The World is Yours

Psalm 89:11

"The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours.

The world and everything in it --- you founded them."

When you stop and think, it really is just so amazing that God created everything in our world. Everything from the mountains and the valleys, down to things as small as the insects and flowers! God created everything and everything has a purpose. Some things gross us out like mosquitos and bats, BUT, everything has its purpose! My kids will often ask things like, "Did God make our house? Did he make our car?" While it makes me smile, I always tell them that the people God created made those things, and God gifted us the knowledge and talent to make all the other things in life that we use everyday! 

The world and everything in it, He founded them!

I wanted to share a fun little "happy accident" I discovered on my page. I happen to breath hard on my page and noticed the wings moved on my dragonfly! How fun right?!?! So I thought I'd share how I created it. :) 

I first stamped the dragonfly wings separately on regular old tissue paper. Just the thin stuff you find to wrap your presents.

Then I cut the wings out VERY carefully! The paper is so thin that you really need to cut slowly and hold the paper lightly. I decided to separate the wings so you wouldn't see the white tissue paper between them.

I stamped the solid body stamp for the dragonfly in a green/blue color, then stamped the outline body image in black. I carefully cut out the body and used a small dab of glue on each wing to attach them to the body.

Lastly, I got some small squares of double sided foam tape, cut them in half, and placed them on the underside of the dragonfly body only. This leaves the tissue wings free to move around! :)

I hope you enjoyed this page! If you have any questions or need help creating your own, let me know! I'm happy to help!! :) You'll find all the stamps I used for this page linked below!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

@faith.and.creativity

Dragonfly Dreams

Loop da Loop Alpha 

Typewriter Block Alpha 

Mini Grunge Type Alpha 

Everything Belongs to the LORD

"Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: 'Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.  Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.  And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.'"
1 Chron. 29:10-14 (Emphasis mine)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!🎉

I can not even begin to imagine what 2019 will bring for us, can you?  I find it to be a collective wonder of craze and amazement!  The new year usually ushers in a bounty of things that 2018 did not.  We find ways to change our lives for the long term - resolutions, goals, and planning - that could reflect a "better way" than the year prior.  Right?

Exercise?
Lose Weight?
Read the Bible in a year?
Do daily devotions?
Pray more?
Pick up that instrument?
Write a book?
See Niagra Falls?

You probably have a much more romantic New Year's list than I have.  I admit, I'm rather boring in my daily excitements, and what it means for me to feel accomplished.  But, we both share a similar default: we're human.
Whether or not you're saving up for a flight to the Falls, prepping that planner, or honing a particular skill, we all fall under the same God-given purpose.  1 Chronicles 29 gives us a wonderful look at what our lives are made for: worship.  Worship of the one, true God.  And not just any God: the God who owns everything!
Here at the end of 1 Chronicles, and before handing his throne to Solomon, David is attempting to incite worship and yet another revival among the people of Israel.  It's almost as though he's working to create resolve among Israel to hold to a particular creed and way of life.
Success! And through a glorious prayer of humility and honor to the Lord, all God's people say, "Amen."  At least for now.  I find it funny how fickle humanity can be in keeping resolutions, even back then.
But let's keep going!

It's important for us to note the particulars of this prayer, specifically the highlights that bring successful worship of the Lord of all, among the people who call Him Master, or Lord.
1.  "Yours." 
David is speaking to the Lord; of the Lord.  To God belongs something.  It's a possessive pronoun here.  To God belongs the rest of what David lists. I'm no English major, but as I read all the sentences wrapped around this word, "Yours," it seems that God is holder, keeper, owner of something. 
  - greatness
  - power
  - glory
  - majesty
  - splendor
  - everything in heaven and earth
  - the Kingdom
  - wealth
  - honor
  - strength

Woah.  To God belongs a lot.  Like, A LOT!
2.  "Everything," David says. 
Though difficult to wrap our limited minds around, we truly need to understand this concept as best as we are able. 
"Everything" means everything.  Everything in Heaven.  Everything on Earth.  Every magnification, every praise, every honor, every glorification.  Every great, every small.  Every external, every internal. 
It's this word among the powerful phrases that David uses to help ignite the people's understanding of their position before God. 

God owns all.
We own nothing.
All comes from the LORD.
We bring nothing to the table.

In light of everything that God has done for Israel's freedom and multiple redemptions, David reminds the people through prayer that to God belongs all control, power, and praise. 
This has the potential to lead to deep conviction and worship of Almighty God!  When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray (Matthew 6, Luke 11), it started similarly and contained similar sentiments.  The truth of God's Word is that He is all and in all, and from Him comes all we have.  We are not autonomous; we have a beginning; we have an end.  Our lives are dust.  Our days are numbered.  One thing that keeps us from a life of idolatry and vanity is this adhering and abiding in the Everlasting God and Father.

"Our Father who is heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen."

We sing this prayer/doxology as a reminder. 
This rightly places the One before us on the throne within us. 

For this coming year, maybe we need to step back and analyze what we have been given.  God has given it - ALL of it.  Maybe we need to re-evaluate our heart in relationship to His kingdom; His will; His purpose.  He is all.  He owns all.  Our truest form of worship is to offer ourselves as workmen for His glory, His power, and His name.  Forever. 
It's a lofty resolution, but one that God will honor as we fight to keep!
Much love for 2019!

Deeds

Stamps used are "Happy Alpha" from the January release, and
Bitty Minnie Alpha

 

Learning to Wait

Good Morning everyone!! 

The page I am sharing with you today is based on a verse in the book of Isaiah. 

Isaiah 30:18

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him."

In this chapter, the people of Israel were seeking help from Egypt instead of turning to God for help. They didn't want to hear the truths that the prophets spoke of, they only wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. So they looked towards sinful things that appeased them. God is a jealous God. He gets very angry at them for turning to someone else for help instead of him. The only help we need as believers is help from the Lord. We should not look to the world for answers as it is the world that will lead us astray. 

Egypt is also a symbol of the "worldly things" we seek. The Pharaoh was nothing more than a man, and God had proven his power over the Pharaoh time and time again, yet they still choose to seek the Pharaoh's wisdom over their own God. We as christians need to be patient and wait on the Lord! His timing is perfect and he knows the plan for our lives, not us! So we need to wait on his timing and his mercy. He will never leave us, we just need to wait to receive his guidance, not rush ahead because we are impatient and want answers now. 

I kept this page simple because I wanted the message to stay strong. I used the napkin technique to apply this sweet bunny onto my page. I went Live on the Creative Worship Bible Journaling Facebook Group earlier this week showing just how to do this napkin technique. 

1. You trim your image of choice and peel off the back layer of the napkin leaving only the thin layer your image is on. 
2. Then apply and thin layer of gesso to your page where you want the napkin to go, and gently press and smooth the napkin down to your page. 
3. I have found if you then dry the napkin and gesso it helps with the next step. 
4. The last step is to very gently apply a layer of gesso over top of the napkin to help seal it to the page. Try to apply just enough to hold the napkin down and cover it. The more wet your napkin gets, the easier it will be to wrinkle or rip it. 
5. Then just dry it one more time, trim off the excess napkin from the edges of your page and you're done!! The bunny on this page is just an image cut from a napkin but it looks like I drew it on there. Such a fun technique to add to your bible journaling arsenal of tricks!

I hope you all enjoyed this page and the technique shared. If you have any questions at all about it, please feel free to send me a message and I would be happy to help! I have also listed the stamps I used on this page below. Mixing up the different alphas made for a fun touch to the message on this page.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Stephanie Gammon

xoxo

Holy Spirit

Teeny Alpha

Classy Script Alpha