Today, I read a message of coming judgment that awakened me to pray more seriously.
Then I remembered how I had a dream at the end of 2019—December 29th. In the dream, there was a painting I was to do for the Lord—and had not started yet. I want to tell you about that dream and show you how I began TODAY, what I feel could be, a prophetic message displayed through an acrylic painting!
In this current pandemic season of 2020, this message might be something that the Lord wants to share with the world, and especially His people. The painting is in progress now, just started. I want to share the dream with you and show you how I began to paint this…
Please let me know what you think of this dream and painting!
May you ever draw close to God, through Jesus!
—Matt
If you found this post helpful or encouraging, would you send it on ahead? Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much!
Hi, Matt;
That was a compelling dream you had and I believe it will be a painting that will entice people to think about their lives and where they are going.
I keep a dream book and have had dreams about God holding my Mom, my husband and myself in the palm of his hand during a storm. Little did I know that my Mom would die and my husband left me for someone else, but I remained safe in His hand despite the bitter storms. Life has not been easy. I keep a dream book and I have written an extensive diary for over 30 years.
I enjoy your art and painting. I really like that you pray before you paint and it makes me feel so
connected. You reach many people as you witness about Christ. So wonderful!
Thank you, for sharing your talent and life with us all.
PS: I really like the dog painting. I love animals and that is what I really want to paint.
With much gratitude,
Catherine
Hi Catherine, thank you so much for your kind words. I’m sorry to hear about the storms you’ve done through. God has a special purpose in all of it. We can comfort others with the same comfort we’ve received form the Lord. I look forward to helping you with your painting too!
Hi Matt,
I really appreciate your devotion and obedience to Jesus. This is a very trying time for a lot of folks, but I believe God will use it to shake and awaken our nation. Also, thank you for sharing your dream.
I love the realism in your paintings and plan to give your style a try soon. I am a self-taught painter and watch a lot of You Tube to learn different techniques. That is where I found you.
God Bless,
Eva
Hi Eva, yes this is a time like perhaps never before in our lifetimes. We can seize the moment and seek God or not. What we choose to do will make the difference as to whether we experience revival or more trials. I am praying for revival. Thanks for your kind words. May God bless you in your painting!
Hi Matt,
Thank you for your faith and obedience to the Lord. I have been watching your portrait challenge and I have been blessed by what you have been teaching about painting! You are an amazing artist! Thank you for being a light for Jesus both through those classes and this painting you are beginning today. I pray that we will all be inspired to keep our eyes on Him, not just for now, but for forever!
May God bless you richly,
Linda
Thank you so much Linda for the kind words. I was a little scared, to be honest, to do the portrait challenge classes for free. I thought what if no one buys my courses again since I am showing all the steps of my painting process? But I prayed and felt like the was the right thing to do in this season with so many stuck at home. It would be a chance to share a Jesus too with more people as well as serve them by teaching. I trust if I am doing the right thing God will provide. I have been encouraged to hear all the wonderful stories of how the Lord has blessed people during the challenge. Thanks for your encouragement too!
Thank you Matt for sharing. And thank you for your uplifting faith in God.
I have had similar experiences, not so much a dream, but images that came to mind that I had to paint. I finished one recently called “Come Holy Spirit” and donated it to a fund raiser for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Our local president bought it and it hangs in the office there. The other one I started in 2017 and is in storage since then.
We sold our house and business in 2017, and rented for a year thinking another part of our commercial property would sell very soon and we’d have the money to buy our (we’re in our 70’s) “forever home”. That hasn’t happened yet. We’ve rented a small apt. since then with the majority of our possessions in storage.
I know your painting will be just what God wants you to paint and will be a blessing to all who see it. I wish I could share mine with you but I don’t see a way to send images here.
