Rest on His Promises

The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their ancestors...

Not one of all the Lord's good promises to Israel failed;

every one was fulfilled. Joshua 21:44-45

Hi Friends!

Today we are in Joshua 21 which ends with 2 verses about God's rest and His fulfilled promises. Let's take the promises first. God had promised land to Abraham and his descendants. That land was a very long time in coming. And, the Israelites had to fight for it. It took patience and work, but God kept His promises. Every. Single. One. Our great God is a Promise Keeper. What He says He will do, He does. Not just sometimes, but every time. The Israelites could count on that; and we can too. Now, let's talk about the rest. The following comes from the SheReadsTruth devotion: The foundation for any true rest is built on the fulfilled promises of God. God promised and delivered rest to His people. Although man threw away perfect rest and peace in the garden, God faithfully and continually rescued His people from slavery and unrest of their own folly, and brought them to a land of rest that He had prepared for them. The promise is for us also. One day, the chasing and straining of this world will cease, and we will find perfect rest and peace in Him forever.

Trust our Promise Keeper, my friends. And rest in Him.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Count Your Rainbows, Prayer Time, Way Maker, Faith Phrases, Sweet & Simple Alpha, All in All, In His Image, and Faith Wordfetti. Whew! That's a lot of sets! But I love combining sets on my pages, bringing words and images from different sets together. No special techniques on this page, I just did basic stamping. I outlines the heart in the rainbow with a Micron pen. I stamped the pencil on sticker paper and only partially adhered it to the page so I can lift it to read the Scripture underneath. I used Prismacolor pencils to color the pencil.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Hi Friends!
Today, we're in Ecclesiastes 3. When I was studying this passage, I came across an explanation of verses 1-8 that I'd like to share with you. The source is gotquestions.org.(https://www.gotquestions.org/time-for-everything.html) It says:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a well-known passage that deals with the balanced, cyclical nature of life and says that there is a proper time for everything.In this passage, the Preacher (Solomon) says that there is a time for every matter in life. He illustrates this truth by juxtaposing opposites: fourteen pairs of contrasting activities as examples of how life is comprised of various seasons. A straightforward reading of the passage reveals several concepts:

First, the timing of our activities is important. Killing someone (Ecclesiastes 3:8) is generally considered evil and a crime, but that may change during a time of war, when defending one’s country can be considered a noble act. Dancing (verse 4) may be appropriate during a time of celebration, but it would not be appropriate for a funeral. Both our actions and the timing of our actions are important to God.

Second, these seasons in which certain pursuits are proper are appointed by God. His plan for life involves a variety of experiences and activities. Weeping may be part of life, but life is not all weeping; laughter has a place, too (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Construction is good in its time, but sometimes deconstruction is necessary (verse 3).

A key to this passage is found a few verses later: “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The proper activity at the right time, bringing about God’s purposes, is a beautiful part of God’s overall plan. A tapestry, viewed from the back, seems a chaotic and unlovely work; but the maker of the tapestry has a wise purpose for the placement of each thread.
Third, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 serves as a bridge between the first two chapters and the section that follows. People are to accept each day as a gift from the hand of God (2:24–26). Why? Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 explains it is because God has a reason and a time for all things. People may be ignorant of God’s timing (3:9–11), but they are called to enjoy life in the present (3:12–13) and trust in God’s sovereignty (3:14–15).

God offers much wisdom in the saying, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” God is sovereign. Our activity in this world is meaningful as we rely on His wisdom, His timing, and His goodness.

Page Details:

I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Time Well Spent, Bold &Outline Caps, Consider the Wildflowers, Wood Backgrounds, Messy Stamped Alpha, With Love Alpha, and Sweet & Simple Alpha. Time Well Spent has clock hands; so you can make a clock out of anything! So cool! Time Well Spent is the June Stamp of the Month. You can get it for FREE with a $75 order. I used the wood background and painted the center with black acrylic paint. I embossed the numbers, and then stamped the clock hands in silver. I love SNSS alphas! If you don't like your own handlettering, or just want something different, alpha stamps are a great option. The new Bold & Outline alpha is great because you really get 2 alphas in one. You can use the solid or outline images alone, intermingled (as I did on this page), or outline the solid letters with the outline ones. It's such a versatile set as you can get so many different looks from it.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Salvation and Righteousness

You heavens above, rain down My righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord, have created it. Isaiah 45:8

Hi Friends,

In chapter 45, God through Isaiah tells the people that He will return the Jewish people to the Promised Land from the Babylonian exile through Cyrus. God makes it clear in verses 1-8 that God is in complete control. It's not by Cyrus' power or because of him that the Jewish people are restored. It is by God's power and because of Him. He, and He alone, is sovereign.

