The Lord Is My Shepherd

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely, goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

Before becoming king, David was a shepherd. So he knew very well what sheep were like, and what the job of a shepherd was. He knew that we humans tends very much to be like sheep. And our great God is the ultimate Shepherd.

How are we like sheep?

• We tend to wander and get lost.
• We are basically helpless without God, even if we don't realize it. We are totally dependent on God.
• We can be hard to teach.
• We are easily frightened and confused.

Psalm 23 tells us that our Shepherd meets every need we have. He meets our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. When Jesus declared that He is the Good Shepherd, He was confirming that He is God. Sheep follow their shepherd's voice. We, too, must listen for and follow our Shepherd's voice. He knows exactly what we need. He was willing to die for us to save us. Because of Him, we can now dwell with Him forever!

Page details:

I used the following sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Psalm 23 Background & Succulents. Psalm 23 Background is a brand new stamp which is actually Korin's handwriting! I love that! I stamped the background stamp and drew a box around it with a Micron pen. I stamped the succulents and messy painted them with watercolor crayons, and added some splatters. A pretty simple page, but then most of my pages tend to be simple.

I hope you have a blessed week! Andrea

The Lord Alone Exalted

The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased;

 and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:17

Hi Friends!

Today I'm in Isaiah 2. This chapter begins by speaking of the coming restoration of Jerusalem. Then it speaks of a time of judgment. This is when humanity will be judged and found wanting. Only God will be exalted.

Right now, our world is full of pride. Pride has always been one of the roots of sin. When Lucifer rose up against God, it was because of pride. Isaiah 14:12-15, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High'. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit."

He was pretty full of himself. And  we can be pretty full of ourselves. But he wasn't successful, of course. God through him and his followers out of heaven. And we- the human race- will be humbled as well. We can't match God. We may think we're "all that," but compared to and without God, we are nothing.

As believers, hopefully, we are exalting God through our words and actions every day. But one day, EVERY knee will bow to Him. I'm looking forward to that day!

Page Details:
I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Succulents, Classy Script Alpha, and Chunky Alpha. I also used a circular gel plate to apply the acrylic paints. I just recently bought gel plates and they are available at SNSS!! They are such a fun way to apply acrylics! The plate is flexible silicone. You just brayer paint onto it and then apply to the page. I'm looking forward to learning more ways to use them too. I outlined the center circle with a Micron pen.

Have a blessed week! May He alone be exalted! Andrea

Just Keep Blooming

Jeremiah 17:7-8

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, 

who's confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water 

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Hello everyone and Happy October!! I don't think I've met anyone who doesn't love the month of October. Sadly for us here on the east coast, it feels more like August outside with this heat wave that won't let up! It feels like its been forever since its rained too! My plants have yellowing leaves that aren't suppose to yellow; and the grass is getting super crispy. But lucky for us, relief is coming soon!!

Much like the weather, we too have dry seasons in our lives don't we?! You might not like to admit it, but at some point I believe we all go through them. In my opinion, there are 3 reasons we go through these dry seasons.

1. We have disobeyed God

God loves us and he does all things for our good. But we all have times where we haven't "listened" to his guidance or his word and disobeyed him. If you know of a way you have sinned recently, ask for forgiveness from Him, and it shall be given to you.

2. We don't receive enough of God's word 

Put simply, you aren't reading your bible, not going to church, not praying often, or maybe all of the above! If you are not actively seeking God, being nourished and filled up by his word, then you can't possibly be building on a relationship with him. Just like our relationships with friends and family, you have to call and check in and catch up on each other every so often. Our relationships with God are the same way!! Seek him and his word and you will begin to feel "watered" and nourished again.

3. We are in a time of transition

Some dry seasons happen when we need to move from one point to another in our walk with God. You may feel sometimes that even though you are spending time with the Lord through bible study and time at church, you are still longing for something else. You're not feeling "satisfied" and filled up through what you are currently doing. If this happens, it's time to consider that maybe God is telling you that you need a change. A change in your routine can help you grow in your walk too. Change is never easy, but the resistance you feel through change can help you grow in ways you never thought possible. 

This time of transition can also be a waiting period. Have you been praying fervently for something? Waiting is not easy, especially if you've been waiting a long time. But during this time, trust that God is pruning you. He's clipping away at what is not needed for the next season. He's preparing you for what comes next. 

No matter where you find yourself in this dry season of your life, remember to not lose faith!  It will not stay this way forever! Just like summer changes to fall, this season will change too. Just keep the faith, keep praying, keep praising God for all the good that he does.

The rain is coming! 

Just Keep Blooming!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

@faith.and.creativity 

*** This page features a SNEEK PEEK of a set from our October release which is not until next week! So I can't link it for you here. But if you do visit our website, please use my affiliate link HERE! Thank you so much! :) 

Bitty Minnie Alpha 

All in All