Lord, Subdue My Stubborn Heart

Full list of stamps featured is below! <3

Good Morning, Tuesday Worshipers!!

It's been a while (a crazy, chaotic while) since I was able to sit down, meditate on, love the Lord and bless His name with you.  

Thank you for your kindness and grace in all things toward me.  God (true to Self) has been working and pruning the hedges, so to speak.  All good, but certainly difficult.  
I'm praying that as He continues His good work - because all that He does IS good (Psalm 145:17-19) - I am able to see His bounty of grace, feel His heart of compassion, move with His guidance, and share Him accordingly!  This is the hope!  

There's a book that I've been reading on and off for the last year called, "Valley of Vision."  It's a puritan's prayer book, something that has been written to guide our prayer life.  As I read it, there is something that continually stands out to me about it: grief over sin is absolutely necessary for genuine repentance and continual growth.  
Let me explain a couple of things first.
There is nothing in the Bible that states we are to relish in our sin, dwell in our sin, continually think on our sin, or obey the temptation to sin.  NOTHING.  
The Lord tells us to set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2), to engage our minds in the true, lovely, praiseworthy things (Phil. 4:8), flee temptation (2 Tim. 2:22-24), enter God's courts with thanksgiving and praise (Psalm 100:4), and so on.  
In fact, we are reminded as believers in Christ that we are no longer slaves to our sin, but set free in Jesus (John 8:36), a temple of His Spirit (Romans 8:9) and called "saints" (Rom. 1:7, 1 Cor. 1:2).  

So, what of this grief over sin? 
Why continually?
Is it truly necessary?

Well for all of you who have put your sole trust in God alone, and read His Word with a studious faith, you know it is impossible for God to lie, sin, or contradict Himself (Num. 23:19).  For those of you still skeptical over the truthfulness and variable nature of the Bible, let this not be a hindrance or stumbling block.  Rather, look at it as an argument for why it's possible to live in the tension a joyful love and service to God, even in the middle of sorrowing over our broken nature and human state that exists until glory.  After all, "a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."  (Psalm 51:17)
Praise Him.
David held to that.
I will hold to that.

The puritan's prayer is a page long of old English prose, but let me recite the part that stood out to me, which is the purpose I write this blog.

"I thank thee (God) for they riches to me in Jesus,
    for the unclouded revelation of Him in they Word,
    where I behold his Person, character, grace, glory,
    humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection;
Give me to feel a need of His continual Saviourhood,
  and cry with Job, 'I am vile',
               with Peter, 'I perish,'
               with the publican, 'Be merciful to me, a sinner'.
Subdue in me the love of sin,
Let me know the need of renovation as well as of forgiveness,
   in order to serve and enjoy thee forever.
I come to thee in the all-prevailing name of Jesus,
   with nothing of my own to plead,
   no works, no worthiness, no promises.
I am often straying...."

It goes on, and there is some before it.  But do you get the general feel?  The title of this prayer is (ironically) "GOD THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD."  

Now, some may still argue that this prayer is for those who long to administer the penal code against themselves in prayer, laying punishment on them and beating their own hearts for what they have done.  Nope.
Nope.
Nope, nope NOPE! 
Because God is good and is the source of all good.  Because of His goodness He has laid the punishment of all sin on His beloved Son Jesus Christ, that through Him all would be saved, healed and sealed to Him. 

Joyfully, I look at this prayer and see a couple of things (things that I hope you will also see), which guides me into a praise and worship meditation of the Lord Christ.
1.  I am in CONSTANT need of my Savior.  In realizing my constant need for the Savior, 
2.  I have CONSTANT joy in serving Him, loving Him, and living in His promises!

This is a WIN/WIN.  I hope you can see that.  
Grief over the hardness of our hearts, that "fleshly" nature that we battle in thoughts, words and deeds daily, is a good and godly thing.  
Firstly, God KNOWS that our hearts are broken.  He KNOWS that we rage war on ourselves daily to suppress the sin-nature, and develop the mind of Christ.  He KNOWS the attempts we make at bringing our own strengths and weapons to the battle field.  He knew it way back when, when through the prophet Ezekiel He would add to the beauty of the Gospel through this promise:

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." (Ezek. 36:25-27)

The promise made to Israel is the Promise of the Holy Spirit.  
DID YOU HEAR THAT!?  
The promise of being made new, being made clean, being given a new heart, a new spirit, a new trajectory, a new way of life, would come through the work of His very own Spirit that would dwell in each believer.  
Friend, in Christ - in the belief that He is the anointed One of God sent to die for the sins of world, raise again the 3rd day and rise to His place of power - you receive the power of God unto salvation and unto the beautiful work of sanctification which is a big word for "becoming like Jesus."  
What does this mean?

