Hear & Practice...

Hi friends,

I don't know if anyone else went to Sunday School when they were young and sang "The wise man built his house upon the rock..." which leads to "and the rain came tumbling down." (Apologies if you now have that song on repeat in your head for a while!) 

Having sung the song many times and heard the story told, I assumed that to build your house on the rock meant to build your life on Jesus. That sounds right, doesn't it? But that's not exactly what this passage of Scripture says. In Matthew 7:24 Jesus says, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of wine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." Then in verse 26 he goes on to say, "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand." Notice that in both of these scenarios, the men heard the words of Jesus? But it isn't enough just to hear them - they must be put into practice.

As a piano teacher, I have for many years encouraged my students to practice regularly - after all, that is the only way they are to grow in their proficiency on the instrument. When I read these words of Jesus, I think about what 'practice' should look like in the life of a person who wishes to build their house on the rock. I think it looks like taking Jesus' words seriously and prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit to show us where and how they apply to our lives right now, then acting upon these words... repeatedly. After all, practice is a repeated thing, not a once-off action. We can't claim to be building our lives on the rock if we obeyed Jesus' words once, 10 years ago, but haven't since! 

I'm personally convicted about how easy it is for a gap to appear between my reading/hearing or Jesus' words (which really include Scripture as a whole, as it is God-breathed) and the practical ways it is applied in my life. I need to be more intentional about identifying how my daily actions are being shaped, challenged and changed by listening to Jesus' words. 

I used the Welcome Home set on this page to stamp the houses and their roofs in different colours, then added some shading with coloured pencil. The rock and sand were painted with acrylic paints, and the sky was created using gelatos and a bit of stencilling using Versafine ink. The text was stamped using a combination of Loop da Loop Alpha, Mini Grunge Type Alpha and Old Fashioned Alpha. Here are the sets I used:

Let's be people to not only hear the words of Jesus, but actively put them into practice in our daily lives.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

I Lift My Eyes to the Hills

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2 ESV

Hello friends!  I hope you are well.  I've been on a bit of a hiatus for a couple of months, to recharge and rejuvenate.  I needed a break from the internet and social media...or the media in general.  We even took a break from real life!  We spent a week on vacation in the NC mountains.  This was our view.  

We stayed at a lake house with mountains rising up all around us.  The water was crystal clear and cool and refreshing.  The weather was perfect, with crispy evenings and warm days.  Mountain laurel and rhododendrons dotted the shore with white flowers.  It was God's creativeness on full display!

  

There is something so peaceful about spending time in the Lord's creation.  It was just what I needed!  I felt so small next to the towering mountains, yet closer to the Father, all at the same time.

There is so much going on in the world right now and if you are feeling overwhelmed by it all, I encourage you to unplug and spend some time with God in the great outdoors.

I wanted to document my gratitude to God, for allowing us this time of rest and rejuvenation.  I know in my time of need, my help comes from the Lord. 

I used my Psalms & Proverbs Illustrating Bible and painted a scene that reminded me of our trip using mostly distress paint and some other acrylic paints.  I used the All of Me alpha and Loop da Loop Alpha to create my title. 

Until next time, catch up with me on Instagram & Facebook @simplyjillsjourney. 

Jill

Graves Into Gardens

Have you ever have an image or idea come to mind, and you just can't get it out of your head until you get it out on paper or complete it?!? That's what this page was for me. 

I heard the song Graves into Gardens from Elevation Worship this past Easter Sunday. And this song just blew me away. I was singing as we worshiped Easter morning in our living room together as a family. But this image of an old grey tombstone suddenly covered in bright flowers was burned in to my brain and I knew I had to make a journaling page about it. Knowing we had this beautiful floral stamp set Consider the Wildflowers coming out soon, I held on to my idea till I could use them and AHHH I just love how it turned out!

Graves Into Gardens By Elevation Worship Live Video

Some Lyrics:

I searched the world
But it couldn't fill me
Man's empty praise and treasures that fade
Are never enough
Then You came along
And put me back together
And every desire is now satisfied
Here in Your love (hey)

Oh, there's nothing better than You
There's nothing better than You
Lord, there's nothing
Nothing is better than You
(Oh, yes I know it's true)
(Come on, tell 'em, hey)

I'm not afraid
To show You my weakness
My failures and flaws, Lord, You've seen them all
And You still call me friend
'Cause the God of the mountain
Is the God of the valley
There's not a place Your mercy and grace
Won't find me again.....

