What the Lord Builds Up

I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, and all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it. Ezekiel 31:9

Hi Friends,
Today we're in Ezekiel 31. God told Ezekiel to give a message to Egypt, a message of judgment. In this message, God used Assyria as an example of what was to happen to Egypt. God likened Assyria to a large, beautiful cedar tree. This tree was greater and more beautiful than any other tree. It gave shelter to the birds and beasts. But, it was proud. It believed that its greatness came from what it had done. But, of course, God had made it what it was. So because of its pride, God tore it down (verse 11.) This picture of Assyria as a tree was a picture of Assyria's judgment. God used Nebuchadnezzar to judge Assyria when he conquered it. Assyria was very similar to Egypt- proud, self-confident, giving glory to itself rather than God. So, God's message to Egypt was what happened to Assyria will happen to you.

What's the message for us? Whatever we accomplish, it is God-given. He has given us our talents and skills. He has given us opportunities. So, we shouldn't become prideful. And if we do, if we don't give the glory to Him, He can take away what He's given. What God builds up, He can also tear down. That can be a hard message to hear, but everything on the earth and in our lives is God's. We are just His stewards. So, it's within His right to give. And it's within His right to take away. And through it all, He is good.

The message to Egypt was that their pride had brought on God's judgment. As believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, we are free from God's wrath and have eternal life. But, if we choose to be prideful or sinful, we will have to accept God's consequences. And, sometimes, God takes away not as a consequence, but for His purpose and glory. Either way, He is just. He is good. He is right.

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Scene Silhouettes: Trees, Bitty Minnie Alpha, Women of Praise, Texture Tiles 1, Texture Tiles 3, & Chunky Alpha. For the background, I applied distress oxide inks with sponge daubers. I used Chipped Sapphire, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, and Spiced Marmalade. I highlighted the words with a white Sharpie.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

All of Creation Points to the Creator

Jeremiah 10

I had the opportunity to journal this page live in the Creative Worship Bible Journaling Facebook group yesterday, and it was so much fun! 😊 It kicked off our bi-weekly design challenge: Silhouettes. 

The inspiration for this page came from my lovely pastor's wife. She loves to teach her Sunday School lesson on the spiritual truths we can learn from bugs and nature. No seriously! She's taught lessons on the honey bee, spider, crab apple tree, and even dust! She uses God's beautiful creation to teach us about God Himself. 

For example, these past two weeks, she's taught on the ant. Did you know that a scout ant will go out looking for food, wander randomly until it finds a food source, and then immediately make a line straight back to the nest, leaving a scent trail along the way so the other ants can find the way back to the food source? Not only did God put that navigation beacon in the ant, He gave it the ability to leave a distinct path back to their source of life - food!

Dear friends, that's exactly what God wants us to do when we find HIM! So often we wander randomly through life searching for the truth, the source, the sustenance we need to keep going - and then we find our Heavenly Father, and in Him we find life and life more abundant. He then wants us to take this truth back to our "nest" leaving a trail back to Him that is easy for others to follow. Isn't that just great?! 💜

 

All of creation, from the biggest mountain to the tiniest ant, is designed to point us back to the Creator. These next two weeks, I hope you'll take a moment to learn something from God's creation that points you to Him - and then journal about it!

I journaled this page using watercolors and stamps. You can watch the whole process over on the FB group page. I finished out the pages with some white "snow" highlights, white ink splatters, and some purple sparkle washi and a bow.

    

    

Have a wonderful week in the Lord, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

We'd love to have you join our Creative Worship Design Challenge this week? Use the hashtags #creativeworshipsnss or #cwchallengefeb16 to join on social media!

Protected By God's Grace

Hey guys! Stephanie here, sharing one of our new stamp sets called Grace So Amazing. 

"The will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot protect you." I'm sure you've probably heard that statement a time or two. Is it a verse in the bible? No. I think some people think it is, but it's actually not. 

It is however, very true and a general concept repeated throughout the bible.  

2 Corinthians 12:9

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

1 Corinthians 10:13

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

And he also reassures us all throughout the bible that no matter where we may be, not matter what we may be facing, he is always with us and will never forsake us! 

Deuteronomy 31:6

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave nor forsake you."