We bring nothing - REALLY, NOTHING - to our salvation and change.
Even when we are broken and contrite before Him who is holy, it remains purely by the will of God to send His Spirit, to make us new, change our hearts to the obedience of our Faithful Father, convict us of our deep, ugly, morbid, twisted, perverse and unholy ways, and bring us to ongoing repentance.  

This is the M.O. of the One who promises His riches in Christ Jesus.  This is how we identify with Him who was crushed for our iniquities, bore our shame, and paid our unfathomable debt of sin.
Christ died for our sins. 
They're all paid for. 
Every.
Single.
One.
Until glory, however, we will daily need Him.  Until His triumphful entry into our world as The King, His Spirit will do His work as promised, carving away the hindrances to the Light He's put inside us; refine us by fire and purify us for Himself; work through our mess to better serve as Gospel proclaimers and ambassadors to our neighborhood, city, family, friends, church!  
Again...
Why continually?
Is it truly necessary?

As He subdues our stubborn heart (the heart that loves sin, rather than Jesus), we will see that grief over our daily sin, will lead us to Him.  Draw us into His presence.  See Him for who HE is, and better see who WE are.  
Do not be afraid to approach God in sorrow over your sin.  He will neither reject you nor punish you.  
In fact, those who entrust their lives to the Life-Giver, find life indeed.  Freedom indeed.  

Lord, keep subduing our stubbornness to your work, and help us understand better that the Holy Spirit is leading us into life, just as you promised that living in the Spirit leads to life!  Joy! Peace!  Love!  Compassion!  

In your sweet and precious name, Jesus...
Amen.

Much love, sweet sisters.
Deeds
IG: mercies_journaled 
Affiliate link to stamps used: www.sweetnsassystamps.com/?aff=7

Stamps featured:
Marker Alpha (August Release!)
His Name 
Grunge Elements 2
Dazzling Dahlia
Happy Alpha
Forever and Always (ON SALE %15 off!) 
Healer of My Heart

Faith, Hope, & Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. 

But the greatest of these is love. 

1 Corinthians 13:13

Hi Friends,
Today, I'm focusing on 1 Corinthians 13:13. This chapter is familiar to many of us. Many people refer to it as the love chapter. In chapter 12, Paul spoke of spiritual gifts. And he followed that chapter with a chapter on love to point out that if these gifts are practiced without godly love, they are worthless. The Corinthians were proud of their spiritual gifts. Paul wanted to remind them that the way of love is more important. 

The point of 1 Cor 13:1-3 is that what we do is not eternally meaningful if it is not done in love. If we are just going through the motions, or just doing what we’re “supposed” to do, we need to stop and re-evaluate. Our hearts need to be in the right place. God knows our hearts. And He wants us not just serving others, but lovingly serving others.

When I read 1 Cor 13:4-8, I see Christ’s love through and through. It is an amazing love that we can all strive for, but again, cannot achieve without the Holy Spirit. I pray often that God would help me see others through His eyes and help me to love them as He does. Prayer is so important- not only praying for the people we are trying to love, but praying for ourselves that God will help us love them. So don’t forget to pray!

Verse 13 says that faith, hope, and love remain. What that's speaking to is that the spiritual gifts the Corinthians were priding themselves in were temporary. But faith, hope, and love are eternal. Faith is an essential part of Christianity. Hope is a conviction that God will keep His promises. And all things need to be done in love. God is love, so that is central to following Jesus. 1 Cor 13:13 says the greatest is love. Why? The following came from the notes section in my Jeremiah Study Bible, "Why is love the greatest of these? When Christ makes all things new and His followers are ushered into the eternal state, faith will no longer be necessary because the redeemed will see face to face. Hope will no longer be necessary because their hope will have been perfectly realized. But love will remain, and it will finally be known without the taint of sin." Love without the taint of sin. That’s Jesus love.

