Lynette's Photo Art

& Digital Scrapbooking

WHO I AM



Making this picture has been an honor and a product of my relationship with my Savior.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well...this picture says it all.  Everything that truly matters in this life is right here to be seen.

Like every human being since the beginning of time, I was born in flesh and I did whatever my flesh wanted to for many years.  My life became a more and more miserable and hopeless place every day.

One day the Divine Creator of all that exists lovingly drew me to Himself and convicted me of the sin in my life that was the cause of all my misery and separation from Him.  He patiently wooed me to Himself, freely offering me salvation that was utterly free to me, and that cost Him everything.

I, like the man on the right, came to Him empty of life and black with sin.  I cried out to Him telling him I was truly sorry for every sin I had ever done or even thought and begged Him to be my Savior and forgive me, that I not have to endure the just penalty of eternity in the hell of punishment way from His Holy Presence.

His grace covered me as I sought Him deeper, surrendering my entire life and all I am to His Lordship.  I vowed to live for Him always, obeying Him as my Master in all things all the days of my life.  My heart actually ached to never sin again (it does till this day) and I promised to do my best not to, with His help.  The man in the middle is in this place...beginning to break through to full surrender and starting to be filled with the eternal life of God through Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son.  The saving blood of Jesus is starting to be applied.

Then, like the man prostrate before His God, He washed all my sins away and accepted me as His daughter, a new creation in Christ.  The old things have passed away, as He promises in His Word.  I was immersed in water baptism in obedience to His command and He sealed me with His Precious Holy Spirit for salvation.  He taught and guided me in the journey all Christians travel in our quest to conform not only our lives, but our very thoughts and attitudes to that Jesus Himself modeled for us when He walked this earth.  He lifted my burdens, destroyed the yoke of bondage and filled me with His joy.

The church in the picture signifies that we become a holy sanctuary for The One True Living God when we give Him our lives with full submission and repentance of sins, dedicating ourselves to Him eternally.  Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God come and live in us and through us - we are living sanctuaries to the Most High God.  The beams of light are, of course, the glory and grace of God Almighty bathing the new babe in Christ and translating us from death into new life in Christ.  The butterfly is the universal symbol of new life.  The cross with our Lord is here as it is only through His perfect and voluntary sacrifice on the cross where He shed His perfect sinless blood to pay the price for our sins, that we are cleansed from all sin and made heirs to heaven in Him.  The sun behind the cross shows the glory and power of God all around us and the grass our humanity as we walk the paths of this world in His service until He calls us home one day ever more to be with Him. 

And I have lived faithfully ever since...or not.   No.  I had marveled that He loved me and bothered to save me as stained by sin as I was at the beginning of my walk with Him, but that was not to be the whole story.  I loved Him dearly and strove always to be faithful.  But a time came 23 years into my walk with Him that I fell into far darker sin than I had ever been in.  I didn't see it coming.  I still can't believe I did those things.  I never left Him.  I never stopped praying, worshipping Him and gathering with the brethren, but I was utterly lost deep in sin and I couldn't seem to stop.

In great amazement I now tell you that far beyond the wonder that the sinless Holy God of the universe not only loved me, sought me and saved me so long ago, is that He did so KNOWING that I would again shame and grieve Him twenty-three years later, bringing reproach on His name and destroying those I love most...and still He saved me and upheld me through the years and never left me, even when I fell into that dark time of sin.  Beyond imagination is that He not only forgave me again, but that He didn't wait for me to be able to "fix myself" to come to Him, but rather He, spotless Lord of Heaven, without sin or blemish, heard my cries, waded deep into sin where I was, and with great love and compassion, lifted my broken and desperate soul from the filth and took me again to Himself as His bride! 

Then He punished me and reminds me always of my sin and left me a second class citizen in His kingdom, always to be scorned.  No.  He lavished His grace and love on me as never before and baptized me, filling me with His Precious Holy Spirit, bringing me to spiritual heights with Him that I had never dreamed possible.  I hadn’t even know that was possible today.  The voice I hear from time to time reminding me of my sin is not His, but the voice of a very real and cunning enemy who has devoted his existence to drawing mankind away from our loving God to an eternity in the hell of punishment.  Taking my thoughts captive as He teaches us, I choose to believe my Savior and not the father of all lies.

My Lord fully forgave me and didn't "cover" my sin, but erased it entirely.  He remembers it no more and I am His beloved and He is mine, even more so than at the beginning of our love affair.  Not through any virtue or work of my own, but through His unfathomable grace, mercy and love.  It's now been eleven years since He restored me and I would tell you that my walk with Him has been the most exciting adventure during this time that can be imagined.  I would that you too would come to know this joy, peace and love and be saved for an eternity of fellowship with Him rather than suffer an eternity of unquenchable misery in hell.  If I can help you in any way to meet my loving Savior, please don't hesitate to contact me.  You are in my prayers always.  God bless you!  lynette@lynettesphotoart.com

You may share this, but do not alter it in any way.  This graphic is copyrighted and may not be used in any way except embedded in this testimony.  Anonymous images on line were used in the creation of this graphic.  I’m sorry I don’t know who to credit, but thank you to whoever created them.