The Time is Now

 Hello, friends!  I want to talk about time today, both the passage of it, how we use it and I want to pose a question to you.  What are you waiting for?

Many people believe they will have time to "get right with the Lord" before they die, but that's not always the case.  We've all heard some version of the saying, "you are not promised tomorrow".  The Bible says it in Proverbs 27:1, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring".  Basically friends, we all have appointments to leave this world and to go on to what is next for us.  We don't know when our time here is up.  Where you go after you leave this world is all dependent upon whether you 1) know and confess that you are a sinner, 2) believe that God sent His Son, Jesus to save us and 3) that He saved us by dying on the cross, redeeming us with His blood.  

Please, if you're not saved, don't put it off another day, for we are truly not promised tomorrow.  The time is now.

Now for the saved, I pose the same question to myself and to you....what are you waiting for?

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2:

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, 

"In a favorable time, I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you."  

Behold, now is a favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

 

Paul is talking to fellow Christians and urging them to get to work for God.  David Guzik said this in a study guide, "God has an acceptable time for us to work with His grace.  God has a day of salvation that will not last forever. This is no time for Christian lives consumed with ease and comfort and self-focus.  It is time to get busy for the Lord and to be workers together with Him." 

Mmmm, that stepped on my toes and gave me a reality gut punch.  I mean, souls are at stake and what am I doing to save them???  I tend to live a life at ease and comfort and self-focus.  But here's what I've realized, you don't have to be a missionary, traveling to distance lands to save souls.  There are souls all around us, every day that need to hear the good news.  We all have family members or neighbors or co-workers that we could share the gospel with.  The time is now.

Artsy details:

I began this page by stamping the large peony from Encouraging Peonies at the bottom of my page.  I found this beautiful hour glass image online and printed it to a size that would fit nicely on my page and trace it.  I used Old Fashioned Alpha to stamp out my title.  It was beautiful with just the black and white ink detail.  I debated on coloring it, and finally decided I would watercolor the image.  I love how it turned out.

I pray you are safe and well.  Until next time, catch up with me on Instagram and Facebook @simplyjillsjourney. 

Jill

Mercy

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy."

Psalm 103:8

"Mercy for others will reveal your ongoing need for mercy, driving you to the end of yourself and into the arms of your merciful Savior." - Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies

In all honesty, I had a completely different topic picked out for today's blog post. But then my devotional covered the topic of mercy, my Sunday School class was on the topic of mercy, and my pastor preached on mercy in his Sunday evening sermon. You think just *maybe* God's trying to tell me something? 

To be completely transparent with you, I have not felt very merciful these last couple weeks. Not. At. All. People have been hurtful and unkind to me and my family and my first response is to immediately give them a piece of my mind. You feel me? After all, it's wrong and they need to know it! But then I have to stop. Just stop. Think. Take a deep breath. Pray. And remember the mercy that God has given me each and every day. 

"Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to they word. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word."

Psalm 119:41-42

God has a plan for me to live in freedom and liberty (read down to verse 45), and that plan includes my living in mercy so I can give mercy. If I don't have a plan for living in and giving mercy, I will live in a state of perpetual irritation - being hurt and offended by everyone and everything that slights me in any way. I don't know about you, but that is not how I want to live.

I love this excerpt from Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies devotional:

"We celebrate God's mercy but scream at our children when they mess up. We sing of amazing grace but punish our spouses with silence when they offend us. We praise God for his love but forsake a friendship because someone has been momentarily disloyal. We are thankful that we've been forgiven but say that a person who is suffering the result of his decisions is getting what he deserves. We bask in God's grace but throw the law at others. We're simply not that good at mercy because we tend to see ourselves as more deserving than the poor and needy."

Ouch. That hits where it hurts. God has granted me mercy and wants me to extend that same mercy to others; and when I show mercy to the people or situations that hurt or offend me, I grow (II Peter 3:18). 🎕

This week, I am praying for God's mercy to be real to me, not just for me, but so that I can share mercy with others and ultimately point them back to a loving, merciful God.

