Glory to God

I cannot even imagine the great and glorious night of Christ's birth throughout the heavens and earth.  Everything  would be forever different because the long-awaited Messiah had arrived.  Who could truly understand God's plan to display His glory in the form of an infant born of such modest means?  Wrapped in swaddling clothes, nestled in the wonder and awe of the moment, this one baby caused the sky to fill with heavenly hosts who gathered above a simple stable to worship the new born king.  When God's shining glory broke through the night sky it simply had to be dazzling.

God's glory still breaks through the darkness of man's heart and again and again changes everything.  We give glory to God because Christ didn't stay immortalized as a baby.  Our hearts break forth in hallelujahs each time the risen Lord redeems another lost soul.

Glory belongs to the Lord not only for what He does, for miracles, for healing, for provision and protection.  He deserves glory for who He is...King of kings, Lord of lords, Immanuel--God with us.  We never have to be alone because His glory breaks through every darkness to shine the light of His love.  May this Christmas be all about His glory and the works of His Spirit in the human heart.  May each new day of the new year bring a song of hallelujahs to our lips.  May our lives bring Him glory until we circle the throne with the angels in heaven and sing in unison with them, "Glory to God in the highest."

Stamps: Chunky Alpha (left page), Celebrate the Savior (right page)
Color Mediums: Gelatos (background, colored directly to page then blended with baby wipe), Copic markers (to color stamped images), black fine-line marker, Memento Ink for stamps, white paint pen from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

www.dianesdaydreamdesigns.blogspot.com

Called by Name

{jane bosi}  Happy Tuesday, Sweet Friends!

Today, I am sharing a canvas I made recently.  Quite a while ago I used some stencil paste to add gold stars to a painted canvas.  I'm sure I had an idea when I began, but time passed and so did the idea.  All I was left with was a goofy colored canvas full of stars!

And then, My Friend was released.  I am so in love with this image!!  As I continued to create and work on finishing the canvas, it assigned itself to a friend of mine.  I'm not sure if this happens to other people, but it has happened a number of times to me--I just instantly know who the canvas will belong to when I'm finished with it.

The sentiment piece was cutting using the Hillside Edges Die Set--all of the sentiment can be found on the My Friend sheet also.   So, when I was done, I wrapped it up and took it to work with me for my friend, Cathy.  She's been called by name, too.  I think art is just like God's Word....beautiful and to be shared.....

What are you sharing?
Be Awesome!  Jane

Give Thanks to Him

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends! I hope today finds you full of love, joy, and thanksgiving to our great God. I love Thanksgiving, but we don't need an official day to give thanks! We can do this on our own each and every day. In addition to Psalm 100:4, many verses tell us to do exactly that! Here are a few:

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name. 1 Chronicles 16:8

It can be hard to be thankful during difficult times or in circumstances we don't understand. It can be hard to be grateful when we don't see God in a situation. But, rest assured, even if we don't see Him, He is there. I have told my kids many times, "Be thankful for what you have, not unhappy about what you don't." I have to remind myself of that as well! Sometimes the complaints get a hold of me. That's when the "Note to self" comes into play. It's hard to complain when I am full of gratitude. So that is my goal each day- to be thankful and to bless His name! The following is a prayer I found a few years ago. I don't know the original author, but it says what I feel.

Thank You, God, for giving me another year of life. Thank You for all the experiences of this past year; for times of success which will always be happy memories, for times of failure which reminded me of my own weakness and of my need for You, for times of joy when the sun was shining, for times of sadness which drove me to You.

For this page, I used the following sets: All Your Heart, Just Be, Chunky Alpha, and Note This. 

  

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving and be grateful for all you have! Andrea

I Am Yours

"Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. 

I have called you by name;you are mine."  

Isaiah 43:1  

I woke up Sunday morning in a panic...and cold. Y'all, I live in southeast Texas for a reason. God knew when He created me that I was not one for cold weather. I fully enjoy the Texas heat and am perfectly content not having a White Christmas. So, when a teeny cool front came through, the heater was calling my name. Except there was some sort of disconnect in the call because the heater was not working. Enter my panic and cold Sunday morning. I should also mention that I just moved into a new home and have met my fair share of obstacles, so this little set back sent me back into panic mode. 

