Life Without Filters

By Hazel Holland

I painted this watercolor about five years ago after I received a vision one night while praying for a friend of mine just before we attended a Cleansing Streams Weekend Retreat.  After sharing with her what I had seen, she confirmed that the visual portrayal of her in a fish tank clinging to the air filter was exactly how she felt at times as a worship leader within the church. She felt restricted and controlled by man-made rules while at the same time struggling to let go of her own need to be in control of everything.

Often she felt like she would die at times if she didn’t get some fresh air soon. She wanted to receive the gift of the Spirit, but was afraid that God might send her a “stone” instead of “Living Bread”. Consequently, she found herself resisting the work of the Spirit by telling God how to do His job. Finally, the wall of fear that she had erected collapsed, and she was freed to venture beyond the confining walls of the “fish tank” and discover an ocean of clear Living Water where there were no restrictions to Life in the Spirit…

My prayer is that God will release us all from fish tank living into the Ocean of His Amazing Grace where we can drink daily of His River of Delights. 

"God, we're tired of being bound to man-made filtering systems that keep your Holy Spirit from breathing His true Life-giving Energy and Presence into us.  Lord, we want the quality of Life that comes from living in You with no filters, because You came to give us Life to the fullest!  Free all of us who have found ourselves confined by the limitations of life within the tank!" ♥

You may read more about this here.

To see a larger copy of this artwork click here.