God's Word is Life

"Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua, the son of Nun. And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, 'Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess." - Deuteronomy 32:44-47

Deuteronomy 32 is a beautiful and eloquent passage commonly referred to as the Song of Moses. There are seven themes in Moses' song, which take us on a journey from the great goodness of God to the horrible sin of humanity to the grace and kindness of the Lord. It's Moses's exhortation to the children of Israel (and modern day Christians) to acknowledge God's greatness and mercy, and embrace it as their very life. 

David Guzik's commentary has this to say about verses 44-47:

One of Satan's great lies to us is that it is a futile thing to serve God and obey His word. It often seems that those who are against God prosper more than those who are for Him. Yet, we need to see and understand - from an eternal perspective - that it is not a futile thing to love and obey God. 

Chuck Smith follows it up with this comment: 

This word is not an empty thing; it's you're life. This is a matter of life and death, not something to pass off lightly.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." 

In Paul's letter to his dear friend Timothy, he says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (II Timothy 3:16-17)

Loving God and His Word is more than just a good Christian thing to do - it is life itself. God's Word gives us everything we need to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God, and He wants us to embed His Word in every aspect of our heart, mind, and life every single day. As a person, you can't live without food and water - as a Christian, you can't live without God's Word. 

The beautiful thing about this thing we call Bible Journaling is simply this: it brings God's Word into our lives in a visual and vibrant way, which brings us closer to Him. And that's just what He wants for us. ♡

I used three of my all-time favorite stamp sets to create this page: Scribble Flowers, Sweet & Simple Alpha, and Teeny Alpha clear stamp sets. The Sweet & Simple set is new this month and is quickly becoming my go-to alpha stamp set! The Scribble Flowers and Teeny Alpha sets are so versatile and add great elements to just about any page. I use them all the time! 😏 I taped off the text I wanted to illustrate, then blended distress oxides, splattered with water and watered down ink, stamped, and finished the page with some gel pen highlighting, washi tape, and stickers. Super fun, easy, and MESSY - which I love!! 😍

  

May you enjoy the life provided through God's Word this week and every week.

Much love in Christ, 

Janelle ❤

Change is Good

Happy Fall, ya'll!  What I miss most living in Florida is the lack of seasons.  Here it is October, and we are still in the 90 degrees during the day, and the 80s at night.  We simply do not have much change in the seasons.  I miss the snap in the air warning of the coming cold weather.  I especially love the colors of autumn, when the trees seem to be on fire with reds, oranges and yellows.  

Deuteronomy 1:6 tells of when God said to Moses and the Israelites, who had been camped out in the mountainous region of Horeb for about a year.  "The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount."  God tells them that its time to change their current situation in favor of what He has planned for them, namely possession of the Promised Land.  Had they chosen to stay where they were comfortable and resisted that change, they would not have received that blessing!  

I too often resist change.  It's uncomfortable, tiresome, unpredictable.  But God has a better plan in mind for me.  I just need to trust Him to lead me and protect me.  He's faithful.  His faithfulness is constant, even when He calls me to a change in my situation, job, relationship, etc. Change, when He is leading us to--and through--change, is good!

For this simple page, which has all the fall feels, I used the trees from the new Thrill of Hope stamp set.  I inked the top half of the image with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxides, the bottom half with Barn Door, and the tree trunks and ground with Ground Espresso.  I blended the colors, still on the stamp, with a sponge before I stamped the image.  Next, I stamped the letters C-H-A-N-G-E with the Fossilized Amber,  Barn Door, and Spiced Marmalade, using the Shake It Off Alpha Stamp Set, and then stamped over them with the new Texture Tiles 4 set in Ground Espresso.  Once I cut them out, you could easily distinguish the patterns from the plaid stamps.  I finished with sponging the Fossilized Amber color around my passage, and the edges of the page, added some texture from Texture Tiles 1, added a tab, some journaling, and the date.

Trust God through the changes, friend!  He can and will bless you!

THRILL OF HOPE

TEXTURE TILES 4

SHAKE IT OFF

TEXTURE TILES 1

Close to God

Close To God

Hey guys!  Deeds here, just sharing a bit of my "creative worship" heart with you!
Also, have you SEEN the new release from Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps for the month of June??  It's so precious, especially since this month gives me the chance to work with the male version of May's release, "girl power." YIPPEE!🙌

Pictured: Brotherly Love, Outline Script Alpha,
& Texture Tile 2 Stamps.

"Brotherly Love" is quite versatile, as you've probably seen; the team has been posting on IG and Facebook.  So many things are available with this stamp set, and the others that came out June 1st!!  Today, I'm using "BrotherlyLove," "Texture Tile 2," & "Outline Script Alpha," from the June release, as well as "Skinny Caps Alpha," and the "Bitty Minnie Alpha," set from May.  

I stamped the distress inks onto a stamp block and spritzed
it with a bit of water to loosen up the pigment to a
watercolor consistency.