On my way to church I was gently reminded, "The heater will be fixed." God is good like that and I wish I could say my panic ceased instantly but you know the pesky enemy wouldn't let up that easy. Oh but that pesky enemy stood no chance compared to my Father who gently eased my worry all through worship. 

Oceans was sung by our worship team and this part of the song has always been my favorite, "I am yours and you are mine." The creator of the universe calls me HIS. The One who conquered death calls me HIS. The one who is and is to come calls me HIS. Do you see where I'm going with this? Life will happen. Mornings can start off crazy and the things of this world can seem overwhelming, but how we react to those moments is what counts. 

All my heater needed was a twist of a valve. All my heart needed was a twist of focus. My focus was on my problem, not on my God. He has taken care of every problem we will ever encounter, from small heater glitches, to big world issues, he has conquered it all. Always remember that you are HIS and He is YOURS. Isn't that so comforting? 

Happy Thanksgiving,

Lynzee

For this post I used the "My Friend" stamp set from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps found in the link below:

http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/creative-worship-my-friend-clear-stamp-set/

I'm Not Home Yet....

{jane bosi}

God's Word says:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."  Jeremiah 29:11

So much focus has been given recently to politics--it's almost as if people have lost sight of anything else.  And, I get it.  The presidential race-it matters in this earthly realm.  It clearly matters to a great deal of people who have seemingly lost all hope in anything else.  There is devastation and divisiveness all over our great land.  When all of your hope and belief is placed into a fallible human being and it doesn't work out? What are you left with? I think we are seeing it first hand.

To be truthful, I didn't like my choices, but neither outcome could have devastated me.  You see, my hope is that which is promised in Jeremiah 29:11.  The King of Kings sits upon the throne--yesterday, today and tomorrow.  My tomorrow is secure.  He has a plan for me.  A plan to prosper me and bring me out of exile and I cannot wait!

Exile, you say?  Exile is defined as "separation from one's country or home."  Yes, indeed, I am in exile.  This is not my home.  This is not where I belong.  

You're not home either.  His plan covers your future too.  He loves you.  Seek Him; He promises to be found.  He's not exclusive or elusive, like some of this world would have you believe.  He waits for you.  No matter what it is, you belong to Him.  He will be found; He will bring you back.

Be Blessed....
Jane

I got crafty with:

 

 Find these and more at Sweet N Sassy Stamps!

Take Refuge But Don't Fear

I'm so happy to be rejoining Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps as part of the Creative Worship design team.  I took some time off to move and get settled into our new home, and unfortunately my craft room was the last to be organized.  It's wonderful to be creating again with the SNSS stamps designed specifically with Bible journaling in mind.  There were so many options in the November releases, but I'd been drawn to the focal passage below anyway, and I love to design according to my worship first and find stamps that fit the bill.

We are living in tumultuous times from several vantage points. But God's people have experienced unrest and troublesome circumstances, even devastating circumstances throughout the centuries. God's Word points us directly to Him when we are in trouble.  Again and again, God tells us to lay our worries and fears at His feet and take refuge in Him, because He is sovereign.  God shows us what fear and faith look like in His Word.  Regardless of our circumstances, God is good and the one who takes refuge in Him, His character, His promises will be blessed. 

   

For my DT submission, I used the fabulous new set, Faith Quote Blocks, the delicious Chunky Alphabet and a couple of stamps from the new Furry Friends set. They all pulled together to accurately express my heart's response to the passage of scripture in Psalm 34 and 35.  I'd been looking at these chapters anyway, and when I saw the stamp for Ps. 34:8 and C. H. Spurgeon's quote...well, they were perfect.  I love the way the passage describes "trying out" God as "taste and see."  If we only come to Him, give Him a place in our minds and hearts to work, He will take all our fear and replace it with assurance, comfort and a place of refuge.  We really do not have to worry.

Laying down worry doesn't mean we will not experience hardships or times when ungodly people come against us.  As a matter of fact, if we are following Christ, we are certain to make enemies.  It's normal to have times of fear, but we can't hang onto them.  We have to trade our fear for faith and let God work through our circumstances.  He can ALWAYS do a better job anyway.  He does a PERFECT job!  (You can see more photos and detail on my backgrounds on my blog.)

