Forgive my Hidden Faults...

Hi friends,

I've been thinking a lot about the relationship between apathy, silence and complicity lately. Often these sins go unnoticed because they are hidden and not easily seen or identified within ourselves. I'm reminded of Psalm 19:12 where the psalmist prays, "But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults" and Psalm 139:24 where the psalmist asks God to "see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

In the times in which we find ourselves, being faced with the challenge of racial prejudice, I know it is all too easy to not see these hidden faults and offensive ways within ourselves. That's why we need to have the courage to ask God to reveal these dark corners of our hearts, and not be surprised or offended when he uses our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ to shine the light.

The willingness to open our heart to God's scrutiny requires humility and courage, because we need to acknowledge that we do not know all there is to know about ourselves, and that we may well have hidden sin that will be ugly and painful to confront. One of the ways that God reveals our hidden faults is through Scripture, whether through our personal devotional reading, or through preaching, or by listening to or reading the teaching of those who have studied Scripture and share the wisdom they have gained through books, podcasts or videos. I am grateful for how God speaks through these brothers and sisters in the faith to reveal truth about himself, as well as about me.

I used my gel plate with acrylic paints and stencils to create the background on this page. I stamped the dandelion from Blessings in Disguise over the background and stamped the text with a combination of All of Me Alpha, Let's Do This and Healer of my Heart, along with some alpha stickers. I stamped the broken heart image from Healer of my Heart and coloured with pencils. I stuck a printed Blue Morpho Butterfly in light grey onto the back so it looks partially hidden and blended into the background. Here are the sets I used:

I pray that we would all have the courage and humility to ask the Lord to search our hearts for hidden faults and to forgive us and teach us how to live our lives cleansed of these sins. Thank God that he is faithful to answer our prayer!

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Suffer A Little While

Hello friends!  I pray everyone is safe and doing well.  Life is looking a little different for most of us currently thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, am I right?  We are all trying to adjust to our new routines.

Conditions in our area, are like many places...most grocery store shelves are bare, schools are closed, and restaurants are all drive-ins or open to pick up orders only.  Though there have been some inconveniences, so far things have changed little in my household.  My husband, myself and our two sons are still able to go to work as usual, we have the necessities and we are healthy.  Sadly, I know that is not the case for many people. 

As I prayed over this post, I was led to 1 Peter 5:6-11.  I hope you find it encouraging as I give my thoughts on these verses. 

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

In verses 6-7 Peter instructs us to lay aside our pride and give our fears and worries to God, the God who loves us.  What anxieties do you have today that you can hand over to the Father about the coronavirus?

8Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Peter warns us in verses 8-9 that the devil is on the prowl, ready to tempt us and destroy us in our suffering.  Do not be fooled.  The evil one is searching for us even now, looking to tear us down and fill us with fear.  He would love to discredit us and our testimony during this time.  Use the truths you know about God to fight the fears and lies the devil tells you.  God loves you and wants to prosper you.  He sent His only Son to save YOU.  Peter also urges us to keep strong in our faith and reminds us, we aren't suffering this alone.  Children of God around the world are all being affected by Covid-19 and are under attack from the devil.  

10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

God, in his unfailing grace, is using our suffering to perfect, prove, and strengthen us.  Thankfully, we get hope from this verse, that we will only suffer a little while.  He will bring us through this pandemic in His timing, which is perfect. 

Perhaps, He is even using this virus, to turn the world back to Him.  Maybe He is reminding us of the importance of the time we have and how we use it.  Through the changes in our routines, we have been pushed back in to our homes, with our families, eating around our table.  We have had to give up idols that come in the form of sporting events, concerts, movies and even our jobs in some cases.  Let's use this time, as Christians, to show the world what we are made of.  We are called to love and honor God above all else, love one another and deny ourselves, and pray continually.  We are never alone in the battles we face. 

  

Page Details:
I started this page by blending distress oxide inks on to my page. I stamped dandelions from the new Blessings in Disguise set across the bottom.  I colored the stems in with a green Faber Castell pen and used a white Uniball Signo gel pen to add some white highlights to the seeds.  I stamped a sentiment from the Peony Cluster set above my dandelions.  I used the Loop da Loop Alpha and Mini Grunge Type Alpha to stamp out my title.  I finished my page by journaling a prayer and drawing a sketchy box around my focus verses.

I pray God protects and blesses each of you in these uncertain times.  Encourage and help each other when you can.  Remember to wash your hands and say your prayers because Jesus and germs are everywhere.  

Until next time, you can catch up with me on Instagram @simplyjillsjourney.

xoxo,

Jill

Be a Blessing

"So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Galatians 6:10

In all honesty, I had a completely different topic planned for today's blog post, but recent events have moved me in a different direction. I'm not going to talk about the response to the virus - anxiety, panic, trust, confidence, or faith. Those topics have all been covered by biblical scholars and authors far more qualified than me, and I think as Christians we know what our response should be to the crisis that lies before us. What I am going to challenge you (and me) on today is being a blessing in a difficult time. 

In yesterday's sermon, our pastor spoke on Galatians 6, and verse 10 really jumped out at me. There are lots of opportunities to be a blessing right now, aren't there? Whether it's calling to check in on an elderly church member or relative, sending a friend a 'thinking of you' card, picking up groceries for a neighbor, offering to help babysit for a friend whose children are unexpectedly home for the next three weeks due to school closures - whatever it is, you can be a blessing. Take a minute to think of what you can do to be a help and encouragement to those around you. 

I created the background of this page with Distress Oxides, embossing powder, and stamps. 💜

Praying you all stay safe and healthy during the coming weeks,

Janelle

@journalingjoy

You can find the stamps sets used through the links below: