Pleiades

Glorious inspiration for my page, Pleiades.

Hi guys, it's Deeds!

How are you today?  How's your Tuesday going? 
It's been so nice to have kids home from school.  They're a handful, but what a delightful handful they are, especially because they have grown a whole lot since they began their school year last fall.  So much on their minds!  So much to say!  Such vivid imaginations and input!
I'm enjoying it.  I'm enjoying hearing about their thoughts and concerns and knowing that they are home with me to share!

What about you?

What's your summer looking like? Are you excited about all the upcoming events?  Are you ready for them??

Want another challenge in the midst of your busy schedules and plans? 
It's actually not so bad, and in fact it's really fun.
All you need is the stamp set, "Set Apart," your Bible and an image of a constellation in the stars known as "Pleiades."  That's it! (Affiliate Link below)
QUICK FUN FACT: This star arrangement consists of 9 bright and shining stars each with individual names that are too hard for me to pronounce.  Additionally, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. (thank you, Google)

When I started this page, I was inspired by this simple mention of stars in the book of Job, chapter 38 and verse 31. 

"Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?"

 I decided I needed a constellation in my Bible!!

As God reaches down here, to engage with humanity in this amazingly stunning conversation, we hear of ALL these wonders He's performed; all these feats and demonstrations of WHO HE IS brought to light, to bear witness of His greatness, His justice, His rightness, His bigness. 
"Can you?"  He asks.

"Did you?"  He inquires.

"Where were you?" Further still.

These are great and just questions.

God - Yahweh, self-existent, self-sufficient, Creator - is from the beginning.  He has always been.  He started it.  He created it, set it, established it, put it in motion, and keeps it going. 
Only God can.
Only God did.
Where were we?  We were but a twinkle in His eye, so to speak.  We were a piece of His plan, but a thought in His purpose as He strung collections of stars together, one by one. 
We call these particular constellations names like, "Orion," the "Little Dipper," "Cassiopeia," and so many more. 
God knows each, particular, single, solitary mass of a star by name!  Each one!

When we look up and see a vast gamut of brightness, glory, sizing and color, we draw near to a TINY piece of the glory of God.  We cannot fathom the power that actually exists in those burning orbs, nor can we imagine the mind of the Creator behind them. 
When God questions a sickly Job, His aim is not to ridicule or condemn.  Rather, this human is getting a firsthand lesson in science, and more importantly, a look at real power, real glory, and real mercy.  

We are but humans. 
We are but flesh.
We are finite.

We are fickle.
We are weak.
We are broken.
BUT GOD!  Yes, BUT GOD, reaches into our sad and sickly state to show us He's beyond what we see.  He's beyond what we're experiencing.  He is beyond our world, our galaxy, our universe!  AND, He's close.
God is close.
God is reachable.

God is unbeatable.
God is powerful.
God is merciful.

There's a sweet coupling in scripture - a beautiful duo that brings honor to our God, and hope to our kind:
God does everything for His glory, and
God does everything for our good.

I'm thankful that Job was written as an instructional aid to those of us who call ourselves human.  I'm thankful that I do not understand His power, and more thankful that I CAN understand His mercy. 
I've tasted and seen.  I've met this mercy face-to-face and been overwhelmed.
If ever you wonder if God is real, if God is near, if God loves you, just remember this one word: "Pleiades."

Much love,

Deeds

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Youtube: Mercies Journaled
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Joy & our friend, Job

Cover page for the book of Job with a reference to James

Hey everyone! 
Deeds here, with another blog post and Youtube process video for Creative Worship! I love this blog.  I love that you're coming.  I love that this is making an impact in the lives of so many.
I pray that today you will find this blog a blessing and encouragement, particularly because it covers a topic that I find the hardest to understand.

Dear friends, this is - by far - one of the hardest blogs I've had to write; it's the hardest of topics that I've ever had to think about:
JOY through SUFFERING.

And, what is joy? 
What does it look like for me?

What does joy look like in the believer in the midst of pain and suffering?

And guess what?  I don't have the answers to all of these questions.  The biggest issue I'm grappling with right now is how to explain joy in the middle of suffering.
Let me first explain why this lands on my radar.  WHY in the world am I so fixated on joy in suffering?  Cheer in the midst of sorrow?

Well, firstly I'm in the book of Job.  I have a Bible reading plan that I follow.  It takes me through chapters at a time of certain books, and only small sprigs of scripture other times.  I’m liking they layout of the plan!

But, Job? 
Oi.  Job. 
I confess that my heart was achy before I even read the first chapter.  My mind wrestled with God on this topic of the suffering believer.  My soul cringed at the mess that would come as I dealt with some real struggles as a believer in a fallen, depraved, starving world.

Y'all, there's a lot to this concept of joy. 
There's a LOT to the marriage of joy & suffering. 
For the sake of not getting ahead of myself, and attempting to stay clear, I've come up with a few bullet points (and hopefully helpful reminders) on what I've learned since I began this journey in Job.

-Suffering passes through the throne of Grace.

-Suffering is only allowed, by this Throne, to the extent that it is turned around for His glory.

-Suffering is meant to draw us ever closer to the throne that has more than enough grace to see us through "in time of need." (Heb. 4:16)

Reference: Job 1:6ff

These are the basics of what I've come to understand about Job.  It's what I've come to experience daily as the battle rages for my heart.  

Job experienced one of the highest levels of suffering that we know of.  His wealth, his children, his property, his inheritance, his health, his future…gone.  Gone in an instant.  Gone forever.  Gone without reason…
Chapters following his initial loss are COMPLETELY taken over by a discussion that would sooner prove unhelpful, unencouraging, un-insightful, and unwanted than be considered imparted grace and life.  Job had some lousy friends.  Worse yet, he had a terrible wife. 