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: County Fair Alpha, The Good News, Made New, Filigree Hearts, Psalm 23 Background, Texture Tiles 1.



 Have a blessed week! Andrea

The Lord Is So Very Good

Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,

for the Lord is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

Jeremiah 33:11

I recently reread the story of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus.  Leprosy was a slow, agonizing and ostracizing disease.  To be brought back from the brink of this torturous nightmare would have indeed been a miracle that demonstrated unfathomable power and obvious love.  Most lepers were shunned by their community and even their families.  To have been a leper, then to have been made clean would have been more than freeing, more than miraculous for the suffering one.  This miracle restored life in so many ways. Thus, we are incredulous to know that only one of the ten came back to Jesus to praise God and to thank his healer.   We just shake our heads and ask, "How could they not?"

Yet, look at all the blessings so many people receive today and take for granted or fail to give credit for the goodness in their lives.  Our God blesses even the unbeliever!  We wouldn't expect them to acknowledge God as the source of blessing.  But it is surprising to hear believers complain even when their lives compared to some are amazingly good. If my memory serves me correctly, I've been guilty myself!

I know God has been so very good to me.  Daily, I can see blessing after blessing, each as undeserved as the one before.  I experience joy in His presence and He showers me with His unfailing love.  I pray each day to see His gifts over the grit of life.  The best antidote to the growth of thankless callouses on our heart, is to run back to Him every day and praise God, thanking Him for all He has done for us.  May we never be like those 9 lepers that prioritized their perfunctory duties and headed to the priests first, instead of running back to Jesus who took the blight off their lives.

We can thank God every day for who He is, for His steadfast, unfailing love toward us.  He wouldn't have to do a thing for us and we'd still have reason enough to praise.  But that He showers us with blessing because of His great love...that is the great miracle. 
-----

Design Details:
I had so much fun creating this background, especially the pattern in the margin.  I created my own color spray using a gelato and water and it turned out so well.  I love it more than so many of the sprays that stain so deeply and permeate the page.  I sprayed over a stencil.  I have this quick video for you to share my design process.


Sets Used:

Crazy About Snowmen

The Good News

Check out the video to see how I masked off the unwanted portion of one stamp. 

God's House

Lord, I love the house where You live, the place where Your glory dwells. 

Psalm 26:8

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy Friends!
Where do you love to hang out? David loved to hang out with God. If I'm honest, I can't say that my most favorite place to be is with God. It should be! I want to say that! But, looking at my life, I let too many things take my attention- work, family, the TV, shopping, etc. Sometimes, unfortunately, God is an afterthought. I want to be more like David! I need to put God first and focus on His presence with me through all the things I do. I need to use some of my time better. I want to get to a point where I'm glorifying God and He is my priority in all I do and say and how I live.  We are fortunate in that God now indwells believers in a way that He didn't in David's time. His glory is with us always. We just need to focus on it!

For the page, I used one of the newly released sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Home for the Holidays. I absolutely LOVE this door stamp!! But, it has a lot of great images and it's a versatile set- not just for Christmas! I also used the following sets: Love Your Neighbor, Sing Loud, and The Good News. I used watercolor crayons too, and a white pen to highlight.



There's no other place we should want to be than hanging out with God! Praying we all spend some focused time with Him this week!
Andrea

Shine Bright

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Dear Friends,
I love this verse! So much so, that I have journaled the verse in all 5 of my journaling Bibles already! So, I made a tip-in. More details on that farther down. :) This verse tells us to shine. But not for our own glory, but to glorify God. We should act in a way that shows others Jesus and draws them to Him. I listened to a lesson by Ray Vander Laan where he said, "Create an alternative to what's wrong in our broken world." That really stuck with me. Our world is broken. It's full of hurting people. He went on to say that God desired to create a community that would live out an alternative, showing the world what He intended and desired. Rather than criticizing what's wrong around us, let's create alternatives- communities that show the love of Jesus, families that live out the roles of parents and children in godly ways, businesses that are honest and just and use profits to improve the lives of those around them. When we do this, when we shine our light before others, they will see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven.

Now for details on the tip-in. I used the following Sweet n Sassy Stamps sets: Girl Power, Bitty Minnie Alpha, Skinny Minnie Alpha, Worthy King, and The Good News.