Page Details

If you know me, you know I love doing anything and everything with Distress Oxides. They are my go-to medium for all art pages! This page was especially fun because it was a beautiful mixed media disaster (kinda like me, haha). 😉 I used a 5" x 7" art journal I received as a gift at a recent retreat. Here is my step-by-step process:

1. I did put down a couple layers of Diane Wakley Clear Gesso on the page before starting my art. I used to never use gesso, but then I watched a great video by Colleen on whether or not to gesso with Distress Oxides (watch the video here) and have been gessoing ever since. I really like how the water reacts on the page when I gesso. Definitely creates more of an effect. 
2. I used a blending tool to blend two colors of Distress Oxides randomly on my page: Seedless Preserves and Peacock Feathers. I work fast when I do this! I get a bunch of ink on my blending tool and then swirl around on the page. Since this is messy page, I wasn't worried about actually blending the colors together - just about getting them down on the page. 
3. As soon as I had my base color down, I spritzed the page with my Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer. I like to get big droplets of water on the page and then tilt the page around to get runny water splotches. 
4. I used my heat dryer to dry my current progress. 
5. I then pulled out my brand, new Distress Ink Spray and sprayed some splotches on the page. This is the first time I've ever used Distress Spray and it was fun, but it's definitely going to take some practice. 😉 I did like how it reacted on my page, but since I had gessoed the page, it took a bit longer to dry. So be aware of that.
6. Dry again.
7. I smooshed the Seedless Preserves Distress Oxides down on my plastic page background, grabbed a paint brush, dipped it in water, and made my own little DIY watercolor with the smooshed oxides and splattered it all over the page. This added some purple splatters to go along with the blue splatters. 
8. Dry again.
9. I then used texture paste and stencils to created some flowers on the page corners. I smooshed down my Distress Oxides in Shaded Lilac (I wanted to add a different purple color for dimension) on my plastic page background, mixed a little bit of glitter acrylic paint that I picked up at Michael's, and texture paste to create a light purpley, glittery texture. I then very thinly spread that over my stencils where I wanted my flowers to go. 
10. Dry again. 
11. I then stamped down my images and title using the new Dragonfly Dreams, Loop da Loop, and Texture Tiles 5 stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I love these sets! I used Versafine Black Ink to stamp the images. I have found that this ink gives me the best images when I'm doing stamping, but be careful not to smudge the stamp when you are stamping on gesso!
12. Dry again.
13. I filled in some of the stamped hearts with my white gel pen to add a bit more dimension. 
14. Added a few small strips of coordinating color washi tape.
15. Wrote my devotional note.
16. Date stamped (always date stamp!!).
17. Made sure everything is dry again. 
18. FINISHED!

All in all, this page took almost an hour to do just because of all the layers and I was working with new mediums but, boy, was it FUN! I would highly encourage you to do something similar. This kind of messy art is therapeutic to me. In fact, how would you feel about me creating a video with this process? It won't be anything you haven't seen before with some other mixed media pros, but it could be fun to make an art mess together. What do you think? Leave me a comment if you'd like me to do a live video and journal together!! 😊

Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you are reminded to show mercy to the people in your life today. For further encouragement, take a moment and read Psalm 103. 💜

Much love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Here are the stamp sets I used to create this page:

 

 

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

 

A Thoughtful Christmas

Full Process Video available on my Youtube Channel: Mercies Journaled

Hello, friends!
Times are definitely changing!  The seasons are upon us that beg our attention to holidays.
Can you believe it?  Can you even believe that we're into September, days are shorter, nights are cooler, leaves are taking their flight, and birds are taking their leave?
My children start school in a few days, and I'm just aching over how quickly this has come.  But, God has said - and said repeatedly - that life is a vapor.  In the time He's allowed us, we should be finding ways to make the most of all situations and all seasons.

Today, I am hoping to give the gift of inspiration once again.  I find that as I look more into God's Word, the heart behind my creating and writing changes a little bit more.  The Sweet n Sassy Stamps Creative Worship team are working hard to bring you a well-rounded smattering of supplies for your everyday crafting and journaling needs!  (Please feel free to shop via my affiliate links below, located under the stamps sets used.)

I'm hoping to not get TOO much back-lash for posting about Christmas today.  I know, I know, it's somewhat too soon to be getting into THAT holiday.  It's too soon to be thinking on THAT time of year.  I grant you: the more I think about what Christmas entails in light of the ever-pressuring consumer-based culture, I morph into panic mode.
What does so and so want for Christmas?
How do I make sure my house as well lit as the "Joneses" down the street?
How do I make such meals in keeping with ALL the festivities at ALL the gatherings, while making it Instagram and caption worthy?
How do...
How much...
How must...

On and on, my mind could spin from the details of what makes a wonderful Christmas for just my family, let alone the groupings we plan and participate.
But one thing God has laid on my heart recently - and I mean something like yesterday - is how self-involved I really am when it comes to something like Christmas.

I didn't realize until AFTER I put this project together, that my heart was situated in a place of self, self, and more self.
In my process video on my Youtube channel, I get into the creation process of the Christmas and encouragement cards I make, as well as the hope that I have for myself this holiday season: to reach out to those who still NEED a Savior; to bring Light and Life to someone who we as Christians would call, "lost."
And in that sense, Christmas doesn't come too early.
Christ doesn't come too early.
The spreading of the Gospel of Grace doesn't come too early.
The giving of hope and love of God doesn't come too early....
I think you get my point.

