Mindfulness, Prayer & Listening to the Still Small Voice
Keep Pushing the Limits of Your Skills
Always Deliver Excellence Quality
Create a Business that Fits You
Be Around Artists Who are Better Than You
Be Open to Feedback & Constructive Criticism
Go Deep, Not Wide
Create Quiet, Reflective Spaces in Your Life
Journal, Sketch & Steward Your Ideas Well
Develop Meaningful Relationships with Other Artists
Connect with the Creator who Created You to Be Creative
As you probably know by now, information doesn’t create change. Real change only happens when valuable information meets action and interaction; action on your part and interaction with others on your journey and an experienced mentor. Why, you ask? Most of the time, there are things in your life you just can’t see by yourself. For those who are willing, God uses mastermind and mentoring relationships to bring you to the next level of growth.
If you’d like to make this year your breakthrough year and really start thriving as an artist spiritually, artistically and in business, check out my Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program and read some of their stories! Thousands of artists just like you have made the decision to be a part and it’s changing lives.
Thanks again to all my artist friends who contributed to this list. Each one is creating great work, thriving as a professional artist and a joy to call friend!
Matt Tommey Margie & Lonnie Johnson Suzanne Gernandt Christine Kosiba Cindy Walton
Cheyenne Trunnell Julia Fosson Phil DeAngelo Lorie McCown Lisa Kidd
Tom White John Almaguer Stephen St. Claire Mary Carol Koester
The essence of prophetic art is listening with the imaginative ears of your spirit to release the Light and Life of God through the work you create.
“Emerging” – a prophetic art by Matt Tommey. Cold Wax and Oil Painting on wood panel. 48″x48″.
As artists and Kingdom creatives, we hear, see and feel what others tend to miss not because we’ve got the super spiritual mojo, but mostly because we’ve learned to listen with the ears we’ve been given. This is the essence of prophetic art: learning to listen with the ears of your spirit via your imagination in order to release the Light and Life of God through the work you create.
The goal of this ability is never to exalt ourselves or our work, but rather to sense what’s going on in the Spirit realm through our natural and spiritual senses and translate that reality – the Kingdom – into the earth realm. That’s essentially what prophetic art is all about – God using an artist to bring transformation into a life or situation here in the earth realm through their art, their art process or the interaction with an artist.
Operating Prophetically in Our Art Operating prophetically is at the heart of the creative process – seeing, hearing, feeling and sensing in the Spirit and co-laboring with your unique skillset and design to birth it into tangible form.
Luci Shaw, in her incredible book “Breath for the Bones” says of this moving back and forth between Spirit and flesh, heaven and earth: “Sometimes I have seen myself as an amphibian, like a frog, created for two elements. I dive beneath the lakes surface, my earthly home so that my skin doesn’t dry out and wither, but I need oxygen for my lungs and have to emerge from below the surface to breathe. I discover that I am made for both earth and heaven.
“Like Enoch, like Moses; unlike Adam, unlike most of us, these extraordinary individuals moved seamlessly from restricted terrestrial living into the presence of freedom and life in its optimum dimension in the presence of God.” She continues “Not only are we responsible as artists somehow to demonstrate that it is possible to bring heaven to earth by living the life of grace in an ungraceful place, by gluing together the seen and unseen, but we are required to be links with the unlinkable, with otherwise disparate entities.” (Luci Shaw, “Breath for the Bones,” 2007 Thomas Nelson)
Because the nature of the creative process is the prophetic “glueing together the seen and unseen”, we should always be enlarging and sharpening our unique creative language in order to be able to hear and sense what God is saying in order to release Spirit-led Kingdom expression in ways that people can respond.
“Artists are the life-givers in culture. We are a pivotal intersection point where the Kingdom of Heaven meets culture. It is there that we have the unique opportunity, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to translate the Kingdom of Heaven into a language that bypasses words and goes directly into the human spirit. When we collaborate with the Holy Spirit in this dance of Kingdom creativity, His power, His Life and His Light merge with our faith, creative thoughts, imaginations, desires and skill into art that carries the literal presence and power of God. It is in this context that our art, no matter the creative medium becomes prophetic.” – Matt Tommey, Creativity According to the Kingdom
Prophetic Art Calls Order Out of Chaos Just like God did on the day of creation as recorded in Genesis 1, we are called to come into chaos, bringing order and transformation into them as we release of the creative nature of God.
In addition to bringing order and transformation to those things that are in chaos, our role as creative ones is also to be door keepers of the presence of God in the earth.