Below is an excerpt from Elevation Worship themselves, explaining the meaning behind this song. They explain it so well I won't even try paraphrasing it. So powerful!

"Graves Into Gardens"​ has roots in a sermon [Pastor Steven's] preached on a Bible passage found 

in 2 Kings 13.

After the prophet Elisha died, his story didn’t end there. Two Israelites were near his gravesite about to bury another man. When they saw a band of enemy raiders coming, they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21).

Pastor Steven preached that just like the resurrection miracle Elisha still had left in his bones, ​God is in the business of bringing dead things back to life. ​And i​f we’ll throw the dead areas of our lives on the bones, if we’ll believe in the power of God, if we’ll declare resurrection power 
over everything we sow, nothing will be wasted. Nothing is over.
 Nothing is finished. If God is in it, we will move forward.

As the members of Elevation Worship have corporately expressed: “Our prayer for this project is that it would serve to bring the reality of the Kingdom of God into our hearts and minds –– our entire faith is built on the truth that when Jesus hung on a cross and was placed in a tomb, it wasn’t the end. He wasn’t buried, he was only planted. What the world saw as defeat, God knew was a victory. Our faith is in a resurrected King, and the reality that resurrection 
is still happening and is possible in our own lives.”

Worship leader Chris Brown further illuminates: “We hope people are able to take a second look at what they once considered “dead” in their life. And that this project provides a new perspective that allows them to see new​ life​ in seemingly ​dead​ places. Because what God breathes on must come to life. And what we may see as a grave, God sees as a garden.”

xoxo,
Stephanie Gammon
@faith.and.creativity

Consider the Wildflowers

Skinny Minnie Alpha 

Typewriter Blocks Alpha 

Loop da Loop Alpha

Change is Promised...

Hi friends,

Change is an interesting phenomenon. When we are comfortable and things are going well, we don't particularly want a lot of change. I think many people are feeling a lot of discomfort right now at the amount of change that has happened in their everyday life with the restrictions imposed as a result of this pandemic the world is experiencing. When we have our lives nicely planned and comfortable, this level of change is quite difficult to handle.

There are people, however, that are desperate for change in their lives. They are oppressed, miserable, stuck in bleak circumstances and in need of deliverance. To these people, the promise of change is one that brings hope. In Ezekiel 21:26 the Lord speaks against the ruler of Israel and promises that things will not remain as they are: the low would be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. This reminds me of the saying about 'comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.'

If we are experiencing affliction and distress, God speaks words of comfort to us and promises us that things will not remain as they are. He will rescue and deliver, bringing his salvation to us. But if we are living comfortably, without challenge to the status quo that we enjoy, God may well bring change that disrupts our comfort. Not just because he can, but because he wants us to rely on him, to learn to trust him in difficult circumstances as well as easier ones. He does indeed comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable, all for the purpose of drawing us close to him and making us grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

I created the background of this page with acrylic paints and a flat paintbrush. The verse was stamped using a combination of Mini Grunge Type Alpha, Loop da Loop Alpha and Messy Stamped Alpha. The butterflies are a digital stamp called Blue Morpho Butterfly, which I printed on clear sticker paper, cut out and stuck onto the background. Here are the stamps I used:

Let's look to the future with hope, because things will not remain as they are. God will bring transformation in his time and his way.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Suffer A Little While

Hello friends!  I pray everyone is safe and doing well.  Life is looking a little different for most of us currently thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, am I right?  We are all trying to adjust to our new routines.

Conditions in our area, are like many places...most grocery store shelves are bare, schools are closed, and restaurants are all drive-ins or open to pick up orders only.  Though there have been some inconveniences, so far things have changed little in my household.  My husband, myself and our two sons are still able to go to work as usual, we have the necessities and we are healthy.  Sadly, I know that is not the case for many people. 

As I prayed over this post, I was led to 1 Peter 5:6-11.  I hope you find it encouraging as I give my thoughts on these verses. 