We, in this God-graced, growing bubble of Christian folk, need the reminders that there is a lost and dying world chalk FULL of people who long for Someone to fill that longing in their hearts.
I know it's not a pretty thing to hear one say, "You need to be more intentional about those outside the household of faith."  But - as surely as I've been convicted of this - Christ did not just die for you and for me.  Christ did not just pay for my sins and yours.  Christ did not soak the ground in precious blood and tears for just us.
The Bible says that "while we were still in our sins, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)
And again, "While we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly." (Rom. 5:6)
And maybe once more, "For if, while we were still enemies we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled shall we be saved through His life!" (Rom. 5:10)
I guess Romans 5 says it best that all people - including those who are already Christians - are at one time alienated from God.  We are strangers and enemies of the One True God.
Our need is a desperate one, and only One can bring us back into relationship with God.
There is only One True King who stands in the gap between God and man, and His name is the one we must proclaim!
Those of us in the household of faith in Jesus Christ, must take the gifting of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) to the mission field in which God has placed us.

God is good.
God is always good.
We know that.
We hope in that.
We trust in that.
And our commission is to bear that in our lives to the ones who have not yet tasted and seen that Jesus Christ is good!

I'm praying this over myself, y'all.
I'm praying for this holy conviction to be too powerful for me to handle, and too powerful for me to just ignore.
I'm praying that we can uphold each other in encouragement and prayer as we take the Power of Jesus' name to our world.  He is mighty to save!
He IS the meaning of Christmas!

Much love,
Deeds

Affiliate Link for Deck the Halls, here.

Affiliate Link for Adore Him, here.

Pure Heart & Gracious Speech

"He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend."

Proverbs 22:11

If I can be real with you for just a minute, my speech has been less than gracious these last few weeks, and the Lord has been working on my heart - little by little, verse by verse. (Side note: Isn't it great how, when you're struggling in one specific area, every verse you read seems to pinpoint that struggle. God's so good like that❣) I came across this verse in Proverbs during my devotion time and it was a another reminder of the importance of gracious speech. Inner purity is shown through grace-filled words. If you aren't speaking graciously, check your heart. What is in your heart comes out of your mouth (see Matthew 12:34, Proverbs 4:23, and Luke 6:45). I needed to spend some time examining my heart, confessing my sin, and asking the Lord to give me a clean heart (Psalm 51:10) so I would speak grace-filled words. Purity and grace are marks of a godly and wise woman, and I want to be known as a wise woman of God. 

I used Distress Oxides in Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron and the brand new Set Apart stamp set along with the Teeny Alpha and Life & Lemons stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps to create this page. The elements in the Set Apart stamp set are so fun for adding creative little doodles to any page! 😉 You can purchase this stamp set along with the other July Creative Worship new releases for a discount as part of the Early Bird Release Bundle through July 9th. 

  

  

Have a blessed week, 

Janelle 😊

First Things First

All the things just pull at us and vie for our attention. It seems that everything is urgent and needed to be done yesterday. There are so many needs and ministries and people who genuinely need us.

How can we continue to give and give if we don’t keep our priorities in order? All of the THINGS that scream the loudest then become our focus instead of THE

things that God planned.

If we will let the Lord order our days, guide our steps, and lead our thoughts then the things fall in to the proper perspective. For me, starting my day by praising Him and giving Him Thanks helps to orient my day. When I start by reading His Word and letting His voice speak to my heart before all the demands of the day, I am much better equipped as I experience all the things that will certainly come.

For many of you reading this, I’m sure this is nothing that you don’t already know. But, we all need reminding from time to time.

For those of you that this is new, please trust me on this. Through the years, I can testify that giving the Lord the awe, and honor, and thanks that He so deserves...and then listening for His voice through His word...those are the days that I can truly say were the best.


That time spent thanking Him, praising Him, and hearing Him whisper to my heart is what carried me...and carries me each day.

I encourage you to do “first things first”...then “all the things!”

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭118:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Art behind the story:

This page started as a watercolor tutorial with a new friend at the recent Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps retreat held in Savannah, Georgia. I had the privilege to sit beside her and show her how to achieve the watercolor background. Next, like I often do, I make die cuts with stamps. The sunflowers, stems, crow, and leaves in the Happy Scarecrow set were perfect for this technique. The die cut words were from our printable called Falling for Jesus and the stamped words are from the set Jesus and Coffee. 

Hope y’all are having wonderful fall weather where you are!

Until next time,

Gayle
Patio Ponderings