Thrill of Hope

Do you remember being small - elementary age - and counting down the days until holiday vacations from school?  

Clear as day in my brain, I remember being 7, in Mrs. Henry's class, looking toward the chalk board (yes, I'm that old), and seeing her 4 foot calendar marked with numbers and pictures.  Each one, of course, resembled days, special events, seasons, etc.  Very bright, very colorful, very exciting!!

Each day, Mrs. Henry would remind her class which day of the week it was, so to help us understand time a bit better, ESPECIALLY when it came to the next vacation from school! 

I would look ahead and do my best to formulate the days left until Thanksgiving; Christmas; Spring break; Summer, and everything in between! With each approaching "day off" came that much thrill and anticipation of something to come!  

It's interesting how looking forward to something to come brings us hope, excitement and thrill!  Our entire being longs for this type of hopefulness! 

"Galaxy" tutorials can be found on Youtube everywhere!

I use watered down, white acrylic paint to achieve the "stars."  I feel that
this technique worked better to give me the brightness I was looking for.

As we live day-to-day, though we may not realize it, we really do pine.  We yearn.  We are exceedingly hopeful for more; better; brighter; happier.  Something to fulfill our desires, satisfactorily, completely, perfectly. 

This goes for all humanity. 
Even for Christians - those who have given themselves to the mercies and grace of God - there's an aching in the soul for a glorified, sinless, painless state.

The Bible uses language like the following verses to help qualify the need we feel. 

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

"Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies." Romans 8:22-23

Let me break it down a bit more…

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Everything He created, He saw as very good.  Not one blemish; not one problem.  Humanity's beginning enjoyed perfect union with God!  OH HOW HEAVENLY!  Then…

Man sinned. 
A union severed.

The world corrupted.

Since then, said world has been deteriorating; since then, each born human is subject to a darkened nature.  Bad replaces good.  Dark replaces light.  Lost replaces belonging. 
As the aging world falls further into desperation, humanity falls further into depravity.

BUT GOD…

See, we are still sinful.  We're still dark.  The world is still groaning.  However, Jesus entered this gloom and doom, and as our Redeemer, bought back what sin stole:

Light.

Belonging.

Hope.

Our souls!

The "Thrill of Hope" stamp collection can be found on the Sweet 'n' Sassy
website as part of the October release!

 
With His entrance into humanity, the "thrill of hope" was born.  And the weary world rejoiced!
Jesus!

Our Savior.

The Messiah.

Our Friend.

THE Hope.

Now, we wait.  We wait in anticipation!  We wait with eagerness!  We wait with hopefulness!  Our Christ is coming again, and so we wait!

Friend, if you're sitting on the fence of whether or not to enter into community with God's Son, please wait no longer; He IS coming. 
If you're struggling with God, or questioning His goodness, struggle no longer; He IS coming!

If you're wondering whether or not your life means something to the Lord; wonder no longer; He IS coming!

My prayer is that you will look at the gospel of Jesus - the good news of grace! - and turn to this Loving Father!  He has sent Him who is without sin to be sin for you and me, taking all sins to the cross for the glory of His throne.

Jesus is King - our Thrill of Hope - and He IS coming again!

Much love,

Deeds

New releases can be found here.  Hurry!  It's almost Christmas!

Keep Each Other Believing!

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” 

that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  Hebrews 13:3

I listened to a small audio sermon today.  Dr. Vernon McGee sure doesn't mince words.  He comes straight to the point about most doctrinal issues and issues of the heart.
Well, today as he called me "friend" there on the old radio broadcast, my heart was broken.  Oi…I like when my heart is "touched" or "moved," but I rarely like to have it broken.  Who knew that an oldie like McGee could send convicting messages into the future!?
 

This portion of scripture is not just about being a "friend" to another.  It's not mainly about coming together as a church body and worshiping the Lord on a given Sunday.  It's not about visiting a local church every Easter and Christmas service.  It's not about attending a Ladies' Tea event once a year and coming away with a powerful sense of femininity.  These types of things are "touching," but something goes a bit deeper here: rest for the human soul.

Using distress inks to
add to the background

As a part of the team of Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps, I am given this amazing chance to "vocalize" my love for Jesus, and speak of His movement in my life.  I get to use the blog as a platform to help others in their creative journey!  I love this; I feel this is a good part of my ministry!
As a part of the family of Christ, though, I'm given an even more amazing opportunity to help my sisters (and brothers, if they're reading) to encounter rest and joy in Jesus everyday, all day long! 

