The core issue in our walk with God is always the battle for intimacy. Will we choose God to fill all our desires…or look to someone or something else? 

At the start of a new year, anything seems possible. So we make our plans, knowing we have 365 days to make it happen.

Writers often try to measure their creativity by the wrong metric—the number of words written that day. It’s about as helpful as evaluating your last vacation based on the number of steps taken while there. 

We’ve all had those awkward moments when—while listening to a song or watching a scene in a show—we’re suddenly overcome with unexpected emotion.  

The sun wasn’t up yet, but I was. My daughter had a 12-hour drive back to college and I was in dad mode to make sure her vehicle was trip-ready. That involved scraping ice off her windshield, filling her gas tank, and checking the fluid levels and tire pressure. 

I often hear from readers how these messages in a bottle wash ashore at just the right time…with just the right words. I love how God uses these daily readings to encourage the hearts of creatives. 

God gave us a memory and an imagination. When they work together according to his design, we see our story more clearly. When they don’t, we find ourselves stuck in the wrong story. 

God-given creativity threatens elite group-think. 

The gatekeepers of modern culture hate independent minds.  

On a recent flight, the woman next to me asked about the book I was reading. We spent the rest of the trip talking about God and creativity.  

God-given creativity doesn’t rely on past formulas or man-made rules.  

Yet there’s something in us that wants consistent, guaranteed results. And if there’s a proven shortcut that promises to get us there even faster, all the better. 

Creativity is best viewed not as what you’re good at…but as a journey you take with God into the activities and things that make your heart come alive.  

In this increasingly virtual, artificial world, we need a way to see clearly what’s really going on.

Our world is moving more virtual every day. Most spend more time staring at screens than interacting with real people . . . or real life. Many reading this will even challenge what real means anymore. That’s how comfortable we’ve come to be with the artificial.

God invites us to create on a canvas of unlimited possibilities. 

But the world and the enemy (and often our own scarcity mindset) try to limit the canvas…and our creativity with God. 

During Easter week, a major network morning show ran a faith segment featuring representatives from three different religions.

Each week, I write the five daily readings for the next week. And every time, before I begin, I get hit with a wave of dread that I have nothing to say, that no one will read it, and that I should just punt for the week. Recycle past readings and call it good. 

Creative people love to create. But most don’t particularly like marketing what they’ve created. 

It doesn’t have to be that way.  

The question is never what can you create. You can make a lot of things. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. 

The far better question is: What can you not not create? 

It’s fine to have a lot of hobbies and casual interests—but you don’t want to spend your life forever dabbling in many areas without fully mastering any.

We live in an instant, entitled culture. Everyone wants fame and success…and they want it now. Yet few want to put in the time and energy necessary to facilitate that outcome.