THE FORGIVENESS CIRCLE | Faith Art Journaling with Julie

Colossians 3:13 "Remember, the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others."

I'm journaling in my 100 Days of Bible Promises Devotional, and the promise for day 69 is about God's forgiveness.  God promises that He has forgiven us already.  Notice that it is in the past tense.  He forgave us when Jesus took all of our past, present and future sins upon Himself and nailed them to the Cross.  It's been done!  Already! Complete!  However, He doesn't leave it there, does He?  There's more to the verse.

The rest of the verse says, "...so you must forgive others." Just as God has forgiven us, we are to forgive others when they wrong us.  Bitterness and anger are toxic to our souls, and when we harbor them in our hearts, they fester into relationship-barriers.  Unforgiveness can prevent us from having a right relationship not only with other people, but with God also.  Said the opposite way, forgiveness can foster a right relationship with others and with God.  That's because when we forgive others, freely and fully, we can more easily accept God's forgiveness.  But when we hold bitterness in our hearts and refuse to choose to forgive someone who has wronged us, then it translates into us not being able to experience the full grace of God's love towards us.

What about if they don't admit to being wrong?  What if they don't say they're sorry? What if they don't even know they've hurt me?  Guess what?! Forgive!  God forgave us before we even asked for forgiveness.  "Remember...to forgive others," He says, because it is something we need to be reminded of.  And more often than not, it's a matter of choosing to forgive.  Our emotions will probably not FEEL like forgiving.  Did Jesus feel like He wanted to die on the Cross?  NO!  We can see that in the Garden of Gethsemane; but He chose to do it anyway.  Choose to forgive, and the feelings will eventually follow. 

I created this page with the "Send Me" and "Let's Do This" stamp sets.  I wanted to emphasize the cyclical process of forgiveness--we experience God's forgiveness, which helps us to forgive others, which then helps us to appreciate and experience God's forgiveness, etc.  I began by coloring concentric circles on my page with my watercolor crayons, starting at the center, and alternating the colors.  Then I blended those colors with an aquabrush, adding my color where I felt I needed it.  I chose my palette to match the colors on the devotional page, a golden ochre and burnt sienna.

Then I stamped my words using Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  These words are a mix and match of the two sets.  I handlettered the "s" to the first "forgive" to make the subject and verb agree (I'm an English teacher).  Don't be afraid to make your stamps fit your needs!  Then, to highlight the circular pattern I added the arrows, and colored them, again, with the watercolor crayons.   I finished with a texture stamp from Texture Tiles 3, washi tape, a tab and bow. 

There was still too much blank space between the arrows and the words, so I added the stamped heart.  I dipped the burnt sienna crayon into water, dabbed it off slightly onto a paper towel, and then stamped directly onto the page.  I outlined it with the same journaling pen that I used to write down my prayer-thoughts. 

Thanks for stopping by. You can visit me anytime at  Jules' Jewels YouTube Channel and my blog Jules' Jewels, and see other projects on Instagram at @julesk.jewels.

Let's Do This

SEND ME

TEXTURE TILES 3

Go-Share-Here

"18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Jesus told--rather--commanded His disciples to go make disciples of all nations.  Go.  This is an active directive.  Not one that we can sit back and accomplish.  It doesn't just happen without action on our part.  The gospel of Mark tells the same story in chapter 16. Jesus was very specific that we are to go into all the world and share the good news of the gospel.  Go.  

Does that mean youI have to go to Bolivia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, or some other far away land?  Maybe.  If that what God leads you to do.  But He also means for us to go right in our own neighborhoods, in our own workplaces, even perhaps in our own families. "Go" means to move from one position to another, to progress or advance.  Maybe God is calling you to go meet or your neighbor and share a cup of coffee or tea, and just get to know them.  Being a good friend, showing God's love and kindness, is the BEST way to make lasting disciples.  Maybe He wants you to talk to the person on the next treadmill, instead of watching the latest episode of "This is Us."  

Sometimes we think Jesus was just talking about the Mission Field, so we pray for the missionaries, send offering money, and maybe even sponsor a child in Guatemala (or wherever).  But that really is the easy way out.  How much "going" are you doing?  Jesus said to "go," out of our comfort zones and reach people, wherever they need to be reached.  

I used the "Send Me" stamp set for this page.  I stamped the world image, and then stamped the word "Go" right over the top of it.  I was pleased with how it fit perfectly inside the globe.  I bent the "share" stamp on my acrylic block so it would curve underneath the world.  I finished the stamping so it would say, "Go share the good news here."  I originally stamped "here" in green, and I didn't like how that looked; so I fixed it by restamping it on white cardstock and cutting out the letters into block tiles.  I used Distress Oxide Inks to stamp and color.  Notice how I blended the colors on the word "good"?  Of course, I finished with some splatter on the page, a tab and bow, highlighting my verse, and journaling.

I challenge you to GO and share the good news! Thanks for stopping by.  You can visit me anytime at  Jules' Jewels YouTube Channel and my blog Jules' Jewels, and see other projects on Instagram at @julesk.jewels.

