Amazing Grace

"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Romans 5:20-21

𝆕"Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch; like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!

The Lord hath promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun."𝆕

-John Newton

Today's blog post is simple, but full of truth. God's grace is so amazing. Instead of abounding in anger or judgement, God abounds in grace and love. You can't out-sin the grace of God, for where sin is, God's grace abounds even more. 

I used the stamps, watercolors, vellum paper, and embossing powder to create this little entry in my Illustrating Bible. I first stamped flowers from the Itty Bitty Blossoms stamp set in the general area I knew I wanted my phrase to go, then messy colored them with watercolors and splattered a few of the colors over the page. I was originally planning on embossing the Grace so Amazing stamp directly on the page, but then remembered I had vellum paper and thought it would be a great overlay with the flowers in the background so went with it. 🎕 I love how it turned out! This page only took me about 20 minutes to do (the longest part being the embossing because I'm still learning that technique), but gave me time to think on the amazingness of God's grace in my life. ♡

Have a blessed week in the Lord!

Janelle

@journalingjoy

 

Mutual Encouragement

Hello friends, it's Janelle here! I'm new to the Creative Worship Blog, so I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share with you all how excited I am to be here with you. I am a Michigan native, married to my high school sweetheart, mom of three boys and a furbaby named Waffles (my boys named her, of course 😉). I have been a Christian for many years, but walked away from the Lord through my teens and twenties until He got a hold of my heart and brought me back to Him. Now, my family and I actively serve in our local church, where I play piano and teach a 2nd and 3rd grade girls' Sunday School class (my weekly girl time!). When I'm not Bible Journaling, I'm reading or hanging out with my family. 

I received a Journaling Bible as a Christmas gift over a year ago and have fallen in love with creatively expressing my relationship with Christ through His Word. I've followed Korin and her Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps ministry for quite awhile and am so blessed to be a part of the team. My prayer is that God will use me to encourage others as I have been encouraged by her and her team this past year. ❤

"That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." 

Romans 1:12

The book of Romans is one of the most-studied books of the Bible as it clearly lays out God's plan of salvation for both Jews and Gentiles, but Paul's heartfelt passion for his readers is evident throughout the whole book. Paul opens his letter with salutations and thanksgiving, and in Romans 1:11-12 he articulates how he longs to see his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ so that they "may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Believers form a special family of brothers and sisters who are provided for by a heavenly Father, and as a family they have the unique ability to encourage and motivate one another to live for Christ. That is something I have experienced first hand in this Bible Journaling Community. We all come from different backgrounds and yet we have been brought together by our love for God and His Word. We are sisters in Christ in God's heavenly family and have a responsibility to God and to each other to uplift and encourage each other in our faith walk.  

My dear sister in Christ, I urge you to take a moment at the start of this busy week to think of one person you could encourage in faith today. Say a prayer, drop a note, send a text, and remind her of God's love and purpose for her in her day today. 

I used the Genuine Love set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps to create this simple page. I drew a box around the passage I wanted to highlight and taped it off with washi tape. I then stamped all around box with the hearts and flowers. I used Distress Oxides for the flowers and Archival Ink for the hearts.

*Fun fact: I dropped my stamp pad and had a big smudge right in the middle of my text. Not the look I was going for. 😔 To "fix" it, I created a watercolor effect with the stamp ink and turned the smudge into a highlight of my key verse. Girls, isn't that just how God works? He takes the big, ugly smudges right in the middle of our life, softens them around the edges, and uses them to bring Him glory. Praise God! 🙌

Hugs and prayers for you this week, 

Janelle @journalingjoy

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!

I Am an Heir

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:16-17

Hey guys!
I'm hopeful about today.  I have been reminded about the absolute and unfathomable graces of the Lord.  When John talks about it, he says something like "grace upon grace."  That's exactly what God does in the life of one He's called into His family!
When journaling this passage of scripture, I didn't quite know how to express the words or heart of appreciation for my God!  Have you ever had that happen?
God knows how much it truly means to us, because He's positioned Himself as the King of our hearts and Lord of our lives - inside!  Therein lies the Holy Spirit that testifies with our spirit - they literally come together in one accord and unit - that we are children.  BUT IT DOESN'T STOP THERE!

Distress inks used to create subtle and colorful backdrop.

 The scriptures here go on to tell - albeit, rather generally - that once we are children, we are heirs.  Generality in the Bible happens when the human mind and heart cannot completely imagine, describe, or understand the totality of God, His person, His blessings, His character - you name it!  We just can't quite wrap our minds around it!