Girl Power and Bitty Minnie Alpha are brand new sets this month. I love both of them! Girl Power includes 8 girl heads along with shoulders, necklines, and images to make faces if you don't want the girls to be faceless. So cute!! I cut a piece of card stock to be slightly smaller than the Bible page. I used watercolor crayons to color. I attached the tip-in to the page with washi tape. Tip-ins are a great way to add journaling to an already journaled page!

Shine on, friends! Andrea

Jesus Paid It All

Good Morning everyone!

I hope everyone is off to a great start this week! As we continue to go through Lent and get closer to Easter I thought I would share an Easter page with you all. If you follow me on social media I recently did a bright and colorful Easter page with a cute little bunny and lamb. That page represented the fun and cheerful aspect of Easter. However, we all must not lose focus of the true meaning of Easter and that Jesus Christ died for our sins. The page I am sharing with you guys today is a little darker than most of my pages tend to be, but I hope you will find that its message resonates with you, as all of our bible journaling pages should! As that is the meaning behind bible journaling in the first place!

To me, Easter brings back a lot of memories of being in church, all dressed up, and singing the old hymns. So for this page I chose to journal on top of one of my favorite Easter hymns...

"Jesus Paid it All"

🎶🎶.....'Cause Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain, 

he washed it white as snow..... 🎶🎶

Jesus sacrificed himself for all of us! For all of the mistakes/sins we have made or even will make! Can you imagine someone doing that in today's world? Someone tells you, "yes YOU are perfect and have made no mistakes, but everyone else in the world has sinned and committed terrible crimes. And, you need to sacrifice yourself (the truly innocent one) so that everyone else can live!"...... Can you imagine the look that person would have on their face?! Yet, Jesus knew that was his purpose and he willingly sacrificed himself for the sins of others! And because he sacrificed himself, we are forgiven!! Washed white as snow!!

Thinking about this, I pictured a list of all of our sins, like it was a bill that needed to be paid. And when Jesus sacrificed himself for us, it was stamped in red with a big 'ol stamp PAID IN FULL! We were no longer in debt because He paid it all! This page was a lot of reflection but also fun to do. I used Distress Oxide for the background and applied drops and drips of water to add the texture effect. For the "debt list", I stained a piece of watercolor paper with coffee, and stamped the text with the Mini Grunge Type Alpha and Texture Tiles 1. Then took a lighter to it and carefully burned it and added some scorch marks. To finish that piece I used two stamps from stamp set The Good News. I have listed all of the stamps used for this page below as well. 

I pray this page has helped you to reflect on the true meaning of Easter as we slowly approach this upcoming holiday! If you want to do some Easter bible journaling, be sure to visit the shop and pick up some of our great Easter related stamp sets!!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

Mini Grunge Type Alpha

Texture Tiles 1 

The Good News

Classy Script Alpha

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

Hi Friends!

The eclipse on August 21 definitely showed us the glory of God and the work of His hands. My pastor gave a message on the first few verses of Psalm 19, and I really liked the illustration he used. Where I live, we weren't in totality. I think it was about 94%. It didn't get that dark. My pastor pointed out that the 6% of light we had overcame the darkness. He went on to say that even if we shine only a little light of Jesus to this dark world, it will still make a difference. It opened my eyes that the small day to day gestures we make to love others are just as important as the big gestures. So shine Christ, my friends! 

  I also learned from the NASA website that the sun's diameter is 400 times wider than the moon's, but it is also 400 times farther away. The result is that the sun and the moon appear to be the same size from our perspective. So, God made the sun and the moon precisely the right sizes and set them at the right distance away from each other so that we, on earth, could be amazed. Wow, God! A show just for us, because it wouldn't be seen from anywhere else.

I used the following Sweet n Sassy stamps for this page: Chunky Alpha, Mini Grunge Type Alpha, Sing Loud, Rebecca Script Alpha, and The Good News.

I painted the page with watercolor crayons, made the eclipse "shine" with a white Sharpie pen, and embossed the words. (I did this in my interleaved Bible which has blank pages in between each page of Scripture. So no Scripture was covered up.)