God bless you in your ministry, and God bless your family as well. Patti
Hi Patti, I will pray that you can buy a home. My wife and I got married and rented a small apartment in a bad part of town for 16 years. We had three children and it got very cramped! But we prayed. Many nights of prayer and standing on the promises of God. Finally a year ago, we moved into our first home! It has a separate building for a studio and land just like we wanted. But I can tell you, it was a miracle for a full time artist living in poverty most of his life to be able to do this. The opposition we faced was overwhelming at times. It felt at times like we would die in that place. But God brought us out! So I will pray for you. Why not? You could have 25+ years in a beautiful place. Blessings to you!
Thank you so much for sharing that very powerful dream. This is so relevant to what we are going through right now. Thank you for your inspirational videos. Now before I start any painting I pray over it as well!
God Bless you and your family!
Hi Sharmini, so glad to hear you are praying before painting. May God bless you and anoint and guide all your brushstrokes!
I want to thank you for your devotion to Christ and the revelation of your dream. In 2014 I was very ill from cancer and complications. I was hospitalized for 2 months and during that time had two near death experiences, I also had an encounter that I’ve always wanted to paint but have been able to portray on canvas. I have decided to attempt it again and while I am not that accomplished at painting your words have encouraged me. I have been a hospice nurse for many years, so death is no stranger to me. I am eagerly awaiting your painting. Please pray for me to paint what God showed me, as I will be praying for you. God Bless you!
Hi Dee, yes I will pray for you. May the Lord give you courage, clarity, and skill to paint the vision He has given you!
Thank you for sharing the process of this dream with us. I can’t wait to see this painting unfold, I think it’s going to be amazing and interesting to watch you overcome struggles with it. Thank you for being so open in your creativity and spirituality.
Hi Christy, you’re welcome and THANK YOU for the kind words. I used to be scared to share my faith. But then I realized this is who I am. I don’t have to “try” to proselytize to avoid feelings of guilt. And I don’t have to live in fear of what others think of me. Life is too short for that. I just have to be “me”—who I am in Christ. And I can share my best friend in the world with others. 🙂 Be blessed!
Dear Matt,
I admire you so much as an artist and as a man who has a great faith in God. I am a self-taught painter and use various techniques, I started with acrylic paint and I’m trying to paint portraits in oil, but it is very difficult. Your acrylic glazing technique is extraordinary and I will try to do it. For a year now I am learning to paint sacred icons and before I start painting I recite the iconographer’s prayer. You too pray the prayer before painting and this is a great thing. I admire you for this too. In these days of a pandemic I was wondering why do you not paint something uplifting for this serious tragedy. And now God has spoken to you through a dream. Your art is an instrument in God’s hands.
76/5000
Thanks for sharing your talent. God protect you and inspire you forever.
Enzo, from Italy
So excited to have “stumbled” (believe I was led to it) across your you tube video! Recently did a painting I called “Jesus paid it all” for Easter and was received with so much appreciation – an inspiration truly from the Lord Himself as He has led me to paint for Him and His Kingdom message… I am so happy to be onboard and learn from a master such as yourself! Blessings in Christ.
Hi Karen, I would love to see your painting Jesus Paid it All. You can email it to me if you’d like. I am honored to share any tips and techniques with you that will help you paint for God’s glory!
Matt – I watched your video today and it was so very touching. I stumbled across you when i started watching utubes about how to paint and I feel honored that I was able to connect with you. One of the things i really admire, besides your painting, is your openness and honesty and gentle heart. I guess, from seeing you over the past year and listening to you talk, I assumed you grew up in a christian home etc., but it was so interesting for me to see that you didn’t. Obviously God has really worked in your life and you are SUCH a testimony to so very, very many people.
I admire your humble heart and how, like others have said, that you pray before starting a painting. In this corrupt world it is so refreshing to meet someone like you who risks being who you are.
You could have so easily charged people to pay you, even a little bit, for your portrait challenge course, but you didn’t because you have such a huge heart. I know you could have used the money but you chose to offer it as a free course! I too, like Carol wrote above, really hope that God will bless you for what you do for people and for the way you honour God. I wish everyone who has taken this course would just donate a little money to you to show their appreciation! You have put so much time and effort into this – let alone everything else you have done for us!