What does that mean?
It means we are called to release the presence of God in the earth through our creative expression and facilitate experiences where people can encounter the life and light of God as a part of their everyday existence.
This is the nature of the Kingdom!
Otherwise, what else are we supposed to be doing? When you reduce the Christian life to going to church and following a bunch of rules that you can never live up too, you embrace a dead form and deny the very power Jesus imparted to us through the cross, by the Spirit.
Your creative expression literally carries the life and light of God when you co-labor with the Spirit in your creative release.
Prophetic Art is Light in the Darkness Remember in John 1:1 God is light and life and everything that was created was created through the Word, Jesus. Then in Genesis 1 God released his nature – Light – into the chaotic darkness and transformation occurred.
Just as sons and daughters of the Creator God are made in his image, so our creative expression carries His transformative nature through our prophetic voice. That process happens like everything in the Kingdom happens, by faith because faith IS the substance or the tangible evidence that the things we’ve seen, felt and heard in the Spirit realm are actually real. Our role is to bring them into the earth realm and allow our creative expression to be a conduit for the mountain moving power of God to be released.
Now, the degree to which we get to do this in our life is not a matter of God playing favorites, but it’s based on stewarding well the gifting God has invested in us. The more you enlarge your capacity for his presence by becoming excellent at what you do, the more the father will entrust to you.
That’s how you grow in the Kingdom.
Prophetic Art is About Stewardship Remember the Parable of the Talents and the guy who didn’t do anything with his talents? It wasn’t because of his lack of ability, but his lack of belief. He told the master of the field “I knew you to be a hard man…” In other words, I knew i couldn’t live up to your standards, so I just didn’t even try.
My friend, your belief about what’s possible, who God is and who you are in relationship to all of those beliefs defines your reality.
Just like the men in the Parable of the Talents, you are I are responsible for the revelation God entrusts to us. It’s literally a Kingdom investment that the Father is putting inside of you, waiting to see what you do with it. That investment has the ability to grow, produce, multiply and expand when mixed with faith or it can just sit dormant. Remember, God’s Word says in Proverbs 25:2 NIV:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”
What Tools Are in Your Hands Right Now? As you think about your own unique Kingdom design and how the Father has designed you for your Kingdom purpose, ask yourself what is in your hand right now? What is it that the Father has given you? Maybe it’s:
An idea
A resource
A tool
A talent
Or even a relationship
Take these things and begin to steward them!
Raw Diamond in a Lump of Coal.
The Prophetic “Chipping Away” Ideas that come from God are like diamonds in lumps of coal. There’s a lot of potential beauty inside but much has to be chipped away and polished before it can be realized. Make sense?
So what needs to be chipped away in your ideas, process and art? What are the next steps you need to take to see that diamond begin to come forth and shine?
Don’t minimize this!
This is why we need the prophetic in our creative process, so we can sense where to move and what to do next.
Again, part of that prophetic “chipping away” is in our life too, because for all artists and Kingdom creatives, we’re on a journey of personal development, not just artistic development. We’re all growing in the gifts and talents that God’s placed within us, as led by His Spirit.
The great thing is that we’re not left alone in the process. Remember, it’s called being filled and skilled. It’s about operating at your fullest capacity, being totally filled with the Spirit of God and leveraging all the skill you have to release His Glory through your expression.
Building On the Prophetic Art Foundations Ok, so you’ve got the foundation down, right?
Hear, see and feel in the Spirit, and develop a picture or impression of what you’re supposed to be doing creatively. Then, as you chip away at the diamond and co-labor with the Father with whatever He’s put in your hand, the life and light of God will be released through your creative expression as a natural outflow of the Kingdom.
As I think a little deeper about my own creative process, I recognize 5 signposts that may be helpful for you to look for in your process. They are:
Revelation
Skillful Response
Incarnation
Transformation
Abundance
Let’s talk about each one of these! (But before we do, let me share some of my favorite prophetic artists with you…)
Some of My Favorite Artists Before we continue, let me take a moment to share some of my favorite artists who are creating incredible work while engaging the Holy Spirit in their creative process. While each may not call themselves a “prophetic artist”, God is certainly using their work to release transformation around the world. Click on the image to visit their website and purchase their work. (All copyright retained by the artist.)
“All Sufficient” by Aeron Brown. Mixed media on canvas.“Imago Dei” by Jacob Daniels. 48″x72″ oil on panel.“River & Rebekah” by Brian Peterson from Faces of Santa Ana. 32″x48″ Acrylic on Canvas.
