A Pattern of Grace and Mercy

"I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1: 12-17

If you were to ask me which books of the Bible are my favorite, I would definitely say 1 and 2 Timothy. The Apostle Paul's letters to Timothy, a young minister, are packed full of so much wisdom and encouragement. If you consider that they are Paul's last written letters to the church, it makes them even more powerful. 💙

Paul was one of the biggest persecutors of the early Christian church until his miraculous conversion on the Damascus road. He holds none of his history back when he calls himself the foremost, or chief, of sinners. In fact, he uses his testimony to establish the saving and changing power of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. 

I particularly love what he says in this verse:

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:16 NLT)

Another translation says this:

However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. (1 Timothy 1:16 NKJV)

Paul doesn't hide from his past. He wants his past to show an example, a pattern, of the grace and mercy shown to all sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul doesn't just stop there! He lives the rest of his life in the service of Christ so that his entire life may show a pattern of the grace and mercy of Jesus. 

If you have a history that isn't so pretty, read this passage in 1 Timothy and know that there nothing you've done that is not redeemable under the blood of Jesus. Accept his grace and mercy and then continue to live in His grace and mercy that your life may show as a pattern and an example for others. 

Page Details

I used watered-down acrylic paint for the background of this page, then stamped the edges with Versamagic chalk ink to create a pattern of plaid and flowers along the edges. Then I splattered the page with some white paint and set aside to dry. I stamped the cross and flowers on vellum and colored with colored pencils, then used double sided tape to adhere to the page. I then stamped my title and colored in with Uniball white signo gel pen (my favorite brand of white gel pen!). 

  

  

I pray we all live in the grace and mercy offered to us by the love of Jesus this week. 

In Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Mercy over Judgment

Hi friends,

Recently I have been challenged about my attitude to other drivers as I drive to and from college each day. It is a long journey with lots of traffic and there are certain points that test my patience a LOT!

The other day I had a moment where I was once again irritated by drivers cutting in front of me when they were in the wrong lane (in my mind, often deliberately, so they can cut the queue!). As I drove along I had a thought: as a driver I can either be a 'tax collector', a Pharisee or Jesus. What I mean by that is that I can either do the wrong thing blatantly (get in the wrong lane and cut in front of other drivers) or I can do the right thing (stay in the right lane) but with the wrong attitude - an attitude of judgment and resentment toward those doing the wrong thing. And that is the attitude of a Pharisee... yikes!

So what would Jesus do? I think, based on the way he lived his life as we see in the Gospels, that he would do the right thing (he fulfilled the law after all) but he would also extend mercy and grace to those who do the wrong thing (the tax collectors and prostitutes seen in the New Testament). Now that is a challenge to follow!

In James 2:13, the brother of Jesus writes that judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What a profoundly challenging but also encouraging statement. This should encourage us because God's mercy toward us triumphs over any judgments that should be rendered to us. But it is also challenging because we do not get to stand in judgment over anyone (whether for their driving, or more serious offences). Our job is to extend mercy, just as our Heavenly Father has been merciful to us.

I had fun using Inktense blocks on these solid images from Dragonfly Dreams to achieve this watercolour effect (I demonstrated this technique in a LIVE video on Sweet 'n Sassy's FB page which is now available on replay if you want to catch it). The verse is a combination of Life in Jesus, Skinny Lowercase Alpha and Mini Grunge Typewriter Alpha. Here are the sets I used:

I know this verse has challenged me... maybe it has also challenged you? Let's remember how merciful Jesus is to us and to everyone, and seek his help in extending that mercy to those around us.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Life is So Sweet

Galatians 5:22

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, 

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Against such things there is no law."

I think most of us are familiar with this verse about the fruits of the spirit! It's essentially a list of the traits God wants us to portray in our lives. I mean what's easier than a checklist to follow right?!? Last year, our women's ministry at church focused on this verse and each time we met, we broke down a different trait from the verse. And along with each trait we associated a piece of fabric, so by the end of the year we had a collection of fabrics that we called our "Grace Clothes". 

Every morning, each of us wakes up and can decide for ourselves how our day is going to go. Do we have control over the things that happen to us every day? No of course not. But we do have control over how we react to what happens. 

God calls for us to show:

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

Am I able to check off every item on that list EVERY day?? Nope. I'll admit it. I sure do try to though! It the busyness and fast pace of today's society, it's really too easy to lose sight of what's important and especially how we treat others. It's real easy to throw some nasty words or comments towards someone online when you don't have to see them face to face, but there's still a real person on the other side of that screen. Our daily actions say a lot about us and who we are as individuals. 