  

Faith Quote Blocks                         Chunky Alphabet

 

Furry Friends

Check out more stamps that are perfect for your Bible journaling artwork in the Creative Worship section of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  Thanks for stopping in!

Diane's Daydream Designs Blog

Deep Roots

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. 

Colossians 2:7

We can all agree that our world is changing. On social media I have seen people express feelings of fear, worry, anger, and so on, but there is one thing that has struck a cord with me observing all this. 

What my heart aches for is the feeling of hopelessness in so many of our neighbors across our country. Do you see it? Do you see that so many people have placed their hope in human beings? Hope seems lost because their candidate lost or they weren't happy with the choices to begin with.

Here's the thing, humans will always fail us, but Jesus never will. Our times and leaders are ever changing. Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Jesus promises us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) Our neighbors are in desperate need of this hope. Now is our time to share the unwavering love of Jesus and the hope He brings in every season and circumstance. 

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
    there is no help for you there.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
    and all their plans die with them.
5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel[a] as their helper,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them.
    He keeps every promise forever.

Psalm 146: 3-6

Where are your roots being planted? Let them be planted in Jesus. Your roots dug deep in Him will weather any season.  

With love,
Lynzee



Stamps used:
Furry Friends
http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/furry-friends-clear-stamp-set/
Scribble Flowers
http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/scribble-flowers-clear-stamp-set/

His thoughts...

”For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

I find this message pretty intriguing. Right before these verses Isaiah says that we have to seek the Lord while He may be found and that when we turn to the Lord, He will have mercy. And the Lord declares: for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are higher than your ways. Our rational thinking isn’t the same as the way the Lord thinks. We can’t comprehend his thoughts. His ways are way higher than ours. Sometimes I would like to know the thoughts of the Lord. I can learn about them when I read in the bible, but sometimes I would like to have a specific answer. Why is this (not) happening? What does the Lord want? What is His plan? But even when I would know His thoughts… there’s a high possibility that I just couldn’t comprehend these thoughts. That I still wouldn’t understand the plans the Lord has. So it’s better to just hand over all my questions and problems to the Lord. Because He knows what He’s doing. And His thoughts, His ways, are always better than mine.

 

For this page I used the stamp set 'Awesome Thoughts' and 'Outline Alpha'. I prepared my page with clear gesso and made a soft background with wax crayons. I stamped my images with a grey ink and colored them with colored pencils. I wrote the other words with a micron pen.

- Lucinde

Then & Now

"Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God." Exodus 29:45

Hello Friends,

When I was reading chapter 29 and got to the end, the "then" in verse 45 really stood out to me. Chapters 28 and 29 of Exodus list all the things the priests had to do- what they had to wear, how they had to be consecrated, the offerings they had to make- all these things, very specific things done exactly the way God commanded. Why did they have to do all this? So that they could serve in the Tabernacle and be in God's presence. That's why the "then" stood out to me. After they did all these specific things, THEN God would dwell with them. If they missed a step or didn't do exactly as God said, the consequence could have been death. Pretty heavy stuff. But our God is holy and sinful people cannot be in His presence which is why He told the Israelites to do all this.

But, there's good news! Jesus ended the need for all these steps when He died for us. He was the ultimate sacrifice. And if we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, we are cleansed. Through Him, we can boldly come into God's presence at any time. All believers are indwelt by His Spirit! Ephesians 2:18 says, "For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." We don't have to wear certain clothes like the priests did. We don't have to make animal sacrifices. We don't have to be consecrated with oil. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior. There is no more "then". We have access to God the Father NOW through Jesus Christ, and are indwelt by His Spirit. Can I get an "amen"?!

This page gives you a sneak peek of two NEW sets- Chunky Alpha and My Friend! These sets will be released tomorrow in the Sweet 'n Sassy Store! I also used His Name.

If you don't want to cover the Scripture, here's a tip. Use a plastic transparency cut to the size you need and adhere the letters or image on that. Then create a tip-in by taping it to the Bible page with washi. Then you can lift it up to read the Scripture! 

One last tip- add a little pizzazz to your letters with a black pen (or a white pen if your letters are black).

Have a blessed week! Andrea