Prepping a background
with distress inks
and my stamping block

It's my turn to call you "friend."  And friend, as a Christian, if you are not able to find the "rest" as is promised to you once you find Jesus, the Bible says there's a heart issue of unbelief.  Unbelief of the good news that you have heard of Jesus' death and resurrection for you; unbelief of what God is capable of doing with you and for you in your life; unbelief that regardless of what you have done, Christ is your sin covering, your Mediator, your Redeemer.  Unbelief that now, as a follower of the One who died to bring you rest, you cannot live in sin. 

What does this mean for us?  Well, if you know someone who is living in sin (adultery, stealing, cheating, lying, etc.), you have a responsibility to "exhort" her/him to believe what God has done.  There is no way she/he can have a contented life or incur God's blessing while living a life of blatant disobedience.  Help them, friend!  Exhort this person - TODAY - to turn away from this hardness of heart that keeps her/him from entering the "promised land!"  

If you are the someone living in unbelief, and you are hiding in your sin, I want to exhort you, "while it is called 'today,'" to hear God's voice calling you out of your sinful lifestyle.  There is a reason why God provides the "body" of believers; we NEED others to help us, lift us up, pull us away, bring us back to the "belief" of Christ and the gospel!  Surround yourself with people that will help you pray, listen to God's voice, and be accountable! 

Today, I encourage you to face that sister-in-Christ about her sin problem.  Today, I encourage you to bless a sister-in-Christ with the chance to pray for you about your sin problem. We need to keep each other believing!  The bible says, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."  Ecclesiastes 4:12

We are meant to help each other, defend each other, stand together!

Much Love,

Deeds

IG: @mrcfuldeeds2010
Youtube: mrcfuldeeds

This little bundle of goodness is a promo for upcoming "goodies" 

(stamps with all the ladies you see here!!).  YAY!!

Hello, my name is...

I love this song and the stamp set too. The words are so recognizable. How often do we think of ourselves in judgmental ways. Bringing ourselves down with our own thoughts and feelings. At least, for me the feelings of regret and not being good enough are returning way too often. 


So today I made a sort of therapeutic page in my journal. At the top and the bottom of the page I wrote down a couple of things that I dislike about myself or that I would like to change. After that I started stamping. I stamped the name tag first and decided to use 'chosen' as the name. I stamped a couple of the other words around the tag to remind me of all the other things I am through God. Saved, beautiful, loved, free. Great things to remember. The other things are better to forget, so I added a black layer of paint on top of it. I blended the black layer out so that I could add some bright yellow in the center of the page. I used acrylic paints so they are a bit translucent (accept for the black color). That way I could still read the 'good words' and the 'bad words' wouldn't be visible anymore.

I used the stamp set 'Hello My Name Is' for this page.

- Lucinde

I am loved

Hello everyone! Today I would like to share a page from my journal with you. This is the first page of a new journal and I thought it would be good to start it with this message. Just as a reminder that I am loved by my heavenly Father, no matter what. Even when I don't really feel it, I know that my Father waits for me with His arms open wide.

I stamped the image with a waterproof ink in my 'regular' journal, that has watercolor paper in it. I used watercolor brushes to color the image and I drew a heart around the stamped image to emphasize the feeling of love. 

I used the stamp set 'My Friend' for this page.

- Lucinde

Draw me close

I received these two stamp sets at the same time and when I opened the envelope and saw the stamp sets together I immediately knew I wanted to use them both on a journaling page. This time I chose to make a page in my art journal instead of my bible because I can use lots of water on my art journal (my Dutch bible has even thinner pages than most English bibles) and I don't have to think about the materials I use. The coloring of this page took some time to do, but that gave me more time to think about the message: Draw me close.

Some days it literally feels like your heart breaks and I think this image really manages to capture the feeling of God as a comforter when you feel heartbroken. I drew a circle as the focal point for my page and used the images and message from the stamp set My Comforter. After I stamped these I masked of the circle and started stamping the flowers around it. The flowers only touch the circle and don't touch each other so that saved me some masks for the flowers ;). I colored this page with watercolor brushes and water.

 

For this page I used the sets My Comforter and Scribble Flowers

- Lucinde