Joshua 1:5

"No one will be able to stand against you, all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you, I will never leave nor forsake you."

1 Chronicles 28:20

"David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished."

When I think about this concept, I envision being sent somewhere away from home and away from anything that makes you comfortable. Like being out in the wilderness at night. A feeling of being scared and alone. But, looking up at the night sky you would see all the wonder that God created and know that you are NOT alone after all. Now, this is obviously a bit dramatic. You don't have to be in the middle of the woods at night to apply this concept. You could simply be wondering: is this new job opportunity for me, even though it seems out of my reach? Traveling to a different country to do missionary work is really scary!  So many different times in life where you can wonder if everything will be ok. But trust in God. He has only good things planned for you when you follow his will. It will be ok if you trust in Him!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

@faith.and.creativity

Grace So Amazing 

Scene Silhouettes Trees

Landscape Silhouettes

Get Some Rest...

Hi friends,

One of the things I have really struggled with over recent years is rest. My personality resists sitting still, doing nothing and being 'non-productive' so resting has been a challenge, to say the least! God has been leading me on a journey to discover the importance of rest over the last year and one of the Scriptures I have been meditating upon is found in Mark 6:31 when Jesus says to his disciples, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

I wanted to unpack this verse one part at a time and think through what is means for us. I thought I would start at the end and work backwards, as sometimes this helps me to notice things I might not have seen otherwise. The first phrase to ponder is 'get some rest.' This is SO vital to our emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing, and there are simply no shortcuts. Life has a way of draining our energy and strength, whether in the day-to-day 'stuff' of life, or going through dark and difficult times. This is why we need to rest, to recharge, to realise that life is not the sum total of our efforts, and that over everything, God is in control (and He doesn't need us to keep the world spinning!).

The second phrase to dwell on is 'to a quiet place.' This is something that I really need to hear, because let me tell you, I am good at surrounding myself with noise and busyness! But Jesus' invitation to his disciples points to an important key to rest: quiet. There is something about stilling the noise around us and withdrawing into quietness that really helps us to rest. More than just external quietness though, I am learning that the more important quietness is in our minds and hearts. The spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude are so helpful in learning to enter into and practice rest, both internally and externally. This leads to the next important phrase - 'by yourselves.' Now for the introverts among us, this might be easier than for those who love to keep company with others 24/7! But there's something about spending time alone with the Lord that revives and rejuvenates us in ways that are different from spending time resting with others.

This leads to two important little words: 'with me.' This is where the rest invited by Jesus is different from the 'chilling out' advocated by the world. True rest is found when we spend time with Christ, giving Him access to all parts of our lives, and allowing Him to lead us to green pastures. It is in this place of peace in the presence of God that we find true rest, whether that is for minutes, hours or days.

There is just one more word to ponder: 'come.' This is the invitation of Jesus, not just to His disciples 2000 years ago but to His children today. We are invited to come with Him, by ourselves, to a quiet place, and to get some rest.

I used some of the fab printables from this month's Beach Blessings devotional on this page, along with the Bitty Minnie Alpha stamp set. I've also used a couple of little elements from Scene Silhouettes: Trees to add colour to the background.

 

Can I encourage you to join me on this journey of discovering the power and importance of rest? It's not an easy or quick practice to adopt because so many things in our culture discourage true rest, but God is faithful to lead us if we will accept His invitation.

x Amy x

Trust In the Lord

Happy Friday everyone! 

Yay for the weekend right?! The page I am sharing with you today is from the book of Proverbs. 

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight."

I know it's not just me that needs this reminder from time to time. It's very easy to get caught up in the problems of the world and the stress of everyday life. We try to solve all of our own problems as quickly as possible, and preferrably in an efficient manner. We need to remember that we need to put all our trust in the Lord. Only he knows what he's doing and what comes next. Wouldn't it be great though to occassionally get a little peek into our future? It would just make life sooo much easier!! But unfortunately, we can't, and that's ok! Because our Lord is powerful and he only has good things planned for us. So, if we let go of the reins, and give him control, he will point us in the right direction. It's not always easy, and yes it takes faith, but he can do amazing things when we let him!

