Our Glorious King

 On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Revelation 19:16

Hi Friends!

Today I'm in Revelation 19. I love Revelation. This book can seem daunting with the prophecy, and judgments, and some pretty weird stuff going on, but at it's core, it is revealing Jesus to us. Throughout the book, Jesus is described in various ways and He is in His rightful place, glorified and praised. It is amazing! I just love it. And every time I read this passage in chapter 19, it just speaks to me. It is so powerful. I’ve journaled these verses many times. I love reading the descriptions of Jesus in all His glory.

Verse 11 begins with a rider on a white horse. That rider is Jesus. But He's not the lovey-dovey Jesus some people make Him into these days. Here's how Revelation 19:11-16 describes Jesus:
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.
Wow! Jesus is pretty fierce! This is Jesus at His second coming, and He's ready to fight. His holiness demands justice. And His sovereignty demands victory over the ungodly who tried to usurp His throne. I want to focus on the names given to Him in this passage:

• Faithful and True: Jesus Keeps His promises and all truth comes from Him.
• The Word of God: Jesus is God's Word personified, the Father reveals Himself through Jesus. That sword coming out of Jesus' mouth in verse 15 is Jesus' powerful spoken word- like the Bible is described as a sharp, two-edged sword (Heb 4:12.) Just as the spoken word of Christ has the power to create, it also has the power to judge.
• King of kings and Lord of lords: This is Jesus' exalted and victorious name.He will reign over all.

We serve a Savior who is very loving. But I think we sometimes forget that He is also fierce, and at His second coming will judge those who chose the beast rather than Him.

Page Details: I used the following Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps supplies: Typewriter Alpha, Birch Forest Stencil, Texture Tiles 9, Gear Up, and Trust in the Lord. I applied distress oxides to the page with blending brushes for the background. I then used a stencil and applied white acrylic paint through the stencil with a baby wipe. Then I stamped.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Share God's Love

 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1

Hi Friends!

Are you feeling the love? Yeah, me neither. The church has missed the mark on the whole "love" thing. As a whole, we haven't done well with loving those outside the church. And we haven't even been able to love each other within the church very well. Think of all the divisions within the church. This verse is speaking to believers loving one another. There should be unity in the church because we're unified in Christ. And we should love each other not only for our own sakes, but as a testimony. The world is watching. Believers are going to have differences. And that's ok. In fact, God doesn't want us all alike. Those differences are normal and healthy and make us a stronger body- if we let them. We can use those differences to reach the world. The church should be a group of vastly different people who are unified in our diversity by our love of Jesus.

So how do we love each other? 

• We accept one another as they are. They are sinners, but we are too. We all need a Savior.
• We are subject to one another. Instead of always trying to get our own way, surrender to God's will and let Him use each of us within the context of the church for His great purpose.
• Pray for each other- especially other believers we dislike or are bothered by.
• Forgive each other.
• Serve one another.
• Encourage each other..
• Comfort one another.
• Bear each other's burdens. We're all busy. But take the time to really care for others.
• Admonish one another. Be willing to lovingly confront other believers who are living in disobedience. But do it humbly and with the motivation to restore their intimacy with God.

Let's love each other. Let the world see our love. It will draw them to Jesus.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Happy Mail, Send Me, and Trust in the Lord. I used colored pencils to color in the images. Quick tip: Use Gamsol to blend in colored pencil lines so it looks smooth.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

*source: "How to Love One Another...Even Other Christians" Whitney Hopler

Happy or Holy?

 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God 

and obey it. Luke 11:28

Hi Friends!

Have you heard or seen, "God wants you happy." or "God wants you holy." or "God wants you holy, not happy." I have. In fact, I've journaled a few pages with "happy" crossed out and focusing on "holy." And here's the thing. I believe 100% that God wants us holy. Why, because He tells us so again and again in the bible- 1 Peter 1:15-16, Romans 12:2, and 2 Timothy 1:9 to name a few. The world on the other hand, tells us to do what makes us happy. And therein lies the problem. What we think might make us happy usually is fleeting if we are looking to wordly things to make us happy. See, I think God wants us holy AND happy- but not happy because of worldly things, not happy because we're doing whatever we want. We find true happiness by following God's way which, of course, is holy. Holiness, being set apart for God, leads to happiness. Happiness and holiness are both found in Christ!

So, if my answer to my question is that God wants us both happy AND holy, let's talk about happiness. We often hear believers say that there is a difference between joy and happiness. In fact, I've said that myself. But in studying this verse, I came across this from gotquestions.org: "It is common today to hear believers speak of a difference between joy and happiness. The teaching usually makes the following points: 1) Happiness is a feeling, but joy is not. 2) Happiness is fleeting, but joy is everlasting. 3) Happiness depends on circumstances or other people, but joy is a gift from God. 4) Happiness is worldly, but joy is divine. 

