Death, where is your sting?

Hi friends,

Many of us who have been in church for a while have heard the verse 'death, where is your sting?' and know it to come from 1 Corinthians 15:55, written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. But when I looked up this verse, I discovered that it is a quote from Hosea 13:14, which in the NIV translation says:

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
    I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
    Where, O grave, is your destruction?

Here's the interesting thing that I learnt when reading the notes in my study Bible: the original Hebrew language of this text can be read as either a statement or a question (Hebrew doesn't use punctuation, and the grammar could mean either in this case). So the NASB translation of this verse says:

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?

But in the New Covenant, because of Jesus' triumph over death and the grave, we have certainty about this statement - no more questions! Paul's quotation of this verse from Hosea puts his readers in no doubt about the answer to this question:

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

 “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 Cor 15:54-57)

Amen and amen! Thank you Jesus for removing the uncertainty of the past and giving us assurance of victory!

I wanted to create a page that looked like the darkness of death being taken over and swallowed up by the light, so I used some acrylic paints to create the background on this page. I stamped the main image from Victory in Jesus onto watercolour paper, coloured it with watercolours then fussy cut it out, sticking it onto the page with some Matt Gel Medium. The question marks are from two different alphabet sets (one coming new next month!) and I used Distress paint to stamp them over the black, going over the thinner ones with a white gel pen.

Let's remember that Jesus has removed all doubt when it comes to the fact that God has redeemed us from the power of death - thanks be to God!

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Go and Tell, Girls!

Hi friends,

One of the details I love about the account of the resurrection of Jesus is that it was women who were told to go and tell others that he had risen. It was women who tended the body of Jesus and who visited the tomb faithfully, and it was women who the angel told and Jesus met after he had risen.

Often women can feel inferior or exempt when it comes to the preaching of the gospel or the bold declaration of what we have seen and experienced, but here in Matthew 28, it is the women who are commanded by both the angel at the tomb, and the risen Lord Jesus himself, to go and tell the disciples (the brothers!). 

Girls, whatever words we can find we need to declare to our brothers and sisters concerning the good news of the Gospel. Whether that be our own testimonies of God's goodness and salvation in our lives, or the words of Scripture that tell the salvation message (what a good reason to meditate on and memorise Scripture!), we need to GO and TELL. Those who hear us might be incredulous, or unbelieving, or even scornful, but their response is not our responsibility: our responsibility, our mandate from Jesus, is to go and tell.

I thought that these sweet girls from Girl Power 2 would be perfect to 'tell' the messages that are included in the Victory in Jesus set. I stamped the girls, cross and text, then drew the speech bubbles around the words. All the colouring is done with Prima watercolours, and the butterfly is stenciled using VersaMagic Ink. The 'go and tell' was stamped using Skinny Minnie Alpha.

I hope you feel encouraged by this resurrection account to go and tell the good news to others, whatever that looks like in your particular context. We serve a risen Saviour and the world needs to hear that!

Every blessing...

x Amy x

All to Him I Owe

"Jesus Paid it All, All to Him I Owe"

I grew up singing those familiar words. Yet somehow, they continue to challenge me more and more as I grow older. They remind me what Jesus did for me, and what I should do for Him.

Luke 23:45-47 describes the last moments of Jesus's life and His last words. "...'Father, into Your hands I entrust my spirit.' Saying this He breathed His last."(CSB). Jesus gave His all for me, for the human race. We therefore owe our everything to Him. Our eternal salvation. Our present reality of grace. I owe my life and my love to Jesus. My all! 

As I live my life, and go about my day, I need to keep that in mind. I need to surrender my every thought and desire to Him. That doesn't mean that EVERY word I say has to be about God. But it does mean that I keep Him in the forefront of my mind. As I'm watching shows on Netflix, I should remember what He sacrificed for me. (Ouch--will I still watch the same shows if I remember that?!) It's about keeping Him in mind as I'm shopping, and thinking about the way I spend my money.  As I'm at work, I need to remember that He gave His best for me, and so I do my best at my job, and in my interactions with others. When I wake up in the mornings, I must give Him my first attention, before the emails, the likes on Instagram, or the news in my feed. 

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. I choose to live my life--my ALL--for Him!

I used several sets for this page in Luke 23 in my Illustrating Bible. I began by creating a background with some distress oxides in Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, and finally Concord Purple. I laid the color down with a blending took and pads, blended the inks, then sprayed the page with water to activate the oxides in the inks. Then I took each ink and applied some with water directly to the page, either with a wet paint brush, or by smooshing it with some plastic packaging. I also splattered some of the ink. This gave the speckled, textured look.  

I used the cross image from the Victory in Jesus stamp set as the focal point for this page. I stamped the cross in Versafine Black Onyx Ink, and painted it with a combination of watercolors and some distress oxides.  I then stamped the title from the Timeless Hymns set. 

I wanted to add more to emphasize the "all" aspect, so I took three word images from the All in All stamp set: ALL, 100% and all. I wanted these words to be part of the background, so I stamped them in the same colors as the background, but randomly around the margin.  I loved the effect it produced!

I made a tab for the page by stamping the second main image from the Victory in Jesus set. I stamped it in the same Concord Purple because that was the color at the top of the page, and I wanted to continue with that color.  I cut that out with the my tab punch, and then stamped the words "genuine love" from the Genuine Love stamp set. Finally, I stamped some texture with the grid pattern from Texture Tiles 1 set, added some journaling, a date stamp, and a hand-drawn border around the page.  

I pray as we near Easter weekend that you can contemplate the sacrifice Jesus made on your behalf, and the challenge--and invitation--that we are offered.  

Blessings!

Julie

(Affiliate links)

Victory in Jesus

All in All

Timeless Hymns

Genuine Love