I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with – like you said this pandemic is hopefully a wake up call for so many of us and I pray God keeps you strong and that He blesses your family as well! Thanks for being you Matt!
Merle (your friend from Canada)
Thank you so much, Merle for your kind words. They are always an encouragement to me. Yes, the Lord has blessed me in so many ways. There is a lot of in my life that needs to be fixed, but in times of despair and anguish over my sins I’ve felt the Lords presence. His promises have become my lifelines. I have to make sure I don’t get distracted by working too much to provide for my family. I thank Him for a gift of a new day. It’s an opportunity to to seek Him more and serve Him better. I trust He will provide even though I did the class for free. If one person could come to know Jesus through the classes or gain skills in portrait painting so they can serve others better it would be worth it. Blessings to you Merle!
Dear Matt
I have been praying you would get to this point with your gift and paint from your heart and soul. This may be your most amazing work yet. Your faith is what leads us all and please let go and show us your light. Let go of any restrictions and please avoid references other than the ones in your heart. Use this gift to inspire and guide us all through this time of awakening.
Blessings
Cheri LaVelle
Thank you Cheri for this encouragement. I am avoiding the use of references and painting just from my memory of the dream. I did look at something quickly but then I said to myself, no. Just paint it from the dream! I trust that the Lord will help me. It’s strange. I feel very much in control as I do my portraits using the glazing technique and I have they reference photo next to me. But with this I feel a little unsure and out of my league to paint from imagination. But when we’re out of our comfort zone, we can step into Gods comfort zone. So I will just trust all the more He will make it happen. Thanks again Cheri for commenting here and for all your encouragement over the last few years!
Thank you Cheri for this encouragement. I am avoiding the use of references and painting just from my memory of the dream. I did look at something quickly but then I said to myself, no. Just paint it from the dream! I trust that the Lord will help me. It’s strange. I feel very much in control as I do my portraits using the glazing technique and I have they reference photo next to me. But with this I feel a little unsure and out of my league to paint from imagination. But when we’re out of our comfort zone, we can step into Gods comfort zone. So I will just trust all the more He will make it happen. Thanks again Cheri for commenting here and for all your encouragement over the last few years!
Hi Rosemary, this is a powerful dream! Thanks for sharing it. The idea that people weren’t allowed in others’ homes reminds me of what we are dealing with now with CoVid. Could it be that this is the season where people pray and revival really takes place? I love the ending of your dream too. May it be just like that in reality!
Hi Linda, maybe could email me your painting? Thanks for sharing the related scripture verses as well. Yes, to focus on Jesus is all important. It easy to get distracted. But in the end, devotion to Him must win out!
Hi Matt!, What else can I still add to all the sincere, encouraging and wonderful words the above people have already said to you ?
You have been an enormous inspiration and blessing to me personally. I started painting only two years ago (71 now) and focused on God’s creation mainly. When I ‘found’ you on YouTube and saw your portrait paintings I was in awe of what I saw and kept on following you since.
Now, for the very first time in my whole life I felt drawn to draw , and didn’t even know how! Drawing on the canvas first and then paint with a technique I hadn’t even heard of.
What a challenge that was!
Somehow,I felt comfortable to start and that was mostly because of the confidence that exuded from you!
I’m now busy with checking I haven’t forgotten in lesson 6 and have watched lesson 7.
I’m getting there and so do all the others In the group!
Only when you let God steer your brush as it were can and will you succeed!
I have quite often wondered how in the world did my painting work out so well and people asked me “how did you do that?” And I would say:”I don’t know, I think God has been painting it for me, for I can’t explain it any other way”.
Matt, keep following your calling and by doing that you don’t just please this enthusiastic group, but you’re pleasing God!
Many blessings, Trudy