But there is no such distinction made in scripture, and forcing a distinction between two words that are so obviously close in meaning is unnecessary. If a person is joyful, then he or she is happy. There's no such thing as glum joy. We cannot drain joy of emotion and still call it "joy." When God's Spirit gives us joy, then we are happy people."

As I said before, there are different places we can find happiness. So the choice is ours. Will we look to the world for happiness/joy? Or will we look to God for it?

You might be saying, Luke 11:28 doesn't even have "happy" or "joy" in it! The word translated as "blessed" in this verse is the Greek word, "makarios." It is most often translated as "blessed" in our English Bibles. But it also means "happy," and is translated as such a few times- John 13:17, Acts 26:2, Romans 14:22, 1 Cor 7:40, 1 Peter 3:14, and 1 Peter 4:14. 

So what is Jesus saying here in Luke 11:28? HAPPY are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Believers should be happy and holy because they hear God's Word and live it.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Beautiful You, Trust in the Lord, In His Image, Mini Bold Print Alpha, Mini Grunge Type Alpha, Decorative Frame Toppers, Grunge Dot Stencil, and Chicken Wire Stencil. I applied distress oxides to the page using a craft brush. Then I used the stencils to add to the background and stamped the words on top.

Have a HAPPY and Holy week! :)  Andrea   

Like That City

 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14

Hi Friends!

We take light for granted. We take for granted that the sun will come up in the morning. We take for granted that when we flip a switch in our homes, light will come on. Do we also take for granted that Christ's light is shining somewhere by someone in this world? Here's the thing, we can't leave it up to someone else. WE are to be that light. Christ told us so in Matthew 5:14. It's our duty as Christ followers to shine the light He's given us. We can't take it for granted. We have to work to shine in this dark world. The great thing about light is that darkness can't compete with it. Darkness can't overcome light. Whenever, wherever, light is found, darkness disappears. So, church, we have a lot of work to do. And we need to start in our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities and our communities. But the best news, y'all, is we don't have to do it alone- we do it by the power of the Holy Spirit, God Himself. When we shine Christ's light, we glorify Him (Matt 5:16). And that's our purpose here on earth.

I like the song by Third Day, "City on a Hill." Here are some of the lyrics:

A city on a hill cannot be hidden

Standing tall before all men

To show the things that it's been given

And everything that it can give

Just like that city on a hillside

We got a light that's deep within us

No, don't keep it to yourself

Just remember how you felt

When you first gave your life to Jesus

So how do we shine Jesus' light? We study God's Word and share it with others. We love and serve others. We point others to Jesus. Shine, friends, shine!

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Wonder of Wonders, Shine Your Light, and Trust in the Lord. I also used the Rise & Shine Stencil. Wonder of Wonders has some great images, one of them being the city I used on the page. I stamped the city and drew the hill with a Micron pen. I colored the hill and sky with chalk pastels. I colored the city with Prismacolor pencils. Then I stamped the words in the sky and handlettered part of the lyrics on the hill.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Everlasting Light

The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Isaiah 60:19

Hi Friends!

I don't know if you were affected by the bitter cold of the past 2 weeks, but I was. We live in KS and a couple of mornings the wind-chill was -30! I also have family in TX that experienced cold that TX hasn't seen in many years. The cold went all the way down to Mexico. And with that cold, some experienced power outages and other difficulties. Prayers to all who have been affected.

Power outages bring darkness. And in our day and age, we see that as an inconvenience. The sun and moon can bring us light, or a candle or flashlight. But our world is also full of spiritual darkness. And there's only one Light that can fight that. The good news is that one day our Lord will literally be our light.

Isaiah 60 speaks of Israel at the time of the millennial kingdom. When Jesus reigns here on earth, Jerusalem will be the capital of His kingdom. Israel will be redeemed. And verse 19 tells us that during that time, the sun and moon will not provide light because instead Jesus will and His light will last forever.

I've always loved the illustration of Jesus, of the Word, being the Light because it's something we can experience, and have experienced. Each of us has been in darkness before. We know what happens when a light is turned on. Darkness cannot fight the light. When the light is turned on, darkness goes away. It's that simple. Spiritually, Jesus is our light. When He is in our lives, the darkness flees. It has to. It doesn't have a choice! And not only is He spiritually Light, He is literally Light as this verse describes. In His glory, He shines brighter than the sun. Wow! I can only imagine!