My favorite part of this page was creating the sky! When using silhouette stamps, it gives you the opportunity to really play with the background and make it unique. For this background I used a technique shared by my friend Angeline, owner of Dots & Dust. She designs and makes her own line of watercolors! So fun! Check her out on Instagram: @dotsanddust   

I used pink and blue watercolors to lightly add color to the sky, and when the two colors bled into each other they created a beautiful purple! After that background was done, I went back over it using white acrylic (slightly watered down) to create very soft white clouds. Angeline calls them "cotton candy clouds". Once the background was complete, I used Scene Silhouettes: Trees and Scene Silhouettes: Woodland to stamp the tree and fox. And lastly; stamped my text, added a tab and some wordfetti, and done! A fairly simple and elegant watercolor page.

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed weekend!!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

Scene Silhouettes: Trees

Scene Silhouettes: Woodland

Seek Him

Love Your Neighbor

Teeny Alpha

A Place for Jesus

Hello friends and fellow Bible Journalers...

As we begin a new year, I want to be sure that I make even more room for Jesus in my life.  It is so easy to allow the demands of every day life rob us of spending sweet time with our Lord!  

This page was inspired by a sermon our pastor preached at our church at the beginning of the new year.  I was convicted and challenged to "Make a Place for Jesus!"

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.  And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no where to lay his head."

Matthew 8:18-20 (ESV)

I wanted to include my sermon notes, but didn't want to cover up any of the details on the page, so I created a Tip-In tag which was attached to the opposite page by a washi tape hinge.

The page was prepped with two layers of clear gesso and the scene lightly sketched with a pencil.  Intense Color Blocks were used to watercolor the background.   Archival Inks, Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and a White Paint Pen were used to add the details.  The new scene silhouettes stamp sets and several alphabet sets made it fun and easy to complete the scene.  The bushes were created using the top of the tree from the Scene Silhouettes: Trees stamp set and masking was used to get just the tops of the tall grass from the Scene Silhouettes: Tall Grass stamp set.  I was able to use the fox and the bird from the Scene Silhouettes: Woodland stamp set to perfectly illustrate the scripture verse!  I couldn't resist adding a few more animals to the scene.

Here are the stamp sets from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store used to create my page:

I hope you will be inspired and challenged to "Make a Place for Jesus" this year!  He wants to take up residence in our hearts.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

Cathy

Stop Drop and Pray for...

Hi there,

Does anyone else feel like their prayer life needs to grow? I did a little word study on prayer recently and was massively challenged on the amount of scriptures that encourage, command and model different types of prayer and things we can/should be praying for. One of the verses that really spoke to me was Luke 6:28, where Jesus says, "bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." Wow, that's a tough one.

Abuse, in whatever form it takes, is a really difficult experience to go through. I know personally that my first reaction is not to pray for the one abusing. But yet, I read Jesus' words and realise that as a child of God I am supposed to choose differently. Admittedly, my first reactions may still be motivated by pain, but Jesus tells me I can choose differently. And how do I make that choice? Well, I look at my Heavenly Father, who is kind to the ungrateful and wicked (that includes me!) and I pray, asking that He make me more and more into His image as I pray for those who hurt me.

As I illustrated this page I reflected on this verse as well as one in the same chapter where Jesus teaches that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (good trees bear good fruit; bad trees bear bad fruit). Boy that was challenging! The way I speak about those who abuse me reveals what is in my heart... As well as choosing to pray for those who abuse me I also need to pray that God would continually work on my heart so that this flows naturally from a heart overwhelmed by the grace and mercy of God, for me and for others!

Here is a little tutorial for how I created this page:

I used Gelatos to scribble some colour on the page (above) - looks pretty messy at this point! Then the magic happens courtesy of the humble baby wipe! Just swipe and blend from one side to the other and the background of your page and the results are fabulous. I added some stencilled sunrays, stamped the trees from Scene Silhouettes: Trees and added some foliage using paint.

Finally I stamped in the margin using the Stop, Drop and Pray stamp (a little sneaky peek of something coming in January!), adding the other words using Mini Grunge Type Alpha and some alpha stickers.

I hope today's thoughts are an encouragement to you, even though this is a very challenging message. I'm so grateful that we serve a God of grace who helps us in our weakness!

Be blessed...

x Amy x