“The Miracle of The Five Loaves and Two Fish” by Grace Carol Bomer. Oil and wax and gold leaf on panel 36″ x 48″ 2018.“Cathedral” by Bryn Gillette. From the “Beyond the Ruins” series based on a mission trip to Haiti.Prophetic Art Painting by Australian Artist, Grace Bailey.
“We are called to come into chaos, bringing order & transformation into them through releasing the nature of God.” – Matt Tommey
How do you know if you’re creating art with the Holy Spirit of if it’s just you? If you’d like to dive in a little deeper on creating with the Holy Spirit, this is an episode of 5-Minute Mentoring I did on the subject.
5 Steps in the Prophetic Art Process
“Community” – a prophetic art piece by Matt Tommey. Woven kudzu baskets, encaustic wax, copper, clay, driftwood.
1. REVELATORY CREATIVITY When a creative idea begins to percolate, it will usually come as some sort of inspiration. Maybe you see, know, hear, smell or sense something that catches your attention and you become inspired. It may be a place, a person, a song or a natural setting that you see every day or something that you’ve encountered for the first time. Regardless of how it happens, at that moment you have an encounter. The Spirit speaks and you have an “Ah-ha” moment – a light bulb experience where you know you need to pay attention.
Your willingness to sense and respond to that impulse is foundational in your ability to move prophetically in the creative process.
The Art of Imagination Defined by Google Dictionary, imagination is “the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.”
Your imagination is a God-designed engine inside of you that receives impulses, desires and information from yourself, others and the world around you and then formulates images based on the beliefs in your heart. The root word for imagination in Latin is imaginari which actually means “picture to oneself”. It’s literally a picture engine inside of you.
Faith creates pictures, pictures create desires within the heart and how the heart acts as an incubator for those pictures to become reality.
Imagination is key to the believer because without it, the faith process gets derailed.
Your imagination is a part of you that interacts with the movement of God within you. It is a gift to every person ever created and gives you the ability to dream, to see and know before you actually create.
Just like every gift given by the Father to humanity, it has to be submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and set apart for His Glory.
Imagination is the First Step Imagining is the first step in the creative process and is centered in the human spirit. For the believer, imagination interacts with the Holy Spirit in our human spirit and is then processed through our soul and body. It creates an inner picture inside of us by which we create from.
This ability to see that which is not as though it already is, is the nature of God manifested through us; that is to imagine and see what is the highest, best expression of his Glory through our lives and creativity.
Without a picture on the inside you can’t function creatively or in the Kingdom for that matter, which is why the enemy is all about lying to, confusing and ultimately trying to conquer our mind.
Imagining the Beauty of God and Flowing with the Holy Spirit as you create Prophetic Art.
The Pictures Inside You At the end of the day, it’s all about the pictures that live inside of you. Paul talked about this two times in particular as he encouraged early believers to mature in their relationship with the Father. First, in Romans 12:2 where he said “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” In other words, don’t think like the world thinks, don’t have their picture of reality and possibility in your mind and heart, but rather renew your mind with the God’s truth, which brings Kingdom transformation.
Secondly, in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV he exhorts the church, saying
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down (vain) imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; “
Again, Paul knew that imagining or seeing an internal picture of that which is of no use or has nothing to do with the knowledge or God, the Kingdom or Christ has no place within the mind of the believer. Not only does it not have any place, but if left to germinate, it will eventually bear fruit.
Prophetic Imagination & the Kingdom Within Us You see, it’s in our human spirit, through the process of imagining that we connect to the divine consciousness or the Kingdom within us. Instead of connecting to our rule and reign or, as Paul says “the pattern of this world”, we connect to the rule and reign of the divine Kingdom that lives inside of us through the cross of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s how we prophetically bring heavens reality and nature to the earth. This process of imagining is not only crucial to your creative process but to your whole life because creativity and living a life of passion and abundance are directly connected.
God’s purposes are always followed by His promises and His promises are always followed by His pictures. When His promises and pictures are mixed with faith, they transform our identity into what God has already declared is true – an identity that can fulfill His purposes and release the fullness of the Kingdom here in the earth. It’s a beautiful circle: purpose, promises, pictures, identity.
Consider for a moment, Abraham in Genesis chapters 12-17. God wanted to establish covenant with humanity and had to do it through a man. The purpose? Relationship.
Out of the purpose came a promise when God said He would make Abram the father of many nations, bless him, protect him, make him fruitful, make kings come from him and continue the blessings throughout his line of descendants.
