Many of you have been deeply blessed by Matt Redman’s songs. He has a wonderful heart of worship, and I love that his passion for Jesus shines through his work.

He offers many resources but I want to point to two specific resources today. First, he writes and posts song devotionals on many of his most popular worship songs on his website at www.mattredman.com (go to bottom of page to view listing).

As an example, about his song Mercy he writes:

I’ve lost count of how many songs I’ve written about the cross over the years — but the reason is simple. It is the difference between life and death, between inescapable chains and eternal freedom. It’s where love and justice kiss, and holiness and mercy meet.

I love when an artist shares the driving motivation behind his or her work. It’s important to understand that our creative work has power to reveal the mystery of God’s grace and love. God is counting on us as his mouthpiece, his hands, his feet.

Another great resource of Redman’s is some of his videos show lyrics and chords with fingerings to help learn his songs more easily. So grab a guitar, and let’s start playing! Not a guitarist, you say? Then sit back, close your eyes and let God’s great mercy wash over you!

Blessings of ARTistry, CREATivity & BEaUty, Jody

P.S. Missed previous posts? Click here.

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What is Create-A-Day? Just as One-A-Day® Vitamins help restore the nutrients we deplete in our bodies, so too do we need to refill, replenish and renew our creative souls. In 2015, watch for daily* posts to undergird your ministry; lead you to resources to nurture the creative spirit within; and draw you more deeply into your worship of Jesus Christ. My goal is to provide you, the creative Christian, with over 250* resources to help you develop your ARTistry, CREATivity & capacity for BEaUty. Books, worship arts ministries, video series, websites, conferences—all geared towards artists, creatives, worshipers and people serving in worship and creative arts ministries. So, visit my blog every day* to see what creative resource I’ve hunted down for you. You can stay connected by following me on Twitter or Facebook. Or better yet, sign up to receive email updates by clicking the button to the left. We’ll watch the resources pile up as the year unfolds!

* I am a proponent of family time and Sabbath rest so don’t look for posts on weekends or Holidays.

Jody Thomae is the author of God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You, a devotional book with Bible studies to nurture the creative spirit within and to serve as a resource for creative Christians, artists, musicians and worshippers. She has been involved in worship arts ministry since 1997, coordinating artistic involvement in church services and regional worship events through dance, drama, poetry and fine arts and has had the opportunity to perform, teach, choreograph, preach, coordinate and lead workshops in the area of creativity, spirituality and embodied prayer. She has also recently released a devotional CD, Song of the Beloved.

Her passion is for the revelation of God to be made more real through the prophetic use of the arts in church and formational ministry. It is her desire to portray the message of Christ’s desperate and unfailing love for His people to help sustain the hearts of the broken and weary. Life scriptures include Psalm 27; Isaiah 50:4-7; and Zephaniah 3:14-17.