On another note, my heart has been heavy for Texas. I was born and raised in Texas, and while I don't live there currently, it is my home and I have many family and friends there. In events like this, it can be hard to see God in the midst of it. But He is there. I'm praying for Texas and everyone affected. Thank you to those volunteers who have helped anyway they can, and to the first responders and rescue workers.

In Christ, Andrea

Do Others See Jesus?

If someone were to be constantly taking random snapshots of our lives, then lay them out as an album of our story, what would they see?  Would they consistently see Jesus through our lives?  What story would your life tell? 

A few years ago a woman came up to me in a church parking lot following a Bible study.  I'd taught Bible studies there for many years.  She was talking specifically about my teaching and was being very gracious and encouraging.  Then she told me something that really made me think. She recounted that she'd been under my teaching a number of times, and loved our studies together.  But something I'd said to her years ago was what really stuck in her head.  We were having a casual conversation apart from any church activity at all.  She was experiencing some difficult life experiences at the time.  She relayed something that I'd told her in that earlier conversation and she said she'd never forget it.  She'd forgotten some of the critical lessons of our Bible studies, but she would never forget what I'd said to her in a casual conversation.  She told me that it caused her to see herself in a whole new light, the light of Jesus.  She said for the first time in her life she could let go of who she'd been and embrace who she was.  THANKFULLY, I'd said something encouraging to her.  But our conversation in the church parking lot shook me a bit because I was riveted on how well, how clearly she remembered some casual, personal, one-on-one conversation from years earlier.  

That time, she saw Jesus in me.  But I got thinking about all the thousands of other conversations I had, interactions with others...family and friends...strangers...and I wondered if every conversation could be described the same.  I fear not.  Sometimes I think me least "seasoned" conversations might be with family.  Just think...our family members more than likely see the REAL album of our lives, not the church one.  It's a constant challenge to put Jesus before us rather than behind us when we are being the most real with those we know the best.

I certainly want other to see Jesus in every aspect of my life.  But having the character traits of Jesus requires measured discipline, and constantly having our witness and testimony on our minds.  It's not
a burden; reflecting Christ should be a joy, a privilege.  It's easier and better to extend grace than to be bitter.  It's more peaceful to be self-controlled than it is to be in a rage.  When we are faithful, we know that pleases God and that make us feel better.

I hope this post will be an exciting challenge...to live your life in such a way that others always see Jesus.  To think before speaking, to pray before acting...and to pay attention to the Spirit of God in us as we live out our lives.

I used the Sweet 'n Sassy stamps showcased below for this two-page spread.  The photo shots are stamped on designer paper then cut out and the words are just written on the page underneath.

 Capture This Moment and The Good News

Living Word and Exclamations

 

dianesdaydreamdesigns.blogspot.com

Victory

The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. 2 Samuel 8:5,14

Dear Friends,

Are you living in victory?

2 Samuel 7 ends with David's beautiful prayer of trust and praise. 2 Samuel 8 tells us of David's victories in conquering the Philistines, Moabites, and other nations. This was a high point for David. But, as we know, he also had low points. But, David loved God. He trusted God. And we can too.

You may not feel like you're living in victory, but our victory comes from God. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can claim that victory NOW! Through Jesus, we are forgiven and redeemed. We can fellowship with our Creator. And, we can never lose our salvation. Knowing those truths, we can live in victory even in the lowest of lows. Jesus is our hope. He is our victory. Live that hope and victory no matter what your circumstances are. Is it hard? Yes! But Jesus is with with you always. Rest in Him. Trust in Him.

I wanted to also share some of the process of this page. The Sweet n Sassy Stamps set called Sing Loud has the words "LOUD" and "GLORY" in the same lettering. I wanted to use those stamps to make "LORD". I've done this before by masking the "U" in "LOUD" out and adding in the "R" from "GLORY". Well, without thinking, I stamped "LOUD" onto the page without masking out the "U". EEEK! 

Mistakes happen. And we may have to get creative to fix them! I decided to cover "LOUD" with washi tap and then I cut out the letters for "LORD" from a sticker sheet. Mess-up fixed! 

I used stamps from the following Sweet n Sassy Stamps sets: Scribble Flowers, The Good News, Words of Life: Common Words 1, and Sing Loud. I used watercolor crayons for the color.
   
Live in victory, friends! Be blessed. Andrea