The good news - the "gospel" - is such that we cannot fully fathom the what's and why's of our salvation in Jesus Christ. 
So, Paul is doing his absolute best, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to help us know what the Lord has revealed to him; and he uses terminology that we "get," at least to some degree!
Here's what we know:
1.  Being heirs with Christ starts when the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit.  In other words, when we have come to the understanding of who Jesus is and accepted Him as such, we are saved by the power of the Holy Spirit and God sees us as a joint-heir with Christ.

Adding "Itty Bitty Blossoms" to
provide a border at the bottom
of the page.

Almost done!

2.  Being a child of God, therefore miraculously entitles us to the inheritence of Jesus Christ!  Jesus is the firstborn of God, the first fruits of the resurrection and the first to receive all that the Father has to give.  But as joint heirs, we are given what Jesus is given - a position as one who will some day be given life in the eternal home with God.  Our destination is secured with God, in Jesus!
3.  Being a joint-heir also positions us as people who suffer with Christ.  The passage clearly points out that though we have eternal glory awaiting us, we do have to remain in the world for a time.  And while in the world, we have hope; the hope of Jesus! The hope of being glorified once our time here is done!

I added white acrylic paint to the bible mat, then
used the brayer to spread it out evenly.

With a thin coat of paint on the mat, the "girl power"
stamp was able to grab a good amount without
getting sloppy.

The acrylic paint gave me a white-stamped
impression on the page.  I did this with several other
"girl power" images.

My heart is overwhelmed by the graciousness and generosity of the Lord.  How can I possibly fathom the inheritance awaiting me in Jesus, when I cannot even fully grasp His riches here on earth?  The Holy Spirit is my connection to Jesus; Jesus is my connection to eternal promise!  Praise Him, I am a child of God!

I usually enjoy the used of a sharpie paint pen to
add small embellishments like crosses across
the page!

I used paper prints to make the clothes of the main "girl power" image
you see here.  I pieced her together and added color to her
face and hair using a simple marker.

If you are a child of God, you are joint-heirs with Christ!  Hopeful, I pray you found this encouraging!
Much Love,
Deeds

Stamps used in this process are:
Girl Power
Itty Bitty Blossoms
& Bitty Minnie Alpha

Be a Light

Hello everyone!
    I hope you guys are off to a great start this week! Today I am sharing a page with you I recently created in my 100 Days of Bible Promises book. This book/journal has been a wonderful and inspiring place to try new techniques that I would normally be afraid to try out in my bible.

Romans 12:2

"Do not conform to the patterns of this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

Then you will be able to test and approve that God's will is --- 

his good, pleasing and perfect will."

After reading this verse, it reminded me of how hard it really is sometimes to live the way God calls us to! The reality of the world we live in today is really quiet far from the way God would like us to be, as a general population. The world is mixed with all kinds of different people and not everyone loves God and his word the way some of us do. It can be very easy to fall into the pits of what is most popular or "accepted" today instead of following what is right. If we can stay in His word and remind ourselves of the path we should be following, we can become a light in a dark world for others to follow. There are some that may not know God's word or simply just need to be reminded of it. And WE can be that light for those people! Shining our light can have an amazing impact on one or many.

So shine bright in a dark world!!!

Creative Details

To create this page I covered the entire page with Distress Ink in the color Black Soot. I then used a white colored pencil to get a general outline of the mason jar I wanted. To create the grass and the light in the jar, I used mixtures of lime green, white, bright blue, black and white acrylic paints. The text was the last thing I did on this page after making sure the rest of my page was completely dry. I used two different stamp sets (listed below) and stamped them with VersaMark embossing ink, then used white, black and silver embossing powder. I only embossed one word at a time to keep the powders from mixing. I set the embossing powder with my heat gun and done!!

Thanks for stopping my the Creative Worship Blog today and checking out my page! Have a great week.... and shine bright!!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

Bitty Minnie Alpha

Mini Grunge Type Alpha

Overflow with hope

There are a lot of beautiful blessings/prayers in the bible. Romans 15:13 is one of those blessings I love. ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ I think these words are beautiful to pray for friends and family, so I wanted to make a little reminder of that in my journaling bible.

I used distress ink to color the background and stamped the image fom ‘fill me up’ onto the page. The large stamped words are from the ‘Message of Hope’ stamp set, the little leaf images are from this set too. I colored the images with ink too and sprayed everything with a fixative spray, this isn’t necessary but I like the effect it gives and how it brightens your colors.

- Lucinde