Journaling Cards

Hey guys,

I'm thrilled to be sharing this blog with you as it involves the making of something that has become a huge help to me in my Bible journaling:  journaling cards.

There are many ways to use these.  I love being able to put them in my Bible as a tip-in and such, but I've seen many use this similar idea for card making, planning, and just basic paper crafting!  It's such a fun technique.  I'm using a couple of April release stamp sets from Sweet n Sassy Stamps today, the affiliate link is right here to get your own!
Additionally, if you check out my Youtube channel, you'll see the full process video of how, what, and why I made these colorful additions to my repertoire. 

 

As in everything "Bible Journaling," the thing to remember about the creative process is that it's your own.  It's whatever you make it, it's however you achieve it, it's between you and your Maker, and ultimately about bringing Him glory with your creation!  

I want to share a bit about making journaling cards, and why it is that I made an entire tutorial on how you could mass produce them. 
You may want to use these a number of ways.  I use these types of cards in journaling often, whether in my own journaling or otherwise.  More specifically, I've started to make them to give them. 

A while back, I began a different way of creatively worshiping by way of something called "The Loved Bible Project," which in short, is the idea of "loving" a Bible ( usually compact bible - something small and easily toted from one place to another) through journaling notes, prayers, small devotions, and inspirations on a card, then fastening it in some form or fashion to a Bible page.  I've seen page after page of this concept executed in such beautiful ways!  Some use devotionals and some use their own Bible study time to guide their entries, much like any other form of Bible journaling. 
For me, it encourages growth in prayer and study, and the fruit of those things goes into this little Bible that God has led me to give!  I love it! 
I've been led to give it to a young lady who will be graduating from high school soon and will be venturing out on her very own for the very first time as she begins her college career. 
My hope is that she will look at this as a gift and love offering from me, but more importantly as a reference and tool to aid her in her walk with God in this new life!

I've been enjoying the entirety of this process!  From the paper prepping to the implementation of it, I've been able to work through my own struggles in creativity, my own lack of confidence in artistry, to come out on the other side a little more developed!  God is certainly a Master Creator, giving us each a piece of Himself as we learn how He's gifted us!  He's so good!

If you're interested in finding out more about The Loved Bible Project, I've provided several links below wherein you'll find the explanations of how "loving a Bible" works, as well as AMPLE inspirational pages, and what YOU could do to participate in this journey!

Much love,

Deeds
IG: mercies_journaled
Facebook: Deirdre Cason
Youtube: Mercies Journaled

Stamps used: "Cheerful Hexies" & "Surrounded in Prayer"

Loved Bible Project
IG: @thelovedbibleproject

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLovedBibleProject/
   Also: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1790436421192713/

God of Grace & Mercy

Hey guys!
It's March!!! Can you believe?  I mean, can you? 
In some ways, I feel like I'm stuck in January and unable to move forward; at the same time, how did we already make it to the month where the sun makes promises of warmth? 
It's mind-blowing!  And here we are.

Today, I'm in Nehemiah.  I LOVE this book.  You guys, if you have a chance to read Nehemiah, and if you should have your note-takers journals and pens handy, I would strongly recommend!  It's the other thing right now that I cannot believe I'm a part of.
Nehemiah.
Do you remember the process video I did back in February in this book?  If you haven't seen it already, the link is right here.  Through this video, I explain a bit more of where the people of Israel have been, what they've done, and how far they've come.  In this context, we meet Nehemiah now in chapter 9.

baby wipe with acrylic paint technique

Nehemiah chapter 9 and following (somewhat like the rest of Israelite history) is a bittersweet combination of a rebellious-turned-right-turned-rebellious people and a God that contains His wrath and justice to bring about His grace and mercy.
"Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes."  (Neh. 9:32a)
This is a request of Nehemiah that follows tightly on the heals of something that he'd just expressed from his heart of ache and plight.
"But in Your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God."  (v.31)
The God of the Bible - the same God of today - has far-reaching hands as He works (with delight, may I add?) to restore a people to Himself.  This same God does not tolerate idolatry of this people and carefully, with the most amazing and appropriate mixture of holiness and grace, guides them again into His fold.  He will not leave them.  He will not abandon them.  He will instruct them, which to some may come as an extreme move on His part, but for the fickle and the flighty,  He does what it absolutely necessary.
I don't think I'm alone when I think about how ridiculous it was for God to have given Israel so many chances; so many opportunities to come through and remain faithful.  SO MANY!  It's embarrassing to the same degree that the Lord chases me down and uses this same Fatherly chastising to bring a daughter (wayward and wandering), to the acknowledgment of who He is once again.  Many, many times.  Too many times.

Did you by chance catch the verse above?  The one about the "gracious and merciful God?" 