Then, God gave Abram a picture in Genesis 15:5 when he said: “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be. 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
Do you see? The picture took root in his heart.
Then what happened?
Changing a Name, Establishing a Promise God changes his name from Abram to Abraham in Chapter 17 and with it comes a physical demonstration of the promise – circumcision – that showed the reality of the new identity which was rooted in the promise portrayed in the picture that was established by the purpose.
Just to give you another beautiful example of how this works think about when the angel Gabriel came to Mary in Luke, chapter 1:
God’s purpose was to redeem the world through sending Jesus. So he sends Gabriel and Gabriel says to Mary in verse 28 “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Basically Mary freaks out, gets scared and the angel has to reassure her of God’s purposes again for her life and reassure of her of her identity in Him. Then, once that’s done, the angel gives Mary a picture – an expected end – that she can mix with faith in order to see God’s plan established in the earth. What happens then? She runs down the hill to her sister Elizabeth’s house in order to tell her the purposes of God over her life, stand in her new identity and give testimony to the promise and pictures the angel deposited in her heart.
So what’s the bottom line here?
Dreaming with God inside your imagination is like an open door in the spirit realm.
Imagination is a Vital Part the Kingdom Your ability to imagine – that is, see with God – is vital in your ability to creatively demonstrate the Kingdom and it’s tied to your acceptance of God’s purpose for your life, the identity He’s established in you through Christ and the promises He’s given you and a son and daughter in the Kingdom. Sometimes God will give the picture as with Abraham and Mary, and sometimes the promises and purpose produce the pictures like with David.
Think about it, David was a lover of God and a worshipper. Firm in that identity, I’m sure God began to give him dreams, visions and promises that began to take root in His heart. How do I know that? Because I know God and that’s what He does for anyone who asks.
As He mixed his faith with the promises and pictures began to form in His heart of what could be – worship, everyday, for years, with unlimited access to the Father – and sure enough the purposes of God were established in His generation. Doors began to open, people began to respond and affirm His purpose and eventually he fulfilled that purpose as King and the establishment of the Tabernacle. Why, just because God wanted it that way? No, it was because God found a man who would dream with Him to release His nature into the earth realm through imagination and see transformation happen.
Strengthen Your Imagination There are practical ways to begin strengthening your imagination. Pray in tongues, ask God for pictures, meditate on His word and specifically His promises regarding your identity and your purpose. As you do, pictures will begin to form. Mix your faith with the picture and the promises and watch God begin to bring it forth.
“Your imagination is a part of your being that interacts with the movement of God within you.” – Matt Tommey
How to Practically Partner with God If you’ve been wondering how to partner with God in your life and creative process, this 5-Minute Mentoring episode will be an encouragement to you!
2. SKILLFUL CREATIVITY The next step in the process of prophetic creativity is not just imagining what could be, but then stepping out and responding. You have to see and agree.
If you only see, then you’ll just be frustrated because hope (a picture of an expected end) deferred makes the heart sick. On the other hand, you can go through a bunch of wrote motions but unless there’s a picture of your expected end mixed with faith, you’re going nowhere fast. This whole process of seeing and agreeing is explored in detail within my book “Creativity According to the Kingdom.” Suffice it to say, within your life there has to be a constant infilling of the Holy Spirit through an intimate relationship with Jesus. That produces desires, dreams, passion and pictures. It affirms your identity and causes you to triumph.
Response is Required At the same time “faith without works is dead.” There must always be a response and that response is based in your skill set. As you grow in being filled, you must also grow in being skilled. Giving attention to both simultaneously, as led by the Spirit of God produces maturity and brings you into a place of increase. Proverbs 18:16 NKJV says “A mans gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.”
If you want influence in the world system, if you want to be a conduit of Kingdom transformation then you must pursue skill.
“ The act of creating is by it’s very nature incarnational… it’s bringing the purpose and promise of God into the earth in tangible form.” – Matt Tommey
“Nested in Arms of Grace” – a prophetic sculpture by Matt Tommey.
3. INCARNATIONAL CREATIVITY If imagination is source and skillful, Spirit-led execution is the process then surely art is the product. Your art, or whatever your creative expression happens to be brings into reality that which up until this point has only been a hope. The act of creating is by it’s very nature incarnational because it’s bringing the purpose and promise of God into the earth in tangible form.
No longer is this thing we’ve dreamed of just an idea, but now it has become an evidential reality.