The ladies in our women's ministry looked at it like this: " Today, when I wake up I'm choosing to shed these nasty clothes of the materialistic world like Greed, Hate, Jealousy, etc.... and I'm going to put on my Grace Clothes! The fruit of the spirit!" That's a great way to think about it right?!? Taking off the old ways that aren't working for you and replacing them with the new! Life is too sweet to be sour! Our lives are full of amazing blessings from Him, and we need to spread his love and his word through our own actions and the way we live our daily lives. We want someone to look and see the light inside of us, and want to know more about where that light comes from!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

IG: faith.and.creativity

See below for the stamps I used and their links to grab them for yourself! 😉

Life and Lemons

Life in Jesus

Teeny Alpha

Outline Alpha

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost;

By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost.

Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty;

O wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

-Wonderful Grace of Jesus, Haldor Lillenas

Dear Friends,
Are you familiar with the hymn, Wonderful Grace of Jesus? Probably, many of us are; but if you aren't, I encourage you to listen to it. This is a hymn I enjoy singing. But more importantly, it praises God for His grace. Without His grace, where would we be? I'll tell you...we would be lost and without hope, forever separated from Him.

Sometimes, we get grace and mercy confused. In the New Testament, "grace" is the Greek word "charis" which means "favor, blessing, or kindness." Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than punish us as our sin deserves. So, grace is giving us what we don't deserve. Mercy, on the other hand, is not giving us what we do deserve (punishment).

Through God's grace we get so many things. Here are a few:

• Salvation: For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. Eph 2:8
• Sufficiency: But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Cor 12:9
• Righteousness: And all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Rom 3:24
• Freedom: For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

God's grace takes away our burden of sin and frees our captive souls. Grace extends to all. People may choose to reject it, but God gives everyone the opportunity to receive it. I pray that we live in His grace and remember the blessings we receive through it.

Page details: I journaled in an old hymnal rather than my Bible for this one. I bought this used hymnal on Amazon. Sometimes hymnals can be found in thrift shops as well. This particular hymnal was once in a public high school library as it is stamped. I thought that was cool. I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Freedom in Christ, Life in Jesus, and Free Indeed. Freedom in Christ is a newly released set. I also used watercolor crayons and Micron pens.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Correction and Instruction...

Hi friends,

One of the truths that I have grown to really believe and value is the importance of instruction in my life. Now, to be fair, I love to learn - I love reading and studying and finding out new things, whether that be about the Bible or about learning to paint. I am someone who loves knowledge. Sometimes I forget that this applies to other areas of my life as well, for example relationships and health. It's all too easy to go on auto-pilot in these areas and forget that learning is still required in order to grow.

One particular aspect of learning that I am not so quick to love is correction. Maybe it's the perfectionist in me, the desire to be right (pride!!), but I have been overly sensitive to correction in the past. I am slowly learning that correction is absolutely vital to life and growth, because as humans we never get it right all the time! We need to be shown when we have missed the mark, or could do better in some area, no matter how painful that might be. Instead of viewing correction and criticism as a personal attack or statement about our intrinsic worth, we need to embrace it as a God-given gift to help us grow.

Proverbs 6:23 speaks of the commandment being a lamp and teaching being a light. It goes on to say that correction and instruction are the way to life. Just like beautiful flowers need tending and pruning to become the best they can be, we require correction and instruction to live the life God has created us to live, as followers of Christ and ambassadors of his kingdom. Let's not avoid correction and instruction, or react in an overly sensitive way when it comes our way. Instead, let's embrace God's gracious gifts to help us grow!

I had fun playing with this month's Stamp of the Month, Doodle Florals, on this page, watercolouring the stamped images with Prima's Classics palette. I stamped the verse using a combination of Bitty Minnie Alpha, Typewriter Blocks Alpha and Life in Jesus.

Thank you Lord for your gracious instruction and correction in our lives in all its forms!

x Amy x

It's OK to not be OK

John 16:32-33

...Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.  

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.” 

To be completely honest, I am struggling trying to figure out how to start this blog post. This is a very personal page I recently did as I am currently going through a heart breaking experience. Not quite a month ago, my dad passed away unexpectedly. Even writing that sentence is not simple and I still don't believe it. It's like my head understands, but my heart doesn't comprehend.