Let me try to dumb this down for us a bit: WITHOUT THE GRACE AND MERCY OF GOD THERE WOULD BE NO US.  Humanity at its best would still be a pile of rubble; rubbish ground down to bitter ashes of shame and nothingness.
God is holy, you guys, and His name is above all other names.  He gives His glory to no other; shares none of His weighted magnificence with anyone.  God is God, and only God is God.  So, having scriptures recount His glory in the highlights of His grace and mercy is huge for us.  It's huge!

Nehemiah understands this and that is why he vocalizes it in the community there in Jerusalem.  We all need to hear - repeated and distinctly - who God is, and the very breath by which we live under His Sovereignty.
This should really spark some general questions for us:
Why then do we continue to elevate and worship other "gods?"  The gods of finances, health, comfort, possessions, popularity, strength, religiosity?
I love the Jesus Bible and I quote from it often.  Here's a little snippet of something I read that clears up the mess in my brain over all of this.
"Remembering the past gave them (Israel) a focus for the future.  Having heard their own story, God's people faced a decision.  They could renew their covenant and continue on with God, or choose a different future, dedicated to other 'gods.'
"This covenant was not defined by a code of behavior or a list of intellectual truths.  The covenant was framed by the narrative of God's gracious acts toward a rebellious people."
DON'T MISS THIS.

                     

God brings a mess of people - a ruin of broken hearts - under His care and by HIS GRACE AND MERCY ALONE causes the covenant to exist; again.
GOD is faithful.
GOD is wonderful.
GOD is gracious.
GOD is merciful.
To GOD be the glory for all the great things He has done.

I've been convicted by this book as a whole.  I'm reminded of God's pleasure which is not to destroy me - someone who daily flips with a given emotion or situation - but to renew me, to bring me back, and to restore me to rightful worship of the One True King.  My Daddy.  The God of Grace and Mercy.

May He get all the glory.  May I daily surrender to His lead.  May He remain the all-powerful God and Sovereign of my fickle, feeble heart.  May I ever fall on His grace and mercy in remembrance of what He has done.
Much love,
Deeds

                       

Beautiful Change

Hey guys!

I'm thrilled about today.  I get to write about something that is often considered in a negative light: change.  Yes, change.  Particularly, and more importantly, change of our person; change of our heart. 
Being a Christian is not easy.  Well, it's not supposed to be. 

Christ died for our contentment; not comfort. 

Christ died to make us debt free; not problem free.

It's hard right?  This life?  Life is hard, and the "hard" we experience can lead us into a world of uncertainty, panic and confusion.  But in light of what the Bible says, we - I - should be ready to embrace the unexpected, unwanted, and unforeseen.  Because of our belief in God, we should ALWAYS be on the lookout to receive His way of making us new.

This, too, is difficult.  As much as we'd like to walk in freedom of trial and tribulation, affliction and heartache, Christ Himself tells us to walk in "newness of life," which implies hope, joy, new beginnings, fresh perspectives, and rightful desires!  It's amazing what a mind set on Jesus will think; what a heart devoted to Jesus can believe!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come."  2 Corinthians 5:17


I made a tip-in with this verse from the set, "Made New."  This set includes a beautifully lettered scripture and gorgeous, delicate butterfly images.  I LOVE butterfly images in my Bible.  There IS something so sweet about having these amazing creatures portrayed - especially when talking of newness of life.  Old stuff is gone; new stuff has come.  I think anyone would appreciate a overhaul like this! 
The metamorphosis of a butterfly is breath-taking, right.  It's like a magic trick!  We've all seen as the cocoon erupts with a different creature than went in.  And you talk about an overhaul!
A new life in Jesus is much more than magic, and goes beyond just the physical overhaul we see in nature; it is such a newness as God writes His beloved Son on your heart, placing His Spirit in your soul.  You're marked.  Marked with more than wings of color; you're marked with royalty, priesthood, heirship, and joy.  You're marked with Jesus!
This doesn't mean problems fade or disappear.  We are still in the world.  We are still living in a broken mess of humanity.  We are still attached to this thing we call the "flesh," which we battle on a daily basis.  BUT GOD knows us so intimately (as stated in Psalm 139), that He has graciously provided a way - THE WAY - to cope, handle, understand, fight, and deal with what comes our way.  

Will it be difficult?  Yes, we all agreed that life IS certainly a mess. 
Will it be doable?  Yes, may we all agree that "the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7), as we engage this mess to the glory of God!

What a wonderful God!
What a beautiful change!

I am a new creature in the Beloved Son of God. 
I am a new person in my heart and soul.
I have new life with purpose, drive and impact.
I have new hope with security, peace and protection.

I am made new to bring glory to God.

I am made new to live Light before man.

I am new.

I am changed.

And that's beautiful.

Much love,

Deeds