I just love the word pictures in this verse 8! God, of course, created the heavens and the earth. He can make it rain literally, in the natural sense, but He can also rain down on us in a spiritual sense. When He rains down His righteousness, the only response is salvation! Again, God is telling the people, their restoration is from Him, and Him alone.

There is a lesson in this verse for us as well. Our restoration is also only found in Him. Righteousness and salvation are tied together. God sent Jesus, our Righteousness and Salvation. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we receive salvation and He clothes us in His righteousness. Just think about that- God rained Jesus on this world, on me, on you. Because of that, salvation sprung up in me when I accepted Jesus. But, not only that, righteousness also grows in me because of Jesus. And the same is true for any of us who accept Jesus. WOW! WOW! WOW! We serve such an awesome God!

Page Details:
I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Delightful Daisies, Armor of God, Women of Praise, Refresh My Soul, & Sweet & Simple Alpha. I used Salty Ocean Distress Oxide for the background. I applied the ink with a sponge dauber. I stamped the daisy on an address label and colored it with alcohol markers. Then I cut it out and stuck it to the page. I did this as alcohol markers will bleed through Bible pages, and that way it would look crisp against my blue background. I finished the page by highlighting "up" and "flourish" with a white pen.

 

Have a blessed week, my friends! Andrea

Fear not!

Hi friends,

I want to talk about something today that I believe is really important to reflect upon for those of us who engage in creative worship. I have lost count of the amount of times I have read comments from people on social media, often commenting on my artwork, that express worry or fear about doing something artistic in their bible.

These kind of comments make me sad because fear should not play a part in our creative worship of God. I've thought a lot about what is behind those fears, and the main driving reason for fear seems to be fear of making a mistake, fear of failure, fear of 'messing up' the bible. In response to this I want to share a little of my journey and what I've learnt about why we do what we do when we draw, paint or stamp in our bibles.

I started Bible journaling over four years ago with simple stamping and stickers. I look back on the pages I did then and some of them I like, others of them I most certainly do not. There are even a few I wish I could tear out because of the disaster they were artistically! But for me this has been a journey in overcoming perfectionism. My natural disposition is one that never wants to make a mistake, is petrified of failure, of looking foolish. This would be the case even if I wasn't sharing my art on social media, but with that added factor the perfectionism tendencies are even more of an issue. But as I've consistently created in my Bible, I've learned a few lessons along the way...

1) It's about the heart before it's about the art. The purpose of this artistic activity is not primarily the production of beautiful artwork. It is about spending time meditating on God's word and hiding it in our heart. It is about creating time for God to speak to us through his Word and for us to respond in praise, prayer and obedience.

2) Mistakes remind us that we are not God... and that is a good thing. When we hold on to the desire for perfection we forget that only one is perfect and that one is God. We are most certainly not perfect, whether artistically or behaviorally! This is good to meditate on because it keeps us humble and it reminds us of the grace and love of God, who loves us unconditionally, despite our glaring imperfections.

3) Skill in anything takes time to develop - time and a lot of practice! I know this with playing and teaching the piano. Many people would like to play beautiful piano music but are not prepared to put in the practice required to be able to do so. The same goes for art. To colour beautifully, stamp accurately and design pages with balance and creativity requires practice, practice and more practice. Often we learn best when we make mistakes and we realise that certain things don't work. That's all part of the journey of increasing in knowledge and skill!

I used the sweet Be a Flamingo set for the images on this page, and combined the Sweet & Simple Alpha and Walk by Faith sets along with some tiny alpha stickers for the verse. I couldn't resist adding some Faith Wordfetti for finishing touches! I used Inktense blocks from Derwent to colour the images, using an aquabrush to pick up the colour. The background was also created using these blocks by spritzing some water on my glass mat and rubbing the block into the water to create a little coloured ink puddle. I then picked up some of this colour with a piece of acetate and 'smooshed' it onto the page until I was happy with the overall effect. Here are the stamp sets used on this page:

Can I encourage you to say 'no' to fear when it comes to expressing your faith in creative worship and instead to embrace the process of learning about God, yourself and creativity?

With every blessing...

x Amy x

Water from the Rock...

Hi friends,

I am sharing four pages with you today because they all tie together within the same theme/events in the Bible. The two miraculous events are found in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 and both are a demonstration of God's provision for a thirsty, grumbling people.

In Exodus 17 the people of Israel are traveling in the desert and have no water. They grumble to and against Moses, demanding that he give them water. His response is to firstly point out that they are in fact grumbling against God (a sobering truth to reflect upon in our own grumbling!), then he cries out to God for help. God's reply is that he should strike the rock that is in their midst, and when he does, water flows out - enough water to quench the thirst of many, many people. God's provision is so lavish and so gracious, despite the quarreling, grumbling and lack of faith of the people.