"Send Me"

Go, spread the good news

Then He told them: Go and preach the good news to everyone in the world.
Mark 16:15

Jesus told the disciples to go and share the good news. To everyone in the world. When you’re just with eleven man that must have sounded like a mission that could not be completed. And well, we’re still busy spreading the gospel. With the internet it seems much easier these days but you still need good teachers to explain everything that’s in the bible. So… it’s good to realize yourself every now and then that we’re still part of a living gospel that needs to be shared around the world. I don’t mean that you have to travel around the world (if you feel like you’re called to do that, that would be great too) but you can show a little bit of Gods love through your own life to the people around you. In these days before Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s good to share some love :).

I made the background for this page with acrylics. I added them with a piece of paper towel. I used light layers so you can still read the text on the page. I stamped the words and images (from the set 'Send Me') with a black ink. I decided that I wouldn’t add a lot of color because of the bright background colors. They’re already adding enough color to the page. I did add a couple of white accents with a white gel pen. The clouds and the bike are rub-ons that I rubbed onto the page.

Blessings, Lucinde

You are Salt & Light

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

 

Matthew 5:13-16

 

Isn't Jesus good to us. He is so many things... almighty, forgiving, strong, courageous, creator, salt & light. As I was reading this the MAIN thing that stuck out is "Let your light shine before others..." Don't only show them the darkness of your life but show them the light of how much the Lord loves us... so they may come to love him.

<3 Brittany

IG: britcarleton

www.journalingthroughmotherhood.wordpress.com

 

For this bright page I used ALL Sweet N' Sassy Stamps.

All About You

Skinny Caps Alpha

Send Me

I've made it easy for you too. Just click those names ^ and you can go right to them!



Share the Good News!

 

 

And then he told them "Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone."

NLT Mark 16:15

 

 

What's our purpose here folks? Creating more disciples of Jesus by sharing what Jesus has done for us to everyone! I really feel like there's not a lot to say about that. He tells us POINT BLANK... and if you're a rule follower you've been doing that right? (speed limits don't count!!! haha) In the grocery store...share the good news. In the hair salon...share the good news. In the Starbucks drive thru...share the good news. & Finally.. ON SOCIAL MEDIA... share the good news.

There are opportunities EVERYWHERE...it's up to you to take them!

It's not easy... but no one ever said being a follower of Jesus was easy.

<3 Brittany

 

For this page I did a fun watercolor background...I think it's one of my favorites to do!

Then I used the new Send Me stamp set to stamp all the words on! Yes... this ONE stamp set created this ENTIRE page. I didn't have to dig through my stamps to find letters or things that match... it was all on this one set. HOW CONVEINENT!!

 

 

This was a fun and easy one to do! Bible Journaling doesn't have to be so intricate that you take days or weeks to finish a page. Grab this stamp set and there's a whole "world" of ideas...see what I did there. ;)

<3 <3 Brittany

>>journalingthroughmotherhood.wordpress.com<<



Where was I?

I’ve always been interested in the story of Job. How his life gets turned upside down and he still keeps his faith. He got lectures from all of his friends, they thought that they knew what he had to do or what he did wrong. And then God starts speaking… We think we know everything, we think we can earn a lot in our lives but in comparison to God we are so, so small. He created the earth, the heavens, every tree, all the creatures and even you. I can think that I know a lot  but… where was I when the world was made? God has the last word. He created the entire world. When I don’t see the plan, that doesn’t mean there is no plan. God definitely knows what He’s doing.

I prepared my page with clear gesso and stamped my images with black ink. After that I wrote down the sentence 'where was I when the world was made' and added a dashed border around the world. I masked the earth and blended out some blue ink around the world. I didn't wait long enough so the words smudged a little bit... I colored the images with colored pencils and added some rub ons to finish the page.

I used two stamp sets for this page, Awesome Thoughts and Send Me:

 

- Lucinde

Got Good News?

Throughout the course of any given day we are likely to share a lot of good news with others.  A great deal at a store, a new way of doing something, happy news in the family might be a few bits of good news we encounter every day.  Yet there is no better news for the human race that the great news of Jesus Christ.  That a high and holy God of heaven would stoop to earth desiring to draw us into relationship with Him is amazing enough.  That His love is so big and so broad that He would sacrifice His Son for us is breath-taking news.  We who are believers have been given a precious gift, and it's certainly a gift with no end.  We can extend to others the same good news we received when we trusted Christ.

Whoever believes can have eternal life with the Father.  What better news could there be? So why don't we share THAT news more often?  If you frequent our Creative Worship Facebook page, I invite you to take a peek at another page I did with the fabulous Rebecca Rios set, Send Me.  On my post there I did a video devotional and offered some practical ways to make sharing the Gospel a little easier, a little less intimidating.  I hope you'll check it out.  The video is in two parts.  Part 1 explains the passage and the design plan.  Part 2 is the devotional part of the video.

I absolutely love this new set, Send Me.  It has amazing and abundant possibilities.  Just scroll through our posts here to see what some of the other designers have done with this.  Such a fun set.

Send Me

I also used the sweet phrase, "don't be afraid" from the set Fly High.  In my video I discuss ways to overcome your fear of sharing the Good News with others. 

Fly High

Thanks so much for peeking in!