He had it bad.

He had it the worst.

"Dude took an L," is how I would hear my kids put it. 
And it actually happened - this account is not a sad story of a kid's book with no premise and little moral value.  This truly took place in our history.  Job was a real "dude."

I believe Job is written for our good; for us to see how we can handle the issues of sickness, rejection, loss, and the temptation to lose hope. 
BUT, I more so believe that this amazing account directs us to the One who suffered the most; the One who gave it all; the One who incurred the most rejection, the most ridicule, the most loss, the most burden, the most judgment, and the most wrath, even unto death on the cross. 
The Bible says,
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, KEEPING OUR EYES ON JESUS, the founder and perfecter of our faith, WHO FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM ENDURRED THE CROSS, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." (Hebrews 12:1-4, emphasis mine)

Stamp set used: "Choose Faith"
Affiliate link here: http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com?aff=7

Small prayer of hope that God will show me His heart.

It's not easy being weary in heartbreak and body ache.  It's not easy enduring the loss of a friend, or the rejection of a husband.  It's NOT easy.
It's part of our fallen world to encounter the problems we face, and it's totally natural to fall faint-hearted to the pressure of pain and sorrow. 
God knows us; He knows our heart. 
He loves us; He purchased our soul.

By the blood that was shed on the cross, He bought back what has been taken away from us by sin.  Through His love in life and death, Jesus our Redeemer, LIVES ON to bring help, hope and joy to us, His joint-heirs! 

We suffer, though not alone.

We faint, though not to death.

We endure, though not needlessly.

God is good; God is sovereign; and God is in control.  When going through the hardest of situations and the desperate of circumstances, remember that the Lord God Almighty has intentions for turning what the enemy means for harm and cursing into a matter of grace and glory for God!
Job said, "I know my Redeemer lives!" (Job 19:25)
This is a mantra and creed for the Christian faith as we work together, running the race, singing in suffering and enduring to glory!

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." (James 1:2-3)

Much love,

Deeds

Come, Lord!

Hey guys, it's Deeds! 
I'm glad that you're here, and I hope when you come to the Creative Worship Blog, you leave blessed and encouraged!!

This month's series of stamps released were absolutely AMAZING!  For this entry, I did a simple card swipe technique with acrylic paints.  I'm a sucker for a sweet background, and I'm a firm believer in the Texture Tile sets, of which there are 3!!  It's incredible what they can do to enhance the page! 

I'm using Tile set#3 for this entry, but I've used Texture Tiles since they first came out, and because I'm not great with making my own textures and variations, this fits the bill.  I hope you've been able to get some for yourself!

The July Release includes a sweet little alpha set called "Sunshine Girl," which contains the caps and lower case - IT'S SO FUN and INCREDIBLY VERSATILE!

Also featured is the stamp set called "Love Your Neighbor."  This came out a few months back, but I found it to be a perfect addition to the journaling. :D

In my usual studies through the She Reads Truth Bible, I'm sent to different scripture that align in their theme, truths, attributes of God, etc.  I was sent to Job the other day, as part of the assigned reading, and was hit in my soul…hard.

"For I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.  My heart faints within me."  Job 19:25-27

Packed.  Loaded.  Fraught with dumbfounding truths. 
"I know... I know my Redeemer lives."  Who?  My Redeemer.  Jesus Christ.  But wait, was Job alive in the time of Christ?  Of course not!  But He knows that God is who He says He is, that He is who He claims to be, and throughout God's Word lies the ever-stumping revelation of a Savior that is to come.  Job has incurred much loss; loss of homestead, loss of family, loss of health, loss of quality of life as he understood only days prior to saying this! Yet he testifies of the presence of the All-powerful and Faithful God; his Redeemer.

The following statements are provided as tidbits of insight into the core of Job's beliefs.
His understanding of the afterlife amazes me, and he speaks of his flesh withering away, and yet it is his FLESH that will see God in the end.  WHAT?!  God is so nice.  He's so neat.  He's so precise as He explains through Job's testimonial that one day, THE DAY, he will see God face-to-face and be in full bodily dwelling.  Same as me!  Same as you if you're a believer!  

This is the struggle of Christians today.  We live lives of trials, tests, troubles and toils with the hopes of a life yet to come.  A life of perfection, beauty, completion and glory!

While the battle between reality and anticipation rages on, I'm pretty sure this is something that goes through our heads, much like it did Job's: "My heart faints within me!" 
 

But this understanding between now and the future is a healthy understanding to have as a believer in navigation of life.  WE'RE NOT MEANT FOR HERE, SO WE DESIRE THE HEREAFTER!

Job knew it, and we feel it now.  God has placed eternity into our hearts, Ecclesiastes says, and we have a yearning that will not stop until we have reached the "other side." 
Believer, we live to bring Jesus into the communities that surround us, and the spheres of influence in which the Lord has placed us.  We live to "hasten the day," which means bringing the gospel to light in areas where darkness dominates and evil persists.  We live to struggle with evil all around us and within us, hoping for the day that Jesus comes and TAKES US HOME!

To this, I say, "Amen," and to this, I say, "Come Lord Jesus, Come!" 
He wants to come take us to heaven - that place where resurrected bodies will behold God's glory!  And we WILL see Jesus as our King and timely Redeemer!  But for now, we must wait.  And wait we will.  Striving to bring lost and hopeless souls to a similar understanding of what Life truly is.  Life in Jesus, is life indeed.  Our hearts faint within us, but soon and very soon, we will go and see the king!
Come, Lord & Take Me Home!!

Much love,

Deeds