How do you cope with losing a parent that you were so close to? There is not a set of clear directions on how to handle that. When I first found out about it, I was driving and had nowhere to pull over. My chest got tight, I felt like I couldn't breath, and my eyes filled with tears. I thought "no, there is no way this is true, how could this possibly happen? I just talked to him yesterday!" I had just left a women's ministry meeting at church and was on my way home, but I knew I couldn't drive the whole way safely. So I turned around and headed back to church. 

I walked in and saw my friend standing in the hall. She just looked at me and said "Stephanie! What's wrong?" and I struggled to get the words out and nearly collapsed in the hall. I could hardly catch my breath and I was surrounded by a group of ladies who immediately started praying for me. My entire world stopped and changed that night. It's still not the same and I know it will forever be different. As a christian, I know now is the time when I need to lean on God for comfort and peace as I face this "new normal" as many have called it. But to be totally honest, it hasn't been easy. I almost, haven't wanted to seek that comfort because then I would be admitting that all of this is real, if that makes any sense. 

A lot of my grief always seems to hit me when I'm alone driving in the car. One day recently a song came on the radio, "Maybe It's Ok" by We Are Messengers. This one part of the song jumped out at me as I drove down the road and fell apart...

Maybe it's ok if I'm not ok

'Cause the One who holds the world is holding onto me

Maybe it's alright if I'm not alright

'Cause the One who hold the stars is holding my whole life

-"Maybe It's Ok" by We Are Messengers

This song made me realize, it's ok that I'm not ok right now! I know the Lord will be my source of comfort and will help heal my heart.. eventually. But for now, in this moment, it's alright that I am literally falling apart at the seams. In John 16:32-33 is says "...Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 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.” He reminds us that life is not going to be perfect. Things will be difficult and you will have hard times. But we can find peace in Him. He has overcome the entire world and we can lean on him!

So I have been praying that God will help show me his peace in this difficult time. Help me listen to him and lean on him. I know it will take time for things to "feel normal" again, but there will always be a piece of my heart missing. We had many more memories to make, hugs to give, pictures to take, and laughs to share. But I have been trying to focus on all of the things I am grateful for. Like the 32 years of memories we made together, all of the milestones he was there for, the last 1 1/2 years that he lived closer and my girls got to know their Papa so much better, and lastly that we talked for a half an hour the day before he passed. I only wish I had be given the chance to say goodbye to the man that was my rock my entire life. But I try to remind myself that he will still look down on us from heaven and see my kids grow. 

If you are reading this and also going through an extremely difficult time in your life, I pray you seek and find comfort through our mighty and powerful God! We won't feel it right away, it will still hurt, but the peace and comfort will come if we lean on Him!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

Typewriter Blocks Alpha

Healer of My Heart

Shake It Off Lowercase Alpha

Life In Jesus

Justice, Mercy & Faithfulness...

Hi friends,

Have you ever focused so much on little details that you've missed the big picture? Whether it's focusing on the imperfections of our homes and missing the fact that we have one to be grateful for, or nitpicking at the faults of others instead of cherishing the gift of relationship, this is something that I can be frequently guilty of!

Jesus faced people who also focused on the small things instead of the more important matters - those people were called the Pharisees. In Matthew 23, Jesus does not hold back in his criticism of their attitudes, behaviour and heart condition. In this list of rebukes, Jesus points out that the Pharisees were really great at tithing (giving 10%) of every... little... thing (including herbs and spices!!) but they were neglecting the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness.

The Pharisees were so consumed with box ticking in the small matters and making sure they looked good and had done their duty, that they missed the heart of God's instructions: they way they treated people. This verse is very similar to one found in Micah 6:8, and I suspect that Jesus was reminding them of this verse of Scripture (which they would have been familiar with), which says "what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" These three actions/attitudes correspond to Jesus' words in Matthew 23: justice is mentioned first in both, mercy and kindness come from the same Hebrew word, and faithfulness could be described as walking humbly before God. You see, God hasn't changed. The heart of the Old Testament law is the same as the heart of the Kingdom of God that Jesus came to teach and demonstrate. God places the highest value on how we treat one another and how we follow Jesus. It's that simple.

I used one of the stamp sets that you can get for free as a Stamp of the Month during November, called Poppies and Greetings, on this page, watercolouring the flowers. I also used Life in Jesus, Skinny Caps Alpha and Rebecca Script Alpha for the three main words, with little words from Armor of God along with some small alpha stickers to complete the text.

Let's remember to keep focused on the things that matter most to God: justice, mercy and faithfulness. When these things are our priority, the little things tend to take care of themselves, or they get put into their proper perspective!

Be blessed...

x Amy x