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Marquee Alpha, Lollipop Alpha, Love Your Neighbor, Texture Tiles 8, and Trust in the Lord. I LOVE alpha stamps. I'm pretty sure I own all of the SNSS alphas. For Bible journaling, I think they are great to have, especially if you don't like to hand letter or you're still developing that skill. Love Your Neighbor is another versatile set as it has a bunch of common words. It's a cute set with the houses that's great. But I also often use just the common words from it. I used acrylic paints for the back ground. I sprayed my page with water to help the acrylics blend and move on the page. I also used acrylics to stamp the dots. I applied the paint to the stamp with a foam brush. The important thing to remember if you use acrylics with stamps is to wash the stamp as soon as you're done. You don't want the paint to dry on the stamp. Lastly, I used a white pen to highlight the letters.

Have a great week, my friends! Andrea

Only God Satisfies

"We don't seek satisfaction, hoping that God will deliver it. No, we seek God, and the result is satisfaction of heart."

- Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies

If you've followed my posts this year, you know I've been working through Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies devotional as my daily devotional, and last one of last week's devotions really hit home for me. He talked about having a satisfied heart. Here is what Paul Tripp has to say:

"So here's the bottom line. If you seek satisfaction, satisfaction will escape your grasp. But if you seek God, rest in His presence and grace, and put your heart in his most capable hands, he will satisfy your heart as nothing else can. You were made for Him. Your heart was designed to be controlled by worship of Him. Your inner security is meant to come from rest in Him. Your sense of well-being is intended to come from a reliance on His wisdom, power, and love."

How often do I search for satisfaction and happiness in things outside of God and end up feeling empty and unsatisfied? Far, far too often, I'm afraid. Psalm 107:9 says, "For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." God satisfies my soul because He made my soul to be wholly satisfied in Him and Him alone. He is the peace, joy, and rest my soul wants and needs. I need to stop looking for satisfaction and contentment in the things of this world, and look instead to my heavenly Father - the Creator and Sustainer of my soul. 

Page Design 

I used a few different stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps for the creation of this page, but the beautiful flower is from the brand new Dazzling Dahlia set that is part of this month's new release. It's HUGE! I first stamped the flower on premium cardstock and had fun playing with my new alcohol markers for coloring in the flower. I then stamped and watercolored the leaves and adhered the flower to the page using mounting squares. It really makes it pop off the page! I then stamped my page title, punched out a tab, and added some enamel dots - oh, and added some paint splatters (because no page is complete without some splatters 😉). See below for links to the stamp sets used. 

I hope your heart is encouraged to look to God for His satisfaction this week. 💗

Much love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

 

  

Plant, Water, Grow...

Hi friends,

My gardening skills are pretty rubbish, I have to be honest! I have a habit of forgetting to water plants and I don't have any interest in digging, weeding, planting or pruning. I like the idea of a garden, but not the work required to produce a decent one! But here's the thing - even if I planted carefully and watered diligently, the actual growth that happens when a seed becomes a flower or fruit cannot be attributed to me - it is the creative power of God in operation.

The same is true of spiritual fruit and growth. We have a responsibility to plant and water. That means preaching the gospel and teaching truth from the Word of God and praying for people and demonstrating God's love through acts of generosity and kindness. We have been given a variety of gifts that God uses to plant seeds and water those already planted. But even when we do those things and use our gifts for God's purposes, we cannot claim credit for any growth that happens. That is a miracle of God's creative power at work by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul realised this and urged the Corinthians not to attach special significance to him or Apollos or anyone else. He realised that they were simply servants who planted and watered at God's direction, but it was God who caused the seed to grow. Our allegiance is only to God, not to humans, no matter what role they may have played in our birth and growth in Christ. We can be grateful to those who plant and water, but only Jesus is worthy of our devotion as our Lord.

I used the paper piercing technique on this page, stamping the images from Pretty Potted Florals onto a variety of patterned paper then cutting out the flowers and pots and gluing them over the same images that I had stamped on the page. I coloured the leaves and stems with coloured pencils. The verse was stamped with a combination of Print Blocks Alpha, Bitty Minnie Alpha and Trust in the Lord. Here are the sets I used:

Let's plant and water in the ways we have been gifted to do, but let's not take the credit for any growth that may happen - that's all down to the grace and power of God, and for that he deserves our praise!

Be blessed...
x Amy x

Trust in Him at All Times...

Hi friends,

Our world is looking pretty alarming right now isn't it? Whether it's from a health perspective, economic perspective or relational perspective, things are tough for a lot of people right now. It is so easy to read the news about the spread of the virus and worry about what this means for us, for our families, our jobs or our country.

For me personally I have found it difficult that the college where I have been working and studying for the last three years was closed abruptly for 12 weeks, which meant that I had to leave with no farewell parties or even farewell hugs, because in 12 weeks I am due to have started a new job in a new city. But that requires us selling and buying a house, which at the moment is not exactly easy. There are so many reasons to become anxious about the future and what may happen, and so many emotions to process in the present.