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

In verses 6-7 Peter instructs us to lay aside our pride and give our fears and worries to God, the God who loves us.  What anxieties do you have today that you can hand over to the Father about the coronavirus?

8Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Peter warns us in verses 8-9 that the devil is on the prowl, ready to tempt us and destroy us in our suffering.  Do not be fooled.  The evil one is searching for us even now, looking to tear us down and fill us with fear.  He would love to discredit us and our testimony during this time.  Use the truths you know about God to fight the fears and lies the devil tells you.  God loves you and wants to prosper you.  He sent His only Son to save YOU.  Peter also urges us to keep strong in our faith and reminds us, we aren't suffering this alone.  Children of God around the world are all being affected by Covid-19 and are under attack from the devil.  

10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

God, in his unfailing grace, is using our suffering to perfect, prove, and strengthen us.  Thankfully, we get hope from this verse, that we will only suffer a little while.  He will bring us through this pandemic in His timing, which is perfect. 

Perhaps, He is even using this virus, to turn the world back to Him.  Maybe He is reminding us of the importance of the time we have and how we use it.  Through the changes in our routines, we have been pushed back in to our homes, with our families, eating around our table.  We have had to give up idols that come in the form of sporting events, concerts, movies and even our jobs in some cases.  Let's use this time, as Christians, to show the world what we are made of.  We are called to love and honor God above all else, love one another and deny ourselves, and pray continually.  We are never alone in the battles we face. 

  

Page Details:
I started this page by blending distress oxide inks on to my page. I stamped dandelions from the new Blessings in Disguise set across the bottom.  I colored the stems in with a green Faber Castell pen and used a white Uniball Signo gel pen to add some white highlights to the seeds.  I stamped a sentiment from the Peony Cluster set above my dandelions.  I used the Loop da Loop Alpha and Mini Grunge Type Alpha to stamp out my title.  I finished my page by journaling a prayer and drawing a sketchy box around my focus verses.

I pray God protects and blesses each of you in these uncertain times.  Encourage and help each other when you can.  Remember to wash your hands and say your prayers because Jesus and germs are everywhere.  

Until next time, you can catch up with me on Instagram @simplyjillsjourney.

xoxo,

Jill

Love Each Other

We are just a few days away from Valentine's Day, so I thought it was a perfect time to talk about "LOVE". 

Love is defined in the Oxford dictionary as "1.  An intense feeling of deep affection. 2. A great interest and pleasure in something."  It is a word I use often.  I love my family and friends. I love chocolate, I love to have crafting time and I love the beach.  But what I want to look at, is the Biblical meaning of love. 

There are 4 types of love in the Bible:

Storge - Empathy Bond
Philios - Friend Bond
Eros - Romantic Love
Agape - Unconditional "God" love

My challenge to you and myself this Valentine's Day is to love everyone with Agape love, as God loves us.

The Bible actually calls for us to love others, like God loves us. Mmm...that can be more than a little difficult, am I right? Am I supposed to love a co-worker who tried to sabotage my career, or a rude cashier, or a driver that made a not-so-nice hand gesture to me because I was turning in the parking lot too slowly for their liking?  YES!!!  Because that's how God loves us.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 5:8 NIV

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 1 John 4:7-11 NIV

 1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

 1 John 3:1 NIV

16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:16 NIV 

10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10 NIV

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV 

 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:26 NIV 

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 NIV 

The love we have been shown through the sacrifice of Jesus is a love like no other!  So this Valentine's Day and everyday, let us not only love those we find easy to love....let us love EVERYONE, so that we can glorify God!

Page Details:
I created this page by stamping out several people, with the Brotherly Love & Girl Power stamp sets.  I had fun making each one unique, just as God made us.  I colored them in with watercolors and cut them out with my Brother Scan & Cut (my Christmas present from my hubby).  I used the people to create at tip-in at the bottom of the page, so I could still read the scripture underneath.  I traced and colored a large heart in the center, to represent God's love for us.  I used the hearts from the Women of Praise set to create a background. My title is a combination of the new Loop da Loop Alpha and Bitty Mini Alpha. 

Here's a short video clip, showing how the tip-in works:

These are the sets I used to create my page:

Until next time, catch up with me on Instagram @simplyjillsjourney.  I hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Jill Norris