Years later, towards the end of Moses' life, a similar scenario unfolds in a different place. The people have no water and again complain to Moses and Aaron, grumbling about being in the desert, not having grain or fruit, and even wishing that they were dead! Once again, Moses and Aaron go and seek the Lord about this dire situation and God responds graciously. He commands Moses to speak to the rock that was in their midst and that water would flow. Moses however, instead of obeying God's command to speak to the rock, speaks to the people and says “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” He then strikes the rock twice. This response shows anger and frustration, and taking matters into his own hands. God in his grace still provides water for his people, despite Moses' disobedience, but Moses pays a heavy price: he is no longer allowed to enter the promised land. 

In Deuteronomy 8 we see Moses reminding the people of all that God had done for them (they had a habit of forgetting!). In this speech, he reminds them of these instances of provision of water from the rock, and this time he gets the emphasis right: it was God who brought forth the water, not him. In fact, it was despite him, despite circumstances and despite the people's grumbling attitudes, that God provided. Oh what grace. There are so many lessons we can learn from these accounts in the Old Testament. Lessons about going to God with your problems, about the importance of obedience in leadership and the need to not let frustration and anger drive our reactions. There are lessons about gratitude and grumbling, and about giving God the glory rather than taking it for ourselves. Isn't Scripture amazing with its richness?

But there's another aspect of this theme that appears in the New Testament...

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul writes about how we need to learn from Israel's history, particularly from their mistakes and God's character shown in his dealings with them. In reflecting on these 'water from the rock' instances, Paul writes that the rock that followed them was Christ. It was out of the riches of Christ that the people were satisfied. Now here's where the part about striking and speaking gets really interesting. Jesus was struck for us (see Isaiah 53 and the narratives of the crucifixion) and as a result, salvation flowed to us. But once was enough (see Hebrews 7:27 & 10:10) - Jesus doesn't need to keep being sacrificed and struck for us because his suffering and sacrifice was perfect and complete. Now, we only need to speak to him in prayer to receive his provision, nourishment and life-giving Spirit. How awesome is that? I just love how these truths are unfolded throughout Scripture and how everything is centered in Christ.

For all of these pages I used the same supplies: Inktense blocks and a paintbrush, as well as black Versamagic ink and of course, stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy! I used the new School Days Alpha and Faith Wordfetti as well as Living Water, Mighty Fortress, His Name and Sweet & Simple Alpha. Here are the sets I used:

I know this post has been a long one, but there was so much to share about this thread of water from the rock throughout Scripture. I hope that you have been encouraged and that God will speak to you through his Word so you would know his gracious provision right where you are.

x Amy x

Mature thinking...

Hi friends,

I came across this verse in 1 Corinthians 14:20 a while ago and it really struck me:

"Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature."

There are some things we are supposed to be childlike in: this verse tells us clearly that one of those things is evil. We are also supposed to be childlike as we come to Jesus (Matthew 18:3-4) and we are to find our identity as children of God (Ephesians 5:1, 8). But there are also important aspects of life in which we need to be mature. One of those is in our thinking.

When I was meditating on this concept of maturity in thinking, two images came to mind that could illustrate this. One is solid and strong trees that have grown and been established over many years, which cannot be blown down in the storms of life and continue to provide shade to others. The way we think needs to develop in like manner. Mature thinking takes time to learn and develop, but when it has flourished and been established, it guards us from being blown around by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14) and it provides wisdom and protection for others.

The other image was that of a butterfly. The process of transformation a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly includes a lot of hiddenness and shedding of old skin. The result is a creature that is no longer bound to the earth, but can fly through the air with beauty and grace. In reflecting on becoming mature in our thinking, I realised that this process involves being hidden in Christ, and often times hidden away from the spotlight of prestige and the world's accolades. It also includes shedding old ideas and ways of thinking that belong to childhood (oh how I've been learning this painful lesson over the past two years as I have studied theology!). The result though, after the hiddenness and loss of old identity, is a wondrous new ability to fly like never before, and to demonstrate the exquisite beauty of God's wisdom when lived out on a daily basis.

I used both the butterfly and tree images on my page (from Made New and Thrill of Hope) and created the text from the new Sweet & Simple Alpha as well as His Love. The background was created using gelatos and blended them with a baby wipe. I added some subtle background texture using a couple of stamps from Texture Tiles 1. Here are the sets I used:

Can I encourage us all to embrace God's work in our life in bringing us to maturity in our thinking? We can be intentional about this call in the way we occupy our minds and what we feed them daily. Food for thought? I think so!

x Amy x