Psalm 62:8 tells us to "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." This phrase "at all times" really struck me as I've been thinking and processing over the last week. Times like this are a real challenge to our faith: can we trust the Lord at all times or just in the good times? Can we trust him when things seems hopeless or when we have no control over the situation we are facing? That is the kind of relationship we are invited to have with our Heavenly Father - one of complete trust, no matter what.

As difficult as this season is, it is also an opportunity to grow in trust in God, and to practice casting our every anxiety upon him (because he cares for us!). Every time fear or worry creeps into our mind, we have the choice to entertain it and meditate on the negatives, or we can choose to fix our minds on the Lord and meditate on his goodness and his power and his faithfulness. It is only by meditating on these things that we can learn to trust him in ALL times.

I created this page in my Journaling Psalter by creating a background with acrylic paints and stencilling a clock image with white paint over the top. The pretty flowers from Lovely Lotus were stamped on watercolour paper, coloured with watercolours, then cut out and glued onto the page. The verse was stamped using a combination of Trust in the Lord, Messy Stamped Alpha and Outline Alpha. I added a dragonfly from Dragonfly Dreams which I embossed on vellum using platinum embossing powder. Here are the sets I used:

May we all seek to trust in the Lord at all times, and may his Holy Spirit guide us through this time and teach us to trust our Father in heaven with every aspect of our present and our future.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Trust

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. 

He cares for those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7

Hi Friends,
Today I'm in Nahum 1. And verse 7 sounds pretty good, right? The Lord is good. Yep, so true. He is a refuge in troubled times. Yep, yep! He cares for those who trust in Him. That sounds right. I will trust in God. That's such a simple sentence, 5 little words. And, it may be easy to trust God in good times. But, what about those troubled times verse 7 speaks of? It might not be so easy to trust God then...

Let's read verse 8, "But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh; He will pursue His foes into the realm of darkness." Uh-oh, that's not sounding so good. See, Nahum was a prophet declaring God's judgment on Nineveh. Nineveh had not trusted in God. Instead, they oppressed God's people. So, verse 8 didn't sound good to the people of Nineveh, but the people of Judah would have taken hope in the fact that Nineveh, who had treated them so poorly, would soon come under God's judgment. The faithful remnant in Judah, who were going through oppression and difficult times, who trusted God even in that difficulty, would have been refreshed by Nahum's words that the Lord is good, that He is a refuge, that He cares.

So what does that mean for us? Can you relate to the faithful of Judah? They were surrounded by people who had fallen into idolatry. They were oppressed by other nations. Their world was dark. Have you ever been discouraged by the world around you? Yeah, me too. Take hope. God is good. He is our refuge. He cares for those of us who trust in Him. No matter your circumstance, trust Him. Trust that He is actively working in your life, and that His plan is ultimately good even if you can't see that good right now. Trust Him, friends. He's the only One who truly deserves our trust.

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Trust in the Lord, Typewriter Text Background, and Texture Tiles 1. The background color was done with distress oxides. I used sponge daubers to pick up the ink from the pad and apply to the page. With the daubers, I blended the colors until I liked the way it looks. When blending, I'll pick up the lighter color and apply it over the darker color to help blend the 2 colors.

Have a blessed week, friends! And trust Him. :) Andrea

God Rules All

He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power. Daniel 8:25

Dear Friends,

Today, I'm writing about Daniel 8. Daniel 8 tells of a vision and its interpretation. It's a very difficult chapter to understand. The vision prophecies world empires and some of what will happen in end times. I'm not even going to try to explain the vision. That's a job for someone much more knowledgeable than me. But, as for the take-away from this chapter, we need know no more than this: God is in control. While we may not understand what will happen in the future, we can rest in the fact that God is sovereign and working together all things for His purpose. Man may think he has power in this world. World leaders may rule over their countries. But any power man claims is limited. God is supreme over all.

So fear not, my friends, what the future may bring. Just trust our good God. He rules!

Page Details:
I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Trust in the Lord, Joint Heirs, and All in All. I did some masking to get the words I wanted. From the Joint Heirs set, I stamped "rule" then masked the "hi" from the "his" stamp with a sticky backed paper and inked up the "s." After taking the masking off the stamp, I stamped the "s" to make "rules." That's one of the great things about clear stamps, you can see through them for placement. So masking and making new words is more easily done. I also used the masking technique for "overrules." I just picked the words that had the letters I needed. The only letter I didn't have was "v" so I wrote it in with a Micron pen. For the background, I used acrylic paints. For the clouds, I used a stencil and embossing paste.

Rest in Him and His rule. Have a blessed week! Andrea