This incarnational process is a core part of God’s divine nature. When we participate in His divine nature – through His precious promises – we then become participants in the incarnation, bringing the divine into the earth realm for all to see, interact with and be transformed by. God led the way and gave us the pattern. God wanted to redeem the world (purpose) and so began to let the word out through his prophets (promise) that there was a Messiah coming. Through the prophets of old, God began to give a picture of what this Messiah would look like, how He would act and what He would do when He came (picture). The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us (skillful execution on the part of God co-laboring with Mary resulting in the Incarnation.) Now through the Holy Spirit and our ability to co-labor with him in our creativity, our artwork becomes incarnational (because we are joint heirs with Jesus in the new covenant), revealing the Nature of God in the earth. This is not a one-time event but our new, everyday reality as sons and daughters of the King.
The Kingdom is Established through Sons & Daughters For me, this is where the rubber meets the road. The Kingdom of God is established in the earth as sons and daughters release demonstrations of the reality of that Kingdom into the culture, regardless of their unique gifting or calling. Jesus promised that we would do greater works than He did, that signs and wonders would follow those who believe in Him. My friend, your creative expression was destined from the very foundation of the earth to be the incarnated demonstration of God’s Kingdom in the earth.
Prophetic art is like a table set before the viewer where God is waiting to release His presence.
4. TRANSFORMATIONAL CREATIVITY When your creation does come from that place of Spirit-birthed, skillfully produced incarnation, it literally becomes a conduit for transformation. Why? Not because of us, in and of our talent but because it’s carrying the very Light and Life – the very nature – of God. Just like the sacrament of communion, your art, like the simple bread and wine, becomes a means of grace whereby God can commune with his people.
Since Spirit-born creative expression is both prophetic and incarnational in nature our art has the capacity to speak and continue speaking to everyone who encounters it over time. It’s a lot like the stone cairns that you see throughout the Celtic landscape of Scotland that were created and placed there to show the way over time. These stacked stone monuments act as reminders that in the middle of what seems like nowhere, there is a trail. Our artwork and creative expression can be a cairn of sorts in the Spirit, declaring that there is a path that leads to life through the person of Jesus. Instead of just having a one-time encounters, we literally have the opportunity to set up these places of intersection in the Spirit for generations to come. Songs that would be sung for generations, buildings to be built that would declare the Glory of the Lord, even tangible objects used in daily life all acting as intersection points where God shows up and connects with His children.
Art is a Table Our artwork literally becomes, as in Psalm 23 a table prepared to nourish those who come and sit before the King in the presence of everything that seeks to kill, suppress and confuse them. Oh to think of it! That the overflow of your life! The very expression of your heart and hands would be used as a demonstration of the transforming love of God. You see my friend, art and beauty are not ornamental, as some out suppose. They are essential for all life because it is through them that we touch the very nature of the creator God.
“God cares much more that you create than what you create. Having you fulfill your divine design is the desire of the Father.” – Matt Tommey
“Flow” – a prophetic art basket by Matt Tommey. Bark, vine, copper and encaustic wax.
5. ABUNDANT CREATIVITY The result of Kingdom transformation is always life, especially when it comes through the creative expression of sons and daughters. Life abundant. Life everlasting. Life rooted and grounded in love and the abundance of the Father of all Life. God’s abundance overflows when it transforms the hearts of man and through His grace He activates the dormant places in the heart causing vision, purpose and desire to spring forth. Man fully alive, fully satisfied in God, fully loved by God and fully able to stand in His Kingdom purpose.
Cooperation, Not Performance A life of abundance and creativity always manifests in our life when we come into alignment with the intention or design of God for our life, whether as co-creators or ones interacting with the Spirit-birthed creation. This doesn’t mean we’ll never have another problem in our life or that grace is some ticket to easy street. It does mean, however that worry is no longer an option because at the end of the day, you know you are secure, provided for and in the Beloved of Almighty God. Otherwise, we stay frustrated in the ego portion of our being – our soul, mind will, emotions – wresting with feelings of inadequacy, powerlessness and frustration.
This understanding of how prophetic creative expression is birthed and transformation is released should encourage you because it takes the pressure off of you to perform. Rather, you just simply cooperate with the design of God in and through your life. You don’t have to be this or that, just stand as a son or daughter, receiving and stewarding that which God has entrusted to you.
Abundance is basically coming into harmony with the frequency of God in the earth and in our being. Otherwise we create dissonance by playing notes that don’t work together and tension, stress and anxiety are the result. I don’t know about you, but I want to be in harmony with all that God is doing!
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT CREATING PROPHETIC ART! 🙂 – Matt