I did this technique with several colors:
Broken China and Scattered Straw.

The process for this page was done using primarily distress inks (and oxides) to get the faded backdrop.  Then I used a texture tile from this month to give it depth and interest.  LOVE LOVE LOVE the texture tiles from June!  They're so beautiful and rich with potential!

 - - - - - -

As I was finishing up my studies in Deuteronomy, I did a "happy/sad dance."  This book was incredibly helpful as I processed the character of God and His glory here in the beginning stages of Israel's history.  So much can be gleaned; so much was relatable as I pored over all the different relationships here.  

Specifically, I was fond of Moses' relationship with God. 
Moses was a very special individual of the Bible.  From the time Moses is born, to the time he dies, the Bible records that God was with him.  Always with him.  Close to him.  Guiding him.  Using him.  Instructing him.  Protecting him.  Disciplining him.  Associating with him.  There was definitely a sweet bond between God and Moses.  Moses took great care, though, to be so in-tuned with God and God's plan.
Having God's direct attention anyway is something that I can't really believe.  I can't think about how a higher Being like Him would be so interested in humanity.  But for sake of the argument, let's just say that God is too high, too big, too lofty, too thoughtful for us; there's no way possible for us to truly understand this type of "high," or this kind of God.  

What I DO understand is that closeness to God is a beautiful, wonderful and POSSIBLE thing through Jesus Christ!

We are absolutely, explicitly beckoned by this Big and Awesome God to join Him in intimacy.  He created man in His own image that we could reflect Him and His glory to the rest of the world.  It's not because we're something so great and fantastic.  No way.  In fact, however close Moses got to God, he was still unable to get close enough to God's true and magnificent glory.  Why?  Because Moses was a flawed and tainted with sin.  He still messed up.  He still stumbled.  He still defied the Almighty, not just once but time and time again.  However, God still reaches down to faulty humanity, uses faulty humanity, and shows His glory through faulty humanity.  God does all for His glory, and like the text says, He even buries people for His glory. 

The LORD buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab,

but to this day no one knows the exact place. - Deut. 34:6

I long for this type of intimacy with God.  The kind where God walks with me through every step of my life, holding me through the tough waters, carrying me through the deserts, laying me to rest with His tender hand.  Beautiful, awesome God.  Wonderful, caring God.  Amen.

Much love,  💙💛💚

 - Deeds

IG @mrcfuldeeds2010
Youtube mrcfuldeeds

The Rules of Love....

{jane bosi}  We had a new preacher on Sunday who preached a great message and totally inspired my time in the Word.  I don't often find myself in Deuteronomy, but here is where I have dwelt so far this week.  Deuteronomy 6:1-7:

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

I work with a lot of kids who struggle to follow rules, struggle to understand the point behind many rules and in general find themselves wandering in one desert after another desperately trying to find their way.  They need leading, but like the rest of us stubborn humans, leading is the last thing they seem able to seek, let alone accept.  

Rules {commands} are all about God's desire to remain in relationship with His children.  His law teaches us how to stay with Him.....how, blessedly simple is that?  His law is about His affection for us! I get that....because in my humanly parental heart, I know what it feels like to want my child to stay...to share who they are, to talk to me, to seek my counsel, to allow me to tend their pain and share their joy....no matter how old they get.  I want them to stay.  God wants me to stay.  He wants you to stay.

Hopin' to touch some hearts with this perspective and simple truth.....

I have to add a quick little note about my bible journal page, too!  I {heart} the way it turned out!  I used three different alphabet stamp sets:  Shake It Off Caps and Lowercase and Outline Alpha.  I also used a few other sets for accents:  Stand Tall and Bottom of My Heart.  I stamped everything and then masked off some of the accents and the Outline Alpha letters.  I used post-it notes because I don't have a better idea...it's kind of putzy, but I like that (especially while watching the Packer game....I need my coping skills!).  After everything was masked off, I applied four different colors of Ranger Distress Inks.  To finish things off, I added a page marker, some white signa pen outlines and a little bit of sparkle.  Don't you love that sweet little birdie?? (Stand Tall)

Be Blessed--Jane

Faithful God & alpha stamps!!

I'm super excited to share my love for the new alphabet stamp sets in our shop! I've got a great collection of alpha stamps and this Cold Coffee Alphabet is perfect for Bible journaling. The size allows you to get a 3-4 letter word in the margins and these chunky letters will make your words stand out on the page!

This creative worship page was done in Deuteronomy chapter 7. I invited a small group of friends over & we all made this page together. We each used acrylic paints for a fun, bright background and personalized our margins using hand-lettering and lots of clear stamps. (Our What's Up? set made an appearance in a few of the pages!) Acrylic paint makes for a great background because it helps prevent bleed through by serving as a buffer between your pen or ink and the other side of the page.

And my finished piece of creative worship......