Names of God Advent Calendar

 Hello Friends!

I have always enjoyed doing advent calendars with my daughters since they were little. My favorite advent calendars focus on Christ. Last year, I made my first advent calendar using faithdex cards and the names of Jesus. This year, I used the names of Jesus again, but made 2 hanging advent calendars for my daughters. They are 18 & 21 now, and this was a fun craft to make for them. I was shopping and found some clothespins with small wood slices and numbers on them. That's what got me started! I got some burlap bags, found 2 sticks in my yard, and already had the twine. I tied the twine to the sticks so that it hangs down and the bags can be clipped haphazardly to the twine. It was really easy to make! I stamped each bag with a name of Jesus. Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has some sets of names and that made the stamping go really quickly. See the end of the post for the stamp sets used. I was under a time crunch, so I didn't have time to stamp the verse that goes with each name on the bag. But I plan to add the verses. I filled the bag with little goodies and hope the girls will read the verses each day and soak in who Jesus is. 

Jesus is known by many names. Some of these are characteristics. Some explain who He is. As we study these names of Jesus, we should contemplate how Jesus manifests Himself as each of these in our lives. By studying and understanding these names, we know our Savior better.

Here is the list of names I used:

1. Light of the World, John 8:12
2. Messiah, Daniel 9:25
3. Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6
4. Alpha and Omega, Revelation 22:13
5. Bread of Life, John 6:35
6. Creator, Nehemiah 9:6
7. Wonderful Counselor, Isaiah 9:6
8. Deliverer, 2 Samuel 22:2
9. Narrow Gate, Matthew 7:13
10. Everlasting Father, Isaiah 9:6
11. Emmanuel, Isaiah 7:14
12. Faithful & True, Revelation 19:11
13. Good Shepherd, John 10:11&14
14. Redeemer, Job 19:25
15. Yahweh, Isaiah 45:24
16. Lamb of God, John 1:29
17. True Vine, John 15:5
18. King of kings, 1 Timothy 6:15
19. God Almighty, Isaiah 9:6
20. High Tower, Psalm 18:2
21. Savior, Acts 13:23
22. Jehovah, Joel 2:27-28
23. Christ, Matthew 16:16
24. Word of God, John 1:1&14

I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: His Name, I Am, He Is.

Have a blessed Christmas focused on our sweet Savior. 

Andrea

Rescue me!

Hi friends,

We've recently been watching a tv series which is centred around a father and daughter, where the daughter doesn't know that this man is her father, but the father keeps coming to rescue her when she is in danger. Although her father is actually a dangerous criminal, he will stop at nothing to protect his daughter. There are other movies and tv shows which feature a storyline of a father going to rescue his daughter and crossing seemingly impossible barriers to do so. When I came across this line from Psalm 119:94 recently, it made me think of these kinds of stories: "I am yours; rescue me!" 

The reason the psalmist could cry out to God in their distress is because they knew they belonged to the one who heard their prayer. Much like many earthly fathers will do anything to keep their children safe and rescue them when they are in danger or distress, our Heavenly Father watches over us and we can call to him when we need to be rescued. When Peter tried to walk on water and in a moment of doubt began to sink, he called on Jesus and Jesus took hold of him and rescued him. Jesus shows us what God is like - God is ready to rescue his children in their times of trouble.

I stamped the image from My Friend on this page and watercoloured it. When it was dry I then added some acrylic paint in shades of blue with some grey and white using a palette knife to create the waves and sky. The text was stamped with My Friend and Love Ya Like a Sister Alpha. 

Let's be people to cry out to our Heavenly Father to rescue us when we are in distress, trouble, or danger. He hears our call and comes running.

Be blessed...

Amy