How do you fight your battles?

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Hebrews 4:12

We are in a battle every day, and that battle is won or lost in our mind. While the enemy cannot take you from God's family if you are a child of God, he can defeat and discourage you and make you completely ineffective in your spiritual life. Sometimes the battle is external - a conflict, a disagreement, a physical ailment - but often it is internal, and it stems from our own sinful heart. This is not a battle that can be fought with physical weapons. The only way to fight back is with truth from God's Word. 

The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that:

"All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

You can't trust your heart ("The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" Jeremiah 17:9), you can only trust what God's Word says is true. And the only way to know what God's Word says is true, is to get His Word in your heart and mind ("be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2). 

So when you find yourself in a battle for your mind, solidify yourself with God's truth. 

God's truth about worry:

• John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be trouble, neither let them be afraid."
• Matthew 6:25-26, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
• Psalm 59:16, "But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress."
• Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
• Psalm 4:8, "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for thou O Lord only maketh me dwell in safety."

God's truth about discouragement:

• Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
• John 16:33, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
• 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."
• Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may about in hope."

God's truth about body image:

• Psalm 139:14, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
• Proverbs 31:30, "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
• Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
• Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
• 1 Samuel 16:7, "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

God's truth about forgiveness:

• Ephesians 4:32, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
• Mark 11:25, "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
• 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
• James 5:16, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

What battles are you fighting today? Are they external or internal? Are you trying to fight them on your own power, or are you relying on truth from God's Word? I encourage you to take a few minutes today to see what the Bible says about your specific battle. The enemy is the Father of Lies (John 8:44) and will do all he can to defeat and discourage you. Don't let him win the battle for your mind today! Fight your battle with TRUTH. 

Page Details

Getting messy with Distress Oxides and stamps really is my happy place. I used Distress Oxides in Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, and Wild Honey to create this page. I first prepped the page with gesso so I could get the fun water effect, then taped off my scripture passage with washi tape (careful when you pull it off at the end so you don't rip the page!). I then used daubers to apply the ink to the page and immediately spritzed with water. It's fun to spritz the page, then tip the page up so the water runs down the page - gives it a really great effect. I then stamped the page using the following stamp sets: Fall in Love with Jesus, The Lord's Battle, Marker Alpha, and the Texture Tiles 1 and Typewriter Text Background stamps. 

    

These two background stamps sets are probably my most used stamp sets ever! They are great for adding dimension and depth to any page. 

  

I pray you use the Word of God to fight all your battles this week. 💛

Love in Christ, 
Janelle
Let's connect on IG: @journalingjoy

The Word of God

For the word of God is living and active, 

sharper than any two-edged sword,

 piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, 

of joints and of marrow, 

and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

There is so much I love about the Word of God.  It speaks to the deepest part of me and is always relevant.  It opens the door of my heart to see and know God, to be known by Him.  It is sweet; it is hard; it is powerful; it is tender; it is helpful, comforting, challenging, convicting.  It is all of these but of the list of descriptors that mean so much to me, it is the fact that it is living that amazes me most.  It distinguishes itself from any other book, even deeply moving theologically profound books.  No other book is living, is organic and consistently, constantly dynamic.  What gives it life and exactly what does that mean?

In John, chapter one we learn that, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  The term "word" is different in John and Hebrews.  The Word is "the Logos," is complex but refers to the person of Jesus.  The term "word" in Hebrews refers not to Christ, but to God's written, recorded and inspired word...the Bible.  The Bibles we hold in our hands are obviously not breathing, growing--not in the sense as defines life.  Yet it IS alive, and it IS active.  God's word is alive because it brings life...it perpetuates spiritual life was giving life by the breath of the Holy Spirit.  It brings real, supernatural transformation in the living soul of the human who accepts it as truth.  "Faith comes from hearing [or reading] the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ," (Romans 10:17).  It brings life and vitality, light and salvation.  It is not powerless, but has the power to save.  

As we come to the Word of God for the life it can give, we find it renders much to feed our spirit.  It is a sword; it is strength; it is a foundation for living our lives; it is absolute truth; it contains the only gospel of Christ; it points to Christ--our peace and our salvation.  I'm so very grateful that God prepared my heart as a twelve year old girl to receive the Word...and thereby trust its Author.  God's Word led me to Him...and He is my all in all.  

I'm grateful each and every day that I have the living and active Word of God at my disposal.  I cannot imagine not having a Bible.  That's why it's so important for those of us who do to read it and to hide it in our hearts, to share it with others.  I've known several people who have owned Bibles but never read them.  Others give cursory attention but depend mostly on someone else to preach or teach from it.  Some think they know scriptures from platitudes they hear literally on the street and take such triteness as truth.  The only way God's Word can bring your spirit alive is to take it in and let the Holy Spirit do His transforming work through it.  

God's Word is my sure foundation.  It is the one absolutely trustworthy thing on which I can stake my life...because it reveals my faithful, totally trustworthy Father. 

Design Details:

I just added a little more color to the page (100 Days of Bible Promises Devotion Book by Shanna Noel/Illustrated Faith with gelatos and a water-brush.  I drew a simple sketch of a Bible then added stamps to the central image and words over the pages.

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Sets Used:

 Doves of Peace

Mighty Fortress

Armor of God

His Word Is Alive!

For the word of God is alive and active. 

Sharper than any double-edged sword, 

it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, 

joints and marrow; 

it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 

More times than I can count, God's words have leaped off the page of my Bible and seared my heart.  His Word is like a flame that purifies my heart in a refiner's fire.  Sometimes my need for refinement is a daily event!  I cringe when I hear that God's Word is no longer relevant.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It is the most relevant, lasting, certain, absolute truth we have.  In fact, there is no truth apart from God's truth.   What's more amazing is that His Truth, His Word is rooted in His love for us.  We can depend on His Word, we can rest in it and know that is will be true for us throughout our entire lives. 

I used PrismaColor pencils for the images on the page and then painted a soft watercolor blue for the background.  I decided on a little different interpretation of the image from the newly released stamp set, Living Word.  The image actually shows a living plant coming from the Bible and as God's love waters us we will grow.  But I could also see flames of His Word, and just wanted to create the imagery that God will continually pour my heart into the crucible of testing and refinement.  I think it works!

Stamp Used:

Living Word

Daydream Designs